British GP: Whiting nearly stopped race because of tyre failures

Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting has revealed that he came close to red-flagging the British Grand Prix in the wake of the multiple tyre failures.
With Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez and Jean-Eric Vergne all suffering major blow-outs in the early phases of the Silverstone race, Whiting says it had crossed his mind to stop the race on safety grounds.
"It was quite close to being red-flagged; it did occur to me to do that," explained Whiting after the race.
When asked if just one more failure in that phase of the race would have been enough, Whiting replied: "I'm not going to give a specific number. Obviously to clear up all that debris was putting marshals at risk, and it is not satisfactory.
"We haven't seen a failure like this before; we have seen other types of failure - and that is what has been addressed. So we need to analyse it very carefully to see if we can establish the cause."
Whiting said the FIA needed to get answers from Pirelli about what it believes caused the incident before it could establish a way forward.
"It is too early to draw any conclusions," said Whiting. "They have a lot of analysing to do, including the tyres that didn't fail – because maybe we will find something there that was on the verge of failing that will give us a better indicator of what happened.
"It is too early to say what will happen, so it's too early to say what needs to be done."
The tyre safety issue has been added to the agenda of next week's Sporting Working Committee meeting that was already scheduled to take place at the Nurburgring ahead of the German Grand Prix.
However, Whiting believed that the tyre situation needed to move forward before then – so solutions could be put in place.
"We will be on it first thing in the morning," he said. "Pirelli have got to analyse it, to try and find the cause. We need to make decisions earlier than Wednesday."

British GP: Formula 1 teams demand urgent action over tyre failures

Formula 1 is in a 'serious' situation as it works to come up with an urgent solution to the Pirelli tyre crisis, reckons McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
Although meetings are scheduled for this week - including a Sporting Working Committee gathering on Wednesday - to try to find a way forward for the sport, Whitmarsh believes that action is needed even before that.
"We clearly have a serious situation where we have to act responsibly, and respect Pirelli," said Whitmarsh, who saw his driver Sergio Perez suffer two tyre failures at Silverstone.
"They have to do the best they can. We have to make a decision urgently, as it gives you a much better chance than talking about it on Wednesday when you want to drive out of the garage Friday."
Whitmarsh claimed that the only solution that would guarantee no repeat of the dramas for next weekend's German Grand Prix was to revert to last year's tyres.
"In 2012 we were not having this problem," he said. "Therefore, if that is a known, established, durable specification, you would have thought that is the easiest thing to do."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner backed Whitmarsh's view that the best short-term solution was to go back to last year's specification.
"The most logical thing would be to go back to the tyres that worked well for them previously," he explained. "The tyres they had last year did not have these failures.
"They need to find a solution, and they need to address it. Whether they go back to last year's car or a different tyre they need a solution."
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier added: "Going back to the Kevlar belt from last year would be one solution.
"I don't know what they have in stock and how quick they can produce tyres. That is a question for Pirelli.
"It is a different track lay-out next weekend and first we need to find out what is causing these failures. But it is a concern."
FINAL ANSWER DOWN TO PIRELLI
Whitmarsh admitted, however, that the final answer would have to be left to Pirelli - as only it had the facts about what went wrong at Silverstone and what tyres it could bring to the Nurburgring.
"I don't think Formula 1 can possibly not respond to the events of this weekend," he said.
"I think there is an argument that the Nurburgring is a slightly less severe circuit than Silverstone, but we have Spa looming not long after that - and we would certainly not want to go there with these tyres.
"But we have to do what is practical. The schedule is tight and we have to work to support Pirelli."
When asked if there was even an argument for the German GP to be cancelled because of the tyre issue, Whitmarsh said: "If they have got sufficient quantities of the 2012 tyres then I have no doubt we go ahead with that as I sense that is a very safe thing to do.
"In fairness to Pirelli I don't know how they can respond in such short order but we have to do what we can to support them.
"We don't want an Indianapolis, but cancelling a race is a big step. We don't have all the technical insight Pirelli have. All I would ask is they do everything they can to give us the most durable tyres they can for next weekend."

British GP: Rosberg reprimanded, keeps victory

Nico Rosberg has been given a reprimand for failing to slowing sufficiently for yellow flags during the British Grand Prix, but his win is unaffected.
The Mercedes driver had been called up by the officials when he was reported for not taking proper heed of yellows in the Loop section mid-race.
As Rosberg's margin of victory over Mark Webber was only 0.7 seconds, any penalty risked costing him his third win of the 2013 Formula 1 season.
But with the stewards opting to stick to a reprimand, Rosberg's win is now fully official.
Rosberg picked up the lead when Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull stopped with gearbox trouble 10 laps from the end.
The second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton had led at first, before becoming the first of five cars to suffer a tyre blow-out.

British GP: Rosberg wins chaotic race amid tyre drama

Nico Rosberg fended off Mark Webber to win a thrilling British Grand Prix littered with tyre blow-outs and featuring a late retirement for championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was leading until he became the first man to suffer a tyre blow, with Vettel then controlling the race until his Red Bull lost drive in the closing stages.
That set up a thrilling finale as Vettel's team-mate Webber, who had fallen to 15th on lap one, hunted down Rosberg, while Fernando Alonso and the recovering Hamilton charged past Kimi Raikkonen into third and fourth.
Hamilton had established a two-second lead over Vettel, who jumped Rosberg off the line, by lap seven, when his left rear tyre blew going down the Wellington straight.
That was followed soon after by a seemingly identical failure for Felipe Massa. The Ferrari driver had thrust from 11th on the grid to fifth at the start and was pushing Adrian Sutil for third when his tyre gave well while accelerating out of the The Loop.
When Jean-Eric Vergne's left rear tyre also exploded on the approach to Stowe, the safety car came out for seven laps, with engineers urging their drivers to avoid the kerbs.
Vettel kept Rosberg at arm's length once the race restarted. Sutil ran third until leaving his second pitstop too late and being jumped by Raikkonen, Alonso and Webber. The Australian was on a charge from 15th after a slow start and a first-corner brush with Romain Grosjean, and overtook Alonso going into the closing stages.
Just as the result seemed settled, Vettel ground to a halt on the pits straight with a loss of drive.
With the stranded Red Bull prompting a safety car, Rosberg dived in for a third tyre stop and rejoined still ahead of Raikkonen. Webber and Alonso also went for tyres and dropped to fifth and eighth, elevating Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo to third and fourth.
Webber made sublime use of his fresh tyres to quickly pick off Ricciardo and Sutil, then battle past Raikkonen.
By the final lap the Red Bull was within a second of Rosberg, who held on to win by seven tenths of a second.
Alonso also made rapid progress on his new rubber, dodging the McLaren of Sergio Perez as it became yet another tyre-blow victim, then fighting through to third.
The recovering Hamilton followed through, demoting Raikkonen - who had questioned Lotus's decision not to pit under the late safety car - to fifth.
Massa climbed back to sixth after his puncture, with Sutil and Ricciardo pushed back to seventh and eighth ahead of Paul di Resta (from the back of the grid) and Nico Hulkenberg.
Jenson Button had been on course for points for McLaren until the final laps, when he was elbowed down to 13th.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
52 laps; 306.198km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   1h32:59.456
 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +     0.765
 3.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +     7.124
 4.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +     7.756
 5.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +    11.257
 6.  Massa          Ferrari                    +    14.573
 7.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +    16.335
 8.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    16.500
 9.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes       +    17.993
10.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +    19.700
11.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +    21.100
12.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +    25.000
13.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.900
14.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +    26.200
15.  Pic            Caterham-Renault           +    31.600
16.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +    36.000
17.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +  1:07.600
18.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +  1:07.700
19.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:33.401

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Perez          McLaren-Mercedes             47
Vettel         Red Bull-Renault             42
Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           36


World Championship standings, round 8:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        132        1.  Red Bull-Renault          219
 2.  Alonso        111        2.  Mercedes                  169
 3.  Raikkonen     100        3.  Ferrari                   168
 4.  Hamilton       87        4.  Lotus-Renault             126
 5.  Webber         87        5.  Force India-Mercedes       59
 6.  Rosberg        82        6.  McLaren-Mercedes           37
 7.  Massa          57        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         24
 8.  Di Resta       36        8.  Sauber-Ferrari              6
 9.  Grosjean       26       
10.  Button         25       
11.  Sutil          23       
12.  Vergne         13       
13.  Perez          12       
14.  Ricciardo      11       
15.  Hulkenberg      6       

