[ad_1]
-
ESPN Team
ESPN gathers all the reaction from the top and bottom of the Hockenheim paddock following the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2018.
Mercedes [19659005] Charles Coates / Getty Images [19659006LewisHamilton(1st): "We really had some ups and downs in this championship, it's a roller coaster ride, but the team remained strong We are in an excellent position right now, but what's important is that we do not drop the ball. The last two weekends have been such a blessing with the rain, I'm so thankful. The guys have worked so hard this year, they really deserve a good result because Ferrari is still a bit ahead of us, they had the pace this weekend, especially on this circuit, today I had them covered, but if they had been on pole, we would have struggled to make in our overall package to try to e bridge the gap to them, but I'm really happy with the work everyone is giving up to now, we just have to keep going. The goal now is to really get back together and become even stronger for the second half. This will be the key to adding to what we have built in this first half of the season. I am excited by the summer holidays; I will do different things during these two weeks, but I will train for the entire period, trying to improve my physique. From the physical point of view, I do not fight at all, but there are always areas where you can be better, and I want to make sure to come back with more energy so that we can increase the temperature in the second half of the season. "
Valtteri Bottas (5th): " It's a shame that I found myself in P5; we wanted more today and it would have been good to go to the summer holidays with a 1-2 arrival. I was trying everything I could but the switch on the soft tires was just too long. In theory, a one-stop shop strategy should have worked, but we had to stop early to cover Kimi, who was in the round before me. Up to 15 or 20 rounds before the end, our plan went well, we controlled the pace and there was no threat to my position. But then the rear tires started to die. Towards the end of the race, I had an incident with Sebastian in Turn 2 – he was outside, I still had my nose inside. He returned early, there was nowhere to go for me, so we touched and I had damage to my front wing. For me it was a racing incident – and the incident with Daniel too. Once again, I was inside, he was out there. Half of my front wing was gone by then, I was locking myself up and we hit it. Now, I look forward to the next few weeks, a little rest will be good, and then I want to come back stronger. "
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel (2nd):" 19459032 "" Today, we were fast in the first stint, but in the end I was a little disappointed because I had lost 3 or 4 seconds in the traffic. The pit stop we did was not ideal either, as we lost some time there. Then it was very hard when I was running near Valtteri and trying to overtake him. However, in the end I knew I could be faster than him thanks to my tires, which were cooler. However, we tried everything we could and I think that the second position is the best result we could get today. I think there are a lot of things we did well and some did not, but that's part of the game. It was a very difficult week for all of us, so I think both cars on the podium is a very good result. I'm glad to see that the car is fast, it has worked well on all tracks up here, so I think it's the most important thing. Our car has great potential, so I feel relaxed, I go on vacation, for the races to come.
