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Author: David Bodapati
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Marquez takes sixth world title and youngest to win fourth MotoGP crown

File photo of Marc Marquez in action at Sepang 2017. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) is now a six-time World Champion following a dramatic #FinalShowdown. Taking the MotoGP™ crown for the fourth time in five years makes it an 80% success rate for the rider from Cervera, who continues to work his way through the record books and has wrapped up title number six at Valencia. The end of 2015 saw Marquez lose the title of World Champion for the first and so far only time since moving to MotoGP™, 2016 saw the number 93 launch a controlled re-assault on the Championship and 2017 has seen that same control as he’s battled at the front, but with more scope to attack. Six wins before being confirmed as Champion make for good reading, before a podium to finish the year in the final round.
A 15-year-old Marquez made his debut in the World Championship in 2008, and although his rookie season was curtailed by injury, he made headlines by achieving a podium result at Donington Park. He picked up another podium result in 2009, before becoming 125 World Champion for the first time in 2010 – winning ten of the last 14 races of the year.
Moving into the Moto2™ class for 2011, Marquez had more difficult start to the season before going on an incredible winning run, taking seven wins to close down the once-large lead of title rival Stefan Bradl – including a podium in Phillip Island from P38 on the grid. A crash in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix put a stop to his charge that season, however, and Marquez was forced to sit on the sidelines with serious problems with his eyesight. Not knowing whether the problem could be solved, Marquez had a tough off season with his career in doubt until surgery was able to correct the problem. Back on track for 2012, he then took the Moto2™ World Championship in style – including an impressive win from the back of the grid at the season finale.
Then it was graduation time and the reigning intermediate class Champion moved up to MotoGP™. On the podium in Qatar and winning his second Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Marquez became the youngest ever rider to clinch the premier class world title in MotoGP™, thanks to a truly amazing debut season. He also became the first rookie premier class World Champion for 35 years.
The 2014 campaign saw Marquez raise the bar as he took ten successive victories in the opening ten rounds of the season, and Marquez wrapped up the title in Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi for the first time – the home of manufacturer Honda. 2015 began well, with a win at the Americas GP and the number 93 looking to defend his crown. But too many crashes and points lost as the Yamaha charge of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo gained traction saw Marquez out of contention by the time the flyaways came around. A stunning win in Phillip Island saw Marquez back on the top step. After taking victory in one of the greatest races of all time, Marquez and Rossi then clashed next time out in Sepang. Valencia saw the rider from Cervera take another home podium in P2 to complete the year, ready to recharge over the winter and take back his crown from new World Champion Lorenzo.
The strategy was then changed for 2016, as Marquez rode to win a title rather than win the most races. That saw him take the crown at the home of Honda at Motegi – as he did in 2014. Wins in Texas, Argentina, Germany and Aragon saw the Spaniard 52 points clear ahead of the Japanese GP, and arriving there as the only rider to score in every race. 2017 hasn’t played out the same, but the result is the same: an incredible sixth crown.
Beginning the year off the podium at Qatar and then with a DNF in Argentina, Texas was where Marquez first gained some traction, taking his now customary pole and win. That was followed up with a podium at Jerez before what seemed like a disastrous third DNF of the season at Le Mans. After a tough Mugello that saw key rival Andrea Dovizioso take a stunning home win, Marquez then began a podium run until a mechanical issue at Silverstone, but included a win at Sachsenring and Brno. One of those races was a stunning duel at the Red Bull Ring versus Dovizioso, which will be penned into the history books. After Dovizioso won his fourth race of the year at Silverstone, Marquez struck back at Misano – and then again at Aragon. But his Italian rival was far from done, with another jaw-dropping duel lighting the fuse on the rivalry once more in the pouring rain at Motegi – which Dovizioso won.
Phillip Island saw Marquez extend his lead in the points in the Australian GP, and was yet another incredible showcase of the best of MotoGP™ as Marquez pulled away from the dogfight of the year. That set the number 93 up with his first chance at the crown next time out in Malaysia, but Dovizioso won in the rain as Marquez took fourth. It all went down to the wire, with the Italian needing a win and Marquez only to finish 11th or higher.
In that dramatic final race, Marquez almost crashed, saved a huge moment and then rejoined behind Dovizioso – but the Italian crashed out of contention in the race and Championship soon after. Then calmly able to regroup and take the flag in third, Marquez wrote another stunning chapter in both his own history and that of the sport he has pushed the boundaries of since since 2013, with four premier class crowns in five years.
eom/MotoGP release
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As Marquez wins 2017 MotoGP World Championship, Repsol Honda looks back at his run
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is the 2017 MotoGP World Champion after taking the third place in today’s Grand Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.
At 24-years old, Marquez is now the youngest ever rider to win four premier-class World Championship titles and six World Championships over all classes, during a period of only ten years of World Championship racing.
Marquez has now equalled Jim Redman and Geoff Duke’s tally of 6 World Titles in his career.
Marc Marquez 2017 World Championship facts so far:
– Marquez is the youngest-ever rider to win four premier-class World Championships, at the age of 24 years and 268 days, taking the record from Mike Hailwood, who was 25 years and 107 days old when he won his fourth premier-class title in 1965.
– Marquez is also the youngest rider of all-time to reach the milestone of six World Championships, taking the record from Valentino Rossi, who was 25 years and 244 days old when he won his sixth title, the 2004 MotoGP crown.
– Marquez has won all his MotoGP titles riding Honda motorcycles. The only Honda rider to have won more premier-class world title is Mick Doohan, who won five premier-class titles in the 1990s.
– Only one Spanish rider has won more world titles than Marquez: Angel Nieto, who won 13 World Championships (seven in the 125cc class and six in the 50cc class) between 1969 and 1984.
– Marquez has won at least five GPs per season over the past eight years, across three categories: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. He is the first rider to achieve this distinction in the 69-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing. Previously, Mike Hailwood was the only man to have achieved at least five victories per season over seven years, across at least three classes, between 1961 and 1967.
– Marquez’s current tally of eight 2017 pole positions extends his modern-era pole record to an incredible 73 poles across all three classes.
Marc Marquez bio:
2017
Marc Marquez’s start to the 2017 MotoGP Championship as defending World Champion was not an easy one. While Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales began the season with two consecutive victories, Marc scored fourth place at the season opener in Qatar and then crashed out of the Argentine GP while leading lap four by over two seconds. Never, since advancing from Moto2 to MotoGP in 2013, had Marquez failed to post at least one win in the first two races, nor had he found himself as low as eighth place in the Championship. Nonetheless, round three in Austin was once again entirely a Marc Marquez affair. Taking his first win of the season, the Spaniard completed a perfect weekend, emerging victorious at Circuit of the Americas for the fifth-straight time, after starting from pole position.
Then, in Europe for the first time of the season, Marquez scored a second-place result at Jerez behind teammate Dani Pedrosa, moving up to third in the standings, just four points down on provisional leader Valentino Rossi and two off of runner-up Maverick Viñales. The French and Italian Grand Prix events comprised two additional challenging venues. The 24-year-old encountered his second “zero” of the season when he crashed at Le Mans, and he just managed to take sixth at Mugello, where he struggled to manage front-tyre life for the entire race. Heading to the Catalan GP, Marc was fourth in the Championship, 37 points behind leader Viñales.
Marquez’s second recovery began with a podium finish in scorching-hot conditions at his second home race of the year. Five crashes in the lead up to the Catalan GP wasn’t the best weekend but Marc held it together in the race to cross the line in second, a result that lifted him to third in the Championship standings, just 23 points off the top. Marc then took a crucial third place at TT Assen which, combined with a DNF for Viñales, reduced to 11 points his gap to the top of what was proving to be an incredibly close Championship, even if he was still in fourth place behind Andrea Dovizioso, Viñales, and Rossi. Assen represented the 94thcareer podium for Marc and the 400th for the Repsol Honda Team. One week later, Marquez’s second win of 2017—and his eighth in a row at the Sachsenring, after starting from pole position—allowed him to head into the summer break leading the Championship for the first time of the season, with a small advantage of five points over fellow countryman Viñales.
When the action resumed in Brno, Marc took his second-consecutive victory, in challenging conditions. It was a flag-to-flag race, the sixth such event of Marquez’s career that he was able to master perfectly, the others having occurred at Assen 2014, Sachsenring 2014, Misano 2015, Argentine 2016, Sachsenring 2016.
On this occasion he found himself struggling soon after the lights went off, having fit a soft rear tyre that he didn’t feel at ease with on a drying track. He therefore decided to swap motorcycles quite early and entered the pit on lap two, when his team was prepared with his second bike, fitted with slick tyres. The decision allowed Marquez to pull a significant gap on his opponents, and he managed it until the chequered flag. The win extended his championship lead to 14 points on Viñales.
