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Sunday, July 28, 2013

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Hungarian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Saturday's Qualifying Report - Lewis Hamilton achieves 30th career pole position at Budapest

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole position today for the Hungarian Grand Prix with Nico Rosberg in fourth place.

• Lewis took the 30th pole position of his career this afternoon at the Hungaroring and his fourth at this circuit

• This is also the first time in Lewis’ Formula One career that he has scored three consecutive pole positions

• Lewis’ pole was the team’s seventh in the ten races so far in the 2013 season

• Nico qualified fourth but was hampered by his brake balance quick adjuster becoming stuck during his final lap

Drivers ++ Car No. ++ Chassis No. ++ Practice ++ Qualifying 1 ++ Qualifying 2 ++ Qualifying 3
Lewis Hamilton ++ 10 ++ F1 W04 / 04 ++ P6 ++ P2, 1:20.363 ++ P2, 1:19.862 ++ P1, 1:19.388
Nico Rosberg ++ 9 ++ F1 W04 / 03 ++ P8 ++ P1, 1:20.350 ++ P1, 1:19.778 ++ P4, 1:19.720

Weather - Hot
Temperatures - Air: 32-33°C / Track: 45-51°C

Lewis Hamilton
“I was really surprised when the guys told me over the radio that I was on pole today. It was a good lap but I thought Sebastian had done enough. So it’s fantastic - and also to get three pole positions in a row. It’s great to start from the front but, like we know, the race is where we score the points. Looking to tomorrow, this is a tough circuit to overtake on but it’s also a long run down to the first corner, and both Seb and the Lotus cars will be really quick. We have a good car but the race will come down to how we use the tyres. We are working hard to improve in that area and we had some reasonable long runs yesterday. We’ll have to see how it goes because it’s going to be tough in these high temperatures. I would love to have a real race with the guys around me, a proper battle, and the goal has to be to collect as many points as we can.”

Nico Rosberg
“Our speed was a bit of a surprise today as the car set-up work was focused on good race pace this weekend. But it worked quite well in the hot temperatures. It´s great for the team to be starting from fourth and pole position. I hope we can have a good start even though I´m on the dirtier side of the grid. Qualifying did not go perfectly for me at the end, it didn´t help that my brake balance adjuster got stuck, so I couldn´t change it around the lap. That cost me a little, but the pole wasn´t possible today. Now we look forward to tomorrow and I´m confident that we look better in the hot conditions than in the previous race.”

Ross Brawn
“First of all, I want to compliment the engineers, the drivers and our technicians back at the factory for the job they have done so far this weekend. We had a lot of work to do here in order to understand the tyres and we have made progress through every session, improving our understanding with every lap. We are still on a good upward slope of progress and hopefully there will be more room to improve tomorrow. Lewis put in an exceptional lap at the end of Qualifying, it was a really impressive performance. Nico did a good job too - all the more so considering he had a small car problem halfway through the lap - and the great thing about our driver pairing is how they consistently push each other to new heights. We know that we have a challenging race ahead of us tomorrow, with record temperatures forecast, and that will be the opportunity to see exactly what progress we have made.”

Toto Wolff
“We prepared well for the race during the practice sessions, collecting the information we needed, and managed to perform well in Qualifying in spite of the very high temperatures. So we have a good basis for tomorrow with first and fourth positions representing a very strong team result. Lewis delivered a lap that seemed about perfect while Nico had a small car problem that certainly cost him some lap time. Now we need to wait and see tomorrow just how well we have prepared for the race and how we cope on these new tyres in the hot conditions.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Detail: Hungarian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Saturday's Qualifying Report - Lewis Hamilton achieves 30th career pole position at Budapest

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Hungarian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Saturday's Qualifying Report - Sergio Perez P9, Jenson Button P13

SERGIO PEREZ
- MP4-28A-01
- FP3: 3rd, 1m21.052s (+0.322s), 10 laps
- Qualifying
- Q1: 16th, 1m21.612s (on Options)
- Q2: 10th, 1m20.545s (on Options)
- Q3: 9th overall, 1m22.398s (on Primes)

“First of all, I want to thank all the guys on the team – they did an amazing job to get the car turned around between FP3 and Q1 this afternoon. It was quite a big shunt but we still didn’t lose any track-time – that was really impressive, so thanks guys.

“At the beginning of Q1, I still felt a little bit uncomfortable with the car, which is why I only just made it through to Q2. However, my Q2 lap was quite good – we’d made a lot of changes to the car overnight – so I’m hopeful that we may have a better car for the race than we’ve had for some time.

“Given our pace – we knew we weren’t going to qualify in the top five – we opted to run the Prime in Q3. That tyre choice ought to give us a better strategy for the race tomorrow.

“We’ll be the first car starting on Primes, so I think we’re in a reasonable position for tomorrow.”

