World RX Championship leader Kristoffersson is keen to maintain winning ways in Portugal

PHOTO CREDIT - FIA World Rallycross Media

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship resumes this weekend with the Bompiso World RX of Portugal, located in Montalegre for round two of the season (April 28-29).

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden's Johan Kristoffersson arrives in Portugal with an early advantage in the overall standings after winning an action-packed and dramatic season opener at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Returning to the scene of his maiden World RX win in 2015, the defending champion is keen to maintain a winning run that has seen him triumph in eight of the last ten events.

“I am really happy to open my 2018 campaign with a victory but I am now fully focused on round two in Portugal,” the Swede commented. “The competition is stronger than ever so I am sure my rivals are coming to Montalegre even more determined to get on top of the podium. Nevertheless, both myself and PSRX Volkswagen Sweden will be ready for the challenge and you can be sure I’ll continue squeezing as much performance from my VW Polo R as possible this weekend.”

Situated in northern Portugal close to the border with Spain, the iconic Montalegre rallycross venue is a popular stop for the series with its regular sell-out crowds and demanding layout against the backdrop of the hilly Vila Real region.

Furthermore, the venue’s location 1,030m above sea level makes it the highest event on the World RX calendar and presents its own unique challenges for the cars, which must be more finely tuned to cope with the greater altitude.

Last year's event saw Mattias Ekstrom claim victory ahead of Sebastien Loeb (Team Peugeot Total) and Kristoffersson. It is a result EKS Audi Sport driver Ekstrom will be keen to emulate this weekend after being disqualified from the final last time out in Catalunya-Barcelona.

The 18-strong Supercar entry list includes two-time World RX of Portugal winner Petter Solberg, who sits three points behind team-mate Kristoffersson in the title table after being classified TQ (Top Qualifier) in Catalunya-Barcelona, Andreas Bakkerud (EKS Audi Sport), who will look to build on his podium result in the season opener and Timmy Hansen. The Team Peugeot Total driver scored a top four result in Montalegre last season and will be keen to bounce back after his Spanish challenge was undone by techncial issues while leading the first semi-final.

Elsewhere, GRX Taneco head to Portugal with renewed optimism after Niclas Gronholm took its new Hyundai i20 to fourth place in round one, while GC Kompetition will seek another step forward with its Prodrive-developed Renault Megane RS following an impressive points-scoring debut.

Similarly, Olsbergs MSE is targeting strong results with Kevin Eriksson and Robin Larsson, the latter a podium-finisher in Montalagre in 2016.

In addition to 15 permanent World RX drivers, three round-by-round entries will compete in Portugal, including Oliver Bennett in the Team XITE MINI Cooper S plus local racers Joaquim Santos in the Bompiso Racing Team Ford Focus and Mario Barbosa in a Citroen DS3.

The FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 continues in Portugal with round two of its six-event season. Artis Baumanis leads the standings after taking maximum points in Catalunya-Barcelona, the Latvian heading up a capacity entry of 25 in Montalegre that also includes Portugal's own Helder Ribeiro and Mario Teixeira.

World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy commented: “It is always a pleasure to return to Montalegre for the World RX of Portugal. The venue is a mainstay of the international rallycross calendar and continues to attract sell-out crowds, who return year-after-year to enjoy the fantastic racing this challenging, high-altitude layout regularly produces. Better still, we come to Portugal on the back of a thrilling season opener in Catalunya-Barcelona, which proved to be as close and exciting across the board as we expected. It is a trend that we have no doubt will continue this weekend and well into the season.”

ARTICLE BY - FIA World Rallycross
IMAGE CREDIT - FIA World Rallycross Media

GRX Taneco look to build on Round 1 momentum in Portugal

Image Copyright: GRX Taneco Team

GRX Taneco Team just missed out on a podium place at the opening round in Barcelona and are now raring to go for round 2 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Montalegre, Portugal. With the Hyundai i20 Supercar still at a development stage, the team aimed to launch its 2018 World Rallycross Championship campaign by qualifying for the semi-finals and building some experience at the opening round in Spain. 