At the Austrian GP, Marc scored his fifth-consecutive podium result, just losing the victory to Andrea Dovizioso after a great battle that lasted until the last corner. Unfortunately, at the subsequent British Grand Prix, Marc suffered a technical problem that forced him to retire, putting the Italian, who won the race, at the top of the standings. With the title contenders now starting to reduce to a twosome, Marquez rebounded yet again, taking consecutive victories at the next two rounds in San Marino and Aragon and re-establishing himself as the championship leader.
Marquez and Dovizioso arrived in Japan for the first of three-consecutive flyaways with just 14 points separating them, and put on a stunning showdown at Twin Ring Motegi. In pouring rain, they staged an epic duel, fighting to the last corner of the final lap, and despite the best efforts of the reigning Champion, it was Dovizioso who emerged victorious from “Victory” corner, while Marc was an incredibly close second for his 100th career podium.
Marc arrived at the Australian Grand Prix still leading the standings by 11 points over Dovi, both having won five races apiece. It was crucial for the Repsol Honda man to try and take advantage at what is one of his favourite tracks, and he didn’t miss the opportunity, putting on a stellar performance to secure a crucial victory that extended his Championship lead to 269 points, 33 ahead of Dovizioso who, despite his 13th place, remained his only rival for the Title.
Sepang has never been one of Marc’s favourite track but the young Spaniard managed to score a solid fourth place at the Malaysian wet race which, combined with the achievements of Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow, earned Honda the 2017 MotoGP Constructor title. It was the manufacturer’s 23rd such crown in history, and the sixth out of the last seven seasons.
With Dovizioso winning the race in front of Jorge Lorenzo and Johan Zarco, Marc arrived at the season finale in Valencia leading the standings by 21 points over the Italian.
Since the World Championship series was introduced in 1949, this was the 18th occasion in which the premier-class title went down to the final race of the year (including 1993 when, strictly speaking, the title went down to the last round with Kevin Schwantz leading injured Wayne Rainey by 18 points).
Taking the third place in Valencia Marc made history by becoming the youngest-ever rider to win four premier-class Riders World Championships, taking the record from Mike Hailwood, who was 25 years and 107 days old when he won his fourth premier-class title in 1965.
The 2016 season positively proved that Marc Marquez is a fast learner. He approached his fourth MotoGP campaign with a new mentality, vowing that he would fight for the win or the podium when possible and would minimize the damage when the odds were against him. Consistency was the key to a season for which the introduction of unified electronics and a switch from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres shook the field up and made the racing more unpredictable than ever.
After a demanding preseason that produced mixed results for the Repsol Honda Team, Marc started the Championship in a positive way, climbing the third step of the podium at the season opener in Qatar. In Argentina Marc and the team took their revenge on the 2013 Australian mix-up, scoring an awesome victory in another tyre-issue-affected race that—despite taking place in dry conditions—was run in a flag-to-flag format with a compulsory stop to change motorcycles. One week later he scored his fourth successive Austin win from pole, making it his 10th victory in a row on American soil. With this success, Marc also overtook Kevin Schwantz in number of victories in the premier class, with 26.
Back in Europe for the first race on home turf, Marc realized that trying to win was too risky and wisely settled for third behind title rivals Rossi and Lorenzo. In France he wasn’t able to avoid crashing on lap seven while fighting for second but re-joined the race in last place and finished 13th. The Italian GP was a first important turning point in the season, as Rossi retired with an engine failure. Marc engaged Lorenzo in a spectacular duel for victory on the final lap, and he lost it at the line by mere 19 thousandths of a second. The Catalan GP two weeks later dealt a cruel blow to the riders and the whole MotoGP movement, as 24-year-old Moto2 Spanish rider Luis Salom lost his life after crashing during the second free practice. The event continued in accordance with the wishes of Salom’s family, and Marc and Dani both finished on the podium, in second and third respectively, in the race that won by Rossi, with Lorenzo retiring after being involved in a race incident.
Two weeks later, the Dutch TT was red-flagged due to heavy rain. Marc got off well on the second start but ran wide and dropped back to third behind Dovizioso and Rossi; after the two Italians fell ahead of him and with Lorenzo back in 10th place, Marc gave up a fight for the victory with fellow Honda rider Jack Miller, in order to avoid the risk of throwing away a vital second-place finish. Bad weather continued to affect the action during the next race in Germany, halfway into the season. Following an earlier downpour, the young Spaniard was struggling on a surface that was drying progressively and dropped back to ninth place after swerving off the track, but he never lost his nerve and changed to slick tyres before everyone else, beginning an incredible recovery from 14th position to take his seventh win in a row at the Sachsenring Circuit. The result was Marquez heading into the summer break with a healthy 48-point lead over Lorenzo in the Championship classification.
The action resumed in August, with a tight schedule of four races in five weeks that saw Marc putting into best practice his new strategy. He managed to finish fifth in the Ducati-dominated Austrian GP, took third in the Czech GP and, not perfectly comfortable with his choice of tyres in both the British and Misano GPs, scored two fourth-place finishes, the latter in a race dominated by teammate Pedrosa. At the same time, Lorenzo dropped back in third, 61 points off the top, while Rossi reduced his standings deficit to 43 points. Marc knew that more favourable tracks were about to come, and his home GP at Aragón was circled in red in his personal calendar. He didn’t miss the opportunity, taking the 64th pole of his Grand Prix career during Saturday’s qualifying, equalling Lorenzo for most career poles in history, and scoring a momentous victory on Sunday ahead Lorenzo and Rossi, bringing his career tally to 54 wins and equalling, at just 23 years of age, Australian legend Mick Doohan. Marc also moved to 52 points clear of the Italian in the standings, and 66 ahead of his countryman. With a maximum of 100 points available across the season’s remaining four races, there was an outside chance that Marquez could win the Championship at Honda’s home race in Japan and he took it winning his first-ever MotoGP race at Twin Ring Motegi on Honda’s home asphalt and therefore securing the 2016 MotoGP title.
A challenging season (2015)
The 2015 season was Marc’s third in MotoGP, and it proved to be more difficult than previous years. During the first race, at Losail Circuit, he ran wide in turn 1 and had to make a great recovery to finish in fifth position. He got back on top in Texas but in Argentina he hit his first “zero” of the six that he would eventually tally over the course of the season. With two laps remaining in the race, Marc and Rossi were jostling for first place when they touched, and as they picked the bikes up, Rossi’s rear wheel collected Marc’s front sending the Spaniard to the ground.
Marquez produced a stellar performance at the GP of Spain to close the gap in the Championship with a well-earned second place, but thereafter Le Mans, Mugello and Catalunya comprised a challenging period. He just managed fourth in France but suffered two more zeros in Italy and Catalunya.
Assen marked another important point during the year. Marc, who had been tailing Valentino for 19 laps, made his move with seven laps remaining, taking the lead. With just three laps to go, a small mistake in the last chicane allowed Rossi to pass him and try to open up a gap. Marc recovered four tenths of a second to Valentino in the last lap and made his move into the last chicane on the final lap. The two riders touched briefly but Valentino was able to pick the bike up, riding through the gravel trap, beating Marc to the finish line.
Marc sealed a perfect weekend in Germany, recording a new race-lap record en route to victory, following his pole-position record, and he won again in Indianapolis. With these two consecutive victories, he was able to reduce his gap to 56 points behind Rossi. Starting from second on the grid in Brno, Marc held his position behind pole man Jorge Lorenzo from the beginning to the chequered flag. Unfortunately, in Silverstone he crashed out at turn one while fighting for the lead in the rain during an accident-filled race.
At Misano—one of just three active circuits where he had not previously won in the premier class (along with Motegi and Phillip Island)—the Repsol Honda rider returned to victory in varying weather, following two bike changes.
Marquez arrived in Aragon 63 points behind Rossi, but then crashed out in turn 12, ending his title hopes.
Marc only managed to come home fourth in the wet Motegi race, but he took an incredible victory at the next round, in Australia. The race began at a rapid pace, with Lorenzo, Iannone, Marc, Dani, Rossi and Crutchlow leading the way. Lorenzo pushed at the front, trying to open a gap as the other riders jostled for position behind him throughout the race. With just two laps to go, Marc dropped down to fourth but never gave up hope, passing Rossi for third on the penultimate lap and making up two more places on the final lap (the fastest lap of the race). Marquez took the victory by just 0.249 seconds over Lorenzo. It was the 50th victory in Marc’s career and his first at Phillip Island in the MotoGP class.
In Malaysia, Marc was involved in an incident with Valentino Rossi and crashed out on lap five. Dani made a strong start, and as he took control at the front, Marc and Rossi fought fiercely for third place behind Lorenzo. Rossi led Marc on lap five, and as they exited turn 13 with Marc on the outside, Rossi slowed and Marc crashed out of the race.
Marc concluded the 2015 season with a second-place finish in the Valencia GP and finished the year in third overall.
