INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Mikkelsen, Jaeger snatch last-gasp win: WRC Rally Poland

    Mikkelsen, Jaeger snatch last-gasp win: WRC Rally Poland

    Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger snatched victory in the closing kilometres of Rally Poland when Ott Tanak and Raigo Molder – long-time leaders of the event – lost over 40 seconds with a puncture in the penultimate stage. The dramatic end to an incredibly close-fought rally saw the devastated Estonians robbed of a maiden win after one of the finest drives of their career. Hayden Paddon and John Kennard clinched third by just eight-tenths of a second, the Kiwis struggling with the treacherous conditions in the closing stages.
    In the FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Ogier continues to head the leaderboard and the Frenchman takes a 51 point advantage over team-mate Mikkelsen mid-way through the season. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Volkswagen’s lead is now 61 points over Hyundai Motorsport.

    The final day of Rally Poland was the shortest and took in just two stages, both run twice, but the conditions were far removed from the hot and sunny weather earlier in the week. Thick mud, deep ruts and standing water from persistent overnight rain resulted in sandy roads turning to treacherous stages, with many a crew hitting problems. Tanak started the day with a handy 21.3 second advantage over Mikkelsen and the Estonian looked set to secure his maiden win in the WRC until a puncture in the penultimate stage. The distraught crew dropped 40.5 seconds, handing their Norwegian rivals a last-minute victory, the second time Mikkelsen has secured an eleventh hour win after his dramatic victory in Spain last year. His first win on a full gravel rally also means he is the sixth different winner in as many events this season. Paddon was reasonably secure in third this morning and with only 6.5 seconds separating him and Mikkelsen, the New Zealander had everything to fight for. However, after two disappointing retirements in the previous events he was happy to maintain his podium position, although very nearly lost out to team-mate Thierry Neuville when he backed off in the tricky conditions, lacking confidence in the car. His podium was ultimately secured by a mere 0.8 seconds.

    Neuville also took it a bit too steady in the slippery conditions today and then picked up a puncture in the penultimate stage. Ultimately, the Belgian confessed that his pace notes were too conservative in the first passage of the stages and this is where his rally was compromised. Behind him, Jari-Matti Latvala and Sébastien Ogier were both within striking distance. Latvala won two of the day’s stages and Ogier claimed the win in the Power Stage to salvage 11 points from one of the toughest events for road cleaning so far this season. Behind the top six, Craig Breen performed brilliantly in his first out in the DS3 WRC since Rally Sweden. The Irish driver finished seventh after a great battle with team-mate Stephane Lefebvre, who ultimately dropped to ninth after spinning and clouting the rear wheel. He had to limp through stage 19 with the wheel virtually hanging off. Mads Østberg sandwiched the two Citroens and his team-mate Eric Camilli rounded off the top 10, the Frenchman losing time with an off at the end of the penultimate stage.

    In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Teemu Suninen took top honours after a great battle with Elfyn Evans and Esapekka Lappi. In the end the Finnish Skoda driver won by nearly a minute after his rivals dropped time with punctures today. Simone Tempestini was the runaway winner in the Junior WRC Championship and the Italian won by nearly three and a half minutes.

    The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now take a short summer break before heading to Finland for another of the fastest gravel rallies in the series.

    Rally Poland – Provisional Final Classification

    1.   Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2hr 37min 34.4sec
    2.   Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2hr 38min 00.6sec
    3.   Hayden Paddon/John Kennard Hyundai i20 WRC 2hr 38min 02.9sec
    4.   Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 WRC 2hr 38min 03.7sec
    5.   Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2hr 38min 08.2sec
    6.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2hr 38min 14.7sec
    7.   Craig Breen/Scott Martin DS3 WRC 2hr 39min 35.8sec
    8.   Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2hr 40min 39.0sec
    9.   Stephane Lefebvre/Gabor Moreau DS3 WRC 2hr 42min 46.4sec
    10. Eric Camilli/Benjamin Veillas Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2hr 42min 57.5sec
  • I took a risk and fortunately it paid off: Hamilton

    I took a risk and fortunately it paid off: Hamilton

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    3 – Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, it was one of those days when I guess it was all about the timing of the switch onto the slick tyre and then actually coming across the line it must have been extremely exciting, the final few minutes of that session?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was a really fun session. It was one of those sessions that it starts off dry, goes wet, and quite incredibly here it dries up so quickly, it’s like driving through fog at some stages. I think it just added to the excitement of the while thing. I’d never driven here in the rain before and being a new surface as well it was very, very slippery. It was drying up corner by corner and at the end it was about getting that last lap. The previous lap was a good lap as well but if I had finished that lap I would have been right behind Daniel Ricciardo, so I backed off, which was a big risk really. If I didn’t finish my lap or there had been a yellow flag I wouldn’t have been able to get pole, but it was the risk I took and fortunately it paid off, so very happy with it.

    Well done. Turning to you, Nico, you’re second but it’s a bittersweet feeling I imagine, knowing that you’ve got to go back five places on the grid after the accident this morning and the subsequent gearbox penalty. A shame really, because your preparations for the race up to that point had been pretty ideal. Tell us about your day and your prospects from here?
    Nico ROSBERG: First of all, a really unbelievable job from everybody, even Lewis’ mechanics came on to my car to try to get it out in time, so that was a huge team effort. We got it out 11 minutes to go in Q1, so it was really tight and awesome, so that was great. And then a very exciting qualifying, going dry-wet-dry and it was unbelievable how quickly it dried in the end then to get back on to slick tyres. I think Lewis just did a good job there in the very end, so that’s it. Second not first, but it’s OK. The five places will be quite costly… well, very costly of course for tomorrow, unfortunately. I’ll make the best of it anyways and try to get a good race from there.

