Silverstone – Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen may be different in character and for many things, but they share various passions: for speed, for Scuderia Ferrari, and for the British Grand Prix Track.
“Silverstone it’s a great place” says Kimi “and I enjoy driving here. The track has a lot of history and there’s always a great atmosphere. I have raced here before F1, I liked the old circuit, the layout was more flowing. It hasn’t changed a lot, the feeling is a bit different but it’s still a great place to drive. This year we have completely different cars and rules, we expect to have more downforce than last year’s car and thus to carry more speed through the fast corners. Tomorrow we’ll see if it’s that’s the case: hopefully it goes more in that direction because it’s more fun! We have a limited amount of engines because of the regulations, and now It’s time to put a new one in; as was planned since the beginning”.
As Silverstone goes, Seb is on the same page as his team-mate: “Usually there is a big passion for racing in this country, so it is great to be here, as it is one of the places where the history of motor racing was made. As for us, our car was good last week and it should be ok here, too. I didn’t win in Austria and I really wanted to, but that’s how it goes: sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. The most important thing is to be up there, not just in terms of results, but in terms of pace. Also, tomorrow I’ll test the Shield protection for a few laps in P1. So far I’ve only seen it on a computer screen, so I’ll check it out”.
Scuderia Ferrari drivers convinced that further progress can be made
Silverstone – As is typical of Fridays, Scuderia Ferrari drivers had a lot of things to get through in the two practice sessions. For what it’s worth on a day in which neither points nor grid places are given, P2 ended with Kimi setting the third fastest lap time of 1’28”828, with Seb a close fourth at 1’28”956. A new engine had been fitted to the SF70H since morning and different fuel levels were tested during both sessions.
“It was a pretty decent day”, said Kimi, “a bit more straightforward session than on other occasions, and we had no issues. Since this morning the feeling had been ok, but obviously at the beginning there was a bit of guesswork with the conditions, as always when you first run at a track. It could have been a bit better, but it was not too bad either. Tomorrow will be a different day, we can only try to do our best and I’m sure we can improve. In qualifying and mainly on Sunday we’ll see if it is enough”.
Sebastian said: “Today for us it was a bit mixed of ups and downs. This morning we had difficulties with the balance to start with, but overall I think we improved the car at the end of the session. On Friday you don’t seek much the performance and this new engine has a lot of miles to do, so we try to save it. It’s working well and we didn’t have problems. But we still have to do more and to improve. We have a lot of things to look at. Mercedes looks quick but it’s not a surprise. The track today was too slippery and tricky, but I think we can get better tomorrow”. “Today”, Seb added “I tried the Shield cockpit protection. The vision is not very good and I think it’s because of the curvature that creates a bit of distortion. We had a run plan but I didn’t like it too much. I couldn’t see much, but at the end it was fun to drive”.
Silverstone, July 15 – Changing weather conditions made qualifying for the British Grand Prix ever more difficult, but Scuderia Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel emerged from the battle with second and third best time respectively.
Kimi’s feeling with the SF70H had been improving through the weekend and all the development work carried out by the team paid off on Saturday afternoon: “In qualifying the handling of my car was better than any other time this weekend and I was really happy with that. Obviously we always want to finish higher, but today we got more or less what we could. In Q1, with the intermediate tires on a damp track, the conditions were a bit tricky. It was very slippery, but it was not wet everywhere and the tires wore out very quickly. Luckily we did the last run at the right time and it was ok. After that, the track was getting better and better. My last lap felt good, but it was still a bit tricky to know where to go because it was still a bit damp here and there; so I took it quite easily at first and then decided to push a bit more. The feeling that I got with my car today was nice, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I hope that in the race we can improve. Usually, we are a bit stronger on Sunday”.
Seb lined up behind his team mate and was pleased with the behavior of his Ferrari: “We are quite happy with the result and our performance was good. I think it will be tough tomorrow considering that Mercedes has been very quick for the whole weekend. Our car today was good and felt amazing, so overall I am happy. The track was not really wet and it was good fun to drive, I just found a bunch of cars ahead of me in my last run, but otherwise I think we improved the car a lot over the weekend, also in qualifying trim, and that’s what really counts”.
What a race again. But I wish it would have stopped before Kimis puncture. He would have so much deserved P2 But better P3 thank no podium
quoteBritish Grand Prix - Ferrari third and seventh
Two punctures towards the end, but Kimi on the podium with Seb still leading the championship
Silverstone – Two punctures in the final moments of the race, but nevertheless Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen made it to the podium in third place. Seb Vettel finished seventh and after an incredible, yet cruel race, he still leads the championship. The race got off to a false start as an extra formation lap was needed because Palmer had stopped on track. That meant the race distance was down to 51 laps, but there was excitement right from the start, with Kimi and Seb fighting with Verstappen. Then came a collision between the two Toro Rossos which brought out the Safety Car. Kimi hung on to Hamilton, while Seb, who had a few difficulties at the start, was fourth. Racing restarted on lap 5, with Kimi matching the leader’s pace, while his team-mate had to be patient before getting his place back. It was a thrilling duel, but in the end, it was decided on the strategy call: a scheduled pit stop for Seb on lap 19 saw the German fit the Soft tyres. The number 5 Ferrari came out ahead of the Force India duo in fifth place. Verstappen therefore had to pit to cover our strategy, but when he rejoined he was behind the Ferrari. Seb then banged in a fastest lap, before passing Hulkenberg for fourth place. On lap 24, it was Kimi’s turn to pit to go from the Supersofts to the Softs.
