FORMULA 1

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BUS SMASHES INTO HOCKENHEIM START LIGHTS

A bus preparing to take ticket holders on a lap of the Hockenheim Formula 1 circuit took out the German Grand Prix start lights on Thursday after the driver misjudged his clearance.

Organisers said nobody was hurt in the incident, with passengers yet to board the bus, and the overhead lights were quickly replaced.

It was the second time this season that a vehicle has hit a structure spanning a Formula One track.

In Azerbaijan in April, a recovery truck hit a bridge with its crane while taking George Russell’s Williams back to the pits in practice.

Sunday’s grand prix is a home race for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and for champions Mercedes, who have won nine of 10 rounds so far this season.

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F1 2019 German GP - Thursday (Drivers) Press Conference

 

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^^ Whoops^^

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VERSTAPPEN: WE ARE FURTHER AWAY THAN I WOULD LIKE

The in-form Max Verstappen said on Thursday he has set his sights on not only overhauling Ferrari, but also catching and beating Mercedes on a regular basis in the future.

Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix Red Bull’s Dutchman, who is third in the driver’s championships, said he wanted to close the gap on Mercedes and in Hungary next week before he headed off on holiday for the traditional European summer break.

“Closing the gap to Mercedes,” he responded to a question about his biggest target in the next two weeks. “We want to win so that’s our biggest challenge ahead – to try and close that gap.

“We are further away than I would like, but we are getting closer. It’s not good enough, but we know that so we’re working hard to try and close that.”

Verstappen is behind the two Mercedes men, with defending five-time champion Lewis Hamilton on top 31 points ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

The 21-year-old has been in fast and consistent form this year with a sequence of top-five finishes including one win, at the Austrian Grand Prix in sweltering conditions in June.

That win lifted spirits at Red Bull and across Formula One as it ended Mercedes unbeaten start to the year.

He was on course for another impressive podium finish at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago before Sebastian Vettel drove into him in his Ferrari, “At the end of the day, second is always better than third, but we’re here to win.

“Of course, we want to be in front of Ferrari, but we want even more to be in front of Mercedes. This year, at the moment, we are trying to get the most out of the engine as well and learn from what we did wrong in the beginning of the season, or not as good compared to Mercedes and Ferrari. Hopefully, next year, we can fight for the wins all the time.”

The much-matured Verstappen was also philosophical about the collision that cost him dearly at Silverstone and which was not of his making and said of Vettel, “He said that he made a mistake, to me, after the race.

“Of course, I’m disappointed not to have been on the podium, but what can I say? It happens. I made a mistake in China against him (in 2018) and he was quite calm about it at the time. It happens, unfortunately. It’s racing as well. You prefer it not to happen, but it happens.”

While Verstappen has shone this year, his Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly has struggled to understand the RB15 car until the last few weeks when an upgraded front wing has helped him turn around his fortunes.

The Frenchman finished fourth at Silverstone, his best result in F1 and with confidence restored will hope to do just as well again in the heat of Hockenheim this weekend.

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MERCEDES REVEAL SPECIAL 125 YEARS OF MOTORSPORT LIVERY

The reigning Formula 1 World Champion’s, Mercedes are running a special livery in Hockenheim to celebrate 125 years of motorsport.

On 22 July 1894 the very first motor race was held from Paris to Rouen. The Mercedes-Benz Grosser Preis von Deutschland 2019 will also be the 200th start for the team in Formula One.

The special Hockenheim livery is an homage to the design of classic Mercedes-Benz racing cars. The front wing and the nose of the car are painted white – similar in design to Mercedes race cars in the beginning of the 20th century. Back then, the colour of the car would symbolise the origin of the team – French cars were typically painted blue, Italian cars red and British cars green. The international racing colour for German cars was white.

Some of the most impressive machines in the motorsport history of Daimler and Benz were painted white, including the Grand Prix racing cars from the early 20th century, the Blitzen-Benz and the Mercedes-Benz SSK.

In the first and second decade of the 20th century, Carl Benz’ and Gottlieb Daimler’s inventions competed in a number of races against each other. One of the most prestigious races of that time was the French Grand Prix. In 1908, Christian Lautenschlager won the race driving the Mercedes 140 hp Grand Prix racing car, followed by Victor Hémery and René Hanriot, both of whom were driving the Benz 120 hp Grand Prix racing car.

The Blitzen-Benz (“Lightning Benz”), powered by a massive 21.5-litre engine producing 200 hp (147 kW), broke the land speed record in 1911 in Daytona Beach with a top speed of 228.1 km/h – a record that would last for the next eight years. Driving the Mercedes-Benz SSK, Rudolf Caracciola won the European mountain racing championship in 1930 and 1931. In 1931, he also won the Mille Miglia from Brescia to Rome in the upgraded version SSKL.

The white nose and front wing also feature historic logos from Mercedes-Benz, PETRONAS, Tommy Hilfiger and Pirelli as well as Niki Lauda’s signature to pay tribute to the racing legend, chairman and friend of the team who passed away two months ago.

In the barge board area at the front of the chassis the white paint seems to be “scraped off”, exposing the silver livery below. This effect echoes the legendary origins of the Silver Arrows. In 1934, the Mercedes-Benz W 25 competed in the 750 kg formula; however, legend has it that it was slightly too heavy before the race, so the team scraped away the white paint to save weight, exposing the metallic bodywork underneath it.

Towards the rear of the car, the paint scrape effect fades away, showing the original paint job of the 2019 Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 which includes the Mercedes-Benz brand pattern that the team has run all season.