    OK, thank you for that. Nico Hulkenberg, welcome back. Reminiscent, conditions-wise and the way you drove, of Brazil a few years ago, in the Williams days. You must be absolutely ecstatic and set yourself up now, moving up to the front row of the grid with Nico Rosberg’s penalty, for a great day?
    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, no, absolutely, it reminded me a lot about Brazil and I was feeling really good in the car and it was just a flashback to back then. I was feeling really good and to be honest, I was expecting a little bit better, so when he said third… I wasn’t disappointed. A great effort from the team. Not an easy session to be out there at the right time, it’s all about timings. The car performed well, we put it together, so a very solid job and a very good starting position for tomorrow.

    Very well done. Lewis, coming back to you, on a serious note we saw a couple more suspension failures during that qualifying session with Kvyat and Pérez. What’s the feeling among the drivers, what’s the conversation going to be this evening and what’s the concern there?
    LH: I can’t speak on behalf of all the drivers, but for me those yellow kerbs are quite dangerous. We’ve now seen a couple of incidents already. I don’t know how many more of those it’s going to take before a car ends up in the wall and perhaps someone gets hurt. I’m sure Charlie and the FIA are looking at it but that’s definitely an area we can improve. The idea is good, because they definitely don’t want us running wide and using the outside of the circuit but perhaps another solution is going to be needed.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, one of the interesting talking points arising out of the second part of qualifying was the decision by Ferrari and Red Bull to go out and set their time on the supersoft tyre. You and Nico had both used the ultrasoft but then right at the end you went out and had a bit of a look on the supersoft just as some rain began to fall. So, your thoughts on why you went the way that you did in the first instance and what happened at the end there.
    LH: I just did what I was told! I think our strategists understand that that ultrasoft was the better tyre. We had the supersoft available I think they perhaps saw – I’m guessing – I’m assuming they saw that the Ferraris had gone out and they thought we might try to go out and see if we could do a time on it, even though we think there is a time delta between the two. Naturally a hard tyre often goes further so that doesn’t seem like such a bad option. They have qualified on supersofts?

    Yes – they’ll start on the supersofts and so will Red Bull
    LH: OK, that’s not a bad thing. I think the ultrasoft is not a good tyre for the race. It’s going to be a struggle to get a lot of laps out of it so the strategy will be interesting tomorrow. Obviously those guys are starting behind me so I’m hoping I have a bit of an advantage at the start just from being on the softer tyre but… yeah, in practice my tyre lasted for four laps, so I think for Nico it lasted maybe eight? He says five. So it’ll definitely be tricky but we’ll do the best we can with it.

    Q: OK, the same question to you Nico. Your race, the first stint is going to be much more complicated because of where you’re starting. So your thoughts on this situation going into the race tomorrow. And also, picking up on what I was asking Lewis before about the kerbs, is it just a case now of, for the rest of the weekend, staying off them – or is there more to it than that?
    NR: For sure yeah, need to stay off them. I even stayed off them in qualifying now most of the time, except for when it really counted. Tyres is going to be tough tomorrow but the thing is we don’t really know because the temperature is going to drop so much so who knows how the tyres are going to be? For sure in the hot it was really tough but maybe in the cold it’s going to be better.

    Q: Nico, coming to you, obviously your team is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment with podiums in Monaco and Baku recently. You’re still looking for your first Formula One podium personally. You must be feeling that tomorrow may well just be your day. Are you very optimistic and excited going into tomorrow’s grand prix?
    NH: Yes. First of all I’m happy and excited about today. Special circumstances obviously with the rain in Q3 and then the drying-up track but for sure starting second is a very good starting position. Tomorrow we’ll do what we can. I’m not thinking too hard about that now. We’ll do that in the next couple of hours and tonight and tomorrow but our car has made huge steps forwards since Barcelona really and ever-since we’ve scored a lot of points and a few podiums so yeah, we’re on a good slope, we have good momentum and just try to carry it into tomorrow and make it into another good Sunday.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Lewis, yesterday you considered that you were not at your top level. So what did change? Did you improve since yesterday? Was it work more on your mental, or the car or maybe both?
    LH: A little bit the car but mostly I just had to find time today. Nico had been performing well all weekend and it was just chipping away at improvements, constantly looking at my data, trying to figure out where I was losing the time and how I could improve. Bit by bit, corner by corner… at one point there’s five corners where I’m down, then it’s four corners I was down, then two, then just one corner where I was down. That’s something that… then it rained and I was thinking ‘Jeez, I’ve finally got into this position where I can perhaps battle for pole with Nico’ and then it rained – but fortunately those are conditions I like as well, so it made it a little bit easier, I have to say, when it got into those conditions ‘cos it’s then a bit more about who takes the most risk, I guess.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Hulkenberg, we received indication on the screens that you were under investigation because of the yellow flags in Q2. Are you aware of this?
    NH: No, I wasn’t aware that I’m under investigation. I think it was the incident where Sainz’s car’s engine blew up and he was parked on the right on the main straight. I did lift, I did lose time there but still with new tyres, track improvement I might have gone faster, I don’t know but we will see. I’m not too concerned.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, when you came in here, you stopped to watch your lap – all the lap – what was your view of it, what was your analysis of your own lap?
    LH: I could have been faster! I was looking at some places where… you know, when you do a lap like that it’s really difficult to… you know, the previous lap maybe I had an oversteer moment in one corner, you don’t know if it’s dried up and what… it probably has dried up on that next lap so you don’t know just how much you can push on each corner. In hindsight… hindsight’s always a great thing – there were drier patch and more grip and more potential in some corners that I did, but it doesn’t matter because I’m where I need to be. That’s what happens when I watch it. I’m just thinking could be a little bit more there, a little bit more there.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Nico, I would like to know – maybe you said it before but I don’t know – but when this accident happened, was it because you touched the kerb or is it because there was a mechanical problem in the car and the suspension was broken?
    NR: The suspension broke. On the kerb, on the normal exit kerb, the first one, the thin one.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) To all of you: there’s a possibility that next year maybe we will have a bigger version of the Austrian Grand Prix, a new track layout but of course the old one, the Osterreichring. Are you satisfied with this information? Would you like to compete with Formula One cars on this  or is it OK now?
    LH: Me personally? That’s the best news I’ve probably heard in Formula One for a long time. They’re going to take a track back to what it should be or what it was previously. The track is nice as it is now but I’ve not seen the old track but I can imagine going up into the mountains and into the woods it’s going to be epic so I really hope they do that personally.
    Q: Nico, your Dad raced here on the old one, any thoughts on that?
    NR: I just watched the video from 1982, one of the closest finishes with my Dad finishing second and definitely it looks very exciting so yeah, if they do that, cool.
    NH: I wasn’t even aware. Don’t know what the layout was but yeah, whatever. fine.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press ConferenceHami takes pole in austria FIA pic 2jul2016

