Fernando Alonso made it a wonderful sporting weekend for Spain with victory in an exciting European Grand Prix at Valencia.
The double world champion came through from eleventh on the grid to take a remarkable home victory and he now leads the world championship.
Alonso benefited from Sebastian Vettel’s non-finish to record his second win of the season. The German had this race under control during the first half but a mechanical problem on the Red Bull forced him out.
Lewis Hamilton was also out of the European Grand Prix after a collision with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams as they fought for third.
Romain Grosjean had looked like a victory threat as the Lotus driver chased Alonso, only to suffer an alternator failure, but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came through to claim second after a late pass on the fading Hamilton, whose incident with Maldonado then allowed Michael Schumacher to make his podium return for Mercedes in third position, chased by 19th-place qualifier Mark Webber’s Red Bull.
Vettel commanded the early stages, immediately pulling out a lead of several seconds as the pack behind took several corners to sort itself out. Front row qualifier Hamilton got away slowly, and had to fend off before establishing himself in second ahead of Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and the fast-starting Alonso.
During the opening stint Alonso overtook Hulkenberg and followed Raikkonen past Maldonado, then jumped Raikkonen and Kobayashi by running one lap longer before his first pitstop.
This group then came out in a long train of yet-to-stop cars, through which Alonso made much more assertive progress than his rivals.
Approaching half-distance, Vettel was leading by twenty seconds over Grosjean, who had overtaken Hamilton with a neat outside-line move on lap ten and then pulled out a ten seconds gap over the McLaren, which had Alonso edging closer.
When the Safety Car was called out to clear debris from a clash between Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso and Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham, most drivers made their second and final pitstops.
Hamilton’s pitstop was a disaster. That allowed Alonso to gain a position to third, and the Spaniard then went around the outside of Grosjean into the first corner at the restart to claim second.
Moments later that second position became the race lead, as Vettel’s Red Bull suddenly cut out (possibly an alternator failure) and retired, to the world champion’s shock.
Grosjean kept Alonso under pressure and still seemed a likely winner, only for an alternator failure to halt the Lotus with 17 laps to the flag.
After that Alonso was able to pull clear and become the first repeat winner this season, retaking the world championship lead in the process.
Hamilton held on to second until the final two laps, when his tyres fading away. Raikkonen got past after a long battle, but when Maldonado tried to do the same, the pair clashed, putting the McLaren in the barriers and breaking the front wing off his Williams.
That allowed Schumacher through to claim the first podium of his Formula One return, as fended off Webber, who made great progress through from P19 on the grid.
Maldonado was able to finish the race despite the clash and the Venezuelan was followed home by his Williams team-mate Bruno Senna, who got a drive-through penalty for a collision with Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, who’d enjoyed a long spell in fourth place prior to the first round of pit stops. That became P11 after Maldonado’s penalty.
Both Schumacher and Webber passed the Force Indias in the closing stages, with Nico Rosberg then getting his Mercedes between Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta’s Force Indias to take sixth on the final lap.
Jenson Button had a low-key run to eighth for McLaren, ahead of Sergio Perez’s Sauber and the limping Maldonado.
The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa was delayed with damage from a collision with Kobayashi and finished a lowly P16. Kobayashi had to retire after the incident.
For some of the race it looked like Caterham might score its first point, as solid pace and the attrition ahead allowed Vitaly Petrov to pick his way up to tenth place. But the Russian was pushed back down the order and then tangled with Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo.
After the race, Vergne received a 10-place grid drop and a €25,000 fine for his collision with Kovalainen.
Alonso now has 111 points, from Webber on 91. Then come Hamilton on 88 and Vettel on 85, as Rosberg moves to fifth on 75 and Raikkonen to sixth on 73.
In the constructors chase, Red Bull have 176 to McLaren’s 137, Lotus’s 126, Ferrari’s 122 and Mercedes’ 92.