Back-to-back MotoGP Championships (2014)
Marc broke his leg during training after the first 2014 Sepang test and missed the second Sepang test as well as the test at Phillip Island. He arrived in Qatar for round one with just three days on the bike but took pole in qualifying and won the race after an epic battle with Rossi.
In Austin the young Spaniard led every session and won the race. In Argentina, he led all sessions apart from FP1 and again won the race. With three in a row, Marc was on a roll. He continued his dominance to the season’s midway point, winning in Germany, and then made it 10 out of 10 with an Indianapolis win after the summer break. However, he couldn’t quite manage 11 out of 11 and in Brno, teammate Dani took the victory with Marc finishing fourth.
He was back on top in Silverstone for round 12 but then came two difficult races; in San Marino, while chasing Rossi in the early laps, Marc made an error and low-sided. He managed to get the bike restarted and took an important single Championship point for his 15th place finish. Two weeks later in Aragón he dominated FP3 and FP4 and took pole position. The race began with a fantastic battle between Marc, Dani and Lorenzo, but when late rain arrived to spoil the show, Marc and Dani both crashed out. They were able to return to pit lane and change the bike, but with just two laps remaining, it was too late; Marc finished 13th and Dani 14th.
Marc arrived in Japan with a 75 point margin, meaning that he would seal the title if he finished in front of Dani and lost no more than three points to Rossi and 15 to Lorenzo. It was a closely fought race, as Marc battled with Rossi, who would not give up the fight easily. Iin the end, Marc was able to control the gap behind Lorenzo and finish in front of Rossi and Dani. His second-place Motegi finish and the 20 points that accompanied it delivered him his second and successive MotoGP World Championship, becoming the first Honda rider to clinch a World title—in any class—at the Motegi circuit. He also became the youngest ever rider to win two consecutive premier-class World Championships at the age of 21 years, 237 days, taking the record from Mike Hailwood, who was 23 years, 152 days when he won his second successive 500cc title in 1963.
MotoGP World Champion (2013)
There were huge expectations for what Marc could achieve in his first season in MotoGP, and he immediately demonstrated that he was able to battle with the elite of the class. After a strong pre-season winter test, the young Spaniard scored his first podium in the first race, in Qatar. In Austin on 21 April 2013, he set the pole and recorded his first MotoGP win in just his second race, becoming the youngest ever rider to win a premier-class GP, at the age of 20 years, 63 days, taking the record from Freddie Spencer (20 years 196 days -Belgium 500cc GP at Spa-Francorchamps – 1982). Marc arrived at round three in Jerez leading the Championship and took second behind teammate Dani Pedrosa. In France, he took the pole on Saturday and claimed a remarkable podium on Sunday—racing a MotoGP bike in the wet for the first time—but at the following GP in Italy, he lost the front and crashed out from second with just three laps remaining in the race. Marc shrugged the incident off and returned to the podium at the next round in Catalunya, taking third.
In Assen, title rival Jorge Lorenzo fractured his collarbone on Thursday and Marc also suffered a big crash in Friday’s FP3, breaking a finger and toe. Incredibly, Lorenzo underwent surgery on Friday and returned to race to a fifth-place finish, while Marc also overcame his injuries by scoring an important second-place finish.
In Germany, he dominated the race and regained the Championship lead as his two main rivals, Lorenzo and teammate Pedrosa, were forced to sit out the race after crashing in practice. Marc continued this run of success, winning at Laguna Seca—becoming the first rookie to win there in the premier class and becoming the youngest rider to win back-to-back premier-class races, at the age of 20 years, 154 days, taking another record from Freddie Spencer (21 years 104 days – South Africa and France GPs – 1983). He won again in Indianapolis, becoming the first premier-class rookie to win three back-to-back races since Kenny Roberts in 1978 (Austria, France and Mugello).
Marc took his fourth win in a row at Brno, becoming the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 2008 to win four or more successive races in the premier class and also the youngest rider to have won four successive premier-class Grand Prix races.
In Silverstone, Marc crashed in the Sunday morning warm-up, dislocating his left shoulder, but fortunately he was able to ride and, after starting from pole, managed to take second place. This marked his 50th podium finish, which at the age of 20 years, 196 days, made him the youngest rider to reach this milestone, taking the record from Dani Pedrosa, who was 21 years, 162 days old when he stood on a GP podium for the 50th time. Two weeks later in Misano, Marc secured his sixth pole position of the season and took second in the race. In Aragón a minor contact between the two Repsol Honda teammates resulted in the rear-wheel speed-sensor cable on Dani’s bike breaking, launching the Spaniard into the air. Marc ran wide but remained unaffected and chased down Lorenzo to take his sixth win of the season.
The team remained focused and united and had another fantastic weekend in Malaysia with a 1-2 finish, Marc placing second behind Dani but in front of Lorenzo. One week later in Australia, tyre issues for all the riders dictated a new race distance of 19 laps, with at least one mandatory pit stop to change bikes. Riders were not permitted to complete more than 10 laps on any rear tyre, but Marc entered the pits before crossing the line to complete lap 11 and was shown the black flag after he re-joined the race. The team had wrongly understood that he was allowed to complete 10 laps and come back in before completing lap 11. Nonetheless, Marc and his crew moved on from this as they headed to Japan for the last of the three flyaway races. The Japanese GP was strongly affected by adverse weather conditions, resulting in no track action at all on Friday, just an extended 75 minute wet qualifying session on Saturday afternoon and a 45 minute free-practice session on Sunday morning. With less than one hour on a dry Motegi track with the MotoGP machine, Marc settled for second place behind Lorenzo, meaning that heading to the season-ending Valencia GP, just 13 points were separating the two countrymen. Back in Spain, Marc set the fastest times in FP1, FP2 and FP3 before taking his ninth pole of the season. On Sunday he rode a mature race and took a safe third, securing his first MotoGP World Championship in his maiden season.
Moto2 World Champion (2012)
The start of the 2012 season was not easy for Marc, as he missed almost the entire pre-season while recovering from the injury he had sustained in free practice for the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. Marc had experienced double vision following the crash, and after three months passed with no improvement, he opted to have surgery on 16 January 2012. He was treated for paralysis of the upper right oblique muscle, caused by trauma to the fourth right cranial nerve. The operation was a success and he recovered in time for the Qatar Grand Prix, the first race of 2012. He did not disappoint, taking the win in the desert, showing that he was fully recovered and ready to push for the title. That victory was followed by a second-place finish in Jerez and another win in Portugal before he crashed out of a wet Le Mans GP. That small blot on his record was followed by nine podiums from 12 races: eight wins (in Qatar, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Indianapolis, Czech Republic, San Marino and Japan), two runner-up finishes (Catalunya and Great Britain) and two third places (Jerez and Aragon). Rain again caught Marc out at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Three laps into the race, the Repsol rider crashed out. Fortunately, the advantage gained at the preceding races allowed for him to clinch the crown just one week later in Australia, where he was crowned Moto2 World Champion.
Runner-up in Moto2 in his first year (2011)
After winning the title, the natural next step for the young rider was to move to Moto2 in 2011, so Marc joined a team created especially for him, boasting engineers and mechanics with experience in Moto2 and MotoGP. After suffering three crashes in the first four races, he got to grips with the class and, at the French GP, announced his arrival as a serious title contender. He won at Le Mans and took second at Montmeló but one race later he suffered another crash while fighting for the win at the British GP. This was the final blip before a huge comeback, in which he picked up three consecutive wins (Assen, Italy and Germany), one second place (Brno), a further three wins on the bounce (Indianapolis, San Marino and Aragón) and another second place (Motegi). There was still to be another amazing comeback in 2011, this time at the Australian GP. After being penalised for an infraction in Free Practice and sent to the 38th spot on the grid on Sunday, he overtook 35 rivals to take the last spot on the podium and reduce his standings deficit to just three points. At that point, he had recovered 82 points on Championship leader Stefan Bradl, but a crash in FP1 for the Malaysian left him unable to compete in the final two events, forcing him to concede the title, though his seven wins, three second places and one third place earned Marc the Rookie of the Year honour and a creditable runner-up spot in the Moto2 World Championship.
First GP win and first World Championship Title (2010 – 125cc)
In 2010, Marc decided to join the Ajo Motorsport team riding a Derbi, and from the pre-season, he set a record pace, adapting well to his new bike and team.
In the first race in Qatar, Marc took pole position and followed that up with a podium finish. He crashed out on the first lap of the following race in Jerez after his bike’s exhaust system broke, but he once again reached the podium in France, and two weeks later, on 6 June 2010, he took the first victory of his career, at Mugello. He went on to win the following four races consecutively—Silverstone, Assen, Catalunya and Sachsenring—setting pole position at each one. Some ups and downs after the summer break interrupted Marc’s winning streak, but another victory in San Marino and then another series of four consecutive wins in Motegi, Sepang, Phillip Island and Estoril meant that the title would be decided in Valencia in a duel between two Marc and Nico Terol. Marc could count on an advantage of 17 points in the standings and in the race he uncharacteristically avoided entering the battle for victory; his fourth-position allowed him to reach the finish line celebrating the title. He was the 2010 125cc World Champion at 17, after taking 10 victories and 12 pole positions.