Kimi Raikkonen (3rd): "The start was good, I had a tow and I decided which side I should go, but Bottas moved to the same side, trying to block me, so I braked earlier and I lost Sebastian 's position, after which it was to try to have some free air and to have a good time. using speed It was difficult to put pressure on others and not be able to save the tires. The race was pretty fast, we kept running the race with decent tires all the time because of the We did not have my bottle at my disposal was obviously not ideal, but not really a problem either … Today, we had the speed, but we know it's a tricky circuit for overtaking, in the end we managed to grab a spot each, second and third it is the maximum we could hope for today. It's a good result, but it's not what we want. In the second half of the season, we will try to turn around and do a little better. I know it's still a long way to go, anything can happen and things can change quickly. We keep pushing, trying to improve the small details and to be consistent, and I'm sure we can get higher positions on the podium.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricicciardo (4th): "19459032" "We had a very good car and I was in fourth position after being at the P16 at a moment of the first lap, which was ultimately a good result for us.I took a shot at my left front tire which caused some vibration and we lost a few positions, Ocon then went very far in the bend 6, cut the chicane and stayed in front of me for two laps.As soon as everyone is so close, you lose a lot of ground, after which, with the speed advantage we had, we could make some overtaking, and I was having fun with that and I could get on the field.In the end with Valtteri in turn 1, I knew that he had some damage, so I knew that it should be relatively easy to pass it but it obvio usly just went too deep in this I could not see his car in my blind spot so I left the room, and then I got the hang of it but fortunately I did not spin it. I thought it would probably have a penalty but I really wanted to overtake it, which fortunately I could do in the last lap. I was happy today, happy to finish and get points and have a race that I think I have maximized. "
Max Verstappen (DNF): " Today, we did not go as planned. I felt good with the car and I had a good start, but the race ended in the six laps. It's really frustrating after putting all the effort and being in a promising position, but having to stop because of the reliability. As I was happy with the car, I think we could have made a good fight with the leading group, it's a pity to have missed that goal and some valuable points. It's really a shame for me and for the team, but also for the fans who support me here. It's not fun to see me do some tricks and then retire. I am not sure that this will result in penalties for the Spa engines, we will look into this issue as a team and discuss the best way to get back on track after the summer holidays. I do not really want to go on vacation now because it's not the way I wanted to finish the first part of the season. I would like to go back in the car to run again and finish on a strong result, unfortunately I can not. "
Force India
Esteban Ocon (13): ]" A difficult race for us and we knew it would be a big challenge to score points today. hui. The start of the race was strong and we took a few positions, but we did not have enough pace to get back from the grid and beat for points. I've had some great battles with the Renault, but qualifying problems yesterday really did determine our result today. We have a few weeks of rest and there is still a long way to go in the second half of the season. Sergio Perez (14th): "It was not an ideal day for us, but we knew it would be a difficult Sunday all along, we started from behind and chose an aggressive strategy, but in the end we just did not have the pace to make it work.I had a good start but I lost a few places after touching Leclerc and after that he would always be difficult to recover on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult.I am glad we have the summer holidays now.The last few months have been difficult mentally but I am still there and I am in the top 10 We will come back stronger after the holidays – all the off-piste issues will have been settled and we will be able to come to Spa with the right approach and a stable environment around us. "
Otmar Szafnauer, Head of Flight # 39; exploitati on r : "Today 's result has been largely compromised by the problems we encountered yesterday in qualifying. From the back, both pilots had some hectic races, with battles that took them from start to finish. We tried two different strategies, Esteban starting with soft tires and Sergio with ultrasoft, but in the end it made little difference and they finished ten seconds apart. The summer holidays give us the opportunity to regroup, to cope with the problems that take place off the track and to return for the second half of the season in a much stronger position. We are confident in the work we do at the factory and we are still at the heart of the action when it comes to the midfield battle, so we can expect to reload the batteries once this week's test is over. "[19659004Williams
Lance Stroll (16th): " I think we can say that we finished the first half of the year on a high note . Obviously, this is not so visible in the results, but being realistic in relation to our starting point, the strategy we had and dealing with blue flags, we can be satisfied with our performance. There is still room for improvement, which we will analyze and correct during the summer holidays, but we can take a lot of positive points from this race and we can all take a deserved rest. "