The team’s race garage has also been redesigned for Mercedes’ home race at Hockenheim and features historic race posters from different eras in which the Silver Arrows competed.

The team has one more visual surprise planned for the weekend to celebrate the 1950s – the era when Mercedes originally joined Formula One. Keep your eyes peeled…

The story behind Mercedes' half-white livery

The livery starts off white at the front – with retro logos – before revealing the traditional modern silver livery we all know, with the trasition between the two as though the white has been scraped off.

The reason behind this is because Mercedes-Benz traditionally wore a white livery when competing in motorsports – German racing white to be exact – but that all changed with the W25, which competed in the 1934 Eifelrennen.

Luigi Fagioli racing the silver Mercedes-Benz W25 on the Nürburgring

As the story goes, the W25 originally wore white, but new rules introduced that year meant the car had to come under a maximum weight limit of 750kg, which it was narrowly over on the morning of the race.

In order to get below the weight, the Mercedes engineers scratched the white paint off of the car to reveal the bare metal below, which is of course silver, and that's how the Silver Arrows were born.

Hence why the celebratory livery looks as though the white paint has been scratched off, revealing the modern day livery beneath.

The design also features some neat details, including red numbering – which the W25 also had – and retro Mercedes, Pirelli and IWC logos.

 

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CAREY: OUR ENTHUSIASM FOR GERMANY WILL ALWAYS REMAIN

Formula 1 chief Chase Carey has admitted talks about the future of the German Grand Prix are at a difficult stage ahead of this year’s edition of the race.

It is expected that Hockenheim and Barcelona will be excluded from next year’s 21-race calendar to make room for incoming races in Vietnam and Zandvoort.

“We are yet to publish the Formula 1 calendar for 2020, so I don’t want to anticipate which races will be there,” Carey, F1’s chief executive, told Sport Bild.

“But as I always say, Germany is an incredibly important market for us. There are many German fans, a German team has won the last five titles, and a German driver is racing for the world championship.

“We will continue to work on offering something to the fans,” Carey added.

However, it is unlikely that the ‘something’ will be a 2020 German Grand Prix, as Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler admitted this week.

Indeed, Carey admitted the talks with Hockenheim are “difficult” but added “our enthusiasm for Germany and the German market will always remain.”

This weekend sees the 63rd F1 Grand Prix in the country, with Hockenheim having hosted 36 of those.

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HULKENBERG: IT’S QUITE LIKELY THAT I WILL REMAIN WITH RENAULT

Nico Hulkenberg is ‘quite likely’ to stay at Renault next season, he said on Thursday – ahead of the German Grand Prix weekend – despite speculation linking others to the seat.

The 31-year-old, teammate to Daniel Ricciardo, is in his third season at Renault and out of contract at the end of 2019.

In nine and a half seasons in the sport, and 166 starts, the Le Mans 24 Hours winner has yet to stand on the podium — a Formula 1 record — with a best result of fourth.

“If you look across the three years, we can’t be entirely happy with everything that we’ve done,” told reporters ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

“Nevertheless, the outlook is still good. We still see light at the end of the tunnel and we believe we can still catch up to some extent.

“We’ll see what happens in the future and what happens to me as well. As for now, there’s nothing set in stone but I think it’s quite likely that I will remain with the team.”

Young French driver Esteban Ocon, who is backed by Mercedes, has been linked to Renault and was set to join last year before Ricciardo decided to leave Red Bull and take the French manufacturer’s offer.

Renault are fifth in the championship going into the 11th race of the 21-round championship, 21 points behind McLaren, who use the same engines. Hulkenberg has scored 17 points to Ricciardo’s 22. The team were fourth overall in 2018.

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NEWEY: ALONSO TO RED BULL CAME VERY CLOSE TO HAPPENING

Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey says it would have been “fantastic” to work together in Formula 1 with Fernando Alonso and revealed that it indeed nearly happened.

The timing of Newey’s comments is fascinating, amid rumours Spaniard Alonso’s management has been in touch with all three top teams about 2020.

Newey, who is Red Bull’s high profile technical boss and one of the sport’s most famous designers, told the Spanish magazine Esquire that Alonso is “one of the greats of the modern era”.

“Working with him would have been fantastic,” added Newey, whose employer currently runs Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly.

Newey said of Alonso, who entered a sabbatical at the end of last year: “He seems to have had bad luck with some choices he has made, but whenever we have spoken with him, he has been very kind.

“Fernando’s ability often exceeds the car in his hands. I think that’s the mark of a truly great driver — the ability to stand out despite not having a great car,” he added.

Also notably, Vettel has been linked with a return to Red Bull from Ferrari where he is struggling with the pressure that may have taken its toll during his half-decade at Maranello.

Newey said Alonso and Vettel at Red Bull would have been “like Ayrton and Alain” and added, “It is one of those things that unfortunately never happened but it was very close to happening.”

“I think we would have had a lot of success altogether, but it didn’t work out,” said the Briton. “Red Bull has generally always tried to follow the policy of developing its own drivers. That was a small consideration.

“We met a couple of times and there were negotiations in Austria. It was close but in the end, it didn’t happen” revealed Newey.

Instead, the Spaniard went off to Ferrari, starting his tenure in Red with a debut victory in Bahrain, but thereafter the Scuderia played second fiddle to Red Bull who relegated Mark Webber to number two while focusing fully on Vettel who rewarded them with four F1 drivers’ titles.

