FIA Thursday press conference - Bahrain

Drivers - Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), Marcus Ericsson (Caterham), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Jenson Button (McLaren), Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 

Q: Jenson, if we could start with you. Obviously you’ll reach 250 Grands Prix this weekend - congratulations on that. Later this year I guess you’ll become the third most experienced Grand Prix driver of all time. Maybe your thoughts on that what lessons you’ve learned along the way?
Jenson Button: I’ve learned a lot along the way, as you can imagine, racing for 14 years in Formula One. The thing that surprises me is how quickly it goes by. Fifty races ago I was in Hungary, celebrating my 200th Grand Prix, which I won by the way! So, it’s amazing how time flies. You really do have to enjoy every moment of it as much as you can. For me, being 14 years in the sport, I still feel like I have more to learn. I’m definitely not the perfect driver yet, and I never will be, but there is always still more to learn. That’s something, for me, that’s exciting about the sport. New regulations obviously are changing the sport quite a lot, especially with these new regulations, and again, you always have more to learn. For me that’s what keeps the sport exciting and that’s what has kept me on my toes for the last 14 years and hopefully for many more.

Q: Judging from the first two races and also from some of the messages from the team, it seems that McLaren is a bit better perhaps in the cooler conditions than it was in the heat of Malaysia. What are you expecting this weekend - we’re in a warm place but it’s a night race? 
JB: Well, we have a good engine, which helps us here. There isn’t as much high speed as Malaysia and Malaysia was also hot. So hot and high-speed corners are tricky for us. It’s an area we know we’ve got to work on, high-speed downforce. So, here it should be quite a bit better. Fuel consumption is pretty tricky here though, I think for everyone, some more than others for some reason. There’s a lot of work needed before the race to get the right balance for a night race - our first night race here, which should be pretty interesting.

Q: Coming to you Marcus. Obviously your first Formula One finish, in Malaysia - congratulations on 14th place. Can you describe your feelings and the progress at Caterham?
Marcus Ericsson: Yeah, it was a good feeling to finish my first F1 race. I think we have done good progress. It’s been a tough, a difficult year so far, with the problems we had in pre-season and then Australia was obviously a very difficult weekend for the whole team. But we’ve been working really hard and making progress all the time, which is the key for us. To have both cars finishing in Malaysia in our home race was a great effort from everyone. Hopefully now in Bahrain we can continue to work forward and first of all a trouble-free Friday, so we can start setting up the car and then see what we can get form the set-up.

Q: I wonder if being a rookie in a year with such new and complex machinery proved harder or easier than you expected?
ME: It's been quite hard because especially in pre-season there were quite a lot of issues. So it was difficult to get ready for it before you arrive in Australia, with very limited running. So I wouldn’t say it’s easier but it's been alright.

Q: Jules, coming to you, obviously a very frustrating first couple of Grands Prix for you in Australia and Malaysia, with very few race laps. But the car seems to have run okay the rest of the time. I wonder what your feelings are at this point? 
Jules Bianchi: Yeah, obviously the feeling is not the best. We are trying very hard to improve everything. For sure the car is running well at the moment. We had a small issue in Australia before the start but now it's fine all that. Another issue on the first lap in Malaysia but actually we don’t have big problems on the car, so this is the positive thing and now we have to have everything going well for the next races.

Q: As Jenson was saying it’s the first time we have a night race here in Bahrain. I wonder what your thoughts are on that and how it will add to the challenge of racing here?
JB: Well, obviously the lights will be good, as it’s always good on night races in Formula One, so I don’t expect that to be a big challenger. But it will be good to have a night race in Bahrain. I think it will be a nice one for us.

Q: Nico, obviously the last two Grands Prix, two fantastic battles with Fernando Alonso and Ferrari. Give us some insight into those two battles and what it has been like from your cockpit. 
Nico Hulkenberg: Well, I think Australia was not quite a battle. I was just driving in front of him and he overtook me by strategy. And in Malaysia there was not much I could offer in the end. I was struggling on my tyres; he was on a fresh set of softs. Still I was trying to make him work a little bit for the move. But it was always clear that he, coming two second a lap at me, that I don’t have to offer so much. But I think a really positive start to the season for us at Force India. Eighteen points for me already, which is good. I feel we have a good foundation but we need to keep pushing and I need to keep the momentum up because it’s a good opportunity to collect good points this early in the season.

