Friday Practice 1

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session with a last-lap flyer – something later deemed to be illegal by the stewards due to it being under double waved yellows, after a crash for Jaime Alguersuari and engine woes forcing Pastor Maldonado to a standstill in the final minutes of the session.

Sandwiched between Lewis Hamilton and teammate Jenson Button were the two Red Bulls, with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mark Webber.

Ferrari’s Fernando managed just four laps before he pulled up off track, having lost power from his engine. That left Felipe Massa the only prancing horse on track, running the team’s new, rather flexible front wing.

Indian Karun Chandhok became the first ever driver to set a lap in anger in India, fittingly so as it was on home turf for Team Lotus’ reserve.

Free Practice 2

In Free Practice 2, it was Felipe Massa who set the fastest time of the session, with the new Ferrari front wing seemingly having a positive impact on the performance of the car.

Sebastian Vettel found himself in 2nd between the two Ferraris, with Mark Webber in a McLaren sandwich, with Lewis Hamilton 4th and Jenson Button 6th.

The only real drama from the session was provided by Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio, who caused red flags to emerge when he crashed after clipping a kerb, sending him backwards into a wall.

Sebastian Vettel has today won the Korean Grand Prix from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, leading almost from start to finish after jumping the polesitter on the first lap. This result means that Red Bull are now constructors’ champions.

Vettel takes the lead

Despite not starting from pole position, it didn’t take Sebastian Vettel very long before he had clear air in front of him. It was a decent start from polesitter Lewis Hamilton, but unfortunately for him it wasn’t good enough, as the Red Bull cruised past the McLaren on the straight.

It was bad news for another McLaren as well – Jenson Button ran wide and was passed by Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, and started lap 2 down in 6th place, having lost three places from where he started.

Ferrari have been accused of bias towards Fernando Alonso in the past, but there was certainly none shown in the opening stages, as he was held up behind Felipe Massa, who wasn’t giving an inch to his teammate, with Jenson Button also behind held up behind the Brazilian.

First pit phase

Due to being held up behind the Ferrari duo, Jenson Button was one of the earliest drivers to come in for their stops, as he pitted on lap 14. Nico Rosberg came in at the same time, and rather intriguingly made a quicker stop than McLaren, leading to the duo being side-by-side down the pit lane.

Rosberg got his nose in front, but made a mistake and locked up on his way out of the pit lane, allowing Button back through. The early stop proved to be a smart move from McLaren, as following the stops of the two Ferraris, he was in front.

After the first pit stop phase a safety car was deployed following a collision, which involved Vitaly Petrov ploughing into the back of a completely innocent Michael Schumacher, and one which will be investigated after the Grand Prix.

Fight for 2nd

After the second round of pit stops the real battle was for 2nd place, with Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso all fighting for the spot as runner-up.

Alonso was one of the last drivers to make their second stop, and in doing this he was able to get by his teammate Felipe Massa, following a great long stint on the harder compound tyre.

At one point in the closing laps Webber dived past Hamilton, only for the Briton to come back past immediately, utilising the DRS and KERS up the long straight.

That was how it finished, with Vettel leading from Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso and Massa. Jaime Alguersuari did an outstanding job to take 7th, passing Nico Rosberg on the final lap. Sebastien Buemi capped a great day for Toro Rosso in 9th, with Paul di Resta rounding out the points-paying positions.

Result

Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, but it wasn’t by much, with McLaren’s Jenson Button just nine-thousandths-of-a-second behind, and Lewis Hamilton 3rd.

Q1

Nico Rosberg was the big casualty of Q1, with the German set to start tomorrow’s race with only Vitantonio Liuzzi behind him – a hydraulics problem on his Mercedes was the cause of his woes. He was eliminated with the usual crowd, with Lotus leading the way at the back of the grid.

Heikki Kovalainen will start just ahead of his teammate Jarno Trulli in 18th and 19th respectively, Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio out-qualified his teammate Timo Glock for 20th, with Rosberg splitting the two Hispanias; Ricciardo ahead of Liuzzi.

Q2

An unwell Sergio Perez didn’t have the best of days, finishing last in Q2 thanks to a hydraulic problem. Fortunately for his teammate and the only driver racing on home soil today – Kamui Kobayashi – he didn’t suffer the same misfortune, and a last-gasp effort saw him creep into the pole-position shootout.

