Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Das war ein ganz besonderes Wochenende für mich. Ich dachte, dass ich im letzten Jahr schon alles erlebt hätte. Aber die Fans waren einfach unglaublich. Ich hätte mir diese Unterstützung nie im Leben ausmalen können. Dieser Sieg ist nur für sie. Vielen Dank für alles. Ich freue mich auch für das Team. Jeder in der Fabrik hat wahnsinnig gut gearbeitet, um dieses unglaubliche Auto zu bauen, und heute lief einfach alles perfekt. Ein riesiges Dankeschön an jeden Einzelnen im Team. Es ist großartig, dieses Ergebnis für sie erzielt zu haben. Das Rennen begann natürlich nicht gut. Aber die Jungs leisteten großartige Arbeit beim ersten Stopp und drehten den Spieß um. Als es anfing zu regnen, war es auf andere Art und Weise hart. Als Führender war es schwierig, zu beurteilen, wo ich angreifen konnte und meine Vorderreifen waren recht kalt. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt hereinzukommen, war glaube ich, die beste Boxenentscheidung, die ich je getroffen habe. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt ging es nur noch darum, es nach Hause zu fahren. Ich muss zugeben, als ich auf der letzten Runde um die Kurve bog und all die Menschen auf ihren Beinen sah, kamen schon die Emotionen in mir hoch. Ein unglaublicher Tag und ein unglaubliches Gefühl. Ich bin einfach nur dankbar.

Das war ein aufregendes Rennen für mich. Ich hatte einen richtig schlechten Start und habe zwei Positionen verloren. Deshalb hing ich danach für eine Weile hinter den beiden Williams fest. Überholen war unmöglich. Lewis kam nach dem Boxenstopp an ihnen vorbei. Aber leider funktionierte das bei mir nicht ganz. Obwohl es knapp war! Als es dann anfing zu regnen, konnte ich die Pace anziehen, sie überholen und die Lücke zu Lewis schließen. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt dachte ich wirklich, dass ich das Rennen gewinnen könnte. Aber danach machte er seinen Boxenstopp. Ich dachte in diesem Moment, dass dies eine falsche Entscheidung wäre - bis es anfing, stärker zu regnen. Lewis hatte sich richtig entschieden. Denn ich musste eine weitere Runde draußen bleiben und verlor mit meinen Slicks im Nassen zu viel Zeit. Diese Entscheidung hat das Rennen entschieden. Ich hatte keine Chance mehr. Dieser Sieg für Lewis ist hochverdient. Er hat am gesamten Wochenende die beste Arbeit abgeliefert. Insgesamt ist es ein weiterer Doppelsieg für das Team und all unsere Kollegen in den Werken. Vielen Dank für dieses großartige Auto!

I had a really bad start, I nearly didn’t get off the line and lost positions. At the restart I made up a position, but I lost two as a consequence. It didn’t seem to come together at this point, a bit like the whole weekend for us, but then we were able to turn it around. We recovered through strategy, mostly by being very aggressive. I was in touch with the team all the time, it was not easy to take the right decision with the weather. But we did a great call to pit just in the perfect lap, made up a lot of ground and finished on the podium. I’m sorry for the people that got wet, but the rain helped us today! It was in the end a podium finish that we deserved, as we made the right call at the right time. Williams did a small step forward, for us I think we just didn’t find the rhythm at this weekend. There is plenty of things we have to learn and understand quickly. We are not in favour of these hard tyres, but it is the same for everyone, so no excuses allowed. If you look at the gap to the first two cars, it was bigger than normal, so it is up to us to come back for Hungary.

It is a frustrating result because the race was amazing today. I had a fantastic start and we were fighting with Mercedes the whole time, it could even have been possible to win the race if it had stayed dry, which is great to see. It was a shame to lost positions in the rain. We waited one lap longer on the second stop which is where we lost the opportunity to be on the podium. That shower also highlighted the car’s weakness in the wet.

In some ways it was an incredibly frustrating race, and others it was very pleasing. Both cars had great starts and we raced the Mercedes with genuine pace, but when the rain came I really struggled with the intermediate tyre. I was allowed to race Felipe, but it was hard to get through, and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. We have to have a look the race data and make sure we continue to learn from this.

We were really competitive today, the race was really fun, a little crazy with the rain, and I was enjoying myself. The team have done a great job and the car is handling really well. We will keep pushing to improve and move forward over the next few races.

That was an entertaining afternoon and it’s great to come away from our home race with a good bunch of points. My start was sensational – maybe the best I ever had in Formula One – and I rocketed up to fifth place ahead of the two Ferraris. I was able to keep them behind me for the first stint, but they had too much pace and were able to use the strategy to jump us by pitting early. When the rain arrived at the end of the race the track was very slippery. I was a bit unfortunate with the timing because I had just passed the pit lane entry when the rain became really heavy and I had to do a full lap before I could change to intermediates. Overall, though, I think seventh place is a great result and we should be satisfied. A lot of the performance today is down to the updates we brought here. It’s moved us in the right direction so I have to say a big well done to the team.

In the early part of the race we were stuck behind Hulkenberg’s Force India, they were too fast on the straight and in the places you could pass, while we lacked some speed. It’s a pity because the handling of the car was good through the whole race and the behavior was definitely better than yesterday. When it started raining heavily, the track became very slippery, especially in Turns 7 and 8; so I took the decision to come in the pits for Intermediate, but then the rain stopped. Probably I made the call three or four laps too early. But in general, this kind of track is not ideal for us, and this is something we have to work on.

Finishing with both cars in the points at Silverstone is a very positive step for the team. We probably could have been even higher up, but the strategy didn’t really work out in my favour. After my first stop, I lost a position to Sainz and I spent a few laps stuck behind him when my tyres were at their best. I was in the dirty air and struggling with the front tyres, which had a lot of graining. When the second rain shower came we had a lot of discussions over the radio about what call to make and unfortunately we waited too long, which cost us a place. When you get opportunities and you don't make the best of them you are obviously disappointed, but I think we should focus on the positives of this weekend. We’ve shown good progress and there is a lot of potential for the second half of the season.

“It’s not the best of results, but 10th position helps to motivate everyone. The whole team is incredibly focused – they’ve been working day and night to improve the car – and we all know this is a long-term project, and there are no magic solutions, but to get a decent result, and to put some points on the table, is always important. “The start was unbelievable. It was a big mess as we arrived at Turn Three. The two Lotus drivers were far too aggressive, and they touched each other; in avoiding them, I had a half-spin, and touched Jenson. There were a lot of retirements, and little common sense on display. “Still, we know we’re improving, and today has been a good day for morale.”

Es ist enttäuschend, dass ich nicht punkten konnte, nachdem ich lange auf Platz zehn gefahren bin. In der ersten Hälfte des Rennens war es nicht schlecht gelaufen. Ich startete gut und gewann einige Plätze. Auch hinsichtlich der Rundenzeiten konnte ich mit unseren unmittelbaren Konkurrenten mithalten. Als dann der Regen kam, waren einige Streckenabschnitte nass, andere trocken, das erschwerte die Entscheidungen beim Reifenwechsel. Sowohl für mich wie auch für das Team war es eine schwierige Situation. Leider waren es insgesamt zu viele Boxenstopps. Wir müssen nun analysieren, was wir anders hätten machen müssen.

I’m so happy to end the team’s home race in 12th position. To be honest, this had not been the best weekend for me prior to the race, but it all came good when it mattered and I found the performance I needed to get ahead. When the weather started to change and we switched to the Inters, it was very difficult to know what would happen next because the conditions were hard to read. We were a long time on the Inters before the rain intensified, which meant that we had to pit again for a new set quite close to the end of the race. The team has made some good progress here this weekend, so it was good to give everyone a nice reward for all their hard work over the past few months in preparing for the new upgrade. It has been a great weekend racing in front of the home crowd, and now we look forward to the next race ahead of the summer break.

A good result for the team but incredibly frustrating for me. The weekend up until the race had been really positive and even in the early part of the race we were going strong on the option tyres, which were working really well for me. When it started to rain we stopped for Inters but we had 15 laps on them and the worst of the rain only lasted for a couple of laps. I was effectively on slicks by the end of the race and that’s what caused me to spin off and damage my nose. Overall, we have to look at the positives though. We’ve made a good step forward here, so well done to the team, and the support of my home crowd has been incredible. All in all it has been a special weekend and one to remember.

Not the best of endings to a race that was looking good... It was a tough start to the race and during the first stint I struggled a bit, but as soon as I pitted for another set of tyres we picked up the pace and started to push. From then on, it was all going really well, running comfortably in P9 and waiting for the rain to arrive, but suddenly my car just switched off and that was the end. It's a very frustrating way to end the weekend here at such an amazing track as Silverstone.

I was really optimistic and excited for this weekend but it didn’t work out for us on the day. We suffered an electrical problem which forced us to retire. I could feel the loss of power going into turn 7, we tried circulating for a few laps to try and fix it, we also tried to reboot the engine in the pits but unfortunately it didn’t work. The last few races haven’t been kind to us but that’s racing. We have some time off to look forward to and we’ll go into Hungary a little more hopeful as the track there should suit us better.

Das war ein unglücklicher Tag für mich. Als ich zur Startaufstellung fahren wollte, blockierte plötzlich mein Getriebe im sechsten Gang. Als ich dann zurück an die Boxen kam, stellten wir einen Getriebeschaden fest. Es ist sehr schade. Wenn man sich ansieht, wie viele Konkurrenten bei diesem Rennen ausgefallen sind, hätte das im Rennen auch grosse Chancen eröffnet. Nun müssen wir nach vorne schauen und uns auf das kommende Rennwochenende in Budapest konzentrieren.

“On lap one, there was an incident between two cars at the apex of Turn Three. Fernando tried to move to the right in order to miss them, and in so doing I think he lost the rear end and clipped my rear tyre. The impact lifted the car up and turned it off. With the engine not running, I had no option but to retire. “When you start towards the back, there’s always a greater chance that incidents may occur because the closing speeds between cars are much larger. “I just want to add that the crowd has been amazing all weekend – they were even clapping and cheering me after my race. It’s been such a nice atmosphere – very special – and I just wish I could have done more for them today.”

A very short race for me unfortunately. I didn't have the best of starts and I suffered from a lot of wheel-spin. Luckily I was able to escape from the crashes that happened in front of me, but when the race restarted after the Safety Car period I suddenly lost the rear of the car at Turn 2. Even though I only damaged the front wing a bit, I wasn't able to reverse and my race ended there. A shame, but we can't change it now so we just need to focus on the next race, keep my head up and come back stronger.

“There’s always a battle around tenth place if you’re in the mix, it was a good clean start but everyone is trying to make up places there,” he said. “I was surprised to be hit by Romain but he’s been caught by Ricciardo so it was a very confusing turn of events.” “At first I thought I had a puncture and would be able to return to the pits and re-join the race but unfortunately the damage to the car was more serious than that and I had to retire.”

“There were a lot of cars into turn three,” said the Frenchman. “Daniel came in hard and hit me, and I collided with the Sauber on the outside, breaking the front wing and it created a puncture. The car went left and I hit Pastor which was a shame.” “That was a very short race for the team and I feel for everyone here at Silverstone and at Enstone,” he said. “No-one likes to end a Grand Prix like that as so much effort goes into making and preparing the cars.”