Williams Racing: 2019 United States GP Preview.

We cross the border for the final leg of the last back-to-back of the season, as we go Stateside for Round 19 of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Austin’s popular Circuit of the Americas is a favourite amongst drivers and fans, not least due to its lively off-track atmosphere.

The United States Grand Prix is a new track for both Robert and George, but one that they are looking forward to. Nicholas Latifi will drive his penultimate FP1 of the season, this time in George’s car.

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer

For the second of the back-to-back races, we head north to Austin and the COTA circuit. Since it joined the Formula One calendar, the Circuit of the Americas has been a firm favourite with the drivers and fans alike. The circuit features a series of signature corners as well as the daunting climb up to T1, which adds to the spectacle of the race start.

The weather in Austin in October can range from very cold to oppressively hot and can change rapidly. Where 2019 ends up in this range of conditions will dictate how the tyres behave and will likely have a large influence on the race result. To cope with the demands of this circuit, Pirelli have again provided the three middle compounds from their range. Although the same compounds as raced in Mexico, their behaviour will be different, and a typical Friday programme will involve understanding their performance at low and high fuel.

With the end of the 2019 season almost in sight, we begin in earnest our trackside preparations for 2020 with some additional tyres testing on Friday. Pirelli have provided each car with 2 sets of tyres in the 2020 construction and so we can expect to see more running than usual during FP1 and FP2 as the teams begin their preparations ahead of the post-season Abu Dhabi tyre test.

Nicholas joins us again this weekend, this time driving George’s car in FP1. Our programme will include further aerodynamic testing, 2020 tyre testing, and our usual qualifying and race preparation. If the weather is kind, then Friday could be an extremely busy day.

Robert Kubica #88

I know very little about the track in Austin. I know what I have seen from footage and the simulator, but it will be a new track for me. From what I can see it looks like a challenging circuit, especially the first part of it. However, I am looking forward to a new experience.

George Russell #63

Austin is a track and a race that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Out of the newer circuits it is definitely the best one out there, it has such an amazing flow to it. It is a track similar to Silverstone, with an incredibly fun first sector. I have been there the last two years and it was always a great atmosphere, so I am really looking forward to it.

Nicholas Latifi

Coming off an FP1 last week I feel that I am more in the rhythm of the car, which is important when you only have a limited number of laps in the session. Austin in probably one of the tracks on the calendar that I am most looking forward to driving that I have not yet driven. It seems like a track that has a bit of everything and the first sector, with all the fast-flowing corners, is exactly what I love in these high downforce cars.  It’s not so often that I get to drive new tracks for the first time so I’m looking forward to that challenge and hopefully I’ll be able to get up to speed quickly.

PREVIEW PROVIDED BY: Williams Racing

Racing Point: 2019 United States GP Preview.

Lance Stroll #18

“Austin is a great place to have a race. It’s a city full of excitement and it’s always awesome to be in Texas. A lot of fans come to the race so we always get a really good atmosphere. Away from the track I sometimes like to catch some live music, but I try to save my free time for a nice BBQ dinner.

“Austin is a very technical lap with a combination of low and high-speed corners, which means setting up the car is quite challenging. I enjoy the first sector the most. Turn 1 is a blind uphill corner that you approach at almost 190 mph. The steep approach means it’s quite satisfying on the brakes because the car really stops well with that amount of incline. Because it’s a blind corner you have to be very precise with the turn-in. From there the sequence of corners is really amazing. The speed that we carry through those corners on a qualifying lap is unbelievable, so I really enjoy it.

“It’s a track where it’s quite difficult to follow other cars closely, but there are definitely overtaking opportunities. The track is wide at Turn 1 so there’s an opportunity to brake late and dive down the inside. There is also a long run down the back straight and if you get a good exit out of the hairpin leading onto the straight you can make a pass.”

Sergio Perez #11

“I’m still feeling really happy with our race in Mexico last weekend. Finishing as best of the rest is realistically the most we could have achieved. It showed our strengths as a team and shows the progress we are making with this car – even in the final part of the year. I feel we can fight for points in all of the remaining races.

“Austin has always felt like a second home race for me because of the number of Mexican fans who come along. It feels strange to be going there after Mexico because it’s usually the other way around. I enjoy having these two races next to each other – they are both highlights of the year for me and very enjoyable. I always notice the Mexican flags in the grandstands and it gives you a boost.

“As for the track, it’s interesting for the drivers because of the range of corners. It’s challenging, especially the first sector, which I enjoy the most because of the quick corners. Turn 1 is pretty unique being so steep and it’s not easy to choose your braking point. You can brake so late because of the gradient, but it’s easy to go in too deep and miss the blind apex. You can also experiment with taking some different lines through the corner because it’s so wide.

“There are parts of the lap that remind me of other tracks. The quick part in sector 1 is similar to the first sector in Suzuka, for example. It’s just a good fun track that’s very satisfying to drive. It’s definitely one of the best modern tracks.”

Otmar Szafnauer - Team Principal

“I always enjoy going back to America. It’s where I grew up and spent a big part of my life - and it’s also where my interest and passion for motorsport began. I went to my first Formula 1 race in 1984 in Detroit when I was at college, and the speed and the sound captured my imagination. It’s been satisfying to see Formula 1 become established in Austin through the efforts of the Circuit of the Americas. It’s important that our sport is represented in such an important market, where we’ve seen the appetite for F1 grow stronger and stronger.

“We’re at that point in the season where every point is hugely important. We’re in the thick of this midfield battle and the six points we scored in Mexico have helped us close the gap on fifth place to just nine points. The car was strong in Mexico and we will work hard to ensure similar pace in Austin this weekend.”

PROVIDED BY: Racing Point F1 Team

Scuderia Ferrari: 2019 United States GP Preview.

This weekend’s race will be the 41st race to go by the name of United States Grand Prix to count towards the World Championship. However, there have been a total of 69 Formula 1 races held in the United States, including eleven editions of the Indianapolis 500 and 18 other Grands Prix. Two of those were even held in the car parking of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Scuderia Ferrari has won a total of 13 times here.

Indianapolis and then Sebring. One race in America even featured in 1950, the very first year of the World Championship. It was the Indianapolis 500 and it was part of the calendar up to 1960, as an attempt that never really succeeded, to bring together the different worlds of European and American racing. Scuderia Ferrari had a go at winning this race on the famous oval, in 1952 with Alberto Ascari, but the Italian retired. The first real United States Grand Prix was held in 1959 at Sebring and was won by Bruce McLaren in a Cooper, with Tony Brooks third for Ferrari. The following year, the race moved to Riverside, but the Scuderia did not take part.