European Grand Prix race result, 57 laps:
1. Alonso Ferrari 1h44:16.449
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +6.421
3. Schumacher Mercedes +12.639
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault +13.628
5. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +19.993
6. Rosberg Mercedes +21.176
7. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes +22.886
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes +24.653
9. Perez Sauber-Ferrari +27.777
10. Senna Williams-Renault +35.900
11. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +37.000
12. Maldonado Williams-Renault +54.630*
13. Petrov Caterham-Renault +1:15.871
14. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault +1:34.654
15. Pic Marussia-Cosworth +1:36.565
16. Massa Ferrari +1 lap
17. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth +1 lap
19. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +2 laps
*Post-race penalty for crashing into Hamilton. Added 20 seconds.
Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:42.163
Not classified/retirements:
Grosjean Lotus-Renault 41 laps
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 34 laps
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 34 laps
Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 27 laps
Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 8:
Drivers:
1. Alonso 111
2. Webber 91
3. Hamilton 88
4. Vettel 85
5. Rosberg 75
6. Raikkonen 73
7. Grosjean 53
8. Button 49
9. Perez 39
10. Maldonado 29
11. Di Resta 27
12. Kobayashi 21
13. Hulkenberg 17
14. Schumacher 17
15. Senna 16
16. Massa 11
17. Vergne 4
18. Ricciardo 2
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 176
2. McLaren-Mercedes 137
3. Lotus-Renault 126
4. Ferrari 122
5. Mercedes 92
6. Sauber-Ferrari 60
7. Williams-Renault 45
8. Force India-Mercedes 44
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
Next race: British Grand Prix, Silverstone. July 6-8.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was ‘lost for words’ after taking a sensational victory. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso struggled to find words to describe his feelings after a sensational victory in the European Grand Prix.
The Spaniard had ruled out finishing on the podium in Valencia after qualifying in 11th position on Saturday.
But Alonso charged back into contention from the start of the race, pulling off some bold moves to eventually reach second place at the restart following a safety car period.
The Ferrari driver took the lead of the race when Sebastian Vettel retired and he became the first man to win two races in 2012.
An emotional Alonso found it hard to describe his feelings.
“It’s really difficult to express in words what is the feeling at the moment,” said Alonso, who moved back into the championship lead.
“Winning the home grand prix is something unique, a very special feeling. I had the opportunity in Barcelona in 2006 with Renault and I still remember that moment perfectly.
“But now I had opportunity with Ferrari, with the grandstands full of red colours. I’m feeling very proud, and winning this race in Spain is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing can compare to this one.”
He added: “It is an amazing feeling. I still remember Barcelona 2006 and now six years after the win probably I will have better and better memories of today with time. Right now it’s too many things with my feelings and too many things to give to all the team and all the fans.”
Alonso, who had previously won the Malaysian Grand Prix, said he never expected such a strong result after a disappointing qualifying.
“After qualifying yesterday you never think you can get a good result or fight for the podium or something like that,” Alonso said.
“When you find yourself third after the safety car I said hopefully there is the chequered flag now and I enjoy this podium celebration, but two laps later I overtook [Romain] Grosjean on the restart, then Vettel stopped and it was a very long race from that point.
“You enjoy this moment so much, but it’s difficult to describe in words what I am feeling.”
With Vettel and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton retiring from the race, Alonso now leads the championship by 20 points from Mark Webber.
Despite taking second position at the European Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen has said that this was not the result he wanted. Autosport.com has the details.
Kimi Raikkonen declared himself unmoved by second place in the European Grand Prix as he felt Lotus should have had the pace to win.
The Finn battled past Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren late on to secure second behind relatively comfortable winner Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.
Lotus had been tipped as the pre-race favourite for victory given its form this year at similar tracks and in comparable weather conditions to those experienced in Valencia, but while Raikkonen’s team-mate Romain Grosjean was pushing Alonso hard before retiring, the 2007 Formula 1 champion did not look like a threat for the win.
“We didn’t have speed today to challenge for the win,” Raikkonen admitted. “In the end second place is OK but not what we wanted.”
Raikkonen had looked like he might get among the leaders off the line, only to run out of space and fall back to sixth, where he stayed through the opening laps.
“We got a good start but I got blocked by [Pastor] Maldonado at the first right-hander and lost quite a few places because of that so I was a bit behind at that point,” he said.