Sergey Sirotkin (17th): " Yesterday, it was nice to come back in Q2, but obviously the Q2 did not go as we wanted it and today, we had to leave the pit lane. We put the old wing forward, which we did not have for a few races now. I really felt the loss of performance, and the car had the impression that it was not cooperating as well since we had the new front fender. We went on a different strategy to Sergey and tried to pick up the pace at the end of the race with qualifying tires, but there simply was not enough laps. It was one of those races. "
Paddy Lowe, Technical Director: " It was a very long and very hot afternoon in Budapest with all our attention unfortunately on the abrupt end of the race, rather than the end. We applied a shared strategy on both cars, with Sergey starting with the option and Lance on the first, hoping to take advantage of incidents that could occur with two single window strategies. Unfortunately, Lance had to leave the pit lane because we had no spare parts from the front wing specification used in qualifying. Sergey won some positions initially on both Saubers, although one of them Leclerc retired very early. The rest of the afternoon was a fight between our two drivers and the other Sauber from Ericsson, who took a break at the first VSC, which gave him a very long stint. We hoped it would not work for Ericsson, but unfortunately it allowed us to finish the race in the 16th and 17th. In the end, our pace was good enough to compete with us today, but the team did a good job, made good pit stops and it was a well-controlled race, so we know that our pace is where we need to focus. We are ready to rest after this first half of the season and the test next week, so we will come back refreshed and ready for the next push in Belgium. "
Renault
Nico Hulkenberg (12th): " We had not got the pace in the car today, and there was a lot of noise. balance was bad. In the end, we were not fast enough. We had a good one last weekend and it was not very good this weekend, but it is the race. When you do not have the pace, everything becomes difficult and I was in the traffic most of the time, which makes things difficult. We thought this track layout would suit us, so we need to understand what happened this weekend and why the car was hard to drive. We look forward to, however, testing this week before some free time. The team, the engineers and the mechanics deserve the break. "
Carlos Sainz (9th): " It was a frustrating race. It was a difficult first lap with the Soft, but I got off the line until I was eliminated at the first corner and lost some positions. As the race started, I started to pick up speed and do some quick rounds in boxing. The traffic then did not help and it cost us time against the two McLarens, who came out on top after their first stop. We have to see what happened there, but for sure we could have done better today.
Toro Rosso
Brendon Hartley (11th): "I'm not disappointed scoring points after a good qualifying. I had a great start but decided not to dive inside Gasly which eventually made me lose a place to Magnussen. My race was then destroyed because I was stuck behind Sainz during the first half of the race while he was on a harder tire. We then reacted too early so that Hulkenberg sat behind and put the Medium tire, which did not give me the best performance. I understand perfectly why the team has divided the strategies, but today it has not worked for me. I did not make a mistake, I had a good start but unfortunately no points to show. I'm happy that the team scores more points, which is a nice reward for all the hard work of recent months. "
Pierre Gasly (6th): " It was an amazing day for us to finish sixth! Yesterday was already fantastic for the team, but it is even better! The car was mega, the strategy was fantastic, I just had to give everything I could which was not easy in these conditions, in the end we managed to do it. After the last races, which were quite difficult for us, it is a great result for the team. When you fight in the midfield, you know that there will be races where opportunities arise, and you just have to make sure to take them when they come. We did it in Bahrain, Monaco and again this weekend, so it's great and it's a nice way to finish the first half of the season. I had a good start and managed to overtake Sainz at first, then I had the free air to concentrate on my driving and make the tires last and it ended up being a great race. . The essential thing was not to make mistakes; I was at the limit for 70 laps which was a challenge, but I did my best to make a clean race and push as hard as possible to bring those 8 fantastic points back home. "
Toyoharu Tanabe, Technical Director Honda F1: " Our car worked well all weekend and this sixth place and eight points for Pierre is a very good result. It was partly because of the way we handled the complicated qualifications of yesterday, when the entire Toro Rosso Honda team did a very good job, as she did. done today. It was a pity that Brendon missed a place by giving us a double. We have had some tough race weekends recently, so it 's fine to go on the summer holidays having finished in the points of the last two races. We hope to keep this momentum from Spa. "
