FORMULA 1

[MIKA27]

HORNER: THEY’VE SCREWED UP AND ARE BOTH IN THE DOGHOUSE

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have been castigated by their bosses for colliding and crashing out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when battling for fourth position.

Ricciardo rear-ended his teammate’s car, as the pair battled for position down the main straight, the pair retiring on the spot. A valuable haul of points thrown away by their drivers.

Red Bull team chief, Christian Horner told TV reporters after the race in Baku, “The drivers drive for a team and they both recognise that they’ve screwed up today and will be apologising to the team and all members of the team.”

“We allow them to race, we allow them to go wheel to wheel. We discussed in the pre-race meetings about giving each other space and this was the culmination of two guys taking things into their own hands which shouldn’t have happened.

“There was probably three incidents between the two of them during the grand prix. They’ve touched wheels earlier, been told to calm it down a bit, but we don’t want to interfere in letting them go wheel to wheel.”

“They’ve been very good at that up to this point. We’ve always said give each other room on track and we’ll let you race. They’d just about done that during the race up to that unfortunate incident.

“I’m not apportioning blame one way or the other. They are both to blame with this and it is the team that unfortunately misses out. Our intention is to continue to let them race but they have got to show the team and each other respect and give space.

“They have been reminded that they are part of a team and they have a responsibility in the role they perform, they are highly paid individuals, to act with the team’s interests at heart not just their own. The message was delivered very clearly.

“In Barcelona they’ll be fine. I have no doubt about that. They are both in the dog house, you can see that in their body language and they will be in the factory to apologise to all the staff prior to the Barcelona race,” added Horner.

[MIKA27]

RENAULT PREPARE FOR LIFE WITHOUT SAINZ

Renault will not wait for Daniel Ricciardo to decide his Formula 1 future before starting the search for a potential replacement for Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, which would leave the French team with a void to fill.

The French manufacturer team currently have Sainz on loan from Red Bull, who can take back the 23-year-old at the end of the season should their race-winning Australian Ricciardo decide to go elsewhere.

“We need to make plans, we need to be prepared for the worst as always,” Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul told Reuters at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“So the worst for us would be that we would want to stay with Carlos and that´s not possible. And it can happen, let´s be honest. So we need to plan accordingly.”

Abiteboul said the team were treating Sainz as if he were staying, “We already actually started to work on next year´s car, we had a meeting this week with him to talk about the plan for next year, the objectives and also… the early concept of the 2019 car.”

“It´s a clear sign we are not thinking that, in the back of our mind, he may not be with us. It may happen, but we don´t want to compromise short-term or middle-term performance by starting to mitigate the way we are working with him.”

Sainz, who joined Renault late last season to replace Britain’s under-performing Jolyon Palmer, has been out-qualified by team mate Nico Hulkenberg 3-0 this season and has only three points to the German’s 22.

Abiteboul recognised the youngster was “a bit behind” but said Renault remained fully supportive.

“It would be completely inappropriate to start making judgements only after three races, way too early,” he said. “But it does say something about the quality of his team mate and that´s great, that´s only positive.

“For the rest, we will see. We have a bit of time to specifically think about Carlos. Having said that, we will not delay the thinking process about the alternative in case it cannot work out with him.

“It’s my responsibility to make sure that we have a competitive lineup next year and to present the options to the board of Renault in the coming weeks and months and we will do that.”

Red Bull have yet to decide whether to continue with Renault engines next season or switch to Honda.

Abiteboul said that was unlikely to be the key factor in making up Ricciardo’s mind, however, because power unit performance was converging.

“The four engine manufacturers (Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda) are very close from one another, particularly in race conditions,” he added.

“There is still a gap in qualifying, we know that, we are working around that on a number of areas. There will be some stuff coming hopefully later this season, I´m pretty sure that Honda are working on the same plan.

“In my opinion, the gap (next year) will not be bigger from the gap we used to have from the previous set of regulations.”

Red Bull must tell Renault what they are doing by the end of May, meaning Ricciardo will know the situation before he has to commit.

The Australian, winner for Red Bull in China two weeks ago and in Azerbaijan last year, has spoken of his interest in joining Mercedes as team mate to four times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

He has also been linked in the media to Ferrari but says he has so far talked only to his current team.

Red Bull won four titles in a row with Renault V8 engines between 2010-13 but have been at loggerheads with the French manufacturer in the V6 turbo hybrid era and there is no ‘wiggle room’.

“Our engine will not be available for very long. We need to start making orders these days for next year. We have a number of long lead-time items in the engine… and we need to start now.

“We are very clear with Red Bull that it cannot go past what’s written in the regulations. We need to know our quantity (of engines) by the end of May. That´s what they need to work around,” added Abiteboul.

[MIKA27]

Valtteri Bottas left gutted after debris ruins potential race win

Valtteri Bottas was left completed gutted after a piece of debris which punctured his right rear tyre ruined a potential race win in the final laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Mercedes was trying an alternate strategy with the Finn in order to try and put Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari under pressure for the race victory. 

Once the Red Bull drivers collided and brought out the safety car, Bottas came into the pits for a set of Ultrasoft tyres and managed to maintain the race lead over the German, as the remainder of the field also took on fresh rubber.

At the restart, Vettel tried to dive up the inside of Bottas and locked up, leaving the Finn to potentially score a fourth career win. 

