REPORT: Bakkerud slides into title contention after victory in Trois-Rivieres

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Andreas Bakkerud has clinched his first victory in 981 days at the World RX of Canada in Trois-Rivieres and is now firmly in contention for the World Rallycross Championship title with three rounds remaining. 

The Norweigan has come close to victory on two occasions this year – second in Belgium and Great Britain – but it finally came good at the challenging street circuit in Quebec.

Bakkerud acknowledged the efforts of his RX Cartel team after finally securing a win that he thought might never come. “We have worked hard as a team and I was hoping and praying that this day would come even though with all the bad luck and near misses we have had this season, I thought it might never happen,” he said.

“We have had some challenging months in getting the team together for the first round in Abu Dhabi. We were so close in Belgium and Silverstone and we were strong until the semi-final in Sweden."

The Monster Energy RX Cartel driver admitted that he did not expect his Audi S1 Quattro to suit the Trois-Rivieres track layout. 

"Tracks benefit different cars and I thought coming here that this track would not benefit us," he said.

Bakkerud claimed the Q1 race win and was ranked second overall after day one. On Sunday, the Norwegian finished third in Q3 and nearly failed to progress any further, but luck was on his side when Timmy Hansen, Liam Doran, and Timur Timerzyanov collided.

"Winning Q1 was amazing - staying up there and fighting," he said. "We were a bit lucky - especially when Timmy, Liam and Timur crashed together in Q4 - and I came through from out of nowhere."

"In the final, I burnt the clutch at the start and broke the sub-guard on the rear. It was awful to drive on the dirt because of that. I was everywhere, but I still tried to push. It was really tricky to brake into every corner," he adds. "I think Janis [Baumanis] said: 'you were so slow on the dirt'. Yeah, I have a reason."

Bakkerud passing Hansen, Doran, and Timerzyanov to progress to the semi-finals.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

"I am just happy that the car stayed in one piece, and I am super proud of the team - the first win for RX Cartel and the first win for EKS Audi Sport, I think since the start of 2017"

The win in Canada has enabled Bakkerud to usurp Timmy Hansen who was second in the drivers’ standings heading to Canada and close to within five points of championship leader Kevin Hansen.

Championship leader Kevin Hansen was disqualified from the final after the stewards decided he was at fault in an incident with Anton Marklund at the exit of the joker lap.

Kevin now leads the overall standings on 143 points with Bakkerud second on 138 and Timmy third with 129.

Bakkerud thinks that the championship fight could go down to the wire in Cape Town. “It’s so close, the races are very unpredictable," said Bakkerud. "I think it will be a race to the chequered flag in Cape Town (the final round of the 2019 championship in November)."

“It’s not going to be easy to win the championship. You need some results and some luck. It’s going to be tricky but you never know.”

It was a weekend to forget for the Hansen brothers. But despite the challenges, Kevin progressed to the finals. His older brother Timmy was the biggest loser in Canada after a crash in Q2 and a chaotic race four of Q4

Timmy's Peugeot 208 was severely damaged and he eventually crawled sideways across the line where it was retrieved by a recovery vehicle.

The incidents meant he missed the semi-finals and emerged from the World RX of Canada with only four points.

Second to Bakkerud in the final was Janis Baumanis who went one better than his third place in round five in Hell, Norway.

"Last year, I got the first trophy from World RX for Monster Energy Supercharge Award, and now standing on the podium in P2 between these two guys," he said. "I'm really pleased to be here." 

"We have worked hard to be on the podium and even make it through to the finals. I think that this is the fifth final of the season or fourth, but it doesn't matter. I am really pleased with the teamwork - especially what we do with analysis during the day - during the night also. We just need to keep on working like this and a podium is then real."

Third was Timur Timerzyanov, who had pipped Bakkerud for the spoils at Spa-Francorchamps in May. The Russian had earlier wrestled his Hyundai i20 to a semi-final victory despite bent suspension. 

"I think it was better to drive with the bent suspension then crash into the tyres. It was actually nice to drive," the Russian jokered. "The suspension was bent on the right direction. All the right corners were easier to drive then the left corners with the gravel corners, just sliding in."

“In the final, third place was a present for me. I think I think that I was fifth after stopped before Kevin (Hansen) and Anton (Marklund) crashed into each other after the joker lap. I was lucky today.”

Guerlain Chicherit finished fourth to round out an impressive weekend for GC Kompetition. Marklund was classified fifth following the clash with Kevin Hansen which caused extensive suspension damage to his Renault Megane R.S. RX.

Niclas Gronholm, who had set the early race weekend pace, and finished as top qualifier, looked set to challenge strongly for overall victory.

However, he paid the price for a costly joker strategy in semi-final one where he finished fourth +0.686s behind Kevin Hansen and thus failed to make the final.

Timo Scheider in the ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport Seat Ibiza reached semi-final two but a clash with Liam Doran resulted in bodywork damage and sixth place. The incident dropped Doran to fourth in the semi-final when it had seemed a place in the final beckoned for the Briton.

EKS Sport’s Krisztian Szabo, sporting a ‘just married’ sticker on the rear bumper of his Audi S1, celebrated with a race win in Q2 en route to fifth place in his semi-final. 

Rokas Baciuska, the GC Kompetition Academy driver was on the back foot from Q1 after being handed a five-second time penalty for twice hitting track markers. The misdemeanors dropped him to ninth place after Q2. 

The Lithuanian recovered to reach semi-final one where he finished fifth after clipping the tyre wall. Fellow GCK squad member Cyril Raymond was thwarted by a mechanical failure in the same semi-final.

Guillaume De Ridder’s run of bad fortune continued finishing in 14th place overall.