Q: This race last year was obviously one of the strongest for Force India last season. Is there much optimism within the team going into this weekend’s race?
NH: Absolutely. The whole team is very positive, everybody is working in the right direction. We had two strong races, we’re basically trying to keep the races and keep plugging away at good results. I think here this weekend here is a little trickier. In Malaysia, we had surprisingly good performance on Sunday maybe stronger than we expected. We were quite clear on McLaren and Williams, which was a little bit of a surprise, but I think here things might be a bit more tricky and a bit more tight.

Q: Jean-Eric, double points finish for Toro Rosso in Australia, Daniil Kvyat in the points in Malaysia; is it fair to say Toro Rosso has started this season on the front foot, feeling competitive?
Jean-Eric Vergne: Yeah, I think Toro Rosso has done a massively good job during the winter and even before that, produced a good car and I believe there is still a lot more to come from this team. Many things have changed in a good way and you can definitely feel it inside the team and I’m really happy, they’ve showed some really good results. I think if I didn’t have a problem, I think we could have finished again in the points, a double points finish in Malaysia as well, and that’s what we’re going to try and do here in Bahrain. But overall, I think it’s a good start but the good thing is that I’m sure there is a lot more to come.

Q: Speaking of changes, can you talk a little about the changes that you’ve made, in that some of the people you’re working with, the way you’re going racing this year? 
JEV: I’ve changed many things, I would say. I will not go into much detail but I needed to change my approach a little bit and I think the changes that I’ve made have been in the right direction. I feel better as a human being and as a racing driver as well, and enjoying more of what I do; I can see that already inside the team, outside the track and on the track. As for the team, I think I still have a lot more to give, so it’s all positive so far.

Q: Romain, obviously 11th in Malaysia, close to the points but not quite there. It’s been a real up and down couple of Grands Prix for you. I wonder if you could describe your emotions and how they’ve evolved over the last couple of races. 
Romain Grosjean: Yeah, I won’t say exactly everything I could say inside my helmet sometimes. I think it was good for all the guys that we could finish the Malaysian Grand Prix. Of course it was not the way you would like to see when you start a Grand Prix but at the moment that’s where we are plus we were not that far from the points. I think without a small issue at the end of the race, we could probably have got closer and maybe fight for points but it was good and as I said, the guys had three nights in Melbourne when they didn’t sleep, all that for not a big reward. And then we went to Malaysia and again, they worked very hard and we all know it’s humid and hot there so conditions were tough but we managed to get to the end of the race. I think we learned more about our car and we wish from now on that we get trouble-free weekends as was the case on Saturday and Sunday and then from there we can learn, improve and get closer to where we would like to be.

