Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and More
With the longest straight and tightest sequence of corners on the calendar, the Baku City Circuit would have left several Formula One drivers feeling uncomfortable on Sunday afternoon, but Nico Rosberg wasn't one of them.
Starting from pole position, the Mercedes driver dominated proceedings to register his fifth victory of the 2016 season before admitting he felt completely at ease with his W07 on a track that invited and punished innocent errors.
As Rosberg felt at one with his car, Lewis Hamilton would have felt alien to his after suffering an engine-mapping problem during the race.
The three-time world champion took as many as 12 laps to resolve the issue and has criticised the increased radio restrictions implemented at the beginning of the year, arguing he was put in a unnecessarily dangerous situation.
Hamilton's inability to flick the correct switch effectively ended his pursuit of a podium, with Sergio Perez capitalising on his misfortune to claim Force India's second top-three result in the space of three weeks.
And the Mexican has explained why this season is quickly becoming the best of his F1 career.
Perez's recent form may see him offered a seat at Ferrari in 2017, but he will hope the team improve their form ahead of his potential arrival.
After a difficult start to the weekend, the Prancing Horse recovered to claim a comfortable podium finish in Azerbaijan.
But team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has admitted that result has only papered over the cracks, with the SF16-H not worthy of drivers of the calibre of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
Closing our post-European GP roundup is Valtteri Bottas, who has expressed his disappointment with a Williams team who are rapid during pit stops but considerably slower on the track itself.
Nico Rosberg 'Felt at One' with Car During European GP Win
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Rosberg has spoken of his delight after returning to winning ways in the European Grand Prix, revealing he "felt at one" with his Mercedes W07 at the Baku City Circuit.
After winning four consecutive races at the start of the season, Rosberg failed to appear on the podium for three grands prix between Spain and Canada, with team-mate Hamilton cutting the German's points lead from 43 to nine with successive victories in Monaco and Montreal.
With Hamilton crashing out of qualifying in Azerbaijan, however, Rosberg was allowed to convert pole position into a 19th career victory, finishing almost 17 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel and extending his championship advantage back to 24 points after Hamilton could only recover to fifth.
Although Rosberg has insisted his fifth victory of 2016 was not as easy as it looked, he took much pleasure from driving the W07 around the street track. Per Crash.net's Rob Wilkins, he explained:
"It's always tough to win a Formula One race.
But today was special out there because I felt at one with my car and that doesn't happen often that everything is just perfect and I can push all the way and there's no risk of making an error or even a lockup or things like that, so it was a great feeling and that's what made it best actually.
Everything went really well, from the beginning to the end, and even in the race it was special for me out there in the car.
The car would do whatever I wanted and the thing would just stick to the ground and there was no risk of making a mistake.
"
Despite the tight, twisty nature of some sections of the Baku circuit, the race passed without a single safety car or red-flag interruption, with only four drivers retiring from the grand prix.
When asked to explain the lack of incidents, Rosberg told the post-race FIA press conference how the F1 drivers "learned a lot" from watching the "mayhem" of the GP2 support races, suggesting they "picked up a few things there."
Lewis Hamilton Believes Radio Restrictions Led to 'Dangerous' Situation in Baku
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Lewis Hamilton has expressed his bemusement with the current restrictions on pit-to-car radio, arguing he was left in a "dangerous" situation during Sunday's European Grand Prix.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg suffered engine-mapping problems during the race at the Baku City Circuit, with the drivers forced to manage the issues by fumbling with buttons on their steering wheels.
While Rosberg took just half a lap to fix the problem, Hamilton struggled for 12 laps before the issue resolved itself, with the Mercedes pit wall prevented from advising the three-time world champion under the team radio restrictions.
According to Sky Sports' Mark Crellin, Hamilton admitted he had "no idea" what the problem was, suggesting there were "probably 100 different switch positions it could have been."
And the British driver, who ultimately finished fifth, added the radio ban prevented him from being "part of the show" and driving to the full potential of the car, even arguing he was left in a precarious position.
When asked how he felt during the episode, he said, per Noble:
"Dangerous. I am just looking at my steering wheel for a large portion of the lap—all the way down the straight just looking at my wheel.
All they can tell me is there is a switch error, wrong switch position, so I am looking at every single switch thinking, am I being an idiot here? Have I done something wrong? I hadn't.
I looked time and time again, going through all the different switch positions and there was nothing that looked irregular. ...
They said it will work itself out...and it did with eight laps to go. I didn't know what the problem was.
I didn't know if I had done anything to make the engine not work. The team started with something switched on, so I had it from the beginning.
I disabled something and it didn't change anything, I put it back on, it didn't change anything. In the end I switched it off again, and the engine power came back 10 laps after that, my nine laps to go, so I turned the engine down after that.
"
Per the same source, Rosberg admitted "it wasn't easy" to resolve the issue without knowing exactly which switch to use, but managed to quickly identify the correct setting.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed the issues could be traced back to a "mess Friday" in Azerbaijan, when the team were unable to "configure" the engine in the way they "should have done," per Sky Sports' James Galloway.
Meanwhile, McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso shared Hamilton's frustrations with the radio crackdown, arguing the rule doesn't make "much sense" when modern-day F1 cars are like spaceships, per ESPN F1's Nate Saunders.
Sergio Perez Pleased with 'Incredible' 2016 After European GP Podium
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Sergio Perez has admitted 2016 is turning out to be an "incredible year" after claiming his second podium of the season in the European Grand Prix.
Competing with Mercedes power units on a high-speed track, Force India were in contention for a strong result throughout the weekend, with Perez declaring a second podium finish in three races was within reach after Friday practice, per Motorsport.com's Charles Bradley.
However, the Mexican's chances of a top-three finish appeared to evaporate on Saturday morning, when Perez crashed at Turn 15 in the dying moments of the final practice session and incurred a five-place grid penalty.
Perez recovered to secure his best-ever qualifying result, finishing second to Rosberg, and made a strong start from second on the grid before battling with Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.
Although Raikkonen's five-second time penalty meant Perez only had to stay close to the Ferrari driver to be assured of a podium place, the Mexican overtook the 2007 world champion on the final lap to secure the result in style.
And Perez has expressed his delight after claiming his seventh top-three result in F1, which has seen him equal the podium tally of Mexican legend Pedro Rodriguez. He told the post-race FIA press conference:
"I knew that the podium was possible today but it was very hard, very hard work to get it. We really did an incredible first lap to get around the Williams and the Toro Rosso. I think that was one of the keys.
The first laps were really difficult with the graining. Just basically not panicking. The easiest thing would have been to stop when the graining occurred, especially when Kimi and some people behind stopped and we decided to stay longer. It cleaned up. That was one of the keys of my race.
Obviously pitting early to go onto the one stop and as soon as I left the pits I was under pressure from Lewis. So I couldn’t introduce nicely my tyres. I had to push straight away. The warm-up with the soft for me was a bit difficult. Those first laps were really tricky to keep Lewis behind.
Then I managed to open a gap and then I was attacking Kimi but at the same time looking after the tyres, thinking that there’s going to be a Safety Car at some point. Unbelievable it didn’t happen. I was just looking after my tyres to make sure I made it to the end.
I think Kimi was very strong with his pace given the lap-age that he had. I knew that he had a penalty, so I get pretty close to him, and at the end I saw the opportunity that it was safe enough to do it and it was good to take it and finish in P3.
It is well-deserved for the team because they have done an amazing job. All my boys to fix the car from yesterday, so very pleased. It’s only the eighth race and we’ve done two podiums already. It’s been an incredible year so far.
"
Perez's strong recent form has seen him linked with a move to Ferrari in 2017, with the 26-year-old telling Sky Sports' Matt Morlidge he is "ready" to join a leading team following his third-place finish in the Monaco GP.
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Ferrari Admit Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen Flattered Car in European GP
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Maurizio Arrivabene, the Ferrari team principal, has paid tribute to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen after the European Grand Prix, admitting the SF16-H car was not worthy of their talent at the Baku City Circuit.
After Ferrari failed to finish higher than eighth in Friday practice, the team recovered well to get both drivers into the third segment of qualifying on Saturday, although fourth-placed Vettel was more than a second slower than Rosberg's quickest time.
With Perez suffering a five-place grid penalty and Daniel Ricciardo hindered by Red Bull's extreme rear-tyre degradation, Vettel established himself as the closest challenger to Rosberg in the race, finishing almost 17 seconds behind the Mercedes driver in second place.
Meanwhile, Raikkonen finished fourth after incurring a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entrance.
Although Vettel registered a second successive podium finish for the first time since October 2015, Arrivabene has acknowledged the need to provide both drivers with more competitive machinery, with the four-time world champion now 45 points adrift of Rosberg in the drivers' standings.
Per ESPN F1's Laurence Edmondson, he explained:
"The race pace was good, it was better, we were working a lot during the weekend and it was better. It is not good yet, this is my only concern because if I have to talk about what I saw from the drivers it was spectacular, from both of them, and the car needs to be improved still.
If you consider where we were on Friday, I am sure yes [we have made a step forward]. Especially looking at the pace of Mercedes versus our pace, I think today we have done a very good job but we need to provide to our drivers with a better car.
"
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne insisted it is "essential" the team continue to improve the SF16-H, suggesting they "will not give up and start to think about 2017" as this year's championship is still "fully open."
Arrivabene also refused to discuss Raikkonen's future at the European GP, insisting it "is too early to talk about next season" and adding the team and driver are "not in a hurry" to agree a contract extension for 2017, per Crash.net's Ollie Barstow.
Valtteri Bottas Frustrated by Williams' Lack of Pace in European GP
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Valtteri Bottas has expressed his disappointment with Williams' limp performance in the European Grand Prix, suggesting the team's pace is "not good enough."
After registering his first podium finish of 2016 in Canada, Bottas established himself as the biggest threat to Mercedes on Friday in Azerbaijan, finishing no lower than fourth in the opening two practice sessions.
However, the red-flag stoppage for Hamilton's crash compromised Bottas in qualifying, with the Finn starting a disappointing eighth after hitting traffic at the end of the session.
Using a one-stop tyre strategy, Bottas ran as high as third at one stage but was forced to settle for a distant sixth-place finish, with team-mate Felipe Massa crossing the lime in 10th.
According to Motorsport.com's Pablo Elizalde, Bottas has admitted the team's lack of speed during the race was alarming.
He said:
"Not good enough, of course. But I think it was all we could get together. The predicted pace we should have had wasn't quite there, you know, we were just missing pace today.
But the team did a really good job managing to make the one-stop work. And again, a really good pit-stop. We just need to make a better car now and better pace.
[Williams need more] Grip in the corners. We've been really efficient again in a straight line, it's managed to help me get past cars in the beginning. But just cornering grip, that's what we're missing.
"
Per the team's official website, head of performance engineering Rob Smedley admitted the result "was nowhere near" what they expected from the race, with Force India cutting Williams' points advantage to 31 points in the fight for fifth in the constructors' championship.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, meanwhile, Williams equalled F1's all-time fastest pit-stop record in Baku, servicing Massa's car in just 1.92 seconds.
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