Anni ed esperienza ci hanno insegnato una cosa: meglio non agire d’impulso, ma lasciar calmare le acque, evitando così di farsi trascinare da emozioni, sensazioni o giudizi affrettati. Ma ieri in sala stampa, se il primo taglio di chicane non ci ha convinti del tutto, il secondo ci ha fatto saltare sulla sedia. Questa è stata la reazione d’istinto. Oggi, a 24 ore di distanza, abbiamo deciso di tornare sull’argomento, fornendovi degli elementi concreti su cui ragione insieme, in una marcia di avvicinamento che ci porterà a delle conclusioni. Insomma, fatti, non parole!
Nella prima puntata della telenovela “Nico e la prima chicane”, le dichiarazioni del tedesco della Mercedes nella conferenza stampa seguita all’intervista sul podio. Leggete attentamente… Noi eravamo in quella sala e cosa possiamo aggiungere allo scritto? Beh, che come ha detto un collega in una domanda, Nico non sembrava affatto né deluso né dispiaciuto né tantomeno arrabbiato per il secondo posto alle spalle di Hamilton. Se venerd’, nel primo incontro coi giornalisti, era molto teso, controllato, coi tratti del volto tirati, ieri sembrava recitare un copione.
Una conferenza stampa insolita, con un Lewis Hamilton sorridente ma nemmeno troppo (non come ci si aspetterebbe da chi ha appena vinto – in quel modo poi – a Monza, riaprendo il Campionato) e un Felipe Massa che, anziché far salti di gioia per il podio ritrovato (e in Italia!), sembrava… gli fosse morto il gatto!
A completare il quadro, anche il video postato da Rosberg con la sua consueta review dopo-GP.
Buona lettura, buona visione e a presto per la seconda puntata della telenovela-che-quella-di-Spa-era-niente!
Barbara Premoli
Nico, you got a perfect getaway, you were leading in the first stint, but obviously the talking point regarding you is the two straight on moments into Turn One. One I think on lap nine and then obviously the decisive one, which led to Lewis taking the lead. Was it your mistake? What can you tell us about it?
No, it wasn’t my mistake, it was the other guys’ fault… I’m just kidding! It was just Lewis was quick, coming from behind. I needed to up my pace and then as a result just went into the mistake. That was very bad and that lost me the lead in the end. Definitely very disappointing from that point of view. But then at the end of the day, also, first of all it’s a great day for the team, because after the recent difficulties it’s the first one-two for the team in a long time, I believe, if I’m not mistaken. And so that’s back to where we need to be, so that’s awesome. And then for me: of course I’m disappointed now right afterwards but in the end of it, still second place, still a lot of points, so it’s not a complete disaster.
I think it’s the first one-two since Austria.
Yeah, so that’s great. And the team deserves that, to put all the recent things behind us now and move forward.
Question for Lewis and Nico. When you put Nico under pressure, were you expecting a mistake of Nico? Where you trying to get close and overtake him? Question to Nico, can you tell us more about the difficulty of braking at the first chicane?
LH: I was pushing to overtake him. That meant it opens up doors for everything. So, I mean… I don’t really know what to say.
Nico?
NR: Monza, yeah, it’s one of the most difficult tracks for braking because of low downforce and the highest speed of the year. That isn’t any excuse or anything, that’s just the way it is. It is one of the challenges, y’know, of this weekend here. Unfortunately I got it wrong. Two times in the race.
Nico, it’s maybe a bit surprising that you don’t look particularly downbeat despite coming second to Lewis. It’s almost as if you have expected that second place to him. Is it fair to say that you have not completely regained your balance from Spa? Or do you think it has nothing to do with it?
Spa is behind me. I put it behind me before the weekend. No. In today’s race, just came to the mistake because Lewis was fast from behind. That’s it. There’s nothing unusual or anything. And me not being downbeat, I am very, very disappointed inside. But there’s no point now to go hanging mouth down and things like that. It’s still a one-two for the team and that’s a great day. And it’s not a disaster, that is a fact. I need to quickly look at the reality: second place, it’s OK. There’s a lot worse than that. I lost seven points to Lewis, so, y’know, that’s the frame of mind that I’m trying to take.
Nico, unfortunately for you there were some more boos on the podium. Was that disappointing again to hear? And how do you try to move on from that?
It’s obviously not nice but what can I say? I hope that with time they forgive and forget. That would be great. I have apologised, I can’t really do anything more than that. Yep, that’s it.
Nico, after the second mistake, you were a little bit affected in the instruction that you received from the team because you lost in two laps two seconds from him, from 4.6 to 2.6 seconds in two laps?
I don’t remember what happened. I think it was… traffic? Lapping somebody or something like that. That was the biggest problem but I’m not quite sure. But either way, Lewis in that phase was quick, so it didn’t really change that much but yes, maybe that shortened the process a little bit. But nothing in particular.
Nico, the team told us at the end of the race that you were managing brake temperatures. Was that the problem at the first corner as well? Were the brakes the problem throughout the race?
No, the brakes were no problem at all, up towards the end when you first heard it on the radio, that’s when it started to become… and it wasn’t a massive problem, just something that you have to manage a little bit. That’s always going to happen, because opening up the front brake ducts you lose quite a lot of aerodynamic performance. You always try to bring that to a certain limit and that may then put you slightly over in the race so it’s not the first time and last time that something like that is going to happen and I think it was just pretty much optimised for here.