“We made a good recovery from that position and had quite a hard fight with people – overtaking and getting overtaken.”
Completing the Ferrari world champions podium at Valencia is Michael Schumacher. The Mercedes driver was elated with third position. Autosport.com has the news.
Michael Schumacher described his feelings of deep joy at standing on the podium for the 155th time in his career after finishing third in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.
It was the first time the seven-time world champion had scored a rostrum result since returning to the sport with Mercedes in 2010.
Afterwards, Schumacher admitted that he had not realised he had taken third sport until after he crossed the finish line.
“I didn’t actually think about a podium at all, neither in the end of the race, it was in crossing the line when I asked my guys where we finished,” he explained.
“I saw [Mark] Webber’s pitboard and close to the end it showed him eighth and seventh and knew I was one place ahead of that one. And then the boys told me third, that’s a podium – and I thought I can’t believe that.
“It is something I didn’t expect, you sort of lose count because I was pretty busy in those last stages of the race plus, [Lewis] Hamilton and [Pastor] Maldonado had their issue, so I lost counting at that stage.”
Schumacher added that experiencing such emotions was the driving force behind his decision to return to F1 and that achieving third in such a dramatic race only made the result sweeter.
“It is those moments that definitely you enjoy deeply and it’s just a wonderful feeling to be back after such a long time,” said Schumacher, after a 99-race wait to return to rostrum – the last time he stood on one was following his victory in the 2006 Chinese GP.
“We were a couple of times close to it, and finally it happened in a very spectacular way and on a track where it is difficult to pass – but due to various strategies and differences on track it was pretty exciting and that is best way if you manage the way I did today to jump on the podium.
“To do it in an exciting way makes me extra happy.
“But that is what I am here for, to be excited, hearing finally the message P3 is a sweet finish to an unexpected race. Converting from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy meant we had good tyres at the end.”
Mark Webber described his progress from 19th on the grid to fourth place in the European Grand Prix as a ‘crazy’ outcome – but still felt the race would have been even more enjoyable if he had not needed to take care of the Pirelli tyres.
After problems with his Red Bull’s hydraulics and DRS saw Webber eliminated in Q1 in Valencia, the Australian made determined progress through the field in the race to finish right on the tail of third-placed Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher.
“Another crazy day. As we’re finding out, it’s very different to know what’s going to happen on Sundays,” said Webber.
“Obviously there was a bit of attrition at the front today, with a Lotus, Lewis [Hamilton] and Seb [Vettel] as well. I’ll take that.
“It’s all part of the championship and yesterday wasn’t a great day for me. Maybe if I’d started at the front I wouldn’t have had such a good a race as I did from the back.”
Webber felt strategy had been the dominant factor in his progress, suggesting that he had still needed to hold back to avoid taking too much out of his tyres.
“Strategy’s all about rolling the dice and going on the fly, all the time,” said Webber. “Trying to – not guess – but work out what’s going on.
“I didn’t mind the race, it wasn’t too bad – a bit of KERS, a bit of DRS, a bit of fighting here and there.
“But it’s still very tricky to race. You can’t race that hard because you’re looking after the tyres.
“In the end it’s a lot of points for me so I’m happy with that from that grid position.”
Source: Autosport.com
Yet again Jenson Button had a horrible weekend for McLaren. The Australian Grand Prix winner was struggling for pace and finishing eighth was not ideal. Autosport.com has the story.
Jenson Button believes his disappointing eighth place in the European Grand Prix was more a consequence of other drivers getting better luck than any lack of pace from him or his McLaren.
The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has had a run of frustrating races since his second place in China in April, and was not a podium threat in Valencia.
But Button reckons his difficulties this time were more due to the race becoming something of a strategic lottery.
“It was a really difficult race to read. Obviously I got a terrible start and I think I was 14th after the start. I just got unlucky,” said Button.
“We had a strategy in mind, but nobody seemed to be able to look after the tyres. It just seemed that if you pushed like hell, destroyed your tyres and just kept coming in and getting new tyres, that was the way to go. Normally that wouldn’t be because you can’t get past people here.
