Formula 1 - 2017

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Lance Stroll slams 'ridiculous' Carlos Sainz Jr after Bahrain crash

Williams driver Lance Stroll has branded Carlos Sainz Jr. "ridiculous" after he “drove into my side” during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

In the early stages of the race, Sainz exited the pitlane and emerged just behind Stroll going into the first corner.

He remained on the inside line and braked late, with Stroll taking the racing line; the two cars collided, with both retiring on the spot.

Toro Rosso’s Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty for Russia and two penalty points for the incident, with stewards deeming he was predominantly to blame.

“I saw Sainz coming out of the pitlane, I was 50 or 60 metres in front of him in the braking zone, and was already turning in and he drove into my side,” Stroll said.

“There is not much else to say, as I have just seen the video and it was ridiculous. I think the race wasn’t going badly [up to that point].

“I am just disappointed and hope my luck turns round sometime soon. I can be frustrated, but it won’t get me anywhere.”

Sainz added: “It definitely hasn’t been a good weekend for us. Unfortunately, all of a sudden after the pitstop I was involved in an incident with Lance and that was the end of my race.

“The weekend ends with a DNF, but weekends like this one always happen at some point throughout the year in F1, this is racing.”

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Race pace 'exposed' Renault’s flaws - Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg says he “wrestled” his way to ninth place in Bahrain, but reckons the car’s race pace “exposed” the areas Renault needs to improve.

The German driver lined up seventh on the grid after an impressive qualifying performance but was unable to hold onto the position.

Hulkenberg was pleased to score Renault’s first points of the year with ninth, but admitted the 57-lap race highlighted the areas where the manufacturer needs to improve.

“It’s good to have the first points of the season on the board and I think I had a good race given the pace of the car,” he explained.

“I really wrestled with it a lot and two points were the best we could do on the strategy we ran.

“We are a lot better in qualifying, but over the 57 laps of the race we exposed some of the areas where we need to improve.

“Fortunately, I am testing here on Tuesday, so we have a great opportunity to make progress.

“We have some updates for evaluation when I’m in the car, which will hopefully improve our race pace by a big chunk for Sochi.”

Team-mate Jolyon Palmer trailed home in 13th position in the sister RS.17.

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F1 teams poised for first in-season test in Bahrain

Formula 1 teams have stayed on at the Bahrain International Circuit for the first in-season test, which takes place this Tuesday and Wednesday.

The two days of action, in which each team is permitted to field one car, will enable squads to address any issues from the opening three rounds, and undertake crucial development work, ahead of a busy phase of the season.

With 50 per cent of in-season test time required to be handed over to young drivers, classified as those who have competed in two or fewer Grands Prix, several teams will be running unfamiliar faces.

Pierre Gasly will be in action for Red Bull, Oliver Turvey will link up with McLaren, Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin receives a run with the manufacturer, while Formula 2 racer Sean Gelael will make his Formula 1 bow with Toro Rosso.

Alfonso Celis Jr. (Force India) and Gary Paffett (Williams) will also conduct testing duties with their respective teams.

Mercedes, Haas and Sauber, meanwhile, will dedicate the entirety of their track time to regular racers, meaning they must field a young driver on both days of running at the next test, which takes place at the Hungaroring in August.

One day of Ferrari's running will be conducted in association with Pirelli as part of Formula 1's tyre testing programme; Antonio Giovinazzi, who raced for Sauber in Australia and China, is set to sample the SF70-H for the first time.

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Honda to trial new ideas in Bahrain F1 test

Honda is to trial new ideas in this week's post-Bahrain Grand Prix test as it continues efforts to try to recover from a disappointing start to the campaign.

The Japanese manufacturer is well aware that it needs to unlock more power from its 2017 power unit ahead of a planned upgraded specification coming on tap in the next few races.

As part of that effort, Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa says some development concepts will be trialled by McLaren's Oliver Turvey and Stoffel Vandoorne this week to help improve understanding of what needs to be done.

"Some of the ideas [will be tested]," Hasegawa told Motorsport.com about the plans for Bahrain. "But it will not be a totally [new engine]."

Honda had originally slated the introduction of an upgraded power unit for around the time of the Monaco or Canadian Grands Prix, but there are suggestions that an interim step could now be brought in for the Spanish GP too.

Hasegawa has drawn short of putting a firm date on the plan though.

"We don't decide to disclose," he said. "I have my target but because it is not ready we don't say. I don't want to give the fans too much expectation, so I will wait."

But he has made it clear that Honda is not being conservative in its ambitions to make progress as quick as it can, after the frustrations of recent races.

"In this situation we cannot wait," he said. "We really need to have some improvement."

  

MGU-H dramas

As well as working on the power front, Honda is also having to address the MGU-H problems that hit both its drivers over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.

Analysis of the broken units which both Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso suffered is ongoing, with Honda keen for answers as to why it faced four reliability problems at Sakhir.

Hasegawa hopes that solutions to prevent a repeat in the future will be ready as early as this week too.

"Still we need a few days to find out [what happened]," said Hasegawa. "But we really need to put something for the test, even if it for the last and final day."

Explaining what happened with Vandoorne prior to the start, Hasegawa said: "We don't know the cause, but the water pressure dropped….it is in the MGU-H area. It looks like the same issue, but a little bit different but we haven't had time to properly analyse."

Hasegawa added that Honda had been surprised to suffer such failures in Bahrain, after relatively few problems in the first two grands prix.

"Yes – and obviously disappointed," he said. "At first we thought this was the third race, and every part mileage was longer. But Stoffel's MGU-H was brand new here, so it wasn't just caused by mileage. So we are eager to find out. We don't know. We are very surprised why here we have these failures."

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Renault to trial revised MGU-K in Bahrain F1 test

Renault plans to test a revised 2017 MGU-K in this week's in-season Formula 1 test in Bahrain with the aim of running it next time out in Russia.

Concerns about the reliability of its new MGU-K in pre-season testing led it to adopt a no-risk strategy in the opening races by reverting to last year's specification.

It was not ideal for the works outfit and customers Red Bull and Toro Rosso given the older spec is 5kg heavier and requires an extra 1kg air bottle for cooling.

But after investigations at Renault's engine base at Viry, the French manufacturer has brought a revised version to run during the two-day test in Bahrain, starting Tuesday.

Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul told Motorsport.com the works team will run it in Bahrain but "it is up to the customer teams to decide" if they do so.

He added: "According to all the tests this week, [its introduction] could be for Sochi. The MGU-K can be back on track fairly quickly.

"It will help a little bit with the weight and with the packaging, so for all these things it's good to have it back. It will also be good to have back a complete 2017 configuration.

"It helps bring confidence our ability to bring performance, upgrades to the car and the engine."

Abiteboul said Renault's main concern was reliability and only once that is sorted will it turn its attention to performance and the introduction of a new engine spec.

The timing of introducing new specifications is even more crucial this year as teams are restricted to just four units without penalty for the 20-race season.

"The engine plan is challenging because of the reliability situation - that is not where we want it to be," he said. "As soon as reliability is under control, I'm confident we can bring more, more from fuel, more from oil.

"There are lots of areas where we have progress to come."

When asked if there was a plan to introduce a new engine spec at Barcelona, Abiteboul said that was the target or at least before the summer at race seven or eight, which would be Canada or Azerbaijan.

"That is the sort of thing we're still working towards," he said. "Definitely an upgrade before the summer, race seven, race eight. One thing that is so important is to be in sync with the engine allocation plan.

"As soon as we have a reliability issue, it means you need to bring forward the engine introduction. That is the sort of thing we need to observe and monitor to honour that plan."

Renault scored its first points of the season when Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth in Bahrain.

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Wehrlein surprised by race fitness level on F1 return

Pascal Wehrlein says he was surprised by how good his race fitness was after finishing 11th on his Formula 1 return in the Bahrain Grand Prix, as first images of his recovery are published.

The 22-year-old missed the first two grands prix of the season thanks to a lack of fitness caused by his training being compromised by fracturing three vertebrae in an accident in January's Race of Champions.

Wehrlein believes the extra training he was able to do thanks to missing the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this month played a key role in his fitness improving so much.

"I'm surprised how good it is," said Wehrlein when asked by Motorsport.com about how he reacted to the race distance. "But that's what we could have expected because the strength went away but it's coming back quite quickly.

"You can see what a big change these two weeks of training have been to me and I'm just really happy overall.

"This race was great in terms of performance and I'm really happy to come back like this, it's like I've never been away."

Despite having no problems during the race, even in the closing stages when battling to hold off Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat, Wehrlein did experience some pain afterwards.

"Fitness wise, I'm feeling good," said Wehrlein. Now I feel it, of course after a long race I have some pain in my back. I'm quite tired as well, but I guess everyone is after the heat.

  

Critics did have an impact

Wehrlein also believes that the Bahrain GP weekend was important for him mentally after the criticism he received for skipping two races.

He admits that some of the comments made did have an impact on him.

"Mentally, it was a great weekend, I know what I can do and I know I can be quick but the last three weeks were really difficult for me.

"I heard some crazy comments from other people about myself, what I should do or what they would do in my situation even though they don't know what my situation was. The best answer is to show the performance on track and to come back like this.

"I came back like I never had a break."

Even though he performed well on his return, Wehrlein has no doubt that he would not have been able to contest the season-opening Australian GP with his fitness level at that point.

He pulled out after running during Friday practice, with Antonio Giovinazzi taking over the car for qualifying and the race, and the Chinese GP two weeks later.

"In Melbourne, it was not possible to drive," he said. I wasn't there with my back, I wasn't there in terms of fitness.

"It was just too early, it was eight weeks after three broken vertebrae. I couldn't move for 5 weeks, so I was still recovering from my accident."

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CHASE CAREY RESPONDS TO BERNIE ECCLESTONE JIBE ABOUT “OVERCHARGING” F1 PROMOTERS

F1’s new CEO Chase Carey has responded to comments by his predecessor Bernie Ecclestone at the weekend in Bahrain that F1 race promoters had been overcharged and will now want a discount or to withdraw from their contracts, as well as his assertion that Liberty is not focussed on profits, where he had to be to satisfy his shareholders, CVC Capital Partners.

The American told the Financial Times on Monday that Ecclestone “managed for short-term profits, we are managing for long term value”, while he said that race promoters “were not tricked” on price, but the problem was “has F1 invested in the right way to support the events?”

Ecclestone was deposed by Liberty Media once they completed the takeover of the sport in January. He was made chairman emeritus. They installed Carey and his management team and they have since renewed circuit deals with Russia and Canada, while the Singapore promoters were in Melbourne to discuss a contract extension.

However Malaysia has announced that this year’s race will be the last.

What Ecclestone said

Ecclestone was in Bahrain as a guest of the Bahraini Crown Prince and went on the grid on Sunday. On Friday he met with reporters at the track and said,

“The only thing that would be good for everyone would be if we could charge the promoters a lot less money. I charged them too much for what we provide.

“I did some good deals commercially. They are paying a lot of money, and most of them, if not all of them, are not making any money. Quite the opposite.

“Sooner or later I’m frightened that the governments behind them will say enough is enough, and bye-bye.

“If we could reduce the fee they pay they could then charge less for tickets and sell more tickets.

He also suggested that Liberty Media and the new management were not worried about managing the F1 business for profit, as they are spending money he did not on new areas like commercial research, marketing and digital media.

“I was running the company to try and make money for the shareholders. It doesn’t seem that’s the thing that’s driving them. He (Carey) wants to get more happy spectators I think,” said Ecclestone.

“It’s not for a few years when people start thinking you haven’t done what you thought you would have. I wouldn’t want to be having to deliver to a public company today. I feel sorry for Chase having to do that.”

What Carey said

Carey was reluctant to get into a tit-for-tat with Ecclestone, however on these points he responded to the Financial Times on Monday,

“These were agreements negotiated between two capable parties and if there is a definition of fair value it’s a deal that two capable parties agree on,” he said “These were agreements between two parties that valued the franchise how it was valued. Nobody was tricked.

“If there is a point to it; has F1 invested in the right way to support the events? It’s not that the deal is overpriced, it’s more did we deliver where we should deliver?

“So when Bernie says we are not managing for profits, what he is meaning is: we are investing in marketing, investing in digital.

“He managed for short-term profits, we are managing for long term value.