     

  • Hamilton takes pole: Mercedes view

    • Lewis Hamilton today took his 54th career pole position – his 2nd in Spielberg and 5th of the 2016 season so far.
    • Despite qualifying in P2, Nico Rosberg will start tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix from P7 after incurring a gearbox penalty.
    • Both drivers completed one run in Q1 and two runs in Q2 and Q3.
    Driver
    P3
    Q1
    Q2
    Q3
    Lewis Hamilton
    1:07.308
    P3
    1:06:947
    6 Laps
    P1
    1:06.228
    5 Laps
    P1
    1:07.922
    10Laps
    Nico Rosberg
    1:10.959
    P1
    1:06:516
    6 Laps
    P2
    1:06.403
    4 Laps
    P2
    1:08.465
    10Laps
    Weather
    Dry, Wet, Warm
    Temperatures
    Air: Air: 26.3 – 28.0°C °C
    Track: 35.3 – 54.0°C °C

    Lewis Hamilton
    This is definitely one of those tracks that I have to keep working at and I’ve been building up to today’s qualifying session. It’s not an easy track to execute the perfect lap and admittedly it’s not my best circuit. As a driver I’m someone who brakes nice and deep and here you have to lift off the accelerator early, keeping your minimum speed high, which is not something I’m used to doing. The track dries up so quickly here – it’s a great feature of this circuit and made qualifying really interesting. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit cooler which will help me in managing my tyres and I can get off to a good start. The race will be interesting and I’m hoping it will be a good day.

    Nico Rosberg
    It was a huge team effort today, with both sides of the garage working together to get my damaged car ready for qualifying. It was a tricky session with the rain and the perfect lap didn’t quite come together which meant Lewis was quicker. The five place grid penalty will be costly as Lewis will start from the front tomorrow and it will be tough to fight through the other cars with the ultra-soft. It will definitely be an exciting race, though, and there’s still a lot to play for.

    Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
    First of all, I want to take a moment to recognise the awesome job by our mechanics today. As qualifying started, Nico’s car was still being put back together after the suspension failure this morning; 15 minutes later, he was top of the timesheets. That was teamwork of the very highest quality and another confirmation of what a great group of people we have. Overall, it has been a pretty intense day, with a lot of unexpected challenges, so it’s fantastic to end up P1 and P2 in qualifying – even though Nico will take a gearbox penalty tomorrow after it was changed following the accident this morning. Qualifying was one of those sessions where it’s much easier to make mistakes than get everything right – and it was all about hitting that perfect window for the final lap on dry tyres, because the conditions were changing so fast. We managed to get both cars onto the right tyres, then the drivers didn’t put a foot wrong to take the top two positions; both of them put in great laps right at the end. Looking at tomorrow, we have some different approaches at the front of the grid in terms of tyre choice, plus Nico will be on a recovery strategy to make up ground after his penalty, so I think there’s still plenty of action to come…

    Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
    It was a more eventful day then perhaps we expected. It started with a suspension failure on Nico’s car during P3 which was due to an unexpected load in one of the rear suspension members over the exit kerb at Turn 2. This left us with a lot of work to do between sessions, to turn Nico’s car around, to understand the failure and to make suitable alterations to both cars. Working with the team back at the factory as well as at the circuit we made some modifications to the suspension on both cars in time for qualifying. Unfortunately, we are now subject to a five-place grid penalty for Nico because the gearbox was damaged during the accident. It was a monumental team effort from the mechanics and engineers in the garage to get the car out on time, with both sides of the garage working together to get the job done. These are the moments when you see real teamwork come together, where we work as a single entity for the good of the team. But that wasn’t the end of the excitement as the threat of rain lingered over the entire qualifying session. The most impressive thing for me was to see Nico go straight out of the garage in his completely rebuilt car and set three purple sectors in Q1 on his first flying lap. We took the ultra-soft for Q2 very early – committing because of the incoming threat of rain. Q3 was incredibly tense starting with the intermediate tyre on a track that was drying rapidly and we swapped for the dry tyres at just the right time – Lewis and Nico contributing with fantastic laps to secure the front row. It will be an interesting top ten tomorrow with penalties and a range of different tyres. It looks like it will be another exciting afternoon.
    eom

  • Team leaders talk on Friday: Austrian GP

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Graham WATSON (Toro Rosso), Beat ZEHNDER (Sauber), Luca FURBATTO (Manor), Rob SMEDLEY (Williams), Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing), Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Rob, if we could start with you, an unusual kind of day: a very fast morning session, record lap times, but then the early part of the afternoon affected by rain. How much do you feel you were able to learn today and what does the rest of the weekend have in store for us?
    Rob SMEDLEY: Well, you never learn as much as you want to, even in the dry. So when you’ve got the session interrupted by rain like we had, right in the middle of the session, then you learn even less. I think we got out of it what we could have done in the circumstances. There are quite a lot unknowns going into Sunday in particularly. In terms of qualifying learning, as long as it’s dry tomorrow morning then we’re fine in terms of what we need to know for that. In terms of the race there are going to be unknowns but it’s the same for everybody. It’s a case of tracking where the asphalt is going, the rubber/tarmac interaction that will be evolving over the weekend and ensuring that we’re on top of it.