In 2009, again sporting the number 93 on his Repsol fairing to celebrate the year he was born, Marc demonstrated the talent that had impressed everyone. Riding for the official KTM team, he took his second podium in Jerez and, at the French Grand Prix, became the second-youngest rider ever to take pole position in the World Championship. Afterward, despite being among the top group on several occasions, he suffered some bad luck and crashes but still finished nearly all of the races in the top five.
World Championship Debut (2008)
Marc’s debut in the Motorcycle Road Racing World Championship was with the Repsol KTM Team at the 2008Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril because an ill-timed pre-season crash resulted in a fracture of his right arm, preventing him from being on the starting grids for the first two races. In his sixth race, the British Grand Prix, he was able to set a milestone in motorcycling history taking third position, becoming the youngest rider ever to make it onto a World Championship podium. He finished his rookie season in 13th position overall, despite having missed four races due to injury.
In 2007 he again participated in the CEV, this time with KTM, but several crashes prevented him from taking a better position than ninth overall. Nonetheless, Alzamora had a surprise in store: the next year Marquez would be a part of the big World Championship family.
The 2005 season was an important one for Marc, as it was then that he met Emilio Alzamora, 1999 125cc World Champion with Honda. During that season, Marc won the 125cc Catalan Championship, as well as the 85ccCatalan Supermotard Championship. The following year, 2006, he repeated the Catalan triumph, and at the same time made his debut in the Spanish Road Racing Championship (CEV), where he achieved an eighth overall position.
In 2004 Marc jumped to the 125cc class with a Honda 125 GP. He signed for the RACC Impala team, with Pol Espargaró as his teammate. After six races he took the runner-up position behind his teammate.
Marc changed to the big circuits in 2003 by taking part in the Open RACC 50, a six-race Catalan Championship, and he won the title with an overwhelming performance in his first year.
In 2002 Marc finished third in the Conti Cup, a road racing series promoted by the Catalan Motorcycling Federation. He continued competing in motocross but began shifting his focus to road racing.
In 2001, he took another step forward and won the Catalan Championship of the Initiation motocross category.
From dirt to tarmac. In 2000, although he continued competing in enduro, he was also runner-up in the Catalan Motocross Championship.
In 1999, his father bought him a second-hand 50cc off-road pocket bike, on which he continued to enjoy enduro and also began in motocross.
At age 4, Marc asked for a motorbike for Christmas, and with the aid of training wheels, he had his first riding experience, going with his father to an industrial area near their house. In 1998, when he was 5, he participated in the Enduro for Kids, in the Initiation category. He would have preferred to race motocross, but there wasn’t a class for kids his age at the time.
First steps (1993-2000)
On 17 February 1993, a future champion was born in Lleida, Spain. Marc has always lived in Cervera, a small town near the capital of the province where he resides with his parents and brother Alex.
eom/Repsol Honda release
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Underweight Ruhaan disqualified after a creditable 12th: World Rotax Max Challenge

File photo by Ruhaan Alva team Portimao (Portugal), 11 Nov 2017: Ruhaan Alva, the 11-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru and representing the Birel Art India team, marked his debut in the World Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals here on Saturday with a creditable 12th place finish in the Micro Max category out of 34 starters, only to be disqualified on a technicality.
Ruhaan, supported by Play Factory and Sona Miller, was disqualified for being underweight by a mere 100 grams during the mandatory post-race weigh-in. As per regulations, the kart along with the driver in full racing gear, including the helmet, should weigh 110 Kgs, but Ruhaan tipped the scales at 109.9 Kgs.
“We are absolutely shattered, but there is nothing we can do about it. Ruhaan had put in so much effort going into the World Finals and we had come to Portugal with a lot of hopes. So, an extremely disappointing finish to the week though Ruhaan
The Grand Finals saw 360 karters from 59 countries competing in various age-group categories, and Ruhaan came through a week-long competition that saw four rounds of free practice, three qualifying heats, the Pre-Final and the Final with a consistent performance which won him much high acclaim.
Though Ruhaan finished just outside the top-10 group, he improved with each outing and clocked his best lap of one minute, 07.992 seconds around the 1.5 Kms long circuit in the 10-lap Final that was won by France’s Louis Iglesias.
Ruhaan opened the week with a best lap of 01:11.295 in the first of the practice sessions. As he grew in confidence and learnt the track, his times dropped. He qualified 10th for the Pre-Final and 13th for the Final.
“It was a great learning experience for me, competing against the best in the World. I thought I could have done much better, but am happy that I could finish 12th in a field of 36 in my category that was extremely competitive. Of course, it was very disappointing to get disqualified for being underweight,” said Ruhaan who was punching above his weight considering that many of his competitors had more track time.
Ruhaan thus completed an otherwise excellent season as he finished third overall in his category in the Italian Easykart Championship and second in the FMSCI Indian National championship.
eom/revised with inputs from Ruhaan’s release on Nov 12, 12.30pm
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Bottas takes pole; Hamilton crashes out in Q1

Bottas (centre) beats Vettel (left) top Brazilian pole. Raikkonen take p3. An FIA image Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his third career pole position, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just over three hundredths of a second, as newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton dramatically crashed out in Q1.
The Briton, who had taken to the track early in a bid to put in a solid time in case of rain, lost control as he exited Turn 6. The back end of his car stepped out and he slid off into the tyre barriers, wrecking the front right side of his Mercedes.
The crash resulted in a brief red flag period as Hamilton’s car was cleared. When the action resumed Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas quickly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:10.053.
He was soon eclipsed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and then by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with the Ferrari driver posting a time of 1:09.796. Bottas responded with a time of 1:09.452 but he was then pipped by Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari with a lap of 1:09.405.
At the bottom of the timesheet, Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was the driver to profit from Hamilton’s exit. With the Briton rooted to the bottom of the timesheet by his crash, there would be just four further eliminations and with a lap of 1:10.625 Hartley managed to take P15, five hundredths of a second ahead of Pascal Wehrlein. The Sauber driver was eliminated ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, the Williams of Lance Stroll, the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and Hamilton.
Stroll had suffered a mechanical issue in FP3 and was late to the fray in Q1 but the Canadian failed to land a good time with his final flyer. Team-mate Felipe Massa, meanwhile began his final qualifying session in front of his home crowd with an excellent lap of 1:09.789 that earned fourth place in the segment behind Räikkönen, Bottas and Vettel.
Bottas set the pace early in Q2 with a lap of 1:08.901 that left him just over a tenth of a second clear of Vettel and a further tenth up on Räikkönen. The Red Bull pairing of Verstappen and Ricciardo slotted into fourth and fifth places respectively.
Unusually for Q2, which often sees the frontrunners remain in their garages in for the final runs, the top five drivers returned to the track in the final stages of the segment and it was Vettel who found the most time. The German took top spot with a time of 1:08.494, 0.144 ahead of Bottas. Verstappen went through in third place, fourth tenths behind Bottas, with Räikkönen fourth ahead of Ricciardo.
In the drop zone as the final runs began were Haas’ Romain Grosjean in 11th, followed by McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso’s Hartley.
Hulkenberg was the man to profit, the Renault driver jumping to eighth place by the time session ended. As other times flooded in, it meant that Force India’s Esteban Ocon was the man to lose out, the French driver being eliminated in P1 ahead of Grosjean, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Hartley.
Vettel again set the pace in the final Q3 session. Bottas was first on track and set a time of 1:08.442 but Vettel bypassed it by eight hundredths of a second to claim top spot. Räikkönen was third, while Verstappen claimed fourth with his first run just under three tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Ricciardo.
But it was Bottas who made the most of the final runs. As drops of rain began to fall across Interlagos, Vettel failed to find an improvement on his last lap, the German saying that he had not done his best work in the first sector and lost most time there. That opened the door for Bottas and the Finn barged through to claim his third career pole position with a lap of 1:08.322, 0.038s ahead of his Ferrari rival.
Räikkönen took third in the second Ferrari with a time of 1:08.538 and Verstappen improved to be the only other driver inside the 1m09s mark. Ricciardo finished fifth but is set for a grid penalty for the race, while Sergio Perez was sixth. Alonso put in a good performance to claim seventh place ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Massa.
2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:08.322
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:08.360
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:08.538
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:08.925
5 Sergio Perez Force India 1:09.598
6 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:09.617
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:09.703
8 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:09.805
9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:09.841
10 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:09.830
11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:09.879
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:10.116
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:10.154
14 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:09.330
15 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:10.678
16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:10.875
17 Lance Stroll Williams 1:10.776
18 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:10.686
20 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes.eom/FIA press release
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Marquez takes final pole of the season at Valencia

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez celebrates with team members after taking pole at Valencia on Saturday in season’s last GP. A Repsol Honda image. Marc Marquez today extended his career pole count to 73 (45 in MotoGP), with his eighth pole of the season in Valencia. After showing quick race pace and taking P1 in both FP3 and FP4 sessions, Marc was the only rider able to dip under the 1’30 barrier in qualifying, setting a 1’29.897 that proved unbeatable by his opponents.