British GP: Fernando Alonso urges struggling Ferrari not to panic

Fernando Alonso says Ferrari must remain calm and try to find solutions for its problems after struggling in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
The Spanish driver will start the race from 10th position after his car proved too slow to fight for a better position. Alonso finished over 1.3 seconds off pole position.
Team-mate Felipe Massa completed a poor day for Ferrari with 12th place on the grid.
Alonso conceded Ferrari needs to find more pace.
"It's almost the first time I remember that one of us is out of Q3 and the other is 10th," said Alonso. "We have to improve.
"We have to stay calm more than ever now things are not going well, just like when things are going well we don't have to get over-excited."
Alonso admitted his main target for the race was to gather an many points as possible, a goal he labelled as 'sad'.
"We'll try to get as many points as possible," he said. "It's a realistic goal, probably a sad goal, but we need to try to get as many points as possible.
"We have been doing poorly so far, but maybe tomorrow it will be better."
Massa also admitted Ferrari had gone backwards since the previous race.
"I think the car is not working like before," said Massa. "In Montreal the car was quick in the race, and even in qualifying the pace was better than what we have here.
"It was definitely more competitive there, so that's the biggest worry. I hope everything changes tomorrow and we see a competitive car in the race."

Raikkonen to race passive DRS in the British Grand Prix

Lotus's passive drag reduction system will make its race debut in tomorrow's British Grand Prix on Kimi Raikkonen's car.
The team has been trying to make the system work since first trialling it in practice for last year's German GP.
But despite being confident in its potential at the launch of this year's car, this is the first time it has run on a race weekend in 2013.
Raikkonen used the system - reckoned to have the potential to increase top speed to allow more wing to be run for the corners without compromising pace on the straights - during qualifying, meaning it must run tomorrow.
The Finn, who was ninth fastest in qualifying, admitted that he had hoped for more from the design, but that there was nothing to be lost by running it.
"We hoped for a bit more from it but let's see how it behaves tomorrow and hopefully it helps us with the race pace.
"You always want more from new parts, but I guess we are where we are right now and hopefully we can go forward.
"If we never try things, we will never learn anything and we will never start using it.
"I don't really see that we have much to lose because without trying something new and finding a chunk of time we will not catch the guys in front of us."
Silverstone is an obvious choice for trialling the passive DRS because of the number of high-speed straights.
The design uses a fluid switch to redirect airflow to stall the rear wing once the car hits a specific speed.
But the team has struggled to consistently get the switch to de-activate when the car decelerates, leading to the potential problem that a car could lack rear downforce when a driver first hits the brakes for a corner.
At the launch of the Lotus E21, then-technical director James Allison, explained that it was easier to make the design work at certain track configurations.
"It all depends on how good we are engineering it," said Allison of how often the device could be used.
"It's possible to imagine it being useful at every circuit. If we do a less good job than that, then it will only be at certain circuits, like Spa, where even a relatively crudely placed switch can bludgeon its way to a decent gain."

British GP: revised starting grid after Paul di Resta penalty

The British Grand Prix grid changed post-qualifying for all bar the Mercedes and Red Bulls, as Paul di Resta's exclusion from the results dropped his Force India from fifth to the back.
Di Resta's penalty for being underweight brings Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso into the top five. Force India still has a car on row three, as Adrian Sutil is elevated to sixth.
Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde was set to start last as he had a 10-place penalty for colliding with Nico Hulkenberg while being lapped in Canada.
But di Resta's issue cancels out that punishment, as it brings van der Garde back up to 21st, which was where he had originally qualified.
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg share the front row, followed by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes
 2.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault
 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault
 5.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari
 6.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes
 7.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault
 9.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari
10.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes
11.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes
14.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari
15.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault
17.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari
18.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault
19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth
20.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth
21.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault
22.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes

FIA post-qualifying press conference

DRIVERS: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
Q: Lewis, a great lap there at the end to take pole position at your home grand prix. How does that feel?
Lewis Hamilton: It’s incredible! It feels just like it did in 2007.  Just to see the crowd here today is fantastic – such a great turnout from everyone. So that was a lap for them. I hope that tomorrow we can do something special for them but this is really down to the team. They’ve been doing a phenomenal job, improving the car constantly. I haven’t been feeling 100 per cent comfortable all weekend – so I was really happy to finally get a lap.
Q: Nico, your thoughts on qualifying. That’s the fifth time in six races that Mercedes has been on pole position – and disputing it between you two as well. So, your thoughts on today.
Nico Rosberg: It’s definitely a really, really great feeling, to go into qualifying and having such a car. To definitely have the fastest car… it’s really, really cool. It’s a great job that the team has done to get us to where we are now. And we’re also improving on Sundays – hopefully. I’m confident we have improved so tomorrow should be a bit better. I’m sure that still there are going to be other teams that are a little bit stronger than us but maybe starting on front for sure is going to help and maybe it’s going to still be possible to get a great result.
Q: Sebastian, there seemed to be some different tactics at play with regard to tomorrow’s race in terms of your saving one tyre of tyre, Mercedes saving another type of tyre. You see this as a very tactical type of weekend clearly.
Sebastian Vettel: We’ll obvious see what happens tomorrow. It’s a long race but honestly very happy today. I don’t know, either Lewis found a short cut or he has something special around here. A phenomenal lap. I think it wasn’t in reach today. I was very happy with the lap I had at the end. And I think it was very close with Mark as well. I think we did what we could for the team and, yeah, it’s always nice to position well in qualifying. Especially around here qualifying is good fun, enjoying the high-speed corners and looking forward to tomorrow, for the race. We’ll see how well we are with tyres, looking after them. But as I said, for now very happy for the team. Hard to put the car in third place, Mark right behind, so I think it’s a good position to start from. Obviously our factory is very close to this track. Milton Keynes is not far away and yeah, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
Q: Lewis, we’ve seen obviously this year quite a few times that qualifying is one thing but the race is another. What about tomorrow? How do you feel Mercedes will fare against the Red Bulls in the British Grand Prix?
LH: I think undoubtedly it’s going to be tough for us to keep Sebastian behind but our long run pace wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen in the past, so I’m hoping with the temperatures and a bit of care, we can nurture the tyres to get a good result. I’m going to be pushing, giving it my all tomorrow, as I’m sure Nico will as well, to finish up ahead.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, difficult day for you yesterday, as you were saying in your comments after the free practice. You weren’t happy with the balance of the car. It’s quite a turn around from you and the team. Can you talk a little bit about that - and also the crowd power aspect of things: did you feel that today?
LH: The car is… obviously as Nico was saying, we’ve got a great car and to fine-tune it seems to be a little bit harder than what I’ve been experiencing in the past. So really trying to get the car underneath me and feeling comfortable and having an equal balance. With a Formula One car you’re always trying to balance it on a knife-edge. Just for some reason with this car I’m struggling to do that. In the past I would aim do that all the time. But got closer. We made the right steps, made a change going into qualifying which helped - still not perfect but it helped. And then the crowd to make a huge difference. After seeing them turn up in their thousands and seeing all the flags waving. Of course this weekend I come here with an extra boost of energy and just want to pay them back. Every year I come… this is the first time since 2008 that I’ve had a car that I’ve really been able to compete with so I’m really, really proud of what the team have done and I hope the fans can have a good evening and bring us some good luck tomorrow.
Q: Nico, we mentioned earlier on that the last six races have really been all about this, particularly in qualifying, between the two of you. You’ve had the upper hand a few times, Lewis has had the upper hand a few times. Can you talk a little bit about how you’re enjoying this in-house battle with someone you’ve known and raced against for such a long time?
NR: Yeah, it’s a big battle we have, and usually it’s very close - not today - Lewis did a great lap in the end. It’s also a really, really big push, also for the whole team, that we’re pushing each other all the time, and that’s really good. We’re really lucky because we have a great atmosphere at the moment in the team, everybody’s going in the same direction and sticking together, so it’s fantastic momentum that we have at the moment.
Q: Sebastian, do you feel that you’ve got the most complete package for this weekend? Obviously you’ve given a bit away in qualifying but you’re here, some of your rivals for the championship are behind you tomorrow, how’s your approach?
SV: Well, certainly we’re not giving away anything consciously or on purpose. They are bloody quick in qualifying, I think that’s what it is. I think we are not too bad but obviously they seem to be in a different world on Saturday afternoons. I think something, yeah, they manage pretty well around the tyres which allows them to get a very, very strong lap in. Plus Nico and Lewis are doing a great job. Doesn’t help if you want to qualify on pole. But points are scored on Sunday and the last couple of races have been pretty good for us.  I think, to sum it up in both - in qualifying and in race - so for sure today I think P3 was our maximum but for tomorrow y’know, who knows? They are also getting better. It helps the more time we spend on the tyres - let’s leave it there - and yeah, I think we all try to understand more and more and as the season goes on we do get better and there’s less and less room for improvement. For the moment it seems that we have a strong car in the race, maybe a little bit better than the Mercedes. Whether it will be like that tomorrow? Well, we’ll find out. But that’s the fun part. I’m looking forward to finding out.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Kate Walker - GP Week) Lewis, obviously none of us experience putting together a pole lap like the one we just watched and it really was a phenomenal performance. Could you explain what it’s like actually sitting in the cockpit; do you sit there completing your sectors going ‘ wow, I’m really on it’ or is it only afterwards that you realise how well you’ve done?
LH: No. You have a delta time on your dashboard so you can tell as soon as you cross the line into turn one and when you start the lap whether you’re up or not and so you kind of keep checking it, halfway through, after each corner, after each sector so already by turn nine I could see that I was two and a half tenths up and you just don’t want to lose that, so you have to take extra care after that, but also you want to improve. But yeah, you also feel that it’s a feeling having the tyres up to temperature, the brakes up to temperature and the car just beneath you and not trying to get away from you. Sometimes it is like a wild bull, you’re trying to tame it which is very very difficult to do. But when you do, and you pull out a lap like that, it really felt like 2007. I couldn’t hear anyone still, because the car’s too loud, hopefully I got a good roar today.
Q: It looked like the track improved a lot, two or three tenths improvement from session to session this afternoon.
LH: Yeah, each time we go out we seemed to... which is kind of normal but it’s quite a good surface here at Silverstone so the grip does continue to go down (on the circuit) and hopefully that will be good for us tomorrow.
Q: (Julian Harris - City AM) My question is for Lewis as well: are you still learning this car, are you still finding out more each week and do you think you’re getting better in each race, or do you think you’ve pretty much got it sussed now?
LH: I definitely haven’t got it sussed. This weekend’s been a tough weekend. Every weekend is tough, even if you are used to a car it’s tough but I really have been struggling with the car, trying to tune it, trying to get it to behave the way I want it to, and then drive it and extract what I want from it. Out of all the cars I’ve driven, it’s one of the hardest cars to drive. So when you pull it together, it’s a great car and obviously very quick. Each weekend I’m working as hard as I can, each weekend it does feel like it’s improving a little bit. We made another improvement on the brakes this weekend which is another step in the right direction so I hope we can continue going forwards.
Q: (Peter Farkas - Auto-Motor, Hungary) Lewis, obviously Paddy Lowe is now at Mercedes and he is here, working with you. Is it a boost for you personally to have him in the team since you have known him for a long time, and did you influence the decision that he would join the team in any way?
LH: I don’t believe I had any influence on him coming here. I think that was a decision of his and Ross and Toto. Is it a boost? It’s a boost to the team. We already have some incredibly talented people in the team, doing fantastic things and coming up with great designs but the stronger the package, the better it is for everyone. He’s a good addition to the team and hopefully he will only help us moving forwards.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you started Q2 with hard tyres. It looks like you are very comfortable with tyre wear... No?
SV: You said I started Q2 on the hard tyres?
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Yes.
SV: No. I did only one run in Q2 with the soft tyres, well, medium.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Well, it looks like you are very comfortable with tyre wear for the race. Is that correct?
SV: Well, it depends. I think comfortable or not depends on where the others are. I think we were happy with the runs that we had yesterday. I had another one this morning, so I think we are pretty happy with that but it’s difficult to judge, because you don’t know what fuel loads other people are running, the usual stuff, so we will find out tomorrow plus in the race it’s always a little bit different. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter which is nice for the crowd after the last couple of years, I think it was always quite miserable on Friday, so now we’ve had a good Saturday and tomorrow, as I said, again a little bit warmer so it could change the balance of the car and how the tyres work. I think we’ve saved as many tyres as we could and the ones that we liked so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, Alonso is only tenth today. It’s good news, thinking about the championship?
SV: Well, I didn’t really think about that. I think it’s not good news for him. For sure he wanted to be a little bit higher up as well as Ferrari. It’s a bit of a surprise. I think they’ve been very competitive here the last couple of years but this is also a circuit - let’s not forget - where the balance is very important so even if you have a good car, if it’s not coming together it can make a big difference, especially over one lap. And the other thing, that’s why I’m not too interested to look at the results today. In the race we’ve seen that a lot of things can happen and people starting from further back can still score a lot of points and come through the field, so I think in terms of race pace and tyre wear they will be strong tomorrow and surely, should everything go as per plan for them, they will finish higher up than tenth. Everything else, I think, would be a surprise.
Q: (Sarah Holt - CNN.com) Lewis, before you got in the car before qualifying, we saw you wave to the crowd. Did you feel, having lost pole to Nico over the last few races, that you needed to psyche yourself up and find something extra today?
LH: Not really. It’s not about psyching myself up because I’m always mad for it, I’m always on the limit, I’m always on the edge. I always have the determination and the will but it’s just trying to get my car to where I want it to be so when I went out there, I was hoping that my car was where I wanted it to be and it’s also... The fans sit there for a long long time during the day and don’t really get to see our faces so it’s the one opportunity that I do get to see them and try to extract what I can from them, because the support means a lot.
Q: (Derek Bish - Anglia Newspapers) Lewis, you’ve obviously been here in junior formulas as well; what sets apart the Lewis Hamilton that puts together a lap like that today from the one who was here in GP2 and before that?
LH: Yeah, my age, getting older, older and wiser, I think. I’m still very much like the GP2 driver I was. I just have more knowledge now. Of course, we all change over time but yeah, I think I’m a little bit more sensible and a little bit better at making decisions than I was back then. And hopefully that approach helps me win in the car.
Q: (Phil Agius - Racing Post) Sebastian, Toro Rosso have been going well this weekend and I think Daniel Ricciardo is sixth on the grid. Would you be comfortable with another Australian teammate next season?
SV: I think first you should see the individual rather than the country where he comes from but surely I haven’t got a problem with Australia. I like going there, it’s a nice track, we go every year too, so I’m looking forward to going back next year. Congratulations to Daniel. It seems that both of them, the whole weekend... I don’t know what happened to Jean-Eric in qualifying but both of them had a car that was good enough to show their potential so happy for them and hopefully they can keep it up throughout the race and score some good points for the team. In a way, obviously, we’re all fighting for ourselves; secondly we are fighting for our team but obviously we have more connection to Toro Rosso than Mercedes for example so not a surprise is it? So yeah, all the best to Daniel and Jean-Eric tomorrow.

Kris Meeke secures factory Citroen for Rally Finland

Kris Meeke will return to a factory World Rally Championship seat in Finland to stand in for Khalid Al Qassimi at Citroen next month.
Al Qassimi has to miss the event due to business commitments, leaving a vacancy in the car Citroen runs under the Abu Dhabi banner.
Meeke, the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion, has not had a top WRC seat since the Prodrive Mini programme was cut back at the end of 2011.
"This is an incredible opportunity for us," said Meeke.
"Taking part in Rally Finland in a DS3 WRC is a dream that I didn't think would become reality one day.
"We're going to benefit from the advice and expertise of a team that has won the world championship eight times. We therefore have every chance of securing a good result."
Al Qassimi said he was excited to see what Meeke achieves in Finland.
"Kris has real potential as a driver and has the maturity you need to enjoy a sensible and efficient race," he said.
"I'd like to give him the chance to express himself fully at this unusual event. I hope he is very successful there."
Meeke's main programme this season is testing with Peugeot ahead of its return to top-level rally with its new R5 car. He is driving the R5 as a course car on the European Rally Championship round in Ypres this weekend.

