Timmy Hansen: "We really need to continue in joining up all the dots."

Timmy Hansen sliding off track after being hit from behind.
PHOTO CREDIT: Peugeot Sport

Timmy Hansen has had absolutely no luck this season. The Swede retired from races with mechanical and technical issues, he also had a few incidents with other drivers. In Norway, he ended-up 5th place: a result that doesn’t reflect the speed he showed throughout the weekend. 

Having been in the top 2 of the intermediate standings, then taking victory in his semi-final heat, he went through to the final once more and scored valuable points despite taking a big hit to the rear at the start. 

"In the final I almost had the perfect start, but instead I bogged a little so I had to go back on the clutch and lost some speed,'' explained Hansen. "There was some touching: when I turned in behind Johann I was hit from behind and the engine stalled. After a few moments I was able to restart it but, by this point I was out of the race."

"The weekend felt both good and bad: good because we qualified in and won the semi-final and bad because we are not on the top step of the podium," said Hansen.

Timmy was quick in Norway, but was unable to capitalize on his speed. He aims to refocus and come back stronger. 

"We really need to continue in joining up all the dots, at every stage of the race," says Hansen. "We will refocus, try to do the same job but, make it even nicer when it comes to the chequered flag in the final in Sweden."

Kevin Hansen: "I worked a lot with my head and I feel really comfortable with the team now."

PHOTO CREDIT: Peugeot Sport

Kevin Hansen claimed his strongest result this season by finishing just off the podium (4th) in a tense final. After he made adjustments to improve the set-up of his car together with the Peugeot engineers on Friday [practice], he didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend throughout the qualifying heats to progress to the final. 

Kevin is not eligible to score points for the teams' championship, but this result puts him in good stead for the future. 

Kevin Hansen
PHOTO CREDIT: Peugeot Sport

“It was an amazing day and I think my pace has been really good all weekend," said Hansen. "I feel really comfortable with the car and the team and myself. To have yet another good weekend and the pace, it has been amazing."

During the semi-final, he was on the front row of the grid alongside his brother [Timmy], with the duo making the most of a team strategy to capitalize on every opportunity. The brothers made it into the final, while teammate Sébastien Loeb missed out on qualifying for the final. 

"To finish in the final and challenge for the podium is a big step forward," the Swede said. "4th place in the final here in Hell is also the second 4th place of my career, so I am really happy about that."

Kevin's improved performance can be attributed to the work he has down off-track to improve his mental strength. "I worked a lot with my head and I feel really comfortable with the team now and I’m really enjoying my driving; I believe in myself a lot," says Hansen. "I think I worked really hard after Belgium when I didn’t have such a good weekend and I came back really strong. I can’t wait for my home race now.”

The result in Norway now boosts him up in the championship rankings to 8th overall [61 points.]

Johan Kristoffersson enters the history books in Hell.

PHOTO CREDIT: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden

The defending FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson claims a 'clean sweep' in Norway, and now leads the championship by 31 points from his nearest rival.  

The Swede’s took his fourth win from of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship in dominant fashion after taking wins in Qualifying, the Semi-Final and going on to win the Supercar by 0.788 seconds.

“What an incredible weekend. I have to say from the start of the weekend I felt really comfortable with the car – it’s amazing when you have the car in your hands like this, you feel you do exactly what you want," said Kristoffersson.

After the World RX of Great Britain, Kristoffersson claimed that the Polo R Supercar had a lot more potential, and it was just a matter of unlocking the pace. His dominance in Norway is proof that with the right set-up the Polo R Supercar has a lot more pace.

“This Polo responds perfectly to what I ask and knowing I have a car like that under me gives such confidence," said Kristoffersson. "It’s also exactly what we need in rallycross, when you have to change direction so quickly, you need everything to be working like this – it needs to be like the glove on your hand and that’s what we had this weekend."

Johan Kristoffersson has now become the second driver in World RX history to have secured a maximum points’ haul following Andreas Bakkerud’s feat in Norway two years ago.

“This is such a nice race, I love to win here. OK, Sweden is my home, but I live close [to here] and this victory is nice, but at the same time the 30 points is even more important," he adds.

“What we have to say again here is that this was another fantastic performance from PSRX Volkswagen Sweden. We had the strategy and it worked well – the final was quite OK when we came out of the first corner P1 and two. It’s fantastic to have my team-mate with me on the podium.”

Petter Solberg: "I needed to come back from a bit of a disappointment in Silverstone."

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

Petter Solberg charged into his home round in Norway with some optimism, hoping to turn around his luck. Solberg was involved in a number of incidents leading off from the first round in Barcelona. He also collided with his teammate on two consecutive weekends. 

The 2018 World RX of Great Britain race weekend saw Petter retiring from the semi-final after making with his teammate. “This was a good weekend, it was what I needed to come back from a bit of a disappointment in Silverstone," said Solberg.

Petter's teammate started on pole position for the final, while he started on the back row. Solberg had a perfect launch seeing him claim the Monster Energy Supercharge Award, while Ekström also had a lightning start. Ekström trying to shut the door on those behind saw him nudge Timmy Hansen who spun infront of Andreas Bakkerud. The two collided and nearly collected the pair of PSRX Volkswagen's at Turn 1. 

“The final was a bit crazy – or at least the first corner was. I got off the line really well, but after that when I got to the bend, the cars were everywhere and I was sure I would hit one of them or take some damage," said Solberg. "But I got away, I got through and then I drove to my plan."

Qualifying on the back row of the final did not help Petter's hopes to claim a win at his home event, but a podium finish after a difficult few weeks is a boost for the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team owner. “There’s not much more I could have done this weekend, to get the podium is what I needed," the Norweigen said. "It would have been nice to be one-two with Johan, but third is good; it’s a strong, strong result for the team and to see PSRX Volkswagen Sweden moving clear at the top is really important.

“The one thing I have to say again is a big thank you to all the fans. They are always incredible when we come here, but this time they were even more," he adds. If I had the time I would go to thank every one of them, but I think they are a little bit too much!”