However, with just three laps remaining Bottas ran over a sizeable piece of debris that caused a puncture, putting him out of the race.

"It’s just unfortunate and unlucky," Bottas said. "I think this track is difficult, street circuits in general with a lot of crashes will always be an issue, this time it was so unlucky.

"I had no idea at any point that I ran over any debris, I didn’t see anything, I didn’t feel anything, so I was just very, very unlucky.

It felt like a good race to then, safety car restart everything was under control. I could pull a bit of a gap, then this happened – I just had no idea that I run over some debris, can’t say much more."

Despite nearly come close to another race victory after narrowly missing out on victory in China to Daniel Ricciardo, Bottas has still tried to look on the positive side of events after team-mate Lewis Hamilton claimed the race win in Baku.

"It felt like the last couple of races have been quite close that Mercedes are winning," he added. "The good thing for us as a team Lewis won, good points, but for myself, yeah… try again in two weeks."

When asked about how he may get over the day's events, he responded by saying: "Maybe 10 pints of beer and we will be fine! I will get through it – of course you always need to get through difficulties, it is part of racing although at the moment it is very painful."

 

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen lucky to finish after hitting wall "at full speed"

Kimi Raikkonen has revealed he was lucky to finish Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after hitting the wall “at full speed” in the closing stages of the race.
The Ferrari driver recovered from a first-lap tangle with Esteban Ocon to finish a crazy race second to Lewis Hamilton, but he thought he was going to have a high-speed accident coming onto the start/finish straight with three laps to go when he clipped the wall in the final kink on the lap.

“On the first lap after the restart on the little kink coming to the last part of the straight I hit the inside wall at full speed,” said Raikkonen.

“I’m pretty lucky that the front wheel didn’t go. I was expecting to go off quite fast, but I was lucky.”

Raikkonen added that he had another near-miss before the race even started, when he “almost put it in the wall on the way to the grid”.

“I had a lot of close moments,” he said. “We were kind of a bit on the limit, it was not the easiest. It was not the most enjoyable – some laps very good and some laps I had to try not to hit the wall.

“The feeling was there but not consistently, so I thought ‘OK, I just try to go as fast as I can but a little bit safer'.

“Maybe today certain things worked in our directions but whatever happened in front, it’s self-made issues in many ways.

“The Red Bulls, look what they were going to do, I was pretty certain something was going to happen later when they got close to each other.

“We stayed out of trouble, in this kind of race – knowing what happened last year, it’s going to pay off.”

Ocon blamed Raikkonen for their collision on the opening lap, but the Finn believes the Force India driver didn’t see how far he was alongside.

“I was inside in the corner and I don’t know if he didn’t see but he just turned in,” said Raikkonen. “He came off worse out of it. I thought he’d know I was there because I was next to him.

“We destroyed the front wing and the tyre, changed the front wing but I didn’t check the car [for more damage]. The car felt OK, I struggled a bit with the tyres, but I’m sure there was not big damage.”

[MIKA27]

Vettel says he "had to try" move on Bottas

Sebastian Vettel says he "had to try" to pass Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, even though it cost him a podium finish.
The Ferrari driver – who led the race comfortably until a safety car period allowed Bottas’s Mercedes to make a pitstop and emerge still ahead – locked up trying to retake the lead on a restart with four laps to go, ultimately dropping to fourth.

“I’m happy that I tried, I’m not happy that it didn’t work, but I have to try,” said Vettel.

“I don’t think it was overly optimistic to jump down the inside. I wasn’t overly late, otherwise I don’t make the corner at all, but I did make it, just.

“I didn’t have any option – Lewis [Hamilton] was on the right so I can’t close on him. Valtteri was ahead of me, he left a gap. I was surprised, judging the braking was very difficult. 

“I was a bit trapped because I couldn’t see where I was relative to Turn 1. We have our references, and they are on the right – a kerb, the signs on the wall, and on the left there is hardly any reference. 

  

“I had a decent restart, I saw the gap on the inside, and unfortunately I locked up. 

“Without the lock-up, braking at the same point, I think I make the corner and it turns out to be a good move.

“It’s easy to say it didn’t work, so it is the wrong thing, but I had to try. We can’t let one or two seconds from the race have a shame on all the race, because there are a lot of positives." 

Vettel initially fell back from the top three cars after locking up, but he battled on with a flat-spotted tyre and tried to steal a podium finish from Sergio Perez at the end.

“With that flatspot, I tried to get back to the Force India,” he said. “First I had to reshuffle a little bit and understand what the car balance was like with that flatspot.

“[Force India] were quick on the straights, then [Perez] had a tow from the cars ahead, and I had not really a chance to try something. Bit of a shame.

“Other than that I think it was a strong race, and that’s how it goes sometimes.

“Without the safety car it would have been easier for us – there is probably 47 laps of positive and maybe one turn without a positive note. It’s part of the game.”

[MIKA27]

Alonso: Other drivers would have "parked" with my damage

Fernando Alonso believes other drivers would have "parked their cars" had they suffered the kind of damage he had at the start of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was hit by the Williams of Sergey Sirotkin on the opening lap and was forced to crawl back to the pits with two punctured tyres which disintegrated as he tried to reach it.

After replacing the front wing and the wheels, Alonso returned to the race and managed to recover to seventh position despite the damage to the floor of his car.