After a strong run to ninth in Q3, Oliver Bennett’s weekend ended in race 3 of Q4 when he was sandwiched off the line and suffered broken front right suspension.

It was an eventful outing for Jani Paasonen for Team Stard. Paasonen's issues began in free practice with contact with one of Trois-Rivieres’ famed concrete walls.

His Ford Fiesta then crabbed its way over the line in race three of Q2 after further contact with a tyre barrier resulting in damage to the right rear suspension. He would eventually finish in last place. 

ESmotorsport - LABAS Gas were fined €50,000 for failure to participate in Canada - "A permanent individual competitor has a responsibility vis-à-vis the FIA to ensure that the car entered takes to the grid for each competition of the championship."

The Lithuanian outfit issued a statement prior to the event in Canada citing a scheduling conflict for not participating - "Due to scheduling conflict Kevin Abbring was not able to attend Canada event, as agreed from the start he would be able only to manage Norway, Sweden and South Africa."

"From now our team will take a short pause from the races. We will continue our car testing and development based on feedback that we have received from the drivers this season."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien

FIA Post-Race Press Conference: 2019 Hungarian GP.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Q: Lewis, I can see how much that one means to you. From a driving point of view that was exactly what you had to do to go out there and win it. You fought all the way the very end to get that one done. How do you feel?

Lewis HAMILTON: Tired, which is how it should be, but I feel really grateful for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and continuing to push to the limits and to take a risk and a chance on me. We’ve been together for seven years and it never gets old, it always feels brand new. It feels like a new win for us. If it wasn’t for these boys here and all the guys back at the factory this wouldn’t be even possible and I’m just grateful to be a part of it. Yeah, for a race to be able to push like that, I’m telling you now it was on the limit all the way.

Q: The gap was there to take that chance, to roll the dice and try something on strategy, but you had a bit of management in there with brakes, because you had nearly got Max before. Was it always going to be on edge to get that pass done?

LH: Honestly, we’ve had brake problems all weekend, having like separation of the front temperatures and glazing, and I was a bit worried. We made some changes and it still didn’t make a difference and naturally we get into the race and we have this problem, so I was doing a lot of lift and coast and not even touching the brake for half the lap. Now of course in the big stops you had to lose it. I was just trying to save as much as I could for that time when I do get a chance. It was very, very difficult to get by, defence was great, they were quite quick on the straights. But honestly I didn’t know if I could catch that 19-second gap because there is a big... my tyres were going to drop off and all these different things are going through your mind, but like the team said, you just keep your head down, so I did and kept pushing and pushing and the gap closed and closed and closed. The laps were like qualifying laps every lap. So my hat off to the team and I think if Niki was here today he’d take his hat off.

Q: I think everybody would. That’s seven wins in Hungary and a nice way to sign off for the summer break. Enjoy your rest. Max, I know you’re not going to be very happy with what happened but they had the chance to do what they did. You were not fortunately in that position (sic) but I guess you’ve got to be satisfied and Driver of the Day to say that.

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were just not fast enough. I tried everything I could on that hard tyre to stay alive but unfortunately it was just not enough. But still, second and fastest lap, I think a good weekend overall for us. Of course congrats to Lewis for the win. He was pushing me very hard, so I like that. Today we didn’t win but again, like I said, it was a good day, a good weekend for us.

Q: What was missing today? That’s four very good races but the one we all thought you would get the job done, these guys came out very strong.

MV: Just lacking a bit of grip I guess. We tried the one stop, of course they had the opportunity to do a two and today that worked out well.

Q: Sebastian, right at the very end of the grand prix. I know these guys had a lonely race at the front but always satisfying to pass your team-mate, you did something different on strategy, and to sign off what is going to be a difficult break for you guys to bounce back?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean obviously I was sitting in P4 and had nothing to lose so we stayed out very long in the first stint and then just hoped that the soft would last until the end, and it did. I think it was the fastest tyre at the end so we were able to close the gap. We had one opportunity, which I took, so happy to get some champagne now and to cool down. Yeah, we couldn’t go the pace with these two; that was quite clear the whole weekend, so lots of work ahead of us. I think it’s good now for everyone to get a break, the guys have been working very, very hard. We need maybe to charge our batteries and then the battle continues. There will be tracks that we will be better for us but still, overall we need to get stronger.

Q: With Spa and Monza coming up after the summer break you guys have got to be favourites for that with your straight-line speed.

SV: Yeah, I don’t know what other people will do in terms of updates on power unit and the engine side, so we’ll see. Obviously on paper they look better of for us. But yeah, still we know we have margin with the car. As you said it will be a busy break for us. I don’t think anyone’s mind can rest in the two weeks, so maybe we come up with some good ideas for the second half.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max coming to you, great performance by you all weekend and so much rested on that strategic call. Were you tempted to pit as well?

MV: It wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been behind then so then you know the race is lost anyway. So the only option was for me to continue and that’s what we did. Of course at one point I started to run out of tyres, I think trying to keep up with Lewis’ pace on those medium tyres, trying to keep it within a second was almost impossible. And of course you can see it coming, so for me it was not a big disappointment once he passed me, it was just a normal thing to happen. Anyway, we have to be realistic and he was just clearly faster today. Always I was struggling a little bit more for grip than him. He could keep the pressure on. Of course when you are in second you can gamble to do a two-stop. For me it was always about trying to cover him or stay ahead. With the two-stop, worst case scenario is you stay second and best case you overtake me and that’s what they did today. Yeah, then we pitted at the end as well. Of course happy to then do that fastest lap. It’s still one point and hopefully at the end of the year it will matter. Let’s see.

Q: And when you were on the same tyres compound how much did you relish that battle with Lewis?