Timur Timerzyanov: "We’ll need to be stronger for the next race"

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco Team.

The GRX Taneco team held high hopes for the Norwegian round at the Hell circuit. Timur Timerzyanov clocked the fourth-fastest time in Q1, while Niclas Grönholm settled for ninth position.

Grönholm managed to move up the standings by the end of Q2, but Timerzyanov saw his hopes of a front-row qualification for the semi-finals dashed when he stopped following a collision with Sébastien Loeb. “I had to make a quick decision going into the first turn,” said Timerzyanov. “I chose to follow the leaders and took a knock on my steering rack in a collision with Loeb. I ended up against the wall.”

Grönholm stamped his ticket for the fourth time in Q4, while Timerzyanov saw his weekend brought to an early end due to transmission failure.

“I’m really disappointed,” the Russian said. “A mechanical problem inside the gearbox prevented me from taking the start in Q4. It’s a pity because we have lost a lot of points."

Timur has improved at every round, and has made it into every semi-final to date .but it was a different story in Norway. "It’s the first time this season that I’ve missed out on the semi-finals and it’s the first time I’ve not been a finalist at Hell," said Timerzyanov. "We’ll need to be stronger for the next race. In my opinion, Sweden is the toughest track of the season.”

In the second semi-final, Grönholm got off to a poor start and had to settle in behind Timmy Hansen and Mattias Ekström on the first lap. Opting to play his joker on the sixth lap, Grönholm emerged in fourth place behind Kevin Hansen. 

“At the start of the semi, I didn’t have enough revs and stalled for half a second,” said Grönholm. “It was long enough for everyone to pass me. I did my best to qualify for the final. It was just a small mistake, but the start was disastrous. We have never been as close to the top qualifiers in terms of times. 

The GRX Taneco drivers are feeling more comfortable with their Hyundai i20 Supercars, but are unable to reap the rewards when it counts. "We are not getting our just rewards but it has made me all the more determined, and I can’t wait to get to Sweden!," says Grönholm.

After the first five rounds of the World Rallycross Championship, GRX Taneco retains its fourth place in the Team standings. Grönholm, meanwhile, lies in seventh place in the Driver rankings, ahead of Timerzyanov who is twelfth. 

Mattias Ekström claims first podium finish in Hell.

Andreas Bakkerud leads Timmy Hansen (Peugeot) and Petter Solberg.
PHOTO CREDIT: Audi Sport

Mattias Ekström celebrated second place and his first podium finish this season at round five of the championship in Norway. Only two weeks earlier, his teammate, Andreas Bakkerud finished as runner-up at Silverstone. Bakkerud in his home round in Norway made it into the final as well and placed sixth.

Timmy Hansen (Peugeot) and Andreas Bakkerud made contact in the final, sending the Peugeot sideways across the front of the Audi and prompting both to slide across the inside of the first corner. Hansen and Bakkerud came to a halt to untangle themselves, allowing their rivals to break away. 

The two Audi drivers from EKS Audi Sport experienced a changeable weekend. Following the first two qualifying sessions on Saturday, Ekström and Bakkerud placed fourth and seventh in the intermediate classification. In the third qualifying session on Sunday, Ekström received a five-second penalty due to a collision with Petter Solberg. In Q4, his car stopped on the starting line due to a mechanical issue. Even with this set back, Ekström made it into the semi-finals together with Andreas Bakkerud.

Both Audi drivers clinched second place in their semi-finals. As a result, for the fourth time this year, both EKS Audi Sport drivers qualified for the final of the top six. 

Mattias Ekström, who had started alongside Bakkerud from the second row, pulled off with a dream start and after six laps only had to admit defeat to winner Johan Kristoffersson by 0.788 seconds.

“Sunday didn’t start well and the points we lost in qualifying hurt us,” says Mattias Ekström. “In the semi-finals and the final, I managed to advance to second position with two rocket starts. We’re happy that now we’re able to take the trophy home.”

Andreas Bakkerud did not have the race weekend that he had expected. Last year, he showed fantastic pace, but this year proved to be a challenge. “My home round at Hell was really tough,” says Bakkerud. “On day one, I didn’t keep pace. On Sunday, things got better. In the final, I was simply unfortunate: Timmy Hansen spun in front of me and I had to wait until he had restarted his engine and I came sixth.”

Johan Kristoffersson completes the most dominant win of the season

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

REVIEW by: FIA World Rallycross Media

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden scored its second FIA World Rallycross Championship double-podium of 2018 at the Team Verksted World RX of Norway, as Johan Kristoffersson dominated to score victory.

Sweden’s Kristoffersson claimed the second ever World RX ‘clean sweep’ with wins in each of the four qualifiers, the semi-final and final following Norwegian star Andreas Bakkerud’s achievement at the same circuit two years ago.

Kristofferson’s fourth victory of the season in the Volkswagen Polo R cemented his position at the top of the World RX Drivers’ Championship, as a double-podium for PSRX with Norway’s Petter Solberg in third place extended the Volkswagen-supported squad’s lead in the Teams’ Championship and delighted the enthusiastic Norwegian crowd, with 24,000 fans in attendance over the weekend. EKS Audi Sport’s Mattias Ekstrom finished the final second having started on the second row of the grid.

Ekstrom fought back from a difficult Sunday morning where he was given a five-second penalty in Q3 and then retired in Q4 to finish on the podium. “Congratulations to Johan and his crew, they had a really good weekend,” said Audi S1 driver Ekstrom. “Two really rocket starts made the difference for me today and I managed to finish second in the semi and in the final. It’s always nice to get a trophy.”

Solberg secured the Monster Energy Supercharge Award for having the fastest reaction time at the start of the final. “This is very good. If you look at the last few years for me here, I am very, very pleased. It was a tough weekend, I tried to use all my tyres I could early to make sure I was coming into the semis in a good position and it’s a good feeling. The speed difference [to winning] is not much but it’s so many things through a weekend that’s got to fit in really well. Only two people have done the clean sweep now, and on the same track, but Holjes next time will be a tough one for everybody.”