Q: Do you feel that the team is on a path back to where it was? How long is it going to take?
RG: Yeah, I don’t know, to be honest. I know that we still have in our genes the winning spirit and we can still fight back. Of course, when you start the season with everything in the right direction it’s easier to move forward but at the moment we’ve had some issues, we’ve solved most of them, hopefully no more coming, then we can go from there. Of course, Renault is well aware that the power unit needs to improve a little bit compared to certain other manufacturers, but I think it’s going to be good and we can work on our car.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Vincent Marre - Sports Zeitung) Jenson, in all the seasons that you’ve been racing now, which car has been the most memorable for you? Not the year or the season but the specific car. There must be one. 
JB: There have been quite a few, for different reasons. 2009 obviously was good, it was the year I won the World Championship so an enjoyable car to drive. I liked the big front tyres that we use to have as well. 2011 was good fun. It was quite difficult because we had the blown diffuser that everyone had but it was quite unusual to drive, but when you got used to it, there was so much downforce, it was pretty awesome. But then if you look back, 2004 was also a great year: V10 engines, 900 horsepower, revving to 20,000rpm. Obviously there was a tyre war then as well. Most of the lap times that were achieved then, the fastest laps, have not been beaten in ten years. That was a pretty special car to drive as well. All very different eras in the sport, if you like.. It’s great to have been around through the V10, V8 and now the V6 periods. I think it’s been some exciting times that I’ve had in my career.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos - Racing Magazine) To all drivers: in less than one month, motor sport will pay tribute to Ayrton Senna on the 20th anniversary of his passing. I would like you to recall what impact that Sunday at Imola had on your lives and the ones who were too young to remember, maybe how Ayrton Senna relates to you as a driver?
NH: What that Sunday had, the impact of that Sunday? Not many memories, it was just my first contact with motor racing and therefore I can’t really remember so much of it but obviously having heard a lot of stories and have seen a documentary, obviously he was a very passionate guy about the sport, about racing and was always pushing the limit very hard.
JBianchi: Obviously I was four years old when this happened, so I don’t remember many things but let’s say I remember just the fact that all the people were loving him so this is what I remember the most.
JEV: Same as Jules. I was four years old so I have absolutely no memory of this but obviously it took me a few years to realise who he was and what he has done for the sport. I think everybody has a massive respect for this guy. Obviously I love all the sportsmen that changed the philosophy of world sport, like Michael Jordan in basketball; I believe he is part of the really big sportsmen of any kind of sport, Ayrton Senna, and I think that’s why everybody loved him.
ME: Yes, the same, I was four years old so I don’t remember anything but obviously he was a great driver and a great person from the look of it. When you watch the documentaries and stuff like that, you can see how great he was both on and off the track.
RG: Yeah, I think it was the first or second year that I was starting to watch Formula One and of course it was Prost and Senna when I started watching in ’94. I remembered that Sunday, I was watching the race with my Dad and I didn’t understand what exactly was going on and why the race was stopped and it was so long. And then, well, I found out a little bit later and of course, Ayrton has been part of the sport... Again, I started watching Formula One when he was fighting with Alain, I think it was a great era and they were fantastic drivers.
JButton: I wasn’t four years old, I was fourteen years old, still very young obviously but I was racing in Italy that weekend, karting, I had just started racing there so it was a massive shock. Basically the kart meeting was over as soon as we heard the news from Imola. A horrific day for everyone but as the guys said, sometimes it takes something like that - a terrible tragedy - to really change the sport for the better and in terms of safety for us guys, it’s had a very big impact.

(source: f1.com)

VIDEO: 2014 Drivers press conference from Bahrain

Vital Statistics - the Bahrain Grand Prix

This year sees Bahrain celebrate its tenth appearance on the F1 calendar with its very first night race, but which teams and drivers have performed best amid the desert sands of Sakhir? Ahead of the 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, we highlight all the important statistics, facts and figures about this challenging race…

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir

Circuit length: 5.412 km

Number of corners: 15 (6 left, 9 right)

DRS zones: 2

Race laps: 57

Race distance: 308.238 km

2014 tyre compounds: Medium, Soft

Circuit lap record: 1m 31.447s - Pedro de la Rosa (2005), McLaren-Mercedes

First world championship Grand Prix: 2004, Sakhir (won by Michael Schumacher, Ferrari)

Number of races: 9 (all in Sakhir)

Number of races with at least one safety car appearance: One 

Longest race: 2010 (1h 39m 20.396s)

Shortest race: 2004 (1h 28m 34.875s)

Last year’s pole position: 1m 32.330s, Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

Last year’s podium: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), 3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus)

Most appearances (current field): 9 - Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa; 8 - Kimi Raikkonen; 7 - Nico Rosberg; 6 - Lewis Hamilton; 5 - Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel

Most wins (driver): 3 - Fernando Alonso; 2 - Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button

Most wins (team): 4 - Ferrari; 2 - Renault, Red Bull; 1 - Brawn

Most wins (engine manufacturer): 4 - Ferrari, Renault; 1 - Mercedes

Most pole positions (driver): 2 - Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg

Most pole positions (team): 3 - Ferrari; 2 - Red Bull; 1 - Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Mercedes

Most pole positions (engine manufacturer): 3 - Ferrari, Renault; 1 - BMW, Toyota, Mercedes

Number of wins from pole: 4 wins from 9 races (44.4 percent)

Lowest winning grid position: 4th (Fernando Alonso, 2006; Jenson Button 2009)

Laps led (current field): 146 - Sebastian Vettel; 102 - Felipe Massa; 96 - Fernando Alonso; 38 - Jenson Button; 5 - Kimi Raikkonen; 4 - Lewis Hamilton; 2 - Nico Rosberg; 1 - Romain Grosjean

Most podium places (current field): 6 - Kimi Raikkonen; 3 - Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean 

Landmark achievement: The Bahrain race will be Jenson Button’s 250th Grand Prix start - the most of any driver on the grid

(source: f1.com)

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix preview

The season just started and it's already time for the third Grand Prix! Will Mercedes continue with their dominance or is somebody else going to have a chance finally?

Before I say anything else I want you to look at this video I found on YouTube:

Ferrari is planning to make these kind of videos before every single Grand Prix so I could start posting them as well. If you know some other team that makes official videos like these then let me know. I will post them also in that case.

This is going to be the 10th Grand Prix at Sakhir. It would have been the 11th but the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled because of the Bahraini protests if you still remember?

The most interesting thing though is that Bahrain has switched from daylight to a night race! Can't wait to see the very familiar track in the dark.

So what has happened in the past 10 years at this circuit?

In 2004 the first race was a bit boring if I remember correctly. Ferrari was still dominating the series so they had a 1-2 and Button was about half a minute behind them.

In 2005 it was a bit different because now it was the year of Renault. Fernando Alonso won, Jarno Trulli was second in his Toyota and Kimi Räikkönen was third in his McLaren. Alonso and Räikkönen ended up being the two superstars in 2005.

In 2006 all I can remember is that Räikkönen started from the back and was still third in the end. A very impressive performance. In front of him was the two drivers who fought for the championship that year, Michael Schumacher in second and Fernando Alonso in first place.

In 2007 Felipe Massa won the race, Lewis Hamilton was second and Kimi Räikkönen was third again.

In 2008 Massa won again, Räikkönen was second this time and Robert Kubica third. It seems that Massa and Räikkönen have also been very successful at Sakhir.

In 2009 Jenson Button took the only victory for a British driver in Bahrain. Brawn was the team and it was their dominance back then and not Mercedes.. later Brawn became Mercedes.

In 2010 Bahrain was the first race of the season and it was also Alonso's first race at Ferrari. He did the same thing as Räikkönen had done in 2007 by winning in the first race at Ferrari.

Last year Sebastian Vettel won and the Lotuses of Räikkönen and Grosjean followed him. The same podium result was also in 2012 so these guys really seem to like this track. It will be different this year though with the new regulations.























So who has been most successful in Bahrain? If we look at the stuff I just said earlier then Fernando Alonso! He has won 3 races, Massa and Vettel has won 2 and then Button only once. If we talk about other podium positions then Räikkönen has a 2nd place and three 3rd places. He didn't drive there in 2010.

Then it's time for my guesses as usual:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

Surprise: Romain Grosjean, Lotus

That was it for today. Tomorrow I will post everything about the press conferences.

All the stuff I got in the 2013 Abu Dhabi GP

Some of you people reminded me that I never posted pictures of the 2013 stuff that I got from Abu Dhabi. Sorry about that! But no worries because here they are now.

Here is everything in one big picture.

I got into the concerts with this. There was one for each day but I only kept one.

Advertisement for Ferrari World

My ticket to Ferrari World

Ferrari World's park map

..this is what it looks like on the inside.

The 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix event guide

..and the back side.

There was a schedule on the inside.

A mini map of the area

..and a little better guide of the area.

You had to wear these if you spent the whole weekend listening to F1, GP2 and Supercars.

The most important thing to have - the tickets to the event!

It was really hot all weekend just like always so they gave free water bottles all the time to everybody.