Alonso said the position was the result of "persistence and pride" and labelled his performance as the best of his life.

"Very crazy. Another seventh place but I think today was the result of persistence and pride, because I think no one would have reached the pitlane, first of all," Alonso said.

"They would have parked the car and if they could reach the pitlane they would have retired the car.

"But we didn't park or retire the car and fought for every tenth, every lap, close to the walls all race long and, I think it was the best race of my life."

He added: "I'm happy with the points. It was probably one of the best races that I've done in a long time, or the best race of my life. I reached the pitlane thanks to a miracle. I didn't have two wheels or front wing or floor or anything.

"They changed the tyres and they told me the car was heavily damaged so I thought I wouldn't be able to finish or that I would be very slow.

"But I started overtaking cars and then with the safety car I gained some positions in the end."

The McLaren driver admitted he had "feared the worst" when he was informed about the damage to his car, and conceded the result came as a surprise.

When asked how much laptime the damage was costing him, he said: "I don't know. I haven't seen the car or talked to the team, but they told me significant damage and when they say that it's usually bad news because if it's little they said you only have a damaged wing that shouldn't be a problem.

"When they said significant damage I feared the worst. A surprising result with a car that was damaged."

Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne completed another double-points finish for McLaren with ninth position.

[Bartolomeo]

I enjoyed the race, maybe everybody doesn’t like the track but I do, Haas shit the bed escpecially Frenchie putting it in the wall, inexcusable when he was in the points at the time, Barca track will be interesting as Mercedes was fastest there during testing but Ferrari is fastest car now

Bart

[Martin_F]

3 hours ago, Bartolomeo said:

I enjoyed the race, maybe everybody doesn’t like the track but I do, Haas shit the bed escpecially Frenchie putting it in the wall, inexcusable when he was in the points at the time, Barca track will be interesting as Mercedes was fastest there during testing but Ferrari is fastest car now

Bart

Especially funny because the frog is always quick to blame anyone but himself...

Being a Bottas fan, this race was terrible to watch, but that's Motorsport for you right there.

Anybody want to voice their opinion on the Red Bull clash? I'd give it to Max 80:20 for moving too much under braking. But I admit, I'm a little biased. I also think that he's been over the edge defending before this incident, which makes my understand why Ricciardo was getting frustrated.

[skalls]

I'd say 80:20 on the blame too.  Max's double moves are getting annoying to watch.  He does that ALL the time when he's defending.  It's not the first time he's done that and won't be the last.  Riccardo broke too late and even if Max wasn't in front I don't think he was making that turn clean.  At this point I don't think there's anything RBR can do to keep Ricardo short of ditching Max (not going to happen).  I'll be surprised if he isn't in red next year.

Gutted for Bottas.  Ran a brilliant race but then that happens.

Haas is always there but seems like they go full retard at the wrong times and they lose points.

I hate this circuit.  I don't want them to race here again.  Just not a fan of city circuits.

[MIKA27]

WOLFF: SENDING MR. DEBRIS OUT IMPROVES THE SPECTACLE

It was a bittersweet afternoon for Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton ‘celebrated’ victory at the , the team had to console Valtteri Bottas who did all the hard work on the day only to have the win snatched from him when his rear tyre exploded because of debris while he led in the frenetic closing stages.

Bottas admitted to the  and the images of dejection of him after the race are gut wrenching, while bewildered Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff slammed Liberty Media as he suggested the safety car was deployed to spice up the spectacle.

Wolff told reporters after the race, “It’s just brutal what happened to Valtteri. I guess … that’s how motor racing should be. But going through the rollercoaster of emotions of a solid result, but not a win. Then Lewis’ race was damaged, virtually damaged, by the flat spot.”

“Then Valtteri kept going faster, and faster, and faster. To the point that, even with no Safety Car, we thought that there was a chance. Because he could leave on the ultrasoft and would’ve been able to try to hunt Sebastian down but obviously it all…”

“You can see that all around, the most complicated is the tire warm-up. Because the Ferraris were in the window immediately. Sebastian was, on the first lap, two seconds faster than everyone else and then we were fine, with the tires coming in. But the Red Bulls struggled a lot.”

“Then once it stabilized the pace was OK but I actually think that Sebastian managed the front. In those early stages he was the fastest car on track. But that changed, because Valtteri’s race then came towards him and then obviously we knew that staying out would give opportunity with Safety Car, that’s what we did.”

“Then it just went up in flames to lose an easy win with three laps to go with some piece of debris on the track,” lamented Wolff.

“The Safety Car has influenced all race results,”, added Wolff before unleashing some wicked sarcasm. “I guess that’s good news for the show. Isn’t that what the Americans call it? You have to send Mr. Debris out. That neutralizes the pack and this is what caused a great spectacle with perhaps some of the results we didn’t expect.”

“But maybe one word on the debris, these things shouldn’t be on track. We had six laps behind the Safety Car, there shouldn’t be a piece of debris the size of a fist,” added Wolf.

MIKA: Total ineptitude from a safety perspective. There was zero excuse for the debris being there.

[MIKA27]

HORNER: WE TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE THE RACE…

With both Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen “” after their shenanigans and eventual  during the , which saw them retire on the spot and sacrificing a substantial points haul for their team on the day.