Fourth was Team Peugeot Total’s Kevin Hansen, the 2016 FIA European Rallycross Champion making it into the final by qualifying fourth in the Intermediate Classification and being third in semi-final two.

Peugeot’s Timmy Hansen and EKS’ Andreas Bakkerud lost time at the first corner of the final after contact and finished fifth and sixth respectively.

France’s Sebastien Loeb just missed out on a place in the final by finishing fourth in semi-final one ahead of Olsbergs MSE’s Robin Larsson and Sweden’s Anton Marklund in a hotly-contested race. GRX Taneco’s Niclas Gronholm finished fourth in semi-final two in an equally close race with the second OMSE Ford Fiesta driven by Kevin Eriksson and Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis fifth and sixth.

It was a challenging weekend for GC Kompetition, but both Jerome Grosset-Janin and Guerlain Chicherit scored World RX Championship points. Former Formula 1 driver and double Le Mans winner Alex Wurz made his World RX debut in Norway with MJP Racing Team Austria and improved with every session to finish 18th.

James Taylor, Vice President Rallycross for IMG, concluded: "The fans in Norway adore their rallycross, and the 24,000 spectators that came out in force to support World RX have been treated to an enthralling weekend of racing. Once again, the action has been immensely competitive in Hell, with all of the top teams pushing each other to the limit and bringing out the very best from their world-class drivers. Well done to Johan Kristoffersson for his magnificent clean sweep this weekend – it was a masterclass in rallycross driving. We look forward to seeing if his rivals can strike back on his home soil at Holjes, Sweden on 30 June – 1 July."

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires 
Belgium’s Guillaume De Ridder won the third round of the RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires to move into title-contention. Sweden’s Oliver Eriksson finished second and continues to lead the standings. Norway’s Henrik Krogstad completed the podium at his home round of the series.

FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600
The third round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 was won by Finland’s Jesse Kallio, who took his joker on the first lap of the final. Russia’s Aydar Nuriev finished second after being TQ (top qualifier) at the Intermediate Classification and Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuska was third.

FIA European Rallycross Championship for TouringCar

It was a one-two finish for Norwegian drivers in the second round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for TouringCar, with Daniel Holten leading Jan-Emil Wilsberg across the finish line. Championship leader Steve Volders (Belgium) finished third.

2018 Canadian Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS

1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Sebastian, I can see the emotion. You don’t normally give us very much, but to win your 50th grand prix and the perfect way you did it today, how was it?

Sebastian VETTEL: Perfect is probably a good way to describe it. Unbelievable. I said yesterday how much this place means for Ferrari I think we see it from the moment we touch down and come here and to have a race like we had today is unbelievable. OK, 50 for me, but I think after a long time, a long stretch that Ferrari didn’t win here, I saw the people around and they were super happy. I’m sure they had a blast and they will have a blast tonight. Just happy, and grazie alla squadra.

You can see what it means to the team, but you go away as championship leader as well. Has the championship come alive after that little period of bad luck you had?

SV: It’s still a long way, so I’m not too bothered to be honest. But for sure it’s a good side effect. But for today, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, we had Jacques driving his father’s car earlier, so very emotional and to have a Ferrari winning today, and me driving it, makes me very proud and I’m honoured. I think it’s a day to remember the great Gilles Villeneuve.

We’re going to see some red passion when the national anthem goes up there, enjoy it, Sebastian. Valtteri, a solid day’s job, best of the rest, you didn’t really have an answer, Sebastian had you covered didn’t he.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, since lap one really they seemed to be a bit quicker all the time and they could control the race and were really pushing on it and we got into a little bit of trouble in the end, running out of fuel; that’s why Max got close in the end.

Are you satisfied with the result you got or do you think you could have done something better with that other engine you should have had this weekend?

VB: I think this was the maximum today. Yesterday was about hundredths of a second, so maybe from pole it could have been different, but from P2 today we maxed out. I’m happy for that but I’m not happy that we were behind.

Good solid points, all the best until next time. Max, it was a fight all the way to the end there, you always keep us on the edge of the seat, but a very good performance from you all weekend. I think you’ll go away a happy man.

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was a good race. We had to pit early, because the hypersofts were pretty much gone. But then we had a really good pace on the supersofts, so I was steadily closing the gap and especially the last few laps I think we were really competitive. I think it was only one tenth on the line, which was a shame, but yeah, good race. I enjoyed it.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: (Massimo Lopez Peña – Gazetta dello Sport) Seb, you mentioned Gilles Villeneuve yesterday, today Ferrari got the first win after 2004, it was Michael Schumacher. I don’t know if you had an idea of dedicating this victory to him or something like that. I have a second question: during your long lead to victory, did it ever cross your mind that you could actually lose this grand or it never crossed your mind.

SV: It’s a team effort at the end of the day, so I think like every grand prix, there is not one person to dedicate it to. I think I dedicate it today to the team, to the guys in Maranello and to the Canadian fans, the Canadian tifosi, I think they have been waiting long enough for Ferrari to do well here. I think, yeah, 40 years after Gilles won his grand prix here, I think it’s great to show that Ferrari is still alive, that Ferrari is still there, winning races. I’m just extremely proud to become part of that story, step by step, hopefully a bit more in the future, but I think I remember the race in 2004, I think I was watching on TV, so it’s crazy to realise. Therefore, I think rather than dedicating to one person, I think it’s better to dedicate to, as I said, to our team in general and to the people here. The second question you had was whether it crossed the mind. Not really, because I think I was under control. I managed the gaps to Valtteri. During the first stint I tried to build up a little bit of a cushion. I had one lock-up where I lost a bit of time but after that I think it was fairly well managed. It wasn’t easy with the traffic and so on. Yeah, in the end I was just praying that we don’t run into a problem, which can happen, so I tried to save the car a little bit, stay away from the kerbs and just bring it home. I think there was a little bit of confusion, because they waved the chequered flag one lap too early. That was funny, because on the steering wheel I have the lap count. I have the pit board as well and it showed one more lap to go. I even watched on TV after I saw the chequered flag and it said final lap and then I was a bit confused, but then I told them ‘I think the race isn’t over yet’ and they said ‘no, no. no, keep pushing’. Some of the marshals were already celebrating so… I think they peaked a bit early. Most of them are men, so it might happen. Overall it has just been a great day.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, four times second in seven races, does that eat the man, like we say in Finland?