Marquez set a scintillating lap mid-way through qualifying at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and that proved enough for pole for the Championship leader ahead of the #FinalShowdown – despite then taking a tumble after a front end washout on his final run. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) takes second after improving on his final lap, three tenths off polesitter Marquez, with Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completing the front row in another show of good pace in the season finale.
Friday’s fastest Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) heads up the second row after a fast crash when setting red sectors – rider ok – with the five-time World Champion only a tiny margin off a top three start at the venue where he holds the pole lap, race lap and most premier class wins records. The rider with the most victories at the circuit across all classes, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), is just behind Lorenzo in fifth after ending Day 1 in P2. Ducati Team test rider and wildcard Michele Pirro completes the second row.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took P7 to edge Q1 graduate Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) by only nine thousandths, with the Spaniard crashing out late on but eighth despite returning from injury and suffering with illness. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) will start ninth – and he has won from there before – but faces a mountain to climb on race day if he is to win the race and retain a chance at the crown.
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completes the top ten, ahead of Q1 graduate Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who went eleventh fastest but will start from pitlane due to an engine penalty. Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) takes P12 and was another to crash in the session, moving one place forward on race day as Espargaro’s penalty shuffles the grid forward.
That’s good news for Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) after a tough day at the office for the rider from Roses, qualifying in P13 and gaining one place. He’s followed by Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), with Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) and Q1 faller Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) completing the fastest sixteen and the top fifteen on the grid.
The #FinalShowdown is now ready to race, with the lights going out at 14:00 (GMT +1) on Sunday and the crown on the line.
Pole: 1:29.897
Marc Marquez said: “I am extremely happy that today we’ve achieved our goal of starting from the front row, as the start is very important at this track. I had a crash in qualifying that frustrated me for a bit, though only for a few minutes. The fact is that I did not feel totally comfortable with the front in turn 4 during my first flying lap, and when I told Santi (Hernández) before going out for my second run he told me to pay attention to this. I kept pushing because I knew that I had to do so if I wanted to be faster, but then I fell. As I said on Thursday, the ‘Marquez style’ will be okay until after the warm up, and that I want to work in the same way as always, pushing hard during the practices. The most important thing is that we’ve worked well all weekend and that we’ve got a good pace on used tires. For the race we must make a switch and change. We must see where Dovi is, where we can finish and do our best.”
eom/MotoGP release with inputs from Repsol Honda
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Hamilton continues to set pace at Sao Paulo
After dominating opening practice at Interlagos, Lewis Hamilton doubled up by topping the afternoon timesheets at the São Paulo circuit, edging team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under five hundredths of a second.
However, whereas Hamilton enjoyed a half second advantage over Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the morning session, afternoon practice was tighter, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing just 0.228 behind four-time champion Hamilton after the drivers had completed their performance runs during the 90-minute session.
In the morning Hamilton had led the way early in the session on soft tyres and e repeated the process in the afternoon, setting a time of 1:09.742on the yellow-banded tyres.
Räikkönen was the first to make the move to supersofts but his effort was only good enough to claim third pace behind Hamilton and Bottas. Mercedes’ Finn then bolted on the red-banded compound and he promptly vaulted into top spot.
Hamilton failed to make the most of his first quick lap on supersofts but on his second run he made no mistakes and climbed back to P1 with a time of 1:09.515. That was slower than his supersoft-shod time of the morning but again quicker than the 2004 circuit record set by Rubens Barrichello.
Ricciardo got closest to the Mercedes but admitted that the Constructors champions look out of reach.
“For what we’ve got here we looked competitive. The long runs looked okay but the Mercs looked really strong,” he said. “We can definitely find a little bit more for tomorrow but I don’t think we’re far off and we don’t have to make many changes tonight. I’d like some rain for Qualifying tomorrow and I can try and fight for pole. I know if I get it I won’t start there because of my penalty, but anyway it would be good to start 11th for the race. That’s my target.”
Sebastian Vettel was the quickest Ferrari, just 0.132 behind Ricciardo, while Max Verstappen was fifth in the second Red Bull, just one hundredth of a second adrift of Vettel.
Force India’s Esteban Ocon was seventh ahead of hometown hero and Williams driver Felipe Massa. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Renault, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
There was trouble in the session for Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson skidded off in Turn 9, slapping into the barriers at the side of the track. After a difficult morning session in which neither of its cars has much running, Toro Rosso bounced back in the afternoon, Pierre Gasly completing 44 laps to finish in P16 and Brendon Hartley posting a total of 54 laps to finish in 17th place.
2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 42 1:09.515
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 45 1:09.563 0.048
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 37 1:09.743 0.228
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 48 1:09.875 0.360
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 38 1:09.886 0.371
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45 1:10.117 0.602
7 Esteban Ocon Force India 49 1:10.306 0.791
8 Felipe Massa Williams 42 1:10.373 0.858
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 39 1:10.396 0.881
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 31 1:10.655 1.140
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 42 1:10.685 1.170
12 Sergio Perez Force India 43 1:10.695 1.180
13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 38 1:10.902 1.387
14 Lance Stroll Williams 44 1:11.064 1.549
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 39 1:11.300 1.785
16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 44 1:11.422 1.907
17 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 54 1:11.821 2.306
18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 43 1:11.857 2.342
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 17 1:11.989 2.474
20 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas 37 1:12.417 2.902.eom/FIA press release
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We are motivated to make some significant changes to 2018 car: Paddy Lowe
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Paddy LOWE (Williams), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber)
Q: Paddy, let’s begin with you. Felipe was in the conference here yesterday with us, saying the team needs to make some changes for next season to its approach to the car and the 2018 car will essentially be your first car, overseeing it. Can you tell us your approach and how much have you allocated resource to it along the way this year?
Paddy LOWE: I’d like to stress that it’s a team effort. I know the media like to characterise these things as cars of individuals but we have a great team at Grove with some new people we’ve brought in in the last 12 months as well as the existing team. But we are motivated to make some significant change to really move forward, create a step from where we are. So we will see how that plays out. We recognise that we have some strong competition as well and they’ll all be wanting to do the same. But we’re quite optimistic about what we’re doing over the winter.
Q: At what point did you fully commit to next year’s car?
PL: It’s never a black and white point in any team in fact, it’s a gradual migration. You never give up on the existing season, really, up until the very end. Even now, we’re testing different ideas within this race weekend so it’s always a migration, but we are in the high nineties per cent of effort on next year’s car.
Q: Obviously you’ve announced that Felipe is definitely not continuing with the team next year so you are in the process of evaluating his replacement for next season; what are the next steps in that and when do you target making a final decision?
PL: We’re very unlikely to make a decision in short order. We have a number of different options and we’ll take our time with that and let you know when we have an answer.
Q: Hasegawa-san, coming to you, it was obviously a big surprise for everyone when the Honda engine didn’t make a step forward from 2016 to 2017. What steps have you put in place to ensure that you don’t have a repeat of that between now and the start of 2018 and how confident are you feeling?
Yusuke HASEGAWA: From last year to this year, we have completely changed the configuration concept of the engine. We tried to do a little bit too much, the modification, so that’s why I have decided to keep the concept for next year, so that from a reliability point of view we are pretty much confident. So we need to squeeze more performance from the same concept of the engine, so that’s what we are currently doing.
Q: And Franz, what have you picked up from the McLaren story this year with Honda that you want to avoid next year in your collaboration with them?
Franz TOST: I must say that we from the Toro Rosso side have to build the most competitive car. This is what we can do from our side. What happened in other teams and during the collaboration in the past is not our topic and what we will provide Honda with is hopefully a very close and fruitful co-operation on the operational side and once more our target is to come up with a competitive chassis because I’m convinced that Honda knows what they have to do and they are on a good path because we have already had a couple of meetings and I am more than sure that they will improve their performance next year and hopefully we have a good car and then I am sure that we will have a real competitive package.
Q: Back to you Hasegawa-san, obviously we saw a statement after the engine meeting last week on future direction of Formula One engines after 2020; can you give us Honda’s reaction to that?
YH: Obviously we have started the discussion with the FIA so I don’t think it’s a good idea to say yes or no in this public situation but we are respecting the FIA’s decision of course, that they are trying to create a good competition for the FIA for the Formula One. But we are thinking there is some room to modify so that we are trying to find the good solution, but obviously the cost reduction is very important and we are welcoming new manufacturers so from that point of view we would like to keep discussing with the FIA.
Q: Can we get a comment on that statement about the future engines from the two independent teams here, the customer teams? Frederic, why don’t you us your thoughts first on what came out last week?