The long wait. Scuderia Ferrari had to wait until 1975 to see one of its drivers stand on the top step of the podium in the USA. Niki Lauda, who had already secured that year’s title, won in dominant fashion at Watkins Glen, the track in upstate New York, which hosted 20 editions of this race. The following year it was the Swiss Clay Regazzoni’s turn to celebrate, when he won at Long Beach, which, for eight years, hosted races when the USA boasted two events per season on the F1 calendar. At the end of the Seventies, there were two fantastic double victories, the first in 1978 with Carlos Reutemann winning in Watkins Glen and Long Beach, a feat repeated by Gilles Villeneuve the following year.

Return to Indy. Throughout the Eighties, the United States remained on the calendar with races at Las Vegas, one in Dallas, seven in Detroit and three in Phoenix from 1989 to 1991. After that, the race fell off the calendar and did not return until 2000. This time it was held on a purpose built track using the infield, which linked into Turn 1 on the oval, running down the main straight albeit in the opposite direction to the Indycar race. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari baptised the new track in fine style, winning the opening Grand Prix, which laid the groundwork for winning that year’s title.

The golden years. The new Indianapolis circuit became the scene of a whole string of successes for Ferrari. In 2000, its two cars took the flag in line abreast, evoking memories of that great sports car win in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours. The unusual aspect on the day was the fact that while trying to cross the line together, Rubens Barrichello, intentionally or otherwise, hit the throttle pedal fractionally too hard to beat Schumacher to the win by just 11 thousandths of a second. After that, the German won four times in a row, from 2003 to 2006, the penultimate year that an F1 race was held at Indy.

In Texas. The United States Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 2012 on the brand new Circuit of the Americas or COTA as it is known, located on the outskirts of Austin in the Lone Star State. Designed by the specialist track architect Hermann Tilke, it is a spectacular venue that climbs and drops in the Texan landscape. Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow won here last year courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen. For the Finn, who won the world title with Ferrari in 2007, it was his tenth win for the team, 9 years and 52 days after the previous one at Spa-Francorchamps in 2009. As for the current drivers, Sebastian Vettel won here in 2013, while Charles Leclerc, on his only appearance last year, was involved in an incident in the early part of the race and later had to retire.

FERRARI STATS ALL GP HELD IN UNITED STATES
GP contested 56
Debut 1952, Indianapolis 500 (Alberto Ascari ret.)
Wins 13 (23,21%)
Pole positions 13 (23,21%)
Fastest laps 15 (26,87%)
Podiums 36 (64,28%)

Charles Leclerc #16

“I really like being in the United States and the city of Austin is amazing. It is just a great location and the atmosphere around the whole event is special, different to what we usually have.

The circuit itself is also quite unique. Inspired by parts of some of the most iconic race tracks around the world, it gives us drivers a really nice challenge.

With a long straight and a lot of different types of corners, you have to make sure to find the right balance for the car. It is also one of the few tracks to run counter-clockwise, so that mixes things up for us in the cockpit, too.”

Sebastian Vettel #5

“The US GP in Austin is a very different proposition to the high-altitude of Mexico. The Circuit of the Americas is an exciting track, with a wide range of cornering speeds and lots of changes of direction. It’s quite bumpy, particularly in the big braking zones so it’s easy to lock wheels there. The strategy choice is quite open, with both one and two-stop plans looking possible.

It’s a tricky circuit to get the tyres into the right performance window, so Friday running is important to understand the tyres and get prepared for the race.

Last year’s event was difficult because none of us got much useful running due to the poor weather on Friday. The forecast for this year is dry but quite cool. It should be a good circuit for us but, as we saw last year, we can take nothing for granted and the competition is also strong.”

Mattia Binotto Team Principal

“We have started the last six races from pole position but have only gone on to win three of them and we certainly want to do better than that. We are encouraged by the fact that we now have a package that allows us to fight for wins on most tracks. It’s a significant improvement on how we started the year and credit must go to all the people in Maranello and at the track, who have worked so hard to fight back from where we started.

We need to use the last three races of this season to further develop as a group and to operate in the sharpest possible manner in order to be better prepared for next year. It is a very tight field at the front and every detail matters if we want to win more often.

Austin will hopefully give us a good opportunity to do so. It is a very challenging track with many different combinations of corner. Of course everyone will be looking to see what happens with the tyres after the surprising longevity of Pirelli’s hard compound last week in Mexico. We are aware that every track can produce its own particular surprises and our aim is to be ready to react to whatever situation might arise.

Finally, it’s always special to race in the US, a country with a huge history of motor racing. We won here last year and the team’s motivation will be to try and bring home a very good result”.

PREVIEW PROVIDED BY Scuderia Ferrari

Nürburgring to join World Rallycross calendar from 2020.

The Nürburgring will host the German round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship from next season. 

Although no track layout has been released, the World RX championship will race around the Müllenbachschleife (Müllenbach loop).

"This is going to be a very spectacular weekend. We are proud that we were able to bring this unique World Championship to the Nürburgring", said Nürburgring CEO Mirco Markfort. 

World RX has visited Germany in previous years with racing at the Estering and the Hockenheimring. However, in 2019 the German round was dropped off the calendar. 

The Müllenbach loop colored in red.

The 2020 FIA World Rallycross calendar is taking shape after the announcement last week of Portugal returning to the calendar, and Spa-Francorchamps hosting the World RX event on May 16-17. In addition to these announcements, South Africa will continue to host World RX up until 2021. 

Dates for the Portuguese and South African rounds in 2020 are yet to be announced. However, in today's announcement, the Nürburgring will host its maiden World RX event on 1/2 August 2020. 

It remains unclear if any of the existing World RX will be dropped for the 2020 season. 

Written By Junaid Samodien

Haas F1 Team: 2019 United States GP Preview.

After a difficult Mexican Grand Prix, there truly is no place like home as Haas F1 Team heads home to the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. 

The only American team competing in the FIA Formula One World Championship, Haas F1 Team finally gets to race on home soil after the majority of its Formula One brethren enjoyed home grands prix of their own. Part of that Texas soil includes Haas Hill, located between turns 18-19 on the 5.513-kilometer (3.426-mile), 20-turn track, where throngs of Haas F1 Team fans have gathered since 2016 to cheer on the organization that in less than four years is already 21st on the list of teams that have scored the most points in their Formula One histories – and this is in a sport enjoying its 70th anniversary and celebrated its 1,000th grand prix back in April.