SV: Heat or eat?

VB: Eat, it means like, it eats from inside.

SV: Right. OK.

VB: So, yeah, second place as a driver when you really want to win races is not the best place to be – but you know, honestly from today where we started, with the start we had, with the pace we had, there was nothing more possible. That’s where we are as a team now. Ferrari was better this weekend, Red Bull very close to us, so I think today nothing we could have done better. Our car is just not quick enough, so I don’t get too upset being second but no doubt I really want to win. And there has been many occasions this year that it has been pretty close, so for sure we’ll keep pushing on that – but as a team we need to improve, and also for myself, trying to find every single little bit I can.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Question for all three. With the chequered flag being shown early, although it didn’t ultimately impact the results, the provisional results issued are two laps short, so should, given the overall level of professionalism of the way these races are run, should it be allowable for amateurs to be waiving the chequered flag? It could have big implications if the race is called early because of that.

SV: Yeah. I mean it’s probably not a question for us. I mean, fortunately we had radio, fortunately I had the lap count in the car and the pitboard was accurate – but if you lose radio and maybe the pitboard is not there, then you back off. Then, I think, being in the lead, you hope that all the others back-off as well. But yeah, I think it’s probably not a question for us. I was just worried, I told them also on the last lap, then people don’t jump on the track, waving flags and celebrating, because we’re still going at full pace. I don’t know what happened.

Max, can we have your thoughts on that as you were chasing Valtteri at that time.

MV: I agree with Seb. I mean, it’s happened in the past – but at the end of the day, it’s not my problem.

VB: I wasn’t listening, I’ve got no idea what you were speaking about…

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for all three of you. The race from outside was not the most exciting one, let’s put is that way. Seb, you said you had to manage a lot of things during the race, even though you were not affected by other cars, with dirty air and so on. Can you explain what was the problem today, why we didn’t see an exciting race. Was it managing the tyres? Fuel consumption? What was it for all of you?

SV: I think the answer to your question is… life. Life’s like this, or racing. Racing’s probably like this. I don’t think it’s justified to criticise the racing, or criticise this race. I don't know if it was boring. From my point of view, obviously, it’s still busy inside the car no matter where you are but I don’t like… I don’t know why people today are so short-sighted. We had seven races this year, I think some were phenomenal, some were boring – but next week the World Cup is starting and I promise you that a lot of the games will not be exciting – but still people will watch it – but some games will be incredible. That’s what we always look forward to – but it can’t just always continue to go up and get better. So, I don’t know, there’s no reason, don’t even look for an answer, don’t write anything. Write about something else. I think we do our job inside the car and if we can race, we race but obviously, we also do our job inside the car and try to avoid racing. Disappear, stay in front, or not get overtaken. And then some races are just exciting and others are not.

Valtteri, your thoughts on how exciting or otherwise today’s race was.

VB: For me it was, at the second place all the time, all through the race. I think Turns One and Two was quite exciting with Max, that was good fun but yeah, since then, for us, we really tried to push Ferrari in the first stint – but we just couldn’t match the pace. We used quite a bit of fuel in the first stint so had to save a lot at the end of the second stint, so yeah, pretty stable race in that way, so not that much happening. But like Seb said, for sure, we, in the case, we are always pushing everything we can. It’s not like we are getting time enough to get bored in the car. There is always something to do, and we needed to keep concentrated 100 per cent – so yeah, for sure, there will be good races, there’s no doubt it’s just we’ve had a couple of races in a row where there is not many things happening – but this year already there have been races that have been amazing to watch. I’m sure it’s going to be on the way soon.

Max, your thoughts. You were nodding along with Seb there.

MV: Yes. For us, maybe it’s a little bit boring because you’re not overtaking and fighting but still you need to be focussed to handle the car, because the walls are still quite close and you’re sliding around a bit and managing your tyres. Yeah, sometimes it is like that, as Seb said; sometimes a bit more exciting than other races. It just happens.

Q: (Nicolangelo Cioppi – La Voce Euro Canada USA) For Sebastian and Max: congratulations for your victory today. Can you tell something to the Italian community here which supports Ferrari and supports you for a long long time, say something for our community here? And for Max, do you think that after Kimi Raikkonen’s going to retire, do you want to race with Ferrari or is your goal all the time to arrive in first place, because you are a very good pilot and in the end you wanted to overtake Valtteri but in the end the laps were too long?

SV: Well, I don’t know if I’m very good with messages but I think I’ve said many times this weekend we had a lot of support, there are always a lot of Ferraristi.  The Canadian tifosi I think are as passionate - very close - but nearly as passionate as the Italian ones and obviously there are a lot of Italian people who came to Canada a while ago and I think Montreal has a strong Italian community. I’ve been coming to this city many times and try to find different places and I feel very comfortable in the Italian restaurants. I think overall, to see the vibe, to see the atmosphere around the track is super exciting. Obviously this weekend has been our weekend and Ferrari’s weekend and I think that’s a stronger message than whatever I can say, but obviously thanks for the support, for waving so many flags, for being proud of what Ferrari means to them.

MV: How old is Kimi? 37?

SV: I don’t know.

MV: 37, 38? He could be my Dad. I don’t know, time will tell. I have a contract with Red Bull and I’m very happy where I am at the moment and also, you know, we have a great car but I’m just waiting for the full package to be able to challenge every single weekend for victories, because in Monaco, I would not want to change car because we had the best car and package there. It is very tricky. It is a very special brand and I’m only 20 years old so if Kimi is 37 or 38, I still have 17 or 18 years to do something so we will see.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) Valtteri, I know you have to choose the tyres well in advance of the weekend. Do you think you would have had a better chance of victory if you’d made a different choice of tyres?