Frederic VASSEUR: For the private teams, for sure the regulations are much more on the end of the engine manufacturers. What concerns is that we want to have a fair price and close competition but I think they are the two targets that we have to reach. On the other hand, if we can improve the show a little bit, but that’s coming much more from the fact that it will close up the grid a little bit than something else. It could be the only two targets for a private team.
Q: And Paddy, your reaction to the statement last week?
PL: Yeah, I think it’s a first step and we recognise that discussions will continue with the existing manufacturers and potential new manufacturers. It’s a difficult problem to solve, to be honest. There’s a lot of objectives; some of them are contradictory but most of all we need solutions that are cost-effective, but also creating a great show so I think that was an initial step and we will wait to see how that may be refined.
Q: Back to you Franz: you’ve hinted that you will keep the same driver line-up for 2018 that you have currently; what needs to happen before you make that official?
FT: It’s a decision from Red Bull, in the end, and if both drivers continue in the way they are working with us, I’m quite convinced that they will be the driver line-up for Toro Rosso in 2018, but once more, this is a decision from Red Bull.
Just coming back to the power unit discussion; the current power unit, as you all know, is far too complicated, doesn’t contribute anything to the show and it’s far too expensive and therefore I hope that FOM and the FIA will come up with a regulation that will simplify the power unit and to make it much cheaper for private teams like us.
Q: Frederic, back to you: another run for Charles Leclerc this morning; how’s he progressing? When do you hope to confirm whether he will race for the team next season and is it likely to be Ericsson sitting alongside him? What can you tell us?
FV: We will do the announcement, I hope, in Abu Dhabi. For sure we’ll do it before Melbourne next year and that I won’t postpone it each week. But I think Charles is doing a good job; the situation in FP1 is not an easy one because the first target is to avoid crashing and by the way that he’s consistent and he always shows a strong pace and he’s doing a good job.
Q: You’re going to have a latest specification engine next season – obviously a big change from this year – that’s obviously worth a lot in lap time terms. Can you give us an idea of what kind of step that is? And also, can you expect to make a similar step on the chassis side?
FV: It’s a couple of tenths – I won’t say more – and on the chassis we will have to do a much bigger step. I think we started the project very late last year due to the financial situation and we are really focused on the 2018 car for a long part of this season and I think we will do a much bigger step on the chassis than on the engine.
eom/FIA press release
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I am here to challenge Sergio for sure: Esteban Ocon at Thursday press meet
PART ONE: DRIVERS – Felipe MASSA (Williams), Lance STROLL (Williams), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Felipe, here we are again, and once again we know this is a swansong. Do you mean it this time?
Felipe MASSA: Yeah! Actually this is my second retirement race in Brazil, but this time it’s the last one for sure in Formula One, so definitely really looking forward to another amazing feeling to race at home and really enjoying the track that I grew up at here for my last time in a Formula One car. So, really looking forward and really hope that we can have a nice race and a nice result to finish it off.
What’s been the highlight of this bonus season for you in Formula One and how do you see the Williams team going forward from this point?
FM: Not amazing highlights to be honest. So the way we started the season it was not the same way we finished the season. Definitely the car was more competitive at the beginning than at the end, so development-wise it was not great, I would say, this year. But I think I definitely enjoyed driving the car after all these rules were changed from last year to this year. I think it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars, a lot more downforce, I definitely enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, I was a little bit unlucky in some races that I would have scored massive points but I couldn’t, not because of my fault but because of some issues we had in the car. I expect maybe a season that would have been a little bit more competitive than how we were. But I definitely enjoy, having fun by driving the car. I’m happy that I’ve been able to take the best out of this car when I didn’t have any problem. So it was a season that I definitely enjoyed. It would be nice to remember this season, I mean the way you drive this car, for my career some years in front, nice to come back and remember this way you are driving this car.
And the second part of the question about where the Williams team goes forward from here?
FM: I think it’s definitely important to change a little bit some ideas for the car, but I think that’s the way Williams is doing for next year. So having a car that’s a little bit more different – the way they are developing the car, the way they are working the car – so I really hope they can achieve that from next year to the future.
Thank you very much, Felipe. Lance, in the points at four of the last six grands prix and now into the top 10 in the drivers’ standings. Some great runs, lots of great starts, but would it be fair to say that qualifying is where you are going to be putting the bulk of your effort in preparing for 2018?
Lance STROLL: Yeah, it’s been a good run. We’ve scored quite a few points in the last few races. I’m really happy about how that’s gone. For sure, qualifying we still need to adjust a few things. It’s mainly been little mistakes here and there and not being able to capitalise on our full potential. But I think with time and experience and analysing bits and pieces we can improve in that and I believe that with the people I’m working with and the team that we can address some of those issues and definitely improve on them in the future. But definitely when it comes to races and the points we’ve scored, I’m extremely proud of the job we’ve done and we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.
You will have a new team-mate next season. What profile are you looking for: someone young, someone experienced, or should the team take a gamble?
LS: It’s up to the team at the end of the day. My job is to drive my car. I mean I was hoping for Hamilton, but he’s not really available these days. I’m just kidding. It’s completely up to the team. Like I say, my job is to drive my car and they’ll take care of the rest.
Marcus, you’ve outqualified your team-mate at the last three grands prix but you’ve yet to get that breakthrough point. It looked like it could be on in Mexico; you were in positions for many laps until the breakdown. This race worked out pretty well for Sauber last year so have you targeted this weekend for the result?
Marcus ERICSSSON: Yeah, I mean we always go into a weekend aiming to try and score points. I think Mexico was a really good weekend for us and we’ve had quite a few good weekends now in a row. Very unfortunate I think in Mexico with the Safety Car, it came out with absolutely the worst possible timing for us, before that we were running in the points for the whole first part of the race. It was a good feeling and it was a good opportunity for us but we were just unlucky with the safety car. But then we had the breakdown as well. Hopefully here it’s new opportunity that we can take advantage of. This track should not be worse for us than the last two. We’re looking forward to it. We still need to obviously maximise what we have. It’s still a handicap with the old power unit so it’s going to make it more difficult. But as we’ve shown on the last two weekends, if we get everything right on the car side we can still take the fight to some of the midfield cars, so that’s what we need to do again this weekend and then we see here in Brazil everything can happen with the weather. Usually the races here are very eventful and that’s why we need to take the opportunity.
Well, you mentioned the weather. It looks like we could have some rain again this weekend. One of the talking points is that the organisers have cut some more groves into the surface. So tell us about this place in the wet and what those grooves might do?
ME: I think it’s a fun track to drive in the wet. Obviously we saw last year that it does get a lot of standing water, so that’s the only problem really. So if that’s helped a bit this year I think it will improve. Like I said, it’s a fun track to drive both in the dry and the wet. I wouldn’t mind a bit of mixed conditions during the weekend, I think that would spice things up
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Lance, in this your first year, what you do feel that Formula One has different, that you feel like ‘oh, this is difficult, I have to work on this’, and how you felt about this during the year? And Felipe, if you can say some words about his evolution?
LS: Formula One is very different in many ways from any other category. There is a lot more activity going on off the track and the car itself is very different to drive, so technically, driving the car, working with the engineers, working with the team, the weekends are a lot more loaded than any other category. There is a lot more going on everywhere, so you have to put your attention on so many little details that in other categories you don’t necessarily do as much. And then, like I said, off the track there are so much more going on, so many media activities and commitments that you have to take part in. So I would say just that the weekends are generally very loaded. But it’s becoming easier and easier every single time. The more experience I have and the more weekends I get under my belt it starts to become second nature more and more every single time. It’s just part of the process of learning and settling into Formula One, but those are the main things – the activity off the track and just driving the car and getting used to these kind of cars to drive. They’re quite a handful in a fun way, in a good way. So I would say those are the main things.
And Felipe, your comment on how Lance has developed? He’s been a bit like you were to Michael Schumacher when you were together.
FM: Yeah, I think definitely the way he started until now he had a big development, which is pretty normal. In Formula One everything is different to every other category. You need to learn, you need to understand the car, you need to understand the tyres, when you need to make the perfect lap. Even if we have the sessions on Friday and then on Saturday morning, sometimes it’s not enough because you’re not having new tyres all the time, and then you get to qualifying , you have new tyres and straight away you need to do a very good lap time, otherwise Q1, especially the way you are fighting with three or four teams for a couple of tenths, if you don’t do a lap time straight away maybe you can even not pass into Q2. So that shows the intense battle you have in Formula One. But I think the way he started, the way he is now, he’s just learning and getting better and better and improving. Definitely he understood much quicker the way he needs to drive in the race, because he did many good races and the qualifying for sure is coming. He has a good teacher as well, so… maybe next year he can qualify closer to another driver that he’ll race.
Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Question for Felipe, going on the farewell tour, what’s your view on the future of Brazilian Formula One racing – because it looks like we have a year without for the first time since 1969…
FM: Yeah. I really hope Formula One stays forever in Brazil. So definitely Brazil is a very important country for Formula One. So many titles, so many drivers, so many Brazilian drivers raced for Formula One since the start, so I really hope Interlagos stays for a very long time in Formula One and anything I can give to help, not racing any more, I can do, so definitely it is a very important race. It is true that we are suffering not an easy moment in Brazil, financially, but I think it’s a very important event for São Paulo, it’s a very important event for Brazil Formula One and y’know, for me it’s very difficult to answer – but I really hope Brazil stays for a very long time in Formula One.
Q: (Andres Lopez – Motorlat.com) Question for Felipe, this will be your last GP at Brazil as an F1 driver. What is your best memory here in this track?
FM: I think the best memory is my first victory, in 2006. It was like a dream come true for a Brazilian that was always dreaming to be in Formula One, especially in this track, then you get to Formula One and you manage to win. I won two races here, three pole positions, I think it’s the track I’ve been more times in the podium. So… but I definitely… the victory here 2006, it was like a dream come true, that I will never forget. It was definitely the most incredible day that I had in my career, winning the home grand prix for the first time, 2006
Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Felipe, I would like to know, in the future do you expect to drive in a different category, to compete in a different category – and which one will it be?
FM: Yes, definitely, it’s part of my expectation to keep driving, to keep having fun on the track, so that’s what I have been doing since I was eight years old, and that is my job since a long time as well. So, I think when you’re driving and you’re competing, you really feel the emotion of doing your job, or for enjoying yourself, so yes, definitely I really hope I can find the category that I have fun, like I had in Formula One for very long. So yeah, I will have enough time to think about it, to understand which is a good category to go, and then we will see.
Q: (Stephen Wade – AP) Felipe, how do you rate your career? You were very close to being a World Champion at one point; you come from a country with great tradition, how do you rate your career? An eight? A ten? How do you see it?
FM: I think when you… ten is when you win a championship or maybe even more than that, y’know? So yeah, I would say I had a very successful career. I have a career I thought I never would achieve, when I was a kid, so first of all, Formula One was a dream, and I managed to get to Formula One, I managed to win many races, I managed to fight for the championship until maybe the last metres, and yeah, maybe I was the driver who gets more close to the championship in the history, so I am very proud of my career. If it’s seven, eight, nine, it doesn’t matter. I am very proud for what I achieved, for what I did and I’m so happy for so many things that I learned, so many people that I met, and also really the most important thing is that people respect me and I think that’s the most important thing: have a great relationship with most of the people that I work, and I pass even a few moments together. Definitely I’m so happy for what I achieved, and yeah, still many things to do in life but really finished with my head up, and I think that’s the most important thing.
Q: (Fabio Aleixo – Folha de São Paulo) Will you do anything different for the public? Because last year after you finished the race… you didn’t finish the race and walked through the pitlane and you could see the people closer. After the race, if you finish, you have anything to do different, maybe walk around the track? Go to the public to say ‘thank you’? Do you have anything in your mind for after the race?
FM: Well, actually I really hope I can finish in a great position. That’s that most important thing, that it didn’t happen last year, so it happens, another thing that I will never forget. So I think the feeling that I have on the human side, after the race, last year it was something really I never thought I will feel that, I will have that in my career. So, I think what I had last year was definitely more than enough, and the only thing I’m looking forward to now is having a good race, having a good result and I never really planned everything, so if I do this, everything, y’know this will be natural, so we’ll see what we invent to do after what I really hope is a good result.
Q: (Pedro Enrique Marum – MSN Esportes) Lance, before pre-season you said Felipe would be a mentor to you and then, after pre-season started you said it wasn’t quite like this. Now a season went by, Felipe has mentored you?
LS: Well, he’s been a great team-mate to have. He has a bunch of experience, he brings a lot of knowledge to the team. I think we’ve understood a lot about the can and how to improve the car throughout the weekends and, for sure, he’s been a great guy to have in the team. I think everyone’s really enjoyed having him at Williams, and he’s had an unbelievable career: many victories, many times on the podium, one point from winning a world championship, so, y’know, definitely an A+ career, that’s for sure.
PART TWO: DRIVERS – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Esteban OCON (Force India), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso)
Q: Brendon, congratulations, World Endurance Champion, once again, for the second time with Porsche. How did it feel jumping back into a WEC car after the Formula One, and how are you rationalising this very unusual life experience that you’re going through at the moment.
Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was actually surprisingly tricky to jump back into the car. I thought I was going to feel right at home – it’s been my home for the last four years – but it took a couple of laps for it to feel comfortable again. The seating position’s quite different from Formula One, having a roof over your head, different perspective – but yeah, after five laps I felt back at home. In terms of rationalising things, I guess I’ve tried to not overthink it and I’ve just… yeah… even winning the championship hasn’t really sunk in. I haven’t really had time to reflect. It probably helps that I’m just going from one weekend to the next. I think this is my sixth race in a row. It won’t be until I get home at the end of the year after all the racing’s over that I’ll be able to reflect and fully understand what’s just happened to me. I’m well aware that making my grand prix debut and Le Mans victory and World Endurance Championship… I mean they’re all amazing things but at the moment I’m just trying to take one step at a time and try to stay focussed and catch up on as much sleep as I can.
Q: It sounds like you’re set for a full season of Formula One next year, although obviously not official yet, but now you know a bit more about it, will your experience of working with a major motor manufacture like Porsche, do you think it will help Honda developing with Toro Rosso, taking that whole relationship forward?
BH: I don’t know. What I do know is, from working with Porsche the last years, it made my transition quite smooth to Formula One because it’s a similar amount of people involved; very similar structure in terms of engineering; pressure – I mean driving at Le Mans for Porsche, there’s a big amount of pressure on your shoulders, so I guess all of those things I’ve learnt to deal with, so that was obviously very helpful going to Austin. Obviously there were a lot of other things to learn in Formula One and I’m well-aware that there’s still a lot to learn but yeah, I think the good thing for me is that I’ve been involved in the past also with other Formula One teams and development and the project at Porsche, I was very heavily involved in the development on every level, so at least I have some experience from that point of view, yeah.
Q: Esteban, Force India confirmed fourth in the constructors’ championship, it’s your first full season but you’ve obviously played a key part in that. What does it mean for you, given the quality of the opposition you’ve faced this year?
Esteban OCON: It’s been a great season for us. Of course securing the fourth place, it’s an amazing achievement with two races to go. Thanks to the team, I would like to thank everyone. I can’t thank everyone in here but a few key people: Andy Stevenson, Andrew Green, Tom McCullough, Otmar, I would like to thank everyone there for the great season we’ve had. Hopefully we can finish the last two races very well like we did before and start the next one as high.
Q: Some interesting numbers about you: you’ve out-qualified Pérez at the last four races in a row; you’re the only non-Mercedes driver to start in the top six for the past four races, and you’ve led Pérez for 137 of the last 138 racing laps. So, is that in line with your expectations of yourself at this stage of the season, and how do you move forward from here in 2018?
EO: Yeah, I’m here to push. I’m here to challenge Sergio for sure, it’s been a very close season with him, fighting with really little margin, that’s what we have been doing so far this season – but arriving a second time on the tracks where I’ve driven before, with the Manor, helps me a lot with my experience, and also finishing all the races has helped me and I feel much more comfortable now than I’ve been feeling at the beginning of the season, so it’s great.
Q: Kimi, ten years on – we all remember it very very well from that dramatic day when you won the World Championship here in Brazil, probably the widest smile you’ve had as a sportsman at least. Can you share some special memories of that day?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s a long time ago. Obviously it was a great day but it wasn’t just about the day, it was the whole year. Obviously it ended on that day but there were some great moments, some not very nice moments but in the end it worked out OK and I was very happy with it but – I don’t know – I haven’t really thought about it too much; obviously after that, yes, but not for a while because it doesn’t really change my life today, thinking about it. I don’t really try and make a big story out of it.
Q: This year, you’ve had a very good car and kept developing it very effectively so where does it go from here for Ferrari? You’ve talked a lot this season about a few fine details here and there which have been the things that have stopped you but tell us a bit about that, where the team goes forward next year and what your personal ambition is in 2018?
KR: Obviously I want to be fighting at the front every weekend, to be able to fight for the championship next year. I think we started pretty badly – we were not really where we should have been – a personal feeling on my side – we’re not really happy where the setup was and it took quite a long time to figure it out and then since then it’s been better but then we had too many DNFs for many different reasons but I think, as a team, we’ve come a long way from year to year and also from last year, made a good step, obviously not enough for what we want but as Ferrari we want to win both championships. But I think we had all the tools this year, we just need to tidy up things and not make mistakes nor have issues on any side, not from our side as drivers or from the team side. These are just small things which in the end played a big part this year, who won the championship and which way it went but I think we have all the people, we have the tools and we have a great car. There are still two races to go and even though the championships are done we try to do the same work we always do and try to win races and then, obviously, we start from zero next year so hopefully we will be up there.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Daniel Fideli – GloboEsporte.com) Brendon, you are used to winning races and championships as an endurance driver and you come to Formula One to race in a car that is not so good and mentally for you, how hard is it for you to come to Formula One and you know that you’re not going to be able to win races and just fight for the midfield?