Lotus agrees to modify suspension for the German Grand Prix

Lotus will make small modifications to its suspension for the next race at Germany following a rules clarification from the FIA.
McLaren asked the governing body at the British Grand Prix whether or not the design of the Lotus suspension was allowed.
Although the Woking-based team declined to comment on the matter, it is understood the issue relates to the maximum number of suspension components that can be connected together for an upright.
Article 10.5.2 of F1's Technical Regulations states: "The loads from the suspension members and wheel bearings must individually and entirely be carried by the suspension upright.
"Exceptionally up to three suspension members may be connected together by titanium, aluminium alloy or steel components before their load is passed into the upright."
It is suggested that the Lotus design could be interpreted as having four suspension members connected together, rather than the maximum three.
The Lotus view of this regulation was different to that of McLaren's and, following an investigation by the FIA, it has been agreed that modifications will be made for the German Grand Prix.
Lotus sources have indicated that the required changes to conform to the FIA's clarification are minor, and will not affect the competitiveness of the car.

British GP: Hamilton storms to pole ahead of Rosberg

Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for his home grand prix in Britain by a commanding 0.4-second margin.
Hamilton won a huge battle with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg as the silver cars monopolised the qualifying contest again.
A 1m30.096s early in Q3 gave Hamilton the initial advantage by a tenth and a half.
Rosberg beat that with a 1m30.059s on his second run, but Hamilton was already responding.
He came through to set a 1m29.607s and take a comfortable pole, his first at Silverstone since 2007.
Red Bull was Mercedes' main rival, but Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had to be content with the second row. They were just 0.009s apart.
Hamilton was not the only Briton to star, as Paul di Resta added to the home crowd's excitement with fifth on the grid for Force India.
His team-mate Adrian Sutil was up in seventh, behind the sensational Daniel Ricciardo. His Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was way back in 13th.
Ferrari struggled badly. Fernando Alonso was only 10th fastest, beaten by the muted Lotuses as well as the flying underdogs, while Felipe Massa failed to get out of Q2 and will start 12th.
Despite predicting on Friday that Q3 would be impossible for McLaren, a mighty late-Q2 lap from Jenson Button almost got him into the top 10.
Unfortunately for the Woking team, Raikkonen squeezed ahead by 0.057s, leaving Button 11th. His team-mate Sergio Perez was 0.4s and three places further back.
One race on from his incredible Montreal qualifying result, it was back to reality for Valtteri Bottas. He was eliminated in Q1 and will start one place behind Williams team-mate Pastor Maldonado in 17th.
Sauber's year continued in the same disappointing vein too, with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez 15th and 18th.
Max Chilton was troubled to end up slowest in his first Formula 1 qualifying session at home, especially with Marussia team-mate Jules Bianchi 1.7s faster (although he was behind Caterham's Charles Pic in the backmarker shootout).
But Chilton will not start last as Giedo van der Garde will drop back due to his penalty for tangling with Mark Webber in Montreal.

Pos Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m29.607s
 2. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m30.059s  + 0.452s
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.211s  + 0.604s
 4. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m30.220s  + 0.613s
 5. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m30.736s  + 1.129s
 6. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m30.757s  + 1.150s
 7. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m30.908s  + 1.301s
 8. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m30.955s  + 1.348s
 9. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m30.962s  + 1.355s
10. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m30.979s  + 1.372s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m31.592s                                   Gap **
11. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m31.649s  + 0.659s
12. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m31.779s  + 0.789s
13. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m31.785s  + 0.795s
14. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m32.082s  + 1.092s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.211s  + 1.221s
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m32.359s  + 1.369s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m32.512s                                   Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m32.664s  + 1.669s
18. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.666s  + 1.671s
19. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m33.866s  + 2.871s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m34.108s  + 3.113s
21. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m35.481s  + 4.486s
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.858s  + 4.863s

107% time: 1m37.364s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Red Bull seeks Pirelli test clarification after Mercedes verdict

Red Bull has requested formal clarification from the FIA about whether it is now free to test a 2011, or even a 2013 Formula 1 car, following the Mercedes test affair.
Amid a renewed focus on testing restrictions following the FIA International Tribunal hearing into Mercedes' running of its current car after the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull wants to know more about what is and is not allowed.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has written to F1 race director Charlie Whiting asking for further details about testing limitations.
In the letter, Horner has asked for Whiting to specify whether there are circumstances under which Red Bull could participate in a Pirelli test with its 2013 car if certain conditions were met - as were originally laid down to Mercedes in correspondence with the FIA prior to its own test.
He also questions the exact procedures for approving the tests, as well as whether or not the team needs formal approval from the FIA's World Motor Sport Council, as was suggested in the Tribunal hearing.
Furthermore, in light of it emerging that Ferrari had conducted two Pirelli tests - one in 2012 and one before this year's Spanish Grand Prix - with full FIA approval, Red Bull wants to know if it too can run a 2011 car at tracks shortly before grands prix are due to take place.
In particular, it wants the FIA to clarify whether an unlimited mileage test at a venue prior to it holding a grand prix, conducted by race drivers, using a 2011 car that 'conforms substantially' with the current rules, is OK.
This is in reference to Article 22.1 that outlaws testing undertaken by a competitor with a car from the current year or previous year, as well as those that 'conform substantially' with the current technical regulations.
Red Bull sources have indicated that the letter is not an attempt to challenge the recent ruling – or open the way for it to conduct 2011 car tests before each grand prix – but simply a way to clarify what is and is not allowed so it knows the situation.
PIRELLI PLANNING MORE TESTS
F1 tyre supplier Pirelli has two further private tests planned over the next month as part of its preparation process for 2014, and has invited all teams to take part if they wish to do so.
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said that there had not been much interest from teams in the test, while further clarifications were sought from the FIA.
"There hasn't been a huge take up – although there are a couple of teams that have asked," he said.
"There are some clarifications from the FIA, Red Bull being one of them, asking clarification on what terms you could run and what car you could run - and does it have to go to the WMSC to get approval.
"We are all asking for clarification about how that can happen.
"In two weeks' time we are in Paul Ricard and two weeks after that we are in Barcelona. All the teams are invited to that – either to do 1000km, which nobody is coming to, or send an observer, which a few teams might send somebody along to."

Raikkonen: 2014 decision will be a tough one

Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he will face a difficult choice should he be in a position to pick between a Lotus and a Red Bull seat for 2014.
Raikkonen’s contract with Lotus expires at the end of this season and Red Bull have a vacancy following confirmation that Mark Webber will leave Formula One racing at the end of the year.
"Whatever the decision, it will not be easy, but it is never easy," said the Finn. "It is not the first time that there are different options on the table, and then you take the one that you think is right at that moment.
"So it is hard to say if it is the right or wrong decision and you have to live with it. Only you can make the decision yourself."
Raikkonen, world champion in 2007, returned to the grid in 2012 after a two-year hiatus. He admitted that Lotus has been a great environment for him - and that it won’t only be the car that determines whether he goes elsewhere next season.
“It has been perfect. Without them I wouldn't be back in F1," he said. "For sure they also got some good things out of it, so I have no complaints. Obviously there are certain things that have to improve but I have had a great time with the team so far. That is why whatever the decision will be will be difficult.
"Obviously you want to have a good car and certain things have to be right, but there are a lot of small things that have to be right for yourself. I've been in the business long enough to know what I want and if those things are not right then the decision might be different."
Asked if he would relish the prospect of racing alongside his good friend Sebastian Vettel, Raikkonen insisted he would have no issues with partnering the three-time world champion.
“I have no problem to race with him. I’ve never been in a position to choose who I drive with so it doesn’t change anything. If it would happen it would obviously probably be easier than with some other drivers.”
Red Bull have made it clear they will not be rushing into any driver decisions, especially with two up-and-coming F1 racers - Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne - already on their books at sister team Toro Rosso.