“I don’t think we did a bad job in terms of strategy, but I think a few people lucked into their strategies at the end there when they put new tyres on with 10 laps to go and nearly won the race.”
Button said he could actually take some encouragement from Valencia even though the result was underwhelming on paper.
“It’s still not a good result but I had fun out there, that’s the main thing, and the car felt good at some times in the race,” he said.
“It’s a lot to work with and I really don’t think anything went in our favour today. It could have been a very different race for us.”
Pastor Maldonado said Lewis Hamilton was entirely to blame for their collision in the final moments of the European Grand Prix.
Williams driver Maldonado was trying to overtake Hamilton’s McLaren for third place when they came together on the penultimate lap, sending the Briton into the barriers and out of the race.
Maldonado said the incident would not have happened if Hamilton had given him more space.
“He tried to put me off the track,” said Maldonado. “He didn’t leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. I jumped over the kerb and I couldn’t avoid the accident.”
The Venezuelan felt Hamilton should have accepted that he was going to get overtaken as his McLaren’s pace faded.
“I don’t know why he drove like that,” Maldonado said. “He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me.”
While Hamilton’s race ended in the clash, Maldonado continued to finish 10th in his damaged car.
Source: Autosport.com
Romain Grosjean is confident he would have had a shot at victory in the European Grand Prix if not for a mechanical problem.
The Lotus driver was running in second position having been passed by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the restart following a safety car, when he slowed down after his car’s alternator failed. By that time erstwhile leader Sebastian Vettel had retired and elevated Alonso and Grosjean to a close first and second.
Grosjean said his race had been perfect until that point, and he was hoping the tyre degradation from the Ferrari in front would have given him a chance to get his maiden victory.
“The car stopped, the engine stopped,” said Grosjean, who retired on lap 41. “Basically we had an alternator problem and we need to have a deep look into it.
“The race was almost perfect until that point. I had a good start, a good strategy and we pushed when we had to. We had a good performance today.
“It could have been the first win but maybe in the future. I’m sure we are showing good performance and we are getting experience.”
The Frenchman was convinced his pace was stronger than that of eventual winner Alonso.
“I think I was looking not too bad and we knew we were quicker than the Ferrari. We just had to wait a little bit to see if their tyres were going away then try to push. But we couldn’t get to that stage.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite their collision in the final stages of the European Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has no qualms over Pastor Maldonado move. Autosport.com has the news.
Lewis Hamilton said he had no qualms about trying to fend off Pastor Maldonado as his tyres fading at the end of the European Grand Prix – even though the battle culminated in a collision that left the McLaren in the barriers.
Hamilton was holding second behind Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari before running out of tyre grip.
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen overtook him, and Williams’s Maldonado was trying to do likewise when he hit the McLaren on the penultimate lap.
“My tyres were gone,” said Hamilton. “I don’t know where I would have finished. Over the last lap or so, my tyres just went – it was almost like I had flat tyres at the back.”
But asked whether he felt in retrospect he should have let Maldonado go, Hamilton replied: “You never let people past, you’ve got to race for every position you can get.”
The Briton declined to comment in detail on the collision. Maldonado was adamant that Hamilton was at fault for not giving him more space.
“I don’t really know what happened, if I’m honest,” said Hamilton. “I went into the corner and I didn’t come out.
“It happened so fast, I really do not remember what happened. All I remember is sitting in the wall with only a lap to go.”
He added: “You put your heart and soul into some things, and when you don’t get the results that you feel you worked for, it’s very tough, but that’s life.”
The Valencia result dropped Hamilton from first to third in the standings, 23 points behind race winner and new championship leader Alonso, but the McLaren driver was relieved that he was not the only one to lose ground in Spain.
“It does change a lot, we lost a lot of points today, but fortunately for us a couple of the others that were fighting as well – including Sebastian [Vettel] – weren’t able to score either,” said Hamilton. “But it does make things a little bit tougher.”
Hamilton had been ahead of Alonso until a slow second pitstop. Although McLaren has had several pitstop issues this season, Hamilton defended his team.
“I think we did the fastest pitstop of the whole season in our first pitstop and were a little bit unfortunate in the second.”