BH: I think as a driver you try and get the most out of whatever the situation is and I know for this weekend I have a firm goal of scoring my first point in Formula One. That would be celebrated, so I think so far from my experience in my two Grands Prix I had a lot to learn and a lot of small goals along the way and from my point of view it doesn’t change much on how I approach the weekend and the team. I can guarantee every single person in Toro Rosso is working their utmost to get the most out of the weekend, whatever is possible, so that doesn’t really change too much.
Q: (Gustavo Faldon – ESPN Brasil) Kimi, Felipe Massa is retiring; you were his teammate for quite a while. What can you say about him? How was your relationship and do you feel like he helped you win your title ten years ago?
KR: He’s retiring again, so let’s see if it actually happens or we will see him in the first race next year. I always had a good relationship with him, great atmosphere when we were at Ferrari together. We won two championships for the team as teammates and I think it was a great time. Obviously it was very fast, very good but I wish him all the best if he ends up (not) racing in F1 any more. We will see what comes in his life in the future.
Q: (Andrea Lopez – Motorlat.com) Kimi, there are only two races left this season; what is the summary you can make of your season this year?
KR: I think it’s very simple that we are in the championship, that’s how good or bad it’s been. That’s how it is this year and obviously we need to learn and make better things next year but we all start from zero next year and it depends on many things over the winter and over the testing at the beginning of the year. We will then get some idea of where we are going to be and then we see in the first races what will happen, but obviously the aim is to do better, to fight for wins and championships – that’s, as a team, what we want to do and as a driver I want to do that. This year, for sure, in many ways could have been better but I guess it can always be worse also.
Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Brendon, you talk about how your work with Porsche helped you to approach the Formula One weekend, but what surprised you like ‘this is very difficult, I have to work on this’ and if Esteban can comment about his experience when he came in too last year?
BH: Sorry, I’m just trying to think what surprised me the most – probably a lot of things. I’d been in the Formula One paddock before, 2008, 2009 – oh, sorry, 2009, 2010, OK. I didn’t make a Grand Prix start but at least I had been in the paddock so there were a few familiar faces already. I guess at Austin, a big shock was the high speed, just in terms of a driving the car, it was quite amazing, these modern Formula One cars, how quick they are in the first sector in Austin, so that was pretty mind-blowing and it took some time to get confident. For the drivers who are driving weekend in and weekend out, they are probably… you always want more grip, you always want more power but coming straight in… that was quite a shock to the system. And other than that, I don’t think there were any huge surprises in terms of difficulties. I knew it was going to be a challenge, I knew putting a Formula One weekend together is tough and I know that the level in Formula One of drivers and teams and everyone – there are some of the highest you can find so I guess in some ways there were no big surprises as I kind of expected that.
EO: I was very well prepared before arriving in Formula One. I was around in the paddock since 2014 so that has helped me a lot. I have been driving with many different teams in testing and then I went into DTM with Mercedes and I think like Brendon it’s a bit the same way of working, with engineers, sponsors and then going back into the racing. It’s a bit the same level of professionalism. It’s just the specification of the category. I think you have to learn all the details and then be sure you are there when it’s needed.
Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Esteban, there are quite some discussions about the future of Formula One, including a budget cap. Do you think a small team like Force India, assuming you work like you did this year, could have an extra shot at the title with such a budget cap?
EO: I think that’s a very good question but honestly if everyone had the same budget I think some people would be surprised what Force India can achieve. At the moment, with the budget we have, what we are achieving is amazing, the level of work we are putting in is a lot but at the end the level is there and the performance is on track, so yeah, it would be nice.
eom/FIA press release
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Mercedes looking to take the positive momentum into 2018
Toto Talks Brazil
It might be tempting to think that, with both championships now secure, the pressure is off for the two remaining races of 2017. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.Inside the team, we are looking at the next two race weekends as the first two Grands Prix of 2018. We have two races that we are determined to win in order to take that positive momentum into the winter. There will be no backing off just because the championship business is now done.
In fact, these next two races speak to every principle that makes us what we are. We aspire to excellence in everything we do, from the first lap of the winter shakedown in Silverstone to the final lap of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi. And every time we race, we race to win. That is the mind set we take to Sao Paulo.
Lewis is operating at the peak of his powers right now, and will be determined to add another victory to last year’s success; Valtteri made a promising step forward in Mexico and will aim to build from this at Interlagos.
As recent rounds have shown, winning Grands Prix is never easy. Red Bull have taken two victories in the past four races and, although we have claimed the other two, Ferrari remain formidable opponents. With the championship now settled, the battle for 2018 has already begun.
Featured this Week: Getting a Head Start on 2018
Two races to go, two World Championship titles in the bag… but are the Silver Arrows slowing down? No chance!Teams up and down the pit lane will already have turned their attention to next season. While in a normal year, each team will have more than half of its factory resource dedicated to the new car by the summer break, the 2017-2018 winter sees stable chassis regulations – meaning many teams were running new parts on their car as late as the US Grand Prix.
The Silver Arrows fly to Brazil and Abu Dhabi aiming to win these final two races. But, with both titles sealed, the balance of risk for the team has changed compared to a normal race weekend. The final two Grands Prix thus present the first two test opportunities ahead of the new season, trialling new and interesting concepts that the competitive landscape on track simply didn’t allow for earlier in the year. And it comes with the added risk of costing track time in Free Practice – or, even worse, retirement on race day – if everything doesn’t go to plan.
With both titles now destined for Brackley, the team can become a little bolder. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport will be running a series of experiments over the final two Fridays – with the option for race day, too, if the team feels that the risk connected with any idea is manageable and there is valuable learning for 2018 and beyond.
These two final weekends are not only an opportunity to test new parts, but also allow experiments for those tasks that the team simply doesn’t have the opportunity to complete during a normal race weekend.
Remember though, this isn’t a luxury only available to a single team. It’s true for the entire grid – and may well have been an opportunity exploited a handful of races ago for those making the early call to focus on 2018 with a comfortable Championship position in the bag.
The team will have an intense programme on the next two Fridays in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to make the absolute most of the opportunities that have been afforded by early title success. The team will be running a range of aerodynamic instrumentation devices – for example the aero rakes often seen in testing – with an eye on next year. These devices offer a small weight penalty and the process of running them eats up time on a Friday, so teams would not want to carry these under usual conditions, but are more willing to do so at the end of the season.
There are various bits of pit-stop equipment that need to be tested in a live pit lane, too. These have already been run through a series of tests in a non-live setting – but Brazil and Abu Dhabi present a chance to use these in anger for the first time under race weekend conditions. Better to try these new techniques and equipment now than in Melbourne for the first time next year…
And it’s not just the final two races that take on an increased importance ahead of 2018. The final two-day test of the year that follows the season-finale will be crucial for understanding the new Pirelli tyre compound and construction ranges set to be introduced for 2018.
It’s not an event that draws much attention from the fans. But, the Abu Dhabi test will be the only time the teams get to see how the 2018-spec Pirelli rubber behaves before they make their tyre allocations for the start of next season. Those early tyre allocations have already been signed off by the time the teams go to pre-season testing in Barcelona at the end of February, so the Abu Dhabi test will form the basis for those early selections. With so much at stake, expect to see most teams and their race drivers on track, aiming to glean every bit of information possible from the two days of running.
It might be almost time to close the curtain on an epic Formula One season – but the fun never really stops. There’s life in 2017 yet – and the team will be making the most of these final two Grands Prix to ensure the W09 emerges blinking into the world early next year in the best possible shape.
eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas press release
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George Russell to make practice debut with Sahara Force India
Sahara Force India will give George Russell the opportunity to drive in Friday’s opening practice session ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix. The 19-year-old British racer, who was recently crowned GP3 Champion, will also drive the opening practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend later this month.
George will make his debut in the VJM10 normally driven by Sergio Perez on Friday morning. In Abu Dhabi he will drive the VJM10 of Esteban Ocon.
George Russell: “I’m extremely excited to be driving in free practice for Sahara Force India in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. 2017 has already been a year full of great opportunities and to top off the season with these two outings feels fantastic. I’ve never driven the VJM10 before or driven at Interlagos, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Sahara Force India for this opportunity and also thank Mercedesfor their continued support.”
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: “We are happy to give George this opportunity. He’s an up-and-coming talent and we’ve followed his success in GP3 closely. George has already been in our simulator several times and has worked well with the team. Now that we have secured fourth place in the championship, it’s the ideal time to look to the future and handing George his free practice debut will allow us to evaluate his potential.”
eom/press release