Formula 1 to introduce penalty point system in 2014

Formula 1 will introduce a licence penalty point system to penalise drivers next season.
Drivers who accumulate more than 12 points will be automatically banned from the next race.
This proposal has been under discussion since late last year with a trial points system running unofficially this year to evaluate its effectiveness.
This move has been made to allow stewards to take into account repeat offenders, with Romain Grosjean's one-race ban after triggering a first-corner accident at Spa believed to have been motivated partly by his record of incidents in previous races.
Currently, the only cumulative mechanism available is one of reprimands, with a driver receiving three being hit with a 10-place grid penalty.
It is understood that causing a dangerous collision will be worth three penalty points, with more extreme offences worth as many as five points.
"A penalty point system for drivers will be introduced," said an FIA statement.
"If a driver accumulates more than 12 points he will be banned from the next race.
"Points will stay on the driver's licence for 12 months.
"The amount of points a driver may be given for infringements will vary from one to three depending upon the severity of the offence."
The rules dictating how drivers must hand back any advantage gained from leaving the track will also been tightened up.
This will ensure that situations such as Fernando Alonso having to give Sergio Perez a place under the safety car at Monaco are handled consistently in future.
"The procedure for a driver to be given the chance to give back any advantage he may have gained by leaving the track has been adopted," said the FIA.
OTHER SPORTING REGULATION CHANGES
* Mercedes has been given permission to supply a maximum of four teams with engines next year - Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Force India.
* All team personnel working on a car in a pitstop during races must now wear head protection.
* An extra set of tyres will be available for every driver during the first 30 minutes of Friday morning practice to increase track time.
* Each driver can only use five engines (which is divided into five individual modules) during the season. Any changes of individual components, such as the turbocharger, motor-generator unit or energy store, will lead to a 10-place grid penalty, with any driver using a complete new power unit having to start from the pits.
* Only one engine can be homologated during the homologation period, which runs from 2014-2020. Changes are permitted for installation, reliability or cost-saving reasons.
* Gearboxes must now be used for six consecutive events, an increase of one on the current rules.
* The pitlane speed limit has been changed to 80km/h for the whole race weekend. Previously, in practice and qualifying the limit was 60km/h with 100km/h the limit for all races except Monaco.
For the full FIA World Motor Sport Council decision, click here

British GP: Lewis Hamilton reprimanded over pit entry move

Lewis Hamilton has been reprimanded for making a late entry to the pitlane during second practice for the British Grand Prix.
Formula 1 drivers had been instructed to keep to the right of a bollard at the pitlane entry if they planned to come into the pits at the Silverstone circuit.
However, Hamilton did not follow that instruction so was called to see the stewards.
A report by the stewards said that Hamilton had only been given a reprimand because he did not risk the safety of other competitors.
"As no other cars were in the vicinity, the offence is not regarded as too dangerous and it did not impede another competitor," said the stewards.
The reprimand is Hamilton's first of the season.
Hamilton was not the only driver to fall foul of the stewards at Silverstone on Friday.
Williams was fined €1000 for Valtteri Bottas speeding in the pitlane in second free practice, while Lotus was reprimanded for an unsafe pitstop release for Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A - Next team mate not my call

Sebastian Vettel had a slow start to his Silverstone race weekend, not even setting a time in the wet first practice session on Friday. In the afternoon session, the Red Bull driver ended up third quickest, just behind his much-talked about team mate, Mark Webber...
Q: Sebastian, as many suspected, your team mate Mark Webber will retire from Formula One at the end of the season. Have there been discussions about who will be your new team mate? How much influence will you have on that process?
Sebastian Vettel: I have no idea right now – and I do not really expect that the team will involve me in the search. It would be nice, of course, to get asked if you have a good relationship, but bear in mind that we only found out yesterday morning that Mark has decided to stop racing in Formula One, so the situation is rather new for all of us and no route has been defined.
Q: Wouldn’t it be logical now to turn to one of the guys from Toro Rosso as both Jean-Eric (Vergne) and Daniel (Ricciardo) have shown a significant rise in performance? And what about Kimi Raikkonen?
SV: Of course it makes sense to look at the junior team if you have one, but I don’t know if that is mandatory - in any case it is not my call. So yes, it would make sense - but it also makes sense to look around and get the best possible choice for the team. Let’s put it this way: one driver will stay, one has decided to leave, and over the next couple of weeks there will be a decision made to fill up this void! (laughs)
Q: There is a little over half the season to go. Do you expect a change now that Mark has made his decision?
SV: No, why? We will fight for results as we have always done. It will not be easier from now on - nor more difficult. We are professionals and have been the most successful driver pairing over the last few years - and that is what we will try to be for the rest of the season.
Q: If you can imagine ten years on from now - would you have made Mark’s decision if you were in a similar situation?
SV: Ha, how can I even remotely imagine ten years from now? One thing is for sure: we drivers all love racing, but then there will come a point where you will move on, either because you've have enough of F1 or because other challenges come your way.
Q: Kimi Raikkonen again expressed that he is getting along very well with you - is the feeling still mutual?
SV: Yes.
Q: Is that a vote of confidence for him being your new team mate?
SV: As I said: it is not my call to make a decision! We get along very well, we have never had an issue on the track, and should there one day be an issue we will sit down and talk. That is all that can be said right now. But in the end it is not so important who your team mate is: you want to beat them everyone - including your team mate.
Q: Will you miss Mark?
SV: Well, we've all known about his decision for one day so this fact still has to sink in. For several years the team has stayed unchanged so when we've moved on to a new season you knew what to expect and didn’t think about it. But now it will be different - and I wouldn’t use the word ‘afraid’ but ‘unknown’. So let's wait and see what that ‘unknown’ will be. 
Q: Then let's ask the question another way: your relationship with Mark has not been the easiest lately, is there a certain amount of relief to see him leave?
SV: No, I don’t think that way. I have enormous respect for him as a driver - and off track I would say that many things have been hyped more than they should have. If you look at other team parings there are worse ‘couples’ than us. (laughs) There was probably a generation gap, but it was never a situation where you wanted a change at all costs.
Q: Did the Malaysia incident (where Vettel appeared to ignore team orders to overtake Webber) have anything to do with Mark’s decision do you think? What’s your guess?
SV: I don’t think so. If you remember back to Turkey 2010 we also had a different opinion on how things should go, but we had very successful years after that.
Q: Lets go back to this weekend’s racing at Silverstone. What are your expectations for yourself - and what about Ferrari?
SV: Well, I think we have shown that we can be successful on pretty much all tracks. Sure we could have been better in China and Barcelona, but that’s how it went and I think we should be competitive here. Of course Ferrari will, again, be a factor. In the past they’ve always been good here, so why should that change?
Q: Rumour has it that Adrian Newey has designed a new rear suspension that you have on the car - is that so?
SV: We never comment on any specific parts that are new on the car, but yes, we are bringing updates to every race so we also have new bits and pieces here. It is nothing that you see at first glance, but that is how it is this season - everything is more in the detail and less obvious. From what we’ve experienced it was a pretty good day today. At least I felt really comfortable.
Q: How would you judge today’s times?
SV: It’s Friday and the conditions have been far from ideal - what more do I have to say? What counts is that I feel comfortable in the car and that I feel that we still can squeeze more out tomorrow. For the race it will - as always - be important to have good tyre management as this track is rather hard on the tyres.
Q: So what do you expect from the race? It’s been quite a while - since Monza 2011 - that you’ve won a race in Europe...
SV: I don’t think that this statistic is of real relevance for Sunday. We came here to deliver a great race - hopefully one that we win. Silverstone is a track that I like and if the car supports that than it is even better. From what I have experienced today I would say it looks pretty good!

Mercedes newcomer Paddy Lowe says no awkwardness with Ross Brawn

Paddy Lowe says there is no awkwardness between himself and Ross Brawn at Mercedes, even though he has arrived at the squad with long term plans to become its new team principal.
The former McLaren technical director has been lined up as current boss Brawn's eventual successor, but in the interim has joined Mercedes as its executive director (technical).
Although making no secret of the fact that he feels ready to replace Brawn when the time is right, Lowe says he is fully focused on working with him right now.
"When I arrived on the Monday four weeks ago, the first person to greet me and spend an hour with a cup of coffee was Ross," said Lowe at the British Grand Prix on Friday, as he made his first appearance at an F1 race this year.
"He was genuinely delighted to see my arrival and get me stuck into the business. I think that will give you a sign that he is not threatened by my position.
"He is very happy that I joined the company. I am very happy to work with him. I have known and had huge respect for Ross for 20 or more years; although unfortunately normally he has been mostly beating the team I was with!"
Lowe said that no decision had been made yet on when Brawn would move on from his current role, and said he was happy to bide his time and work within the current infrastructure.
"Ross is team principal at the moment," explained Lowe. "We don't know how long he will want to remain team principal. Those plans are not made.
"I have come in to strengthen the team in its existing form, which I can do. There is a great deal to be done and I have already started to augment what we have got.
"What the future brings in terms of progression from there remains to be seen. It is not set or defined at the moment."
When asked if he would feel ready to step up if Brawn decided to move aside as soon as the end of 2013, Lowe said: "I would be fine with that if that is how it turns out.
"I think I have got what it takes to take that on. We have got Toto [Wolff, Mercedes motorsport boss] as well, who is a great asset to the team.
"I actually really enjoy working with Toto. He has a very refreshing attitude. He is very good in the commercial space and he respects my ability in the technical space so we are already working well on that basis."