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-28A-03
- FP3: 9th, 1m21.499s (+0.769s), 15 laps
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 7th, 1m21.131s (on Options)
- Q2: 13th overall, 1m20.777s (on Options)
- Q3: -

“When we run fresh rubber, I can’t get enough front-end in the car – we’re maxed out – so I’m struggling. In a way, that’s a positive – because it means we’ve introduced downforce to the rear of the car.

“And hopefully that situation will change for the race, when you can play around with things in the cockpit a little more, and there’s generally less rear grip for everyone.

“I’m a little disappointed as I’d hoped for a bit more here. I think that’s because it’s been difficult to balance the car – but, hopefully, we’ll show a little bit more pace in the race.

“I’m sure we can still have fun tomorrow.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH - Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Clearly, although you want track position around a circuit such as this, the two days of practice have shown us that the Option tyre won’t last for too long in the race tomorrow – so, unless they can get clear of the traffic, the Option runners might encounter some problems.

“Checo did a good job – he’ll be the first of the Prime runners. We knew the Prime would probably be about a second and a half slower [than the Option], so Checo qualified in about the position we’d expected.

“I must also add that the mechanics did an absolutely magnificent job to get Checo’s car turned around ahead of qualifying. His accident in the dying seconds of FP3 could hardly have come at a less opportune juncture, yet they threw themselves into the job – in difficult, hot and sweaty conditions – and pulled through with a few minutes to spare. Indeed, Checo lost not even a second of track time, as our strategy for both cars had always been to head out towards the latter half of Q1.

“For Jenson, P13 wasn’t quite what he’d expected – and his Q2 lap wasn’t quite enough to get him through to Q3. Still, both he and Checo are strong and determined racers and they’ll be giving it their all tomorrow.

“As usual, the Hungarian Grand Prix will be a long, stiflingly hot and very difficult affair – given the two-hour duration of the race, and the difficult, circuitous nature of the track, much can happen tomorrow.

“I’m therefore looking forward to an exciting race that will doubtless unravel in all manner of unpredictable ways – which will be great for drivers, teams, media and fans alike.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Detail: Hungarian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Saturday's Qualifying Report - Sergio Perez P9, Jenson Button P13

Sunday, June 30, 2013

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British F1 Grand Prix 2013: Saturday's Qualifying Report - Pole position for Lewis as Nico comes P2

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the British Grand Prix with a stunning lap at Silverstone this afternoon.

• Lewis achieved the team’s fifth pole position in six races and the 28th pole of his career today

• Nico’s second place secured the team’s third front-row lockout in the past four races

• Both drivers used three sets of option tyres in qualifying, saving new hard tyres for tomorrow’s race

Lewis Hamilton
“It feels incredible to be on pole, just like it did back in 2007. We have the greatest Formula One fans in the world here in Britain and there was a great turnout today, which makes the atmosphere so special. My lap in Q3 was a lap for the fans out there around the circuit. I haven’t been feeling comfortable in the car all weekend, so I was really happy to find a good lap and this feels fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job and it’s a great reward for the guys here at the track but also back at base, especially as our two factories are so close to the track. But we know that tomorrow is another day and our Sunday performance isn’t quite as strong right now. Our long run pace looked ok yesterday and we were able to manage the tyres quite well. It’s going to be tough to keep Seb behind but we will give it everything we’ve got.”

Nico Rosberg
“A fantastic team result today and it’s great to see how much progress we have made together since last year. The feeling of confidence that our car will be quick in qualifying is fantastic and I love going to a race knowing that we have a shot of a strong grid position. The team are doing a great job and we are keeping up the development so a big thank you to everyone at the factories, many of whom are here today watching. My lap was good and starting from the front row is great but Lewis did a fantastic job today. I hope we have improved our race pace; it will be all about tyre management tomorrow and keeping the others behind us. I’m confident that we can get a good result.”

Ross Brawn
“The team has worked incredibly well over the past few months to achieve a result like today’s. We have been chipping away at the performance, quietly bringing new updates and continuing to push, while also focusing our efforts on how we could improve our tyre management issues, and it seems to be paying off. The engineers and drivers got the cars into the perfect place for qualifying and, as the wind dropped towards the end of the session, both Lewis and Nico were able to deliver strong performances. Lewis put in a stunning lap at the end of the session and it’s great to see him and Nico pushing each other so hard in every session. It will be more of a challenge to remain as competitive in the race but we gathered good information yesterday and hope to be able to build on that tomorrow.”

Toto Wolff
“A fantastic result for the entire team to take our third front row lockout this year. Fair, sporting competition is what Mercedes stands for and, while a lot has been said and written this weekend, the only thing that really matters is what happens out on track. The focus this afternoon should be on our drivers, Lewis and Nico, and on this fantastic team who have pushed so hard to keep developing the car in tough times and solve our problems. Lewis put in a mega lap: I don’t know if it’s the Silverstone factor or something else, but that was an incredible performance. Nico has been strong all weekend and second position gives us a great platform for the race tomorrow. Tomorrow should be warmer and we have struggled with race pace at some circuits so far this year. But the trend is going in the right direction, and I hope we can continue that tomorrow.”