Formula 1 - Singapore GP 2016 - Nightrace - Congratulations Nico Rosberg & Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team ! - NAANII GLOBAL Luxury/Quality Family Lifestyle MAGAZIN 'en Vogue' - NAANII GLOBAL Quality & Luxury Family Lifestyle - MAGAZINE 'en Vogue'-

Result, Singapore F 1 GP 2016, Marina Bay Circuit :
Pos Driver           Team                     Time/Gap (Fastest Lap); Pitstops
1.   N. Rosberg   Mercedes               1:55:48.950 (1:50.296); 2 (16, 33)
2.   D. Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing     +0.488  (1:47.187) ; 3 (15, 32, 47)
3.   L. Hamilton   Mercedes               +8.038  (1:47.752) ; 3 (15, 34, 45)


Team Interviews

Scudería Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen  (4th)
It was a good and solid race, the car was behaving well and we had a pretty good speed. Obviously it was very difficult to overtake, but at one point Hamilton made a mistake and I managed to pass him, then after the pit stop he got the position back. We lost the place there, I don't know how and why they managed to jump us, and I don't know what would have happened if we would have stayed out. Now we have to go through everything, see what happened and what we could have done better. Today we gained one place from the starting position, but of course this is not the result we are looking for, we are trying to be in position to win, but we need to make the car a bit faster.    

Sebastian Vettel  (5th)
We sure had a good strategy today, also we had the chance to make a big progress with a safety car, but it didn't come, so P5 is a very good result. Thanks to the team, I had been a bit down after qualifying yesterday. What nobody wanted to happen has happened, so we had to deal with it and move on. My start was not good, then there was the accident so I took it a bit easy; most important, the car was still intact, but after the restart it was tricky to get the tires working, I was on the primes, I lost quite a lot of time behind the Sauber, it was quite tough to get past, but then it was important to survive until we fitted the last set of Ultrasofts at the end, where we really could unfold the pace. In the last laps we had a big gap from the front and from the back, so I took it easy. I know patience is not a quality of the Ferraristi, it's not a quality of mine either, we are here to win and we're not satisfied until it happens, but we're progressing step by step and one day I think it will pay off. I believe in the team, and I believe that in the future it will be better.  

Maurizio Arrivabene  
It's fair to say that we drove an aggressive race today! Kimi's move on Hamilton to pass him on track shows that he's not a world champion by chance. Considering the distance to cover to the end of the race, and tire degradation, it made sense to call him to box one more time to cover Mercedes' strategy. As for Seb, it's a shame that he was so penalized by his starting position, but he drove a fantastic race, supported by perfect strategy. There are six more races to the end of the season, and all of them will be important.    

Red Bull Racing:
DANIEL RICCIARDO, Finish Position: 2nd, Start Position: 2nd  
“It was close today. We did everything we could and I thought it was pretty much a perfect race. The only thing that would have been better was to get Nico at the start. Then throughout the race I wasn’t really thinking about what happens when I catch him, I was just focusing on trying to catch him and put some pressure on. I knew his engineer had been on his radio saying: “Ricciardo is catching you, two seconds a lap.” It’s not a nice feeling to hear that, so I was just trying to keep on pushing and keep the crowd entertained. I pushed so much at the end on the supersoft and really tried to do something but it wasn’t close enough. I don’t really leave here with any regrets. Obviously we came here to win and we didn’t but I felt we left it all on the track.”

MAX VERSTAPPEN, Finish Position: 6th, Start Position: 4th  
“I had a bad start, it wasn’t as bad as Monza but it wasn’t good, which is disappointing. I had a lot of wheel spin and then with Hulkenberg spinning in front of me, I had to brake even more which compromised my whole start. I got stuck behind slower cars in front of me and after three or four laps you lose the advantage and it completely destroys the tyres. I had some pretty intense battles which I enjoy but it’s tricky to pass here, so you do get a bit stuck. Dani and I fought quite hard, but we didn’t touch so that’s always a positive. I like overtaking, but I wasn’t fighting for a position that I would have liked so it’s not as much fun. We have to try and do better in Malaysia, but first we have to focus on getting the start where we’d like it to be.”
                         