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SAINZ: ALONSO IS ONE OF THE BEST AND F1 SHOULD HAVE THE BEST

McLaren driver Carlos Sainz believes many drivers in Formula 1’s midfield “deserve more credit” for their skills while toiling out of the limelight.

When he quit the sport at the end of last year, Sainz’s countryman Fernando Alonso said the problem with F1 is that it no longer excited him.

“F1 should have the best drivers in the world and Fernando is clearly one of the best, if not the best ever,” Sainz, who replaced Alonso at McLaren, told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“So clearly we miss him. But the reason he went is the same thing that myself and many others talk about,” he added.

For instance, Sainz went on to explain that it is a pity the current structure of the sport makes competing with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull almost impossible.

When asked if he thinks he “deserves” a title-winning car, the 24-year-old told the Italian newspaper: “I and many other drivers deserve more credit. I am thinking of Ricciardo, Perez, Hulkenberg. We should all have had the chance this year to fight for at least a podium.”

“Instead, at the moment this opportunity is reserved only for those driving for the top three teams. The car just makes too much of a difference. It shows that F1 still has a lot to do to increase the competition and the entertainment,” he added.

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CAREY: APART FROM LEWIS WE HAVE SOME VERY INTERESTING DRIVERS

Some “interesting drivers” of the new generation can rival Lewis Hamilton’s top spot in Formula 1 according to Chase Carey, the sport’s chief executive.

Amid a general recent decline in television ratings, some are worried that the eventual retirement of F1’s only real superstar would be a massive further blow.

But Carey thinks there are others on the rise and told Sport Bild, “We’ve seen Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen fighting for victory. So there’s those two, Lando Norris, and also George Russell has a wonderful personality.

“Lewis is undoubtedly a great world champion, and he may even become the greatest of all time. But we also have some very interesting drivers. In part that’s because we have managed to integrate Formula 3 and Formula 2 with Formula 1 a lot better than before,” Carey added.

One potential F1 superstar of the future who is currently in Formula 2 is Mick Schumacher, the son of the most successful driver of all time. But his rookie F2 season has not been good so far.

“As Michael’s son, Mick has a special place but he also has to get the chance to be himself and reach his own goals,” Carey said.

“We want to give him a chance to pursue his dreams, but no market ever depends on a single driver,” added the F1 chief.

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New trackside Hotel to open at Silverstone for 2020 British Grand Prix

Silverstone has long been seen by many in the Formula 1 paddock as being lacking in many of the most basic facilities that visitors to modern F1 circuits now expect as standard offerings; one of these being a large hotel anywhere near the circuit.

Until now teams and fans have been largely limited to finding a room in Northampton, more than 15 miles from the track. So when it was recently announced that a new large hotel would be built alongside the circuit, it was greeted with caution as this was not the first time such plans had been unveiled, only not to be built.

But now it has been confirmed by Hilton Hotels that the group will open one of their Garden Inn properties opposite the Silverstone Wing on the outside of the track, and, that it will indeed be open in time for next year’s British Grand Prix.

The five-storey, 197-room hotel will directly overlook the starting grid, and will be connected to the existing Silverstone Wing Conference Centre via a footbridge crossing over the circuit. This will be the first ever cross-track over or underground link to the new Wing complex.

The hotel will feature a rooftop terrace with views of most of the track, balconies for the track facing rooms, a new restaurant, and a coffee shop. The company plans to operate the hotel year round and not just during events at the circuit.

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media recently reached an agreement with Silverstone to stage the British Grand Prix at the circuit until at least 2024, and Hilton has confirmed that it is scheduled to be completed in time for next year’s grand prix.

“We now operate Hilton hotels at many sporting venues around the UK including Wembley Stadium, the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground and The Ageas Bowl cricket ground in Southampton,” said Graham Dodd, managing director for development (UK and Ireland) at Hilton.

“We are delighted to be opening a Hilton Garden Inn in such a prominent and internationally significant motor racing location and we cannot wait to begin welcoming guests next year.”

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Charles Leclerc adapted car to driving style after early 'intimidation'

Charles Leclerc says he eventually opted to adapt Ferrari’s SF90 to his driving style, rather than the other way around, having initially felt "intimidated" by the step up to the team early in the season.

Leclerc joined Ferrari for 2019 – having spent just one year with Sauber – and has led the team’s charge in recent grands prix, finishing on the podium in Canada, France, Austria and Britain.

He is now only three points behind Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the standings.

Ahead of the German Grand Prix Leclerc revealed that a change in approach prior to the French Grand Prix, having felt uneasy at making demands, had a subtle but useful impact on his results.

“I think before France, it was more myself that was adapting to the car,” he said.

“After that I think changed a little bit the approach, and I think I adapted the car a little bit which enabled to drive me a little bit more naturally, which helped me.

“Arriving in such a big team, when I arrived it was only my second year in Formula 1 and you are a little bit intimidated, I was a little bit intimidated and just to arrive and straight away say ‘I want this, this and this’ was not the way I wanted to start this relationship.

“So at first, I wanted to understand the car, try to adapt my driving as much as possible to the car.

“I think at one point I managed to do good things adapting my driving style but then I felt there was more performance by trying to put the car a little bit more into my direction and this has helped the performance a bit since then.”

Leclerc also feels that the rear end stability in the SF90, after early understeer was dialled out, does not affect him as much compared to Vettel.

“To be completely honest on that point, I struggle or feel it less,” said Leclerc.

“He’s complaining a little bit about entering stability which it doesn’t affect me as much. But yeah we are trying to… These are the weaknesses and we know them, and we are trying very hard to try and fix them as soon as possible.