    It’s been quite a turnaround; Williams have become Formula One’s pacesetters in terms of pit stops, recording the fastest stops of any team at the first few races of this season. That’s quite a big change from the last couple of years, how’s it been achieved?
    RS: Hard work. A lot of hard work. A really good collaborative effort I would say from everybody, right across the groups, from everybody who is involved with the pit stop performance, identifying where the weak areas were, then looking at detail design. We haven’t changed anything fundamentally but we have certainly been through a lot of subtle detail to get around the Achilles heel of last year and the year before. And then really good work within the race team itself, in terms of how we co-ordinate ourselves, how much practice we do, the type of practice we do, making that relevant to a Sunday afternoon.

    What was the Achilles heel – wheel nuts, front jack?
    RS: It’s fairly clear. It’s not a secret. You can watch the television and know why we were so slow. We couldn’t get the wheels off. We were taking one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half times longer than anybody else to get the wheels off in the stop. It’s been a really, really good effort in particular by the suspension design group to design our way out of that. I think it’s been absolutely fantastic and you’ve seen the results: it doesn’t hamper us anymore, it leaves us many more strategies, and a lot more tactics are open to us on Sunday afternoon, whereas they weren’t in 2014 and 2015. I think a lot of people don’t realise that it’s a one second loss in a pit stop but that has huge ramifications for your strategy and tactics.

    Thanks for that. Paul, coming to you, obviously Baku was a little bit of an outlier as far as you’re concerned with a lot of problems with the tyres and heavy degradation. Has that been sorted and have you got an explanation for us today?
    Paul MONAGHAN: We’ve developed some theories and they stand scrutiny within our own analysis. The proof of the pudding of course is that we don’t repeat it, and we have no intentions of doing so. As is often the case when something goes wrong, it’s a cascade of events that occur in sequence and each one actually happens. So a number of things went wrong. I think we triggered the degradation ourselves and if our theories hold tight we won’t do it again.

    Is that by running lower downforce?
    PM: No, not in isolation. It’s a whole number of things that come together, as I would expect anybody else would offer you. It’s not one thing that’s going to cause a tyre to do that. Don’t forget that we started with a pretty hot track; we finished the race with a cooler track. So many things changed through the race that weren’t even associated with the car, so I think we know what happened and we won’t do it again don’t worry.

    Now, yesterday here, Daniel Ricciardo confirmed he’s committing his future to the team, as has Max Verstappen. What difference does it make to you and the engineering group to know that you have got the same drivers for a period of years now in terms of development, design etc, and is Daniel right in saying that he feels your team is building for a challenge for next year’s world championship.
    PM: It’s great to have the two of them signed. I think the way Daniel has been driving this year is amazing. Obviously Max has arrived and caused quite a stir and he’s clearly going to be one to watch. In terms of setting the design of the car, clearly it means we know what we’re packaging around. We’ve got them both in this year’s car, so looking forward to 2017 it’s one less challenge to deal with. In terms of their feedback, they are both very good, so it’s not as if we lack anything in terms of driver feedback. They are both articulate, they’re both knowledgeable and their feedback is valid and relevant. It’s not as if they comment on subsets that have little effect on the car. We know that we have two that are good at it. It’s settling as opposed to facing an unknown, I’ll take that every day.

    Thanks for that Paul. Luca, Manor are still looking for the first point but you’ve had at least one Sauber behind you on the grid at the last three grands prix, so are you beginning to get to where you want to?
    Luca FURBATTO: Yes, I think the answer is yes. From memory we out-qualified both Renaults in Baku, both Saubers in Canada, very close to Q2 in the last two events. Everybody has been working very hard. We’ve got a development plan for the rest of the season. We have new parts here in Austria, we’ll have new parts in Silverstone and as I say, we’re pushing very hard. We want to convert the performance gain in qualifying also into race gains.

    You mention developing the car still. How much pressure does it put on a small team like yours to have to come up with a car to a completely new set of regulations such as for 2017 and what expectations do you have for next year?
    LF: I think the regulation change is a massive one for everyone and obviously it’s a tough one for a small team. Every team is dealing with pressure. Every team will have its own pressure. We had a lot of pressure in 2015. We had to rebuild the team; we had the late signing of a new power unit. I think last year we did an amazing job to turn up on time with a new car that was significantly quicker than the last year. We have pretty much doubled in size and I’m very optimistic that we can do a very good job for next year as well.

    Hasegawa-san, turning to you, the new turbo seems to have helped at the last couple of races. How far would you say you are off now being able to extract the maximum from the power unit and can you confirm that this current power unit design is the right one now and you won’t need to do a redesign for 2017?
    Yusuke HASEGAWA: Regarding the turbo, we introduced a new turbo in Canada. Of course we are never satisfied with the performance, there is always room to improve. Regarding an ERS system point of view, we have some limitations in the regulations, the maximum power is 120 Kw and also the energy is limited, so from that point of view I think we have achieved almost a decent, satisfying level from the turbine. Last year here the power was cut off in half of the straight, so it was a disaster last year. So from that point of view we are proud of that. But on the other hand, the internal combustion point of view still we need to improve the engine performance and we are currently trying the very hard job to redesign, not redesign but to improve the engine for next year, so that is ongoing.

    So it’s not a redesign for 2017?
    YH: Not completely redesigned. Of course there are a lot of places we need to redesign.

    So tell us what is the development plan for the next few months and the rest of the year?
    YH: We are hopeful that we can introduce some of the upgrades in a couple of races. I have already confirmed we see some good elements, so as soon as we are ready we will introduce it.

    Graham, coming to you, Toro Rosso retaining Carlos Sainz for another year, which will be his third year. It’s quite unusual for the team to do that with a young driver. What’s the thinking about holding on to him at this stage?
    Graham WATSON: Yeah, you’re right, generally over the last couple of years we’ve had a fairly fluid driver line-up, so to have Carlos at the team for a third year is fantastic for us. Obviously Red Bull are the people who hold the contracts for the drivers, so we pretty much live with what they like us to use. We are very happy to have Carlos, he’s a very quick driver, very focused. He’s got a strong desire to be a world champion in the future, so that’s his big drive. For a team, continuity breeds good results and to have him for a third year allows us to build on what we’ve been building on for the last season and this season and hopefully we can deliver some of the targets we’ve been setting ourselves with his experience backing him up.