Niclas Grönholm made it into the final (4th), while Timur Timerzyanov steered the second Hyundai i20 Supercar into the semi-final (9th). “My goal was to reach the semi-finals in the season-opener. The final was a real bonus and we can be proud of what we’ve achieved so far," says Grönholm. The Montalegre circuit lap record for the 1010-metre long 60% tarmac, 40% gravel track stands at 37.802s.

"There’s still a lot to do but it’s an excellent start that has motivated us all. I really like the Montalegre circuit," said Grönholm. "It’s quite fast-paced and it suits my driving style. I’ve had some decent results there in the past so I’m looking forward to lining up for the qualifiers.”

With the Hyundai i20 Supercar still in development, the team are aiming to build-up more experience with its new car in the opening rounds of the season. “I was able to get to grips with the Hyundai i20 Supercar at the first round of the season. The car is very powerful with a lot of potential and I’m convinced it’ll take us to the podium," says Timerzyanov. "I’ve been driving on the Montalegre circuit for a few years now. It calls for an aggressive driving style because it’s quite tight. Everyone loves the gravel section, where you just have to slide the car. I really like the track and I know that I can put in a good performance in Portugal.”

Timur Timerzyanov qualified for the semi-final last year and Niclas Grönholm finished the weekend in 13th position. 

Image Copyright: GRX Taneco Team

EKS Audi Sport set their goals for Portugal

Photo Credit: Audi Sport

EKS Audi Sport heads to Round 2 of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Portugal (Montalegre) this weekend (28 and 29 April). The season opening round saw the disqualification of Mattias Ekström after he made contact with Petter Solberg in the first corner of the final. Andreas Bakkerud's podium finish for the team was a definite positive for the team. “I’m slowly getting accustomed to the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro. Hopefully I’ll be even faster in Montalegre,” said Bakkerud. 

The Montalegre circuit is one of the toughest race tracks in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The circuit, located 1,000 meters above sea level and close to the Spanish border, has a unique character – with fast corners on tarmac, a long straight and a tight and twisty gravel section featuring high curbs. 

“Last year, we were not the fastest in Montalegre but as team still took the win in the end. I love this track and the Portuguese spectators, who are mega enthusiastic about motorsport and rallycross," says Ekström. 

After the first round in Barcelona, Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekström lie in third and fourth in the Drivers’ World Championship behind the two Volkswagen drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Petter Solberg. The EKS Audi Sport team holds second place in the Teams' Classification. 

EKS Audi Sport are prepared for round 2 in the championship and Mattias Ekström aims to maximise his opportunities this weekend. “To find the best set-up compromise for this (circuit) is a real challenge every time,” says  Ekström.

“It is one of my absolute favorite tracks. I’ve always felt completely at home on it,” says Bakkerud. “The track has a fantastic layout. When you really get going there’s nothing better.”

Mattias Ekström only has one goal for the EKS Audi Sport team: “We want to fight for victory again.”

Image Source and Copyright: Audi Sport 

Team Peugeot targets consistency and performance in Portugal

Image Copyright: Peugeot Sport

The debut FIA World Rallycross race weekend for Team Peugeot Total was not without incident. Sébastien Loeb finished 2nd in the final, and Timmy Hansen proving to be very quick in his Peugeot 208 RX Supercar lead the semi-final convincingly but stopped as a result of an electrical problem. Kevin Hansen also showed plenty of promise in his independent Peugeot 208 RX Supercar. He qualified for the final but handed the place to Loeb who later finished in second place at the World RX of Barcelona-Catalunya as a result of Mattias Ekstrom's disqualification. 

Team Peugeot head off to Montalegre circuit in Portugal, with aim of matching the car’s obvious speed with even better consistency. The Montalegre circuit is 945 metres long and begins with a long straight down to the first corner hairpin, where the joker lap continues straight on. The rest of the track consists of a sequence of left and right turns, firstly on asphalt before changing to gravel.