“At the end I feel comfortable with the car, it has some weaknesses but in the end I think Seb has done very good races too, maybe he hasn’t been so lucky in the last few ones but I’m very sure soon he will be back on top, it’s just a matter of time.

“At the moment I just feel good in the car, happy with the car. As I said, we still need to be working, especially on our race pace and that is what we are doing to make improvements soon.”

On the feel and development of Ferrari’s SF90, Vettel said: “I think it is normal that sometimes you feel comfortable and sometimes you feel less.

“I think for us it was important after the first couple of races what caused this inconsistency and where the strength of this initial feeling with this car has gone and why we are not able to repeat it how we would like.

“We do have a very good understanding now and I think we are trying a lot of things to try to make it better and the right direction.

“I think some things we’ve done very good and other things we went back on. Obviously there are some things this year that are maybe different than before but nothing you cannot adapt to.”

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Haas drivers given 'pretty clear' message after clash – Guenther Steiner

Guenther Steiner says he is "still not over" the first-lap collision at the British Grand Prix that eliminated both of the Haas drivers.

Haas split car specifications at Silverstone in a bid to understand its race troubles in 2019, but its prospects were derailed by a first lap clash between Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

Both drivers suffered damage and returned to the pits for repairs, though retired shortly after, denying Haas the opportunity to compare the VF-19 specs in race trim.

It left Haas down in ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with Steiner furious post-race.

When asked to reflect on the situation as Formula 1 reconvened at Hockenheim on Thursday, Steiner said: "We need to see what we have done.

"We haven’t done anything yet but I think they got the message pretty clear after the race in Silverstone, so let’s see.

"I’m still not over it, because you have got a certain amount of opportunities, and obviously this year we are struggling in some of the races.

"I think they need to understand where we are. That’s the disappointing thing for me.

"They don’t let me down as a person, they let the team down which is disappointing.

"Like I say I’m still not over it. Normally I get over things pretty quick, but this one, because we had a clear talk after Barcelona about what to do and what not to do, and it wasn’t followed, which is disappointing."

On Haas’ driver line-up moving forward, and into 2020, Steiner said: "After the break we will know everything about drivers.

"And again, in Spa, you [the media] will all be lining up, asking what we do about drivers and then I will tell you we are almost there, but give me a few more days, a few more events and I will tell you!"

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German GP: Latest F1 tech updates, straight from pitlane

Giorgio Piola and Sutton Images bring you the Formula 1 technical updates on show in the Hockenheim pitlane at the German Grand Prix, giving insight into the relentless development undertaken by the teams in pursuit of more performance.

Red Bull Racing RB15 bodywork detail

Red Bull will trial a new engine cover design at Hockenheim which incorporates a chimney to release the heat.

Racing Point RP19 sidepods detail

The Racing Point RP19 is sporting a new mirror housing design for Germany, taking the open face design a step further. Note the tight sidepod bodywork that hugs the internal cooling package.

Racing Point RP19 rear bodywork detail

Another view of Racing Point’s sidepod package.

Alfa Romeo Racing C38 sidepods detail

The bargeboard region on the Alfa Romeo C38, which was updated recently to include a boomerang winglet to shadow the aerodynamic surfaces below.

Toro Rosso STR14 sidepods detail

Toro Rosso has a package of new parts available for the German GP including a set of deflectors and a revised bargeboard design, which now includes an upper boomerang too.

Front floor on Ferrari SF90

A look at the Ferrari SF90’s multi-element sidepod deflectors.

Rear floor on Ferrari SF90

A fantastic view of the looped outer section and Gurney extensions of the diffuser on the Ferrari SF90.

Exhaust on Ferrari SF90

The Ferrari SF90 has a single, larger, wastegate pipe which is stacked atop the main exhaust outlet.

Front floor on Ferrari SF90

An overview of the SF90’s bargeboard region which is now made up of a collection of surfaces that all improve performance and efficiency.

Front brakes on Ferrari SF90

The SF90 has an enlarged front brake duct scoop that not only cools the brakes but also delivers airflow out through the wheel rim to improve the cars aerodynamic output.

Rear wing on Ferrari SF90

A close up of the SF90’s rear wing endplates strakes that lie on the edge of the transition bounding box.

Front floor on Ferrari SF90

This image shows the upturned leading edge of the floor, a design feature that arrived courtesy of the 2017 regulation changes. Many teams now use strakes on the edge, such as the four used by Ferrari here to maximize performance.

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 technical detail

The aerodynamic furniture that flanks the sidepods on the W10 have been revised for the German GP, with the pair of previously vertically orientated deflectors switched out for horizontal ones. The support spars for the airflow conditioners have also been altered to improve flow around the sidepods (purple and green arrows on the right).

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 technical detail

Mercedes will enter the fray with a fresh pair of rear wing endplates, which feature multiple cutouts in the upper rear corner to help displace the tip vortex ordinarily created. This change is backed up with a pairing of upwashing strikes below rather than a single set.

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 front wing with new livery

An overview of Mercedes nose and front wing with the commemorative livery celebrating 125 years in motorsport on it.

A close up of the Mercedes W10’s front wing endplate with the curved trailing edge that was introduced earlier in the season to improve performance.

Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Another view of the Mercedes W10’s sidepod region, and the updates that will be trialed for the German GP.

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 technical detail

Mercedes is able to alter the cooling on the W10 by means of various louvred panels that can be switched out according to their requirements.

Williams FW42 sidepods detail

Williams continues to develop the FW42 after making big changes at Silverstone. This time out it has a new set of bargeboards, which feature an upper boomerang and alterations to the shadow profiles below. There’s a new floor which now has longitudinal slots on the edge, rather than L-shaped slots ahead of the rear tyre.

 

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The story behind F1's most iconic refuelling picture

With Formula 1 currently weighing up the pros and cons of a potential return of refuelling in 2021, there is no greater reminder of the dangers it can bring than what happened at Hockenheim 25 years ago.

What should have been a normal pitstop for Benetton driver Jos Verstappen turned into near disaster when petrol sprayed out of the refuelling hose and was ignited on a still hot car.

Captured live on television at the time, the drama of the moment has been further sealed by what is now a world-famous photograph of then Benetton pit crew member Paul Seaby captured in the middle of flames as he made his escape.

Here we speak to three key men involved in that moment to look back at the events of that Sunday afternoon - driver Jos Verstappen, photographer Steven Tee and Seaby himself.

THE STOP

The 1994 German Grand Prix took place amid the intense political backdrop which dogged that season.

Benetton had headed to Michael Schumacher’s home race appealing against a two-race ban for the German for having ignored black flags in the previous event at Silverstone.

Schumacher hoped to become the first German to win his home grand prix, but knew that it would be a tough order thanks to the long Hockenheim straights perfectly suiting rival Ferrari’s V12 power unit.

A chaotic opening lap to the grand prix, which included a first corner pile-up that would earn Mika Hakkinen a race ban, left Schumacher emerging as race leader Gerhard Berger’s main challenger.

On lap 13, Schumacher peeled in to the pits for his first refuelling stop, which was completed without trouble. Two laps later it was teammate Jos Verstappen’s turn to pit.

JOS VERSTAPPEN

"I remember coming in for what I thought was a regular pitstop. Sitting in the car, I would always open my visor because when I was stood still I would sweat a lot, so as I came to a halt I opened my helmet to get some fresh air.

"Then I saw the fluid coming. This was before I could smell anything, and that is why I was waving my arm. Then everything went up [in flames] and it was suddenly dark and black, and I couldn’t breathe. It was a situation you don’t normally think about: it is like you are suddenly put in a dark room, and then you think, ‘I need to get out..’

"It was a struggle to get the steering wheel off, and that took me a couple of seconds. Then I had to release the belts. So there were a lot of things I had to do before I stood up and realised what had happened."

PAUL SEABY

"My job was as right front wheel on, so I had my back to the fuel man. That is why I ended up getting sprayed up the back.

"It had been a normal race up until then, and we were going through Jos’ pitstop. We were just getting the wheels on when I saw what I thought was water in the air. 

"I thought, ‘that’s unusual there is water spraying’. Then I realised it was fuel and at that point I decided to get out of there, which is the point it ignited. There was a big ‘woof’ as it went up and I just took flight. I headed into the garage which was the most direct route away from the car.

STEVEN TEE, MOTORSPORT IMAGES

"We were working for Benetton at the time and I decided I would do the race from the infield area. I was going to do the start from there and see what happened, and I wanted to be on the infield for the finish because I figured that if Michael won then there would be flags everywhere.

"The middle of the race turned out to be a bit boring, so I thought I would pop back and do some pitstops as it is a five-minute walk from trackside.

"I went into the Benetton garage and they were getting ready for the pitstop, so I shot it from where I was standing, just out the front.

"I was snapping away and I noticed something, some fuel spilling, but didn’t pay too much attention. Then I went from seeing Jos in the car with the mechanics around him, to literally like a big orange ball. But I kept shooting.

"As soon as it happened I could see the mechanics running back towards the garage, and some of them were on fire. I retreated a bit to get out of the way and then thought no more of what I had taken, as those days we were shooting on film.

THE AFTERMATH

The fire was put out within a matter of seconds, but there remained frantic scenes inside the Benetton garage as the team tried to get to grips with what had happened.

The Benetton crew even had to start getting ready for Schumacher’s second stop, before his retirement meant the focus could shift to treating the burns of those caught up in the fire.

JOS VERSTAPPEN

"I remember the team pouring water on my face and then later putting cream on it. I went to hospital for a check-up, but everything was pretty much okay. My breathing was fine too, as I don’t think I breathed much when it happened.

"To have a fire in a racing car, like when Nico Hulkenberg went upside down in Abu Dhabi, you smell the fuel or the oil and you get scared. But when it happens in the pitlane, it’s almost the safest place that it could happen. So I never had any problems dealing mentally with what took place."

PAUL SEABY

"It was all a bit frenzied really. There was a lot of shock going around the garage. Once the fire was out, there were people trying to take stock and assessing what happened.

"We found some water and I started splashing it on my face. There were guys clearing up because Joan [Villadelprat, operations director] had started shouting into the garage that there might be another pitstop, and he was going around: ‘Do you think you can do it?’

“We said, ‘yes, of course’ and started putting our overalls back on to go out and do the pitstop for Michael. They were trying to remove Jos’ car, there was fire extinguisher everywhere, and then we were told as we were getting ready that Michael had an engine problem and was going to retire 'so don’t worry about it'. And that was it really.

"We went down to the medical centre and we had a bit of a laugh trying to cool off our burns. There were three of us with burns, me, Simon Morley and Wayne Bennett. Myself and Simon had burns to our faces: Simon was worse, but didn’t look too bad at that time, so we were just sharing a hose standing in a bath.

"Wayne had burned his ankle and the back of his foot, and was getting last dibs in the shower. In the end he had to stick his foot down the toilet and was flushing it to get enough cold water on his ankle.