Despite a frustrating season that currently has Haas F1 Team ninth in the constructors’ standings, seven points behind eighth-place Alfa Romeo and 27 points ahead of 10th-place Williams, the American squad remains bullish on its chances at COTA. Drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen have both earned points-paying drives at COTA. In the second Formula One race at the track in 2013, Grosjean finished a career-best second to the dominant Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. It’s one of three point-paying results Grosjean has achieved in his seven career Formula One starts at COTA. Teammate Magnussen finished in the points in his first Formula One start at COTA in 2014 when he came home eighth. And in his most recent Formula One start at COTA last year, Magnussen finished ninth, although not according to the record books. That’s because in post-race technical inspection, FIA Stewards determined that Magnussen’s racecar consumed more than the maximum allotment of 105 kilograms of fuel during the 56-lap race.

Having a thirsty engine is appropriate for a team that has remained hungry, even after finishing an impressive fifth in the constructors’ ranks last year. Haas F1 Team’s strong showing in 2018 coincided with the incredibly stout performance of its counterpart in NASCAR – Stewart-Haas Racing. Gene Haas, founder and chairman of Haas F1 Team, co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing with three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. That outfit racked up 16 wins, 15 poles, 60 top-fives, 115 top-10s and 3,949 laps led in 2018 between its four-car NASCAR Cup Series team and two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series team.

The Formula One paddock will get a taste of what Stewart-Haas Racing is all about on Thursday when Stewart himself brings his No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang onto the track for a demonstration run. Then, he’ll turn the seat over to Grosjean and Magnussen, who will each get to wheel the 1,452-kilogram (3,200-pound) racecar around America’s only purpose-built Formula One track. It will be a stark contrast between the 733-kilogram (1,616-pound) Haas VF-19 that the duo will race throughout the United States Grand Prix weekend. 

Contrast best describes a lap around COTA. It is a counter-clockwise circuit – one of only five on the 22-race Formula One calendar, joining Azerbaijan, Singapore, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Just 14 percent of a lap around COTA is spent under braking, with drivers at full throttle for nearly 60 percent of their lap. High speed and rapid changes of direction comprise the layout between turns two and 10, with this first sector akin to the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel complex at Silverstone Circuit in England. The end of the lap from turn 12 through turn 20 before hitting the frontstretch features low-speed combinations of mainly second-gear corners. The long backstraight, however, prevents teams from running maximum downforce as drivers want to retain as much speed as possible to either attack or defend through the tight turn 12. This corner, along with the uphill run to turn one and the hairpin in turn 11, provide good passing opportunities.

All of this makes the United States Grand Prix a race no one wants to pass up, and it’s one with special purpose for Haas F1 Team.

Guenther Steiner - Team Principal

Sports are big in America and right now, baseball’s World Series is underway, basketball and hockey have started their respective seasons, and football is right in the heart of its season. And in motorsports, NASCAR is in the semi-final stage of its playoffs, with the third-to-last race of the season happening just a few hours away on Sunday in Fort Worth. It’s a crowded landscape. How can Formula One, and the United States Grand Prix in particular, stand out from the crowd?

“I think Formula One has made good progress over the last few years in the United States. The viewing figures are up and the United States Grand Prix in Austin is almost always sold out. I think progress is being made. It is difficult, as it’s a crowded space there with sports, but viewership is increasing. I think Circuit of the Americas has helped a lot to achieve that, and I think Haas F1 Team – with Gene Haas investing in the team – has also helped achieve a lot in terms of making it more popular in the United States. I’m sure there’s a lot more to come.”  

It appears Formula One is closer to having a second race in America, perhaps as early as 2021, in Miami. How helpful will a second race in the United States be to increasing Formula One’s popularity in America, as well as the popularity of Haas F1 Team?

“Absolutely, it will help. For Haas F1 Team, more races in America is good. But, more than for Haas – Formula One in general – having more races in the United States is good. Miami is a place where I think Formula One is already followed quite a lot. Having it near a big city is always nice and cool. We hope it will happen.”

On Thursday, your drivers will get a taste of a NASCAR stock car with instruction from three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. What can they expect when they drive that 3,200-pound (1,451-kilogram) Ford Mustang around COTA?

“I’m sure the guys will love it, as will Tony – he likes to do this stuff. For Tony to be back in a big car, on a big circuit, it’ll be cool. Our drivers, I’m sure they will enjoy it. Kevin tested a sprint car last year and he loved it. NASCAR cars are big, powerful machines. I think people will enjoy seeing it.”   

You’ve managed NASCAR teams and Formula One teams. While the style of cars and the technology associated with the cars are different, are there some similar methodologies when it comes to finding speed and getting the most out of team personnel?


“Absolutely. All motor racing at the top level – and NASCAR is top level, and Formula One – it’s all very similar in terms of trying to get the best people for the job. The opposition is always pushing. There’s never a day where you can rest. You just need to work harder and smarter than anybody else – then you have success. They are very similar, not as cars and technology, but in terms of managing a team, there’s not a big difference.”  

Romain Grosjean #8

As a driver for the only American team in Formula One, what’s it like to compete in the United States Grand Prix? 

“It gives me a lot of pride. It’s a great pleasure. Obviously, having an American team in Formula One returning in 2016, 30 years since the previous one, it was big. Every year we see great support in the United States. I have the French Grand Prix as a home race, but also the United States Grand Prix is a very special one. I’m very much looking forward to it. We see a lot of support. Even though it’s not always been our best race, in terms of results, we always give it the maximum we can. We’ll do the same again this year and, hopefully, make our fans proud.”

This weekend, your team owner, Gene Haas, will have his Formula One team competing in Austin, Texas, and his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing, competing three hours north in Fort Worth, Texas. How much do you pay attention to the goings-on with Stewart-Haas Racing, and how helpful is to have a team owner who is so well versed in motorsports? 

“I pretty much follow all the NASCAR results. It’s very exciting and the team’s been doing well this year. Obviously, the playoffs is the time it gets very sexy, but I’m always keeping an eye on Stewart-Haas Racing. Having Gene Haas, knowing racing, knowing how it works, helps us a lot. He understands things cannot always go directly as we would like, and he’s been very helpful in our building of the Haas team. Obviously, NASCAR and Formula One are different, but he gets the big picture, and that is helping us a lot.”

Since Haas F1 Team’s debut, you’ve talked about wanting to drive a stock car. Thursday at COTA, you’ll finally get your chance, with instruction from three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. Do you have any idea what it will be like to drive a 3,200-pound (1,451-kilogram) Ford Mustang around COTA?

“No, not really. I think we just need to slam the brakes a bit earlier than we do with a Formula One car. We’ll see how the engine responds to throttle application. I can’t wait. The sound of it’s going to be great. I think it’s going to be a good experience. I think having Tony Stewart helping us and giving us advice is going to be bloody amazing.” 