Even the water bottles made it clear that you were following Formula One.

That was it for today! Tomorrow I will post the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix preview.

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix review

The three guys on the podium: Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel.

Mercedes has proved that this is their season and nobody can stop them! Right now it seems that the only way for somebody else to win the championship this year is to wait in third and watch Lewis and Nico take points away from each other. Kimi won Alonso and Hamilton like that in 2007.

But what about the race? What happened?

Right in the start Sebastian Vettel tried very aggressively to push Nico Rosberg into the pit wall but he didn't get in front of him though. Rosberg said after the race that he almost had a heart attack because there was a lot of speed already at that point.

Hulkenberg overtook Alonso again and stayed in front of him most of the race. He did that also in Australia which made me wonder if Force India is better than Ferrari this year? Maybe Hulkenberg is just over performing in that car. He is phenomenal!

Lap 2 Räikkönen got hit in the rear again! This time by Kevin Magnussen which ruined both of their races. Mostly Räikkönen's.. It was so fast that Kimi didn't even know what hit him. Magnussen took the blame for that one.

It was a pity because Räikkönen had been best of the rest (only the Mercs in front) on dry the whole weekend. He could have scored some valuable points for the team yesterday.

Another guy who was phenomenal the whole weekend was Kamui Kobayashi! Did you realize that he was 10th at one point with a Caterham. He was fighting against Romain Grosjean very hard and it wasn't easy to pass him at all.

Another guy who was proud of being hard to overtake was Grosjean. He said that he was happy that Räikkönen couldn't overtake him in the end of the race.

Räikkönen was asked about it and he said "I was surprised when Grosjean hit me when I tried to overtake him. I don't know what he was doing". Dirty driving or not but if he didn't get penalized then there's nothing to say about it anymore. Lotus could at least be happy that they got a lot of new data from the race and they finished for the first time this year with one car.

Williams was an interesting thing to keep an eye on. First they got terrible starting positions because they chose the wrong tyres for both of the drivers in qualifying.

In the race Williams was fast as lighting and had their first drama between the drivers. Felipe Massa was angry on the radio screaming that Valtteri Bottas tried to overtake him and almost hit him doing that. The team told Bottas to back off but the finn answered calmly "I have more pace than him". The team told Massa to let Valtteri pass him and answered to Bottas "you are faster! overtake him!". Massa was not ready to be somebodies bitch again so he didn't obey.

Bottas and Massa

Many people thought that it was the right thing to do but when you think about it then it wasn't a very good idea after all...

The deal inside the team was that if Bottas could not have overtaken Button with the better tyres he would have given his position back to Massa before the finish line.

Massa thought that if Bottas can't pass him then he couldn't pass Button either. It sounds pretty reasonable but the fact is that Massa is hard to overtake and Button is more of a gentleman which makes him easier to overtake. 

Remember last season when Ferrari asked Felipe again to let Alonso pass and he didn't? It took a long time for him to get pass and he is a two time world champion. Bottas is just a newbie.

Button on the other hand respects the lines, the track and the drivers to much. Most of the drivers play dirty when they want a position badly but Button doesn't play like that which is in my opinion his weakness even though he is a great driver. Sometimes you must do what you gotta do to win even if it's not the best thing to do. Button is the Stirling Moss of our time because he was also too nice on the track.

Let's get back to subject: Williams. If Massa would have let Bottas pass it would have been a clear deal that Bottas would have to do the same thing for Massa in the future. But now I don't see a reason that Bottas would help Massa at all. So that may have been a big mistake from Massa I hate to tell you.

What else? Daniel Ricciardo! What is going on? "MARK WEBBER MODE ACTIVATED!" Aussies must hate Red Bull!

Daniel Ricciardo

It all started when Red Bull told Ricciardo the same thing Williams told Bottas. They told him to back off. Ricciardo answered very calmly that if he has pace and something happens he wants to be a part of it. If he would be 2 seconds behind it could be critical in some scenarios. Red Bull answered "OK" and then it all started happening!