Matt Morris joins McLaren from Sauber

McLaren has confirmed that former Sauber chief designer Matt Morris is to join the team as its new engineering director.
Morris will be switching to McLaren when he is released from his contract at Sauber, and will work under its technical director Tim Goss.
A McLaren spokesperson said: "Matt Morris will join McLaren Racing as engineering director once his current contractual situation with Sauber is resolved.
"Matt will work for our technical director, Tim Goss, to ensure our engineering standards and technical decision-making capabilities are of the highest quality.
"During a period of intense technical challenge within Formula 1, Matt's appointment is the first step in an ongoing programme to strengthen the engineering department as our organisation prepares for the arrival of Honda in 2015."
McLaren sporting director Sam Michael believes Morris's arrival is a boost to the team's engineering strength.
He expects Morris to have a significant input into the development of the McLaren-Honda partnership, although the 2014 car will also be part of his remit.
"It is good news, especially with the amount of work we have now with all the regulation changes but also with the Honda project," said Michael.
"He will definitely help us add to that engineering strength.
"I'm looking forward to him joining. I worked with him at Williams, where he was head of transmissions, so he will fit in very well with [technical director] Tim [Goss].
Michael was unable to confirm when Morris would be taking up his new post with McLaren.

British GP: Rosberg puts Mercedes on top in FP2

Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on top in a mostly dry second practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
After the morning downpour and consequent dearth of running, teams wasted no time in getting straight out on a still-damp track at the start of the afternoon.
The circuit was dry enough for slicks within 10 minutes and Rosberg was among the pacesetters from the outset.
Force India's Adrian Sutil, morning practice leader Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso and world champion Sebastian Vettel all had multiple spells on top as the times settled down over the following half an hour.
But then with 40 minutes remaining, Rosberg put in a 1m32.248s to claim a first place he would not lose, as teams then made their habitual switch to longer runs.
Vettel was second at that point, but his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber demoted him to third when he rejoined after a long spell in the garage.
Force India took fourth and eighth on the first day of running at its home track, with Paul di Resta quicker than Sutil by the end.
Di Resta's fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton was just one place further back in fifth, but Jenson Button's McLaren was only 11th.
Ricciardo and Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne showed very encouraging pace in sixth and seventh.
Lotus duo Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were down in ninth and 13th.
Ferrari had a disappointing session too. Fernando Alonso was only 10th, while his team-mate Felipe Massa crashed at Stowe after just seven laps.
The Brazilian ran slightly wide through the corner when the track was still a little damp and spun back into the opposite wall, mangling the Ferrari's front end.

Pos Driver                Team                  Time      Gap        Laps
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m32.248s             33
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m32.547s  + 0.299s   26
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m32.680s  + 0.432s   31
 4. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m32.832s  + 0.584s   34
 5. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m32.911s  + 0.663s   28
 6. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m33.171s  + 0.923s   34
 7. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m33.290s  + 1.042s   38
 8. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m33.313s  + 1.065s   34
 9. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m33.322s  + 1.074s   38
10. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m33.494s  + 1.246s   32
11. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.740s  + 1.492s   29
12. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.896s  + 1.648s   36
13. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m34.120s  + 1.872s   30
14. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.130s  + 1.882s   29
15. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.998s  + 2.750s   32
16. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m35.070s  + 2.822s   29
17. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m35.127s  + 2.879s   35
18. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m35.802s  + 3.554s   27
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m35.984s  + 3.736s   32
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m36.079s  + 3.831s   35
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.329s  + 5.081s   33
22. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m43.466s  + 11.218s   7

Felipe Massa confident of new Formula 1 contract for 2014

Felipe Massa is confident that he will remain in Formula 1 next year, even though he has no guarantees of a new Ferrari contract.
The Brazilian has showed improved form this year but after seven races still lies 47 points adrift of team-mate Fernando Alonso - and his tally will be vital amid a tight constructors' championship battle.
Massa's chances of being retained by Ferrari are boosted with one his potential rivals for the seat, Mark Webber, announcing this weekend that he is switching to sportscars.
But Massa knows nothing can be taken for granted amid the annual battle for leading race seats.
"I am confident I will be here [in Formula 1]," said Massa, when asked about his feelings on the future.
"I think I have a good chance to stay at Ferrari, so we wait and see. I think I will just concentrate on the races, because the result is what counts for me.
"I am just looking forward to having good races and I am optimistic that I will stay in Formula 1 and a good chance to stay here [at Ferrari]."
Massa said that until Ferrari had decided what it wanted to do he had to keep an eye out for other options on the grid, including the vacant Red Bull seat.
"I think when you have a team that is winning championships and is winning the last three years, I think it is always an opportunity," he explained.
"Everybody wants to drive in a quick car; but as I said, I am happy where I am and there is a good chance to stay here.
"But for sure we need to be open in case there is not a possibility to stay here. We need to be open for everywhere."
Although Webber has elected to turn his back on F1 for a switch to sportscars with Porsche, Massa has ruled out a move to endurance racing.
"I don't know what I will do when I stop, but I will stay racing somewhere," he said.
"I am not sure if I will be at Le Mans as I don't like the idea of having three different categories together, with 20 seconds difference from one car to another.
"I prefer a short race where I will be fighting everybody in the same category, and fighting from the beginning to the end. The DTM I like, but I have no idea when I decide to stop.
"I hope I still have some years in front to finish my career in the best way I can; fighting for more victories and championships."

Mark Webber to leave Formula 1 for Porsche Le Mans programme

Mark Webber has announced that he will leave Formula 1 at the end of the season to join Porsche's new LMP1 sportscar programme.
The Australian's decision leaves the second Red Bull seat alongside world champion Sebastian Vettel available for 2014, with Kimi Raikkonen already strongly linked to the drive.
Webber was first linked to Porsche earlier this season. He drove in sportscars with Mercedes in 1998-99 before returning to single-seaters in Formula 3000 and joining F1 with Minardi in 2002.
After spells at Jaguar and Williams, he joined Red Bull from 2008. He became a race-winner and title contender with the team, but was unable to match team-mate Vettel's success rate and had a turbulent relationship with the German, exemplified by Vettel's famous disregard of team orders at this year's Malaysian Grand Prix.
"It's an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team," said Webber.
"Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.
"I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula 1. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sportscars in the world."
Webber joins Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard among the first drivers signed for Porsche's LMP1 programme, which will be its first assault on outright Le Mans 24 Hours honours since its 1998 triumph.
Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche's board member for research and development, said the firm was thrilled to get Webber on board.
"I'm very pleased to have secured Mark Webber for our LMP1 project as one of the best and most successful Formula 1 pilots of our time," said Hatz.
"Mark is without doubt one of the world's best race drivers, he has experience at the Le Mans 24 hour race and on top of that he's been a Porsche enthusiast for many years."
Porsche LMP1 programme chief Fritz Enzinger added: "I learned to appreciate Mark's qualities when we were both involved in Formula 1.
"He is one of the best pilots I could imagine for our team. I'm absolutely delighted that we have such an experienced and fast regular driver onboard from 2014."

Red Bull boss Horner declares Mercedes test penalty too lenient

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says Mercedes' punishments for breaking Formula 1's testing regulations were too lenient.
Last week the FIA International Tribunal reprimanded Mercedes and ruled that it could not participate in next month's young driver test at Silverstone as a penalty for using its 2013 car for three days of running with Pirelli at Barcelona in May.
The judges stated that Mercedes had breached the rules but determined that there had been no deliberate intent.
In a statement issued just after the verdict, Horner said he "accepted" the penalty, but was more forthright in an interview with the Reuters and Press Association news agencies on Wednesday.
"What is slightly confusing is the leniency of the penalty," he said.
"The problem with the penalty such as the one Mercedes have been given is that it is not a particularly strong deterrent to break the sporting regulations. I should think it was met with a huge sigh of relief at [Mercedes base] Brackley."
HORNER: MERCEDES IMPROVED AFTER TEST
Horner pointed out that Mercedes' tyre issues had become less severe since the post-Spanish Grand Prix test, and said its form in this weekend's British GP would be telling.
"What you have to remember is in Barcelona, Mercedes started their cars first and second and finished with one car in the points, one car out, with the highest degradation, probably, in the field," he said.
"The very next grand prix they had one of the lowest degradations. That might purely be coincidence, and I'm sure the [Monte Carlo] circuit lends itself more to that," he said.
"But in Montreal, they didn't experience the tyre issues they previously experienced, so let's see."
Mercedes boss Ross Brawn insisted earlier this week that missing the young driver test would hurt the team's development programme, but Horner was not convinced.
"Yes, it's probably annoying for them to miss it, but it pales into insignificance compared to the benefit you would see from running your race drivers around a race track for 1000 kilometres on a circuit that has been rubbered in two days after a grand prix weekend," said Horner.
"You don't test with young drivers over the winter for a reason. You have a limited amount of test mileage with your cars and you choose to put your race drivers in because they give you the most relevant feedback."