Let's hear from the Team Peugeot Total drivers:

Sébastien Loeb
“On the one hand we got a good result in Barcelona, on the other hand it didn’t mean too much because you get the points in the qualifying heats and those weren’t very good. So hopefully we can go better in Portugal. There’s more gravel, it’s more slippery, and there’s also a risk of rain – which we experienced already in Barcelona, so we’re well-prepared for that possibility! It’s going to be interesting to see how competitive the car is in these different conditions. Last year we generally saw that our car was quite competitive when there was a lot of grip, but less so when it was looser. Driving on loose gravel is nothing new for me, but you can’t really compare rallying with rallycross: it’s a whole different experience. You have to make the best of what you have, right in the moment.”

Timmy Hansen
“I really love Montalegre now, but it was actually one of the circuits that I struggled with when I first started driving. It’s what we call a real gravel circuit and it was built specifically for rallycross without compromise. The good thing is that the gravel in Portugal is very consistent, so even after many cars have driven through it, it still feels the same. You have to really drive and slide the car there and it’s a lot of fun. I remember that Seb had a very strong performance last year in Portugal and came close to winning. So, I think we can do the same as we did in Barcelona, which was a perfect weekend: at least when it came to the factors that we could control! I know now that I’ve got the tools to fight this year, so I have a very big motivation.”

Kevin Hansen [Independent entry]
“I’m really looking forward to Portugal as it’s the track where I first drove the PEUGEOT 208 WRX last year, so I have some very happy memories and I know the track well. The joker lap is at the end of a long straight so sometimes you have to make a late call on your tactics if you see the person ahead of you not braking at the end of the straight – are they going for the joker lap, or just leaving their braking to the last minute? I think we have a very good car this year; we just need to put everything together. We are working hard on it.”

Currently, Sébastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen are 6th and 7th respectively in the FIA World Rallycross drivers’ championship, while Team Peugeot Total are 3rd in the team standings.

Source: Peugeot Sport
Image Copyright: Peugeot Sport
Written By: Junaid Samodien

Team Peugeot Total aim to be more consistent

Photo Copyright: Peugeot Sport

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross season opening round at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona was not the easiest for Team Peugeot Total despite claiming second place at the event after Mattias Ekstrom's disqualification. The team suffered with a number of issues including when Timmy Hansen retired from the lead of his qualifying round with an electrical fault, but the team have been working hard to solve these issues and its now focused on Round 2 in Portugal. 

“We’ve had a positive start to the year but I’m not sure if Portugal will be as suited to our car as Spain was, especially if it rains. In this case, conditions can quickly get very slippery and difficult,'' said Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport Director 

Peugeot's Sport Director confirms that the Peugeot 208 RX Supercar will remain in the same specification, as run at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona and will not feature any new updates. 

"In the meantime, we’ve concentrated on analysing the issues that affected us on the first round to find some solutions. For example, we’ve reinforced the rear end as a result of Seb Loeb’s misfortunes and also worked at getting to the bottom of the electrical problem on Timmy’s car," commented Famin. "So, now we go into Portugal with exactly the same philosophy as we started the year: we want to stay humble and fully concentrated, with the aim of being more consistent than we were in Spain and scoring more points for the drivers and for the team.”

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross championship heads to Montalegre, Portugal for the World RX of Portugal on April 28-29.

Source: Peugeot Sport
Image Copyright: Peugeot Sport
Written By: Junaid Samodien

PSRX Volkswagen takes the lead.

Petter Solberg flies over the jump in Qualifying on Sunday.
Image Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

The 2017 FIA World Rallycross champions PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and drivers' champion Johan Kristoffersson began the new 2018 World Rallycross season in the same way it ended last year…at the top of the table.