    Picking up on what we discussed earlier on with Rob Smedley, pit stops are occasionally a problem for Toro Rosso. Are you looking to make a Williams-style improvement for next season?
    GW: Yeah, pit stops are a constant irritation. We’re probably somewhere where Williams were and listening to Rob we probably have got a very similar problem of getting the wheel off fast enough and back on generally. We are obviously looking at all areas of the car for 2017 with the new regulations but clearly we have a big focus on trying to improve the situation with pit stops, giving the guys the equipment they need to achieve what are now fairly phenomenal pit stops from Williams and Ferrari. We are on average about a second behind and as Rob says that has a massive impact on strategy and how you can call your race as you go.
    Q: Beat, coming to you, Felipe Nasr was here yesterday and said there is a much more positive atmosphere around the team, salaries have been paid, tell us what’s changed, and what the outlook is like.
    Beat ZEHNDER: Paying salaries definitely helps for the atmosphere in the team! Paying the salaries, the outstanding salaries, is part of a comprehensive solution we were still working on but for any details you have to ask Monisha. Obviously there is a change in atmosphere because now everyone believes again that there is a future. The crucial thing so far was not to give up and I think we can be very proud of our team here on the track and at home that kept on pushing in our very limited areas. There was always light at the end of the tunnel – but as you know Switzerland has just opened the longest railway tunnel in the world – the light was always there, the tunnel was just massively long. The tunnel is getting shorter now.

    Q: Obviously you do a whole bunch of different roles at the team. In such circumstances how difficult is it to keep the team all together, to hold on to your key people and just keep everybody moving forwards?
    BZ: It’s not always easy, it’s for sure easier on the track because everyone who is here loves to do what they are doing, they love racing and so the motivation part on the race track is a simpler one than back home in the office. For the technical department, for the design office, sometimes it is quite frustrating, knowing you have things in the pipeline but you cannot bring it to the track because of financial reasons. But, as I say, there should be a brighter future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) We understand there is a new protocol regarding tyre pressures from this weekend. What’s your view on that? Does it make any sense? Is it a step in the right direction? Will it change anything at all?
    PM: Accepting that I have some competitors in the room, it’s… I suppose if you’re presented with a set of regulations, it’s for the competitor to demonstrate compliance, so in this circumstance we’ll demonstrate compliance. It makes our life a little bit easier; it changes the challenge a small amount but at the end of the day we’re judged relative to our competitors, therefore we’ll observe the technical directive and it’s then up to us to extract the most out of the package for the rest of the weekend. In amongst everything else that can change on the car – and you saw in P2 a slight interruption from the weather – it’s something that we’ll take in our stride and deal with.

    Rob, from a Williams point of view, anything to add?
    RS: I think that I pretty much agree with what Paul said. It’s up to us to adhere to it. It’s a technical directive. I don’t think that it’s going to offer a great deal in terms of any great differences to what people are doing now. Possibly in practice it changes things a little bit but I really don’t see it as being particularly significant.

    BZ: If the result of the new procedures are lowering the starting pressure then we are very happy with it.

    GW: Same

    LF: Just a little bit easier operationally, particularly for the free practices but, as the others said, not a big difference.

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Question to all of you about Brexit. Can you talk about the implications for your team economically? Because there are different countries represented here. It would be interesting to get the opinions.

    BZ: I can give you some guidelines on working with customs papers if you are not belonging to the EU!

    What about the teams based in the UK first of all. Rob?
    RS: I don’t know. It’s too early to say, isn’t it. When you’ve got the two leading parties slightly in turmoil and we haven’t decided what to do yet, the people of Great Britain voted, they took a decision. If democracy stands then we’ve got to stand by that decision and it’s up to the politicians really. It’s not going to be something that will be solved in the short-term. I think it’s probably going to run on and there’s going to be lots of smaller, down to almost-insignificant elements that are still going to need sorting out and organizing still in years to come. As far as the impact on Formula One is concerned, I’m sure everybody here would join in by saying that hopefully it’s negligible. Whether it will be, whether it changes the way we travel or who we’re allowed to employ, I don’t know, let’s see. I’m sure in the short term there’s not going to be anything significant.

    How about you Luca, as an Italian working in England, any concern there?
    LF: I’m not an expert on the subject, I never cracked the Italian politics, let alone the British ones, so unfortunately I think it’s a bit too early to say.

    Paul, presumably all the staff that you employ, the ones who come from Europe, you can argue they’re highly specialized, I guess that would help in the future.
    PM: I don’t think we know at the moment. To answer the gentleman’s question, in the short term it’s had no impact on us. As Rob said, we await the long-term impact and I’m sure everybody will face the same guidelines and interpretations of it and we’ll comply as a company, obviously, and we’ll seek to strengthen and hold our position within the sport, whatever that incurs.