With both drivers apparently accepting blame and the pair handed a reprimand by the FIA race stewards, team chief Christian Horner revealed that the pair clashing on track is not a new topic, “We’ve discussed it at length on many, many occasions.”

“We even discussed it in the morning, we wanted to avoid a repeat of Force India’s scenario from last year, and that we would allow them to race, but [at the same time] please allow each other space.”

“Unfortunately that hasn’t happened. Our drivers have been racing hard, on the limit but in our mind fairly and then unfortunately this incident happened.”

“We will discuss it prior to Barcelona, but we want to continue to allow the drivers to race. It was a racing accident, they’re both equally culpable, not one or the other more to blame. I think the most important thing is that they both recognise that what has happened today is unacceptable.”

“F1 is a team sport, the drivers are one element of the team, they wear the overalls and they get in the car, they represent the 800 or so people that they’re driving for. I think both of them will have taken invaluable lessons from today.”

Horner was asked if the Red Bull pitwall, or even himself, might have done more to prevent the clash, he replied, “You try to do your best as a team and you don’t want to penalise one driver over the other, so we tried to give them the optimal strategy.

“Ideally we were hoping for a safety car in the last quarter of the race there, to go with the ultrasofts which we managed to go long enough to do, but we never dreamed we would be causing the safety car.”

“We obviously tried to give the preferable stop to the lead car, so stopping Daniel first, having the track position, going onto the ultrasoft tyre, a new ultrasoft tyre which should theoretically have had better warm-up.”

“I think Max benefited from a green first sector with DRS on one of the backmarkers. He then matched his best middle sector, and a strong final sector. The pit stops were within one-tenth of a second of each other. Obviously, Daniel’s out-lap wasn’t as quick as Max’s in-lap. So they found themselves that way round.”

“Daniel’s tyres were at a working temperature quicker than Max’s, and obviously he was looking to capitalise on that. We’d seen a lot of good racing between the two of them prior to that all afternoon,” added Horner.

[MIKA27]

LAUDA: BAKU CRASH IS 70% VERSTAPPEN AND 30% RICCIARDO

In the aftermath of an incident-packed , the  between Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen is one that is sure to boil on despite the fast apologies and cries of mea culpa.

But these are racing drivers and one will never accept it is ‘his’ fault, however, they ‘played the game’ in this instance simply to calm the uproar. The real jousting has begun in the energy drinks camp and could get ‘juicier’ as the season progresses.

Mercedes F1 chief Niki Lauda was asked by reporters after the race in Baku what advice he would give his senior colleagues at Red Bull, he retorted, “Go home and cry!”

“It’s a disaster and we had it once [Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg  on opening lap of 2016 Spanish Grand Prix]. For me, it is 70% Verstappen and 30% Ricciardo. He was moving on him all the time, where can the poor guy go?”

“I would bring them in the office together with Toto and tell them how much less they will get paid because of the damage they have done. Really. We thought about this once, but we didn’t have to do it.”

Toto Wolff had his own take on the matter, “I just think you have to remind them that beyond all the racing that the drivers are here for, there is a large structure in the background that is working 24/7 to provide them with the best possible cars.”

“But equally, you don’t want that lion spirit to be taken away. I’ve said it before, you can’t expect to have two guard dogs in the car and for them to behave like puppies. There are upsides and downsides about having two fast drivers in the car,” added Wolff.

Mercedes were clearly bewildered by how they had lucked into victory on the day and Tweeted to their rivals: “We know exactly how you’re feeling right now! We came back from it, you guys will too!”

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: I AM STRUGGLING TO FIND THE CAR’S POTENTIAL

A subdued Lewis Hamilton admitted he had been lucky after taking the Formula 1 championship lead with his opportunistic victory during a chaotic crash-strewn Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and acknowledged that he needs to raise his game with immediate effect.

There were no whoops of delight and no celebrations following his first win in seven races dating back to last October, but a serious realisation that he and his Mercedes team have their work cut out to stay on top.

On a day of gusty wind, unlikely accidents, abandoned debris interventions and two safety cars, the defending four-time world champion had struggled for pace but avoided serious trouble.

While his team-mate Valtteri Bottas fell victim to a puncture caused by a piece of metal debris and title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari out-braked himself in a wild lunge for glory, Hamilton tip-toed through the mayhem.

As Red Bull’s two battling tyros Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen resolved their tussle by crashing and others banged wheels, hit walls and ran off, the 33-year-old Englishman relied on concentration and perseverance.

“I remember my dad always told me ‘never give up, always keep going’,” he said afterwards as others wept and argued. “I never expected it, but I had to take it. Valtteri deserved to win. That’s why I went to see him and console him straight after the race. He was so unfortunate.”

It was Hamilton’s 63rd victory and curiously confirmed that he is not racing with the same raw elan as his youth, but with a more measured sense of craft and aplomb – a mixture that may be less spectacular, but could assist him more in gathering the points for a fifth title.

He knows, however, that in Sunday’s race he was hardly the leading man and that his car was unable to match the Ferraris in an unpredictable contest that maintained the craziness of the season to date.

“That was just a brutal race and it was probably exactly what the fans want to see at a Grand Prix,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “It was twists and turns at every point.”

As the teams packed up to return to Europe and the Spanish Grand Prix next month, it was clear to Hamilton and Wolff that they need to find an upgrade for their car that makes the tyres work faster.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, definitely,” said Hamilton. “We are still behind. Today I was lucky. I struggled all weekend and I am struggling to find the car’s potential. Their pure pace is ahead of ours at the moment.