Citroen to discuss WRC return with Loeb

 

Citroen Racing boss Yves Matton will talk to Sebastien Loeb before Rally Finland to see if he wants to do more rallies for the troubled squad in the second half of the WRC season.

Tempting Loeb out of retirement is one option Matton is considering as he seeks to turn around a miserable start to 2013 for the French manufacturer, during which Volkswagen has pulled ahead in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.
Matton made the admission at Rally Italia Sardinia, shortly after his lead driver Mikko Hirvonen crashed out from second place while trying to narrow a 40sec gap to Volkswagen’s Sebastien Ogier.
As he makes the transition from rallying to racing, nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb was scheduled to tackle only four WRC events for Citroen this year, with a final appearance on his home Rallye de France-Alsace in October.
“I haven’t spoken to him yet but for sure at the half of the season I will speak again with Sebastien to see if he has the motivation to do maybe one or two rallies more,” said Matton.
“It depends a lot on what we [Citroen] will do in the future, if we will be involved in the touring cars or not. In the following days or weeks then we will have an answer and we will see with Seb what we can do.” 
Loeb has a busy racing programme this year, and he will tackle the Pikes Peak hillclimb in Colorado this weekend. After winning Rally Argentina in May, however, he didn’t rule out more WRC outings.
Matton said that in the meantime his team would be working hard to find improvements before the next WRC round in five weeks time.
“Sardinia, Finland and Germany are very important rallies for us to keep as close as possible with Volkswagen and on the first of these three we have not done a good rally and are losing points,” he said.
“For sure we are not happy for the moment and after this weekend. We are not really successful. In too many situations when we can come back in the points we are not doing it, like this weekend, due to mistakes from our drivers, or from us. We cannot achieve it for the moment. 
“Finland is a very specific rally and last year Mikko and Seb Loeb were fighting for first and second for most of the rally. I hope that experience will help us this year.”

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Improved side impact protection system for 2014

A year-long collaboration between the FIA Institute and Formula One teams will see F1 cars feature a new, advanced side impact protection system next season, designed to improve crash performance in angled impacts.
Currently, side impact protection is provided by crushable tube structures attached to the side of the chassis. Whilst effective in normal, direct impacts, these can break off during oblique impacts, such as that famously suffered by Robert Kubica in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix.
Marussia, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull all engaged with the FIA Institute to help find an improved solution and the result - based on a Marussia design optimised by Red Bull - was an evolution of the current tube system, but using high-performance carbon fibre with a bespoke external and internal geometry and precise layup configuration.
The tubes do not shatter on impact but progressively crush and decelerate the car in a highly controlled manner. During testing, the structures were able to absorb nearly 40kJ of energy in both normal and oblique impact directions - a major improvement over current designs.
With the design of the structures and how they are attached to the chassis to be standardised in the F1 regulations, the new system will also save teams money by reducing impact test costs.

Great Britain preview quotes

    

Round eight of the championship sees the paddock move back across the Atlantic for the 2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone - the home race for the majority of the teams and for drivers Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Jenson Button and Max Chilton.
Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
2012 Qualifying - 6th, 2012 Race - 5th
“Silverstone is a more normal circuit and we’ve been okay at every other permanent circuit so far this year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be back to the positions we should be with this package. We just have to be patient, do our very best over the entire weekend and step-by-step we can start catching the leaders. Silverstone is all about long sweeping high-speed corners and high downforce levels. It’s one of the fastest circuits on the calendar; it’s very challenging and the flowing corners are pretty good fun to drive. Hopefully our new parts will help us; particularly in the faster corners. If that’s the case, it could be a good weekend.

“It’s always such a good feeling going to Silverstone. It’s a great place to race and it has been a good circuit for me since the very beginning of my career. I have a long history there. It was the real base for the start of my international racing career in Formula Renault in 1999 and 2000. Since then I've always enjoyed racing at Silverstone. I don’t know why; there must be this nostalgic feeling that I have every time we go there. When you win in Silverstone, it gives such a good feeling. You have to get everything exactly right. I won there in Formula Renault and then in Formula 1 with Ferrari in 2007. It would be fantastic to win again there, especially with the factory just down the road. I’m sure we would have some fantastic celebrations. It’s always windy at Silverstone. Often it rains too, like we saw last year in qualifying. The track conditions change very quickly, which makes the car more tricky to set-up. Obviously when you are running at the front it’s best to have stable conditions, but I don't mind really. The weather is just a part of the fun of racing in England. I’ll enjoy the weekend whatever the weather will be.”
Jenson Button, McLaren
2012 Qualifying - 18th, 2012 Race - 10th
“Any driver’s home race is a special thing, but racing at Silverstone means so much to me: it’s the place where I grew up watching Formula 1 – I first came here in 1994 – and it’s also a race that means so much to grand prix racing’s history and heritage. It’s just unique: to race on the same track as Fangio, Clark, Stewart and Senna is cool, and you always feel the echoes of the past when you arrive at the circuit for the first time. Even though it’s almost changed beyond recognition since 1950, and is now one of the best grand prix facilities in the world, it’s still lost none of that special atmosphere. I love it. One of the most amazing things at Silverstone has been the level of support I’ve seen every single year. From the garage, on the slow-down lap, on the drivers’ parade, or just on the way to the paddock in the morning, you see the fans cheering you on. Silverstone really reverberates to fan-power. After our difficult weekend in Canada, I’ll be hoping for a more representative weekend at home. Although the race in Montreal was disappointing, I still feel that it wasn’t a fully accurate reflection of where we are as a team – on a smoother track like Silverstone, I’m optimistic that we’ll fare better. Of course, I don’t want to raise everyone’s expectations: I think the fans know what to expect. For me, my goal will be to get the maximum from the package and to race as hard as I can – that’ll be a satisfactory outcome for me next weekend.”
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 4th, 2012 Race - 3rd
“Apart from the unpredictable English weather, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is a highlight of the season and one of my favourite tracks. It’s located only 30km from our factory in Milton Keynes and the circuit’s a real challenge. Even after the paddock and pit lane conversion, it remains a tough track. Only Suzuka can be compared to Silverstone - no other track on the calendar has such a sequence of superfast corners like Silverstone does. Copse Corner, Maggots, Becketts and Chapel are amongst the four best corners in Formula One - they belong together. You have to catch the first one perfectly, otherwise the rhythm is off for all of them and at the end, Chapel is so insanely fast. If you have driven properly in the previous three corners and the car is well tuned then you can drive through full throttle. You go through at roughly 270km/h, really amazing! You don’t have long to think about it, so just give it full throttle and go. In the end, apart from all the technique, it’s about driving the car as fast as you can.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 2nd, 2012 Race - 1st
“It’s the home race for a lot of the team and it’s my second home race, as I live in the UK. The fans here are right up there with the Italian Tifosi; Formula One has been an integral part of UK motorsport for such a long time. The Silverstone GP is a brilliant weekend, it’s such a prestigious event and that’s why it’s so nice to get a great result there. I think the 2010 victory was pretty special - it was my first British GP win. It’s an old school circuit, fast and flowing. It’s very demanding on the driver in terms of accuracy, and the car also. You can really let the car go around there and feel like you’re a Formula One driver.”

