Tag Archives: Ferrari

Ricciardo was anticipating an apology from his team after the flag

Daniel Ricciardo was left “angry” after his VCARB Formula 1 team gave him what he felt was a poor strategy call in Hungary – and then failed to apologise on the in-lap for getting it wrong.

The Australian started ninth on the medium tyre, and lost a couple of spots at the start to drivers on softs, and who had better initial grip.

However he was then surprised when he was called into the pits for an early first stop just on lap seven, as the gaggle of soft runners were stopping.

He then found himself on the same strategy and his immediate rivals. He eventually finished 12^th, while team mate Yuki Tsunoda used a one-stop strategy to go from 10^th on the grid to ninth at the flag, jumping both Aston Martin drivers.

“Massively,” he said when asked by this writer if he was disappointed. “Why they pitted me when they did at the beginning… We followed the soft cars in. They’ve just come in, we have a clear track, and we decide to pit behind them and put ourselves in a DRS train, and then on the same tyre, we’re all on the hard.

“I’ve had a lot of races, and I’ve had a lot of frustrating ones, but that’s up there, because we had the pace, and we basically gave Yuki the race that we had in front of us. And we both could have done that, and we didn’t.”

Ricciardo said he didn’t have an opportunity to challenge the call to pit early.

“I didn’t have time,” he said. “It’s a late call, box, box, box, and you pit in. But honestly, as soon as I’m pulling in the pits, I’m questioning it. But you can’t, you get called in Turn 13, and you have to react.

“Two cars jumped us at the start with a soft tyre. That’s fine. Let them go. They pit, and we follow them, to then just be on their strategy. We would have had clear air and a chance to, I think, from what I understand, do Yuki’s race.

“Honestly, I was expecting more. On the in-lap I was waiting for a ‘Sorry, we fucked up,’ and I didn’t get it, so that made me even more angry.”

He continued: “Cars had already pitted, so for us to then pit, I don’t understand. We had a medium, the tyre is going to go, so let’s just use it. I don’t know if by doing that, that allowed Yuki to get points, but from my understanding, we both could have done it.

“We were both quick enough. We had the pace all weekend. So unless I’m missing something? I really don’t think I am.”

Ricciardo said it was made worse by the team asking him to hold up Lance Stroll near the end on fading tyres.

“Stroll’s catching me a second lap and maybe more, and they’re saying it’s really important to keep him behind,” he said. “And what do you want me to do? You pitted me so early. I’m on older tyres.

“I’m also being expected to fight when we’re not really in a fight anymore. So that that was also frustrating. There were times where I just felt the bed was made. So yeah, frustrated.”

Team principal Laurent Mekies admitted that a mistake had been made.

“Unfortunately, we got it wrong with Daniel and pitted him too early in heavy traffic, which lost him a chance to fight for points,” said the Frenchman.

“His pace had been extremely strong all weekend long, and he demonstrated that again in the final stint of the race when he was finally able to find some free air and fight his way back. 

“We certainly share his frustration, and we will learn and come back stronger next week.”

Alonso said his “strategy didn’t help” after missing the points

Fernando Alonso was left frustrated by Aston Martin’s strategy choice in Hungary after tumbling out of the points and finishing 11^th.

Alonso started the race in seventh place, and he briefly gained a spot from Carlos Sainz at the start, before the Ferrari driver quickly repassed.

However like other soft tyre starters the Spaniard was called in for an early first stop, coming in on lap seven.

Left with two long stints to the end of the race he knew straight away that it would be a struggle, and that proved to be the case.

In the closing lap the team told him to let the faster Lance Stroll past to attack Yuki Tsunoda up ahead. Although the Canadian failed to pass the VCARB the positions were not switched back.

“The strategy I think it was not optimal,” said Alonso when asked by this writer about the early stop. “Obviously, very easy to say after the race, but at that point probably the team felt that it was the good one.

“Bit surprised when we stopped in lap seven, because we talked this morning, our car is hard on tyres normally. So if you stop in lap seven, there are 63 laps to do, with one medium and one hard. 

“So it was a challenge from that point. And yeah, we didn’t have the pace, and the strategy didn’t help.”