MV: So, I think on the first tyre he never really had a shot. We were still competitive in the last sector and then when we got on the hard tyre… also with the traffic, because of that he had a few goes at me because I couldn’t do my normal lines in the last few corners and he caught up with that. And then with the defending, I tried to do it as good as I could. Luckily I could stay ahead and then he had to manage his brakes and engine a bit but you could see clearly once that was sorted he closed the gap again. If he had stayed on that one stop I think I could have kept him behind. But once he was on the medium you know it’s going to be really hard.

Q: Sebastian, strategy played a significant part in your race as well. How tough was it to get the distance on that first set of medium tyres?

SV: Very tough. I think they were in very poor condition at the end. I was happy we tried. Obviously we tried to hang in there. I think we stayed out another 10 or 15 laps after Charles pitted, just to try to do something different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously the top two were sort of gone anyways. It was really for the sake of trying something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in the end. In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s still the same. The big picture for today is that we were not quick enough and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Max, usually Red Bull is quite good on race pace and not so good on qualifying pace. Do you have an explanation why it was the other way round this weekend? Was it becauswe of the Friday, which was a little bit weird?

MV: No, I think then you can see how much margin they have when they really need to push. I think Lewis today was on fire as well, but then you see, once he really has to go for it you can see that that car is still the dominant car, it’s as simple as that. Whereas in some races it’s not as necessary. Of course they had their issues in Austria with overheating so you can’t push. Of course in Hockenheim it was tricky conditions as well so you can’t really drive to the limit of the car. But here today I think he had to go for it flat out, because I was also pushing flat out and then you can see what they are capable of as a team.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, given the hotter temperature did you expect from your car. Is it now a step back in the performances?

SV: No, I think the temperatures were fine. It was quite warm, the track was near 50 degrees as well so I don’t think so. I think we saw our limits yesterday. We got a confirmation today, so I don’t think it’s a step back, we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive, which is the case. I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we are very competitive on the straights – yesterday 6 or 7kph faster at the end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes – but obviously we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where efficiency is more important, this is a track where inefficiency pays off, so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive. That’s where we are lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not to our advantage. We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work.

Q: Thank you Sebastian. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Can you just give us your thoughts when you were 19 seconds behind with 20 laps to go?

LH: Well, firstly, Max really drove a sensational race today, as he has done particularly the last few races. When I was behind him on the hard tyre it didn’t look like he had particularly good pace – maybe he was managing to get to the end - but I had a lot of grip and I was thinking ‘I can definitely make this tyre go to the end’, because the first one I got to go quite far. But the team said we were going to a two-stop and I was thinking ‘how is this going to work out, I’m going to come out quite far behind’. But you have to put complete faith in your team because they have different viewpoint to you, so we did the stop and I came out on the mediums and I thought ‘Jeez, I don’t know if these are going to go the distance at the speed I am going to have to go’. Also Max turned up the engine mode and they started doing mid-19s. I started thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m close this gap’. I think the trajectory, they said I was going to catch him with nine laps to go and then that changed super quickly and went to last lap. So after that I had to put all doubt and all question marks out of my mind and go for the best laps I could do every single lap and consistency and not drop any time whatsoever. I had one of the most consistent period of laps that I’d had. I don’t know if he had traffic or mistakes or whatever but the gap started to chop down quite quickly. I think with four or five laps to go I had him four seconds ahead and I could see him in my sights, so maybe he’s struggling with his tyres. So after that I was like ‘OK, we’ve got a serious race on here’. It felt like the steepest wall to climb when you come out that far behind but the team had relaxed faith that we would do it and I’m grateful for their hard work and the decision.

Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Question for Max. You said just now that we saw how much margin Mercedes have. That notwithstanding, you had a brilliant race today. How much confidence does that give you, that you can come back after the summer break and take the fight to Mercedes?

MV: I think there are a few tracks coming up that are maybe not as ideal for us – but of course we know we have some updates coming soon to the car and the engine, so hopefully that will again bring us closer. We’ll find out then.

Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis, after what happened in Germany, does this feel like a redemptive special win for you and for Mercedes, to come back so strongly?

LH: I generally don’t like to look at redemption, if that’s the right word. Naturally, you know I don’t really make a lot of mistakes and I think the last one was definitely a massive off-weekend for me, and so this weekend, these two weeks, the team have been really great and supportive and taking off the workload, allowing me to recover and really just giving me the best support group possible to take any extra pressure off. Coming to this weekend, I felt I was back on it. Qualifying didn’t go the way I’d planned and I’d hoped. Then today, once I got into second, I was like ‘OK, game on’. And I could keep up with Max, no problems. So I was like, ‘we’ve got an actual real race on here. How is it going to play out? I don’t know. We’re going to have to figure it out as we go along.’ And obviously we both know where we’re going to strategy-wise. Yeah. I truly believed I could get by him at some stage but we’re also fighting at different points in the Championship. I think if we were level on points today would have been an even more aggressive battle, I would say, in the wheel-to-wheels that we did have but obviously we didn’t need to take extra risks today. So, I think Max was really fair and great with where he positioned his car. I just always made sure I gave extra space, just in case. But, of course, going into the break, this is a great, great uplift for the team, particularly after a difficult weekend for us all in the last one. So all the guys back at the factory, a big, big thank you, and the guys here with the strategy. They’re very, very calm when they talk about the strategy like that today. “No, no, truly believed you could do it.” For sure they were nervous as hell that it wasn't going to work. I think collectively we made it happen, so it’s good.

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. We saw that battle you had with Max through the middle of the race. Could you talk us through that? How much do you enjoy these wheel-to-wheel fights with Max? And how nice is it that he’s stepped up and Red Bull have stepped up this year, so you’re fighting with him on a regular basis?