On Saturday, the World RX drivers struggled in torrential down powers. But Petter aimed to survive throughout each qualifying session, but ended the day in the lead (and fastest of all). The sun arrived for Sunday and the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden drivers made the most of it, locking out the front row of the first semi-final. From pole, Petter drove the perfect race, twice posting a new fastest lap. Johan lost out at the first corner, but recovered to power past Andreas Bakkerud with a stunning joker lap.

Petter Solberg – made his 50th World RX start in Barcelona and was the fastest man throughout the weekend, but a collision at the first corner of the final left Solberg in the tyres and at the back of the pack once he had made it back on track.

The race director initiated an investigation into the incident and Mattias Ekström was subsequently disqualified.

With Johan taking maximum points from the final and Petter bringing his car home fifth, the pair gave the team plenty to excited about as they topped by the drivers’ and teams’ standings after the first of the season’s 12 rounds. 

"It was a hard fight and a tough weekend, one with lots of hits. Starting out with the new car in those conditions [on Saturday] was quite tricky, the grip was so low across the whole lap. Like Petter said, it was a day to survive and having both the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polos in the top three was a good sign of the work the team has done through the winter", Kristoffersson said. "The semi-final went well and gave us a great result and a good position for the final. I’m sorry for what happened to Petter in that first corner. It’s been a tough weekend, but we come away with the points and that’s what counts at the end of the season."

Petter Solberg starting in pole position for the FINALS in his PSRX Volkswagen Sweden #11 was the quickest driver over the two days of racing. "What can I say? I am very sad for what happened in the final. Until that last race, everything was perfect for me. I’d had the perfect weekend", said Solberg. "What I am happy with is the way the team worked this weekend and the way the mechanics and all of the guys have come together to make this car so good. Johan gave us a great result, so I’m happy for him. Hey, we are one-two in the championship and leading the teams’ as well. We take our speed and we move on from here."

Source: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden
Image Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

A satisfying start to the World RX championship for GRX TANECO.

Niclas Gröholm driving his Hyundai i20 Supercar in tricky conditions on Saturday
Copyright: GRX TANECO Team

GRX TANECO aimed to qualify both Hyundai i20 Supercars in the semi-final for its first participation in the World Rallycross championship. But Niclas Grönholm’s strong performance throughout the weekend saw the team qualify for the final. 

After a shaky start and a spin in Q1, Grönholm took P6 in the second qualifying session.
“Q1 didn’t work out as planned. The windscreen was steamed up and I couldn’t see much. Q2 was better. Despite a few minor errors, I got a good result”, Grönholm said.

Timur Timerzyanov banked tenth and then twelfth place in his Hyundai Supercar. Far from satisfied with his first day, he was back at the front of the field on Sunday, winning his race and claiming the seventh best time of Q3. His Q4 performance having clinched a place in the semi-finals, he was classed fourth, just missing out on the final. “I’m satisfied with my first race with GRX TANECO", said Timerzyanov. "We had a difficult first day on Saturday but I made up for the lost time and gradually felt more at ease in the car. The team had the podium in its sights right from the first race and that’s an excellent sign for the rest of the season.” 

Niclas put in a consistent performance and was strong on Sunday, finishing the two qualifying rounds in the top five and clinching a place in the final. “I knew we had the potential to qualify for the semi-finals, though it was more difficult than I expected", Grönholm said. "The final was a real bonus for me. We didn’t perform as well as I’d have hoped, finishing fourth, but I think we can be satisfied with our first race with the team and the car.”

GRX TANECO head to round two of the World Rallycross championship in Portugal, in 4th place in a Teams' Championship standings, with both drivers Niclas Grönholm and Timur Timerzyanov, in 5th and 9th place in the Drivers' championship.