What’s the closest thing to a stock car you’ve driven, and when was it?
“I guess it would be the Ford GT1 car I drove in 2010 in the FIA GT1 Championship.”

You equaled your career-best Formula One finish (second) at COTA in 2013. Talk about that race and any moments that stand out, particularly the start where you managed to get away from the dominant Red Bulls.


“The start was very special. I had a really good one. The Red Bulls were so much faster than we were. I had to do something like 50 laps of the grand prix with Mark Webber on my gearbox. He was trying everything he could to pass me. At the time we had manual KERS, and I was using it wisely at different places every lap, just to do something different to keep him behind. It was an amazing race. I had a bit too much champagne on the podium, which made the press conference fun.”

Kevin Magnussen #20

As a driver for the only American team in Formula One, what’s it like to compete in the United States Grand Prix? 

“It’s definitely a race I look forward to going to. It’s our home race, one we really want to do well at. We’ve certainly got a lot of support there and that provides an extra boost, extra motivation. It’s great to go there and see all the Haas fans in our T-shirts, especially up at Haas Hill where we see all the fans together there. We haven’t had great results there, but it’s definitely the one where we feel at home, and we want to do well.”

This weekend, your team owner, Gene Haas, will have his Formula One team competing in Austin, Texas, and his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing, competing three hours north in Fort Worth, Texas. How much do you pay attention to the goings-on with Stewart-Haas Racing, and how helpful is to have a team owner who is so well versed in motorsports? 

“First of all, it’s no secret that Gene is a real racer. He’s been in motorsports a long time and he’s been hugely successful. We’re obviously still building up with the Formula One team, but we’ve got our best years ahead of us, I’m sure. Certainly, with the NASCAR team, they’ve been incredibly successful – they still are. I follow what they’re doing and I’m always cheering on their drivers.”

Since joining Haas F1 Team, you’ve talked about wanting to drive a stock car. Thursday at COTA, you’ll finally get your chance, with instruction from three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. Do you have any idea what it will be like to drive a 3,200-pound (1,451-kilogram) Ford Mustang around COTA?

“I don’t have any idea how it’ll be. I’ve never driven a NASCAR before. I’m pretty certain it’s going to be very different to the other car I drive around COTA. It’s going to be a very interesting experience. A NASCAR is such an iconic racecar. I’ve always been eager to try one. Of course, it’s usually in its element on an oval, but they do race on road courses, as well. It’ll be interesting to have a go and have a bit of fun.” 

What’s the closest thing to a stock car you’ve driven, and when was it?
“I drove a GT2 car once, and a DTM, but I don’t think they’re similar to a stock car, even though they’re touring cars. A DTM car is very aerodynamic. They have a lot of downforce. A stock car hardly has any downforce.”

This won’t be the first time you’ve received driving instruction from Stewart. He helped you get the feel of a winged sprint car last October. Stewart wears many hats, but what’s he like as a driving coach/instructor?


“I found my feet in that sprint car last October pretty quickly thanks to his advice, and also thanks to him jumping in the car and showing how it’s done before I got in. I had a great time with Tony. He’s a great driving instructor and he knows his way around these things. His experience and knowledge when it comes to stock cars is probably just as impressive.”

PREVIEW PROVIDED BY Haas F1 Team

Kevin Abbring replaced by Furazhkin for World RX finale.

Kevin Abbring will not be taking part in the World RX of South Africa season finale in Cape Town, with ESmotorsport-Labas GAS team confirming Matvey Furazhkin in his place. 

The final round of the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place on the 9th and 10th of November at the Killarney Internationational Raceway. 

Having only made his World RX debut for two rounds this season, Kevin Abbring will be replaced for the season finale, as ESmotorsport prepare Furazhkin for the 2020 season. 

Matvey Furazhkin made his World RX debut in Loheac where he finished in 20th place, and the Neste World RX of Latvia, where he improved to a 17th place finish.

Abbring was set to return for the season finale in Cape Town, but the Lithuanian team will now run Furazhkin in the Skoda Fabia RX in preparation for 2020. 

"It was requested by Matvey’s partners and sponsors that for more experience in rallycross he should do South Africa," said ESmotorsport Team Manager Robertas Maneikis.

"Matvey’s future goal is a full season in the Championship and while he joined almost at the end of this year, we would also like to do as much development testing with him as possible in order to be able to compete next season."

Kevin Abbring claimed the ESmotorsport's best results of the season in Norway and Sweden (fourth place in both races), and he firmly remains part of the team as they aim to continue with him in 2020. The Dutchman missed a few rounds this season due to prior racing engagements. “We still continue to work with Kevin so we could see him do more rallycross events next season,” Maneikis said.

Maneikis says the team has been impressed with Furazhkin’s approach to World RX in his first events. “The main impression I have of Matvey is his maturity. Right from his first race in Loheac he adapted to the team very quickly. I am sure with time Matvey’s open-minded approach to rallycross will bring him good results in the future.

"Even after the first race, the feeling in the team was as if we were already together for the entire year. Matvey very quickly found great synergy with the team’s strategists. Of course, the transition from autocross to rallycross is not easy. It’s a different calibre of drivers as well as mixed surface racing and joker strategy brings in a whole new level of racing. One of the greatest advantages that I have noticed with Matvey is that he is prompt to identify his own errors."

In preparation for the World RX season finale in Cape Town, the Russian has been preparing with karting tests in Italy and doing simulation work. 

"Matvey has been doing some karting tests in Italy as well as his own simulation work, but in this last race we are looking to get experience, see what we can learn and preferably not interrupt the Championship contenders too much," Maneikis adds. "The target is to be more consistent and make improvements since the last race in Latvia."

Written By Junaid Samodien

Scuderia Toro Rosso: 2019 United States GP Preview.

Daniil Kvyat #26

“The Circuit of the Americas is another track that’s quite cool in many ways. The various sections have different characteristics: the first one is quick with that interesting first corner after the start, which features a significant change in altitude! There’s also some very fast esses and longish straights all of which combine to let you race other cars. The final part is a bit more twisty, with some slower corners so that makes it interesting because it presents a challenge when it comes to finding the best car set-up and the right level of downforce, so there’s a bit of everything at this circuit. Some of the corners have different lines you can take, as the track is very wide. For example, at Turn 1, it has a wide entry which is a good overtaking opportunity and we’ve seen some interesting duels there in the past. Overall, this is a nice place to go racing, there’s a good atmosphere from the fans at the track and I think all the drivers appreciate the city of Austin itself, so we like going there. The sport is growing in the States where motor racing in general is very popular and they seem to be taking to Formula 1 gradually. Of course, the USA is a very important market for our sport.”