“There were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me. I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres. I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise of this weekend.”

“The biggest issue is the tyres. I don’t believe their car is much better than ours if at all, it’s just that they are using their tyres better,” added Hamilton.

Wolff suggests that the next race in Barcelona may be a key pointer, “We didn’t have the pace we needed. Whatever the reason, Ferrari currently possess a faster package. They are quickest so Barcelona will be interesting because we were quickest there in testing.”

[MIKA27]

HONDA START TALKS WITH RED BULL OVER 2019 ENGINE SUPPLY

Honda have had “positive” first talks with former world champions Red Bull about a possible supply of Formula 1 engines from next season onwards, the Japanese company’s motorsport chief confirmed in Baku.

Honda are powering the Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso team this year after a failed three-year partnership with McLaren was terminated at the end of 2017.

Red Bull are currently using Renault engines, rebadged TAG-Heuer, but have a rocky relationship with the French manufacturer despite winning four successive drivers’ and constructors’ titles with them between 2010-13.

“Because it was the very first meeting, we discussed the conditions of both sides, what do we expect of each other,” Honda’s Masahi Yamamoto told the official formula1.com website at the weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“It was positive. We do believe we were both satisfied. There’s a good relationship between us. However, it’s the first time we have an official meeting. It’s the starting point for a potential future,” he added.

Yamamoto said the deadline for engine manufacturers to present documents to the governing FIA about which teams they are supplying was May 15 and discussions on that were ongoing, “It’s something we are starting to discuss now and it has to be smooth between Honda and Red Bull.”

“I want to use the time we have left to discuss with the Honda board members before I take the feedback back to Red Bull to take the next steps.”

Toro Rosso are Honda’s only current partners but Yamamoto said the car maker’s plan was always to work with multiple teams.

“The board members are aware of discussions and there is a big respect for the relationship (with Red Bull),” he said.

Red Bull are winners this season, with Daniel Ricciardo in China. The Australian collided with Dutch teammate Max Verstappen in Baku.

Honda have, meanwhile, shown improved reliability and performance with Toro Rosso.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: ANY OTHER DRIVER WOULD HAVE PARKED THE CAR

There were shades of Gilles Villeneuve in how Fernando Alonso refused to throw in the towel during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite suffering two punctures and damage as a result of a first lap melee.

Alonso defied physics as he drove the stricken McLaren back to the pits – as the late great Villeneuve did on more than one occasion – got his mechanics to bolt on fresh tyres and powered out back into the race and claimed seventh place for his team at the end of an incident-packed race in Baku.

The Spaniard told reporters after the race, “Very crazy. Another seventh place but I think it was the result of persistence and pride because I think no one would have reached the pitlane, first of all. They would have parked the car and if they could reach the pitlane they would have retired the car.”

“But we didn’t park or retire the car and fought for every tenth, every lap, close to the walls all race long and, I think it was the best race of my life. I reached the pitlane thanks to a miracle. I didn’t have two wheels or front wing or floor or anything.”

“They changed the tyres and they told me the car was heavily damaged so I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish or that I would be very slow. But I started overtaking cars and then with the safety car I gained some positions in the end.”

Alonso admitted that he too thought his race was over as he made his way back to the pits in the wrecked car, “They told me significant damage and when they say that it’s usually bad news because if it’s little they’d say you only have a damaged wing, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“When they said significant damage I feared the worst,” revealed Alonso who along with teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in ninth the pair completed another double-points finish for McLaren.

MIKA: Call me harsh, but Stoffel Vandoorne isn't impressing me. Alonso with a double puncture still gets P7 over his team mate.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO START AND STOP, START AND STOP

Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has accused Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel of failing to play by the rules when leading behind the safety car during the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver told reporters he would seek a clarification from race director Charlie Whiting ahead of the next race in Spain.

Hamilton, who won in Baku and now leads Vettel by four points after four races, was on the receiving end of a famous “road rage” incident in Azerbaijan last year when the roles were reversed.

After winning the race in Baku for the first time on Sunday, Hamilton said, “The rules are that when the safety car goes [in], you’re not allowed to start and stop, start and stop. You’re not allowed to gas and then brake. You’re not allowed to fake the guy behind.”

“Because naturally if there was not that rule, that’s what you’d do because eventually, you’d catch them sleeping. You’re not allowed to do that.”

“Every re-start I’ve done… I’ve abided by that,” the Briton told reporters. “In Australia, Sebastian accelerated and then braked and I nearly went up the back end of him. And today he did it like maybe four times.”

Hamilton said he believed Whiting had passed the matter on to stewards for their consideration but they had decided not to take action because the other cars were doing it.

The four-times world champion said that was because of a domino effect, “That now sets a precedent, so that means everyone leading a grand prix under a safety car can start and stop, start and stop.”

“I need to get that rectified when I have the briefing next because clearly, they don’t care about it, and if that’s the case then we will see more of that. And I will expect that from him next time I am racing with him.”

Sunday’s race had two safety car periods due to crashes, with drivers weaving to keep heat in their tyres in cold and gusty conditions.

Vettel was leading from pole position at the first re-start, with Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas at the head of the field for the second with the Ferrari behind and Hamilton third.

