Formula 1 Eyetime Grand Prix of Austria 2018

Austrian Grand Prix – Spierberg 1st July

Posted: 01.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Maurizio Arrivabene: ” The real story today is that there are six Ferrari power units in the top ten on the race result sheet. And, apart from that, we are leading both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. Today’s result was not ideal, but it is definitely useful. The team did a great job, at every level, to make up for a difficult Saturday. During the race, the handling of the car, the perfect management of the tyres, the strategy and reliability, all made the difference. On paper, next weekend at Silverstone looks difficult for us, partly because it’s a home race for our main rivals. But we will tackle it with our usual level headedness and determination.”

Kimi Raikkonen: ”At the start I had a good getaway, but I found myself between two cars and I had to lift off to avoid them squeezing me, while I hoped they would see me. I lost momentum, speed and the chance to challenge them in the first corner. It’s a pity, because without that, I think I could have been in the lead. The first lap was quite hectic, then the situation calmed down for a while. Tyre management played a big part today: it was hard to know when to go flat out and be on the safe side at the same time. The beginning of both stints was a bit tricky; we struggled a bit to get the grip and to make the tyres work, but then it got better and in the end we had very good tyre. We were obviously hoping to catch Max, but by then it was perhaps a bit too late. Today we had the speed, but there just weren’t enough laps left in the race… Of course we wanted to win, we tried very hard, giving our best, but it was not enough. The good thing is that, as a team, we did a solid job. It was a strong weekend.”

Sebastian Vettel: “We did a good job and a good race. I had a very solid start, but in Turn 1 things got a bit messy. I tried to recover, but there was no room and lost some positions in Turn 3. From them on, I had to fight with Renault and Haas and lost some time. However, the car was very good, we had a very good pace and we didn’t have any issues with the tyres; in fact, the car was very good on them, even if I had to manage the Softs for a long stint, which again proves we have made good progress since Barcelona. Obviously, I am happy with the points that we’ve got and the podium, but I am not satisfied 100 per cent, because I think there would have been more up for grabs today, if I hadn’t got the penalty. We were the only cars that could be there with the Mercedes in terms of pace, but in the end, we proved more consistent.”

Austrian Grand Prix – Both on podium and back in the lead

Posted: 01.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Kimi second Seb third and back in championship lead

Spielberg – It looked like being a tough race, what with penalties and problems at the start, but it ended with both Scuderia Ferrari men on the podium. Kimi finishing second ahead of Seb was not something that would have been predicted going into the race. The result was down to the drivers of course, but also to a great job from the team, a well planned strategy and an SF71H which seemed particularly good at managing its tyres.

STORY OF THE RACE
Kimi was third on the grid on the left hand side. Sebastian had been given a three place grid penalty after qualifying and was sixth. Both men were running the Ultrasofts, as track temperature came close to 50 degrees, the hottest it had been all weekend.

Kimi attacked to move up to second, but ran wide at turn 3 and then was hit from behind by a Red Bull to find himself back in fourth. Seb also had to run wide to avoid an incident at the first corner and lost ground. But he quickly retook Magnussen to go seventh, before dealing with Grosjean with a brilliant pass.
Both Ferraris picked up the pace a bit. On lap 12, Hulkenberg’s engine let go, spraying oil onto the track at turn 1. Kimi set the fastest lap, under the 1m 9s mark. Two laps later, Bottas parked at the side of the track and the Virtual Safety Car came out. The team therefore called in both cars and fitted the hardest tyre (the Softs.) Red Bull covered the move, but Kimi managed to rejoin ahead of Ricciardo.

When the race restarted, Vettel overtook Magnussen again. The two SF70Hs were now third and fifth, but Kimi locked up under braking and Ricciardo went past. Hamilton pitted on lap 25 and emerged between Kimi and Seb. Verstappen now led, with his four pursuers covered by 4 seconds. Kimi, following Ricciardo and Hamilton behind the Ferrari, could use DRS, for attacking and defending.