Pierre Gasly #10

“Last year was the first time I raced in Austin. In 2017, I missed it as I was meant to be competing in the final round of the Japanese Super Formula on the same weekend, because I had a chance of winning the title, but the race was cancelled due to bad weather. Before then, I had been to Austin a couple of times as a third driver and it always appealed to me because it really is a beautiful circuit. I love the “esses” at Suzuka and you have a similar section here, although with a bit more run-off and the whole first section is very flowing, with sixth and seventh gear corners. It’s so fast in a Formula 1 car – really exciting. There are some straights and slow sections too, with overtaking opportunities, such as at the first corner, which is quite unique as you are braking uphill and the entry really opens up. It’s strange braking going up such a steep hill and at first it feels odd, as you can’t see the apex and so you must know exactly where and how to turn in to hit the apex. And in the fast section you need to get the first corner right as it affects all the ones that follow. In the slow part, it’s very technical with difficult braking points when you need a lot of steering input, such as Turn 15, where you see a lot of drivers locking up, as you have to brake actually in the corner. There are two or three overtaking opportunities. I remember last year we had some rain and generally, the weather seems hard to predict, so let’s see what we get this time. On top of that, the place has a typical Texan, American atmosphere with a sense of a show about it and Austin itself is a city I like a lot. In fact, I have some family there and we usually find time to see them. So overall, it’s a great weekend, both on and off the track with a nice atmosphere. We’ll be trying our best to get a good result to round off our North American trip.”

Preview Provided By Scuderia Toro Rosso

SA team stars at Rotax Max Grand Karting Finals in Italy.

PHOTO CREDIT: ROTAX UAE/MotorsportMedia

Team South Africa emerged from the Rotax Max Grand Karting Finals in Sarno, Italy with positive results following a few exceptional drives and at least two 'what could have been' stories. 

DD2 Masters drivers Nic Verheul and Jono Pieterse drove brilliant races to fifth and seventh in the over-30 Final, Junior Max kids Aqil Alibhai and Troy Dolinchek fought to 14th and 20th in their under-15 Final and Reese Koorzen soldiered on to the finish of the under-11 Mini Max race after an early incident, but Mini Max hero Troy Snyman had to make do with 11th after fighting for the lead on the final lap of the under-13 Final.

The Mini Max Final proved a tense affair, with Pietermaritzburg’s SA champion Snyman running third in a wild 7-kart lead dice early on, but dropped back to seventh as the slipstreaming battle continued. Troy then put his head down and worked his way back up to fourth, where he held station before taking third and second in successive laps, to start the final tour a second behind the leader. Snyman closed down enough to attempt a move for the lead and the world title with two corners left to race, but the karts touched and both went off, leaving Troy to limp home 11th... 

Snyman was not the only SA driver to fight for a world title in Sarno — Edenvale DD2 Masters hero Nic Verheul started fourth and drove brilliantly to move into the lead early on and stayed there for several laps. But Nic was clearly struggling with his engine 'popping' at mid-distance and despite his best efforts, he eventually relinquished the lead before fighting hard to not slip further back than fifth. Fellow Master, KZN karter Pieterse likewise enjoyed a great first half of the race as he clawed his way into the top ten and as high as seventh to make it a double SA DD2 Masters top ten in seventh.

South Africa’s Junior Max pair endured a tough lead up to the under-15 Final, but a positive Pre Final Friday saw Aqil Alibhai and Troy Dolinschek sharing the eleventh row of the Final grid. Jozi kid Alibhai had a great first few laps to move up 7 places to find himself a lonely seventh as he chased down the train of 12 drivers ahead, but ultimately conceded a place on a fraught final tour to place 14th. Cape lad Dolinschek became embroiled in yet another wild 6-kart mid-pack battle en route to 20th.

Under-11 flyer, SA champion Reese Koorzen also made a great start in Micro Max, making up several places in the first two laps, but he was then caught up in a multi-kart crash, which saw the Cape lightie drop behind as he drove home 33rd. The rest of the SA team, DD2 trio Jonathan Thomas, Benjamin Habig and Wayland Wyman, Master driver Brett Brito and Senior Max lad Charl Visser all went out in the pre-finals after a tough week of qualifying.

FIA Post-Race Press Conference: 2019 Mexican GP.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Jenson Button)

Q: Lewis, you’ve have had some pretty epic victories and a lot of them come through sheer aggression and excitement. This one was a very different victory it seems. Looking after these tyres like you did was immense.

Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, we’ve got to applaud this incredible crowd. This is like the best crowd I think I’ve ever seen. We’ve never seen anything like this. Today is an incredible result. I have to say a huge thanks to my team – Mercedes and our partners here. The guys have continued to work incredibly hard and stay focused. We came here thinking that we were on the back foot, knowing that it’s a difficult race for us, tut we pulled through. I had a quite a bit of damage on my car, so the race was quite a bit of a struggle. I just kept my head down. It seemed like a long second stint, but ah man, I’m so grateful for today.

Q: Awesome, great to hear. It must a real mix of emotions. The last two years you come here and you haven’t been on the podium but you clinched the championship. This year, you come and dominate and win but you have to wait a little bit longer for the championship?

LH: Yeah, I don’t mind. I love racing, man, and I just take it one race at a time honestly. As I said, this is a race I’ve wanted to win for some time but it’s always been a little bit tricky for us. So, I’m incredibly humbled by today’s opportunity, for the car holding together as it did, and for the team being so sufficient and executing the best strategy. Just to hold up the Ferraris was not so easy at the end but I hope people enjoyed the race.

Q: Congratulations, go and enjoy this amazing crowd. Seb, I’m sure it’s not quite the result you were after. You looked really exciting in the first stint. You were able to put in some really good lap times. I thought you were going to pop out behind Lewis and make it happen but you didn’t quite have that?

Sebastian VETTEL: Not really. I think surprisingly the hard tyres worked really well. It was a very intense race, because there was no break and obviously I had Valtteri behind me giving me some pressure in the final stint, before I could focus on Lewis in the front. But yeah, I think Lewis, he was just cruising for most of the second stint, up to the point that the attack was arriving and then I guess he had enough tyres left so… Yeah, I’m happy, because I think it was a good race, but I think here and there maybe with strategy we could have been a bit sharper. But overall, it’s a great crowd.

Q: It’s amazing, the support these guys give you must really mean a lot?

SV: Yeah… I didn’t hear what you said!

Q: I said that these guys give you so much support. It must mean a lot.

SV: You can tell! I didn’t hear what you said. It’s incredible. It’s one of the best races for that, so looking forward to the podium.