“Many times to build value you will invest money at an early stage to increase value at a later stage.

“If you look at sports that have had incredible growth, like the English Premier League or the NFL, they have made investments to grow their franchise. We are committed to growing value, but we do believe it’s important to invest in the sport. We do care about the profits, but realistically the long-term value is what it’s all about,

“Therefore some of the things that should have been done to support the events; marketing the sport better, creating access to digital platforms to bring in new fans, to provide research to understand how do you make it better, those sorts of tools didn’t exist.

“The (Ecclestone) comment on profits is very telling; is it about short term profits? No. We’ve been very clear; we think it’s about building long term value.

“Investing money does not mean we don’t care about profits”

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Brembo brake update a big improvement – Grosjean

Romain Grosjean says the updated Brembo Formula 1 brakes he used during the Bahrain Grand Prix were big improvement.

Haas has long cited a lack of consistency with the brakes and has been working with Brembo for several months in a bid to find a solution.

But it has also arranged to test new brakes from Carbone Industrie at the in-season Bahrain test, which started today.

After running the new Brembo brakes during the Bahrain race weekend, Grosjean declared himself happy - but highlighted the length of time it had taken.

"We had an update from Brembo and it worked much better than it was before," said Grosjean, who scored his first points of 2017 in Bahrain.

"It was clearly a big step. It took quite a while to get the update. We're going to try something different and see how it goes."

Grosjean, who is particularly sensitive to brake feel, said the update was "a very different story" with an improvement in the "consistency" allowing him to attack.

But having previously said the only solution for Haas's ongoing brake difficulties is to change suppliers as soon as possible, he remains excited to test the new brand.

The team tried products from Carbone Industrie during last year's Brazilian Grand Prix with Grosjean complimentary after testing them.

"I'm looking forward to getting the other brand because last year it changed a lot the end of the braking and the feeling going into the corners," he said.

"Let's see if we still have a lot of improvement. I think the delay will be less big. The new update worked pretty well but as I say, I'm looking forward to trying that.

"There is quite a lot on the menu to see where we can improve the car."

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BAHRAIN TEST DAY 1: HAMILTON QUICKEST

Just two days after the Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One teams were back in action at the Sakhir Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton topping the timesheet for Mercedes as F1’s first in-season test of 2017 got underway.

The session start was briefly delayed while shopping containers were removed from near to the pit lane exit and Hamilton too suffered an early setback as his Mercedes ground to a halt soon after running began.

His car was recovered to the garage and after an electrical fault was identified and rectified last Sunday’s second-placed driver was able to continue with the team’s run plan.

It eventually resulted, late in the day, in the day’s quickest time, a soft-tyre lap of 1:31.358. He was followed by Ferrari test driver Antonio Giovinazzi who finished the day with a time of 1:31.948, just over six tenths of a second behind the three-time champion.

Third on the timesheet was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian’s best time coming earlier in the day as the team first focused on aero tests and then tyre and set-up work.

“We did a few runs on the soft tyre and made a few mechanical changes, which were interesting, and a couple of runs on the supersoft. I think we discovered as few things there,” said Ricciardo of his morning’s work. “You do try some bigger steps than you might do on a race weekend and it was interesting to see what the results of those changes were.

The Renault-powered team had envisaged a number of longer runs in the afternoon but an issue with the car’s power unit forced the Milton Keynes squad to call an early halt to its programme.

There were power unit problems, too, for sister team Toro Rosso, with Formula 2 driver Sean Gelael forced to stop his Renault-powered car with a suspected engine issue. The Indonesian driver did return to the action in the day once again he stopped with an unspecified issue. He finished the day in eighth place.

Romain Grosjean was fourth fastest, putting 87 laps on the board and logging a best time of 1:32.542, just under a tenth of a second ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. Lance Stroll was seventh for Williams ahead of Gelael, while ninth place on the timesheet was taken by the second Ferrari on show on day one, driven by Sebastian Vettel.

The German was undertaking testing for Pirelli aimed at developing its 2018 tyres, though that process was interrupted for a long period my a mechanical problem with Vettel SF70H. With the agreement of teams, Vettel’s outing was extended until 9pm local time to make up for the hours lost in the garage.

Ferrari’s time in pit lane was nothing compared to that of McLaren, however. After another troubled race weekend, the team endured a difficult test day, with driver Oliver Turvey confined to the garage for the bulk of the session as an ERS water leak led to a power unit change.

Turvey was able to get track time in the final hour and completed 17 laps, although ended up in P12, behind Alfonso Celis of Force India 1and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

Formula One Bahrain In-Season Test – Day One

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.358s – 97
Antonio Giovinazzi Ferrari 1:31.984s 0.626s 93
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:32.349s 0.991s 45
Romain Grosjean Haas 1:32.452s 1.094s 87
Felipe Massa Williams 1:32.509s 1.151s 56
Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:33.624s 2.266s 74
Lance Stroll Williams 1:33.729s 2.371s 35
Sean Gelael Toro Rosso 1:33.885s 2.527s 78
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.894s 2.536s 89
Alfonso Celis Force India 1:33.939s 2.581s 71
Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:34.550s 3.192s 106
Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:35.011s 3.653s 17

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BAHRAIN TEST DAY 1: HONDA ENGINE FAILS AGAIN

McLaren’s reliability problems continued in the Bahrain test as the Formula One team suffered another failure with one of their Honda engines.

Development driver Oliver Turvey had only completed two installation laps at the Sakhir circuit when his car ground to a halt, forcing mechanics to change the engine before he could return to action.

After the change, the team tweeted: ‘Big shout out to the crews for getting Oliver Turvey back out after today’s PU change stopped play.’

McLaren suffered with engine problems throughout the weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which saw Stoffel Vandoorne fail to take the start of the race and Fernando Alonso pull out before the end.

Alonso revealed before the Bahrain race that he would not take part in the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May in order to race a Honda-powered car for the Andretti Autosport team in the Indy 500 in the United States, his McLaren seat being filled for the Monte Carlo race by former team-mate Jenson Button.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo set the quickest time during the morning session of the Bahrain test ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, with Bahrain race winner Sebastian Vettel seventh in his Ferrari.