He added: “We spoke this morning, we have to even a little bit the stints, if not, there is a high price to pay if you do a very long stint with one set of tyres. They called me box in lap seven, on lap eight, I knew that the race was over.”

Alonso said he wasn’t too bothered about ceding the final point to Stroll, who did a longer opening stint of 14 laps on the soft tyres.

“I didn’t care too much. It was one point for the team. It doesn’t matter which car takes that point. And I think he was trying until the last corner. So, yeah, I think it was the right thing to do.”

Alonso was non-committal on the value of the latest upgrade package.

“I think we need to analyse,” he said. “But for sure, these 70 laps, there are a lot of things to learn from the car. It’s the first race, the first long distance we do with the package.

“So let’s understand all the numbers that the factory can see on data, also the tyre degradation that we had today, and see if we can learn something for Spa.”

Sergio Perez says he will “not give up” and is determined to bounce back after another he endured another disastrous qualifying session in Hungary.

The Red Bull driver crashed heavily in Q1 in tricky conditions, bringing out the red flag. At the time of the stoppage he was in ninth place, but after the resumption he was demoted to 16^th on the final grid as others improved.

The incident came after a run of frustration weekends for the Mexican that included a costly spin into the gravel in Q1 at Silverstone.

Both incidents have helped to ramp up speculation about his future after he has struggled to match the pace of team mate Max Verstappen in recent weeks.

“I’m very sorry for letting my team down,” he said. “It hurts a lot as a driver when you let your team down.

“But I will not give up. I will really give my very best to turn the situation around, and push as much as possible to get that constructors’ home.”

Asked if F1 was still fun for him Perez made it clear that he wants to continue, indicating that he wants to demonstrate his strength of character to his children.

“It’s something that mentally is really tough,” he said. “And the easiest way will be just to give up after the career I’ve had, just to say, it’s been enough. But it’s not what I want to teach my kids.

“It’s not what I want to do. To show this sort of character I think it’s important to turn things around, get back to our form, because it was not that long ago.

“It’s just the one after the other. But you’ve seen it with many other drivers, that they’ve had difficult weekends, but probably when you are Red Bull, it’s a lot more noticed. And I just want to get back, and I will get back. I will not give up.”

Perez lost control when he touched a kerb on a track made tricky by intermittent rain.

“It was quite an impact,” when asked by this writer how he was feeling. “Luckily, it’s all good, bit of pain on the leg. But other than that, all good and ready for the race.”

“I lost it. I think I clipped the kerb, and that point it was raining harder in Turn 8. So when I clipped the kerb, it was quite late in the corner, and it just sent me off completely.

“It was so hard to judge the conditions. It was running hard, but at the end, you were not losing grip. I was improving my lap. So yeah, in hindsight, when you look at it, we were safe. We didn’t need to do the lap. But you always know a lot afterwards.”

He added: “I think after qualifying, everyone knows what to do. I think at the time, with the information I had, probably there was no need, especially where we were, and the rain was picking up. But we went, and we paid the price.”

Perez admitted that the incident was even more painful as it came so soon after Silverstone.

“I think these conditions can catch out anyone out there, but unfortunately, has been me with two in a row. I’m determined to turn things around. It’s obviously quite hard to face all the media after these difficult moments. But I think when we get back to it, it will be even sweeter.

“Yesterday we had a really good day, a very promising day.  So I think we have very good information on the long runs. So hopefully tomorrow we can have some really good pace to come through the field and hopefully score some points.

“I think the feeling with the car is improving, the understanding with it as well. So we’re definitely making progress.

“And yesterday probably was the best Friday of the season. So there’s light at the end of the tunnel, but we just have to come through it. And hopefully tomorrow, that can be the day.”

Perez insisted that he had no concerns about his future despite Helmut Marko suggesting that he would be assessed over the summer break: “No, like I said before, nothing changes.

“I’m not worried. I’m fully determined to turn my season around and to focus on my performance.”

Sargeant was left frustrated despite a strong session

Logan Sargeant has alluded to a lack of respect from fellow Formula 1 drivers when trying to find a clear lap in qualifying.

The American had an eventful qualifying in Budapest, touching the barrier in Q1 after setting an impressive lap time early on but still getting through to the following session in 14^th place.