LH: Yeah. It’s really fantastic to see Red Bull’s progress. Obviously we’re in a period of time, particularly this track has been a track that they’ve always been particularly fast in, in previous years and it’s really awesome for Honda as well, to see their progression. They’ve got a lot of power in that engine. So, don’t for one second think when get the…  I think we all get it… the timings where we all layout… the Red Bull were quicker than us on a single lap this weekend and we thought we were relatively level in the race but we were just able to keep up with them and match their times. I think it’s going to continue for the races to come. Even the faster circuits, the engine’s going to be great in Monza, so hopefully we’ll see this battle continue for the rest of the season. And, fingers crossed, Ferrari also will take a step back towards us at some point over the next races. But going into the break, this is awesome.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Thank you very much guys for a very good job, for very nice race. I am really happy to be here. My question to Max. How do you feel close with nine championship titles.

MV: I don’t know what to say! I have none! I don’t know what to comment on this! I still have a few years, hopefully in F1, so hopefully one day I can add one. Yeah. That’s it, I think.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – F1.com) Max, at the beginning you were only two-tenths on average slower than Lewis. Then from lap 61, 62, 63 more than 2s. So the tyre disappeared completely? And Sebastian, in spite of what you said to us, that you didn’t expect much from the team here, before coming – did you expect more than sixty seconds the difference between you and the winner?

MV: Yeah. I think it’s quite normal. Lewis was on a medium tyre, pushing flat out of course to catch up, and I was on a hard tyre trying to go flat out but trying to keep the gap but yeah, I was always trying to keep it within a second because then I knew, OK, we can get to the end but at one point the tyres were gone. I started losing one and a half second a lap and then at one point two seconds, and it was just sliding and you feel the rubber is gone, so there isn’t much you can do. It’s quite normal when you have to push that hard on the tyre quite late in the race, where you normally don’t want to push as hard on the tyre. So I guess it’s a normal progression of the tyre drop off.

Sebastian?

SV: I think some tracks you know maybe suit you, some maybe less. Despite that I think I was fairly open-minded and you know, you don’t want to accept that. So I tried everything to prove the opposite. But looking now, after yesterday, we simply didn’t have the pace of those two in particular. So there’s obviously work for us to be done. We have room to improve, in the corners is where we’re lacking. With that obviously comes the advantage on the straight, one goes with the other. But, for sure, if we could make a trade, then we would go for it. We’ve been adding small bits to the car this weekend. They were working but obviously not big enough to really get close on a track like this. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with Spa and Monza that might be better for us – but in the end our ambition is to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good though. The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.

Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Question for all three of you. The lack of meaningful running we saw on Friday afternoon went some way to us seeing the variation in strategy that we did today that allowed you to put on fresh tyres and go for the win and things like that. Would you, in the future, be happy to have less running earlier in the weekend, as drivers getting less track time, if it meant we got more unpredictability later on Sunday?

LH: I never really thought of it. I mean, if it can help with racing, sure. I think this weekend, not many people… I don’t think the Red Bulls did a long run, we did a long run in P1. I think one of few that did. I don’t know how much difference that made. It’s just that we did have an understanding of how far we thought we could take the tyres but somehow the other teams are able to do something similar with their strategies. But yeah… do you think it would make a difference.

SV: No, I actually like driving, so it would be quite bad to get rid of some. I don't think it’s a lot of driving anyway. We do a lot of races but overall I don’t think we drive very much. So, it would be a pity, I think. If you want to address the racing then there’s other things to focus on other than adding or taking away a practice session.

LH: It definitely does help when you go into a race and you don’t know how far the tyre’s going to go. That is quite… I think that is not a bad thing and I think that can add to the spectacle. If you put on a medium tyre or a hard tyre and don’t know how far it’s going to go, none of us do, it definitely makes it more questionable, the strategy. So, I understand what you’re saying but we’ve got more, bigger problems, fish to fry, the way the car’s designed and things like that for the future.

Max, your thoughts.

MV: I think anyway, this year already quite often you go into the race on a tyre you haven’t driven on in practice – because you only select one. I think it’s not bad. I like also sometimes the challenge of not knowing what’s happening. I mean, the problem is most of the time, you put that tyre on, if the balance is bad it’s hard to pass, for the guy behind. So it’s more about the following where we need to work on. If the guy behind is faster, he should be able to get by. So that’s all in relation to the tyres as well. Sometimes, of course, on purpose we don’t select the hardest compound more than once because that’s mandatory. Because you know if you stick it on, even without any knowledge, you can stay ahead and just get to the end.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, lots will be made of the strategy decisions today and obviously while you say it was a great call but Max earlier said that you were on fire today so how highly do you rate your individual performance over those last 20 laps or so?

LH: Well, it was definitely a really good day today. I think today was clearly… once we got up to second I knew that me and Max were going to have a good race. Did I know I was going to get by? Honestly I was able to keep up with him, I was able to hold on to him within the two second gap and I was just trying to see whether I could make my tyres go longer than him and just kind of really studying him, I guess, really from behind, seeing how that was going. And then he started to drop off a cliff a little bit at the end and it’s really all about trying to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. It’s not easy to follow, two seconds behind and obviously I had the brake problem as well, so I had to change my driving style quite a bit to enable this brake to go down in temperature so it meant doing a lot less braking and I had much much shorter bursts of braking and then in a lot of other places, half the lap I wasn’t really touching the brakes. So it really changes the balance of the car as well. I’m really glad of how I was able to delegate and work through that and collectively with the team, they did a really exceptional job. It will be interesting when we go back and talk about the two stop because today, this morning, we talked about the strategy and they said two stop was not going to happen and even when we called to do a two stop, I was like Jeez, I don’t know how this is going to work. A gamble’s always a good thing, it felt like a big gamble for us but at the time I felt like I had the pace on Max, I think, as I said, because I don’t know if he was backing off, or he was just controlling the pace but I felt like OK, I’m going to have a few attempts at trying to pass him but at some stage the tyres are going to go off, so I don’t know how many attempts that will be. I really don’t know how long I made those mediums go but I think it was just a collectively… a really bold, risky strategy call and then just doing the job. At the end of the day, I had to do those laps to chew out the gap that he had on me so I think collectively, as a team, we did a really exceptional job.

Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) Sebastian, you will become a father again, and with maximum respect to your personal life, can you tell us if you’re waiting (inaudible) girl and if a boy, will you be happy if he would chose your job as a racing car driver?

SV: Well, I don’t like to talk about my private life so thank you, but I think we will leave it there.

Q: (Dániel Májer – GP Hirek.hu) Now the summer break has started, the first part of the season is over so could you please rate your own performance from one to ten, one is the worst, ten is the best and explain briefly why you give yourself that mark?

SV: Five, not happy with the first half. I think I struggled here and there to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things so fair enough. Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And five is my number, so take five.

LH: So that’s the first half of the season, yeah? I’d say like 8.9, 8.8.

SV: Go ten, man. Go for it, who cares?

LH: If it wasn’t for the last one, the last race, it would be a little bit higher. I think the good thing is always to score yourself a little bit lower so you’ve more to work on. For sure, it’s been the best start of the season that I think we’ve ever had as a team and I think it’s one of the best seasons that I’ve had personally to start off, but there are areas that we can continue to work on. That’s the great thing about this sport, you know, no matter how many years and days you race there are always areas you can improve on. So let’s see if we can try and up that into the nines or try to get to the tens in the second half of the season.

MV: I don’t rate myself in numbers.

SV: What do you do instead? Letters? Or…

MV: No, I hate putting a number on it because it reminds me of school as well, which is not that long ago. I’m always quite critical and I think it always can be better. I’ll never be satisfied. I think it’s been very positive and I’ve had good results but there are always things to work on.

SV: … a number man!

MV: No I don’t.

SV: We did it.

MV: Yeah, I know but… I don’t know, I think it’s… First of all, I cannot rate myself like that.

LH: Why not, you’ve done a good job man?

MV: I know, but… I don’t know. I find it a bit weird to say an eight or…

Q: Lewis, how would you rate Max if you gave him a number?

LH: I don’t remember all the races that you’ve done other than the last three or four. You could say he’s in the high nines over the last few races but I can’t remember how it went before.

MV: I’ve had a lot of fourths, P3 and then three times fourth. P5, P3… too many P3, P4.

LH: It’s easier to rate yourself because you often remember how many mistakes you’ve made, when you’ve done good, when you’ve kind of been under par and he’ll know whether he’s been on par or below par. I think today he drove exceptionally as he has particularly in the past three or four races so if that continues he’s going to continue to operate in the high nines towards tens.

MV: Nobody’s perfect. No, it’s never perfect…

LH: It’s like an impossible number to get.

MV: 9.9?

LH: It’s a hard one to get to.

Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Lewis and Max, Fernando Alonso praised your performance on social media. It seems he enjoyed the battle as well. Would you like to see him back in Formula One and race against him again?

LH: Well, firstly that’s really awesome that he’s supportive… I was just actually watching some of the restarts, the starts of previous years and watching him from his Renault days and I remember just before I even got to Formula One watching how amazing their starts were. I don’t know how old Fernando is now but he’s always going to be a great driver. If he can get a good seat, he’s always welcome here to battle with us. It doesn’t make a difference, really, necessarily for me. I’m here to fight whoever’s here.

MV: Yeah, I think it was a bit of a shame that I never had an opportunity to fight against him in F1 so yeah…

LH: Could be a good team-mate for you.

MV: Fernando? Well, you have experience with it, I don’t know. Well...

SV: He could be your father!

MV: Yeah, it’s close! Yeah, I know. As a young father. How old is he? 36? 38! OK, well 17 is possible to be a father.

SV: Talking with experience?

MV: I don’t know. At least I don’t know.

LH: How old are you now?

MV: 21. Many years, plenty of years…

LH: Jeez. I like being in this room because I’m not the oldest!

MV: 34?

LH: I’m 34, yeah, nearly 35.

SV: I’ll tell you, the day we get beat by somebody who’s born in 2000 and upwards. We will know it’s time…

MV: I’m not that young!

Q: Sebastian, final thoughts on Fernando? Would you like to see him back?

SV: I don’t mind. I don’t know why… I don’t think he never really liked me. I don’t think we really had a… I don’t mind him. I respect him for what he achieved and for what he can do on track. I don’t know. I guess he’s bored if he has time to write these things. So bring him back, I don’t mind.

MV: Maybe as a social media manager. To me, he’s always been very nice and good. I like that he is also now looking into other opportunities for racing. He just loves racing and he wants to win, he wants to be competitive. It’s good to see.

LH: The sport needs the best drivers in the best seats and there is still at least a seat available that’s good enough for winning and he’s good enough for winning so it wouldn’t be such a bad…

MV: Maybe he could speak to Toto.

LH: Valtteri’s great; Valtteri’s been winning. You’re the one with the extra seat, I would say.

MV: I didn’t say that.

SV: I’m not sure…

FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference: 2019 Hungarian GP.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Q: Question inaudible

Max Verstappen: It’s incredible! This one was still missing. The car felt good all weekend and then of course you know it’s always going to be hard in qualifying but we managed to do it and of course a big thank you to the team. The car was flying out there in qualifying. It was incredible.

Q: If you’d saw how nervous the garage was when you went out for that last run, but I guess when you hear on the radio that you’ve actually nailed that, it’s just growing isn’t it, the confidence with there, and tomorrow you’re in a great position with that.