VB: I honestly think – and we do as a team – that if we would have chosen one or two sets more of the hypers, potentially we could have extracted a tiny bit more out of those in qualifying because it was quite limited running for us. We only had one set in practice three and then through qualifying we really had to learn quickly how to get the best out of the tyres in one lap in such a close qualifying, being 0.09s behind pole. It’s easy to say afterwards but potentially if we could come here again we would chose maybe one set more at least of the hypers. I think, for the race, we made the right decision. We were happy with the tyre we started on and with the strategy we had, so that was all good. It was just a question of the qualifying performance. We need to make sure we learn if we find that for sure we had to do something different.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Max, we didn’t see it on the TV but I think on the ultimate lap you got to within about a tenth of Valtteri, so can you just talk through how close you got to getting him, and is it a little bit frustrating that you got so close but couldn’t quite make that move?

MV: Yes, I tucked in to gain a bit of top speed! No, I think Valtteri lifted off a bit earlier and I just kept flat so it was actually very close at the line.

VB: I was running out of fuel so I lifted off…

MV: OK, so you were lucky! If there wasn’t a problem with fuel or whatever, it would have been very hard to get by because it was quite tricky to follow within a second but I gave it all I had.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For Valtteri and Max: if the race would have been one lap longer, would it have made a difference, especially because of the fuel?

SV: Well, for sure, we would have all run out of fuel.

VB: Yeah, for sure, I wouldn’t have made it.

MV: A pit stop (for fuel). That’s what you calculate your fuel on, isn’t it, with the lift off and everything.

VB: It’s difficult to say.

MV: Valtteri was very precise…

2018 Canadian Grand Prix: Post-Qualifying Press Conference

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS

1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Q: Sebastian, your 54th pole position, here in Montreal. What a day for Ferrari. What it could have been. You left it late this weekend but you got the job done?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I did. Yesterday, I think were a bit in trouble, I wasn’t really happy with the car, we had some problems, I just couldn’t get the rhythm, usually I like this track. Yesterday was very difficult, but today it switched on. I guess I woke up the right way and what a day. The car was incredible in quali. It just kept getting quicker. In my final lap I had a small mistake, otherwise I think there was a little bit more but it was fantastic. Thanks to the team, thanks for fixing the car yesterday after I hit the wall a little bit. Yeah, really happy, and also a massive crowd. I think the hairpin is so cool. There are so many people waving every lap and yeah a lot of Ferrari fans here so yeah, a very good.

Q: You can see what it means to you. Job done, good luck to you tomorrow. Max, we didn't expect to see Red Bull that far up, to get yourself in front of Hamilton. He had a small lock-up down at the hairpin. But you put yourself in contention and you’ve looked supreme all weekend after that difficult Monaco.

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I know. I’m very happy with this weekend so far. We know that in qualifying we are just missing top speed but to be third is great for us and I think especially in the race I think we can do a really good job.

Q: Do you think you can take the fight to Ferrari and Mercedes? Obviously it’s a mixed up grid, do you think you’ve got the pace? 

MV: Yeah I think we have. Starting on the softer tyres is also a benefit here, because it’s quite slippery on the track and during the race I think we are anyway competitive.

Q: All the best, I hope you get in the mix; it’s a great battle between the three of you. Valtteri, best Mercedes, getting the job done, you’re on the front row. A perfect start and you can lead into Turn 1.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I think qualifying-wise obviously it was close with Ferrari, so it’s always annoying when it’s so close and we are not ahead but anyway starting from the first row is good for this race and happy to go for it tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian, that’s a new track record out there but you suggested that you made a little mistake on your final lap, so just talk us through that lap and how good it was.

SV: Well, I was very happy with the last qualifying, very happy with the first lap, but I thought that maybe in the first half of the circuit there’s a bit more. And the second attempt in Q3 I found that little bit and then I was like ‘OK, now I just need to repeat what I did before, because it was really, really good’ but I struggled and I lost a little bit of time. I crossed the line and I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough because I didn’t know who is coming and then you try to look around at the screens to see something and you wait on the radio but yeah, big relief when I heard it’s enough and we made it. Being on pole here is… I don’t know, I like this track. Yesterday was really difficult but being on pole here with Ferrari means something extra. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – I think the meaning of Gilles for the Scuderia Ferrari is huge and I think motorsport in Canada is linked to that name. Obviously it’s a great result, a lot of Ferrari fans out there, probably a lot of them from back then as well, and their kids, so great to carry the momentum we’ve had this year in qualifying even though the last races maybe were a little bit less strong, but still overall I think the performance has been there. Yeah, it’s great when you have a session like that.

Well done. Valtteri, second place and a very tight battle with Sebastian. You didn’t improve on your second run but your first lap was very impressive. So did it feel like a missed opportunity or are you happy with the performance?

VB: I think now seeing the lap times in the end, the difference, they were just a little bit quicker today. I felt like in the first run I more or less got everything out of the car. I knew that normally second run, yes there will be place that I could improve, but I just couldn’t. I had some understeer in the second run for I don’t know what reason, but I don’t think we missed any positions for the second run. We only today for the first time experienced the hypersofts and we made good progress run after run, all the way up until Q3 with it. Obviously we like Ferrari are starting with the ultra for the race, so let’s see what we can do from there.

Thank you. Max, you tried the hypersofts a lot this weekend and were fastest in every practice session, but is third place still a satisfying result given Red Bull’s usual performance in qualifying?

SV: Yeah, absolutely. I think we extracted the best we could out of qualifying. We knew that in Q3 of course it was going to be a bit harder for us but to be still so close was I think still good. The car all weekend has been really strong. Every session we just made progress with the car and also in qualifying the track grips up quite a lot so you just have to follow the track. Yeah, very happy.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Sebastian: were you thinking at the end of Q2 of trying to qualify with the hypersoft? And are you anxious about the strategy of the Red Bulls?