The red flag delay for Sergio Perez’s accident helped his Williams team complete repairs to the car, and Sargeant finished Q2 in 14^th, just 0.114s shy of team mate Alex Albon.

However he was left frustrated after by the amount of traffic he had to weave through on his lap, complaining to the team, “That thing’s a joke. Honestly, no one moves.”

After the session Sargeant made it clear that he felt there was more in the car.

“I think firstly really happy with my first lap, when it was spitting,” he said when asked by this writer about his session. “Not so happy with the next one.

“An exceptional job by the team to get the car turned around. And most importantly, it felt in perfect condition. I don’t know if it was exactly, but it definitely felt like it was.

“But disappointed with Q2 because I know we had more in it, and a lot more. We all know how to play the game. I had to go through about eight cars through the lap, and everyone waits a couple corners too long to get out of the way.

“I don’t personally do that, but it sets a precedent going forward. Maybe I need to start. People are going to ruin my lap, I’ll ruin theirs.”

Asked if there might be a lack of respect for him compared to other drivers he said: “It is a bit of respect. I think you see someone like Max, Lewis who have all the success, and you might treat them a little bit better.

“But I try to treat everyone the same. I’m just disappointed, because I’m disappointed for myself and everyone the team, because we’ve done a good job this weekend, we’ve had more in the car. It’s disappointing not to get everything out of it for something that’s not in mine or their control.”

Sargeant conceded that the timing of his run didn’t help.

“It’s always hard,” he said. “I mean, would there have been less traffic? That’s for sure. Would that have helped us?

“For sure, but at the same time, I’m sure the team was doing what they thought was best to give us the best chance, and I’m sure they didn’t expect people to do what they did.”

Despite his frustration Sargeant remains confident that he can have a strong race on Sunday.

“Felt good,” he said. “I think everything’s in the right direction. I think we made some changes that weren’t perfect for qualifying, but should help tomorrow, so I’m hoping that pays off.

“I just wish I could have seen what we really had in it in Q2 there. But I feel good, driving well.”

Sergio Perez has been a focus of attention in recent weeks

Sergio Perez admits that he hasn’t been performing “at my 100%” but he is adamant that he will “ride the rollercoaster” amid speculation about his future and turn his season around.

The Red Bull driver has had a difficult run in recent weeks, with accidents in Monaco and Canada and a costly spin in Q1 at Silverstone.

Team boss Christian Horner has made it clear that Perez has to raise his game as RBR comes under pressure in the constructors’ championship.

“I haven’t been performing, first of all, at my 100%,” said Perez. “With the circumstances, when you put yourself in difficult positions, I obviously take a lot of responsibility for that.

“Obviously, there has been a lot of circumstances as well, with different sort of races. So I think it’s a little bit of everything. When you are in in this vicious circle, we had a really strong Friday, but then I messed up in Silverstone in qualifying. So that was down to me.

“Then, with the strategy in Silverstone, we just throw the dice and see what happened. It didn’t work for us. But I think the main thing is that I’ve been in this business for too long, and I know that it will only matter when I finish in Abu Dhabi. So let’s ride the roller coaster, and hopefully get back on form very soon.”

Perez admitted that he’s had a difficult time of late.

“I think Imola, Monaco, they’ve all been a little bit too tricky,” he said. “In Montreal we had an issue. We’ve been having a few issues, not a straightforward weekend. Some of them has been just a lack of pace, others, circumstances.

“Not everyone is operating at 100%. Obviously, when you are at Red Bull, everything is more noticeable, but I think my main priority is to get my season back on track. I think there is a long way ahead, and it will only matter where I finish in Abu Dhabi.”

He added: “Last year when we upgraded the car it went a little bit out of my hands, I think this weekend there have been a couple of issues. We haven’t had a straightforward weekend.

“There have been different issues every weekend. So we just keep learning from every weekend. We’ve been on really good form just few races ago. So I just believe that it’s just a matter of putting everything together on the weekends to get back to the form we had early, which is the main priority.”

Speculation in the paddock has suggested that Perez faces a summer break deadline that will allow the team to assess his performance relatively to team mate Max Verstappen, and potentially make a change.

After the Silverstone race he acknowledged that the next two races were “important,” but when asked by this writer if that comment hinted at a potential deadline he denied that was the case.