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OJJEH: WE WERE PROMISED A LOT BY HONDA

Long time McLaren shareholder, Mansour Ojjeh is adamant that the team he has been part of for over three decades cannot continue to languish at the wrong end of the grid, while suffering a crisis of reliability and delivering no results with no end in sight.

Speaking to Auto Hebdo in Bahrain, the normally reserved Ojjeh revealed, “The disappointment is huge even for Honda. We were promised a lot and are the first ones to be disappointed to offer so little. They have accepted the responsibility and blame but that hardly makes us look any better,” he added.

The team’s star driver Fernando Alonso, who earlier announced his plans to race at the Indianapolis 500 instead of Monaco, was highly frustrated during the race and let it be known over the radio.

“How they can overtake me?” he asked in exasperation during the race.  “They’re 300 metres behind me and they overtake me on the straight, I’ve never raced with less power in my life.”

Latest speculation is that Honda have actually approached Mercedes to help them resolve the issues with their power unit, which is grossly under powered and woefully unreliable.

After the race, Ojjeh explained, “We work on different scenarios, of which I cannot speak right now. But we are spending a lot of time and energy and meetings on finding a solution. And fast. We have a culture of victory and we cannot continue like this.”

“Fernando is a great driver who has suffered for two years. He wants the triple crown. I told him that he is crazy to go to Indianapolis, but we spoke to Juan Pablo Montoya who told us not to worry, that he will adapt easily.

“Fernando also wants to win Le Mans. In a personal capacity I would very much like McLaren to return to Le Mans, but Fernando wants to do it in LMP1. For the moment the priority is a good engine in F1,” Ojjeh added.

Meanwhile Alonso has rubbished talk that there were no problems with his McLaren when he retired from the race in Bahrain. AS media reported that the Spaniard strongly denied the rumours.

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MALLYA ARRESTED IN LONDON FACES EXTRADITION

Force India chief Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London on an extradition request from India, where he is accused of fraud, British police said on Tuesday.

“Vijay Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud,” the police said in a statement.

He will appear in court in London later Tuesday, the statement said.

The flamboyant financier secretly fled India in March 2016 owing more than $1 billion after defaulting on loan payments to state-owned banks and allegedly misusing the funds.

India submitted an extradition request to Britain in early February after investigators demanded that Mallya be brought home to face charges.

His financial dealings are being probed by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation and its federal Enforcement Directorate, a financial crimes agency.

Mallya, who once branded himself the “King of Good Times” and was known for his extravagant lifestyle, was sacked in February from the board of United Breweries, the company through which he once controlled his business empire.

He made Kingfisher beer a global brand and ran a now-defunct airline with the same name, besides being the owner of a cricket side and a Formula One team.

MIKA: It is believed that Mallay’s name was one of nearly 20 on a list that the Indians requested as part of discussions over possible future trade deals, in the wake of Brexit. The British are desperate to find some big trading partners and so handing over a few fugitives is a small price to pay in the circumstances.

The charges against Mallya in India relate to his defaulting on loans of around $1.4 billion. Mallya is currently stuck in the UK without a passport as his Indian passport has been cancelled and he is unable to hold another unless he revokes his Indian citizenship. He must also find a country willing to issue him a new passport. He was recently removed as the chairman of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) but continues to be India’s representative on the FIA World Motor Sport Council, although he cannot attend meetings.

Force India is a team that effectively runs itself these days but Mallya has been required to raise money when that is required. His arrest, if confirmed, will be an embarrassment for the sport. The word is that the team is for sale but that the owners (Mallya and his trouble partner Subrata Roy of Sahara) want $250 million for the business. It is highly unlikely that anyone will pay that price. The adverse publicity will make it harder for the team to be sold and to find sponsorship. The team is funded largely with prize money, but recently sold a $15 million sponsorship deal to Austrian water treatment company BWT. It's a shame to the Formula 1 team purely because they have done so well for themselves over the years.

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Sergio Perez hails 'amazing recovery' in Bahrain

Sergio Perez has described his Bahrain Grand Prix as an “amazing recovery” after leaping from 18th on the grid to seventh place.

The Mexican driver enjoyed a strong first lap to move up to 13th, before making steady progress up the order and through the safety car phase.

“To finish seventh after starting from P18 is an amazing recovery and we can be very happy,” Perez explained.

“It’s also our thirteenth consecutive race in the points, which is an incredible achievement. The first lap was very important for my race because I made up five places and was up in P13 by the end of lap one.

“I had great tyre life in the first stint; we stayed out as long as we could and the safety car played into our hands just when I needed to make a pitstop.

“So, I think we made the most of every opportunity. We showed, once again, that we never give up on Sundays and we can come back strong after a difficult qualifying.”

Esteban Ocon finished 10th, with both Force Indias in the points: “It’s good to get another point, but the timing of the safety car didn’t help me and probably cost me three positions.

“It’s a shame because the team did everything right, but the safety car came out just after I had made my first pitstop. So, the luck was not on my side.

“Apart from that, it was a really fun race and I had to fight really hard. We showed again that our car is strong in race conditions.

“My target coming into the season was to score points in every race so I’m pleased to have scored in all three so far, but I know we had the potential to score even more points.”

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Hamilton asked to delete video by F1’s new owners

Although Formula 1’s new owners Liberty Media are a lot more open than their predecessors to social media interaction, there is a line and it was crossed by Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, an avid user of social media, recently uploaded on-board footage of his pole position lap from the Chinese Grand Prix only to be told to take it down.

A Liberty Media spokesperson explained to PA Sport.

“This season, Formula One has issued a new set of social media guidelines allowing teams and drivers to film and record their activities so as to bring the sport closer to the fans,” he said.

“All teams and drivers have embraced this approach with enthusiasm, resulting in a surge of interest in F1 across social media.

“However, F1 does not want drivers posting international feed footage as this has been licensed to broadcasters’ partners, in many cases exclusively.

“All teams and drivers have a clear understating of this and whenever a mistake is made, teams and drivers are asked to take down any relevant footage.”

It is not the first time that the 32-year-old has been in hot water over social media as he was criticised by some quarters for using Instagram during a 2016 press conference while he also caught the attention of New Zealand police for using his phone while riding a motorbike.