"Apart from that, there was no permanent damage. For the next few races, my head was not really particularly in the right place, but you had to get on with it."

THE PICTURE

While the television images of the Verstappen fire grabbed the attention of news broadcasts that day, it was not until the next morning that Tee realised just what he had captured on his camera as his film was developed in London.

STEVEN TEE

"We dropped the films in as usual on the Sunday night in London, and came in very early to do an edit for Motoring News. I went through the frames. There were two frames that were completely out of focus, but you could see the fuel spillage. The next frame was an out-of-focus Paul Seaby, and the next frame was out-of-focus Paul Seaby. 

"But the third frame was the one that has become quite famous - which is basically him completely enveloped in flames, pin sharp coming away from it. It looks like it should be a still from a movie!

"There was another angle of the fire that someone had taken from the pitwall, and that got used quite a lot in the newspapers, but it didn’t have as much impact as this one of Seaby.

"Paul and I have joked about it over the years. I’ve given him some big prints, and at some point the image ended up on a load of beer mats somewhere! It has been used all over the place. It is a constant reminder to him."

THE LEGACY

While subsequent FIA investigations into the cause of the Benetton fire focused around a missing filter, the team always believed that that element did not contribute to what happened that day.

Those arguments have faded in to the history books, but the memories of what happened 25 years ago this weekend remain strong – and the photo of Seaby has become iconic for F1.

For the men at the heart of the fire, it is something that they will never forget.

JOS VERSTAPPEN

"It is what most people remember me for! You see the images a lot during the year.

"I have no lasting issues from it apart from sometimes, when I drink alcohol, mainly wine – and it’s not all the time, just sometimes – suddenly I feel it burning. And then it also gets red where I got burned on my face. I feel it coming up on my face. I don’t know why. I think it is a sort of reaction that you get. That is all I have left from it."

PAUL SEABY

"The only thing I did notice the other week is that my left cheek is slightly redder in a patch, but other than that no side effects.

"When I first saw the photograph, I had a word with Steve Tee and said: ‘You could have been putting me out rather than taking photographs!’ But I am glad he took them.

"When you are in a situation like that, you are just ripping things off that have been on fire – so you don’t actually know what happened. So it was really interesting to look and study and see what happened.

"I do like the photo and I am glad he took that, because without the video and without that photo it could have easily been forgotten. Not a lot of people talk about the Jordan fire at Spa [in 1995] for example.

"I’ve had a few posters of the image over the years and my mother-in-law, who is not with us any more, when I first started dating my wife, the only photo she had of me was that picture.

"So there on her wall at home was my brother-in-law and sister-in-law at their weddings, and next to it was a picture of me on fire. That made me chuckle."

MIKA: The Autosport video is absolutely stupid. 3 commentators all with the same biased opinions.

IMHO - Refuelling added a ton of extra strategies to most races as well as added to the spectacle, far better than artificial tyre degradation.

Drivers can push far better with lighter cars due to less fuel. 

[Lotusguy]

Just catching up now - Jeremy Clarkson is SO right!!

[avaldes]

Not to mention refueling was used for what, 14 years after without a repeat?

[Baccy]

Should F1 bring back refueling? YES! and F1 should do ANY and EVERYTHING to spice things up because the monotony is killing the sport. Maybe they should mandate rotary engines?

[In-A-Gadda-Davidoff]

F1 should ditch the hybrid era.  I think the effort to lessen the carbon footprint and promote hybrid technology has been lost with the increasing popularity of Formula E.  The cars now are so overweight, yet can't follow a car in front of them without totally loosing the front end aero.  They just need to go back to naturally aspirated engines.  Deregulate F1 instead of further restricting it.  Focus on cost savings to teams, and for god sakes let the drivers race each other. 

[rckymtn22]

Finally a exciting race. Thank you rain!

[MIKA27]

GERMAN GRAND PRIX: VERSTAPPEN SURVIVES MAYHEM TO WIN A CLASSIC

Where to start!? The German Grand Prix of 2019 might be the last for some years, but it will definitely go down as one of the most exciting races ever witnessed at the venue – perhaps in Formula 1 history – as Max Verstappen triumphed in crazy conditions that took its toll on the best of the best.

The Dutchman emerged from an incident-packed thriller, to claim victory, while all around him lost their collective heads. He recovered from a tardy front row start which saw him gobbled up and in the wars for most of the frantic early stages of the race, including a spin!

Mercedes were celebrating 120 years of motorsport this weekend and what a nightmare that turned into as both their drivers crashed, Lewis Hamilton managed to continue but was last of the runners and penalised five seconds for his post-crash pit entry, while Bottas pranged heavily exiting Turn 1 late in the race with a podium on the cards.

A weekend to forget for the German team celebrating their 200th Formula 1 race.

Earlier no one would have backed a dollar on Verstappen recovering from a wayward early spell and a good old moan for being on the ultra-slippery mediums which provided some hair-raising moments on his roller-coaster ride to the top step of the podium.

By the time the spray had settled the #33 Red Bull eked out a ten seconds lead and it stayed that way until the end, bagging the fastest lap point with his effort on lap 61 of the 64 lap race.

After two days of scorching heat, the skies opened up over Hockenheim forcing the German Grand Prix to start behind the safety car as rain fell after lunch which turned the circuit wet with patches of standing water. It looked pretty tricky.

After a couple of sightseeing laps behind the safety car they lined up for a standing start. Pole winner Lewis Hamilton was well off the line with his teammate from third place tucked behind the leading Mercedes while Max Verstappen, from second, was tardy off the line as he struggled to find grip and was gobbled up.

But that was nullified when shortly after the field was released Racing Point’s Sergio Perez crashed when he aquaplaned and speared into the wall.

What followed in the race will take volumes to describe as they hit that no-man’s land of when to swap to slicks. Most got it wrong and, in retrospect, there was no benchmark to follow as everyone were affected differently.

But soon it became apparent that slicks might have been marginally faster as Kevin Magnussen bolted a set on and was three seconds faster than anyone at that point. Like sheep they all followed, some opting for softs and others mediums.

Most pulled the trigger too early as the skies opened up again which prompted the mayhem that turned the race on its head.

Charles Leclerc looking strong with the benefit of a well-timed pitstop under VSC conditions, the Ferrari youngster looking feisty until he made a mistake, much like Sebastian Vettel’s faux pas last year. The Monegasque’s race over on the spot.

Earlier his team were handed a fine for an unsafe release during his pitstop, the Ferrari nearly clattering into the Haas of Romain Grosjean.

Thereafter it was chaos on track and even more so in the pits. A proper brawl as drivers and teams were taken apart by the conditions they always revel to race in.

We had a Racing Point in the lead briefly, a Toro Rosso with the fastest lap as the weather really levelled the playing field then wobbled it all afternoon.

But in the end the day belonged to Verstappen who said afterwards, “It was an amazing race to win in the end, it was really tricky out there to make the right calls, and we really had to be focused. We had a little moment on the slick tyres, but it was a really nice 360! I enjoyed that, but it was all about trying to not make too many mistakes. You learn over the years.”

Red Bull and Honda need a standing ovation along with their star driver who got one from his Orange Army, while Daniil Kvyat gave a good case to his bosses to dump wretched Pierre Gasly with immediate effect and give the Russian another crack with the big team because he ticked all the boxes on a torrid afternoon.

His teammate rookie Alex Albon was also impressive on his way to sixth. The manner in which he twice dispatched of Gasly twice, late in the race is sure to be the final straw that will prompt the axe, because the Thai driver made it look simple in an inferior car.

It was a bittersweet race for the Reds as Sebastian Vettel turned last place on the grid into xxx place by the time the chequered flag waved, providing great entertainment as he scythed his way up the order to claim a cherished second place.

It was some sort of redemption for the German who last year dumped it while leading the race and gave his team reason to believe when some may have had doubts. But he had no ammo to close the four-second gap that Verstappen had when it mattered.

Vettel summed up afterwards, “It was a long race, at some stages it felt like it would never end and it was very tough with the conditions and I’m just happy. It was a lot of fun. It took a while, at the beginning with the intermediates I couldn’t get going but eventually it was good that the afternoon took so long and I stayed tidy for most of the race.

“For me, it was just a case of go and get the next car, and then the next car. Before the last Safety Car, I realised I was quite a bit quicker and could move past people. I was a little bit faster and could time it right. I saw people being cautious on the first corner and it worked getting into DRS range and I had moves down the back straight. But this race was so long,” added the Ferrari driver

Another German, Nico Hulkenberg, also survived the early shenanigans and was running strongly in second place for Renault, after Daniel Ricciardo retired early in the race with a smoking engine, but on slicks he made a mistake and slithered into the barriers.

At one point Lance Stroll looked set for a podium, the Canadian again proving his worth in races of high attrition to deliver one of his best performances in a long while which will do the world of good to his confidence and reputation. He was fourth.

Carlos Sainz was another ‘war survivor’ who survived a spin and several tense battles to finish on a day in which he was the only Renault powered driver to finish the race. Fifth a good result on a weekend in which the midfield was closer than ever.

Alfa Romeo celebrated a double points finish with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi seventh and eighth respectively but that only lasted three or so hours when the cars were found to be illegal and penalised accordingly. Report here>>>

This promoted Haas duo of Romain Grosjean to seventh and Kevin Magnussen to eighth claiming the final point, the Dane at one stage running second in the topsy-turvy race!

Hamilton thus was promoted to ninth and Kubica getting the final point for Williams.

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS: I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED

Valtteri Bottas might have fancied his chances of winning the German Grand Prix as he survived the early mayhem and was charging in fourth place when it all went wrong for the Mercedes driver as he crashed out of the race on a tricky incident-packed afternoon at Hockenheim.

It was Mercedes 200th race and they even had a 125th anniversary of motorsport livery, as well as pit and paddock in retro theme for their milestone race. But with new Daimler chairman Ola Källenius watching alongside team chief Toto Wolff the actual race was a disaster for the World Champions.

Bottas, who spent most of the race in second, found himself in fourth place with good pace at the sharp end of the race. The #77 car was on a charge but that soon changed with third in his sights, into Turn 1 the Mercedes lost traction and skidded over the wet into the barriers prompting the fourth safety car period during the 64 laps incident-filled race.

The Finn avoided the press pen when he returned to the pits for an early shower but reported afterwards, “That was a really tough race and I’m very disappointed. It was tricky out there: the track was very slippery and the conditions changed all the time.

“It was very easy to make a mistake and unfortunately I made a mistake in the end which lost us a lot of points. It’s a shame because today was a good opportunity for me to make up some points to Lewis and it was my own fault that I ended up not getting any points at all in the end.

“I had a good shot to get a podium and I was pushing hard to get past Stroll. I was quite close to the limit in Turn 1, then I suddenly lost the rear and just went off; I don’t think there was any time to catch the car.”

“It’s very disappointing for the entire team, but we’ll give it everything to come back stronger in Hungary,” added the Mercedes driver on a forgettable afternoon for the Silver Arrows in Germany.

His teammate Lewis Hamilton also had a torrid afternoon despite starting from pole and leading a chunk of the race, but he too had a big moment in Turn 1 which Bottas replicated later with less luck. But Hamilton also was in the wars.

The World Champion spun and damaged his wing near the pit entrance which he dived into to get to his pit box as quickly as possible, his crew were not ready for him and there was a panic over what tyres to bolt-on.

It was all pretty chaotic for the normally ice-cool operators and taking home a mere two points from their landmark-packed home race must hurt.

[MIKA27]

HULKENBERG: IT’S A TOUGH ONE TO TAKE

Nico Hulkenberg is 167 Formula 1 races into his career and has yet to celebrate on the podium, a sad statistic for a driver that was expected to do big things in the top flight but his record to date will show him as a luckless journeyman.

That podium drought looked set to end at his home German Grand Prix on Sunday but fate had more sinister plans as Hulkenberg crashed on lap 39, having run as high as second place and was in fourth when his mistake brought an end to his hopes.

He too was a victim of a treacherous patch of waterlogged, wet and slippery tarmac in the final turn which caught out several of his rivals. On Pirelli intermediates, the Renault driver locked up his brakes, sliding into the barriers where his car remained beached.

Hulkenberg said afterwards, “It’s a tough one to take. I’m upset for myself, the team and for Renault because they deserved an excellent result today. It’s one of those days where you have to make it stick, and I’m just gutted with how it ended especially in front of the home crowd.”

“The final corner was very tricky as it was damp. I lost the rear a bit, went into a spin so I opened the steering and went onto the black tarmac. It was like ice there and by that point I couldn’t stop the car.”

“We were doing a phenomenal job, strategy was very difficult so it hurts and it will hurt even more tomorrow,” added Hulkenberg whose teammate Daniel Ricciardo retired early on in the race when his Renault PU expired in a cloud of smoke.

[MIKA27]

LECLERC: IT’S A SHAME AND I AM SORRY FOR THE TEAM AND OUR FANS

The deja vu was inevitable: a red Ferrari showing hot pace loses control and slithers across the gravel and into trackside billboards, beached in the sand when a a sure podium and even a sniff of victory was apparent.

That’s how Charles Leclerc will be remembered his role in the epic that was the German Grand Prix, doing a repeat of what his teammate Sebastian Vettel did last year at the same venue.

In doing so the younger driver denied himself a sure second place and perhaps even first as when he crashed he was among the fastest drivers on track although he did himself no favours with a scrappy lap or two, but the same applied to his rivals fighting the constantly changing elements.

But lap 27 changed all that, as he hit the barriers exiting the final corner (which caught out many of his peers on the day) when the Ferrari got airborne over the kerbs, on the tractionless slippery edge of the track, and car plunged straight into the barriers and turned Leclerc into a spectator for the rest of the afternoon.

The 21-year-old reflected afterwards, “Unfortunately, I made a mistake in turn 16 and lost control of the car. I hit the wall and that was the end of my race. It’s a shame and I am sorry for the team and our fans. Seb did a great job today and his result is well-deserved.

“It is a disappointing end to the weekend for me. After a good start, we worked our way forward in rather tricky conditions. The team did a great job and let me arrive in second place to fight for the win. The strategy was the right one and the car felt good.”

“Our car and performance were strong all weekend, in both wet and dry conditions, which is a positive. We have to stay focused and we will give our best again at the next race in Hungary,” he added.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto commented, “Charles is aware today was an opportunity missed, but he will get over it. There are plenty more races and there is no doubt that the guy is very quick and today he was delivering an extraordinary performance.”

In contrast to Leclerc, teammate Vettel delivered a timely performance of a champion as he carved his way through the field from 20th on the grid and salvage second for the Reds. It was a giant effort and result in the wake of the criticism the German has copped in recent weeks.

But in retrospect, it is actually a similar script packaged differently as they are still winless after a weekend that promised so much.

While Leclerc’s error will be a reality check for those who believe he is the saviour for the desperate Italian team. He is indeed the future but that’s long term as he is still an unpunished diamond and he may wake up to find another Vettel, more inspired when they go at it again in Hungary next weekend.

[MIKA27]

PEREZ: I APOLOGISE TO MY TEAM BECAUSE I MADE A MISTAKE

Veteran Racing Point driver Sergio was the first casualty of a crazy Sunday at Hockenheim when the rain-affected race delivered an incident-packed race that claimed some of the mightiest victims.

After two sighting laps the field gathered for the normal standing start procedure and on inters the race began, that there were no casualty in that frantic opening lap was the first surprise, the second followed a little later when Perez’s race ended early and in the wall.

It was a rare error by the Mexican who has tended, over the years, to shine in weta and tricky conditions but this time around Perez was the victim. His teammate Lance Stroll finished fourth.

Perez was quick to take the blame after the race, “First of all, I need to apologise to my team because I made a mistake. I’ve thrown away a great opportunity today to score big points for the team. The first rule in these conditions is not to make a mistake and I did.

“I was picking up the power and then had some aquaplaning on the rear. I lost it and just couldn’t recover from it. I put my hands up for it – I’m extremely disappointed with myself.

“Watching the race from the garage is always tough, but I’m happy that Lance had such a great race. We needed those points and it’s a boost for everyone. I think we’ve definitely taken a step forward this weekend. Now we look forward to Hungary where hopefully we can come back stronger,” added Perez.