The German overcooked an attempt to pass Bottas at the second re-start, with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen going through as he went wide. Bottas retired with a puncture three laps from the end.

[MIKA27]

LECLERC: I FEEL LIKE I WON THE RACE!

Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc beamed with delight on Sunday after he scored his first points in Formula 1 by finishing sixth for Sauber at the .

The young Monaco-born driver, a graduate of the Ferrari academy, kept out of trouble in a wild and chaotic race, after starting 13th on the grid.

“It was an amazing race and I am very, very happy with the result,” said the 20-year-old, one of only a handful of men from the principality to have risen to F1.

“It was so eventful, so many incidents on the track, that it was very challenging but it was fun to drive and I felt very good in the car.”

“It is an incredible feeling to score points in F1 for the first time. I feel like I won the race! Now we can look forward to doing it again and continuing on a positive path. As a team, we can see our potential, and know what our strengths are,” added the Monegasque driver.

[MIKA27]

GASLY: MAGNUSSEN THE MOST DANGEROUS GUY I EVER RACED WITH

Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly slammed Formula 1 rival Kevin Magnussen as the “most dangerous” driver he had ever raced against after they clashed in the closing stages of the .

Both drivers finished up out of the points but the Frenchman was fuming after complaining that the uncompromising Dane had pitched him towards the wall.

“Kevin is the most dangerous guy I have ever raced with,” Gasly said. “He literally put me in the wall at 300 kph at the (safety car) restart and completely ruined the race.

“He just put me in the wall right in the middle and took half of my floor out. Both my front wheels went in the air, broke my right mirror and bent my steering as well. After that, I was just trying to survive until the end of the race.

“I don’t mind racing drivers which are hard, but like this is just way over the limit. You don’t put someone in the wall at 300 kph.”

Magnussen was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident and two penalty points, taking his tally to eight for the 12-month period. Drivers are given a one-race ban when the tally reaches 12 in a year.

Stewards, one of them Magnussen’s nine-times Le Mans-winning compatriot Tom Kristensen, ruled he had “moved unpredictably and unnecessarily” towards Gasly, who was maintaining his car’s direction and found him wholly to blame for the collision.

“I had so many vibrations in the car that the mirrors were useless, I couldn’t see anything at all,” said Magnussen in his defence.

Gasly and Magnussen had also clashed in practice, with the Toro Rosso again squeezed towards the wall by the Haas driver.

“We were quite close to having something spectacular,” Gasly, who also narrowly missed his own slow-running New Zealand teammate Brendon Hartley in another incident, had said then.

“It was quite a frustrating race because with all of the retirements and without the collision I could have been in the points,” added Gasly.

MIKA: Magnussen should have been black flaged and handed a race ban IMO.

[MIKA27]

Formula 1 to launch live post-race show exclusively on Twitter

Formula 1 has announced plans to launch a brand new live post-race show which will be broadcast exclusively through social media network Twitter.

The 'F1 Live Show' will launch from the Spanish Grand Prix and will be broadcast at a further nine races this season. Broadcaster Will Buxton will present the show which will also feature F1 legends as various co-hosts including 2016 champion Nico Rosberg.

The show will go on air after the podium ceremony, live from the paddock, featuring interviews with "key drivers, engineers and team principals from the race.

"They’ll analyse the key moments of the race thanks to real-time race playback, and amplify the conversation across Twitter’s fan community. Buxton will continue to contribute to Formula1.com and present across the Formula 1 international TV feed and digital platforms," confirmed a statement.

The show, which is in partnership with Twitter, will be available globally. The platform will also show post-race highlights as part of the new deal.

"It is good to see the new direction of F1 across digital, as a key channel to engage with fans and future fans of the sport," commented Rosberg. "I was delighted to join this programme when F1 asked me to participate.

"I love F1 and I believe that we can grow the sport through digital engagement. The Twitter live show is a terrific step forward."

F1's director of digital and new business, Frank Arthofer, added: "On the heels of the of F1 TV launch announcement, we are thrilled to announce a new initiative aimed at expanding our fan engagement and monetization strategy on Twitter.

"Twitter came to us early on with an emphasis on co-producing original live content to extend the race weekend dialogue. Given how well their platform caters to driving conversation around global live events, the strategic fit was perfect; we’re thrilled to be partnering with them on this show in 2018."

[MIKA27]

Apologetic Romain Grosjean explains crash behind Safety Car

Romain Grosjean apologised to his Haas team after he crashed out behind the Safety Car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Grosjean started from the rear of the grid on Softs and pitted for Supersofts on lap two – during the first Safety Car phase – and moved up the order as his rivals made their stops.

The second Safety Car phase, caused by the collision between the Red Bull drivers, promoted Grosjean into sixth place, as he chased his first points of the season.

But while warming his tyres the Frenchman’s Haas VF-18 speared right as he approached Turn 14 and he slammed into the wall.

“This hurts a lot and I want to apologise to the team," said Grosjean.

"We were in the middle of an amazing race, starting last and running sixth.

"Seeing [Sergio] Perez on the podium, knowing I was fighting with him, is very painful for all of us. It was going very well.

"There was a lot of wind, the car was going left and right, pushing then not pushing," he explained.

"I was warming up my tyres and bumped into a switch that I’d moved by two positions.

“When I touched the brakes, the brake balance was locked rearward – it just locked the rear wheels and I spun.”