With half the race completed, Kimi could see from the cockpit that the left rear on Ricciardo’s Red Bull was blistered. The remote garage back in Maranello was also on the case. Meanwhile, Seb was closing on Hamilton in the DRS zone and so began the duels: Kimi attacked on the outside of the climb and then passed Ricciardo who pitted. On lap 39, Seb passed Hamilton!

Ferrari were now second and third. It was time to look after the tyres. The gap between Seb and Lewis moved like an elastic band, while ahead of them, Kimi seemed comfortable. On lap 53, Hamilton had to pit again, this time swapping the Softs for Supersofts. He rejoined behind Ricciardo, but the Red Bull immediately parked at the side of the track on the pit straight.
The Ferraris did not drop their pace with Kimi nibbling at the gap to Verstappen. With 7 laps remaining there was more drama as Hamilton retired. Raikkonen upped his pace, setting the fastest lap on lap 66. It was not enough to win, but it proved that “never give up” is more than a slogan.

Austrian Grand Prix – “Let’s focus on the race now”

Posted: 30.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb will serve a grid penalty, Kimi to start from 3^rd.

Spielberg, June 30 – Third and fourth place for Seb and Kimi on tomorrow’s starting grid had been the result of a tense qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix. However, Seb involuntarily impeded Carlo Sainz in the Renault during Q2 and the Stewards imposed a three place grid penalty on the Ferrari driver. It means that Kimi is promoted to P3 on the grid.

“Obviously, it’s not the ideal result, but it’s a rather decent one,” Kimi commented. “It has been a pretty straightforward and consistent day. I struggled a little bit with understeer in the last few corners to get the car to turn and carry the speed into the corner, but apart from that it was ok. For sure there are always things to improve and you can always go faster; today we did our best, but it was not enough. Tomorrow is a different day, we know that sometimes qualifying is different from the race. We’ll start on different tires to our competitors, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. This is quite a special circuit, lap time is very short so we expect everybody to be very close. As for overtaking, it’s supposed to be easier with an additional DRS zone.  Let’s hope we have a stronger day on Sunday”.

“I’m sorry for Carlos” said Seb, “it was never my intention to ruin his lap. You can’t see well straight back in the mirrors, with the rear wing and everything, and this time I was not told that he was coming. As for my qualifying, I think I had another tenth in my pocket today, but probably not enough to become a threat. In my first run in Q3 I knew I had to ramp it up, so I pushed very hard and made a small mistake that turned into a big snap, so I tried to recover concentration for my last attempt, which is always difficult, and probably held something back a little bit. Now let’s focus on the race tomorrow”.

Austrian Grand Prix – Ferrari on second row

Posted: 30.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Spielberg qualifying

Spielberg, 30 June – It will be an all red second row for the start of the Austrian Grand Prix tomorrow. Come the end of qualifying, Sebastian Vettel was third fastest in 1’03”464, one place ahead of his Finnish team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who had a best lap of 1’03”660. Both Scuderia Ferrari men ran the same tyre strategy, using the Supersofts in Q1 and Ultrasofts for the next two sessions. Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 15.10

Austrian Grand Prix – “We should be well prepared”

Posted: 29.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb and Kimi comment on a solid Friday session

Spielberg, June 29 – The rain never came, except for a few harmless drops  and the two SF71Hs in the hands of Seb and Kimi managed to have a good run through both Friday sessions. All the three available compounds were tried out,  and although the last attempt at a fast lap was cut short for Seb by a red flag caused by Gasly’s Toro Rosso, the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers managed to cover a fair distance also in race trim.

“We can always improve, but today I’m happy”, said Seb. “The car was pretty good, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. On this track it is true that the kerbs can be “aggressive” somehow, but today we didn’t have any issues and hopefully we won’t have problems tomorrow and in the race. We did a lot of laps, which is good, and usually on Saturday we can make a good step forward, so we should be well prepared for tomorrow and for Sunday”.

“It was a normal Friday session”, commented Kimi. “Obviously, we have some work to do to find the right set-up for tomorrow, like at any other race. It’s hard to judge our performance compared to other teams, because we don’t know what the other were doing, but in general it was not too bad. Tomorrow we’ll see where we are”.

