The best quotes of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend include seagulls, team boss spats and an unhappy Kimi Raikkonen
“I took a bit of lacquer off the wheels”
Sebastian Vettel displaying a nice turn of phrase over the team radio after brushing the champions’ wall in Q3. Mind you, if those Ferrari wheels are lacquered that’s a few grammes of unnecessary weight right there.
“You know me, I’m a trouper and it's about fighting through and never giving up.”
In Thursday’s FIA press conference it seemed that Jenson Button had brought a job lot of inspiring and motivational quotes from ‘Glee the Movie.’
Engineer: “Take it easy Kimi”
Raikkonen: “I can’t take it easy and keep these guys behind at the same time!”
Kimi clearly wanted to be left alone in more ways than one during Sunday’s race while under pressure from Bottas and Ricciardo
“What the f*** is this Manor doing?”
Kimi is so adept at swearing that the FOM bleep machine just can’t beat him to it. Ferrari must be wishing he was as quick at the driving as he is at the swearing.
“I think he was just a unique, iconic individual who had a character unlike anyone else’s and everyone aspired to be like him. I wish I could have spoken with the charisma that he would have, or the comedic side that he would have, that confidence that he could carry into a fight and outwit and outsmart his opponents. And then for the things that he stood for. Even more importantly politically, I think believing in who you are and not letting anyone dictate who you have to be.”
Well well, who knew Lewis Hamilton had it in him? Sometimes squeezing a comment out of him is like getting blood out of a stone, but the Englishman showed a clarity of thought and a way with words that was unexpected, not to say moving when asked why he dedicated the win to Mohammed Ali. We’ll be expecting more of the same from now on Lewis.
According to Romain Grosjean: “Flying to Canada and not scoring any points is difficult.”
But clearly flying to Canada and actually scoring points proved even harder for the Frenchman.
“They said “Plan B” and I thought what the hell’s Plan B I couldn’t remember!”
Refreshing to hear Hamilton admit (to Vettel) that sometimes the drivers understand as little about what’s going on during the race as the rest of us, referring to the Mercedes team’s decision to switch strategies.
"Max Verstappen acts more like a teenager. In the car, he's extremely good, but when you interact with him, he's a kid.”
That was Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, when asked by local Montreal media what he thought of Canadian Lance Stroll. In case you don’t know, the 17 year old’s career is bankrolled by his gazillionaire dad, who has effectively bought him teams, race series and even team-mates to take points away from rivals and presumably also made a nice contribution to the Williams petty cash for whom Stroll is a “development driver.” Toto reckons the Canadian shows more maturity than 18 year old Verstappen.
The Dutchman’s boss Christian Horner, immediately fired back with:
"I think he's shown great mental strength to be honest. Obviously Monaco was a tough weekend for him, but the way he has bounced back here with the confidence he's had throwing the car around, it hasn't affected him at all.
"It was a pretty mature drive for somebody who Mr Wolff said was not quite as mature as he thought. But he looked pretty mature to me when he was fending off Mr Wolff's very experienced and mature driver."
What’s a nice gull like you doing in a place like this? The saga of the seagulls began in the green room behind the podium just prior to the prize giving, continued through the FIA press conference and reached its climax when Vettel gatecrashed a Hamilton interview with Sky F1 UK a short while after the race.
“Did you see the seagulls? I brake for animals”
Vettel asked Hamilton the question before coming up with a new bumper sticker slogan. The German claimed (not too seriously) that he lost the win because he slowed for a couple of birds who seemed intent on committing suicide by F1 car on the entry to Turn 1.
“I watched the seagulls and I locked up”
Continued the German, at which point Sky came up with a replay which clearly shows Vettel locking up his front wheels well before the avian on track incursion.
“One bird pooed on my helmet.”
At first a seagull-denier, Hamilton finally admitted their existence and even their contribution to his helmet design.
"It was planned! You know I'm good with animals, right? I'm like Dr Dolittle, I told them to be there and they were there."
Hamilton eventually reveals the secret to his victory was his own strategic positioning of the seagulls to distract Vettel
2016 Canadian Grand Prix - F1i's driver ratings
Hamilton beats Vettel to win in Canada
Breakfast with ... David Hobbs
Technical feature: Under the skin of the Haas VF-16
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