 “It's always hard when you lose so many points and obviously when you crash under the Safety Car.”

Grosjean is one of only two drivers, along with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, yet to score a point this year.

[MIKA27]

Sergio Perez: Plucky Force India podiums 'no coincidence'

Sergio Perez says it is “not a coincidence” that he and Force India are usually well-place to profit from any opportunity in a wild Grand Prix, after he took a podium finish in Azerbaijan.

Perez dropped down the order on the opening lap, and pitted for fresh tyres, after which he gradually rose through the pack, benefiting when the Safety Car was called to clear the Red Bull incident.

Perez held fifth spot, passed Sebastian Vettel for fourth, and benefited when Valtteri Bottas sustained a puncture to take third.

It marked Perez and Force India’s fifth podium finish since their partnership began in 2014.

“Obviously, this result is a coincidence of so many things happening but it’s not a coincidence that we are always there to take anything that is offered to us,” said Perez.

“I think our battle is not here, to be honest, it’s the midfield and finally we got plenty of points with this podium, that we can close up the gap to the cars ahead, to the Renaults.

“I think we were definitely the fourth-best team this weekend. I believe that we are making good progress. Up to now we only had one point as a team.

“It’s definitely a massive motivation for all the boys that are doing a fantastic job. They did an incredible job with the stops. With the strategy. Yeah, what else can I say? Amazing job.”

Perez was the only driver to take on Supersofts for the final stint of the race, rather than the Ultrasoft, and expressed relief at keeping Vettel at bay, having passed his Ferrari rival.

“I did the best two laps of my whole career,” said Perez.

“The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult.

“I was on the Supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to [Kimi] Räikkönen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough.”

[Lotusguy]

Verstappen deserved to be taken out - just too bad it also affected Ricciardo. Verstappen’s double manouvers are just too dangerous.

[MIKA27]

BRAWN: REPRIMAND FOR BOTH DRIVERS WAS CORRECT, BUT…

Formula 1 motorsport’s chief Ross Brawn has weighed in on the saga that eliminated both Red Bull drivers – Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo – from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix while battling for fourth place.

Reflecting on the incident-packed race in Baku, Brawn said, “One of the key episodes of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the collision between teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. I don’t want to comment on who might be held responsible or how a team should manage these issues during a race, but I do think the Steward’s decision to reprimand both drivers was the right course of action.”

Brawn was not keen to apportion blame and added, “But I would like to highlight a technical point. Once Daniel had settled for his line, and Max had changed direction blocking that line, the Australian became a passenger.”

“The downforce loss experienced by Ricciardo in the wake of Verstappen’s car would have made it unstoppable. We often think of downforce applying in cornering, but the impact the extra grip has in braking is huge. Take away that grip in braking and what happened on Sunday was inevitable.”

“Whilst this was a very severe example, it did highlight once more the need of finding a way to develop the rules to make the cars more raceable in these conditions.”

“The decision of the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission taken yesterday, sanctioned by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, to approve a number of aerodynamic modifications, aimed at promoting closer racing and more overtaking for the 2019 season is definitely an important step.

“It’s also important to note that the decision has been taken after an intense period of research into the FIA’s proposals, which were made with the support of Formula 1 and, conducted by a majority of the teams.”

A good spirit, a good way of working together for a better and more spectacular Formula 1, which is what the FIA, Formula 1, the Teams, and most importantly, the fans want. Bravo,” concluded Brawn.

[MIKA27]

FORMULA 1 ‘SHOEY’ TRADEMARK SPARKS ANGER

Formula 1 owners Liberty Media have audaciously trademarked the term ‘Shoey’ – the podium celebration of drinking champagne from a shoe – and at the same time sparked the wrath of the originators of the celebration which Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has made famous… or infamous!.

The Shoey was most recently seen earlier this month when Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix. The Australian is famous for celebrating with a Shoey on the podium and has had the likes of Sir Patrick Stewart and Gerard Butler drinking champagne from his race boot after the race.

The independent cite filings with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), F1’s branding department Formula One Licensing was granted a trademark registration to the word ‘Shoey’ on 24 August 2017. It has been registered in 25 countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom where it came into force on 4 January this year.

The registration is only for one category but it’s a crucial one as it covers mecrhandise such as flasks, glasses, bottles, mugs, sculptures and figurines. The report adds that Formula 1 was able to trademark the term on 24 August, 2017 in the key commercial product field.

However, Formula 1 was not successful in trying to trademark the term for use in commercial clothing production.

Formula 1’s commercial arm was denied because the trademark had already been registered by the original architects behind the phrase – Aussie cult surfing figures Joel Scott, Damon Nichols, Shaun Harrington and Dean Harrington, the brains behind The Mad Hueys empire.

Korinne Harrington, a relative of The Mad Hueys founders, was reportedly the first person to register the “Shoeys” trademark.

The Mad Hueys are credited with bringing the ancient Aussie icon back into fashion during their surfing and fishing adventure video clips dating back to 2003.

Despite Harrington’s earlier trademark, Formula 1’s rival trademark has been registered across 25 countries, including Australia, the US, Germany, Italy, France and the UK.

The huge commercial potential of the trademark has left Ricciardo in the incredibly awkward position of being a Formula 1 driver and a friend of The Mad Huey group.