The two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will make up row six tomorrow, Williams drivers Rubens Barrichello, and Pastor Maldonado row seven, Toro Rosso duo Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari row eight, and Sergio Perez 17th.

Q3

There was much tyre-saving and little track action until two minutes of the session remaining, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole position from McLaren’s Jenson Button by  just nine-thousandths-of-a-second.

Sadly Lewis Hamilton, who had a real chance of taking pole position this weekend, was held up by Michael Schumacher at the final corner of his out-lap, and missed the time cut, meaning he has to settle for 3rd place for tomorrow’s race.

Felipe Massa did well to out-qualify teammate Fernando Alonso for only the third time this season, with the two Ferraris 4th and 5th. Mark Webber could only manage 6th.

Michael Schumacher, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi all didn’t complete a Q3 lap, and will start from 7th-10th respectively.

Sebastian Vettel has today won the Singapore Grand Prix in typical dominant fashion, leading from start to finish and edging ever closer to his second consecutive world championship title. He now requires just one point in the remaining five races to become champion. Jenson Button took 2nd having pushed Vettel all the way to the line, with Mark Webber 3rd.

Vettel got away cleanly along with teammate Mark Webber, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Australian being jumped by Jenson Button off the line for 2nd place, and Fernando Alonso for 3rd place. Lewis Hamilton was the biggest loser amongst the championship contenders, falling down to 8th place behind Michael Schumacher on lap 1.

However, it didn’t take long for Hamilton to get back past the German, unlike last time around when the Briton’s race was ruined by the seven-time champion. This time around, the McLaren took the Mercedes once DRS had been activated with a smart overtaking manoeuvre.

Shortly after Hamilton took aim at the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, and succesfully passed him for P6 down the inside on the run down to turn 7, utilising the DRS once more, while Sebastian Vettel managed to pull away from Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa at a remarkable rate.

The first frontrunner to pit was Fernando Alonso on lap 10, who dived into the pits for a set of the harder compound tyres just after being passed by Mark Webber in a superb move. A lap later Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton dived into the pits for soft and super-soft tyres respectively, and exited in that order. However just after exiting the pit lane there was contact between the two, thanks to some clumsy work by Hamilton in clipping Massa’s rear tyre.

Both were forced to dive into the pits, Massa due to a puncture and Hamilton due to a broken front wing, ruining any chance of a successful race for the duo. Mark Webber pitted on lap 13, and thanks to some smart work in the pit lane from Ferrari, when Webber exited he was behind the Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

After Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button made their stops from 1st and 2nd on lap 15, Lewis Hamilton’s day went from bad to worse as it was announced he had been handed a drive-through penalty for causing a collision in the incident involving Felipe Massa.

Paul di Resta was running in 3rd place for a while after all of the championship contenders had made their stops as he started the race on the harder compound of tyres. However once he pitted on lap 20, he fell down to 8th place and Vettel, Button and Alonso led the race while Lewis Hamilton toiled down in 15th position.

Di Resta holding up Fernando Alonso greatly benefited Mark Webber and allowed him to close the gap to the Spaniard dramatically. Alonso was the first contender to make their second stop, he went onto the harder compound tyre on lap 26, exiting behind Webber’s Red Bull.

There was drama on the half-way mark when Michael Schumacher made contact with the back of Sergio Perez‘s Sauber and went flying into the barrier, leading to the first safety car of the race being deployed. Many drivers used this to their advantage and came into the pits, with Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Mark Webber all making their second stops. Lewis Hamilton came into the pits for the fourth time under the safety car for a set of super-softs, in the hope a quick stint would help lift him into the higher points-paying positions.

Once the debris had been cleared, Sebastian Vettel led the field away in front of Jenson Button, with Fernando Alonso ahead of Mark Webber after pitting earlier on – the second time Ferrari had used the undercut to their advantage this race.

However, the advantage didn’t last long – the safety car came in on lap 34 and on the same lap Mark Webber took advantage of the chaos of the re-start to jump ahead of Alonso at the tricky turn 10 for 3rd place.

Meanwhile back down the field Lewis Hamilton continued his charge, catching and passing each car in front of him like a computer game. Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg and Paul di Resta were all past by the charging 2008 world champion who had worked his way up to an impressive 5th with 20 laps remaining.

On lap 48, Mark Webber made his third and final stop, and just a lap later Jenson Button came in from P2, with Lewis Hamilton also pitting from 5th. On lap 50 Sebastian Vettel came in from the lead, with Fernando Alonso from 3rd. At the end of this pit stop madness Vettel led from Button, Webber 3rd, Alonso 4th and Hamilton 5th.

Button was slowly but surely closing in on the leader in the closing laps, making the super-soft tyres super fast on his McLaren. However, he wasn’t closing down at a quick enough rate, and the chequered flag interrupted his charge. Vettel won, with Button 2nd and Webber 3rd.

Fernando Alonso took 4th, with Lewis Hamilton an astonishing 5th having pitted five times throughout the race. Paul di Resta was 6th, Nico Rosberg 7th, Adrian Sutil 8th, Felipe Massa 9th and Sergio Perez rounded off the points-paying positions in 10th.

Full results to follow…

Sebastian Vettel has won the 2011 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, after a sensational drive from pole position. Jenson Button finished 2nd, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso 3rd.

It was madness on the first lap, both at the front and the back of the race. Hamilton, Alonso and pole-sitter Vettel were three abreast, with Alonso diving into the lead ahead of Vettel and Hamilton, much to the delight of the Ferrari fans.

Meanwhile at the back of the grid a spin from Tonio Liuzzi resulted in carnage and teammate Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Jerome d’Ambrosio and himself out of the race.

The safety car was deployed despite it being a rare occurrence at Monza, and there was more drama on the restart, when a sleepy Lewis Hamilton was slow on the accelerator leaving Michael Schumacher free to take third place from the Briton.

Meanwhile at the front Sebastian Vettel managed to barge his way to the front of the race once more after a terrific move on Fernando Alonso at the second chicane.

On the same lap, contact between Felipe Massa and Mark Webber left the latter out of the race with no front wing attached to his Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton was quickly becoming frustrated at being stuck behind Michael Schumacher, who had impressive straight-line speed on his Mercedes. On lap 13 it seemed like Hamilton had finally completed the move when he dived in front into the first chicane, but he didn’t cut the German off and complete the move, and the seven-time champion just swept back around to pick up the place.

Red Bull and Ferrari were laughing their way to the podium in front of the battling duo, when McLaren had not only one driver being held up but two drivers, with Jenson Button queuing up behind his teammate.

On lap 17 Schumacher chopped back across the charging Hamilton, meaning the 2008 champion had half of his car on the grass and had to lift off the throttle, leaving his teammate Button to take the place.

Hamilton re-took 4th place not long after with Schumacher pitting on the same lap. Jenson Button came in a lap later.

On lap 19 Lewis Hamilton also came into the pits for a fresh set of soft tyres like the aforementioned pair, but much to his frustration he exited just behind Schumacher, as he drifted further and further behind the race lead.

He continued to duck and dive all over the track to try to find a way past Schumacher but to no avail. Hamilton was complaining about the German making too many defensive moves, and McLaren lodged a complaint to the race stewards.

Fernando Alonso pitted a lap ahead of Sebastian Vettel, with Felipe Massa also going onto a new set of soft tyres for Ferrari, exiting the pits behind Lewis Hamilton in 6th place.

As the race approached half distance, Schumacher continued to hold off Hamilton until lap 28, when Hamilton finally passed him into Ascari and completed the move. Meanwhile up ahead, Jenson Button was quickly gaining on 2nd place Fernando Alonso, while Sebastian Vettel managed to take huge chunks of time out of the rest of the field.

Jenson Button was the first of the front-runners to make their second stop onto the harder tyre, with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton pitting a lap later, and Vettel two laps later.

It became quickly clear that the Ferrari doesn’t like the harder Pirelli compound as suspected, as despite exiting the pit lane just ahead of Button, Alonso was passed by the 2009 world champion on the next lap for 2nd place.

This gave Lewis Hamilton some hope of catching his former teammate Alonso before the chequered flag, but unfortunately for him he tantalizingly ran out of time, and could only manage 4th place come the chequered flag. He wound up behind Alonso, race winner Sebastian Vettel and 2nd place Jenson Button.

Michael Schumacher drove a good race to 5th, ahead of an anonymous Felipe Massa. It was a disappointing race for Ferrari after a promising start in front of the famous tifosi.

Jaime Alguersuari put himself forward for the driver of the day title, driving from 18th on the grid to 7th, ahead of Paul di Resta, Bruno Senna and Toro Rosso teammate Sebastien Buemi.

Pastor Maldonado finished directly ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello in 11th and 12th as Williams failed to score any points again. Heikki Kovalainen was 13th in front of teammate Jarno Trulli, with Timo Glock rounding off the 15 finishers.

Sebastian Vettel has won the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Mark Webber, in an impressive 1-2 for Red Bull. Despite worries about severe tyre blistering on the Red Bulls before the Grand Prix, the duo managed to dominate the podium and extend their lead at the top of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Jenson Button finished 3rd in the McLaren after a terrific drive from 13th place on the grid. Despite starting from this unlucky number, it was his teammate Lewis who was the more unfortunate of the pair, crashing out hard following contact with Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

Fernando Alonso finished 4th for Ferrari following a slow final stint on the harder compound tyres. Michael Schumacher was the driver of the day, finishing 5th from last on the grid. He overtook teammate Nico Rosberg in the dying laps of the race, with Rosberg having a great start which included taking the lead on the first lap, only for it to be undone by a poor first stop from the Mercedes team.

Adrian Sutil was 7th for Force India ahead of Felipe Massa, with the Ferrari driver suffering dreadful luck after his second stop. Massa punctured almost straight after coming out of the pit lane, forcing him to stop again immediately.

Vitaly Petrov finished 9th with Pastor Maldonado 10th – a great performance from 21st on the grid for the rookie Venezuelan.

Despite recent reports of ‘the wheels falling off’ at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton showed today that they are still more than capable of challenging for Grand Prix wins this year, winning the race from 2nd on the grid. Fernando Alonso took 2nd, with pole-sitter Mark Webber only managing the bottom step of the podium.

It was a race that was closely fought between the aforementioned trio, with championship leader Sebastian Vettel struggling to the chequered flag at his home Grand Prix for 4th place, overtaking Felipe Massa in the pit lane on the last lap after a disappointing stop from Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead from Mark Webber off the line, but it was far from plain sailing for the Briton. Webber regained 1st place at the first round of pit stops thanks to some smart undercutting. Red Bull tried the trick of pitting the Aussie early again at the second round of stops but it completely backfired, with late stopper Fernando Alonso taking the lead from Hamilton with Webber last of the podium places.

However, Alonso only had the lead for a single corner, with Hamilton performing an outstanding move around the outside of the Spaniard into turn three to take the lead, which he held through to the chequered flag. Things weren’t as rosy for Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button though; he was one of four retirements today with a hydraulics problem.

Red Bull tried to shake things up at the final round of pit stops in leaving Mark Webber out for as long as possible, but this wasn’t enough for the Aussie who finished behind Fernando Alonso.

Adrian Sutil drove a terrific race in the Force India to 6th, forming a German trio ahead of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher respectively. Kamui Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov rounded off the top 10.

Mercedes’ torrid Hungarian GP has gone from bad to worse as they were handed a £50,000 fine for Rosberg’s wheel loss in the pit lane and then Schumacher was given a 10 place grid penalty for Spa after nearly putting Barrichello in the pit wall. Barrichello had been catching Schumacher for a few laps and finally passed him on the pit straight. But as he passed him, Schumacher still tried to close the door on Barrichello, leaving Barrichello just centimeters away from the pit wall. Mercedes then issued an apology after Rosberg’s stray wheel hit a Williams mechanic.

Michael Schumacher said that it was one of the toughest races of his career. ”Today’s race was probably was one of the toughest that I have had so far. It was pretty edgy to drive the car on the limit so I had to fight my way through the race, and at the end, it was like walking on ice,” the veteran German with seven world championships said, before explaining his move on Rubens Barrichello, which led the Brazilian to request Schumacher was given a disqualification from the race.

“Regarding the overtaking manoeuvre with Rubens, I indicated pretty early that I would move towards the inside and not simply give up the line, and there was just enough space for him to pass me without touching each other. It was a hard fight, and this is what we are here for, but I accept that the FIA stewards saw it as too hard. I look forward to the break now and to coming back out of it stronger in Spa,” Schumacher added.

Nico Rosberg’s race was ended in a rather embarrassing and dangerous fashion when his wheel came loose in the pit lane, before hitting a Williams mechanic. “It was a disappointing end to a difficult weekend today. I didn’t have a good start because I was on the dirty side and I was struggling to find the pace to keep up with Petrov, so it would have been tough to make up much ground. We needed to have a good pit stop to stay ahead of Kubica but unfortunately we had the problem with the right rear wheel. It’s disappointing to have my first retirement of the season but these things happen and we will learn from the experience. After I heard that my tyre hit big Nige, one of my old Williams truckies, I was more concerned about my tyre than him! But seriously, it’s great that he doesn’t have any serious injures and I’m sorry for the incident. We’ll come back in Spa ready to do better,” Rosberg said.

Team boss Ross Brawn explained the day’s events: “Today was very disappointing for the team but sometimes these experiences happen and it is important that we learn from them. Nico and Michael struggled with their starts from the dirty side of the grid and it certainly cost Nico a place. The early safety car brought everyone in for their pit stops with our drivers due in quick succession. We had a problem with the right rear wheel during Nico’s stop and his car was sent without the wheel nut being properly fitted. We will have a thorough investigation into the incident and report our conclusions to the FIA. We are thankful that no serious harm was caused by the stray wheel and send our best wishes to the Williams mechanic who was unfortunately injured. Michael’s stop followed just under five seconds later and he was held whilst we sorted out the problem to ensure there was not a reoccurrence. This cost him a lot of track time at a crucial point and he came out down the field. Michael and Rubens had a tough battle in the closing laps which the stewards ultimately felt was too tough. We don’t necessarily agree with their decision but we do accept the penalty. It’s been a tough weekend but we will go away, lick our wounds and come back stronger at the next few races.”

1. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull), 1h24m38.200s

TV UNILATERALS

Q: Mark, you were very angry yesterday after the team switched the front wings. After the race today you said on the radio race ‘not bad for a number two driver.’ Was today all about poetic justice?
Mark WEBBER: Maybe there is a bloke upstairs every now and again. I just did the best job I could do today and it worked out okay. Enjoyed the grand prix to be honest. It was a good fight with Lewis. People don’t really see how we are still having a bit of a fight even if it is against the pit board and just having a bit of a look how the gap is going to pan out. But it was enjoyable, particularly the first part of the grand prix. The pit stops as always are crucial to get right and the team did a great job there. Came back out and really just got my head down on the primes, the hard tyre. I knew I had a bit of a stint ahead, so just made sure they were comfortable for the whole stint. The safety car gave them a chance to recover a fraction but the car was faultless all day and a sensational result for the team.

Q: You didn’t take any prisoners at the start in the battle with Sebastian (Vettel). Tell us about those first few corners as he went off course.
MW: It was pretty straightforward. I made a good start. I was very keen to make it my corner and it worked out well for me, so it was good.

Q: Lewis, you are still leading the championship. Do you feel after all the problems you have had this weekend with the car that this is a kind of a miracle result for you?
Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t think it is a miracle result. I think it is a reflection off all the hard work the team had put in. The car was nice to drive. It wasn’t as fast as these guys ahead of us, but we did the best job we could with the package that we had. That has been the case all weekend. Even Jenson (Button) did a fantastic job today, so that’s great points for the team. I guess we are still leading the Constructors’ Championship as well, so a great result for the guys.

Q: You tried very hard to stay with Mark. You stayed with him to six seconds towards the end. How hard was it to live with the Red Bulls today?
LH: Mark did a phenomenal job, so congratulations to him. Those guys are just so fast. I knew that on pure pace I wouldn’t be able to outpace them. The first couple of laps it looked like he was struggling and it was a great chance for me to maybe get past but still it was so hard, as we were both struggling. But after that I was flat, flat-chat. I was trying to do my qualifying lap every lap as always but he kept on creeping away.

Q: Nico, first podium since China for you. It looked like you had a little bit of bodywork damage early on. Tell us about your race.
Nico ROSBERG: I had a good start, so I came out fourth. Then I had (Robert) Kubica in front who was quite a lot slower than me and I had (Fernando) Alonso pushing from behind, so that was not so easy as the Ferrari was very quick at the beginning and able to follow closely. In the end the result goes down to first of all a great effort from the team to turn things around after Valencia where we had a disastrous weekend and really they made great progress on the car that allowed me to be on the podium today and that’s fantastic and the other thanks goes to strategy today. They did a really good job to keep me out there on the option, put in a great lap and get out ahead of Robert and Fernando then.