Shortly after that, Hamilton did the same, but on fresh rubber, the Iceman was the fastest man on track. Bottas came down pit lane on lap 32 and came out behind the Scuderia Ferrari duo. Seb reacted, setting his best lap in 1:31.872. On lap 43 came the first duel, as Seb repulsed the attack under braking.
But the move ruined his tyres and he lost the position on the Hangar Straight. “I can get to the finish” came his reassurance over the radio and indeed he would, while out in front, with only two laps remaining, Kimi’s left front tyre suddenly let go. The Finn pitted and took on Supersofts, while he was helped by the fact Verstappen also needed to make an unexpected stop. But on the last lap, Seb also got a puncture, again a left front. He dived into pit lane and managed to stay in the points, but the team deserved much better today.
quoteBritish Grand Prix - Kimi comments about the race
My race wasn’t going too bad until a few laps before the end. I suddenly had the problem, my front left tire let go with no warning; the air stayed in the tire but the rubber part, came off. It’s disappointing because without that issue the second place was secured, and we deserved a better result. We had made some changes to the car and they seemed to have improved the feeling. When it’s like this you are confident and you can push; I hope that it will be a similar story in the future races. However, today we were lacking a little bit of speed against our rivals. We did what we could but obviously there’s some work to be done to catch up the Mercedes in places like this. This is definitely not our strongest type of circuit. I’m interested to see what happens in the next race, I guess the Hungarian track should suit our car better.
Kimi Raikkonen believes Ferrari is dogged by bad luck after both he and Sebastian Vettel were hit with tyre failures in the last laps of today's British GP.
The Finn put in a solid effort all afternoon and looked all set to step up onto the runner-up spot on the podium before a tyre failure forced him into a late pit stop which demoted the #7 Ferrari to third.
Vettel suffered a similar fate but lost out in a bigger way, ending the race down in seventh.
"Unfortunately it seems to be that unlucky situations keep following us," said the 2007 world champion.
"For whatever reason the front-left tyre didn’t really ‘explode’ but the canvas came off the tyre.
Luckily I could get back quite fast and the car stayed in one piece.
"Unfortunately Sebastian had more or less the same problem a lap later. Not happy but better than nothing."
Despite the late setback, the Finn considered the team had done its best at a venue where it did not expect to beat Mercedes outright.
"I think we got more or less the most out of the car in the race," says Raikkonen.
"They [Mercedes] were just a bit faster today. I was struggling a little bit at some points to go faster. The next race should suit us a lot better but it wasn't an easy weekend."
quoteVettel and Raikkonen tyre failures unrelated, says Pirelli
Following its preliminary analysis, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli says that the failures which hit Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were linked to different issues.
Drama hit the Ferrari camp in the closing stages of the British GP when Raikkonen was forced to pit with a tyre puncture only for Vettel to also fall victim to a left-front tyre failure a lap later.
While Raikkonen salvaged a podium finish, Vettel was relegated from fourth to seventh in the final results.
According to Pirelli's initial investigation, the Finn's rubber fell apart but without the tyre actually losing air, while Vettel's tyre delaminating was definitely the result of a puncture.
"The British Grand Prix contained a sting in the tail for the two Ferrari drivers, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen both unfortunately experiencing a tyre issue close to the hard-fough finish," said Pirelli's Mario Isola.
"That’s a real pity and we’ll obviously now look into exactly why this happened together with the team. The race was run at an incredible pace this year, with the fastest lap being nearly five seconds faster than the 2016 equivalent."
Vettel taken by surprise by tyre failure
Pirelli isn't excluding that the German driver's troubles may have been linked to a lock-up earlier in the race when Vettel was battling Valtteri Bottas.
After witnessing Raikkonen's failure, Red Bull Racing chose to pit Max Verstappen for a last-minute tyre change as a precautionary measure.
Lewis Hamilton was aware of his rivals' issues and kept his team informed of his tyres progress.
"We had a tiny little blister developing and he warned us, but then we didn't know whether it was maybe [caused by] some debris on track," Wolff told Sky Sports.
"It was odd that three different cars developed fatal blistering at the end. You're just extracting every bit of performance and it could go wrong."
quoteRaikkonen Feedback Vital for Ferrari despite Differing Impressions – Vettel
Sebastian Vettel feels it is important for both himself and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to give feedback, even though the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers are seemingly getting different impressions about the SF70H this season.
Vettel has had the better of the results this season, with three race victories and four runners-up spots, while Raikkonen has only finished on the podium three times with a best result of second, and seventy-nine points separate the team-mates at the halfway point of the season.
The German believes that with the Finn offering the team different feedback, it can only benefit the Maranello-based outfit, as it would allow them the opportunity to develop the car in more ways.
“We are both racing for ourselves, to score points or win races,” said Vettel on crash.net. “For the team in general, it’s great to have two cars running.
“Obviously he’s having a different impression after some runs about the car, about the track, about what the car needs etc. and pushing development in a little bit different direction but sometimes it needs that.
“I think it’s better if you have two sources and you can’t agree on everything. I think we agree on most of it, not on everything, but it’s also good as you question where you are, where you need to go, what’s right, what’s wrong.”
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Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:10 pm
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