However, they remain the small Aussie battler in a legal battle with a global giant in Formula 1 whose trademark now could stop the company from trying to sell merchandise with its own slogan printed on it.

The Mad Hueys were the catalyst for the humble “Shoey” making it onto the world stage.

“The Shoey was handed down to us by our ancestors back in 1985 when I was born. And we’re keeping the tradition alive,” one of the Harrington twins said.

“It’s pretty much just gone ham again now with Jack Miller starting it off. I went to the MotoGP and I was sitting with his mum and she goes: Oi, Jack wants to meet ya.”

“So we went to his little mobile caravan thing at Phillip Island in the pits and I just got dead nude and jumped into his race gear and started doing shoeys and sh!t and then I dunno, he just said to us the next time he gets on the podium he’s gonna do a ‘Shoey’, so he ended up winning and the rest is history.

“From there it went on to Daniel Ricciardo. I was so proud of him. Skolled it like a true champion, after doing a race a couple of hours long and all that sweat in there building up – it was a bit watered down but you gotta respect it.”

MIKA: Liberty Media are starting to show their true colors now. I mean Trademarking this is just pure greed for merchandising.

[MIKA27]

WILLIAMS: OVER MY DEAD BODY WE WILL BECOME LIKE TYRRELL

Amid a woeful start to the 2018 Formula 1 season, Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams is adamant that her team will not go the way of the now defunct world championship winning teams that once competed in Formula 1 at the highest level.

Tyrrell, Brabham and Lotus were once great teams that have disappeared and only their proud legacy remains. Of these so-called ‘garagistes’ only Williams and McLaren survive.

Interestingly in 1998 big Ken Tyrrell, who oversaw his team’s huge success in the seventies, sold the outfit to British American Tobacco who entered the team as British American Racing (BAR) in Formula 1. 

The team then morphed into Honda before it was sold to Ross Brawn in 2009. His team, with Mercedes power, won the F1 world championship that year with Jenson Button claiming the drivers’ title and Rubens Barrichello helping them to the constructors’ title that year.

In 2010 Mercedes bought the team from Brawn and within a few years it had become the dominant force in the sport, Tyrrell now a distant memory.

In a wide-ranging interview with the official F1 site, Williams declared, “If people think we don’t have a plan and we are going the way of Tyrrell, they will be sorely mistaken. That will be over my dead body.”

“There is a lot of fight in me and the rest of the team. We have a plan and clear ambitions. You may have a bad year, but it’s what you do in response that counts.”

But the reality is that the team have fallen down the pecking order, and their plight this year seems destined to play out on the wrong side of the grid.

Williams acknowledged, “Obviously, it’s not been the start that we’d hoped for, and maybe we’d come into it with a bit of blind positivity, almost, believing we could turn things around in a greater way than we actually had.”

“We also made a lot of changes and brought new people into the team last year and maybe our expectations of what they could deliver in the timescale was exaggerated. And equally we should have done better and we all put our hands up to that, because everyone is accountable for that at Williams, and for where we are.”

“But I do believe that sometimes you almost need to hit rock bottom to make you address the areas that you may have papered over previously, and probably that’s what’s happened at Williams in the past few years. We have identified the issues and where we can deliver performance.”

“Paddy and his team have done a fantastic job in identifying the areas to build into that project and to roll it out to the rest of the team so everybody knows what that mission is and what the expectations and targets are.”

“That’s really important, and fundamental honesty even more so. I think this has been a wake-up call, because we are all guilty of resting on our laurels sometimes.”

“Williams are a big team now with nearly 700 people, a huge campus, there’s a lot of resource and equipment in there, and turning it round isn’t the work of a moment, unfortunately.”

“And anyone who thinks: Oh, you’ve had a bad year but you’ll be back up fighting at the top again is naive. You have to adjust your expectations, which we have, and that’s kind of a bitter pill to swallow because we want to be in Formula 1 to win races.”

“But we need to galvanise now and go into a period of rebuilding, and that is going to take some time. There is no quick-fix silver bullet, and we just have to work together, be honest about our issues and face them head-on. Yet there’s a sense of urgency. You can’t just go through the process at temperate speed, you have to grab it and run with it, and do it as quickly as you can without making any mistakes or panicking.”

Williams’ scored their last win, of 114 Formula 1 victories, at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado celebrating on the top step of the podium. But the days of regular triumphs have all but dried up.

Williams continued, “I feel a real responsibility and sense of duty to give something back to this team. We’ve been so privileged to have been born into Williams and to live a life within this magical sport. Williams and F1 have given a lot to our family, and the team have been its centre. For me, these last few years have been heart-breaking.”

“I am actually really impressed by the attitude that we have here today. Rather than one of a team demoralised and broken, there seems to be a real shot of energy that this situation has made into the arms of everybody working here.”

“There is real enthusiasm and drive to fix it that I haven’t seen in my time as DTP, so I’m really enthused by that. And all you can have is faith in your people, that they have identified the problems correctly, and that there is a plan in place to rectify them. It’s my job to give them everything they need in order to do that.

“And I believe that we have got the best people in place to deliver it, and we’ll just need time in order to do that. I’m not going into granular details – this area is wrong and that area is wrong and this fix will bring us X tenths…” added Williams.

The team that Sir Frank Williams created made its debut at the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix and since then has made 689 starts, winning 114 times, claimed nine constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles.