What the teams said - Race day in Germany

The drivers and teams report back on all the action from an utterly chaotic and incident-packed race at the Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Grosser Preis von Deutschland 2019...

Red Bull

Verstappen made a dreadful start and was bottled up behind Bottas for much of the early stages. He also swapped to slick tyres too early and executed a perfect 360-degree spin for good measure. But while everyone else started crashing, he pumped in quick lap after quick lap to grab the lead which he never looked like relinquishing. A second victory in three races is just reward for a driver who is at the top of his game. As for Gasly, he pushed too hard in the closing stages fighting Albon, tagging the rear of the Toro Rosso and pulling off track with front wing damage and a punctured tyre.

Max Verstappen, 1st

“To come out on top after a race like that is amazing and for the Team to win for the second time this year with Honda is incredible. I don’t know exactly what happened at the start but it seemed that everyone on the right side of the grid had a bad getaway and low grip. I had a particularly poor start when I released the clutch but stayed calm and followed the Mercedes cars closely. It was hard to pass due to the dirty air and the tyres started to struggle as the track dried. From there onwards we always made the right decisions. Even though the first slick tyre was maybe a bit hard and I had a few moments, with a 360 spin, I luckily kept going.

"Once I was back on the intermediates and in the lead I was able to control the race and really show the pace of the car. Once you are ahead you can take a few less risks and everything feels a bit nicer. The conditions were very tricky and it was all about survival. It was definitely not an easy race and very tricky with the changing conditions. The Team made all the right calls. They were giving me the right information and keeping an eye on all the other teams and sector times. They were really on top of things and everyone worked so well together.

"It has been one of my most difficult races and it is great to come out on top. For sure I enjoy driving in the wet but also you need a good car for that. You can find a bit of pace in yourself but today we had both things right and I’m very happy with the result. The orange fans were standing up, especially when I was in the lead which was also amazing to see. A big thank you to the whole Team and it has been a crazy but amazing Sunday.”

Pierre Gasly, DNF

“That was an insane, crazy race and it just had everything. With the rain, crashes, safety cars and pit stops, it was a lottery and there were a lot of opportunities so I’m quite disappointed not to have made the most of it on my side and not finish the race. Towards the end, I was fighting with Alex during the last few laps and we made contact, which took my front wing off and gave me a puncture, so I had to stop the car. I don’t know what to say but it’s annoying not to score points when you have a race like this. At the start, I had wheel spin so I was slow off the line and I lost a lot of positions into Turn One so it was quite hectic from there. In these conditions, it’s a gamble when to pit and when not to and sometimes you just need to get lucky but the pace was there so we will keep pushing and next week, we go again in Hungary. For the Team and Honda, it was great to get Max’s win today and bag another decent amount of points.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“What an unbelievable performance from Max and the Team today and it took five pit stops to win that race. Max kept his head in tricky conditions, he had great pace when he needed it and he made that win happen. It’s fantastic for Honda to see two engines and both teams on the podium, and a massive congratulations go to Toro Rosso and Daniil Kvyat, who also became a father last night. The pit stop crew were unbelievable today and that was the reason for sending our Chief Mechanic, Phil Turner, up to collect the Constructors’ Trophy as he did an amazing job. For Pierre, it was a shame as he had sections of the race that were going really well for him and it looked like he would finish in the top five, but it wasn’t to be. He had an incident with Albon late in the race which I’ve only briefly seen, but thankfully both of them were unhurt and Pierre will bounce back.”

Mercedes

There are always big winners and losers when the weather comes out to play, and today was a rare occasion where the Silver Arrows ended up as losers. At the start when Hamilton led Bottas away, it looked like a good day for the team, but the Finn lost out slightly to poorly-timed pit stops and chased too hard to try and reclaim a podium, crashing out in the closing stages.

As for Hamilton, he went off and damaged his front wing, lost time in the pit stop given the team weren't ready with a replacement and was then penalised five seconds for entering the pit lane incorrectly. He later spun, pitted again for fresh tyres and ran dead last before recovering to P11 in what on paper looked like conditions tailor-made for him. That became P9 after both Alfa Romeos had post-race penalties applied.

Lewis Hamilton, 9th

"What a crazy race. This has been one of the most difficult races we've had as a team for a long time. I thought I had the race under control, but we took a risk going out on slicks and the race fell apart from there. I went wide at Turn 16 and it was like ice out there, then hit the wall and damaged my wing. I made a mistake and paid the price. I was in the lead and then finished P11. I'm not even sure how, but that's very painful and I'm just glad it's over. It's hard to perform when you're not at 100 per cent. I need to make sure I'm fit and healthy again in time for the next race. You live and you learn from days like this. It's important now that we regroup for Hungary. I'm happy for Seb, who fought his way back to P2 from the back, and how good to see Daniil and Toro Rosso on the podium too - good for them."

Valtteri Bottas, DNF

"That was a really tough race and I'm very disappointed. It was tricky out there: the track was very slippery and the conditions changed all the time. It was very easy to make a mistake and unfortunately I made a mistake in the end which lost us a lot of points. It's a shame because today was a good opportunity for me to make up some points to Lewis and it was my own fault that I ended up not getting any points at all in the end. I had a good shot to get a podium and I was pushing hard to get past Stroll. I was quite close to the limit in Turn 1, then I suddenly lost the rear and just went off; I don't think there was any time to catch the car. It's very disappointing for the entire team, but we'll give it everything to come back stronger in Hungary."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"This one hurts us to the core: it was a disastrous result today. We had a decent start of the race with good pace. Then obviously you add incidents, crashing out, tricky conditions, the wrong calls and in the end you're left with zero points after running 1-2 in the opening laps. Lewis's incident happened right at the pit entry, so we were not prepared when he came in and made the wrong calls afterwards. Valtteri crashed like many other drivers today, which made a bad day even worse for us. Our 200th race in F1 has been the most difficult day we've had in a long time, but we are united in the pain as we are united in the joy of winning. Today is a day for us to look at our mistakes and to learn from them, so we can come back stronger next weekend."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"A very frustrating day. We had opportunity to get both cars in really good points but failed to take them and that's always painful. The weather wasn't easy to deal with, the rain was coming and going and around midway we were in reasonable shape but got caught out on dry tyres when the rain got heavier. With Valtteri we went to mediums the lap after Max, which was ok but we should have reacted sooner when the safety car came out to take the opportunity to go to back to intermediate and that cost him the position.

"With Lewis our timing was about as bad as it could be, we'd stopped for softs just as the conditions were getting worse and then he slipped off the track the next lap in the same place as Charles went off. We were ready for Valtteri to come in, so when Lewis needed a nose change we just weren't ready and lost a load of time. Despite all that, we were still 2nd and 3rd during the next safety car period but we were too cautious with the jump to dry tyres and lost position with both. On top of that, Lewis had the penalty to serve and should have done that earlier as we lost of a load of positions once everyone was bunched up.

"We then had both drivers spin at turn 1 in the damp, which pretty much finished our day. Really disappointing and sometimes these days help you improve so we are looking forward to getting back on the track next week in Budapest."

Ferrari

Highs and lows at Ferrari today. Vettel lined up last, but made a good start and timed his pit stops well to make his way back through the field. After being accused of making too many mistakes at recent rounds, he drove a faultless race and held his nerve to overtake Stroll and Kvyat and come home a brilliant second in a "never-ending" race. Leclerc, though, will be kicking himself - he timed his pit stops better than Mercedes and looked on for the win at one point before crashing out. His obvious frustration was evident on the radio.

Sebastian Vettel, 2nd

“That was quite a race. I enjoyed it even though it was a tricky race, something of a lottery. It was a very long one and I don’t even remember all of it. It was very tough at times, especially on the intermediates in the slippery conditions. I made up a lot of ground immediately after the start and in the first couple of laps, even though it was difficult to see. After that, it was quite hard to get into a rhythm as I did not feel so comfortable on the intermediates and their degradation was quite high. It was hard to tell if the lack of grip was because of the track being greasy or because the tyres were going off.

"To be honest in these kind of races you can’t count on anything until the last couple of laps. I think I was about P8 when the last safety car came out. There are so many decisions to make, but overall we stayed on track and in the race. In mixed conditions when it was starting to dry on the slicks I felt comfortable and that’s when we made up the most ground.”

Charles Leclerc, DNF

“It is a disappointing end to the weekend for me. After a good start, we worked our way forward in rather tricky conditions. The team did a great job and let me arrive in second place to fight for the win. The strategy was the right one and the car felt good.

"Unfortunately, I made a mistake in turn 16 and lost control of the car. I hit the wall and that was the end of my race. It’s a shame and I am sorry for the team and our fans. Seb did a great job today and his result is well-deserved.