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BOLD STRATEGY AND FLAWLESS EXECUTION: VETTEL BAHRAIN GP WIN ECHOES SCHUMACHER, BRAWN ERA FERRARI

The Bahrain Grand Prix was set to be a good acid test of the new F1 as it is generally one of the tracks with the most overtaking and we’ve seen strategy play a key part due to the way the tyres perform on this track.

This year the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari swung Ferrari’s way due to a combination of factors, including Sebastian Vettel’s very strong pace on supersoft tyres, especially in the second stint and Mercedes’ relative weakness on them; this is something we saw with the softer compounds in Australia and there is certainly a pattern emerging.

Ferrari has understood the new wider Pirelli tyres, especially the softer end of the range, better than its main rivals.

Once again Ferrari were bold on strategy and used the undercut on Mercedes. A Safety Car, which should have upset Ferrari’s strategy, as in China, immediately followed it but this time Mercedes failed to capitalise on their stroke of luck, due to a pit stop delay and then Lewis Hamilton got a time penalty.

Meanwhile there were some strong performances in midfield, especially Sergio Perez, who stuck to a set strategy and delivered a strong seventh place from 18th on the grid.

Here we will analyse in detail the big decisions, why they were made and how they created the race result.

Pre-race considerations

This year’s race took place later than last year and the temperatures were really high until Sunday, when they fell. At the same time the wind changed direction from Friday to Saturday and Sunday, when it became a headwind on the main straight and on Sunday the wind was very strong.

As a result the information gained on Friday in FP2 was not carried though as some teams expected. Critically, Mercedes was caught out on its performance on the supersoft tyre. On Friday they thought they were okay on them, on Sunday they were outpaced by Ferrari and it played a big part in why they lost the race.

However for a team like Force India, who have a driver like Perez, who can look after the tyres while maintaining good pace, they never deviated from their belief that the tyre degradation would decrease significantly from Friday to Sunday and that a two stop plan, with the first two stints on Supersofts, was the way to go. Perez also got a slice of luck from the Safety Car.

Last year was an unusual race where many cars, including the podium finishers, all changed their strategy during the race. Normally that spells disaster and this year the drivers who changed strategy during the race certainly lost out to those who stuck to their convictions and went for it.

Vettel surges as a series of unfortunate events thwarts Hamilton

Last year Hamilton lost a place at the start to Nico Rosberg, who went on to win the race. This year, starting from second on the grid, he also lost a place to Sebastian Vettel, who had been disappointed to qualify third.

Bahrain is the third highest ‘start bias’ of the year, meaning that it is number three in the chart of tracks where the clean side of the grid has an advantage over the dirty side. Hamilton was on the dirty side, Vettel the clean.

Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene had called on his team to be ‘coragiosa’ (bold) and the strategist Inaki Rueda again took him at his word, as in China, employing an early undercut on Bottas on Lap 10.

Mercedes could see this coming, of course, and could have pre-empted it by pitting Bottas on that same Lap 10. There was a risk for Vettel as he would be coming out into quite a bit of traffic, including Perez, Sainz and Grosjean. Mercedes saw that traffic and were hoping for one more lap to be able to pit Bottas and pre-empt Ferrari’s strike.

It was a mistake not to take it, but from there they split the strategies to try to create a compromise for Vettel with Bottas on supersofts and Hamilton on softs.

Then fate intervened again, as in China. Handed a lifeline by a Safety Car being deployed for Lance Stroll’s collision with Sainz, Mercedes had the chance to pit Bottas without losing any race time and regain the lead.

Vettel should have fallen behind him and Ricciardo, and possibly also Hamilton, who would have had to wait for service in the pit lane behind Bottas and would have lost the position to Ricciardo.

But Bottas had a slow in lap and a slow pit stop while Ricciardo was held up by Hamilton on the way into the pits, for which Hamilton was handed a five second penalty.

It all played into Vettel’s hands; he retained the lead behind the Safety Car. Given a second chance, Vettel took it and did the great work in the second stint that won him the race.

Bottas was up to a second a lap off Vettel on the same tyres in that second stint, which underlined Ferrari’s raw race pace and also indicated that the Mercedes was not working on the supersoft tyres.

Hamilton, on soft tyres, spent 10 laps behind Bottas in that stint from Lap 17, losing five seconds to Vettel. Once Hamilton got past Bottas on Lap 27, he was able to pull away from Bottas at eight tenths of a second per lap.

That told the Mercedes strategist James Vowles that he had to change the strategy for Hamilton and fit used softs for the final stint rather than the planned supersofts. It was yet another compromlse to add to the start, the time penalty and the slow pit stops. Fortunately they had saved that set of used softs for the race, as had Ferrari, as an insurance policy, other teams had not, including Red Bull, who were committed to a supersoft led race.

In the final stint Hamilton’s pace was very strong. And after being allowed through under orders by Bottas to mount an attack on Vettel, Hamilton cut the gap, as Vettel managed his tyres.

However the German turned the power unit up with around six laps to go, to take the sting out of Hamilton’s attack and to show that he had some margin. He held on to win the race; a great collective effort by Vettel and the team, which is why he was so happy afterwards.

It was reminiscent of a Michael Schumacher/ Ross Brawn era Ferrari victory; bold strategy, great driving and flawless team execution.

Memories of Grosjean Haas result in 2016 inform strategy decisions

One of the things that made this a good race was that Pirelli brought a tyre selection that led on the supersoft, a tyre that shows some degradation. This meant that the teams had to really think carefully about their strategy and we saw a real mixture of strategies, with the decision on whether to use soft tyres or supersoft tyres for the second and third stints split roughly 50-50. This is certainly what we want to see this year, rather than conservative selections where the likelihood is of almost no degradation and one stop strategies, where drivers finish in car performance order.

The soft may have been the better race tyre and Mercedes may have struggled on the supersofts, but some teams built their result on them.

Sergio Perez went from 18th on the grid to seventh by using a supersoft led strategy and sticking to it. The data from Friday’s practice showed the degradation to be around 0.18s per lap, but factored in that this would decrease on race day as the track improved and the coating of sand on the surface was lifted.

Perez has become one of the very best drivers at looking after the softer tyres for long stints while maintaining good pace. Here, like Vettel, he managed a 23 lap middle stint on supersofts, but unlike Vettel he was not running in free air, so it was a great performance.