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal:
“A really exciting finish to a long and hard grand prix. Tyres and strategy were always going to be key to today and in the end opting to go to a three stop strategy with the tyres that we saved from earlier in the weekend brought Daniel tantalisingly close to Nico. Lewis triggered the final round of pit stops with Kimi covering him and then us in turn covering Kimi. That gave Daniel roughly 27 seconds to hunt down Nico who did a good job to manage his pace to the end but Daniel drove an outstanding race to finish 0.5 seconds behind him, splitting the two Mercedes. Unfortunately for Max we had some clutch issues overnight which we thought we’d cured in time for the race, combined with an awful lot of wheel spin at the start, it cost him some time as did avoiding the (Hulkenberg) accident. He was then stuck in traffic and burnt his tyres out fairly quickly in the first two stints. Once he was able to get in clean air he made some great passing moves and was able to make progress back up to P6. Overall a positive weekend, we’ve extended our lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, we’ve scored another second place finish and produced an enthralling end to the grand prix.”

Mercedes AMG Petronas Racing Team:
Nico Rosberg (1rst)
That was a fantastic weekend! In the past the Singapore track has not treated me so well, so this win is a very special one and an even more emotional one for me. The weekend started perfectly with a good qualifying session. Then, I had a good start and was able to keep the Red Bulls and the Ferraris behind me - both of which had beaten us comfortably last year. It was a bit tight at the end after Daniel (Ricciardo) did a clever pit stop timing wise. If I would have also pitted I would have come out behind him because I was stuck in traffic on my in-lap, so we chose the best strategy to stay out and a big thanks to the team for that. It's great that we learned from our mistakes last year and won at what is clearly a Red Bull track. This shows the competence and strength of our engineering group. I look forward to Malaysia now - but first I will definitely celebrate this win tonight!

Lewis Hamilton (3rd)
A difficult day and a difficult weekend. At one stage it looked like I might even miss out on the podium but fortunately it didn't work out that way. It was an okay start. I didn't lose any ground which is a good thing after the last one. But then I was struggling so much after the Safety Car went in. The brakes were near critical temperature for most of the race, so I kept having to back off to cool them down. I then ended up making a mistake and ran wide which let Kimi past. Fortunately, with the car a bit lighter, I was able to bring the temperatures down, push a bit more on fresh tyres and get back past him in the stops. Pace and strategy weren't the issue - it was all down to the brakes. I was just watching the leaders pull away right from the start, so P2 was the maximum today. If that's the worst weekend of the year, I'll definitely take it. These things are sent to try us and now I'm just looking forward to the next one and a chance to give it another shot. I need a couple of strong weekends to get back to where I need to be.

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
What an incredible race: that was F1 at its best today. Nico did a perfect job all weekend - after the stunning lap yesterday in qualifying, he managed his race in the most controlled way today, all the way to the final metres. We wanted to make a third stop with him but Ricciardo put in a stunning out-lap after his final stop - and Nico had traffic on the lap, which cost him time. When those factors combined, they meant he would have lost the position, so he had to tough it out in the lead - and he just made it. Initially we thought it would be comfortable, then it became clear it would be very close, and we saved all the tricks and engine modes for the final laps so he could fend off Ricciardo if he needed to. As for Lewis, it was a great recovery to come back to the podium after a difficult first half of the race and a tricky weekend. It just shows how important all the practice laps are if you want to reach the perfect set-up and preparation for the race - and we didn't give those to Lewis this weekend, which left him on the back foot from Saturday onwards. Taking a step back from the race, though, most of all I want to congratulate our team. A year ago this circuit, we were nowhere; today, we have come away with a double podium and an amazing win. It shows that we are able to learn the lessons of our failures and turn them into strengths. Next we head to Malaysia, another circuit where we failed to win last year, and we will be aiming to turn that around, too.