First they asked him to the pits at a very funny time if you ask me. Then they sent him off with a loose wheel, pushed him back in the box and did it properly. Then his front wing broke very easily and he got a stop and go penalty because of the unsafe release from the pits. Later he had to retire. 
I can't wait for Ricciardo to win a race and show everybody where he is supposed to be.

After all of this that I have talked about Hamilton won the race and dedicated the win for the lost plane "MH370" which was a very nice thing to do.

The last thing of the review as always - what did I guess in my preview and what was the actual result?

My guesses:

Pole Position: Kevin Magnussen - WRONG! He was only 8th because McLaren had a lot of problems.

The race:

1. Jenson Button - WRONG. McLaren had problems almost the whole weekend.
2. Lewis Hamilton - WRONG. One spot higher.
3. Valtteri Bottas - WRONG. Got hold up behind Massa but it would have been difficult anyways.

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg - WRONG! It was the other Mercedes. Nico had the 2nd fastest time of the race.

Surprise: Ferrari - They will be much better this weekend! -RIGHT! Räikkönen was right behind the Mercs the whole weekend but when the rain came out it showed that Ferrari isn't that good in those conditions. In the race Räikkönen had the accident (which ruined his race) and Alonso passed Hulkenberg in the end for 4th which seemed to be impossible in Australia.

Tomorrow I will finally post the pictures that I promised earlier on the facebook page. Pictures of all of the Formula One stuff that I got from the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

FIA post-race press conference - Malaysia

Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

Podium Interviews
(Conducted by Benedict Cumberbatch) 

Q: Well Lewis, congratulations, your first win this year and you got the hat trick - pole position, the best lap time, on lap 54 I think, and now you’re here. How does it feel?
Lewis Hamilton: Incredible, incredible. After such a difficult weekend and such a long winter. We have a great crowd here today. For Petronas, who worked so hard with Mercedes to give us this win, I just feel so grateful, particularly after such a tragedy three weeks ago. I’d really like to dedicate this to those people and their families.

Q: Quite right. Tell us a bit about what it’s like to drive in Malaysia. You’re covered in Champagne now rather than sweat but as one wily commentator pointed out to me on the grid earlier it’s incredibly hot here. It’s in the mid-50s in terms of humidity and we hit 35 degrees Celsius on the track. What do you have to consider when you’re driving? 
LH: Yeah, you’re sweating even before you get in the car. It’s trying to keep your body as cool as possible and then just keep you focus. Fortunately, the team were just spot on with all the pit stops and the calling, the timing. Also the info I was getting was just spot on.

Q: It seems much clearer these days. You can hear the radio a bit more. Is that to do with the cars being a little bit quieter? 
LH: It is. The cars are quieter. The most noise is the wind, the buffeting. Otherwise, what a great car, what a great job from everyone.

Q: You did a fantastic job, congratulations once again. Now, Nico, congratulations to you too, well done, sir. That was a fantastically exciting moment just there [at the start]. Did you feel Sebastian on your shoulder? Because you took such a hard line on the right, you were like less than a foot away from the side.
Nico Rosberg: Thanks to my engineer we worked together well and we got a great start and that allowed me to go into second place. It was a bit ‘iffy’, Turn Three I got a bit sideways, saw plenty of action there but it worked out well and from then on I was trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today.

Q: Well, you did fantastically well, it was a superb run. 
NR: Just one more thing. Malaysia you can be proud because your company Petronas has taken us to the front of F1, so you can be really proud of that. Petronas has given us the best oil and fuel in F1, it’s brilliant.

Q: Sebastian, congratulations, your first time on the podium this year. You won here last year in the rain and that was an interesting race to say the least. How did it work this time being in the dry and the heat rather than the wet? 
Sebastian Vettel: It was dry last year as well.

Q: It was dry; there you go.
SV: It was a really good race. The start was not very good. I was quite surprised when I saw Nico on my right. 