“There’s nothing related to that,” he said. “Obviously, I cannot talk about my contract, but it’s nothing related to that. What I said is that the next two races are very important for me, I want to go on holiday with a good spirit.

“And I think it’s good for my side of the garage to go on a good spirit. I wasn’t talking about anything else, I’m fully focused and fully delivered, and I will be here, and I will be here again next year, and that’s nothing different. I’m just fully committed to myself.”

Regarding Hungary and Belgium he said: “It’s another two races for us that we want to get back to our top form.

“That’s the main priority for me, for the team. I was back in the factory over the week, and that is the main priority for us really, to get back to the form we had a couple of races ago. That’s really it.”

Perez had another frustrating weekend at Silverstone

Sergio Perez admits that his British GP was “just a mess” after a gamble on an early switch to intermediate tyres didn’t pay off for the Red Bull Racing driver.

He was eventually classified 17th after a run that has seen him score just a seventh place and two eighths (plus an eighth in a sprint) over the past six race weekends, putting even more of a focus on recent doubts about his future at RBR.

Perez qualified only 19^th at Silverstone following a spin in Q1, and with little to lose the team opted to give him new PU elements and a pitlane start.

On the hard tyres he had made little progress when he joined Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu in pitting for inters on lap 20 in the first rain shower.

Unfortunately the track dried quickly and Perez lost 10-12 seconds a lap, and by the time the rain returned the tyres were worn out and he had to make a stop for new inters, so he tumbled further down the order.

“We gambled a bit too early,” he said when asked by this writer about the strategy. “And we were out probably for seven laps and completely cooked the intermediate.

“And then when the rain came, there was no tyre left, and it was just a mess overall. Then we boxed again. We were in the middle of the leaders, and it was very difficult to make any progress. Just not an easy afternoon.”

Perez admitted he came close to coming back in for slicks after realising how much the track had dried.

“It was very, very close,” he said. “I think we were just with our calls a couple of laps late, it’s a lot of seconds. But I guess at the same time we had to gamble from the position we were.

“Probably we were looking for a few points or big points, so we gambled it. But there was no luck today at all.

“And it’s good that there is a bit of a break, so that we can step back a bit and regroup as a team.”

Perez said Silverstone did have its positive side ahead of that planned reset.

“I think looking back at it, we had the strongest Friday in a while,” he insisted. “So I think there’s some light out of the tunnel. At the same time, it’s a very disappointing race.

“Other than that, just making sure that we are in the ballpark with the balance, try to make the progression we need for Fridays, and then things will be a lot better.

“I think it’s a good time to have a bit of a break, and get back our form hopefully for Hungary and Belgium, two very important weekends.”

The latter comment hinted that he is under pressure to get results in the last two races before the summer break. However, he says he’s not worried by the ongoing talk about his future at Red Bull.

“I know where I am in terms of contract and that sort of thing,” he said. “But I cannot let it be a distraction.

“I need to focus on the next two weekends, which are the priority, and together with the team, as a team, to get out of this difficult period.”

Leclerc has had two disastrous tyre calls in the past four races

Charles Leclerc says his recent run of misfortune has been “worse than a nightmare” after the Ferrari Formula 1 star finished out of the points at Silverstone.

Having qualified only 11^th Leclerc gained three places at the start. However, he was one of four drivers to make an early stop for intermediates only for the track to dry and his tyres to be worn out by the time the rain returned.

He tumbled down the order and eventually finished a frustrated 14th, his third non-score in the four races since his memorable Monaco win.

The Silverstone disaster followed an engine-related retirement in Canada after similarly disastrous call for slicks in the wet.

He earned a modest fifth place in Spain, and was then 11^th in Austria after first lap wing damage led to a first lap stop. Two points for seventh in the Spielberg sprint was little consolation.

“It was clearly the wrong one,” he said when I asked about the Silverstone strategy choice. “I’ll look back into it, obviously. With the decision, with the message I got and the information I had in the car, I felt like it was the right one.

“It was raining quite in Turn 15, I was told that in this lap the rain was going to be very heavy, so I stopped to try and anticipate. However, the rain came eight or nine laps later.