Source: GRX TANECO
Image Copyright: GRX TANECO

Team Peugeot Total claim a podium finish on debut

Team Peugeot Total's Timmy Hansen catches some air at the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona
Image Copyright: Peugeot Sport

Team Peugeot Total certainly didn’t have it easy during the season opener in Catalunya-Barcelona, after incidents involving Timmy Hansen hitting the wall on Saturday, electrical issues while leading the qualifying heat (on Sunday) and Sébastien Loeb spinning on a completely swamped Barcelona-Catalunya circuit in tricky conditions on Saturday but conditions improved on Sunday, when Sébastien Loeb made it through to the final and claimed second place.

Sébastien Loeb finished second overall (after the disqualification of Mattias Ekström following a first-lap incident in the final). Loeb achieved the podium finish due to some solid team work, with Kevin Hansen (not eligible to score team points) giving up a grid slot in the semi-final to the Loeb. Sébastien Loeb finished second in the semi-finals, booking him a place in the final, where the Frenchman showed his characteristic flair to seal a podium.

“We’ve seen this weekend all the different emotions you can go through in rallycross in one weekend!," said Loeb. "I was a bit low at the beginning, and I didn’t expect to go through to the semi-final as we were off with broken rear suspension twice in the heats. Then the decision came that I was going to go through to the semi-final anyway and from that point everything actually went well. I had a bit of luck with me, but this sort of emotional rollercoaster isn’t an easy one to live through! The pace of the car with Timmy is very encouraging as we can see that the car is competitive and that we’ve made a step forward over the winter. We’re in the fight and I hope we can continue in this way.”

Timmy Hansen showed amazing speed all weekend but didn’t get the chance to convert that into a result as his car stopped in the semi-final, while he was leading and pulling out a gap. “The only negative to this weekend is that there were so many positives we weren’t able to capitalise on!," he commented. "I felt very comfortable in the car all weekend: I was pulling out a gap in the semi-final and yet it was feeling so easy, almost with no real effort. Then the car stopped and that was it, which is obviously hard to take. But in the end, our car was really fast, really good, and we put together a fantastic weekend from the very start. It’s a car that I’m able to fight with. I’m eager to get some revenge now on the next round in Portugal. I just want to get back into the car and try again.”

Kevin Hansen was not eligible to score points for the team was 12th after the heats but withdrew in order to hand his place in the semi-finals to Loeb. "I think it was a good first race. I know this squad very well, for me everything feels very normal. I have my same crew as last year, so I felt very comfortable, and I had a very good first day as well," said Kevin Hansen. "We dropped a lot in the overall standings and went back to 12th. As Seb was 13th, we decided to swap for the team. I already knew it could be like this last year, so I’m aware of the thought, it’s not like it’s something new. And the next round is only in two weeks."

Team Peugeot Total head to Portugal for the World RX of Portugal in third place in the Team Championship standings, while its drivers: Timmy Hansen, Sébastien Loeb and Kevin Hansen are 6th, 7th and 12th in the Drivers' Championship Standings.

Source: Peugeot Sport
Image Copyright: Peugeot Sport
Written By: Junaid Samodien

The World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona win is decided after Turn 1 drama

Turn 1 drama during the final race of the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona
Image Credit: FIA World Rallycross

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and World RX defending champion, Johan Kristoffersson has been declared the winner of the 2018 World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona, after Mattias Ekstrom was disqualified from the final following an incident with Petter Solberg while Sebastien Loeb secured second place finish after an eventful weekend for Team Peugeot Total. EKS Audi Sport's Andreas Bakkerud ensured three manufacturers are represented in the top three.

Starting in pole position with Mattias Ekstrom second on the grid, the LIGHTS went GREEN and away they went. Ekstrom had a lightning start [winning the Monster Energy Super Charge award] seeing him slightly ahead before Turn 1. Ekstrom and Solberg then made contact on the run to turn one, resulting in the latter hitting the track markers (stack of tyres) on the inside of the corner. While Mattias Ekstrom continued in the lead, Solberg rejoined the race in sixth place.