He made a strong start, up to 13th, and then passed Palmer for 12th. The Safety Car also played into his hands, where he made his pit stop and he lost only 9.1 secs, compared to 21 for stopping at racing speeds.

This helped him to get past Grosjean, while Sainz and Verstappen hit problems. So Perez was ninth at the restart, behind Ericsson who was doing a one-stopper and Hulkenberg.

Renault put Hulkenberg onto soft tyres at the pit stop under the Safety Car, giving him the option of one stopping, but it meant that Perez was able to use his pace on fresh supersofts to pass him and he made it stick by keeping the tyre alive for 23 laps, to extend the stint. Hulkenberg switched strategy and pitted again which confirmed Perez’ result. He couldn’t get close to matching his qualifying pace in the race conditions.

Williams were probably a little surprised to see how close Perez was at the end of the race. Williams had 2 new softs, which was the best race tyre overall. The Force India qualifying pace had been relatively poor so they perhaps would not have expected to be so competitive in the race.

Massa’s middle stint was compromised by being overtaken by Raikkonen and Ricciardo and his pace suffered relatively at the end of the stint despite being on the soft tyre.

Perez has been in consideration for a Ferrari seat before and drives like this will certainly revive that consideration.

The alternative plan

Pascal Wehrlein marked his return to F1 action with a strong performance to finish 11th in the Sauber, which is the slowest car in the field. This was done with a one-stop strategy, starting on supersofts and then switching to softs for a 45 lap final stint. He was pitted on Lap 11, so gained nothing from the Safety Car, but by going one stop he had 24 seconds of pit stop time he would save. In a slow car like the Sauber this time bleeds away every lap, but he picked up places as the cars ahead pitted for their second stops, like Kvyat, Alonso, Palmer, Ocon and Hulkenberg. The latter two re-passed him easily, but he managed to stay ahead of Kvyat and Palmer, both of whom have much faster cars.

 

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KIMI RAIKKONEN CRACKS A SMILE PILOTING FERRARI’S GTC4LUSSO T

Kimi Raikkonen is a simple man. He drives fast. He likes Magnum ice cream. He does not believe in the fundamentals of human interaction nor light banter. He’s the epitome of a cold racing machine who lets his track performance do the talking and then goes home to watch some ice hockey. And that’s why people love him and call him the ‘Iceman’.

The only thing that could melt this steely Fin it seems is a stint behind the wheel of Ferrari’s latest GTC4Lusso T, the prancing horse’s most practical car which is powered by a 3.9-litre turbo V8 engine. It also has four seats but in this particular commercial featuring the flying Fin, he only needs the boot space for his hockey gear.

And proving that it’s not the destination but the journey that counts, Ferrari have managed to stitch up a commercial which promotes both Kimi’s love for driving and ice hockey. The latter of which even causes him to crack a rare smile when the goalie ducks out of the way misses his shot.

Watch it and savour it while it lasts because Kimi doesn’t do many promos and when he does it’s either a half-assed attempt or one of the best comedic segments you’ll ever see.

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 WILL MALLYA SAGA IMPACT FORCE INDIA?

Having proudly waved the flag of India on the F1 grid for almost a decade, Vijay Mallya’s Force India is now set to “feel the force” of his home country in a whole different way entirely.
With news breaking yesterday that Mallya was arrested in London on an extradition request from India, doubts have been cast over the continued viability of the racing operation the 61-year-old has led since 2008.

Charged with fraud and money laundering, he is reported to owe creditors more than $1 billion in loans extended to finance his now-defunct Kingfisher airlines.

Whether Mallya can continue to finance Force India is anyone’s guess, but it’s sure to get harder as the net cast by the Indian government continues to close around him. Yet whatever happens, Force India cannot afford to become a casualty.

A flamboyant face on the grid known for his lavish parties and bad haircuts (how many blokes with grey hair do you see rocking a mullet?), under Mallya the former Spyker has turned into an all-around F1 success story.

In 2016, the team finished fourth in the constructor’s standings – the highest spot in their history – despite possessing a budget far below that of the major teams.

According to F1 journalist Joe Saward, the team “is funded largely with prize money” (somewhere in the $70-80m range), but even with the backing brought in by driver Sergio Perez and their new deal with Austrian company BWT it is hard to place their budget any higher than $100 million – making their achievements all the more impressive.

Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley, technical director Andrew Green, and COO Otmar Szafnauer have been nothing short of exceptional in their leadership of Force India over the past few years, and deserve to see their efforts continue to prosper.

Race wins may be well outside their grasp, but the team is a consistent points finisher, and has a record of supporting drivers with talent as well as financial backing, making it the perfect example of a well-run midfield team.

Assuming Mallya does end up needing to sell the team and can’t find a buyer (Joe Saward reports he wants $250 million for it), allow me to make a proposal that ensures Force India stays in operation: Liberty Media should buy the team.

That may be out of left-field in the context of F1, but it’s not unheard-of in Liberty’s home of America for a “league” to buy a team in order to ensure its survival. In 2010, the NBA bought the New Orleans Hornets from previous owner George Shinn before selling them to Tom Benson in 2012, under the agreement he keep them in New Orleans.

No strangers to team ownership themselves (already owning baseball’s Atlanta Braves), Liberty should be willing to step in similarly as temporary owners should Mallya be unable to continue.

An 18 car grid would be bad enough already, when those two missing cars are of the quality of Force India’s, it would be a severe loss indeed.

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RENAULT REVEAL THEIR VISION OF F1 IN 2027

Transparent cockpits, LED lights, cars which ‘interact’ with each other and spectators – this is the future of Formula One, according to one of its oldest teams.
Renault are celebrating their 40th anniversary of their first race in F1, and have marked the occasion by revealing a concept car, representing what they think the vehicles in 2027 will look like.

The team unveiled the spectacular car at the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, as well as through a series of striking photographs.

Renault proudly proclaimed on Twitter: ‘That ladies and gents, is our vision of the future, as we celebrate 40 years in the sport.’

Among their innovations are a ‘transparent cockpit and helmet’, to give fans and viewers a better glimpse of the drivers, addressing one of the biggest problems F1 faces – a lack of a human touch – as well as making the drivers safer by enclosing them in their cars, rather than the current open seats.