SV: No. No. It was a very smooth session, to be honest. A long briefing talking about what we want to do, and so on, just trying to squeeze everything out. Then it was very smooth: Q1 was smooth; Q2 was smooth, and so was Q3, in the end. I think we’ve seen also in the last couple of years, people are doing a preparation lap; sometimes they go for two push laps – but for me it was pretty straightforward that the first lap was there. Also, in terms of strategy, we did what we wanted to do. I don’t think the hypersoft is a good race tyre, so I’m a bit surprised that both of the Red Bulls chose that – but I guess they have their reasons. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you lost the pole by ninety-three thousandth of a second. With the new upgrade of engine, would you have done it?

VB: Maybe! Obviously… yeah… everything with the new engines, the numbers are just in theory but there would have been gains and I think it would have been a close fight for the pole with the new engine – but we’re going to get it later anyway, so that’s all good.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Max, can you just explain the decision to use the hypersofts in Q2 – and is there any concern that will be a disadvantage going into the race, given the deg you’ve experience on those?

MV: Well, we feel it’s a good tyre for us and, in the long run, I felt good on it – so yeah, no big surprises. We knew – or we thought – Mercedes were going to qualify on the ultra, so yeah, we’ll see tomorrow.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for Seb. It was not the first time that you had some problems on Friday and improved quite a lot to Saturday. Do you have any special explanation – because your team-mate was quite strong on most of the Friday and didn’t improve that much?

SV: Waking up later than him! Usually he’s the one that wakes up late. Yeah, yesterday we had a scrappy day. I had an issue with the steering in the morning and brushed the wall. We lost a little bit of time getting ready for the second session. Yeah, it was just a… I couldn’t find the rhythm; wasn’t happy with the car. I knew it… I felt it was there but it just didn’t stack-up and couldn’t get to it. This morning when I went out straight away it felt a lot better. At the end, on a track like this where you have to attack braking and kerbs so much, I think it’s important that you feel at home and have the confidence to play around and then yeah, I think you can extract a lot more from the car. So yesterday I wasn’t really in charge, more of a passenger. We still got everything out of the day that we needed – but a bit compromised if you look for pace, and today it was a lot more natural.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian, what happened in the second run of Q2? You aborted it, there was a line of cars and you were not very happy with them. Did you want to go for a fast lap?

SV: Also, to get a feel and to see where we end up – but that was… it’s never happened to me. There were three cars, they were doing maximum 100kph and, either they weren’t told or they weren’t looking. Obviously, they were all trying to get a slot for their flying lap – but I was coming there at full speed. I had to abort – there was no chance to slalom around them. It was a bit surprising. There was no way for me to carry on. It was interesting.

Q: (Massimo Lopes Pegna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) If I’m not mistaken, the last Ferrari pole (here) was in 2001 with Michael Schumacher; any thoughts and comments about being the…

SV: Well, it was a long time ago. I said earlier that the meaning for Scuderia Ferrari in this country is huge with the history. Gilles Villeneuve, the favourite driver of Enzo Ferrari and I think his charisma, his character that he brought to Formula One, to racing in general, is still alive today. You can see there’s a lot of flags. He left the heritage, so the people who fell in love with motor sport back then, it’s still them hanging around and their kids and maybe grandchildren by now, I don’t know. Yeah, so really really happy and it’s an important day for us but for sure, Saturday is not as important as Sunday so we hope to do well tomorrow as well.

Q: (Arjan Schouten – Sportwereld) Max, quick all weekend, today also very close; has there been one moment today when you were thinking ‘I’m going to take my first pole here’?

MV: I knew that we had a good car but I just wanted to wait and see how we were going to… how competitive we were going to be in Q3 and I quickly saw that it was going to be very hard to take pole position but you always do your best, you try to get the best lap time out of it.

Q: (Nicolangelo Cioppi – La Voce Euro Canada USA) Max and after Sebastian Vettel: yesterday, you had the best car, what happened today that you don’t have the pole? And to Sebastian Vettel, congratulations for the pole today. Do you think tomorrow you are going to win?

MV: Well, I still think we have a really good car but we know that in Q3 and in general, throughout the whole year already, we were just lacking power so we were just trying to compensate with that but I think it showed in Monaco that we have a great car and again here but of course with those long straights it’s just very hard to fight for pole position. And in the race, of course, it all calms down a bit so that’s why I think in general we are always a bit more competitive in the race.

SV: I don’t know. I’m not a bookmaker but I would say they are pretty good. Obviously we got pole today and we got pole for a reason so as I said today, I was a lot happier with the car and I think we can carry that into the race. For myself and for the team, I think we start on the right tyre and then we see. Nevertheless, it’s a long race here, a lot of laps, a lot of things to look out for so we’ll see. I think in terms of race pace as we’ve seen many times this year it’s very close between the three teams and between the six drivers so we will see but for sure if you start on pole you want to win.

Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 95.8 Montreal) Questions for Max: we had a talk with Niki Lauda and we asked him which of today’s pilots makes him remember the most from Gilles Villeneuve, and he told us that you were the kind of pilot that makes him think about Gilles Villeneuve, so what are your thoughts about that? 

MV: Well, he was good-looking so… I don’t know. I’ve never met him in real life so for me it’s difficult for me to judge that but if he thinks it’s like, I’m fine with that.

SV: That was a good one. Confident.

Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 95.8 Montreal) And if I might, I have another question for you. We remember that Thursday you were quite exhausted with the questions about the accident…

MV: Be careful, hunh?

Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 95.8 Montreal) No, no, I don’t want to get head butted but as a result yesterday and today you had pretty good pace in the test and for the race and you showed us that you were able to push your car further and further. Did it give you motivation to go further again and push your pace higher than normal?

MV: No, because that normally I’m not doing a good job so I always try to do the best I can every single weekend and I felt straight away really comfortable in the car so that helped, of course.

