Google+ Jack Leslie F1: 2014 Russian Grand Prix Driver Reaction

12 October 2014

2014 Russian Grand Prix Driver Reaction

The inaugural Russian Grand Prix was far from a thriller, with Lewis Hamilton cruising to his ninth win of the 2014 season.
© Daimler
Nico Rosberg recovered from an early pit stop to finish second, helping Mercedes to clinch the constructors' crown. Valtteri Bottas finished third. Here are some post-race thoughts from this year's grid. 

Red Bull speed nothing special - Vettel:
"I had a good start and then a tough battle with Daniel, but from then onwards the speed was nothing special, we had the same issues as we had in qualifying. I was alone for a lot of the race, the beginning was entertaining, but after that it wasn’t that busy. Congratulations to Mercedes on the title, they deserve it."
© Mercedes AMG Petronas
Hamilton - I didn't have to push too hard:
"It was a good day and an amazing weekend. Firstly I'm so proud to have contributed to the work of this great team, to get the first constructors' championship for Mercedes-Benz is a huge achievement. Massive congratulations to the guys back in the UK and Germany, it's history for us. Today I had to manage the tyres a lot through the race; managing the fuel wasn't too bad.
"The car felt great and I didn't have to push too hard. At the end, when Nico was behind, I needed to match his times, which I did. I've thoroughly enjoyed the weekend here in Russia, it's a great place. It's been one of my favourite venues so far this year, so it's very cool to have won the first race here."
Raikkonen struggled to move up the order:
"We knew we could expect a very demanding race and that starting from far back it would not be easy to move up the order, but at the start we did very well. Unfortunately a Toro Rosso squeezed me towards the wall once we were on the straight. Because I had to brake hard, various cars passed me and I lost any chance of having a good race, because from then on I was always stuck behind other cars.
"The car handled well and with a clear track I had a good pace, but we lacked top speed with which to try and overtake on the straight and having to save fuel meant I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. We are aware that this year it’s hard to fight for the top places, but all the same, we will continue to try our best, starting with the very next race in Austin. That track is very demanding and interesting and I hope I don't have the same problems I had here, so that I can aim for a good result."
Grosjean - Sutil clash a racing incident:
"The car felt okay to drive today, which was a big improvement on the previous two days and a testament to the work the team has put it over the week. The main challenge was the race start. It was hard to get the tyres up to temperature over the first few laps, so much so that I thought I had a puncture at the beginning. 
"After that, it was a straight-forward race aside from the incident with Adrian Sutil. He was on the softer tyres and had a lot more grip than me going into T3. That corner closes up a bit on exit and he didn’t want to go too much off the racing line. I was already on the maximum for the braking zone and we just touched a little. It felt more like a racing incident to me but never mind, we head to Austin and hope for better things."
© McLaren Mercedes
Fourth the maximum - Button:
"Well, that wasn’t a bad day at all – I reckon we got the maximum out of the car. I had a little scare at turn three on lap one, when Fernando [Alonso] and I got very close to each other, but apart from that it was a pretty straightforward race. It was odd that we were able to run so many laps on a single set of tyres today. The Primes [tyres] felt like they could have gone on for ever – it was a bit like going back to ‘old school’ racing in that respect. 
"The track surface is in Austin [Texas] is very similar to the track surface here, as it happens, so I look forward to seeing how we fare out there in terms of tyre wear. “It’s been a tough year for us but over the past few Grands Prix it’s been clear that we’ve been improving. Today’s result, fourth and fifth, is the best we’ve had for a little while, and the 22 world championship points that Kevin and I scored are very welcome from a constructors’ world championship point of view.
"Having said that, unless you’re standing on top of the podium, you always want more; that’s the Formula 1 mindset. But believe me: we got the maximum out of our car today, and our race pace was good, but better results still will come soon enough."
A well-earned point for Perez:
"It was a very hard race and a very hard-earned point. We tried our best to push throughout the race, but obviously the fuel strategy was quite marginal – especially because I started the race on the medium and had to really push to keep in touch with the group on the softs. When I was on the softs, it was hard to save fuel because I had to defend from Felipe [Massa] who was behind me for the whole of the second stint. So it was a hard afternoon, but hopefully we can be in better shape for the coming races."
Strategy risk didn't pay off - Gutierrez:
"It was a clean race with an interesting first part. We were betting on having a safety car period during the first stint, and this is why we extended this run. It was not ideal for the strategy, but we took that risk and hoped to gain an advantage.
"In the end, the safety car did not come out. Although I think the way the tyres were behaving and the way the car drove was pretty enjoyable, on the other hand finishing in P15 was very frustrating, after a race where almost everything went very well. However, we will keep fighting until the end of the season to have a chance to score points."
© Red Bull/Getty Images
Difficult home race for Kvyat:
"It was a tough race. Apart from the fact that I could not find immediately the right grip, we had to care too much about our fuel consumption compared to the others. This is something that we will have to understand, so as not to lose performance for this reason in the future. Last but not least, I also had to pit again towards the end of the race, losing even more positions.
"I would have liked to do much better here in Russia, in front of my own crowd, which really made me feel their great support. Regardless of the disappointing final result, it was great to race in such an amazing structure, with an excellent organization."
Bottas pleased with fifth podium:
"We went into the race today with the mentality that we were going to fight Mercedes for the win, but their pace in the race surprised us a bit and in the end we need to be satisfied with third place and another podium. I was keeping pace with Hamilton at the beginning but in the middle of my first stint the rear tyres started to go away and that allowed him to create a gap.
"In the second stint I didn’t realise Rosberg was quite as close as he was and his move caught me a bit by surprise, but he had more pace at that point anyway as my prime tyres were taking a good ten laps to switch on so he would have caught me regardless. I was closing in the final laps as my tyres were getting better but he had managed to create too big a gap. I’m very happy to be in fourth place in the standings and we have some great momentum heading into the US Grand Prix."
Disappointing end to difficult weekend for Chilton:
"After an incredibly tough week for everyone in the team, we all deserved so much more from today’s race. It hasn’t been an easy day, far from it, and all the guys have had to dig deep to get us to the grid. When we got there of course, it was very emotional with all the support for Jules. I think the team, the sport and all the fans have really done him proud. 
"In the race, we got a good start then switched from the medium tyre to the soft quite early on, as we always knew we wouldn’t be that strong on the prime. On lap 9 I started to feel a problem with the front left and it wasn’t going away, so I pitted for the Team to investigate. In the end it was not something we would be able to address quickly, so it was best to bring a generally difficult weekend to an early conclusion.
"What the team needs now is to head home for support from their families and colleagues back at the factory. Somehow we need to find the strength to regroup and move forward, which is hard to contemplate right now."
© Caterham F1 Team
Strong weekend for Ericsson:
"The start to today’s race was a really good one – it was a strong first stint and I was able to pull-away from the Sauber and the Lotus behind without any problems, I felt really good. But the second stint on the prime tyres wasn’t that good, I just couldn’t get them to work – I felt no grip and I struggled massively to switch them on and in the end the team decided to call me in again for a second pit-stop and by then the race was already over for us as we were too far from the Lotus.
"I feel a bit disappointed because it felt so good on the first stint, I think we could’ve had a better result. Overall it’s been another strong weekend, we’re improving continuously and we’ve demonstrated that we can fight with Lotus and Sauber not only today during the first part of the race, but also yesterday’s qualifying session. Now we just need to build on that and I look forward to the last three races of the season."
#ForzaJules

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