Their other suggestions are for LED lights on the wheels and moving aerodynamic parts such as the wings, again to make the cars more interesting to watch.

Renault also want ‘more extensive interaction between the cars’, they claimed in a press release, and ‘greater connection with spectators’, such as allowing the data seen by drivers and pit crews to also be available to fans.

They have also proclaimed a vision of safer racing with an ‘autonomous’ mode in case of an accident, and to make the sport more environmentally friendly with a fuel tank half the size of currently, and an electric-only mode to be used in the pit lane.

Renault will certainly hoping that, by 2027, they will be more competitive in the sport than they currently are.

They last won the world championship in 2006 when they had Fernando Alonso in the race seat, and last season – returning as a sole constructor after four seasons out – they came ninth out of 11 teams with just eight points.

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BROWN: ALONSO WILL STAY IF WE GIVE HIM A GOOD RACE CAR

The past week has revealed how keen McLaren are to hang on to their ace driver Fernando Alonso, with Zak Brown believing that if the team can provide the Spaniard with a decent race car he will stay at Woking despite Renault keen to have him back in the team.

McLaren chief Brown told Sky in Bahrain, “If we give Fernando a good race car we will keep him, I’m confident of that. He really likes the environment. He’s been great to work with.”

“He’s frustrated but he’s a team player and he’s helping to motivate us and we want to give him, and Stoffel, a great car. I think a good race car and he sticks around.”

Shortly after it was announced, in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix, that Alonso would ditch Monaco this year to focus on the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren and Andretti Racing – it also came to pass that Alonso’s management team have started talks with Renault.

It appears that the French manufacturer, with whom Alonso won his two F1 world titles, are keen to sign him for 2018 and beyond.

When told about the approach, Brown acknowledged, “I wouldn’t be surprised. I think everyone in the pitlane would like to talk to him that has a seat available.”

“You have conversations and we’re not going to put all our eggs in one basket. That would be irresponsible on our behalf as well.”

“But that is who we want in the car and we’ve agreed to pick up those conversations in the summer when we have a better sense of where we are.”

“I think he is going to stick to his word, we are going to stick to our word, and if he has some coffees with some friends along the way then that wouldn’t be any great surprise,” added Brown.

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PEREZ HAPPY IN PINK BUT DREAMING OF RED

Sergio Perez has drawn strength from the past, hopes still for a big team move in the future – with Ferrari an obvious destination – but right now he admits he is enjoying the present.

Force India’s Mexican Formula One driver is on a roll, racking up 13 successive races in the points after finishing seventh in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix despite starting only 18th.

No other driver on the grid can boast that current level of consistency, even if champions Mercedes and Ferrari are the ones winning races.

The 27-year-old, who started out by bringing substantial sponsor backing to Sauber, has repaired the damage of a difficult 2013 season at McLaren and seen his stock rise steadily since.

Last season he helped Force India to a best-ever fourth in the championship and is now aiming to put them on the podium for a fourth year in a row. The team have only ever had five top-three finishes and Perez has provided four of them.

“I think that across the teams, they are realizing now, my stats and the job I have been doing for the last few years,” Perez told Reuters.

“I have grown a lot and certainly feel that I am doing a fantastic job together with the team and we are growing and doing great things together.”

While former champions McLaren started their decline in the year he joined, and have gone from bad to worse with a nightmare start to 2017, Perez says his time at Woking has proved ultimately beneficial.

“Given where McLaren is, and what’s happened in my career since I left McLaren, pretty much my career has been on a high,” he said.

A former Ferrari academy member, Perez needs no reminding that Kimi Raikkonen will be out of contract at Maranello at the end of the season.

The man whose car has this season been painted a striking pink — “the good thing about it is that you will always see us on track” — has always dreamed of red.

Perez said he turned down offers last season from a couple of teams, one of them known to have been Renault, before agreeing a one-year extension at Force India that keeps him free for 2018.

“I am in a very good moment of my career where if the opportunity comes I think I will be ready with my knowledge and experience to really make the most of it,” he said of the possibility of a move to a bigger team.

“It will be really a question of if it comes or not, but right now I feel really ready in all the aspects and especially having that bad moment at McLaren. I think that built a lot of the strength that I have now, the way I understand the sport and the way it works.

“There’s nothing else I can do than focus on doing the best possible job for Force India and see what happens. I am not obsessed with thinking all the time on what is coming in the future. I want to enjoy the present…enjoy the momentum.”

Force India’s deputy team principal Bob Fernley hailed the Mexican as a “fabulous racer” whose talents were under-appreciated by some.

“He doesn’t get flustered in any way and if there is any opportunity at all of an overtake or finishing the race in the points, he’s there,” he told Reuters.

“I just feel that sometimes people have classed him as a driver capable of managing tyres, and that’s been the sort of main focus.

“And actually, they’re missing a point. Sergio is an incredibly aggressive driver but just happens to be a very smooth driver in the process. Some of his overtake manoeuvres in the last three races have been just superb.”

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WILLIAMS: PADDY’S ARRIVAL HAS BEEN HUGELY MOTIVATIONAL

Claire Williams is confident that hiring Paddy Lowe as technical chief and giving him shares in the team will return the team to the top of Formula 1.

Speaking to ESPN, Williams said, “There hasn’t been a massive overhaul; we still have most people in play. Paddy’s arrival into the team has been hugely motivational more than anything so far.”

“Obviously it’s going to take a bit of time for him to embed himself in the team and to found out where the true weaknesses are and to start rectifying those.”

Lowe was an instrumental member of the Mercedes upper management that helped transform the German team from also-rans into the all conquering outfit it has been over the past three years.

His move to Williams provides them with a man who knows how to revitalise and develop a racing team at the highest level.

“Just having somebody of Paddy’s calibre, I suppose, join our team is not only a message for everybody out there, looking and seeing where our ambitions are, but also it’s a huge motivating force for everyone within Williams to know that the board at Williams is hugely ambitious about our future and we want somebody of Paddy’s calibre to come and help turn our fortunes around.”

Williams also signed former Ferrari chief aerodynamicist Dirk de Beer, whose work is already evident in the team’s 2017 challenger.