Q: Great job. Valtteri: I’ll bet it’s a bit bittersweet after yesterday – the issue in qualifying – getting winded is never a nice feeling. But the pace today, and your aggression was really coming through.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I enjoyed. Considering yesterday it was a good result. Very happy about the pace I had in the race. The start was quite tricky, I dropped a place there, so I had to come back a little bit. Yeah, I don’t think we could have done much more today from where I started, so looking at that it was pretty good.

Q: You seem really confident in the car. In the last few races you seem to have upped your game, which is necessary with a team-mate like Lewis. Are you feeling really good in the car? Is this promising for the rest of the season?

VB: yeah, feeling good. Definitely a lot better than the same time last year. So feeling like I have the pace and the confidence and happy feeling in the car. I just need to continue and I look forward to next weekend.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian Vettel, our second-placed finisher. Great race by you, Seb. Couple of things: first of all, at the start we saw you flexing your muscles on the run down to Turn 1 to Lewis?

SV: Not really. I didn’t see him. He came after the race as well and asked, but no intention to push him or anything. Obviously, as soon as I saw, I obviously got off and I tried to get in Charles’ tow and I checked the mirrors on the right and the mirrors on the left and that’s when I saw Lewis and then, you know, I tried to go right but before that point I didn’t see him. We see quite well in the mirrors but there is still obviously an angle that you can’t see.

Q: You said a little bit earlier to Jenson Button that you could have been a bit sharper on strategy today as a team. What did you mean by that? You pitted at half distance, do you think you left yourself too much to do?

SV: Not really. I think in the end… after the race it’s always easy to say but I think we were confident that we split the cars, we covered both options. Obviously in Lewis’ shoes and Mercedes’ shoes they had nothing to lose so they might as well from that early to make it. And Lewis did well managing his tyres in the second stint, and just cruising up to the point where we arrived. It worked finally but neither them nor us expected the tyres to last that long. We saw a lot of graining on Friday and so did they actually, they saw a bit more than us, so it was a bit of a surprise that today we didn’t have any and that made the difference. You might as well try, so it’s a brave call. In the end if it works you look great, if it doesn’t then you’ve tried. I think if it was so straightforward for them, the thinking of fitting the hard so early and easily making it to the end, then they should have pitted Valtteri as well, but you can see that obviously he stayed out with me, long, to try and make sure that you make the one stop work and you don’t fall off any cliffs. As I said, we tried everything but ultimately… yeah, maybe we could have been a bit braver, but then it’s a lot of unknown and you don’t want to do anything stupid at that point. And second, I think you could see that in the race trim we were just missing a little bit of pace. Valtteri was closing in at the end of the first stint. Lewis was fairly easily closing in during the first stint as well. So I think it’s also fair to say that they were just a bit quicker than us.

Q: Thanks. Valtteri we’ll come to you in just a moment, but we’re joined now by our winner Lewis Hamilton. Congratulations Lewis. Now, given the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend, how surprised are you to be sitting in the middle?

LH: I think probably for both of us it’s a bit of a surprise. We came into the weekend… I can only talk about my side, and not having ‘Bonno’ for the first time in seven years and the challenge of having two new engineers step up into different roles and trying to keep the balance of pressure and make sure we deliver and ultimately make Bonno proud was not easy. We come to Mexico, we always struggle here with our tyres, last year we lost by like 60 seconds or something. I think we finished like fourth but we were a long way away from these guys and on Friday their pace, particularly the Red Bulls, their pace was quite stronger than ours. Seb went like eight or nine laps further than I could make the tyres go. But we just kept our heads down and tried to work on trying to get the most out of our car and it wasn’t great through qualifying but the race pace, once we got through all the commotion at the beginning, he tried his best to…

SV: Not really. As I said, I didn’t really try, I just didn’t see you!

LH: I’m messing with you.

SV: But if I had seen you, yes, I would have tried.

LH: And then I obviously got torpedoed. I thought at some stage I’d get torpedoed by Max. And then after that trying to keep up with Seb was a real challenge. A first and third is a true showing of real strength and depth with our team and it’s a real pleasant surprise really, because we didn’t expect our tyres to go as far as they did. We didn’t think we could manage a one-stop and we made it work.

Q: You said you were expecting a bit of action from Max early on in the race. Talk us through those opening corners?

LH: I actually got a really good start, so I was pulling up to Charles and Seb is coming across, coming across, coming across and I’m thinking ‘I’m on the white line, I don’t have anywhere further to go’. And he just keeps coming. So I had to avoid crashing with him, going on the grass. Avoid his wheels as well, otherwise I could have caused a big collision for him. Then I was surrounded by a bunch of cars, I braked into Turn 1, and all of a sudden Max is alongside me. If you’ve seen races before, I always leave Max a lot of space – it’s the smartest thing you can do. But there wasn’t a lot of space to give him space. I think he had an oversteer moment or something and then I got a massive hit from behind. Then I nearly took him out…

SV: He hit you?

LH: Yeah. We were going through the corner, you were about to go into Turn 2, my back end came out and I nearly took you out and then we went straight over the grass. It was hair-raising.

SV: Ah, that’s why there was such a big gap and there was Albon all of a sudden…

LH: Yeah, me and Max went through the grass together, came out and there were other cars coming by. I thought I was going to get hit by other cars. But I managed to get my bearings and keep my head down. I was not expecting to have that pace and to be able to keep up with the Ferraris but it worked and even with a damaged car. Obviously Seb went a lot further and I think so did Valtteri, he did a fantastic job to come from sixth. I thought I was going to struggle at the end with Seb, with 10-lap younger tyres.

SV: More than 10. Was it just 10?

LH: Maybe more than 10. But I just managed to save enough in the early phase while he was doing that long run, which I was able to utilise. Particularly those last seven laps were the important ones and I kept him behind.

Q: Great race, thank you Lewis. Valtteri, as Lewis said, great race from sixth to third. How was the car and were you suffering any after effects from your crash yesterday?

VB: I think it was a good day considering the circumstances. And looking back to yesterday it was a pretty good contrast in a good way for today. The car felt good. It felt as good as before the crash and obviously the team made a really good in getting it back together, so thanks to the boys again for that. From my side no problem really. Small headache in the morning but I wasn’t sure if it was from the tequila or the crash. Anyway, all good. I felt good in the car and I’m pleased for today, even though I lost some positions at the start and I lost a lot of time behind the McLarens but I had really strong pace in both of the stints and as a team we maximised today for sure.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Sebastian. We heard you during the race questioning the strategy of the team two times: about the Plan C and going to box. Do you think afterwards that one of these two strategies could have been better for the victory?