Williams Martini Racing
Felipe Massa: (12th)
It was definitely a tough race. I’m not happy with everything that happened. The race was going well in the beginning, but with the strategy and being stuck in traffic things changed a little bit. Anyway, that’s the way it was. We now need to concentrate on the next race and try to score more points with both cars because today it wasn’t good.

Valtteri Bottas: (-)
It was really bad today. It all went wrong before Turn 1. Someone touched my rear and I got a puncture, so we came into the pits. We went back out again but we saw that there was some damage on the car, so the pace was really poor. The car was sliding a lot and we didn’t really have the speed. We tried to do everything that we could but then had a mechanical problem so we had to retire.

McLaren Honda:
Fernando Alonso (7th)
“Seventh was the maximum we could achieve today – the best of the rest after the two Mercedes, the two Red Bulls and the two Ferraris. We weren’t perhaps quite the fourth-fastest team here this weekend, so it’s thanks to good strategy and a good start that we were able to bring home this result.
“I chose to go on the outside at the start, and the crash didn’t affect me as I was already up into sixth at that point. Then I braked very late for the first corner and got past Daniil [Kvyat] and Kimi [Raikkonen]. Everything went fine – sometimes you just need to get lucky.
“For a time, I was even hoping for a podium finish – if something had happened ahead of me it could have worked out that way – but in fact it was one of those races in which nothing happened at the front.  “But, overall, we did the best we could today.”

Jenson Button  (-)
“I might have retired on lap 43, but, to be honest, my race was effectively over on the first lap. “I got a very good start and pulled alongside Valtteri [Bottas], but I didn’t see Nico’s [Hulkenberg] car coming across the track until he was right in front of me, facing the wrong way. I lifted and pulled to the right, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go, so I tagged Valtteri with my front wing. That broke my front wing, brake duct and floor.
“I pitted to change tyres and fit a new front wing, but the car had been damaged, so I was lacking downforce for the remainder of the race. Even then, the downforce I did have wasn’t properly balanced across the car, which made it even more difficult.
“The reason we stopped was that we were concerned about the brakes – the temperatures were rising because of the duct damage. We were worried about a failure – it was the right decision to stop.”

Sahara Force India  F1 Team:
Sergio Perez: (8th)
“I am so happy about tonight’s performance; it surely ranks as one of the best races in my career. To be able to do 36 laps on one set of soft tyres, in this heat, and to keep my position under pressure from Kvyat is a big achievement. Pitting on lap one put us behind Gutierrez and that impacted on our strategy: we lost a lot of time behind him and it was very hard on my tyres, which was not good for what was effectively a one-stop race. We knew stopping one time less than our rivals was the only way we could score points, so managing the tyres was crucial. There was no point fighting with Fernando [Alonso] after his last stop: he was in a different race and I knew I couldn’t afford to destroy my tyres that early in the stint. It was the same with Max [Verstappen] – on a day like this I had to race intelligently and pick my fights to make the strategy work. It’s a good result for the team and it puts us back in fourth place in the championship. It’s a shame that Nico’s race finished so early, but we were able to score some good points on a difficult night.”

Nico Hülkenberg: (-)
“It’s extremely disappointing to end my race in the barrier after just 50 metres, especially because I had made such a good start – probably my best getaway off the line this year. I went for the gap between the two Toro Rossos, which was there, but obviously things got very tight. I had Daniil [Kvyat] on my right and Carlos [Sainz] on my left, and Carlos hit my left rear, which sent me into the wall. I think all the avoiding actions led to the gap I was in disappearing. So it was a really frustrating end for me, especially because all the good work we did on Friday and Saturday counted for nothing.”

Foto: Copyright Sahara Force India, all rights reserved.