Haas
Romain Grosjean (10th): " We are both in the top 10, that's really good. The race was frustrating. We need to understand how to improve the tires in these circumstances. I spent 50 laps behind (Carlos) Sainz, from half a second to a second faster. As soon as you approach the car in front of you, there is nothing you can do. It was a bit of a shame but, overall, I think we really did a good job. We jumped (Nico) Hulkenberg and (Brendon) Hartley, showing that we had an incredible pace. Generally, I think we had a good pace, so it's good to have two cars in the top-10. We had a very good weekend. The race pace was so much better than P10. 19659046 Kevin Magnussen (7th): "I was pretty happy today. Had a good first round, gained a few positions, and took it home from there. Not a very eventful race except for the first round, but it's fine for us. We scored a brace for the team and it's a good way to go on vacation. "
McLaren
Fernando Alonso (8th): " It was definitely a good Sunday for us and he was at the wall of the pit, as they executed the perfect strategy. They decided to extend the first relay as much as we could, doing something around 15 laps more than the others, and that meant Stoffel and I were getting three or four positions. We really deserved the eighth and ninth places today, but unfortunately the gearbox problem prevented Stoffel from taking points, otherwise it would have been a perfect Sunday for us. I'm glad we delivered the result and scored four more points for the team. Sunday is where it counts! Now it's time to relax before taking a car back in mid-August. "
Stoffel Vandoorne (DNF) " A really disappointing race for me. We had a great start, having started a little lower than we wanted after yesterday, and gained some places in the first lap. We had very good tire management in the opening relay and a good pace when it counted, a good pit stop and we managed to jump a lot of cars during the pit window. It was a good strategy on the part of the team to go out in points with both cars and we felt comfortable, so it was just a matter of bringing the car back to the House. Unfortunately, we had a technical problem and had to stop the car. This shows that it is a mechanical sport. It's disappointing to end up like this but I think that as a team, we have done everything today. We have risen to the maximum and it is a pity not to finish the first part of the season with a few more points. On a personal note, I felt good this weekend. I think we showed today that the pace had returned to what it was before, with a more "normal" feeling, and I can be satisfied with my performance. I look forward to the summer holidays, relax a bit, lighten up and introduce myself to Spa for my home run. "
Gil de Ferran, Sports Director: " Today was a very positive day for us. We had a good pace on both cars and came very close to a doubled. Obviously, we are very disappointed for Stoffel, who was driving very well and had to retire due to a gearbox failure. Fernando had his typical perfect driving, with the right mix of aggression and pace and tire management. Although we are supposed to give him a present on his birthday, he gave us another one in the form of points! I would like to congratulate our strategy team and our refueling team for running the race to perfection, and I thank everyone for the extremely hard work they have accomplished during this long and busy series of races. . I wish everyone a good break and I can not wait for the restart of the season to hope to keep moving forward. "
Sauber
Charles Leclerc (DNF): " It's a shame to finish the last race before the summer holidays like that. Shortly after leaving, I got stuck between two other cars that damaged my car. I had to withdraw from the race accordingly. On the other hand, the season has been positive so far. We made more progress than expected, I learned a lot and scored points. I look forward to my summer vacation and will use the time to relax and train for the second half of the season. "
Marcus Ericsson: (15th): " It was a tough race. I lost positions after the collision in the first lap and fell to the back of the grid. From there, it was a difficult race. I've tried overtaking cars in front of me, but it's pretty hard on a track like this. When the safety car came out early in the race, we decided to roll and switch to medium tires. It was a good move, and we managed to gain a few positions back. Unfortunately, not much more was possible. Overall, it was not a great race for us, but we will analyze it and come back stronger. I have a day of testing in advance this week and I will be going in the summer holidays after that. I am looking forward to having the time to review the season until now, and come back even stronger. "
Pirelli
Mario Isola, responsible for the car race: " With a wet qualifying session yesterday, the teams had a free choice of slick tires to start the race, which led to the following strategies: of split. In particular, Vettel went in a different direction from his main rivals, which allowed him to progress from his position on the grid, as was the case with Ricciardo. The data collected by the teams starting on Friday were sufficiently reliable to formulate their running strategies, the track being effectively reset after the rain. Therefore, we saw a few different tactics across the field, teams making good use of the three compounds, which resisted well to keep up with the highest temperatures ever seen. "
Source link