MV: Yeah, absolutely. Very happy about today. Still a race to do and that’s at the end of the day the most important, but for me today was an important one, a very nice one and also a great one for the team.

Q: The Dutch travel in form and you can hear when you drew up… ? 

MV: They’re loving it!

Q: …You had the engine noise but you could hear them. You’ve lifted this place. Max, congratulations. Valtteri, you nearly got the job done. I guess after last weekend, Max pulling out a great lap, but you came close and you’re in a good position.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I’ve been kind of chasing a little bit this weekend after missing pretty much all practice one, only limited laps in practice two, and I only really started to get into the rhythm this morning. It was getting better and better in qualifying and I’m pretty pleased with the lap in the end. Very close with Max, they’ve been quick all weekend, but, you know, as always it’s tomorrow that counts.

Q: Can you still win this race from the position you’re in?

VB: Of course. We are here to fight for the win. There’s lots of support for that, so that’s going to make a difference.

Q: All the best. Lewis, third position. I guess you would say it’s been a difficult day after your form in qualifying normally. But I guess Max pulling out a great lap, Valtteri there as well, are you happy with where you ended up?

Lewis HAMILTON: Naturally we’re always targeting first. Max did a great job and so did Valtteri. It kind of got away from me a little bit once we got into qualifying but still we’re in a good position to fight for the win, so we’ll just be pushing hard tomorrow.

Q: These guys are starting to ramp up the pressure now, Ferrari were very close as well, the Red Bull. Are you relishing this fight that they’re taking to you?

LH: I’m always down for a fight so…

Q: I guess you’ll have to pass some cars tomorrow to try and get this win?

LH: Yeah, I think it’s obviously a long, long way down to Turn 1, so it will be interesting. It’s not the easiest place to overtake, but strategy will come into it tomorrow, so I hope we can give them a run for their money.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max, what an exciting moment for you. You’ve had a few minutes now to digest it, how does it feel?

MV: Yeah, it feels good. I think the whole weekend already the car was very competitive. Of course there’s always a bit of a question mark how it’s going to work out in qualifying when we know that they can turn up a bit more power. But we seemed to hang in there and the car actually got better and better throughout qualifying. I was very happy with it, very pleased. It was really enjoyable to drive. I didn’t really have any comments throughout qualifying, I just said ‘keep it going, keep the car going and give me new tyres’ and that’s exactly what we did. Of course to get your first pole is very nice but it’s of course what counts on Sundays always.

Q: Well, you’ve been brilliant on Sundays, you’ve had seven wins. What’s the overriding emotion now that you’ve finally go this first pole?

MV: People will stop asking me that question. Yeah, I guess so. For me it never really mattered. I knew it was a matter of time. You need a bit of luck sometimes as well. Of course, I made mistakes myself to miss a pole position shot. And today we got it, so very happy with that.

Q: Many congratulations, well done. Valtteri, it’s been a difficult build up to qualifying for you, with very little running in practice yesterday. How was the car this afternoon?

VB: Yeah, it’s been not the easiest of weekends so far. I missed the whole of practice one, I had no track time, and I obviously very limited running in practice two. So this morning it was really important in practice three to find the rhythm and it was really getting better and better. I was getting the confidence in the car. Luckily there were no big set-up issues and I could just fine-tune it for qualifying. And again in qualifying, just learning each lap more and more and it started to feel very nice in Q3. It’s a shame to miss the pole by such a small margin, always, but congrats to Max and to Red Bull, they’ve been strong all weekend. But on how the weekend started, in that sense, I’m quite happy with that, but obviously a lot happier sitting in the middle.

Q: Thank you and well done. Lewis, you came into the qualifying session seeking your seventh pole position here in Hungary. You’re lining up third. Just talk us through it?

LH: Firstly, congratulations to Max. It’s an amazing feeling to get your first pole position, so really happy for him. For me a difficult qualifying session. Practice was going quite well. We knew the Red Bulls were quick – they’re always quick here. I think when I got into qualifying the car wasn’t the same as it was in P3 and it just was a bit of a struggle from the beginning and it kind of just plateaued there. It didn’t really get any better. But nonetheless we’re still there in the fight and hopefully for the race we’ll have better race pace than I did in quali.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Max, you have a powerful engine but I think at the start of the season the chassis wasn’t really optimum. How much has the chassis improved from Spain testing to here?

MV: I never said it was only the chassis, I think it’s a bit of both where we were lacking in the beginning. We made good gains with the engine, but we’re not where we want to be and I think everybody knows that. But we are pushing hard and we are improving and we are getting close to Mercedes and Ferrari, especially Ferrari, they seem very quick on the straights. With the chassis I think since Austria where we introduced a few crucial updates I think the car has been a lot better. From there onwards we kept bringing new parts. Maybe not as major as that one but it always gave me more of a balanced feeling in the car. And that’s exactly what we were looking for in the car and I guess it shows today on a track where you need a lot of downforce that the car was working really well.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) My question to Mr Hamilton. Lewis, seven years ago you were here the winner but 2012 we had six champions in the peloton and you were only a one-time champion. Today we have only three champions in the peloton and you are a five-time champion. Do you think tomorrow, will it be easier for you to win than seven years ago – or not?

MV: I didn’t know we had a peloton…

LH: Did I win 2012? I don't really remember that far back. Competition-wise, I don’t think it makes any difference, I don’t think, between those years. We’ve got some fierce competition within the top three teams. Is it easier now to win than before? I wouldn’t say so. It’s different circumstances now, naturally, and with more experience hopefully you are slightly prepared that I was back in… I would hope I’m better prepared than I was in 2012 but you’re still fighting an uphill battle all the time. You’re always finding new circumstances each weekend. This weekend, it started out well and it’s not gone great today but that doesn’t mean tomorrow can’t go great.