SV: I think, as Lewis said as well, obviously before the race we were quite sure that you need to get to a certain lap to make the one-stop work and when Lewis pitted, that wasn't the case yet. Obviously, you know, we were one and two and the two-stop looked like the better strategy and faster strategy so we split the cars, and obviously if you go for the one-stop, you might as well go for the one stop properly and not, sort-of, half-hearted, so when Lewis pitted, I think it was borderline and probably a bit too early but, as he said, he made the tyres last well and had enough towards the end. Plus, I think we didn’t see any graining in the race, which we did on Friday, which I think made the biggest difference. So, then, after that, you can argue maybe we could have taken more risk – but at that point you’re really driving into the unknown. I think what they tried to do is fit the Hard, see if it makes it. If it doesn’t make it, you might as well fit another set at the end and there’s your two stops. When you are sitting in P3 and then having the option to finish, maybe, first or fifth. I think you may as well try. So, that’s one. The second one, I think is just the laps when Valtteri was closing through traffic. Maybe we could have boxed one lap sooner because I hit that traffic quite hard and there was Sainz – or Norris, I don’t know – one McLaren and a Toro Rosso fighting each other very hard and I lost, like, three seconds just on that lap. That didn’t help but obviously it’s also difficult to foresee that these two guys on that lap will have a major fight. So, I think nothing big. As I said, I think we tried everything. Two and One stop, and you have to give it to Lewis, he drove well, he made the tyres last and I think Mercedes in the race was maybe just a little bit quicker than us.

Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Lewis, after the incident with Max, was there any damage to the car and, if yes, did it actually cost you lap time?

LH: Yeah, a big part of the side of my rear floor was missing. I didn't actually know how much was missing or what was damaged but the balance was quite a lot different. The rear end was quite weak so I was particularly sliding around a lot in the high-speed, so I had to change my settings quite a lot and had to drive it a little bit differently because I couldn’t attack the same way on the entry of corners because the rear stability wasn’t the same. I’ll probably find out later on just how much we were losing but I would imagine a good couple of tenths probably, just from rear floor damage. It’s quite a sensitive area around where the tyres is. But why I’m probably even more happy that I was able to make these tyres last the way we did. And to do it here in Mexico is pretty special.

Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) Question for Valtteri. Your contact with Max in the stadium section, can you talk us through what happened there? And also, to all three drivers: Max – do you treat him differently when you’re racing against him and do you think he’s probably the most aggressive driver out there?

VB: Yeah, for me, just out of nowhere he appeared on the inside into Turn 13 and, you know, I couldn't disappear from there. He just dived in and we touched. He got a puncture from that, so… yeah, I couldn’t really avoid him, so I think he earned his own puncture, definitely. But… I don’t know, every driver is obviously different. Some are more aggressive, some are less. I haven’t raced very closely for some time with all of them, so I can’t say in detail for all the drivers.

Lewis, you touched on this earlier. Do you treat Max differently to other drivers?

LH: Err… yep. I think every driver is slightly different. Some are smarter; some are like very smart, aggressive and some are silly with it. And so, through those experiences of racing with people, you give some more space and others you don’t have to. They’re quite respectful. But yeah, Max, it’s very likely you’re going to come together with Max if you don’t give him extra space, so most of the time you do. But as I said, in my experience, I didn’t have a lot of space to give him extra space. But I don’t think it was intentional or anything like that. It was just… he’s a magnet for those kind of things but yeah, nonetheless, I managed to keep the car together and in a straight line, fortunately.

Sebastian. Max?

SV: Yes and yes.

Can you put a bit more flesh on the bone?

SV: No, just copy-paste. It’s true.

Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining) This is question for Lewis. What do you think, from your point of view, is missing from Ferrari? What is Ferrari doing wrong? They show pace. They show the speed and on the race day something happened. What do you think is missing in Ferrari?

LH: Honestly, I usually get paid for that kind of advice, so I probably wouldn’t tell you exactly what it is! I don’t know. They’ve done a great job. The second half of the season has been obviously spectacularly for them. They came with a slightly different philosophy, I think, to some of the other teams. There’s generally a little bit less downforce through corners but faster in straights – which has worked really well because in a lot of tracks, positioning is everything and you can’t get past them down the straights and they’re just about quick enough in a straight line. But we managed to… I guess we managed to overlap them, or outdo them, particularly with great tyre usage within the race, and strategy. You don’t too often see me and Valtteri, our team like falling over each other. With us, they did a great job with that but sometimes Ferrari has that and it’s been unfortunate for one – or two – of the drivers. But Seb’s been driving great recently so it’s been good to see him back up there, driving so well. Naturally we want to have closer wheel-to-wheel races but on some of these tracks you can’t get too close, unfortunately. [to Seb] You’re sticking around for a little bit longer, right? Good good.

Sebastian, I feel we should give you the right of reply. What do you feel you’ve been lacking on Sundays?

SV: Well, if you want to be just pure and honest, then I think our car is good in a straight line: one because we have an efficient car, so that’s credit to us; two because I think we’ve done a really good job on the power unit front, so compliments to Maranello. But we are lacking downforce which leads into maybe a weaker race pace, leads onto struggling a bit more on Sundays when it’s about managing the tyres and successive laps, whereas in qualifying I think we can extract a bit more from our car, cover our weakness a bit more with fresh tyres on the car. With new tyres you can mask a little bit the problems here and there. So that would be just the straightforward, technical answer. To do better, I think we need to put things a little bit more together. I think we have all the ingredients; we have the people; we have the intelligence. So I think we just need to make sure things fall into place and once they do, I think things will start to click. Obviously Mercedes have proven in the last years that it is possible. I think they just got stronger and stronger throughout, which is credit to them as a team, credit to obviously Valtteri and Lewis, and in particular Lewis over the last years. They have shown what is possible, they are the benchmark and it’s up to us to do a better job in the future. Easily said, not so easily done but yeah, I think you also have to give credit where credit is due and both Mercedes and Lewis have been too strong in the last couple of years.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Questions for the Mercedes drivers. Valtteri, you managed to catch Sebastian pretty quickly at the start of the second stint. Twice you had DRS, didn’t seem to make any difference, what would you have needed to have been able to attack. And Lewis, this is the first time you had to deal with Alex Albon in a race. In the first 15 laps you were behind him, what impression did he make on you?

VB: Yeah, got pretty good pace in the race in general, that was the feeling in general. Got close to Sebastian at a good rate. Sometimes got DRS, got close enough but I think mostly it was because of some backmarkers. Or he had a bit of a lock-up or something – but there was just not quite enough pace difference to make a move for the overtake. I was trying everything I could to get as close as I could but yeah, to get closer than 1.5s or one second is so tricky, and to overtake them, you need to be right in the gearbox, going to the main straight, because our speed on the straight is nearly the same when I have the DRS and they don’t. So, it was pretty impossible today and Sebastian didn’t really do any proper mistakes. So, that would have been needed, or massive help by backmarkers. There was no opportunities.