    Hasagawa-san, obviously Honda investing in the UK – any concerns there?
    YH: Actually I’m not in a position to actively join this conversation. I hope the UK people will manage this situation smartly. I respect every decision you made, I think.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) To Paul but also all of you: we saw what happened to Max with those Abu Dhabi kerbs. They have been installed at several corners. Are you comfortable with those or do you want to have a change?
    PM: Comfortable? No. Our car didn’t ride them terribly well and I personally think it would be a shame if other cars incurred similar problems so how that’s resolved I don’t know. That’s hopefully for later today. In terms of the integrity of the car, I have no concerns with the integrity of it. We’re quite happy to field it. Daniel continued to run. If they’re there, we will miss them.
    BZ: No thoughts, really. I’m waiting for five o’ clock, the drivers’ briefing. I’m pretty sure drivers will have something to say. Pretty sure drivers are not too happy but they’re… normally the kerbs are there for a reason so Charlie would normally say ‘just don’t go there.’
    Q: That’s what you expect the outcome to be, is it?
    BZ: Yeah. Maybe we’re going to remove one or two.
    GW: Same as Beat really. I’m sure at five o’ clock it will be a hot topic to be discussed so we will wait and see how the drivers and Charlie  get on about it.
    LF: Yeah, we went over a couple of them in FP1 and 2. We didn’t have any problems but I’m sure they will be discussed with Charlie and the drivers.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Regarding the radio rules, we always hear many complaints from the drivers that the cars are too complicated to operate but actually Felipe told us yesterday that it was the task of the engineers to make the cars as easy to operate as possible so the drivers don’t have a problem with it as Lewis did in Baku. Do you agree with that? Is it possible to make the cars easier to operate, so they don’t have to bother with the switches so much, and is it possible to implement a kind of audio guide into the car which tells them which switch is doing what? It seems to be logical from the outside.
    RS: Well, to answer the part about the audio guide then no, that’s not possible for various reasons. And to a certain extent he’s right, Felipe’s right when he says that it is up to the engineers to make the cars as simple as possible, not only to drive but to operate as well. That’s something that we’re always very keen on pushing, that ethic if you like, at Williams. I think there’s lots of times that we have an idea but the complexity of that idea when you turn it into reality far outweighs any benefit you can get from it, and I think trying to simplify… it’s the job of an engineer really to be able to chose systems or methods that keep you on the peak of simplicity and performance. So yeah, to a certain extent I definitely agree with him that it’s up to us. What happens in other teams, I can’t really tell you. The regulation as it stands at the minute we adhere to it, we comply with it. It makes our lives a little bit more difficult at times, especially when there’s more critical messages to pass but it’s the same for everybody. Again, it’s one of those things that people talk about a lot and apart from with Mercedes last Sunday afternoon, it doesn’t really make a big difference.
    Q: These power units are very complex, Hasegawa-san. Do you try and make it as simple as possible for the drivers to operate and manage?
    YH: Yeah. The issue is that the regulation is to ambiguous. I don’t know what is banned and what is OK so sometimes –  like in Baku –  we had the oil temperature was very hot so can we tell the driver that the temperature was very hot? Even that is… so we evade the issue. With some regulation we can tell that but some of the engineers say that it is not OK. It is very complex and I would like to understand; does it make the race really exciting or..?

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – MotorsportTotal.com) You have all approached a period where you are starting work on the 2017 cars and I’m sure most of you have progressed a lot already. Particularly for the smaller teams, there’s going to be a point in time very soon where you will have to stop working on the 2016 to manage your resources. Can you tell us what updates you have planned for the rest of the season and when is that point coming when you are going to completely stop working on the 2016 car?
    GW: We clearly see 2017 as a big challenge and 2016 is obviously still very important because we have our lofty height of trying to be fifth in the championship which is an aggressive target and probably quite tough to achieve but we don’t want to give up on that so I’m sure that there are some upgrades coming for the future over the next two or three events. But the focus in terms of 2017 has already moved towards that car and has been for a little while now so what we are going to bring to the track over the next few events is already being developed and designed and put in the pipeline. So in terms of your question, I suppose yes, 2016… we’re nearly there and 2017 is in full flight.
    BZ: Yeah, same for us. We have some bits and pieces coming for Silverstone and then Hockenheim possibly but then the concentration is fully on 2017. We still have the aim to be in front of the Manors and possibly beat the Renaults but realistically, we have to concentrate, as a small team, fully for 2017.
    LF: As I mentioned, we have upgrades here and we’re going to have one in Silverstone, Hungary and Belgium and Monza so we’re still pushing for the 2016 car, obviously, but most of the guys here, a small team that started a few months ago on the 2017 car and it’s just a progressive transition during the season, and more and more people will shift to the 2017 project. For a small team like us, obviously we can’t start to think about 2018. Some of the top teams have already started looking a year in advance, ahead of 2017 but we have started and that’s the important point.
    RS: Yeah, I probably touch more on what Luca just mentioned really. I think that the focus of the front-running teams now has already switched to ’17. There’s certainly updates coming for us. We’ve got updates coming for every race from now almost until Singapore but they were already programmed, they were all ready to come on line. It’s really a case of… the focus isn’t between ’16 and ’17, it’s between ’17 and ’18 because there’s certain things that we are already thinking about for… that we would put in towards the back end of ’17, the middle of ’17 let’s say, and even ’18. I think the focus is slightly different now. We were answering the ‘16/’17 question in Australia and Bahrain. We’ve possibly moved on a bit.
    PM: In essence, I would echo that. Part of our team is ’17, part of it will still look at ’16. I would imagine that every representative in the pit lane will have some sort of revision for some circuits. If you take Monza, for example, I bet everybody turns up with skinny wings so it’s not as though we can ignore ’16 and that’s true of everybody. The amount of effort we put in will be determined by our aims, progress, wishes, ultimately our own judgement.

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • Mikkelsen takes early lead: Rally Poland

    Andreas Mikkelsen has taken the early lead in Rally Poland after five stages of this ultra-fast gravel round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Norwegian is however in the thick of a battle with Hayden Paddon and Ott Tanak, both of whom are within six seconds of the lead at the mid-leg service in Mikołajki.

    The seventh round of the series got underway last night with a short super special stage, where Thierry Neuville set the pace in front of a crowd of thousands. Today, however, crews headed northeast of the rally base for the first of two loops of four stages and will return to Mikołajki for a second run around the super special stage tonight. Mikkelsen, runner-up last night, had a good run through the opening stage of the morning and went on to win the second test despite running over a rock. He lost some ground in the following two stages, ‘not quite on it’, but heads in to service with a 2.6 second lead over Paddon. The Kiwi driver leapt up the leaderboard this morning from seventh last night to second overall behind Tanak after the first stage, fastest time aiding his charge after disappointing retirements in the last two events. He went on to win the final stage of the morning, even though he struggled with understeer, and will be looking for improvements in all areas this afternoon. Tanak briefly led although the Estonian has been lacking some confidence in the handling of the car. He is now just 3.4 seconds adrift of Paddon.