…but you have more experience?

LH: So, hopefully we’ll see that play its role.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, by getting the breakthrough pole position for yourself and Red Bull with Honda, what message do you think that sends? Obviously you’ve made it clear that qualifying is the area you think you need to improve. And to the two Mercedes drivers, obviously you won’t take your eye off the challenge from Ferrari but do you think that Max is now your nearest, most consistent challenger?

MV: We know that, if you can start more upfront in the race, it all makes it a bit easier to control a race – but we kept working really hard to improve the engine, to get a bit more out of it in qualifying, and I think that showed again today – that we were able to push it a bit more but of course within the limits of not blowing up. We keep improving. There are positive things also coming in the upcoming races. Of course, very happy to get my first pole position but also with the team, how quickly we turn things around from the beginning of the year where we were clearly lacking and now we are definitely closing up. And this weekend we were there, so that was good.

Mercedes drivers: Valtteri, how do you see the pecking order at the front now? Do you think Max is your closest rival?

VB: Well obviously it always depends on the tracks and circumstances but if you look at the trend, let’s say from the last five races, I think Red Bull has been the one who has been improving the most, closing the gap and today qualifying on pole. So, for sure they are doing many things right, and that means we have to work harder as a team but, y’know, I’m sure Ferrari isn’t standing still either. It’s maybe a tricky track for them but we’re going to see a strong performance from them as well.

Lewis, your thoughts.

LH: Enough said.

Max is the top scorer in the last four races

MV: You need to be the top scorer over the whole season, that’s what counts.

Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó-motor) Max, you have been quite close to pole on a couple of occasions recently but you had a problem with the throttle application – turbo-lag, I think – is that problem now solved. And do you agree with Lewis the Honda engine is now at least as powerful as the Mercedes one at certain places.

MV: Yeah, no problems this weekend, so that was all very good. No, I think we are still a bit down, in qualifying especially, but we are definitely closing up.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have had only one victory from P2. How tricky a place is this to get the second one?

VB: Well, for sure it’s going to be a good battle tomorrow. It’s never going to be easy, and that’s obviously the only target as a driver. And starting in the front row and it’s very much possible. If the performance is there from my side, we as a team, it’s possible. It really doesn’t matter where you start from, as we’ve seen in the past, anything can always happen. Good chance. Very upbeat for tomorrow.

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Max, throughout your career so far you’ve held the majority of records for being the youngest driver to hit certain achievements. This is one of the few things you’ve missed out on. Do you care much for those kind of accolades and records – or not really?

MV: No. I don't’ know, I can make it a long story but it’s not so. It’s nice but it doesn’t make me sleep better, or anything.

LH: Who has the youngest pole?

MV: I think it’s Seb.

VB: Now you can’t sleep.

MV: Yep, now I’ll have a bad sleep.

Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari) Question to Max. You struggled with an issue at a couple of grand prix, Hockenheim and Silverstone, how was the issue in today’s qualifying?

MV: Yeah, I just had the same question before. There was no problem this weekend.

Q: (Peter Vamosi – Racing Line) Renault claims that the engine is now at 1000bhp. What about Honda and Mercedes engines in this case? And an engineer said it’s impossible right now in this state to break this, also for Ferrari.

MV: Well, if they claim to have a thousand horsepower they have a really bad car! I think it’s better to do the talking on the track than in the media anyway.

LH: I have no idea what brake horsepower we have so similar; it’s all very close.

VB: Actually just yesterday I asked the team – because we had some engine issues, we had some talks about the engine and I asked how much horsepower we had in qualifying and the engineers said they don’t know, they don’t actually know, so no one knows.

LH: That might be why you’re catching us up.

Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Max, you used the phrase earlier on ‘we knew Mercedes were going to turn up the engines for qualifying.’ Just to be clear, are you now able to turn up the Honda engine for qualifying, because you implied that but not actually said that?

MV: Yeah, we do but it just seems like it’s not as powerful as maybe… well, looking at Ferrari they really turn it up. We do turn it up but maybe not as aggressive.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - liviooricchioF1.com) Lewis and Valtteri, Mercedes presented almost a new version of the car at Hockenheim with great changes in the aero package and here the results were maybe not what the team expected. Is that because the teams needs to understand better the new spec of car or even the upgrade was not one the team was expecting?

VB: Well, based on everything we saw with the new package and analysis after last weekend as well it’s working as it should, so it’s a reasonable step forward in terms of downforce and efficiency. I guess other teams are moving ahead as well, forward as well with the performance but for sure we kind of expected to have a bit of a step compared to others but I think they are improving as well. It’s still a development race for quite some while before things are done.

LH: Still trying to understand it. I think there are bits of it that are better and bits of it that are the same. So as I said the other day, we’re just constantly trying to understand it and improve it and I don’t think it’s a negative at all. We definitely have moved forward but clearly the others continue to move forward at the same time, at a steeper pace, maybe.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Practice starts, did they go OK, did they give you confidence?

MV: Yeah, they were all good.

VB: I had a really good practice start.

MV: Yeah? I had a wheelie off the line! I was wheelie-ing.

VB: Yeah? Me too!

MV: Up to second gear!

Q: (Daniel Majer - GPHirek.hu) Lewis and Valtteri, track position on this track is very important so tomorrow if Max comes first from the start, he can have an easier task. Do you think it would be good to discuss with the team any kind of tactics to hunt him down and then play it between yourselves or do you prefer just to mind your own thing?

LH: Where’s the other Red Bull? So we’re in a good position in terms of working as a team tomorrow. We’re in a fortunate position, potentially, if we can hold on to Max to be able to work together to pull him closer to us and give him a bit of a run for his money. It’s a little bit harder when you’re on your own at the front in the team, because you can come under attack from undercuts and all this sort of thing. We’ll see how that plays out but we’ve got a long run down to turn one so hopefully we will have a nice long battle down there and then after that it’s down to team tactics.