Pirelli now being too conservative with Formula 1 tyres, says Lotus

Lotus has questioned Pirelli's decision to bring more conservative tyres to the next few Formula 1 races.
Following high numbers of pitstops earlier this year, and resistance from teams over Pirelli's plan for tweaks, the Italian company has elected to be conservative with its next compound choices.
Such a move will help teams that have struggled with their tyres, but is not so good for outfits like Lotus that proved better at coping with degradation.
Lotus' track operations director Alan Permane said the tyre choices seemed "conservative and contrary to the supposed approach for the tyre allocations in 2013.
"The individual compounds - super-soft, soft, medium and hard – were made softer for each grade this year in order to present teams with a challenge, which is what we saw at some races earlier in the season.
"That work is undone if you simply allocate harder compounds for races, as we've seen with those nominated for the next three rounds.
"It's certainly unusual to take the same tyres to Hungary as to Bahrain and Silverstone. The situation is quite similar to last year when the allocations went harder late in the year and we just ended up doing one-stop races."
PRE-SEASON PLAN "SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED"
Permane accepted that rival teams were pushing for Pirelli to deliver more durable tyres, but felt that the stance should have stayed as aggressive as was planned at the start of the campaign.
"Of course, there are teams who are eager for the tyres to be more durable; whether through changes to the tyres themselves or changes to the allocations for races," he said.
"In contrast, we're firmly in the camp that the approach to tyre allocation should remain as agreed by the sport before the start of the season, and not be changed part-way through the year."
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier hoped Pirelli might reconsider its decision for future allocations.
"We trust Pirelli's judgement in these matters as they have all the data to analyse and listen to the concerns of all the teams; some of whom are very keen to see the tyres changed, some of whom are very keen to have the tyres left as they are," he explained.
"Let's see what happens in the next three races for which the allocations have been made and see how that impacts on future allocations."

Q&A: Sebastien Ogier

 

Here's what Sebastien Ogier had to say after securing victory on Rally Italia Sardegna - his fourth win of the season.

Q: After disappointment in Greece is it good to be back to winning ways? 
SO: “Of course, it feels very good. After the recce I said immediately I wanted to win, as it was two months without winning so I was missing the feeling so I think we did everything to do it. 
“First I want to congratulate the team, they gave me a perfect car this weekend and of course we had a problem in Greece, but one in several rallies is not bad at all so I really want to congratulate them and we are very happy to get a victory. Now we can enjoy our holiday in the summer.”
Q: You led from the start and built up a comfortable lead early on. Did you feel much of a challenge from any of the drivers?
SO: “I think we had a very good management of the race. We pushed when we needed to and then we were a bit more cautious when it was a bit rougher for the tyres. 
“But constantly we always increased the gap and that was the most important, and at the end we also got the points of the Power Stage, so I couldn’t expect better.” 
Q: You seem to be the Power Stage King this year. Not that you need them at the moment as things are looking good for you for the Drivers’ Championship…
SO: “For sure for the moment things are looking very good and we are many points ahead of the second driver and we have six rallies to go, so it will not be enough to be Champions. I have to score more victories if I want to succeed.”
Q: The stages in Sardinia are not easy, but you made it look that way. Were there any problems at all during the weekend? 
SO: “No there were not really any moments, it was a great race. Saturday morning on one of the fastest stages of the rally a cow wanted to cross the road but finally didn’t, so that was a good idea! 
“Other than that it was a very good rally. There were a few rocks at the end of the Power Stage and one of the drivers in the front, I don’t know who - maybe my team-mate! - cut a bit too much some corners and I hit a stone and thought I got a puncture but I didn’t”

Italy WRC: Sebastien Ogier clinches fourth victory of 2013

Sebastien Ogier extended his World Rally Championship lead to 64 points as he wrapped up a fourth maximum score by winning Rally Italy.
Volkswagen's team leader looked untouchable from the outset in Sardinia. Ogier was taking things carefully as early as the second loop, and still managed to extend his lead to over a minute by halfway through Saturday.
As has been the case with all his victories this year, Ogier also grabbed all three powerstage bonus points.
Second and third ultimately went to Thierry Neuville and Jari-Matti Latvala after excellent charging drives. Neuville had been a quiet fifth early on before surging forward with a gaggle of stage wins, while Latvala had to mount a comeback charge having lost two minutes with an SS1 puncture.
They were the survivors of a once-close podium battle that Citroen's Mikko Hirvonen and Neuville's M-Sport team-mates Evgeny Novikov and Mads Ostberg all crashed out of.
Dani Sordo faded from this group to take fourth for Citroen, although it might have been fifth had VW's Andreas Mikkelsen not broken his suspension while giving chase three stages from the end.
On his World Rally Car debut, WRC Academy champion Elfyn Evans took an incredible sixth. The Welshman was standing in for an unwell Nasser Al-Attiyah, and spent the event battling with Michal Kosciuszko, who was in his first rally with a Ford having split with Motorsport Italia's Mini operation.
In a very tense finish, Evans hold on to a top-six finish by just 0.6s over the Pole.
Ostberg managed to salvage eighth having rejoined for Saturday under Rally 2.
Robert Kubica claimed a second consecutive dominant win in WRC 2.

Rally Italy: Ogier cruising towards victory, Hirvonen crashes

Sebastien Ogier is cruising towards Rally Italy victory, while a crash for Mikko Hirvonen moved Thierry Neuville into second.
Hirvonen opened the morning with the fastest time, bringing the gap over the chasing Neuville up to nine seconds.
But at the first hairpin of the next stage, Hirvonen rolled his Citroen into retirement.
That put Neuville's M-Sport Ford into a potential career-best second place, although he must still watch Jari-Matti Latvala behind him.
Latvala made short work of Dani Sordo's Citroen on the opening loop - helped by the Spaniard having a quick spin - and is now 35s behind Neuville following a slight error by the M-Sport driver on SS12.
Neuville's mistake, and his more cautious pace after Hirvonen's accident, means Ogier's lead is up to 1m15s with four stages remaining.
Sordo is now fourth, with Andreas Mikkelsen closing on him slightly in the third VW.
Mads Ostberg rejoined under Rally 2 following his Friday evening crash, and is now ninth.
Robert Kubica continues to comfortably lead WRC 2.

Leading positions after SS12:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car        Time/Gap
 1.  Sebastien Ogier     VW            2h32m41.3s
 2.  Thierry Neuville    M-Sport Ford   + 1m15.9s
 3.  Jari-Matti Latvala  VW             + 1m51.4s
 4.  Dani Sordo          Citroen        + 2m12.2s
 5.  Andreas Mikkelsen   VW             + 2m32.1s
 6.  Martin Prokop       Czech Ford     + 6m56.0s
 7.  Michal Kosciuszko   Lotos Ford     + 9m24.4s
 8.  Elfyn Evans         M-Sport Ford   + 9m30.7s
 9.  Mads Ostberg        M-Sport Ford  + 12m17.1s
10.  Khalid Al-Qassimi   Citroen       + 13m11.8s

Lotus hoping for 'big step forward' with Silverstone upgrades

Lotus are hopeful that the package of upgrades they’re introducing to the E21 for the 2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend will enable them to take their ‘biggest step forward of the year’.
Having scored a win and four other podiums in the first five races of the season, the team seemed to lose ground in Monaco and Canada with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean combining for just three points across the two events.
But speaking about the team’s Silverstone upgrade, Lotus track operations director Alan Permane indicated there was every reason to be optimistic: "We have a tighter, figure-hugging bodywork package which should give some benefit; especially if the weather is quite cool at Silverstone.
"There's a new front wing, suspension profiles and suspension upgrades in addition to various other aero upgrades, which combine to give us what should be our biggest step forward of the year. This is a good thing, of course, but we’ll be running them in the context of all our rivals probably unveiling significant upgrade packs too.
“We conducted a couple of days of straight-line running after Canada with positive results and some of the fruits of this work should be seen in Silverstone.”
Raikkonen, who’s seen his deficit to championship leader Sebastian Vettel grow from four to 44 points over the past two races, is also hopeful of getting back on the front foot at Silverstone: “The last couple of races have been more a question of surviving not attacking and that’s not what anyone wants.
“That said, Monaco and Montreal are both street circuits; they’re quite different from a lot of tracks we visit and there are quite a lot of variables. You never know how you’re going to go at those two tracks but we do now and at least we got a few points.
“Silverstone is a more normal circuit and we’ve been okay at every other permanent circuit so far this year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be back to the positions we should be with this package.”
Lotus lie fourth in the constructor standings, with 114 points to Mercedes' 134, Ferrari's 145 and Red Bull's 201. In the drivers' table Raikkonen is now third behind Vettel and Fernando Alonso.