2018 Canadian Grand Prix: Team Members Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Guenther STEINER (Haas)

Claire, there have been a number of changes in senior personnel at Williams in recent weeks and months, with the departure of Ed Wood and Dirk de Beer especially. Can you tell us what the impact has been on the tem internally?

Claire WILLIAMS: Yes, so obviously we’ve lost Dirk and Ed for personal reasons, so we wouldn’t go into that in any greater detail. The impact on the team? We’re obviously having quite a difficult start to our year but we have a really strong technical team in place back at Grove who are working really hard and really cohesively, and that’s the most important thing, and everyone just has their heads down and is trying to get us out of the trouble we’re in at the moment.

This race marks the first third of the season coming to an end. There’s still a long way to go. Do you feel you can turn it round within this year or do you have to look more long-term for changes?

CW: That’s whole purpose of our recovery plan. We’ve never said we’re going to write this season off. In no way would we ever say that at Williams. As you said, we’re only a third of the way through this year. There are a lot of races left to go. We haven’t done what we wanted to do in the first third – scoring four points is not where we want to be. But the guys are doing a good job, as I said. But it does require a little bit of patience. It’s not easy turning things around that fast. We’ve got a lot of work to do, particularly on the aerodynamics side of things, and that takes time. So we’ll be bringing updates to forthcoming races, we’ll have to see how they pan out. It’s just a case of working hard and keeping everything crossed so that we deliver the performance that we need to do, so that by the end of the year we’re back up to the front of the field, but that’s going to be hard work for us.

Thank you. Guenther, it’s been a season of ups and downs for Haas in its third year of Formula 1 so far. It’s probably fair to say that Monaco was one of the downs at this point. Can you just tell us what the issues were with the car in Monaco and have they been rectified for this weekend?

Guenther STEINER: I think, yeah, one big down is Monaco, where our performance wasn’t there. The other times the performance was there but we didn’t get enough points out of the races. In Monaco, we knew going into it, we knew that on low speed out car is not very good and then we had a few issues in free practice – losing parts – and we decided not to use them. So we knew going into qualifying that we would be pretty slow, and we were obviously. Not surprising, it doesn’t make us happy. I think we will be OK again here. We have got some upgrades here for this race and we are still evaluating how much they bring and it’s too early to say anything yet.

Romain has appeared to struggle a little bit more than Kevin this year, in terms of the points return anyway, but when you’ve had issues like Monaco and other races where you have missed opportunities, how do you review how your drivers are performing?

GS: I think they’re doing OK. With Romain I would say that actually he had two bad races and he knows about it, I don’t need to tell him. I think he gets some credit from us because he was there from the beginning. He took a big chance in the beginning to join us, when we were unknown and we had no credit by anybody. I think they are doing OK, he will come back and be the Romain like he was before.

Bob, recently Vijay Mallya stepped down as a director of the team but remains as team principal. Can you tell us what the impact is on the team?

Robert FERNLEY: Well, it doesn’t really have any impact on the team. The day-to-day operations continue on under the management, as they’ve always done over the years. Vijay’s decision is purely a personal one, but from a Force India point of view it really is business as usual.

Pre-season and at the start of the year we were seeing reports that there would be a name change or even a potential change of ownership change at Force India, but the team seems to be growing in competitiveness in the midfield. What does the team need to do to then take the next step to the front of the midfield and maybe even further?

RF: I don’t think it’s about what we can do to take the next step. It’s about what Formula 1 can do. Formula 1 has to come to us. We can’t go from a 100 million budget to a 300 million budget. So somewhere down the line it has to come back to the midfield and then you have a more level playing field. So I think the onus is very much on Formula 1 delivering a more competitive package.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speed Sport) To follow up on Bob’s comments, in Bahrain you had a meeting with Liberty and I remember Claire, at this press conference in Bahrain, telling us how happy you were. You had another meeting in Monaco, maybe all three of you can update us on how you’re feeling on the latest proposals?

Claire, maybe start with you, you were very excited after the Bahrain meeting.

CW: Yeah, well I’m not on the champagne any more, that’s for sure. More water. They’re working hard, clearly, there’s obviously a lot of work to do, we all know that, and we have to work together, which we are doing, in order to make sure that the proposals that we’re going to have for 2021 work for all the teams as best they can – and that’s not an easy piece of work. It’s not exactly what we want, as a team, as Williams, but I think we’re probably getting closer and hopefully if we can get the budget cap in place that brings us… I know they’re reporting [$]150[million] but if it was a bit higher then fine, we all have to compromise. I think they are very close to the power unit regulations, to get those locked down, which would be great because hopefully that would attract new OEMs into our sport. It’s just a process, a continual process that everybody’s working hard to make sure that we can get set in stone sooner rather than later.

Guenther, your thoughts on the progress there.

GS: I think the engine regulations need to be signed-off for ’21 to start with and then a hard date when the next proposal comes from the general commercial contract – but I think FOM – Liberty – is working diligently to achieve this. We haven’t got hard dates, not a complete proposal yet but I don’t think it’s an easy job to make all ten teams happy but I think they know what needs to be done and it’s down to them to negotiate, or to take the sport where they want to take it.

Bob, what are your thoughts on the movements on the movements since Bahrain to Monaco?

RF: Well, I think I like the process that Formula One Group are bringing in where it’s very much done by consensus, as opposed to individual teams pushing their own agendas, which is what it used to be. So, I think they’re going through a very constructive process in that manner. I agree with Guenther, and Claire, that we need to get the engine regs nailed, hopefully this month so that those can move forward. I’m less concerned about the chassis regs. I think we could wait a while for those because again, the sooner they come out, the bigger teams have got opportunities to put resources behind it – so it’s not urgent that this happens as long as we keep moving on the path. We’ve made a change for 2019, which is a step towards the 2021 programme, which will give some very clear direction. They won’t get it right for sure, but it will give good direction in terms of where we want to be for ’21. We could be looking if there are elements for standardisation, or proscriptive elements. Those could start coming in quite early as they don’t affect development. So, I think it needs to just have that cohesive process – and hopefully over the next few months we’ll see that.