VB: Yeah, for sure we always discuss it, especially if we’re kind of starting next to each other and like Lewis said, we have a good chance as a team because we have two cars very much at the front. Obviously we are both also racing for our own result but also working as a team will benefit both of us so it should be interesting tomorrow.

Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Lewis, can you please tell us how was your preparation for this race weekend after your problems in Hockenheim?

LH: It was just sleep. I didn’t get any training done, just literally sleeping a lot all week. That’s all I can really say about it.

Q: Are you healthy this weekend?

LH: Yeah, I feel a lot better, a lot better. Sweating a lot still but much better.

Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) Max, in the past couple of weeks you were quickest in the fast and very hot Red Bull Ring. You were quickest in the wet Hockenheim and now you’re quickest here in the cooler and slow Hungaroring. Can Red Bull and you be favourites in the next races or what makes you think you can’t be?

MV: I don’t know. We’ve got Spa and Monza coming up. Monza is maybe not our best track. Spa I don’t know actually, but first we have the summer break as well so honestly I’m not thinking about that yet. I feel good. I think the last few races, even on tracks where I didn’t expect to be like really, really competitive we were still there so anything can happen, to be honest.

PREVIEW: The Title Fight heats up heading to Trois-Rivieres.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

The FIA World Rallycross Championship heads to Trois-Rivieres for round seven of Championship.

The 1.37km high-speed circuit throws up all manner of challenges. And, as is customary with street layouts flanked by concrete walls, errors are heavily punished.

Six points is the difference between team-mates Kevin Hansen and his older brother Timmy Hansen, while Andreas Bakkerud is a further 22 points behind Kevin. 

After round six in Sweden at the start of July, Kevin said he was set for a battle to the wire. “To lead the championship by just six points is nothing and with Timmy as my team-mate we will continue pushing and at the end of the season we will see who had the most luck and who didn’t,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Timmy is relishing the challenge of Trois-Rivieres.  “Canada is one of my favourite circuits of the year, because it's a really complete rallycross track. You have asphalt, you have gravel, you have a bit of everything. The asphalt and gravel are in two distinct sections and there's a jump between each section so you really have to switch from one mode to the next," said Timmy Hansen. 

"The asphalt section has the highest top speed of the year, and it's somewhere that you have to use all the road, getting as close to the walls as you dare, and that's where you can really make up time," he adds. "So you need to be quite brave!”

Having claimed victory in Canada in 2016 and finished second last year, Timmy enters the weekend as favourite. He proved in Sweden, when he rebounded from as low as 16th in qualifying to reach the final, that he can put things right when it matters. 

Kevin competes in the same machinery as his brother for the first time in his career and takes the momentum from Sweden having finished second in the final to regain the championship lead.

As for Bakkerud, he has been a bumper-length away from victory most notably at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps where he was pipped by Timmy Hansen and Timur Timerzyanov respectively.

Bakkerud was second to Timmy Hansen in Canada in 2016 and a finalist in 2015 where he finished fifth. The Monster Energy RX Cartel driver was disadvantaged by the changeable weather in Sweden and his Audi S1 was brought to a halt by a broken driveshaft in his semi-final. “I’m hoping to put the bad luck of Sweden behind me,” he said. “Canada is always a challenge so I’m looking forward to it.”

Niclas Gronholm, the winner in Hell, Norway, is currently fourth in the chase on 96 points despite missing the rounds in Belgium and Great Britain through illness.

The GRX Taneco driver believes his Hyundai i20 will be up for the job in Trois-Rivieres. “I’m really looking forward to the race in Canada – I think we have a good car for the track,” the Finn said.

“I like racing at Trois-Rivieres even though it is very tricky in some places and since this is a street circuit, there is no room for errors. It’s been a long break from racing now, my ‘batteries’ are fully charged and motivation is high.”

Timur Timerzyanov, the winner of round three in Belgium, is also looking forward to spreading the World RX gospel. “Rallycross for North America is still a relatively new thing and I am glad that we can show Canadians how exciting it is,” the Russian said.

“There is always plenty of action and great racing at Trois-Rivieres, with sudden weather changes possibly mixing up the field even more.”

The consistency of Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis has brought rewards with the Latvian holding down fifth place overall (89 points) after appearing in four of the six finals to date. The highlight was third place in Norway. 

Bakkerud’s Monster RX Cartel team-mate Liam Doran has rued missed opportunities this year. He has made the podium once (in Abu Dhabi) from four finals. The Briton lies seventh with 76 points, two behind Timerzyanov, and is seeking redemption this time out.

“I’ve struggled a bit at the more traditional rallycross tracks – Norway and Sweden – and I’m looking forward to Canada which is a different style of track. Hopefully it will bring a change of fortune,” said Doran. 

Timo Scheider, a semi-finalist in Canada two years’ ago, believes Trois-Rivieres will mostly be all about horsepower. “Canada is an engine track. It has the longest and quickest straight on the calendar,” he said.

“But you also need good aero and mechanical grip for the dirt section which is quite rough. I think the Seat will be suited to the track and we have a small upgrade for Canada so I’m optimistic.”

The five-car GC Kompetition squad are also likely to feature strongly, according to team boss Guerlain Chicherit. “In Holjes we showed competitive pace and found some consistency. Canada is an exciting track for both the Meganes and the Clios and a really fun event to be at,” he said.

EKS Sport’s Krisztian Szabo and Xite Racing’s Oliver Bennett are also looking to overcome the disappointment of finishing down the order in Holjes due to mishaps and mechanical failures.