Q: We have seen a lot of overtaking today. How much do you think the track changes contributed to that?
NR: Well, I am sure it must have contributed to that. It is great. The atmosphere is fantastic out there and it is so nice to see the enthusiasm that the British fans bring to the race, so it is nice that we were able to give a great race back to them.

Q: Mark, this weekend clearly demonstrated the superiority of the Red Bull package. But you are still behind in the championship, so what happens now in the second half of the championship?
MW: Well, we need to try and keep consolidating on weekends like this. The other car had a problem, so we lost some points with that situation. But we were very strong this weekend. That’s evident to the development that has gone on with the car. Everyone at Milton Keynes has done an incredible job. Thanks to the guys with the F-duct, they have pushed hard with that which is not an easy thing to get on top of but they are chipping away with that and lots of other small things. Like I said yesterday we climbed this tree and it is important to know how you get up there. You cannot just pick and choose what you might want to get in terms of development, so we know the car well and we have got to keep pushing on and I have got to keep getting results I can.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Mark, I get the impression that was one race you really wanted to win. Tell us about the satisfaction of doing so.
MW: Ann (Neal) said to me at the start of the year ‘if you don’t do anything else this year bloody win Monaco and the British Grand Prix,’ so I hope I can do some more victories as the season goes on. Very special victory for me. I have won here in Formula Ford, Formula 3000, sportscars and now Formula One, so it has been a very special track to me and to get the victory for me in Formula One in the company of these guys is something which will be a highlight. I think I heard over the loudspeaker something about Jack Brabham. I don’t know if he won here but it is a special venue to win. A lot of amazing grands prix have taken place here. It has the new lay-out and it was very, very special to win here in the UK. The team is down the road. A lot of English employees and it is a very special day for them to win here.

Q: Tell us about the grip off the track. Did you expect to get that much grip as you made a superb start?
MW: Yeah, I spoke to Flavio (Briatore) last night and he said ‘Mark, just make a good start,’ so that’s what I did and after that I was hoping it would be my day and it was.

Q: Were you surprised how much grip you got off there as that was the dirty side?
MW: It wasn’t that dirty in the end. A lot of support races this weekend which have helped. We have seen a lot of other grid spots this year, particularly here and maybe Valencia and Budapest coming up,  probably Hockenheim. To be fair there is sometimes quite a big discrepancy from left to right on the grid but thank God we have had quite a few support races which helped. I think it was the procedure which helped me quite a lot.

Q: The car seemed to be absolutely flying. The amount of purple we saw on the screen. Occasionally eclipsed by Lewis but a lot of times fastest laps one after the other. I should think 50 per cent of the laps.
MW: Yes, when you are in front you need to control the race. It was at that point around about Lewis and I. I am not interested in anyone else in the field. I am just interested in watching the pit boards to Lewis. It is interesting that sometimes his pit board said a different thing to mine but only by a tenth. I am just watching both boards to make sure everything is right. Lewis drove a sensational race. We pushed each other as hard as we could. I think it is fair to say I had a better car here today, I used it to the maximum managed to pull away. We controlled it very well and took care of business.

Q: Lewis, for you it was a chase all the way. Were you surprised how good the car was today?
Q: No, not really. The car felt very similar to how it did in qualifying. Our race pace has always been generally quite good. We thought it was inevitable that we would be a little bit closer to the Red Bulls as qualifying is where they really pull out a huge chunk. I did say it would be around four-five tenths a lap and it generally was a good four-tenths a lap difference between us. It wasn’t easy, as when you are behind someone you get in the dirty air and even if you are split between two seconds you still notice a little bit. The team did a great job. The car felt nice to drive. We are still lacking downforce but nevertheless we still managed to do a solid job and a better job than the rest to put ourselves that high up. Mark did a great job today, it was great for him. It is a great place. The fans have been phenomenal all weekend, so I am glad for myself and Jenson (Button), as Jenson did a great job today, a really great job, to get way back up there and score points for the team, so hopefully it is not a real disappointment for the Brits. I think we still put on a good show and like I said the championship is not decided this weekend.

Q: So really pleased with second place?
LH: I am, I am. As I said yesterday on pure pace I cannot challenge the Ferraris and Red Bulls but it was down to the start. I managed to creep my way forwards which was a real blessing.