With Ekstrom going on to withstand race-long pressure from Kristoffersson to take the chequered flag first, the Stewards concluded the EKS Audi Sport driver had “Made contact with car #11 [Solberg] on his left… Further, the Stewards considered this to be a dangerous manoeuvre and liable to hinder car #11” and disqualified him from the final.

The decision gifted Johan Kristoffersson his tenth World RX victory. 

"This is definitely the best way to start my title defence," he commented. "I squeezed everything I could out of my VW Polo R. I knew it was going to be tight at the exit of the joker but it was an enjoyable fight; Mattias is a very switched-on guy, and he knows exactly how to position his car to make it difficult to overtake. I was happy with second place but while winning like this clearly isn’t the nicest way, I will grab it with both hands."

Loeb's second place came following a remarkable turnaround on a day that initially saw him miss the cut to progress to the semi-finals. A troubled set of qualifying races left Loeb 13th at the intermediate classification, and first reserve for the semi-finals. He was thrown a lifeline when Peugeot stablemate Kevin Hansen, who’d qualified 12th, withdrew from the semi-finals. 

An early Joker Lap gave Loeb the edge over Bakkerud and an unexpected second place ahead of the Norwegian, who later gave Audi something to cheer by inheriting third place overall on his debut with the team.

"It’s amazing how many different emotions you can experience over the course of a rallycross weekend," said Loeb. "I went out of both Q2 and Q3 with broken rear suspension, which left me a long way down the classification and I didn’t expect to make it into the semi-finals, let alone the final. I had a bit of luck on my side at last. It’s good to see that the car is competitive. I think we have taken a little step forward from last year, and we are here in the fight, so hopefully we can continue in this way."

"It was a very tricky weekend with challenging and changing conditions," added Bakkerud. "I am pleased to be in the final already in the first race with my new team and new car. I see a huge potential, not just for me but for the whole of EKS Audi Sport. I need to push even harder, because I want to go all the way to the top at round two in Portugal."

GRX Taneco enjoyed a strong start to the 2018 season with its new Hyundai i20 as Niclas Gronholm claimed a career-best World RX result in fourth position. The young Finn finished ahead of Solberg who ran sixth on the road before being elevated to fifth at the expense of rival Ekstrom.

GC Kompetition enjoyed a positive World RX debut with its Prodrive-developed Renault Megane R.S RX after Guerlain Chicherit and Jerome Grosset-Janin both reached the semi-final stage and demonstrated competitive pace. However, there were mixed fortunes for returning former Teams' champions Olsbergs MSE with Robin Larsson reaching the semi-finals but Kevin Eriksson failing to progress beyond the qualifying races after an uncharacteristic crash in Q2 dented his chances. 

The FIA World Rallycross Championship heads to Portugal for the World RX of Portugal at Montalegre in two weeks’ time (28-29 April).

Source: FIA World Rallycross
Image: FIA World Rallycross Media 

2018 Chinese Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Daniel – what an absolute star. What a race! Your sixth victory, but is that the sweetest one?

Daniel RICCIARDO: I don’t know what it is, I don’t seem to win boring races, they’re all pretty fun. That was unexpected. Put ourselves 24 hours ago and I thought we’d maybe be starting at the back of the grid. Firstly, thanks to the boys yesterday. I thanked them after qualifying but today is the real reward for that work. So thank you to everyone at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, the mechanics worked their butts off, so…

And the team had their brain in gear didn’t they, under the safety car, getting you in the pit lane. Double stacked the car twice, so the pit crew were on it as well?

DR: It was hectic. I heard ‘safety car’ in Turn 14, and they said ‘we’re going to double stop, come, come, in the box’. It happened very quickly but very decisive moves, winning moves also from the team, so thanks a lot. Yeah, fat lip and all I got the win.

Just take us through one of the great overtakes – maybe on Lewis? That came out of nowhere down to the Turn 14 hairpin.

DR: Yeah, sometimes you’ve just got to lick the stamp and send it. So, there we go. I enjoyed it very much.