“Dirk de Beer, who joined us now many weeks ago actually and has already had a significant impact in our aero team and is doing a fantastic job and obviously the car he designed won the first race this year, so that’s a real positive for us,” added Williams.

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BAHRAIN TEST DAY 2: BOTTAS FASTEST

Valtteri Bottas set the quickest time of the final day of in-season testing in Bahrain, posting a time of 1:31.280 as the Mercedes driver worked through 143 laps of the Sakhir Circuit.

The Finn’s time eclipsed that of Sebastian Vettel by just under three tenths of a second. The lap total gap between the Mercedes driver and his Ferrari counterpart was much greater, however, with Vettel logging just 64 laps as he spent a significant portion of the day in the garage.

Ferrari had brought Vettel to the garage during the morning session for a set-up change but work on the car revealed hydraulic leaks with the result that the German managed just eight laps before lunch. Vettel then lost more time in the afternoon when data logging problems sidelined him for a period. He ended the day with a best time of 1:31.574.

Third quickest was Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz. Team-mate Daniil Kvyat ran in the morning, recording a best time of 1:32.313 to take seventh place, but Sainz was able to up the pace in the afternoon with a time of 1:31884, just six tenths behind Bottas.

After a troubled opening day in which Oliver Turvey managed just 17 laps, McLaren enjoyed a much more profitable outing today, with Stoffel Vandoorne completing 81 laps and setting the day’s fourth-quickest lap of 1:32.108, just under a second off the pace of Mercedes.

Yesterday Romain Grosjean fourth for Haas as the team evaluate brakes supplied by Carbone Industrie and the work continued into day two with Kevin Magnussed setting the day’s fifth-fastest time of 1:32.120.

The Dane finished the day two tenths clear of Force India’s Esteban Ocon and with Kvyat in seventh, eighth place went to Williams tester Gary Paffett, while Sergey Sirotkin was ninth was Renault.

Red Bull Junior Programme driver Pierre Gasly took from Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel of Red Bull Racing’s RB13 and after power unit issues sidelined the Australian yesterday afternoon today the team was restricted to the garage for a long period in the afternoon while it fixed an exhaust issue. The length delay meant Gasly completed 65 laps and finishing 10th ahead of Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein and Force India’s Sergio Perez.

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Stoffel Vandoorne upbeat after 'first day without big problems' in 2017

Stoffel Vandoorne has labelled McLaren-Honda’s running during testing as “probably its best day” of the 2017 season after a productive stint in the MCL32 in Bahrain.

McLaren has endured a troublesome campaign, amid a lack of reliability and performance, with Vandoorne unable to start last Sunday’s race, compounding a weekend blighted by MGU-H issues.

Test and development driver Oliver Turvey was limited to just 17 laps on Tuesday but Vandoorne amassed 81 laps on Wednesday, as McLaren-Honda sought to make progress.

Honda Principal Engineer Satoshi Nakamara revealed that Wednesday’s running had resulted in progress with the set-up of the power unit, allowing better driveability and a reduction of the vibrations which have so far compromised its season.

Vandoorne welcomed the progress and has now challenged the partnership to ensure that it can learn from its positive day.

“Today has probably been our best day this season so far,” he said.

“It’s the first time that we’ve had a day without any big problems, where we could actually get on with our programme.

“I think we completed everything we wanted to do today, and we went through a lot of set-up stuff that we didn’t manage to do in Barcelona. 

“Today was really good, but we need every day to be this good, and there are no guarantees that it will be like this next time.

“We need to learn very carefully from what we’ve done today, and hopefully carry that forward to the next event and see some improvements.

“It’s been very good for both me and the team to be able to try a number of different directions with the set-up.

“There were some new bits on the car – quite fundamental things – that we wanted to try out, and learn about, so it’s been really useful to see where the performance comes from, and very productive.”

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Sebastian Vettel: 'Electrical blackout' in garage hindered Ferrari at F1 test

Sebastian Vettel has revealed that a loss of power to Ferrari’s garage compromised the team’s run plan during in-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday.

Vettel, having conducted tyre testing in association with Pirelli on Tuesday, carried out Ferrari’s normal development programme at Sakhir, but was hindered with technical glitches in the morning.

Vettel returned to action in the afternoon, but was restricted by an “electrical blackout” to Ferrari’s garage at Sakhir, as he amassed only 67 laps compared to the 143 completed by Valtteri Bottas.

Vettel eventually wound up second to Mercedes rival Bottas, setting a best time of 1:31.574 on the Soft tyres.

“It would be nice to have done even more,” Vettel said of his time in the SF70-H.

“But today we had a few little problems in the morning, which is normal for testing.

“Then, in the afternoon, we lost some time when there was an electrical blackout in our garage

“In any case, driving this car is always a pleasure; the times don’t mean much, given we don’t know what programmes the others are running.”

Vettel currently leads the Drivers’ standings, having taken victory in Australia and Bahrain, opening a seven-point lead over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

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Sergio Marchionne: Bahrain F1 win proves Ferrari’s season-long threat

Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne says Sebastian Vettel’s triumph at the Bahrain Grand Prix is proof of the team’s competitiveness in Formula 1 this season.

Vettel passed Lewis Hamilton at the start before overhauling pole sitter Valtteri Bottas through the first pit stop phase, before going on to register victory, his second of the campaign, having opened the season on top in Australia.

Vettel’s win lifted Ferrari back into the lead of the Constructors’ Championship, three points clear of Mercedes, and Marchionne believes its Bahrain performance demonstrates it will be a year-long threat.

“It is, of course, hugely satisfying to be back on the top step of the podium with Seb,” Marchionne said.

“More importantly, however, we are now completely confident that our victory in Melbourne wasn’t just a one-off and that we will be at the forefront of this World Championship until the last [round].

“We finally have a competitive car to count on and it is important to recognise the speed with which we implemented the developments demanded for each new race.

“All this is the fruit of superb work at the track and in Maranello, so my compliments not just to Seb for his achievements in Bahrain, but also to the whole team.”

Marchionne nonetheless cautioned that Ferrari cannot get carried away with its success, after winning two of the opening three rounds for the first time since 2008.

“We are well aware we have a long road ahead and know that if we want to get to the most important finish-line of all, we cannot stint on our commitment and focus for a second,” he commented.