British Grand Prix – Silverstone 8 July

Posted: 08.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb first and Kimi third on rivals’ home turf. Overtaking and strategy make the day

Maurizio Arrivabene: “This was a well deserved win, mainly down to a great job from the team at the track and back in Maranello and I congratulate them. Winning here is not easy as England is home to the Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Force India and Williams and others. That makes winning here all the more special. Sebastian drove a great race, fighting like a lion despite the pain in the neck he has suffered with since Saturday. Kimi also had a strong race proving once again what a fighter he is. The SF71H confirmed its strengths as it has done on other tracks already and the Pirelli tyres were a perfect match for our strategy. Tomorrow we will have our debrief and right from the afternoon we will start preparing for Sebastian’s home race, the German GP.”

Sebastian Vettel: “Every race is a team race, but today it was even more important for us to win here, because the last few years had been very difficult to us. This year we have proved to be strong every time on every track so far. The most important thing is that the car is strong and fast. The new updates that we brought here have worked very well through the whole weekend. In qualifying we were just a little bit slower, but during the race it was just great. Today during the first stint I probably pushed too much on the Soft tires, but during the second one I had everything under control. The Safety Car made everything more exciting, but even more tricky. However, the strategy with the tires was great and at the end we got a fantastic win as a team. I really enjoyed this race and I am happy for me and for the team. Also, the start was very important for us and it was great. Now it’s important to keep working. I say thanks to the whole team for this win!”

Kimi Raikkonen: “My start was not perfect; in turn 3 I locked the inside wheel, lost a bit of grip and couldn’t slow down as much as I wanted. So I ended up touching Lewis’s rear wheel and unfortunately he span. I had to serve a ten seconds penalty and after that my race was a bit messy. Overtaking was difficult, and I fought against the Red Bulls for many laps. When I was on my own the speed was ok, but once I was behind them, their wake seemed to affect my car a lot more than the Mercedes did; I was losing a lot of downforce and that upset the balance of the car. We were quite a bit faster, but it was really tricky for us to follow them. It was a close fight for quite a lot of times, at the beginning and at the end of the race. Finally we managed to pass them and then I overtook one of the Mercedes. It was not an easy day, but I gave my best and made a decent comeback.”

British Grand Prix – A hammer blow

Posted: 08.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb first and Kimi third on rivals’ home turf. Overtaking and strategy make the day

Silverstone, 8 July –The best race of the year so far, ended with a win for Scuderia Ferrari, which sees Seb Vettel increase his lead by 7 points to 8 in the Drivers’ championship and the team extend its advantage by 10 points to 20 in the Constructors’. Despite some neck pain Seb secured his fourth win of the season and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made a good recovery following a collision shortly after the start. The SF71H proved to be the car to beat, even if that had not seemed the case going into this event.

FILM OF THE RACE. Would the boiling hot tyres give enough grip? Yes would seem to be the answer given the way Seb shot from second on the grid into the lead. Kimi fought with Hamilton and it did not go well, with the Mercedes spinning and the Ferrari continuing in fourth place, before retaking Ricciardo at the end of the opening lap.

In the early stages, Seb’s SF71H was clearly the quickest car on track, while Kimi was right up Verstappen’s exhaust pipes. However, after seven laps, the Stewards hit the Finn with a 10 second penalty for the collision at Turn 3, while the driver was radioing the team asking about suspected front wing damage. They decided to bring him in on lap 13 to change the tyres and take the penalty. He rejoined tenth, between Sainz and Magnussen. He immediately dealt with the Renault and set the fastest lap. The aim was to stay ahead of Hamilton when he too would have to pit.

At one third distance, Kimi had moved up to sixth and Red Bull called in its drivers to avoid finding themselves behind the Ferrari. At the end of lap 20, Seb pitted switching from Soft to Medium tyres. He emerged ahead of Hamilton, as planned. Obviously, at that point, Bottas was told to pit, but Sebastian still found himself leading, by the same margin of 4”4, as before the stop. However, now it was time for tyre management.

Hamilton pitted on lap 26, but surprisingly, Ricciardo hung on for a further five laps before handing fourth place to Kimi. With 20 laps to go, Ericsson crashed into the barriers at the first corner and the safety car came out, which changed the shape of the race. Ferrari pulled off a double pit stop, switching back to Softs, but the Mercedes duo stayed out, so that behind the Safety Car, Bottas led the way, from Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen and Raikkonen.