Q: (François-David Rouleau – Le Journal de Montréal) Question for Claire. Could you please evaluate the work of your two drivers, especially Lance Stroll so far in the season?

CW: Obviously, they haven’t exactly got the best equipment this year in order to demonstrate their potential, of which I think both have a considerable amount. It’s our responsibility to give them a car in which they can demonstrate that. Both have had quite considerable weight upon their shoulders. It’s not easy when you’re quite a young driver in Formula One, having to drive a car that that they’re having to drive, to go out in qualifying, to go out in the race, knowing that they’re probably going to be at the back. Can’t be easy for them psychologically, and I think they’re doing a very good job in order to go out there and do what they’re having to do. I think they’re demonstrating quite a considerable sense of maturity coping with that. But they’re also working really well as part of the team as a whole. They’re spending a lot of time at the factory with our engineers, helping drive development forwards, and clearly that’s going to be crucial to take us forward over the course of this season. I know that both want to just score points and be qualifying in Q3, in the top ten on Saturday and then getting into the points on Sunday – but it’s really up to us to give them the machinery to do that. I have no complaints about either of our drivers on the races that we’ve had this year.

Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Question for all three of you, regarding the future calendars: the commercial rights holder has been quite open about its plans for the future, wants to get new events on the calendar but there was a report out earlier this week suggesting next year’s calendar could start a week earlier and finish up in December. How close are we to saturation point, both in the length of the schedule and the number of events on there?

RF: I think you have to look at the human logistics in a lot of this. Twenty races, we’re very much on the edge of being able to maintain it with one crew, one travelling crew in particular. So once you start moving in beyond that, occasionally we can go to 21 and then we go back to 19 and we can cope with all of that, but once you get a sustained amount of races that are going well up into the twenties, we’re going to have to bring in revolving crews and there’s a huge cost to that and these are the things we’ve got to look at so there needs to be just a look at how are we going to do it logistically. It’s quite capable from a show point of view but it will change how we, as teams, operate in my opinion.

GS: I would agree with Bob. I think it makes financial sense to do more races and if we can then do it, as suggested by Bob, with more people and rotating crews, it could be done but I think there is a second factor in there, which is the saturation of the public. How much do they want to see F1? If F1 is on every weekend, every year, every weekend, are we not on a downward spiral? I think Liberty Media is aware of this, I don’t think there is a big plan in place to go to 25 or 24 races. I think it will always be between 20 and 22 and starting earlier and ending later maybe gives us a little bit more freedom not to have the back-to-back-to-back like we will have in a few weeks. I think they are well aware that there is a saturation factor for the human element and for what the customer actually wants so I don’t think they will exaggerate.

CW: I would echo what Bob and Guenther have said, that from a human perspective it’s a tough on our guys who are having to spend such a huge amount of time at (away from) home.  Yes, maybe drawing the calendar out, starting earlier and finishing later gives more of a break but it actually then takes away time that we have to build our cars over the winter but also for the guys to spend good quality time at home with their families over the winter. I think, from a purely sporting fan perspective, if it’s from a saturated market, then great if we have more races if we can go to more markets, particularly within America, I think that would crucial for our sport, but if we are to do that then it has to make financial sense and those races that come on the calendar have to come on because they are paying to do so. I don’t see why teams should be expected to go to new races for nothing and then the price fund pot dilutes down even further and it’s just costing the teams more and more and that shouldn’t be the case.

Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 98.5FM) Claire, one of our colleagues asked Lance yesterday about his contract situation, talking about a possible new contract and you didn’t have information for us. You talked earlier that you were happy with how your pilots were performing without the fact that the machine is not going as well as you wanted, but what can you tell us about a possible new contract for Lance Stroll?

CW: What did Lance say to you? Did he say no comment?

Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 98.5FM) He said he was not aware… but we wanted to ask you what your thoughts were, what you thought about giving him a new contract for next year?

CW: I love Lance, I think he’s a great guy, I think he’s had a huge amount of pressure put on him. I think he’s had -  and I say this repeatedly so I apologise if I’m repeating myself -  but he’s had a huge amount of negativity thrown at him, a huge amount of criticism for a variety of reasons and I think he’s handled it with an incredible sense of maturity and I think he should be given credit for that. As a team player, he’s great and I think he’s got a lot more to show if we could only give him the car to do that. I don’t want to talk about 2019; as you would expect, we have many issues to deal with this year and I need everybody focused on 2018 to resolve the problems that we have and when we’re in a position to talk about 2019 then we will do so.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) Bob, you talked about cohesive rules for the future – not even terribly sure I know what that means – but I’m always concerned that drivers have to suffer penalties for factors which are nothing to do with their side of the bargain as it were. We had this race in Monaco where Daniel Ricciardo drove what I thought was a heroic race and in the process he fried his electrical bits. I wonder if you are perhaps going to ask in future that the drivers are not punished so badly or so seriously? In Ricciardo’s case, he’s got to take at least one penalty in coming races which is going to ruin his chances, light as they are, of being World Champion this year.

RF: I agree with you. I think Ross Brawn has got that right on the top of his agenda, as one of the things to get sorted out. Just remember that when those penalties were brought in, it was also partly to control the costs of power units and everything else and it probably hasn’t quite ticked the boxes as it should have done, certainly from a sporting point of view, so I do agree. But we also have to keep the engine manufacturers in check as well, so there has to be balance with that, to make sure that we keep costs under control while also not damaging the sporting element from the drivers and I think Ross is really looking …. I think it's one of his top priorities to bring that in for the next regulations.

Q: Is there an obvious solution in your mind to changing that rule?

RF: Probably, but it’s going to be more related to the constructors probably, than it is to the drivers. That’s the way I would look at it, in terms of the fact that it hurts the constructors’ side of it rather than the drivers’ side of it but I think Ross has got some clear ideas on it and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. You’ve got a wonderfully experienced person there; if anybody can do it, he can.