Q: Tell us about that.
SV: I don't know. I thought I had a good start but then I focused on getting in the tow of Lewis to maybe attack him going into the first corner. Then Nico was there on the right and it was quite tight. Daniel was coming as well as I was trying to get past Nico. So I lost a place but fortunately I got it back and then later on I was trying to get as close as I could to Nico. At some stage it looked like we are pretty similar, pretty evenly matched but then it’s like he found another gear, he was pulling away. In the end I was just trying to get the car home. Obviously Daniel didn't make it for a couple of reasons. All in all it’s good to get another podium after Daniel has been on the podium in Australia. But we still have a long way [to go] these guys are bloody quick, congratulations to them, they did a good but we are trying to catch-up.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, congratulations, the 23rd win of your career. The first 1-2 for Mercedes of the modern era, your first win in Malaysia. You weren’t wanting to celebrate yesterday after that pole but I guess you will allow yourself a celebration tonight. 
LH: Yeah. Definitely. Incredibly happy. My first time. It’s my eighth year here and finally got that win. I really just owe it all to the team. Did a fantastic job, the guys back at the factory pushing non-stop to get the car to where it is, and of course to do it on Petronas… on our home ground… almost, to get a one-two, I mean it’s quite special when you get a one-two. I’ve not had many in my career and so that makes it even more special. I’m really grateful for all the work that’s done and… yeah, great day.

Q: Nico, I guess you’re looking on your mobile there at the points position because you’re not only leading the World Championship but you’ve extended your lead today in the World Championship. But to take you back to earlier in the race, you seemed to have a few problems with the rear tyres, we were hearing over the radio, maybe you could tell us a bit about that - and also maybe a bit about the start as well.…
NR: First of all the start, I had a really good start, so I was happy about that because it’s not so easy this year. The rear tyres are harder and we have more torque. So it’s very difficult to get it right - but it felt great and got away well and then Sebastian, I thought he was going to put me right into the wall, but he stopped just before - so thank you for that!
SV: I had a similar experience last year…
NR: …that doesn’t make it right to do it again! My heartbeat skipped a beat a little bit but I kept right on it, it was OK anyway, it wasn’t that bad. Then I had a bit of a moment in Turn Three, a bit of a tail, tank-slapper and that allowed them all to get another run on me, but it all worked out. And then I was just trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today. It was a bit difficult out there because the track was really poor, it seemed, sliding so much, and just struggling with the rear tyres especially. That made it a bit difficult out there.

Q: Sebastian, coming to you, you said over the radio at the end there that you’re pretty pleased, that you’ve got some work to do still but you were on the whole pleased with the outcome - but you were 24.5s behind Lewis at the finish, and that’s a pretty big number still, isn’t it?
SV: Yes, it is - but I don’t think that’s… probably Lewis could have gone faster, I think we could have gone faster at the end of the race but our priority at the end was to make sure we secure the podium. So, I think probably to see the reality, I don’t know where the gaps were, probably 10, 15 laps to the end but no doubt, congratulations to them, they did a very good job, they looked nearly seamless already in winter testing, they are bloody quick, the package they have is very, very strong, we know that but I think, y’know, for us there’s mostly positives that remain. After Australia, Daniel did a fantastic job here again. I think the car was very competitive, it’s a completely different track, different conditions but yeah, we are there and that’s the most important… I think it’s much better than what we expected at some stage during the winter. We know that there’s a lot we can do better - because it doesn’t feel great when we are out there racing. Just if you go out on track and listen and look at how the cars behave, on power I think there’s a big difference, so yeah, we know that. I think it’s a question of time, how soon we manage to catch up. And then we try to give them a harder time.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Lewis, was there any difficulty during the race for you or was it an easy trip?
LH: I don’t think any race is ever easy. Obviously there are opportunities that are presented in front of you and obviously you have to take them with both hands and today that’s what I did but no, looking after the car, looking after fuel, not making any mistakes, it was a massive challenge in that sense. The time... I would hear that Nico had stepped up the speed, reacting to those things without damaging your tyres, so without doubt it was still a great challenge, but one that I was able to do well because the car was spectacular this weekend, so really really happy with just a great performance by the team.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) For the three of you, do you think that the three contenders for the title are sitting up there today?
LH: I would like to think that us, as Mercedes, are the title... at least, at the moment, but there’s such a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of competition out there so I’m sure everyone’s going to be pushing and so we need to stay on it.