Lewis, Alex Albon?

LH: I don’t really remember a lot. He was obviously just in front of me for a while – and then he pitted, right? He was driving really well, not making any, or too many mistakes. I think this year has been… it’s a real challenge to go up against a driver that’s been spoken so highly of by so many people and built up onto a pedestal. And to come in so young, and with all the difficulties he’s had in his life as well – his life story is quite an interesting one – against all adversity. It was quite cool to just sit and view him for a second. He pitted very early, I’m not quite exactly sure why but they obviously then went onto the two-stop strategy and I didn’t really see him again after that. But he’s got a bright future ahead of him. I hope Red Bull give him the support over the years. It’s very, very important because they often spit drivers out pretty quick if they don’t always do the job. I hope they’re good to him. 

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Lewis, this sport has American owners, they’re trying to grow the sport in America. You’re very much a household name in the United States, you’ve got a lot of friends there. How big a deal is it for you to win the title in America?

LH: Honestly I hadn’t really thought about it. There is obviously an exciting market for me. The most important one for me is England. I’m constantly trying to grow with the fan base we have in the UK and I think the Silverstone Grand Prix is obviously spectacular but the US is getting more and more popular there. I’ve obviously done quite a few shows out there and definitely becoming more and more known in the States but it’s quite a diverse country. I think my story and my family’s story is something that a lot of people in different countries can relate to. America’s always a cool place to live. They do it their own way, it’s different. It’s not England with the British Grand Prix, which is so special in its own way. It’s not the Mexican Grand Prix which is … there were so many people here. It’s unbelievable. It’s its own unique amazing Grand Prix. The track is fantastic and it’s been a good hunting ground for me so very excited to go there and who knows whether we can get the job done, who knows? We’ll hopefully have a good race there.

Q: (Jack Benyon – Autosport) Lewis, where do you rank that race in terms of your best of the season and also you mentioned adversity ; obviously Ferrari have been very strong since the summer break but this weekend you’ve been without your engineer as well so a lot of adversity to face. Could have you done that earlier in your career or is that something that’s come with experience to find that resolve and dig deep in races like that?

LH: Experience naturally counts for a huge amount. Honestly I don’t remember every single race this year. I think we’ve had good races but it definitely feels like one of the better races that I’ve had, particularly with the things that were thrown at us at the beginning. And also with the build-up: knowing Bono wasn’t coming, I’m thinking, Jeez, in this intense fight for this championship… you could look at it as a disadvantage but me and Bono pulled together – he did a huge amount of work as did Marcus and Dom who’ve both stepped up into new roles. I’ve never worked so closely with Dom before and Marcus stepped into big shoes. It’s not easy to work alongside… I would say a World Champion in this sport, who generally demand quite a lot but because I have experienced him as my number two he kind of knew how it worked and he’s generally a very laid back individual. And then on top of that, Bono was on the radio, we were texting all weekend and I really just wanted to make him very proud this weekend. He’s devoted so much of his life to me for these seven years so yeah, I really wanted to do… I’m sure he’s happy with today’s race. I’d like to think that I can be really proud of today’s performance, particularly with the damaged car and the stuff we went through at the beginning. And what’s crazy is that I’ve – God knows how many races I’ve done, must be close to 300 races and it just never gets old and it always feels new. It’s a different journey each one, different emotions you go through in the gap before, you know. We had all the stuff last week with the media in terms of the stories that came out last week and then came to this week and an emotional rollercoaster and then obviously Bono’s not coming and then come to Mexico which is a very very hard race to win.. didn’t expect to win, that’s for sure but it’s a great great feeling, very humbling.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just checking what your plans are now between these two races: do you lie low, do you have public appearances, do you have all that sort of stuff to worry about as well as obviously focusing on this championship that you can win at next time out?

LH: Yeah, I head to the States. Me and Toto have an event together in Madison Square… Times Square, sorry, Times Square which is kind of cool. I think Valtteri’s going to do the thing in LA. Then I’ve a photoshoot and then I fly off to Austin, get there probably Thursday or something like that and then straight into the same kind of week but I get there tomorrow, I get into my normal training regime. Naturally I like being in the States so it’s a pretty calm build-up. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Q: (Carlos Alberto Velazquez – Reforma News) Lewis, last three years you’ve celebrated here. Are you going to miss the celebration of the championship here in Mexico or do you miss Mexico as a place to celebrate?

LH: Honestly I prefer the way it’s happened today, I think, as the previous times we’ve won here, championship-wise, I’ve finished like eighth or 13th or something crazy so you see someone else on the podium, celebrating a win but I’ve won a championship, so you’re a bit conflicted because you wanted to do better in the race  but you’ve got the overall job done. But today and this weekend, I knew it was unlikely that I was going to be able to win the championship here because Valtteri’s been driving so well but I just wanted to take it one race at a time, I wanted to try and win this race. It actually feels better than perhaps it’s felt in the past. We’ve still got more races to fight for so…

Q: (Jonathan Chora – First Drive Mexico) Seb, what do you think was the main mistake for this race? And also, were you expecting a more exciting race here in Mexico?

SV: I don’t think there were any major mistakes so as I tried to explain earlier I think we’ve done well. We tried everything so I don’t think it was a mistake that we are not as quick to make things happen and force things to happen.

I think it was quite exciting. Obviously we always knew that it’s difficult to pass and have a lot of overtakes because of the nature of the track and being so critical on downforce, up in the altitude it’s very difficult to follow, sliding the tyres is what hurts us most and then to get closer is really really difficult. But I don’t know… the top four cars at the end, within four, five, six, seven seconds I believe. It definitely was very tense, I was hoping that in the last 15 laps to go, I was hoping that in the next five laps to close the gap and start a fight; ten laps to go I was hoping that in the next five laps I’m closing the gap. It was definitely tense but obviously Lewis drove well and didn’t make any mistakes and managed his race. I enjoyed it but would have obviously enjoyed more to have a bit of a fight at the end but we were just not quick enough to do so.

Q: (Yhacbec Lopez – Motorlat) Lewis, you said last week that you thought the Mercedes power unit lacked power. Do you think the same today?

LH: We haven’t changed anything so that is still an area that we… reliability has been fantastic through the year but it has been an area of less progress for us as we know. We see the Honda and the Ferrari really stepping up their game on the engine front so we’ve got work to do in that regard but the engine has done well this weekend, considering usually this a really tricky one for our engine, it has been ever since we’ve been coming here with the altitude for our turbo but I’m really happy with how it performed this weekend.