“So that was obviously the end of our race from that moment onwards. Very frustrating, another weekend to forget, and it starts to be a lot.”

Regarding his recent run of misfortune he said: “It’s very hard, it’s very hard. I mean, I don’t really have the words to explain it, but it’s been four races that it’s been worse than a nightmare. So I hope we can come back soon.”

“It’s very difficult to look at positives in days like this. I just want to go back with the team, and we will analyse the way we are making those decisions on my side, and why we were on the wrong side today.”

Ferrari’s Silverstone form was not helped by the choice to go back to the Imola aero spec after the newer floor promoted bouncing at high speed.

“It’s a tricky situation that we are in at the moment,” said Leclerc. “The upgrade brought us the numbers that we were expecting, but also brought us quite a lot of bouncing in the high-speed. And for a track like this we decided that it was probably better having a bit less performance, but having more the consistency.

“And I think that was the right choice. Going forward, we’ll analyse all the data we had until now with the two packages, and try to understand if there’s anything we didn’t understand yet with the new one.”

Leclerc conceded that the more recent update might work in Hungary, where there are few fast corners.

“Yeah, it’s a very different layout. That’s why I think we still have to assess all the information we’ve got on this new package and old package, and take the right decision, as it might not be the same as here. And yeah, we’ll look into it.”

Hulkenberg will start in an impressive sixth place at Silverstone

Nico Hulkenberg says that the updated floor package introduced for Silverstone was key to his impressive sixth place on the grid for Sunday’s British GP.

The German was late out in Q1 and after the red flag only just made it through in 15^th place.

Eighth in Q2 hinted at some potential and he went two places better when it mattered in Q3, noting that it was “quite amazing” that he had outqualified both works Ferraris.

The performance comes on the heels of his sixth place finish in Austria last weekend.

“Yesterday morning in P1 I drove the old car, and then for P2 we translated or transformed the car to the new spec with the updates,” he said.

“And immediately I felt a benefit and positive in some areas, just more downforce, more balanced, better characteristics. So that was very, very pleasant, very positive for us, and we managed to translate that into a good result today.”

Hulkenberg admitted that getting out of Q1 was a bit tight.

“In Q1 it was a little bit too close for comfort,” he said. “We were late because we thought that it will dry out, but it took longer than expected, and then the red flag obviously kind of put us a little bit up against it.

“I only had one lap, and just made it through, I think, in the last spot in P15. So that was a bit lucky, but afterwards, just good execution, good laps, and obviously happy.

“The red flag with Checo [Perez], and our timing, I think we got a little out of synch from everyone else, that was a bit sketchy, but otherwise a good, clean session.”

The German confident that he can finish inside the top 10 on Sunday: “I think in the points for sure,” he said. “Of course, there’s some fast cars behind us, like the Ferraris. Everyone else who is behind we can fight, apart from the top four teams. So that definitely the aim and target for tomorrow.

“We have two Ferraris starting behind us, which is quite amazing that we managed to beat them over one lap. But I think in a race, there’s no holding them back.

“But everyone else, the Astons, and Albon is there, and then all the other midfield teams, I think we can definitely fight. I think we’ve proven that now over several occasions, and that’s what we’re also going to do.”

Hulkenberg says he’s personally on good form after the solid result in Austria.

“To be honest, I feel a lot and good confidence. So that allows me to produce the laps, even if I just have one, they come, they come out pretty well, which is obviously good.

“I enjoy that feeling. I always try to hold on to it for as long as possible. I know it’s not always like that, so you have to use it while it lasts!”

He’s confident that he can finish in the top 10 on Sunday: “I think in the points for sure,” he said. “Of course, there’s some fast cars behind us, like the Ferraris. Everyone else who is behind we can fight, apart from the top four teams. So that definitely the aim and target for tomorrow.

“We have two Ferraris starting behind us, which is quite amazing that we managed to beat them over one lap. But I think in a race, there’s no holding them back.

“But everyone else, the Astons, and Albon is there, and then all the other midfield teams, I think we can definitely fight. I think we’ve proven that now over several occasions, and that’s what we’re also going to do.”

Hulkenberg’s team mate Kevin Magnussen had to switch back to the older floor on Saturday, and will start 17th.