Germany: The F1 Grand Prix race as seen from the pits

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 1st

Lewis Hamilton – 3rd

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): We knew the afternoon would be challenging. Not only to get Lewis from the back to the front but, as always, to bring two cars home with many systems to manage and a long race with the threat of rain. Nico executed a faultless race with two stops as planned.

Lewis’s race was a bit more eventful with fantastic overtakes and great driving. He lost a lot of downforce due to damage to the front wing, so we decided to switch to a three-stop strategy to give us an opportunity to adjust it and restore the missing aero balance. We gambled on the safety car which didn’t pay off but slightly affected our strategy. In the end, we were thwarted by the straight-line speed of the Williams: our lap times were faster but we couldn’t overtake. Congratulations to Williams for the 2nd place; it was good to see three Mercedes-powered cars on the podium in Germany.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 2nd

Felipe Massa – Retirement (collision)

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance: « We only had one car make it to the finish today, so we’re not as happy as we could be. However, Valtteri did a fantastic job and the guys on the pit wall were exceptional. We stayed calm and did what we needed to do. Our strategy was different from the others, but we kept our confidence and Valtteri attacked when necessary.

We have surpassed Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, which is a reward for our constant improvements. It’s just Felipe’s bad luck that stops us because our goal is to have both cars on the podium now.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – 4th

Daniel Ricciardo – 6th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: 4th and 6th is the maximum we could do today, especially after the first corner, when Daniel did well to avoid the accident. There were some great moments with Sebastian and Fernando early in the race and he was really our main opponent today. Our strategy worked as we were able to beat him in the end, quite comfortably, with Sebastian. Daniel came very close after recovering well. It was an exciting Grand Prix, there is still a big gap with Mercedes but we are working hard to try to close it.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 5th

Kimi Räikkönen – 11th

Marco Mattiacci, Team Principal: « It was a very combative race from both our drivers and the team, which confirms the significant effort everyone puts in during a relentless weekend. Fernando delivered another fantastic performance, while we saw encouraging signs from Kimi, which unfortunately did not translate into concrete results. We know the weaknesses of our car and with each race we seek improvements that will also be useful for the new project that is beginning to take shape. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Sahara Force India

Nico Hülkenberg – 7th

Sergio Perez – 10th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Director: « We expected to be stronger in the race, but the drop in temperatures didn’t help us, and both drivers struggled to show the pace we had seen during the long stints on Friday. Sergio didn’t feel comfortable, and it became clear quite early that we would need three stops. With Nico, we managed a two-stop race and he brought the car home in 7th place.

Considering the challenges faced today, we cannot be disappointed to return with 7 points. It leaves us in 5th place in the standings and demonstrates once again that we can score good points even on days when both drivers struggle with balance. We are now looking forward to going to Budapest where warmer conditions are expected next weekend.

– Read the drivers’ statements

McLaren

Jenson Button – 8th

Kevin Magnussen – 9th

Eric Boullier, Competition Director: Obviously, we are very disappointed with this result. It should have been a day to score big points in the world championship. Instead, we return home losing ground to our main rivals, which is extremely frustrating.

Kevin’s incident at the first corner is unfortunate. He had a very good start and was attacking to stay in contact with Valtteri Bottas. Massa was on the outside and probably didn’t see Kevin, who was on the inside and couldn’t go anywhere. Kevin couldn’t do anything about it. It’s all the more unfortunate since it destroyed his chances of finishing in the top four.

However, I think Kevin deserves praise for his driving afterwards. With the lost promise of a good result and being sent back to the very end of the field, it would have been easy to lose focus, but Kevin was very mature. Two points are a small reward, but he worked hard to earn them today.

Jenson also drove well. He showed his fighter’s mindset even when the elements conspired against him. He had a very aggressive strategy, but we realized during the race that it was not going to work. Despite a strong defense, Jenson could do nothing to prevent the other drivers from passing him as his tires faded.

We are working very hard to find ourselves in the position to score good points regularly. Today is therefore a disappointing day. But the Hungarian Grand Prix is in a week and we will do our best to score new points before the summer break.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Lotus

Pastor Maldonado – 12th

Romain Grosjean – Retirement (engine)

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: « The entire weekend was a testament to the positive spirit within the team. We lost our front-rear interconnected suspension system (FRIC), which meant a new challenge and long days of work to adapt the car to a new configuration. Despite this, we had good race strategies and managed the tires well. The mechanics performed excellent pit stops during the Grand Prix.

Pastor drove impeccably throughout the race and unfortunately was not rewarded with points. For his part, Romain also drove very well, but we were not able to provide him with a competitive car today. We have upgrades planned for Budapest and we hope to perform better there.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 13th

Daniil Kvyat – Retirement (engine)

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Leader: « Today we missed an opportunity because our car performed well yesterday and the team deserved to score points. JEV’s car was running well but his penalty pushed him out of the top 10. Daniil was really unlucky to spin in the first part of the race and then retire in a spectacular way. The issue is still under investigation, but we believe it’s an ignition problem that caused unburnt fuel to ignite in the exhaust. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Sauber

Esteban Gutierrez – 14th

Adrian Sutil – Retirement (spin)

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: The race showed that our competitiveness has slightly improved, although we know our level is not yet satisfactory. We had a chance to gain a point and it is unfortunate that we were unable to take advantage of this due to two unfortunate incidents.

First, we suffered from a poor procedure by the driver, who spun in the last corner, and we still need to investigate the reasons for this. However, there were positive aspects, and we need to build on the gains seen and seize every opportunity that arises.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 15th

Max Chilton – 17th

John Booth, Team Director: « After a problem at the start, which we haven’t completely understood, Jules was able to progress after the safety car and from there, he had a solitary race, even though the clash of our two-stop strategies against the three-stop strategies of the Sauber team left us with a few opportunities.

Unfortunately, Max fell behind during his first stop, which placed him behind Kobayashi and he got stuck. Once again, we can see that the situation is clear regarding our need for several tenths to progress. This weekend, we saw the gap increase slightly.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – 16th

Marcus Ericsson – 18th

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 Team Leader: « We had a clean race where we were able to run the power units to the maximum, and we are happy that both drivers finished, with one car ahead of a Marussia. We will build on this for the next race in Hungary. »

– (déclarations à venir)