Q: Was there any contact between you and Vettel on the first lap?
LH: Not that I know of but when I got out of my car just now I think it looks like there is a little bit of damage at the front left corner of the end plate but I didn’t notice it and it must have been very, very fine if it was.

Q: Nico, similar question to you. James Allen asked you just now, but you didn’t actually answer it. Was there some damage to your new car?
NR: Oh yeah, I guess there was some damage. I just saw it on the TV that a part flew off the side. It was with (Jaime) Alguersuari. He drove into the side of me, or we had contact.

Q: Did it affect the performance?
NR: I am sure it did, but still good enough to hold Jenson behind which is great.

Q: How close was he then?
NR: Jenson was close, but it was a bit easier to keep him behind than Alonso as they struggle a bit more in high speed corners I think, so he is not able to follow as close. That was good. I think having Alonso behind would have been a bit more difficult.

Q: So the Ferrari when it was there was the greater threat?
NR: Yes, it felt like it.

Q: An important result going to the German Grand Prix. Your compatriots were battling away with one another behind you but to be third was important. Having said that, just as you told me on the drivers‘ parade, a fairly large margin to the front runners.
NR: Yeah, again today in the race unfortunately Mark and Lewis were very fast in front and there was no way for me to keep up. But still we have made such a great step forward from Valencia as Valencia was a disastrous weekend for us and turned the car around. Really analysed where we went wrong and made big improvements and here we are now on the podium. I mean nearly out of merit except for Sebastian I guess, so that’s a great turnaround and I am looking forward to Hockenheim too as we will be making even more progress as still the big things like the F-duct are not working properly on our car, so once we get them working soon it will be another big step forward.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Mark, we obviously caught the comments over the radio at the end of the race. There’s clearly no love lost inside Red Bull at the moment. Do you honestly feel that you are the number two driver after what happened yesterday?
MW: Ah, yesterday I wasn’t happy, clearly. I’m sure we’ll have some pretty decent chats tomorrow. Today went well for me and, yeah, that’s it, mate.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Mark, what about that with the wing? The wing that you ran today, was that the wing that was in dispute yesterday and should that sort of thing happen?
MW: No, I don’t think it should. Obviously I wasn’t massively in favour of the decision but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But once the car’s in parc ferme, obviously that’s the car you race with from qualifying, so I obviously raced today with the same car that I qualified which, it must be said, still it wasn’t too bad. But some of the drivers offered me some front wings from their cars on the (drivers’) parade lap but I said I would stick with what I’ve got. Seb didn’t but some of the other guys tried to offer me a front wing.

Q: (Ian Gordon – News of the World) Mark, fantastic win, thoroughly deserved. Given Red Bull have said that whoever leads the championship will have priority, will you get the better bits on the car in Hockenheim?
MW: Should do. I should do. Yesterday was a really unique situation. It was the first time that the team had really had one component. Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be going forward. That’s why I was disappointed yesterday and was honest with you guys. Let’s see how it goes in the future but I just keep doing what I do and hopefully it’s enough.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Mark, you said there would be some discussions with the team; does that mean you will be demanding that should this situation arise again, you don’t get cast in the position where you’re the number two?
MW: Yup.

Q: (Bob Bull – BBC Three Counties Radio) Lewis, once again McLaren seem to have benefitted from the brotherly love within the Red Bull team. Was there a big smile on your face as you went round the first corner in second position, or shortly afterwards? Red Bull gives you wings, it also takes them away again.
LH: Like I said, I just focused on my job. I think I was very quick at the beginning of the race. Regardless, I think I would have a shot at fighting both of them down into Stowe, if Sebastian hadn’t gone off. Funnily enough, we seemed to be quite quick at the beginning of the run, we seemed to be as fast as them, but then obviously (Mark) decided to knuckle down and pull away, but I don’t feel I’ve been fortunate in this situation, I think we’ve just worked hard all weekend and we’ve just worked down to the bone and got absolutely everything we could from ourselves as a team.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, how close was it with Sebastian from the start to the first corner, and secondly, how much of a concern was the restart when Lewis was right behind you?
MW: At the start? Plenty of room, you could drive a bus down the middle. With Lewis, yeah, safety cars are always a concern because it’s an opportunity for something else to happen. There was no real concern, but obviously I had a gap for a reason; that means because I was quick enough to get that gap. I had to start again. There was a little bit of a bonus, as I saw at Monaco, obviously you don’t then come across a lot of the backmarkers if you get a safety car in the middle of the race. You don’t come across as many backmarkers which as the leader is the benefit. Given today and Monaco, it actually sometimes works in your favour a bit. You don’t have to come across all that stuff at the back.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Mark, Eddie Jordan just described this as poetic justice. Is that how it feels to you?
MW: An appointment with karma, is it? Yeah.