At the end of lap 37, the race resumed with Seb maintaining position and Kimi fighting with Verstappen. But almost immediately there was another crash, this time involving Sainz and Grosjean at Copse. So once again the Safety Car appeared, coming back in with ten laps remaining. The first three tore off and behind them, Kimi got the better of Verstappen and set his sights on Hamilton. The next two laps were incredible with four cars fighting it out. Then, on lap 47, Seb concealed his move to the very last moment and dived inside Bottas at turn 6. He was first! And for the second time in this race, those behind switched places. Only three laps left, but there was plenty of excitement still to come. Kimi attacked Bottas and passed him decisively at turn 6. First and third “here at their home” said Seb on the radio.

British Grand Prix – “Congrats to the whole team”

Posted: 07.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb fights a sore neck to get P2, with Kimi right behind him

Silverstone, July 7 – On a day in which five Ferrari engines made the cut into Q3, Scuderia Ferrari confirmed the solid performance already seen on Friday with Seb Vettel in P2 on tomorrow’s grid with Kimi Raikkonen immediately behind him in third. The first three drivers are all within less than a tenth of a second on the 5.8 Km British track. Seb’s result came under difficult circumstances, as he had to fight a neck problem which had troubled him since this morning in P3.

“Today” said Sebastian “the gap to Hamilton was only less than half a tenth, so my lap was almost the same as his. I was happy with my first attempt in Q3, but then on my last run I lost a lot of time on the straight. I don’t know why it happened, otherwise pole would have been there. However, tomorrow we should be ok in the race. Also, the pain in my neck was not nice today, but it should be gone by tomorrow. Even if we couldn’t beat Mercedes today for pole, we made big steps forward as a team, so I wish to congratulate the whole Scuderia because everybody, on track and at home, has done their best. The car is working well and we are faster than last year”.

“On my last run in Q3” Kimi explained “I locked the front wheels a little bit on the second last corner and I definitely lost some time there. It’s difficult to get the perfect lap together, for sure there’s always room to improve, but this is what we have got today. So far it’s been pretty ok with the car and the set-up and things have been running smoothly; let’s hope that tomorrow is an even better day. Third position is not ideal but not too bad, either. It’s impossible to know if the hot  conditions will help us ; yesterday we did some long runs and  after that we had a rough idea, but on Sunday it’s a different story  and the conditions might be slightly different .Tomorrow we’ll do our best and see where we end up. It’s going to be a long race and it will be quite tricky for the tires. We’ll try to make a good start and then make the right decisions”.

British Grand Prix – Ferrari second and third on the grid

Posted: 07.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb ahead of Kimi in qualifying

Silverstone, 7 July – Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow’s British Grand Prix from second and third places respectively on the grid. Sebastian’s best lap was a 1’25”936, while team-mate Kimi did a 1’25”990. Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers ran the Soft and Medium tyres during qualifying. The race gets underway at 14:10 (15:10 CET.)

British Grand Prix – Ferrari 2nd and 4th fastest

Posted: 07.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

As Silverstone free practice ends

Silverstone, 7 July – Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest in the final free practice session for the British Grand Prix with a time of 1’26”815. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel was fourth quickest with a best time of 1’27”851. With 45 minutes of track time remaining, the session was red flagged because of Brendon Hartley’s accident in the Toro Rosso. Seb then chose not to drive in the rest of the session, as he cricked his neck and needed the attentions of his physiotherapist. Both drivers ran the Soft tyres. Track action resumes at 14h00 (15h00 CET) for qualifying.

British Grand Prix – “A very good Friday” for both drivers

Posted: 06.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb and Kimi happy with the car’s pace and development

Silverstone, July 6th – Summer is at its peak in Silverstone and today track temperatures topped 50 degrees in the heat of the afternoon during P2. These unusual – at least for Silverstone – conditions, though, seemed to suit the characteristics of the SF71H very well, proven by the fact it came out on top of the time sheets, while proving strong on race pace. Nevertheless, it’s only Friday and both Seb and Kimi are aware of the work the team has to do in preparation for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

“The situation is difficult to judge – said Seb – “because we haven’t seen much today and mostly collected data, and also because time is limited between the two sessions. But the important thing is that we had a good Friday, everything we put on the car seemed to work, and I felt happy with the balance of the car straight away and managed to find a good rhythm from the beginning. There has been a lot of talk about the third DRS zone: it may be easier to drop the wing for us than for smaller teams, whose cars have probably less downforce, anyway we’ll see what happens in the race. I believe that most of the difference today is due to the new asphalt and… the amazing English summer!”.