You still made the apex somehow, extraordinary?

DR: Yeah, obviously we had the soft tyre so I knew I could get a little bit more out of the braking than them. A lot of the time you get one chance to try so I made the most of every opportunity.

You were a little closer to Valtteri when you passed him than you are now, but Valtteri, kind of bittersweet. Your 100th start but the safety car didn’t play into your hands and left you on some slightly older tyres and struggling a little bit.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, you know, the race was going pretty well for us and we were looking strong all the way, until the guys, during the safety car, stopped and we were in trouble then with Daniel and nearly with Kimi in the end. It is disappointing. We were giving everything we had and it kind of felt like we deserved victory… but not today.

Without the safety car, do you think you had enough grip and pace to keep Sebastian behind you and take victory?

VB: It felt like everything was under control so far. I had no major drop-off in the end, so I think we could have done it, but this is racing, these things happen.

Kimi, wow, it looked like you were a bit out of position. It looked like you were struggling a bit. They kept you out a long time before the pit stop. Then the safety car played into your hands and you had great speed and you got yourself back onto the podium.

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I think we made a good start and then got, unfortunately, blocked a bit and passed in the first corners. I struggled a little bit following people in the beginning. On my own I wasn’t too bad, but far from ideal at the start of the race and then obviously we stayed very long out. A little bit of luck with the safety car. I had good speed on the mediums but in the end we would have needed the soft tyres to really go for it. But I think I was kind of OK in the end, but once I got close I had much more speed than Valtteri but once you get close it’s so difficult to follow people, to get a good run you need much better tyres to get that proper run and you can kind of offset yourself. But I’ll take what I got, because at one point it didn’t look good at all.

Daniel, I just want to go through the other overtake, when you passed Valtteri into Turn 6, because that looked a little bit touch and go.

DR: It was close. I think it was hard but fair. I saw him defend, so I wanted to go shallower, but then he came a bit more… I thought about pulling out. No, I’m just kidding! I knew there would always be enough room and the tyres had pretty good grip, so worst case I went wide and I’d have another crack somewhere else.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Daniel, many congratulations. In winter testing, if someone had said to you “Red Bull will win a race this year before Mercedes,” what would have been your reaction?

DR: Good job. Yeah, pretty cool. Holy Testicle Tuesday! I don’t know. I’m sitting here, reciting everything in my head what just happened. Yeah, awesome. Even after yesterday. I’ve only got six, it’s not a whole lot but the wins seem to come under always some circumstances. Baku, and this one now where we really thought we were going to start the race at the back. We didn’t think we were going to get out in qualifying and, just over 24 hours later, now to be here, it’s… this sport’s crazy. A week ago I was with my head down after two laps on Sunday. Yeah, frustrated at the sport, frustrated at all the variables that are involved in the sport. Sometimes I question why I chose this sport because there’s so many other things out of your control and it does get you down a lot – but then when you have a day like this it’s worth fifty of those bad ones.

Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. A lot was made yesterday after qualifying about the team having set the cars up for the warmer temperatures that we had today in the grand prix. How was the balance of the car?

VB: I think the balance was OK. Like actually it felt OK yesterday, we were just not quite quick enough with the ultrasoft, so yeah, today we only used soft and medium and I think on the soft it was next to nothing, the difference to Ferrari. We were as competitive as them. I think with the medium it was pretty much the same case. So, for sure, starting the race from the second row makes it more difficult. It’s a shame what happened in the end because we really took the opportunities in the beginning of the race start, during the pitstop. After the pitstop everything was going fine. And then with the Safety Car we just got a little bit unlucky – but that happens sometimes. It’s difficult to accept that quickly, after the race – but that’s F1.

Q: Talk us through the undercut. Were you surprised to come out ahead of Vettel?

