‘Baffled’ Hamilton seals first Mercedes win

MotoGP News

Date: 28/July/2013

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first F1 victory for Mercedes in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but was ‘baffled’ by the dominant performance.

The 2008 Wold Champion, a winner of 21 races for McLaren, had openly doubted that he could match the race pace of the Red Bull and Lotus drivers - despite qualifying on pole position.

Hamilton expected to suffer greater tyre wear than his rivals - a recurring problem for Mercedes this year - and had less knowledge of the revised Pirellis making their debut this weekend, since Mercedes were banned from attending the recent Silverstone test.

Yet the Englishman held his pole into turn one of the 70-lap race, lost his advantage only briefly during the pit stops and went on to win by over ten seconds from Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Hamilton.  “This is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career. To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is just a real privilege.

“The experiences I had at McLaren were some of my greatest but I think this is one of the highlights of my career. Moving to a new team and a team that was struggling massively last year and to finally get a win with them after ten races is a great feeling.”

Hamilton added: “I really wasn’t expecting it and I talked it down a lot yesterday because I really thought we were going to fall behind in the race.

“Today was one of the hottest races I can remember and, for a team that really struggles with tyre degradation, today was a walk in the park.

“I’m really baffled... I used all the technique I could possibly use to look after the tyres which I’m sure everyone is doing, but it worked today. I really, really hope that when we go to the next race we’re able to do the same.”

The stand-out moments of Hamilton’s race were two impressive passes around the outside of Mark Webber, through Turn 2.

“I think you could tell I was hungry for it today. I was just going all-out. I needed to get past those people and usually I get stuck in traffic. Today I wasn’t having it. I was going for every move I had.”

Hamilton remains fourth in the World Championship, 48 points behind Red Bull’s reigning triple title winner Sebastian Vettel, who completed Sunday’s podium in third.

“Of course, when you have a win like this, you get excited and think anything is possible, but it’s still too early to say whether or not we can challenge for the title,” said Hamilton.

“I know the guys are working hard so that we can close the gap, but we’ve got a lot of tough races coming up. I just hope that that’s not the last time my tyres work for me.”

Hungary was the tenth of this year’s 19 rounds.

With Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finishing a disappointing fifth, Raikkonen has regained second in the Championship. However Vettel’s title advantage now stands at an increased 38 points.

The summer break lasts until the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps from August 23-25.

Hamilton pole, ‘not looking forward’ to the race

F1 News

Date: 27/July/2013

Lewis Hamilton surprised himself by claiming a third pole position in a row, and the seventh for Mercedes this season, during qualifying in Hungary.

The 2008 World Champion overcame the team’s disadvantage of missing the recent Silverstone test to claim the first pole with the revised specification Pirelli tyres, thus continuing the strong one-lap form of the ‘Silver Arrows’.

The Englishman, 28, beat reigning title holder and pole favourite Sebastian Vettel by just 0.038s.

“I was really surprised when I came across the line and they said I got pole,” said Hamilton. “I was expecting Sebastian to get it because he had shown some serious pace before. And it didn’t even feel that great a lap, so that’s why I was quite surprised. Maybe he made a mistake or something…”

But Vettel insisted everything had gone broadly to plan.

“There wasn’t much missing so I think Lewis did a good job,” said the Championship leader. “At the end of the day I was pretty happy with my lap but it was just not quick enough.

“Obviously Mercedes have a very strong pace in qualifying. I think Lewis did an exceptional job today if you look at the gap to Nico [Rosberg, fourth], so you have to respect that.

“I would have loved to be a little bit faster and to be on pole but still I think it puts us in a great place for tomorrow. I think we have a good car and good pace for the race. I’m quite confident.”

Vettel was also aware of the bad luck suffered by Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, who was denied the chance to even set a lap time in the final part of qualifying.

“Shame that in the other car Mark had an issue. He didn’t have KERS and had a problem with the gearbox, had slow upshifts,” explained Vettel.

Meanwhile Hamilton, currently fourth in the Championship standings, hasn’t finished higher than third in a race this year and expects to again struggle with tyre wear on Sunday.

“I’m not really looking forward to it,” admitted Hamilton. “We’ve got a good car so I think if we didn’t have the tyre issues we would be able to compete. It sucks that I’m not able to race with these guys but we will do the best we can.

“The tyre degradation is an issue [for Mercedes] and no matter what rules change or whatever solutions we find, so far, generally it seems very difficult for us to improve.

“But we’re just working away at it and hopefully we will get there before the rules change again for next year, different tyres come in. Until then it’s just trying to get as many points as we can and trying to hold on to Sebastian for as long as I can.”

Grosjean faced an anxious wait after qualifying when his Lotus failed a technical check.

However the Frenchman, who had not qualified higher than fifth prior to Hungary, escaped punishment when Lotus were able to show that damage to the floor of the car had caused it to fail a deflection test.

Hungary is the first event with the revised Pirelli tyres, which feature last year’s construction with this year’s range of rubber compounds.

Vettel will start the race with a 34 advantage over nearest rival Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver qualified in fifth place, just ahead of Grosjean’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel fastest as ‘new’ tyres debut in Hungary

F1 News

Date: 26/July/2013

Anyone hoping that the revised Pirelli tyre specification would shake up the F1 order was left sorely disappointed after Friday practice in Hungary.