“It was a very normal Friday” commented Kimi “We have been trying different things and solutions and learning as much as we could. For sure there’s still some work to be done, but so far everything is ok. The resurfacing of the track made it a bit bumpy, in a few small spots,  but all the time you feel it chattering all around the track. It’s a bit funny, but in the end it’s better than it used to be. This track has many nice parts and the grip has increased  with the new tarmac. I don’t know if the new DRS zone is creating overtaking opportunities: I think it depends on what your car can or can’t do. I closed the wing during practice, I think it’s too tricky to keep it open and it doesn’t really make a big difference in lap time. Now we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

British Grand Prix – Friday practice over

Posted: 06.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb fastest, Kimi fourth

Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the second practice session at the English track, with a time of 1’27”552, while in the other SF71H, Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in 1’28”045.

A few minutes into the start of the session, the red flag came out because of Max Verstappen’s accident. Scuderia Ferrari ran Medium and Soft tyres during the session. The afternoon programme focussed first on short runs and then race runs. The third and final practice session takes place tomorrow at 11h00 (12h00 CET.)

British Grand Prix – Free practice underway at Silverstone

Posted: 06.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb 3rd and Kimi 5th

Silverstone, 6 July – The weekend in England brings to a close the run of three races in as many weeks. Come the end of the first free practice session, Scuderia Ferrari drivers were in third and fifth places with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen respectively. The German posted a best time of 1’27”998 and the Finn did a 1’28”218. Both drivers ran the Medium and Soft tyres, while assessing various aerodynamic solution. Second free practice gets underway at 15h00 CET.

British Grand Prix – A warm welcome in Silverstone

Posted: 05.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Kimi and Seb get ready for the challenge-in unusual weather conditions

Silverstone, July 5 – The British weather is notoriously unpredictable, and actually, very few people could have predicted that the Silverstone event would have started under blue skies and Mallorca-like temperatures. These conditions should last through the weekend and Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, are enjoying the sunshine and preparing for battle.
“It’s difficult to know which team will dominate this weekend”, says Kimi. “If you look at the past years our rivals did very well, but I don’t think that we ever had this kind of weather here at Silverstone and this will probably make some difference. The track is supposed to have a new surface; what will it bring, nobody knows. We will find out over the weekend. There are a lot of differences from the past years, so let’s wait and see. Last year we were not too bad here and speed wise we were stronger than in the previous years. We were running in a pretty solid second position before we had a tire issue. Obviously there are many factors that might affect or help us over the weekend. I think that if we can put things where we want them to be and do our best we can score good points”.
For his part, Seb added: “This track may not see us as favourites, but with regard to last year I think our car has more potential: it’s up to us to find the way to get the most out of it. The season so far has been filled with ups and downs, but there’s always the chance to do well. We can’t say yet which way the championship is going on, but, obviously, it all depends on the big steps in terms of performance; we have our plan and we’ve been working very hard”.

British Grand Prix – A warm welcome in Silverstone

Posted: 03.07.2018
Source: Ferrari

Beach weather predicted for the most northerly race on the calendar

The British event brings to an end a triptych of races that has made Formula 1 history: from Paul Ricard to Silverstone via Spielberg. It’s been a logistical marathon which, for some team members, has involved being on the road permanently, while others returned to base before setting off again, at the very latest, two and a half days later. This time the race cars did not return home to be overhauled and the work was done on site.

If you want to amaze your friends who are into racing, then you could always ask them which is the most northerly GP venue on the calendar. The majority reply “Canada,” but actually the most northern is the one in Northamptonshire, which is currently experiencing a major heatwave. It seems that hot weather (up to 26 degrees) and an absence of rain is likely to be the order of the day this weekend.

The track, a former wartime airfield, was the first to host a world championship Grand Prix and, over time, it has undergone many changes. The superfast track of the early years gradually made way for a more sinuous outline, until the final layout was created in 2010, with new facilities completed the following year. Many purists turned up their noses, but while the Arena section, aimed at improving visibility for fans and overtaking for drivers, might leave the nostalgic disappointed, there is much to appreciate when it comes to some other changes. The old grass paddock might have had a garden party atmosphere, enhanced with the smell of barbecues, but the boggy car parks were a nightmare. Today however, other tracks could learn from the way things are done here.

The track is still very technical, with fast corners and a track surface that gives the tyres a hard time. For the third and final time this season, the tread depth will be reduced. But the best part of the setting, as at all the classic tracks, comes from the spectators themselves…