VB: No. We knew that it is possible with this kind of gap, if you get everything perfect, coming in, in the box, into the pitlane and all that. If you can switch on the tyres quickly, it’s possible. That’s why we stopped at this point. It was perfect timing from the team. I think it felt it was my quickest stop I’ve had with the team. So, everything just went really well. Good out-lap. So, we knew it was possible.

Q: Kimi, can we get your thoughts on the pecking order now. Because Ferrari were so quick in qualifying yesterday, yet here you are in third place.

KR: It’s very hard to say. I think if you ask anybody, it’s a bit tricky to give you an answer. I think today a lot of the end results depended on whether you had better tyres than others, when you could offset yourself to the others. Obviously, it’s part of the game. A big part of the game. And here it made a big difference. And the safety car playing in there. So, like pure speed, with everybody on the same tyres… it’s difficult, very difficult to say in a race. I think it’s nice like that, for everybody to watch, because nobody really knows, everybody would love to know, nobody really has because it changes from race to race. And such a small difference makes a big difference in the end results. I think you just have to wait and see. I think it might change from race to race and who runs what tyres.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Daniel, you’ve pulled off a lot of spectacular overtakes already in your Formula One career, not just to win races. Where does the overtake on Valtteri today rank and can you just talk us through what was going on in the car and going on in your head at the beginning of that process, through the overtake and afterwards?

DR: Yeah. Opportunity be knocking! That’s what I would say. I could tell that obviously we had the advantage coming in at the safety car and having those softs. Yeah, I sensed the opportunity. Initially it was ‘OK, maybe now we can fight for the podium’ and at the rate that we were going through the field, and I could feel the tyres were holding on well, then it was obviously fully set on the win. Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously I had pace over all the guys that I got ahead of but you still don’t want to sit behind for too long. I saw Valtteri defend but I was kind of committed already from turn three that I was going to try. It was cool, it was close but I would say close but fair and it’s cool when you go wheel-to-wheel and I think it’s fun for drivers and it’s good TV so I enjoyed it. It makes it a bit sweeter than just maybe cruising past on the straight so that was a lot of fun.

Q: And Valtteri can we just have your take on that overtaking manoeuvre?

VB: Well, yeah. I was defending, obviously I saw him very close in turns one, two, three. He got a decent exit as well. He was closing lap after lap with pretty big gains. Yeah, from my side there was not much to do. I tried to defend but ultimately, with the better tyres, he could really brake quite a lot later and got inside. Like he said, it was all fair and like this. I think it was just a matter of time, with the pace he was going.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Daniel, why didn’t you share your shoey with Valtteri and Kimi?

DR: To be honest, actually I don’t know if I’ve ever offered it to Kimi but to be honest I sprayed most of the champagne so I didn’t have that much more and obviously I saw my number one mechanic Genty (Chris Gent) and he was the priority at the time. There wasn’t enough to go round today unfortunately. Hopefully there’s plenty more opportunities.

Q: Kimi, would you accept a shoey?

KR: Lucky for us…

DR: Maybe next time. It’s a privilege.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Daniel, you kept your cool throughout the race. What was in your mind when you saw that Max had made a mistake and you overtook him?

DR: I could see it coming a few corners before. Obviously I saw he was close to Lewis out of ‘three’. I wasn’t close enough to be involved at that moment so yeah, I was just watching, I guess and obviously if there is some contact, I’ve got to then position myself and try and be prepared. Yeah, then I saw he was trying on the outside of ‘seven’ and I could see them both drift wide and I could see that one car was probably not going to make it, so the difficult thing was then when Max went off track I wasn’t sure if he was going to slide back across, hold the line, so that was quite tricky initially, but then I could see he was coming on with quite a bit of speed so then it was quite easy in my mind to cut across the inside to let him go. But yeah, even those things, they happen so fast and you’re still in the heat of the battle so it’s quite hard to always pick the right move. Fortunately I didn’t really lose any time with that and yeah, it was pretty close, so I don’t know what the viewers thought but it seemed like it was a pretty close battle.

Source: FIA.com
Image: Sutton Images