Q: And the championship leader? 
NR: That sounds very good already as it is but there’s a long way to go. I’m not thinking about that at the moment, I’m really just taking it race by race, just enjoying the moment, making the most of it, keeping on it, keeping to push. The best example is now Red Bull. The last day of testing was four weeks ago or something or three weeks ago and they were absolutely nowhere and now he (Vettel) was right in the back of me, pushing me. OK, I had some pace in hand so I could beat him in the end clearly but still, the way they’ve ramped up their pace, very impressive, so we need to keep on it to keep our advantage.
SV: Well, I think Fernando is missing, Daniel, Kimi and probably one other guy that we don’t know yet. Still early days, but that’s what I would say.

Q: (Kate Walker - Crash.net) For all three of you: we’ve heard an awful lot about some extreme measures that drivers have taken to stay below weight this season with the car. Now Malaysia is always a punishing race because of the heat. Was it more difficult this year, especially as we had no rain, just the physical challenge? 
LH: It’s always a great challenge here and today wasn’t as hot as it has been in the past, i would say. Generally, this year, with a lot less downforce, it’s a lot less physical - still really physical but it’s not as much as years and years ago when we had so much downforce and particularly last year when we had a lot of downforce, but it’s still a serious workout. Fortunately I’m just grateful my drink machine worked, even though it’s like drinking hot tea, it did the job. I think the team has done a great job in terms of weight this year. We know we’re not having to cut things off to get to the weight.
NR: Yeah, it’s not nice that everything weight-wise is on the edge but that’s the way it is. It’s always a compromise between being light but still being able to perform at the highest of my abilities and I found my compromise and so I felt absolutely fine today. But of course, it is tough out there always. Malaysia is very, very hot.
SV: It’s always hot, it’s not a walk in the park but I think we’re going slower, tyres are harder, cars are slower, less downforce as Lewis touched on, so it’s probably a little less hard than it was. The fact that we all try to save weight for this year... next year the weight goes up anyway which is good for the heavy drivers but for this year it’s a pain for them. Doesn’t help, because you’re a bit more on the edge but this is probably one of the worst races. I think the most difficult one is probably Singapore later this year.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, Red Bull made big progress between Bahrain and Melbourne, again progress between Melbourne and here. Are you happy with the speed of development, is that the speed you need in order to catch the Mercedes, let’s say, when the European season starts? 
SV: Yeah, we need to make big steps because they are quite far ahead but I’m quite happy with the steps we’re currently making. It’s the first race distance I’ve done this year, since Brazil, it’s the first race distance I’ve done so that’s a big step. Obviously, at some stage during testing, we didn’t expect to finish the first couple of races so well done to all the guys in the team on the reliability front. It’s not a big secret, we know there’s still a lot to do. In terms of driveability we’re not yet there where we want to be. In terms of power, it’s not a big secret without giving a hammering but the guys at Viry are flat out to work on that front. Renault is pushing very, very hard but at this stage we have to summarise and say that Mercedes did a better job, they’re quicker than us so we know that there’s a lot of things we have to do better but it’s still a bloody good result today, finishing on the podium, right behind them. That’s what we need to do, as long as we can, up to the point where we’re even and we can challenge them and give them a harder time.

Q: (Ajit Devadason - Sify.com) Lewis, this is to do with your helmet design: the words that you have chosen for this season on the back of your helmet, Still I Rise, are you thrilled that it’s working your way and it’s matching belief? 
LH: It’s what I have tattooed on my back so I just added it to the helmet design and I think the metaphor is just that regardless of what difficulties you go through, you still rise above it. That’s really something my Dad has always enforced in me. We’ve had so many ups and downs throughout our lives and our careers, as everyone has, but he would always ‘say just rise above it’ and do your talking on track. I had a difficult time in the last race and that’s what I did today, so I feel quite good about it.

(source: f1.com)