"Our car and performance were strong all weekend, in both wet and dry conditions, which is a positive. We have to stay focused and we will give our best again at the next race in Hungary.”

Mattia Binotto, Team Principal

“What a race! The car worked well all weekend, in all conditions. Today it proved to be quick, even in the final part of the race in the dry on a much cooler track than we had to deal with in the extreme heat on Friday. That is definitely an important consideration, as was the fact it also went well in the wet.

"We are very happy for Seb as this fantastic second place is a great confidence boost. He has been in great form all weekend and today he produced a brilliant drive, coming through from the back of the field.

"As for Charles, he’s aware today was an opportunity missed, but he will get over it. There are plenty more races and there is no doubt that the guy is very quick and today he was delivering an extraordinary performance.

"It’s true that maybe we could have come away with more today, but that’s racing. Thanks go to all the crew in the garage who worked so hard to get the cars fixed this morning so they were ready to race. We’ve had some difficult moments, but it’s at times like these that you see what the team is made of and that’s the important thing.”

Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso had looked like solid back-of-the-midfield runners, but as the track dried both drivers found far more pace than many of their rivals. Both ran in the top 10, with Albon unlucky to lose a handful of places from fourth after getting boxed up behind Hamilton. Kvyat kept a cool head after finding himself running last to make his way up to the podium slots, clinging on to the back of race leader Verstappen and only losing out on P2 in the latter stages to a recovering Vettel. The Russian came home third to give the team only their second ever podium, and cap a fantastic weekend in which he also became a father for the first time.

Daniil Kvyat, 3rd

“It’s incredible to be back on the podium in what could be called my ‘second career’. I thought it would never happen again in my life, so I’m so incredibly happy. There’s so many emotions I still need some time to let it all sink in! This achievement is so great for us since it’s 11 years since Toro Rosso’s last podium with Sebastian in Monza. It was such an amazing day and I’m so happy. Thank you to everyone in the team, it was just an incredible day. I was readier than ever to fight for this kind of position. This year I feel more mature, my head is cooler, and I’m readier to fight on top, so I think I proved that today to myself and everyone around here. I hope this will become a habit soon! These kinds of races aren’t easy, it was a tough call to pit that lap earlier, but it’s a 50/50 call between the team and me, we win and lose together and today we won together.”

Alex Albon, 6th

“It was a good race today! I was a bit scared at the start, learning how the car behaves in the wet around this track, although, I’m really happy with how I performed as it was my first time in these conditions in an F1 car. The pace was really good, we were a bit fortunate and we timed our first pitstop right, and I was really excited racing in P4, I was thinking ‘OK here we go!’ Unfortunately, at the second stop we were caught out and pitted a lap later than Dany to switch from wet tyres to dry, so four cars passed us. It’s funny, it’s like a disappointing P6 because we were running in P4 for quite a while. It was an amazing job by the team, the strategy was great and we were able to bounce back from a difficult qualifying.”

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance

“What a race! This is an amazing result for us and it has been a fantastic team effort to achieve it, here at the track, in our Operations Rooms in Faenza and Bicester and from Sakura. Today was about being on the right tyre at the right time and making no mistakes. The pit-wall discussions were intense during the entire race, engineers were managing the situation well, the mechanics made no mistakes, we had good pitstops and obviously, both drivers showed a fantastic drive. Daniil was on it straight from the start, making no mistakes and giving good feedback in those epic conditions. Alex has been amazing if you consider it was the first time he ran our car in the wet! Both have been able to keep their head down, trust our decisions and push to the end. This is a great day for STR and Honda and gives a lot of motivation to everyone for the rest of the season.”

Franz Tost, Team Principal

“It was another fantastic and very exciting Formula 1 race. Congratulations to Max Verstappen for the victory and to Honda, for their second win in the turbo era. Enormous congratulations to Daniil Kvyat, he really deserved this third position! He had a fantastic race, he showed really good overtaking manoeuvres and he could keep focused until the end without any mistakes, in difficult conditions. The rain seemed to be on our side, so thanks to the rain Gods!!

"I must compliment the strategy team, the call to bring Daniil in for Option tyres quite early was a risky one but it paid off and he was able to finish on the podium. We had a fantastic car today, the engineers did a great job on the setup side. I’m also very satisfied with Alex’s performance as he had a fantastic race. It was the first time for him driving an F1 car in such changing conditions and he had everything under control, including managing the tyres, which was very important to finish in sixth position. I want to thank the everybody in Toro Rosso, who have made this possible. We are now looking forward to Budapest, in the past we showed good performances there and we can’t wait to do it again.”

Masamitsu Motohashi, Chief Honda Engineer - Scuderia Toro Rosso

"To see Daniil on the podium was an incredible feeling coming after we have worked so hard with Toro Rosso for one and a half seasons. In recent races, we have struggled a bit and even today it was a difficult race for us. However, everything came together today. Last year our best result was a fourth place, even if we came close to getting good results in some other races too, which for one reason or another did not happen. Today, we feel we did the best we possibly could. This was an unforgettable race – the team, drivers and all Honda members working so well together. I would also like to thank our fans, especially those in Japan, who have never given up on us. Today’s result is for them also."

Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director

“An absolutely fantastic result, securing our second win of the year with Max Verstappen, but this time extra special, with Daniil Kvyat making it two Honda drivers on the podium. It was a very difficult race, because of the changing conditions between wet and dry and the result is down to the excellent drives from both drivers, spot on strategies from the two teams and great work from both pit crews. Honda really appreciates their efforts. After winning with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing already in Austria, it is particularly pleasing to see Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso on the podium, as they helped us get back on the right road to success last year. We will briefly celebrate on this special day, but immediately focus on next week’s race in Hungary.”

Racing Point

Perez was the first to crash out in the opening laps, losing the rear in the standing water. He was then a frustrated spectator as the carnage unfolded. As for his team mate, Stroll was running last after spinning, and opted to gamble and swap to the soft tyres a lap ahead of the field. It was a brilliant call and lifted the Canadian into the lead for half a lap before Verstappen overtook him. He held on to second, then third for lap after lap and a famous podium seemed on the cards, but in the end Vettel had too much pace and he had to settle for a well-deserved fourth.

Sergio Perez, DNF

“First of all, I need to apologise to my team because I made a mistake. I've thrown away a great opportunity today to score big points for the team. The first rule in these conditions is not to make a mistake and I did. I was picking up the power and then had some aquaplaning on the rear. I lost it and just couldn't recover from it. I put my hands up for it - I'm extremely disappointed with myself. Watching the race from the garage is always tough, but I’m happy that Lance had such a great race. We needed those points and it’s a boost for everyone. I think we've definitely taken a step forward this weekend. Now we look forward to Hungary where hopefully we can come back stronger.”

Lance Stroll, 4th

“I’m really happy with that. What an amazing day! Fourth place feels great considering everything that happened this afternoon. I was running at the back for most of the race; I spun a couple of times and we pitted five times! As special as it is to finish fourth, I am disappointed that the podium slipped away from us. I think a critical moment was the mistake I made in turn eight on my second or third lap on slicks, which is when Daniil [Kvyat] managed to get ahead of me. We tried our best to keep the quicker cars behind, but the podium was just out of reach. Today’s race shows why you should never give up because it’s never over until it’s over. It’s great to see how much this result means to the team and it was so special to see the crew celebrating on the pit wall when I crossed the line. This important result is for everyone in the team and we will enjoy this moment.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO

"What a race! It was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, but to come away with fourth place for Lance and 12 points is a tremendous effort by the entire team. We rolled the dice a few times with Lance’s strategy, but we timed the final switch to dry tyres perfectly and Lance emerged in the lead of the race for a short while. We gave it everything to try and bring home the podium and we were looking comfortable holding off Bottas. Without the late safety car, we might have pulled it off, but the fourth place feels incredibly satisfying. It was a fantastic drive by Lance in very tricky conditions. It was a shame Sergio couldn’t have been there too but these wet races are often a lottery. All the cars were struggling for grip in the early laps and Sergio lost it on the exit of turn ten. Overall, though, it’s been a brilliant day for the team and a result we will celebrate.”

Haas

For Haas to bring home both cars in the points is worth celebrating, even if it came at the end of a race that once again involved contact between their drivers. Grosjean was ahead on track and thus had the preferential pit stop strategy, with the team opting to gamble and leave Magnussen out on full wets. That backfired, as did the later decision to pit the Dane early for soft tyres. Despite coming into the pit lane six times to his team mate's five, the two still ended up on the same piece of track and predictably came together with both fortunate to scrape home without too much damage.

Romain Grosjean, 7th

“I’m very happy with the double points finish. It was obviously a bit of a crazy race. I don’t think we’ve quite sorted our race pace. When you see the midfield being in front of us and only the Williams behind. Anyway, we survived when we had to survive, but it was very difficult. You saw all the top guys going out and off the track – conditions were very tricky. I’m happy to have a double points finish, but when you see a Toro Rosso on the podium, you wish you were there. With all the experience we have, we should be able. It’s just that the race pace on inters and slicks wasn’t good enough.”

Kevin Magnussen, 8th

“It was a very crazy race. It was entertaining and exciting all the way through. There are always hard decisions to make with all the changing weather, having to decide the tyres and so on. The way we earned the point today was to be good on the dry tyre in the mixed conditions. That’s when we made up on the opposition. In the dry we didn’t have any pace, so we fell back. At least we got both cars in the points, I don’t think we could have done that in the dry.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal

“The result looks better than it is. Our speed was just not there, but we kept out of trouble. In the end I would say we got everything out of the situation we were in. We just need to keep on working.”

McLaren

Norris had had an unusually sub-par weekend, which ended in bleak fashion with an apparent loss of power. Sainz had a more entertaining time - he ran off into the gravel and was lucky to just miss the barriers and get going again. He too made the right call not to swap to slicks too early and thus made headway back up through the field to come home an entertaining fifth.

Carlos Sainz, 5th

“Quite an intense Sunday and a good day for Formula 1. On my side, I’m very happy with that P5. Obviously the podium opportunity was there and now it’s easy to say we could’ve made it, but when we were P5 under the Safety Car, it was a very tough call to pit for slicks and nobody around me was stopping.

“We decided not to and the guys who were further behind had more margin to take that risk. In general we made the right decisions at the right time. Clever race and well-managed under stressful conditions, so congratulations to the team.”

Lando Norris, DNF

“The start was tricky because of poor visibility and it was still very slippery even on Wets. Everything was going okay, making up some positions here and there when we didn’t box under the first Safety Car, which in hindsight may have been the wrong decision.

“I made up a couple more places after boxing onto Inters and my pace was good before I stopped for slicks, as it had dried just about enough. I got ahead of the Toro Rosso immediately after that stop on the back straight. Things were looking good but then the car lost power. It’s a shame as points were definitely possible in what was a manic race.”

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal

“There was so much going on in this race that it's actually difficult to recap everything that happened right now. It was great for us to score some more important points after a difficult race weekend compared to our main competitors. Carlos delivered a great drive, especially after his 'off' in the middle of the race, to battle through together with the engineering team and score this P5.

“Lando’s starting position was further compromised today when we needed to change the battery pack and MGU-K this morning. He made up places and actually ran ahead of Carlos after his spin, but unfortunately Lando’s car lost all engine power in the middle of the race, which took away the possibility for him to have a similar race to Carlos and score more points.

“A big thank you to the entire team here and back at the factory for another solid race weekend where we scored valuable points. It was a challenging weekend, not only in terms of performance, but also the working conditions – especially with the heat earlier in the weekend – were very tough. Next stop Hungary, where we aim to continue our progress.”

Alfa Romeo

Raikkonen will wonder just what went on - an electric start helped him into third, but he lost out in the first round of pit stops. The Finn then ended up battling his midfield rivals for much of the race, being overtaken and executing plenty of overtakes of his own. He came home seventh, despite running wide at Turn 16 which cost him a few places. As for Giovinazzi, after crashing out last time, he kept a cool head and profited from the mistakes of others to follow his team mate home in eighth. However, both men had 30 seconds added to their race times post-race, after stewards deemed the team to have breached the regulations on clutch adjustment at the start, dropping them to 12th and 13th respectively.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal

“It is extremely disappointing to have both cars penalised and pushed out of the points in what had been such an exciting race. The situation arose during the laps we spent behind the Safety Car ahead of the standing start: we suffered a dysfunction of the clutch that was beyond our control and we will further investigate the issue. We respect the FIA’s process and the stewards’ work, but will appeal this decision as we believe we have the grounds and evidence to have it overturned. In this regard, we will be in touch with the FIA soon. Kimi and Antonio drove very well in challenging conditions and seventh and eighth place were the rightful reward for their performance. The team worked really hard to put both cars in the points and we showed once again that we have the pace to fight at the sharp end of the midfield. This race was a great showcase for Formula One and it’s a pity it ended this way.”

Renault

Renault missed out today as many of their midfield rivals made up ground in the championship. First Ricciardo pulled over in dramatic fashion with an apparent exhaust failure. Then Hulkenberg crashed out after looking set for a podium at long last. The German had made the right call to stay on inters when most of the field tried slicks, and was set to battle for a famous result before running wide and aquaplaning off into the barriers. The wait for a podium continues.

Nico Hulkenberg, DNF

“It’s a tough one to take. I’m upset for myself, the team and for Renault because they deserved an excellent result today. It’s one of those days where you have to make it stick, and I’m just gutted with how it ended especially in front of the home crowd. The final corner was very tricky as it was damp. I lost the rear a bit, went into a spin so I opened the steering and went onto the black tarmac. It was like ice there and by that point I couldn’t stop the car. We were doing a phenomenal job, strategy was very difficult so it hurts and it will hurt even more tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo, DNF

“We had an exhaust failure today, which caused the retirement. I could see a lot of smoke coming out from the back of the car and that was our day done. It’s certainly a shame. I watched the rest of the race and it looked a lot of fun out there. I would have loved to have been racing as there were opportunities for big points. It’s disappointing but we’ll move on to next week. It’s a tough overall result for the team, but hopefully Hungary will be better for us.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal

“It was an emotional rollercoaster today with highs and lows. Unfortunately, we’re finishing on a low with two retirements. Daniel’s was caused by an exhaust leak and we need to look into the problem, which is our first reliability glitch in a while. Nico had been driving an amazing race and was supported by decisions from the pit wall and good execution by the pit crew. We made the call not to put dry tyres on too early and made up a lot of positions to second. The final corner looked tricky all day and Nico could not save the car from the wall. It’s difficult to take as it was an exciting race and we’d have liked to have been part of it until the end. We missed an opportunity for big points over our direct competitors, but there are certainly positives from the weekend. We want to taste being higher on merit more regularly. It doesn’t deter from our focus of pushing on and building a more competitive car.”

Williams

Russell had an entertaining battle with Stroll in the middle of the race, but the team couldn't take advantage of the chaos to make much headway up the field. They ran the same strategies for both drivers, with Kubica coming home ahead of Russell after overtaking the rookie on Lap 51. The Pole and the team then picked up their first point of the year after post-race penalties for the Alfa Romeos.

Robert Kubica, 10th

"It was a crazy race today and track conditions were very slippery. I managed to bring the car home with no mistakes which is the most important thing. Although racing in wet and changeable conditions isn’t new for me, it’s been nine years since I last experienced it in a Formula One car and it certainly refreshed my memory."

George Russell, 11th

"It was extremely challenging. It wasn’t ideal conditions for anyone out there and it was a long race. We should have taken slicks under the penultimate safety car, but I think we took the conservative approach when we should have maybe rolled the dice. There were 13 or 14 other drivers on the grid who didn’t do that so it’s not exactly that we made the wrong call, but we had the opportunity to make the right call. We kept it on the black stuff when a lot of people didn’t, and it was the best result of the year. It seems okay but there was a chance for more."

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer

"The wet conditions made for a hectic and unpredictable race but gave our drivers a chance to try the 2019 Pirelli wet and intermediate tyres in anger for the first time. At times the conditions were difficult to judge, especially when it became tempting to fit the slick tyres, however, both drivers made sensible decisions and did well to stay on track. The race team delivered some more excellent pitstops helping us gain a couple of places in the pitlane. The engineers and strategists worked well together in difficult circumstances and delivered a very solid performance.

"As this is a back-to-back race, we don’t have long to prepare the cars for Hungary and so we head back to the UK for a couple of days to review this weekend, analyse the last of the data from Friday’s running and finalise the plan for FP1 in Budapest."

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Head of F1 and Car Racing

"For the strategists this was one of the hardest races of the year to call, as they had to constantly anticipate and react to rapidly changing circumstances, both when it came to judging the grip and maximising the opportunities presented by all the safety cars. On top of that, the conditions changed a lot from sector to sector. As a result though, strategy made a real difference this weekend, especially when it came to working out when to make the final move to slick tyres for the last stint. The three drivers on the podium in particular took full advantage of the capabilities of the soft tyre on a drying track at the end of a thrilling and unpredictable race. When it was wet, the intermediate tyres proved their versatility in a wide range of conditions, which was crucial as none of the drivers had experienced any proper running on the wet-weather tyres, so there was no real basis on which to judge the crossover points. Now we have collected a lot of data on the intermediate. Congratulations to all the podium finishers, and also to Racing Point and Lance Stroll who led the race close to the end thanks to their strategy call."