    Championship leader Sébastien Ogier has run without problems and is fourth just 5.4 seconds ahead of Rally Italia Sardegna winner Thierry Neuville. As road conditions got softer with the passage of cars, the Belgian was simply unable to push harder and struggled with the set up and speed of his pace notes. Jari-Matti Latvala has not entirely got into the groove of the event and is sixth, the Finn also picking up a puncture in SS4. Stephane Lefebvre, in the DS3 WRC, is seventh only one-tenth of a second adrift and he heads team-mate Craig Breen in the sister car. Eric Camilli is ninth and Mads Østberg 10th.

    In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Pontus Tidemand leads the charge ahead of Teemu Suninen, and Simone Tempestini has taken the advantage in the Junior WRC Championship category, early pacesetter Andrea Crugnola hitting problems.

    eom/FIA press release

  • We work as a team, one group as Ferrari: Kimi

    We work as a team, one group as Ferrari: Kimi

    Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image
    Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image

    DRIVERS – Esteban GUTIÉRREZ (Haas), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Renault), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)
    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Daniil, can we start with you. Good qualifying last time out in Baku but results are proving hard to come by at the moment. Are you now fully settled back in with the team and what are your goals for the rest of the season?
    Daniil KVYAT: Yeah, I think step by step it was coming better and better. We had a few competitive, in terms of pace, weekends and Baku was certainly one of them, starting from the third row. That was already a good achievement, even though of course the points are given on Sunday, that’s why we didn’t manage to finish let’s say. But I think there are plenty of races left, things are coming better and better and I’m feeling more settled in the team. They are giving me lots of support because obviously coming in like this wasn’t very simple but now things are more clear and I’m just enjoying racing. I’m enjoying myself and to be honest I’m having a really good time.

    This is another power circuit obviously. Are we starting to see the effects of your one-year old power unit versus all the current units?
    DK: Yeah, we do. To be honest, already Baku was one of those tracks where it wasn’t meant to be easy for us but nevertheless we found good compromises and managed to make a good Saturday. I think here is going to be another very difficult weekend for us. Obviously it is a power-limited track and most of the time on the straight it’s not the biggest friend of us. Still, you know, we have to keep fighting and play the best game with the cars we have in hand, so we will just do our best and then we will see where we are.

    Thank you for that. Felipe, coming to you, you won the GP2 feature race here back in 2014 and you made the most of the package in Baku, getting into Q2 and then racing up to P12. How satisfied were you with that result, which I think was your best of the season so far?
    Felipe NASR: Oh, it was pretty good, you know. I think it was one of the very first trouble-free weekends I had and I was able extract the maximum from the car, from the strategy. We actually had pretty good pace in the race, able to fight the McLarens and I was pretty close to the top 10. I mean, not enough but it was a decent weekend, you know. If we can have something similar here and if we c a n have a bit of fortune on our side then maybe we can score our points of the season.

    It’s your second year in Formula One. Looking at the rest of the field and prospects for your team, where do you go from here, do you think, looking forward?
    FN: Where do I go from here? [Laughs]. Well, we still have 13 races to go, there’s so much to go on yet, so many things to roll and happen. I’m still fully committed to the team I’m pretty sure. The situation seems to have got better from what I hear – getting all the employees and the salaries paid it juts gives a boost to everyone back at the factory, at the track. I’m sure we can soon start updating the car. All we want is the results on the track, which I think we can have pretty soon. So we just got to keep on doing what we can for now.

    Thanks for that. Esteban, Haas has fallen from fifth in the Constructors’ recently to eighth, but you personally have been on a bit of an upward curve, you out-qualified your team-mate in Monaco and Canada. What’s been making the difference for you?
    Esteban GUTIÉRREZ: Well, I’ve been pretty unfortunate in the first part of the season. It hasn’t been easy to have a lot of technical issues. It wasn’t very straightforward. Therefore, I believe it wouldn’t be fair to rate my season based on the points, because I’ve been in a lot of positions to score the points in many races and not been able to finish the race because of different reasons that were not in my control, so now it’s been improving a bit. It hasn’t been easy in the last three grands prix because of my health, but now I feel much better so now I’m looking forward to the next four grands prix, which are pretty close together.

    The F1 paddock is now starting to think and talk about next year, new contracts and such. Have you started that process yet with Haas?
    EG: Yeah. I know pretty much where I’m going, so…

    OK, sounds good. Kevin, coming to you, there have been some notes of optimism coming through from the team’s pre-race preview materials. What is it about your car that’s really not worked recently and that gives them some optimism about this race track?
    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I think we have tried some very different things to learn about the car, to get a better understanding of the car we have and basically we are going back now to something we know and that gives a little bit of optimism. I don’t think it’s going to a lot better than previous races but hopefully we will be able to know what we have and to get a better weekend.

    Looking at it from the outside it would make sense to stop developing this car and focus 100% on 2017, but what are you, as a driver, asking for and what’s on the horizon?
    KM: As a driver what you care about at the end of the day is winning and we are so far off that that in my mind I would be fine to switch focus completely, because we are clearly not going to win with this car. The sooner we can start winning the happier I am and that’s what I want to focus on, so shifting focus as quick as possible I think is the best thing. But I am not team principal and there is a reason for that. Maybe more qualified people take these decisions but I trust whatever the team is doing.
    Thanks for that. Kimi, coming to you, 99th race start for Ferrari this weekend, puts you fourth on the all-time list for the Ferrari team. There has been quite a lot of discussion externally, ie within the media and among other teams as well, about Ferrari’s strategy decision-making in the last few grands prix. I know you have been on the wrong side of it a couple of times. Have you reviewed it internally and will you be approaching it any differently as a team?
    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: No I think we did the best that we could. Obviously people outside the team can talk as much as they want. We cannot control them and it’s not our business. We work as a team, one group as Ferrari and obviously we always look at what we done over the weekends afterwards and we try to learn on everything, good and bad things. I think it hasn’t been easy weekends for us lately but I think we managed to turn them around quite well as a team. There are some decisions that have to be made over the races and we had no issues with them. We tried to make the best out of it as a team. Obviously certain situations have changed a few things in the last race, but it’s a normal thing.