But he reckons McLaren does need to find more speed from its car, as despite holding second for so long, he did not think victory was ever possible.
“We were a long, long way off today,” said Hamilton. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to try and pick up the pace because we were really struggling today.”
The latest on Michael Schumacher’s use of DRS under yellow flags as reported by Autosport.com:
Michael Schumacher’s podium finish in the European Grand Prix is under investigation after the German was summoned to see the stewards to explain why he used his DRS in a yellow flag zone at the end of the race.
Schumacher secured the first top three finish since he returned to F1, but he may not keep the result if the stewards deem that he was wrong to have used the DRS in the closing stages of the race while yellow flags were out.
Sebastian Vettel was penalised for using DRS under yellow at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year.
Mark Webber, who finished right behind Schumacher on the road, complained about his Mercedes rival’s actions – and Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner said he hoped the stewards would take action over the matter.
“I am sure the stewards are having a good look at it, because if you look at it, it is pretty clear,” explained Horner. “Mark was very vocal on the radio that Michael had used the DRS and there is very clearly a yellow flag on the right hand side once Michael had it open.
“We know from bitter experience that you are not allowed to use it. Seb had a drive through in Barcelona, so it is really up to the stewards.”
Although video evidence suggests that Schumacher’s DRS was open when yellows were out, sources suggest that the German driver had actually slowed for the warning flags as is requested by the regulations.
Heikki Kovalainen described his race-spoiling collision with Jean-Eric Vergne in the European Grand Prix as a “rookie mistake” by the Frenchman, after a race in which both Caterhams were involved in contact with Toro Rossos.
Kovalainen and Vergne both sustained punctures when they clashed as Vergne tried to pass the Caterham for 17th on lap 12.
Later on, their respective team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Vitaly Petrov came together while battling for 12th.
Ricciardo continued intact despite an airborne spin and finished 12th, while Petrov required a new nose but still came home 13th, one place ahead of Kovalainen. Vergne had to retire with damage from his incident.
“My pace was good but then Vergne made what looks like a rookie mistake, hit me and I had to come in for a new nose,” said Kovalainen. “From that point I was just trying to get to the end of the race.”
Vergne felt the collision was “just a racing incident”, but that he had been in front.
“I felt I was ahead and as I started to turn into the corner, we collided and his front wing clipped my rear wheel,” said Vergne. “There was too much damage to the floor and it was impossible to change the damaged rear wheel so there was no way for me to continue.”
Ricciardo blamed Petrov’s ‘aggression’ for their tangle.
“I had Petrov going quite slowly in front of me, I went to get around him and he defended by going a bit wide,” said the Australian. “So I tried to switch back and I feel I gave him some racing room, but we still made contact because perhaps his move was a bit too aggressive.”
Shortly before the clash, Petrov had been running 10th and looking like he might manage to give Caterham its first point. But the Russian was then passed by eventual top-four finishers Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber before being caught by Ricciardo, and said he had never felt scoring was realistic anyway.
“Even though we were running 10th at one point I’m not sure a point was quite within reach today, but it’s really encouraging to see how we’ve progressed here,” said Petrov.
Source: Autosport.com
Williams driver Pastor Maldonado has been penalised for his collision with Lewis Hamilton in the European Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the latest news.
Pastor Maldonado has been given a post-race drive-through penalty for his collision with Lewis Hamilton during the European Grand Prix.
The Venezuelan made contact with the McLaren driver on the final lap when trying to take third place away from the Briton.
Hamilton had to retire from the race while Maldonado went on to finish in 10th position.
The penalty, with 20 seconds added to his final time, drops Maldonado to 12th position, with Williams team-mate Bruno Senna getting the final point.
Maldonado had said after the race that he thought Hamilton was to blame for the accident.
“I don’t know why he drove like that,” Maldonado said. “He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me.”
Jean-Eric Vergne will drop ten places on the grid for the British Grand Prix after he was handed a double-penalty in Valencia.
The Toro Rosso driver was found to have caused an avoidable accident after he made contact with the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen on lap 12 of the race.
Both cars sustained punctures in the incident.
“In view of the serious nature of the incident the Stewards have decided under Article 18.1 to apply two penalties,” said the stewards in a statement.
Article 18.1 of the sporting rules states: “The stewards may inflict the penalties specifically set out in these Sporting Regulations in addition to or instead of any other penalties available to them under the Code.”
Vergne, who retired from the race on lap 27, was given a 10-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix and a 25,000 euro fine.
Source: Autosport.com
Renault says it will have to wait until its engines are returned to its base to work out what caused the alternators to fail on Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean’s cars in the European Grand Prix.
Both drivers saw their chances of victory taken away when they retired shortly after a safety car period, which had been caused by Jean-Eric Vergne leaving debris on the track following a collision with Heikki Kovalainen.
Vettel retired from the lead on lap 34, while Grosjean was running second behind Fernando Alonso when his alternator failed on lap 41.
Renault Sport F1’s deputy managing director and technical chief Rob White said that the French manufacturer was not sure of the causes of the failures – or even if they were identical problems.
“We don’t yet know whether it was the same incident on both cars, but it is very, very suspicious to all of us that it happened to both cars at such a similar point in the race,” he told AUTOSPORT.
“We need to get the engines, and of course the alternator is on the engines, back to the factory.”
White said that there was no indication that the alternator failures were triggered by the safety car period interfering with the operations of the engine.
“We don’t think there is any reason to think the safety was involved,” he said. “We have seen the consequences of the alternator stopping, but we don’t know what caused the alternator to stop.
“So we don’t know whether we have had this kind of failure before. We need to get back to the factory to work it out; and obviously we will not dodge the question. When we have an answer we will give it to you.”
Source: Autosport.com
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher will keep his podium finish after the race stewards decided to take no further action. Autosport.com has the details.
Michael Schumacher has retained his podium position in the European Grand Prix after stewards decided to not impose a penalty on him.
The German Mercedes driver was under investigation after having used his DRS when the yellow flags were on track on the final lap following the crash between Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado.
Although television images confirmed Schumacher’s DRS was open in the yellow-flag area, the race stewards deemed the seven-time champion had slowed down sufficiently and therefore decided no penalty was needed.
“The stewards considered a report that driver #7 used his DRS in a yellow flag zone and that his allegedly constituted a breach of yellow flag regulations,” said a statement from the stewards. “Having examined telemetry and video evidence, and heard from the driver and team representatives, the stewards noted that the driver did make a significant reduction in speed on entering the double waved flag zone.”
The officials added that Schumacher’s incident “differs substantially” from the circumstances in which Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel were penalised for DRS use under yellow at Catalunya a month ago.
Schumacher finished in third position in the race, his first podium since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.
Paul di Resta believes that Force India “missed a trick” by persevering with his one-stop strategy in the European Grand Prix.
The Scot finished seventh after stopping just once, but suspects that had he adopted a similar strategy to both Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, who stopped on lap 38 and 41 respectively, he could have finished more strongly.
“I think the result says it all, we clearly missed a trick,” he said when asked by AUTOSPORT about how his strategy worked out. “We were fairly aggressive and stuck with it when we probably could have bailed out [of the one-stopper].
“I passed Webber on track, and two laps later he pitted. That was about eight laps after the safety car. He got the last laugh on me.
“Obviously we had it [a one-stopper] in mind before the race. It probably wasn’t on the cards right away but then during the first stint they said the strategy we wanted was working so we would stick with it.
“You’ve got to follow what the guys are saying. I’ve done nothing wrong there. Unfortunately that’s two races where I’ve been in great positions where things that I can’t control have made a difference to the race result.”
Di Resta added that he is confident about Force India maintaining its strong form at the British Grand Prix in two weeks’ time after the double points finish in Valencia.
The team has made good progress with getting the best out of a major upgrade package introduced in Spain three races ago and there will be further tweaks for Silverstone.
“Ahead of Silverstone we’ve got some minor upgrades coming which should give us some performance,” he said. “I’m quite hopeful of that, so if we can carry on where we are we should be going into it thinking positively.”
Source: Autosport.com