Austrian Grand Prix – Friday practice completed

Posted: 29.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Vettel 3^rd, Raikkonen 6^th

Spielberg, 29 June – In the second free practice session, Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, taking his Ferrari round in 1’04”815, while Kimi Raikkonen was sixth with a best lap of 1’05″265. With 52 minutes remaining, the session was red flagged because of an incident involving Pierre Gasly’s Toro Rosso. In this second session the Scuderia Ferrari drivers ran different tyre programmes: the Finn used the Supersoft and Ultrasoft compounds, while his German team-mate went for the Softs and Ultrasofts. The last practice session takes place tomorrow at 11:00, before qualifying gets underway at 15:00.

Austrian Grand Prix – Free practice 1 given over to testing

Posted: 29.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb 4th and Kimi 6th in Spielberg

Spielberg, 29 June – Just a few days on from the French GP, the engines were fired up again for the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers were fourth and sixth fastest in the first free practice session, with Sebastian Vettel posting a 1’05”180 and Kimi Raikkonen doing a 1’05”776. The German got on with the usual Friday checks, while Kimi had to come back briefly to the pits after flat-spotting a tyre at turn 3.

Both men used two sets of Ultrasoft tyres.

Austrian Grand Prix – “A great feeling in Austria”

Posted: 28.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

Kimi and Seb enjoy both the track and the atmosphere

Spielberg, June 28 – A rainy morning welcomed the Formula One teams ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Just a few days after the French event. Scuderia Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel are all geared up for the challenge to come.

“It’s a great feeling to be back in Austria”, says Kimi. “This is a very nice track , I have always enjoyed coming here, the atmosphere is great and the people have always been very welcoming to us. This circuit looks easy on paper, but it’s still difficult to go fast and put a good lap together. Usually, we’re all very close here, because the lap is quite a short one and in qualifying you seem to be fighting everyone and the traffic because the smallest delay can make a big difference on lap time. It’s impossible to know now how our car will perform on this track; I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be strong, but how strong we’ll have to wait to find out. The end result depends also on small things, we need to make everything right and tidy up a few things on Saturday to make our life a little bit easier on Sunday. Hopefully we’ll have a smooth weekend and be up there…”.

Seb took some time to reflect on the events of the last race: “If we consider the whole weekend, France was a much better one than Barcelona, and there are similarities between the two circuits in terms of asphalt and because we had the same tyres. Our pace was good, but there’s no point now in looking back too much, it was what it was. As for Austria, I always enjoy coming down here, both in winter for skiing and now for the Grand Prix. Our car is strong and this track should suit us in principle, although now it’s impossible to predict how competitive we will be, with the weather and all the variables of a racing weekend”.

Austrian Grand Prix – The great race

Posted: 26.06.2018
Source: Ferrari

A GP within a GP, even on the logistics front

As far as race fans are concerned, a race weekend ends on a Sunday night and another one starts on a Thursday morning. But for a Formula 1 team, the race never ends. Last Sunday night, the Scuderia Ferrari trucks set off on the tortuous roads that run down the hill from Paul Ricard, jammed with traffic, to get back to Maranello in time for the race cars and equipment to be overhauled.

Meanwhile, part of the team headed straight for Austria to set up the garage and paddock facilities. The rest of the crew will arrive in Spielberg over the coming days. It’s now the height of summer and the race in Styria has always been one of the classic events of the holiday season, with the odd exception such as the ’97 race, which was held in late September. It’s yet another reason to expect a good crowd, in an area famous for its natural beauty and the welcome it provides.

There’s enough accommodation in the area, but it’s mainly guest houses, so that the F1 folk are scattered all around the villages in the area. The track has been modified over the years: the original one made use of the local airfield and was only 3.2 km in length and all it had in common with the current format was the very short lap time. Last year in qualifying, cars were lapping in around the 1m 4s mark and one could speculate that this year, with the Soft, Supersoft and Ultrasoft compounds on offer, we will see them crack the one minute barrier: weather permitting of course because at the moment the forecast says there’s a chance of thunderstorms, at least up until Friday.