Austrian Grand Prix: Top 10 quotes after race

Austrian Grand Prix: Top 10 quotes after race

The start was absolutely perfect - definitely my best start ever, said Bottas

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Austrian Grand Prix: Top 10 drivers quotes after race

1 77  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 71 1:21’48.523 224.757 1 25
“That champagne tasted good! The first win is obviously special, but this is only my second win, so it’s a great feeling to get it. It’s been my best weekend yet with the pole and the win and I hope we can continue from here. The start was absolutely perfect – definitely my best start ever. And you saw how close it was with Sebastian at the end, so today I needed it. The car was so good this weekend, so I knew we could still do it. I got a massive blister on the rear-left in the second stint after just five laps, which made the car tricky to drive. I kept my focus and managed to finish the race without any mistakes. It would have been tricky to keep Sebastian behind for much longer, so it was good to see the chequered flag. I’m still in the title fight and I’m only going to get better. I was losing more and more performance, but it wasn’t my first time having to keep Sebastian behind me. We’re growing all the time.”
2 5  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 71 1:21’49.181 0.658 224.727 1 18
“Today I struggled in the first stint with the first set of tires, the Ultrasofts. I think they were just getting too hot. Then the clouds came in and the balance of the car improved. That’s why I think we were starting to get quicker. It was a shame that we couldn’t win, because we were close. We learnt more about the car in these days and there are many positive aspects regarding this race, but I feel like I could have won today and I didn’t, so I am not entirely happy. At the beginning of the race I was just not quick enough. The pace was there, but the balance wasn’t. I like this place, which has a lot of history and it’s the place where I drove a racing car for the first time, in 2003. It’s a long time ago, but I still have beautiful memories. And now I am already looking forward to going to Silverstone. “
3 3  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 71 1:21’54.535 6.012 224.482 1 15
“I do love a fight and Lewis came out of nowhere in the last few laps. It felt like the gap was stable and then within a handful of laps he was catching me pretty rapidly. I then had two laps to go and had to defend which made it a pretty exciting race for me. To have good speed around here in dry conditions was a pleasant surprise for us. I had Seb in front of me pretty much for the whole race and I know that his long runs on Friday looked quite a lot quicker than ours so we didn’t really expect to have a similar race pace to him or Mercedes today. Just to hold Lewis off, have a fight, defend and come out in front was cool. Another podium is pretty sweet. I enjoyed it up there. Silverstone is going to be great with these 2017 cars so I’m looking forward to that and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of Poms out there next weekend.”
4 44  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 71 1:21’55.953 7.430 224.417 1 12
“It’s been a difficult weekend, but I can take heart that I limited the damage to Sebastian in the points and that I went forward through the field. The car was great today. I could push the entire race on the tyres and I gave it absolutely everything out there. I really don’t think there was much left in the car at the end of the race. But I was probably a bit too kind in my fight with Daniel – and left him too much space. I won’t do that again. We’ve slipped further behind Sebastian again, but there’s a long way to go. I’ll keep battling and I’ll never give up. Valtteri did a great job all weekend and thoroughly deserves the win. He’s just 15 points behind me now and he’s very much in this title fight. I’m really looking forward to Silverstone – I’ve got a few days to put this weekend behind me. Can’t wait to see the home crowd again and start with a clean slate. I hope I can use Silverstone as a springboard for the second half of my season.”
5 7  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 71 1:22’08.893 20.370 223.828 1 10
“In the first part of the race we had some difficulties with the balance of the car. I struggled a little bit with the first set of tires at the beginning, but then it was getting better and better. The second set was fine: at the beginning of the last stint the car felt very good and we had good speed, but at that point we were too far behind to try to recover. As the tires were getting older we obviously started to go slower, but we were still doing good lap times and the balance was improving. Overall, though, it was not a very easy weekend.”
6 8  Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 71 1:23’01.683 1’13.160 221.456 1 8
“It was a really strong race. I had a really good first lap and was enjoying the racing for a little bit. Lewis (Hamilton) and Kimi (Räikkönen) got past, but I focused on keeping Sergio (Perez) behind. We pushed hard all the way and that’s the racing we like. It was a great race and a great job by all the guys. I was happy with the car all weekend long. There are a few things we need to improve, but today we were the best of the rest. We showed that when we get everything to work on the car we’re strong. It’s the experience of getting everything working in the window all the time that we’re missing a little bit. This was only our 30th race ever, so we can’t have everything. I’m looking forward to the next race. Silverstone’s going to be fun.”
7 11  Sergio Perez F. India Mercedes 70 1:21’57.175 1 lap 221.200 1 6
“Finishing seventh is a great result for the team and a nice reward considering how difficult this weekend has been for us. We struggled in practice, but come qualifying and the race we were quite strong and we came home with some good points. It wasn’t the easiest of races for me. I made a good start, but I lost places to both Esteban and Lewis [Hamilton] at turn one. Thankfully I was able to pass them both at turn three and regain my starting position. I suffered from a lot of front graining in my first stint. But after the pit stop I was able to settle down into a rhythm, even though it wasn’t enough to attack Grosjean. We had very similar pace to him so we couldn’t get any closer. It has been a difficult weekend, but we recovered well and we can be happy with the outcome. Now our focus shifts to Silverstone. I really can’t wait to try these 2017 cars on the fastest track on the calendar.”
8 31  Esteban Ocon F. India Mercedes 70 1:22’04.589 1 lap 220.867 1 4
“I’m pleased with the points we’ve scored today and it was a strong race for the team. I made a good start and gained a couple of positions, but I was behind Lewis [Hamilton] going into turn three and got squeezed, which meant I had to ease off and lost momentum. Then it was just a case of keeping my head down and being consistent with my laptimes. I don’t think we went the right way with the strategy. Because I lost a lot of time to Massa after my stop and we just need to review things. And see if we could have done anything differently. It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us. But we’ve worked hard and it’s satisfying to come away with good points even when things are not going perfectly. I think we showed our strength as a team.”
9 19  Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 70 1:22’05.524 1 lap 220.825 1 2
“For sure you cannot celebrate a ninth position but starting 17th it was a fantastic race for me. I had a really good start, getting through the issues that were happening in corner one, and overtaking cars. It was a fantastic first lap as the pace was great, compared to qualifying. Which is something we need to work to understand. So that we don’t repeat starting out of position like today. At the end of the race it was a bit disappointing not to be able to pass Ocon. But I was just losing a lot of grip in the high-speed corners behind him. And he had good speed on the straight so it was quite difficult. I’m so happy with my race and it’s good to have both cars in the points.”
10 18  Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 70 1:22’23.547 1 lap 220.020 1 1
“It goes to show anything can happen in a race and it is not over on a Saturday. I am feeling very positive as I started 18th, finished 10th and picked up another point. I knew after the start we were in a good position, so it was just a matter of staying focussed. Not making any mistakes and saving the brakes and tyres towards the end of the race. First, there was Magnussen putting pressure on me and then at the end Palmer. But I just needed to defend as I know around here it is quite difficult to overtake. We just need to figure out what happened to us this weekend in qualifying and try to cure it for the next race. The next race is Silverstone, the home race for the team, so I am really looking forward to it.”

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