The new tyres, making their competitive debut this weekend, feature last year’s construction, combined with this year’s rubber compounds. The change was made on safety grounds, following a series of spectacular tyre failures during the British Grand Prix.

Day one of the Hungary Grand Prix saw few surprises with triple World Champion and 2013 points’ leader Sebastian Vettel fastest from Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in both practice sessions.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean made a promising start in third, followed by the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

“I don’t think the tyres feel massively different, but they are a step in the right direction,” said Vettel. “The car feels okay, but there’s always a lot of work to do and there’s some room for improvement.”

“The tyres feel quite similar to those used previously; we got a feeling already from Silverstone,” confirmed Webber, referring to a recent test session held to gather data on the new tyres.

One team which didn’t get to try the revised tyres at Silverstone was Mercedes, which was banned from taking part as punishment for a tyre test - subsequently deemed illegal - after the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh quickest in practice, 0.5s and 0.7s respectively behind Vettel.

“We came into the weekend on the back foot a little without experiencing the new tyres,” admitted Hamilton. “The balance feels different and we need to work on the right set-up but we learned over the course of the day, made some changes and will make more for tomorrow.”

Vettel currently leads the Championship by 34 points from nearest rival Alonso and is thus guaranteed to go in to the summer break, which follows Sunday’s race, holding the title advantage.

Marquez turns title favourite, ‘can be the greatest’

MotoGP News

Date: 22/July/2013

MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez heads for the half-time summer break having extended his World Championship lead with victory in the US GP at Laguna Seca.

The irrepressible Repsol Honda star, 20, romped to his third win of the year - highlighted by an audacious pass on Valentino Rossi - to pull a clear points lead over the injured Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Marquez had never ridden the Laguna Seca circuit before Friday practice, meaning it should have been one of his toughest events of the season.

Marquez said: “I’m so happy because we weren't expecting this result from our first visit to Laguna Seca. I didn't think I would adapt so easily to such a tricky circuit, but from the first day of practice I felt very comfortable and quickly found the best lines.”

Talk of the race was his Corkscrew pass on Rossi, a mirror image of the move the Italian had made on Casey Stoner in 2008.

“I said to him Valentino that I will pay the copyright!” joked Marquez. “When I saw the video of 2008 I thought it was impossible. But when I let off the brakes a little because there was no space and I passed in the same place.

“The overtake that he did in 2008 was more spectacular, but okay I enjoyed it too!”

Rossi, who went on to finish third, was gracious in defeat.

“In 2008 I made one of the best overtakes in history maybe and today Marc did the same. When you do a move like that you have to take risks and maybe not everything is perfect for the rules.

“But I think it is right to do this kind of overtake, without any problem with Race Direction.

“On one hand I'm not happy, because Marc overtook me in a great way, on the other hand I know I have a credit with him now. If I do it to him he cannot say anything!”

Marquez leads the championship by 16 points from team-mate Pedrosa, with reigning champion Lorenzo a further 10 points behind. Marquez thus has a real chance of joining only Kenny Roberts in winning the premier-class title at his first attempt.

And Rossi already believes Marquez could go on to become the greatest ever.

The seven time MotoGP Champion said: “Marc has all the potential to become the greatest of all time. He is a great talent, with great skills, and is also very young. Now is very early to say, but he has 100 percent of possibility to do that.”

Marquez will now use the summer break to reflect on his first nine races and prepare for the second half of the season, when Pedrosa and Lorenzo will be back to fitness.

“We will review all the races and see where we can improve in the second half of the season and it will be interesting to see what it is like when Jorge and Dani are fully fit. It will be more difficult, but here and in Germany we had a big opportunity to win two races and we did that."

Bradl responds with debut MotoGP pole

MotoGP News

Date: 21/July/2013

Stefan Bradl responded to speculation over his MotoGP future in perfect fashion by claiming a first pole at Laguna Seca.

Bradl signed a contract directly with Honda after an impressive debut 2012 season at LCR, where it was expected he would remain for next year.

However Honda are yet to take up their option on Bradl and recent reports have linked Cal Crutchlow, the top rider currently unsigned, with the LCR ride.

Former Moto2 champion Bradl, 23, is under pressure from Honda to deliver the debut podium expected from him this season. That is yet to happen, but he led his home round last Sunday in Germany and has been a frontrunner throughout the US GP weekend.

Bradl seized pole by just 0.017s from World Championship leader Marc Marquez, who crashed from his Repsol Honda in the closing minutes of the session.

“It’s an unbelievable sensation!” said Bradl. “My first pole position in the premier class at this spectacular circuit, and I am now the first German rider to do this in MotoGP history. I could not ask for more!

“We knew that we had a good pace all weekend, but this result is yet another step forward for me and the LCR Honda Team.

“For sure it was very close, just a few hundredths faster than Marc, but it’s a good feeling for me. I expected a front row, so pole is even better.

“I will try so hard to stay in the top tomorrow. I think we have a good package, I’m comfortable with the bike and everything is looking good.”

Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista will complete an all-Honda front row, with Valentino Rossi the top Yamaha in fourth. Crutchlow could only manager fifth after bike problems.

Marquez’s injured title rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa will line-up sixth and seventh. Barring another mistake from Marquez, the pair look set to lose further points to the 20-year-old in Sunday’s 32-lap grand prix, the last event before the summer break.