Q: (Adam Scriven – Racing Post) Lewis, 18 points on a weekend when the team seemed to struggle is surely a great result for the championship. How confident are you heading into the second half of the season?
LH: Definitely we cannot complain with two second places in the last two races where we really have been on the back foot. The other teams have made a step forward in development and we’re trying to but the component didn’t work this weekend, which should have put us back into a real fighting position with the Red Bulls but no, we couldn’t have asked for more, really, to come into these weekends, knowing that we don’t have the true pure pace of maybe the Ferraris and Red Bulls and sometimes even a Mercedes, to be this far up is… I mean we’re really fortunate.

Q: (Bob McKenzie –The Daily Express) Mark, when something happens like yesterday, are you the sort of guy who wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘I’ll show them’? Does that give you an extra edge when you go into that first corner?
MW: You know I’ve had a few hurdles in my career, even sometimes privately as well. Yeah, how you judge a person’s character is obviously how they come back in a bit of adversity. All drivers have some of that in certain parts of their career if they’ve been around for a while. I’ve obviously maybe had a bit more than others. It can work, but how long is a piece of string? You want to make sure it isn’t constantly happening… I mean the challenges, because otherwise it can sometimes test you a bit too much but if the balance is right, it certainly puts a bit of fuel on the fire.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, your fifth ever podium, was this the most demanding of them all?
NR: Yes, it was demanding, yes. At the beginning I had Alonso behind me. He was very quick and pushing hard with Kubica blocking me in the front, then Jenson with fresher tyres behind me for 25 laps or something. It is quite challenging, yes, but in the end they worked alright and Jenson wasn’t able to follow that closely in the high speed (sections), so that helped me out a little bit. I’m happy, it’s a great result.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, did you honestly believe that you would be sitting here today in this position after everything that had gone on on Friday and then overnight with all the troubles that the team had had in trying to get the car set up for the weekend?
LH: I think this weekend I’ve had an incredible amount of optimism, regardless of when they took the floor away – which I actually thought was… I didn’t actually want to change the floor, I wanted to stay with it but there were a few… the results on the data and all these kind of things. They had to make a team decision to take it off just in case. We didn’t know if it was delivering a little bit less or just about the same. It should have been giving a lot more downforce. It felt good in certain areas for me. I was a bit cautious and a bit nervous about taking it off and then going into Saturday, not knowing just how quick we would be and then on Saturday morning we really were nowhere, we didn’t have the pace of these guys. Like I said, we looked like we would be seventh or eighth but pulled out a stonking qualifying lap and that really changed the whole race situation. And then into the race, my race pace this year has always been strong, so that’s never been a real struggle for me.

Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Magazine) Lewis, you’ve been on pole this year, you’ve won here, you’ve had a great second place here today, almost as good as a win. Personally, what does Silverstone mean to you, all the history and everything that this weekend we’re celebrating as well?
LH: Silverstone is a unique and classic race for me. I think growing up, I never got to come here when I was younger, so it wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I started coming here, and seeing all the great races here, British history. In terms of motor sport, when we say it’s the home of motor sport, it really is. We’ve got so many teams here, so many enthusiasts, so many engineers, people developing the cars in the teams, so many of these pioneers come from the UK and so for me to come from here, being born only an hour and a half away, to come here and see my fellow Brits, have my family here – we have support like nowhere else. What a weekend. I don’t believe any other grand prix puts on as great a show. What were they thinking about when they thought about taking this grand prix away? It’s been amazing, this weekend, probably the best weekend I think I’ve seen them put together in terms of the crowd and how they’ve set up everything, grandstands, and the events around for all the fans. I think the organisers have done a pretty remarkable job, so for me, it’s a real pleasure and honour to represent my country here and again, when you have a race like this you step forward. OK, we didn’t win but I did everything I could and I feel proud of the result we got.