    We’re now coming into that traditional part of the season where the Formula One paddock speculates about your seat at Ferrari for the following year. Do you have any clarity on whether you will carry on next year?
    KR: I don’t know. I know that I have a contract for this year and I don’t know what will happen next year. A lot of talk. A lot of talk every year I would say since I’ve been in F1. It’s nothing new. Same story really – people can say what they want and discuss but they have very, very little understanding of what’s happening and then this I’m not signing the contract. Well, if I was making the decisions then it would be very easy to tell what will happen, but I don’t. We’ll see. We’ll try to do our best and for sure the team knows my side of the story. That’s enough from me. The rest I have no interest to talk about it in here or anywhere else, apart from with the team.

    Thank you for that. Daniel, your 27th birthday tomorrow I believe, entering your prime I guess. Just a pair of seventh places in the last two grands prix though, whereas you had a chance to win the two before that. Is it all about the engine or have you personally lost a little bit of momentum?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: I haven’t lost anything. We had Canada, yeah, I think we could have done better than seventh. The second set of tyres flat-spotted and would have tried to maybe do a one-stop race if that wasn’t the case and that could have been a different story. Baku – I think it is a power circuit but also we knew we had gone a bit wrong after three laps in the race. We struggled a lot with tyres. We probably just haven’t executed the perfect weekend I’d say since… probably not for a while, but I think performance-wise there’s still more in there. We’re better than seventh, that’s probably what I’m getting at. This circuit will test us this weekend. Historically, the last couple of years it hasn’t been a strong one for us, but we’ll see. We’ll try to do what we can, hopefully better than seventh.

    There’s been quite a bit said recently about your contractual position over the next couple of seasons – discussions about Ferrari, but also discussions about options been taken up for the next couple of years. Can you confirm today that you are staying with Red Bull until at least the end of 2018?
    DR: Yeah. Yeah.

    A little more detail, a little more flesh on the bones.
    DR: Every word I say… one word turns into 10, and then 30 and 50. So, I’ll just leave it at that.

    But obviously a big part of that is it is your own decision to do that rather than take any other options or look at other options?
    DR: Absolutely. It goes both sides for sure. It’s a bit like what Kevin touched on. We want to win. This year is going to be tough for a world title but obviously where we are this year is where we are. You can’t do anything about that now. But looking ahead to next year and spending time with the team and seeing what’s ahead I think it’s the best place to be to try to challenge Mercedes, so that’s where it stems from.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Question to all of you. Obviously at the last race a couple of drivers, including Kimi, had some problems with the radio restrictions. We are now into the ninth race of the season and the new radio rules. What are your stances on this one? Lewis Hamilton said it’s impossible to memorise all the settings that you have on the steering wheel. Do you agree with that, or is it manageable? Is it fine like that?
    KR: I think it’s fine. Obviously always some certain situations you might have some issues that you want to talk but rules are rules and they’re the same for everybody. It wasn’t really any big issue. I kind of knew what it is but tried to get some confirmed things from it – but it didn’t change anything. It wasn’t anything that we had to know 100 per cent or we would have had some issues. I think it’s fine, y’know? It is what it is.

    Daniel, did you have any sympathy for Lewis?
    DR: um… not really. Obviously not directed at Lewis, I think anyone in that position… on race day you care about yourself, so certainly you don’t feel any sympathy for anyone else in those two hours on a Sunday. Yeah, I think Kimi touched on it: it is what it is; it’s the rules and, sure we can’t… I think everything we can do is in front of us, so some things, if there’s a failure during the race, the team’s allowed to tell us a certain procedure perhaps to fix the failure – for example an electronic thing or whatever it is – but in terms of engine modes and things like that, sure there’s a lot to do but we do know – or we should know at least where it all is. So, I think yeah, we’ve just had to adapt to it but it’s been OK.

    How about you Daniil? Are you good at this stuff? Are you quite techie? Do you enjoy it?
    DK: Yeah. It hasn’t been an issue for me. You might say the new generation… I haven’t played Playstation or anything like that, but it hasn’t been an issue for me so far. You have to prepare yourself for many scenarios. I try to predict these things and see what might happen. Of course it’s impossible to see everything – but it hasn’t’ been an issue for me.

    Felipe?
    FN: I think similar to the other guys. You either try to know the most you can on what you have to do in the race. There’s some things we can cover and some other things it depends on the team communication. Some of them, they’re not allowed to say – but I haven’t faced anything yet to be in such a situation. It is what it is.

    Esteban?
    EG: I have absolutely no problem. I like the idea because it will motivate engineers to get rid of a lot of buttons on the steering wheel. We just need two pedals and one steering wheel to drive.
    Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) To all drivers. We saw here the organizers amplify the run-off areas, increase the safety. And we come from one circuit where, most of the bends, you approach at 300kph, you didn’t have run-off areas. Which options you prefer? High risk or less risk?
    KM: I think it’s a difficult one because when you have do something to improve safety you do it. It has to be done. You can’t not do something for safety because it’s more exciting or whatever. If there is something that you can do to improve safety, you have to do it. But there’s no reason to deny that the more risky circuits are more fun. At least for myself I think so and I’m sure most of the drivers will say the same – but we can’t make the tracks more dangerous on purpose to make it more fun. But yeah, I guess that is a factor: for most drivers, it’s more fun when the track is more risky.

    DK: We’re coming from Baku and I got a lot of adrenaline, I was really on the edge all the time. I was always thinking ‘ this corner, if I make a mistake, it’s going to punish you’. I’m a bit old-fashioned on this question – but of course you cannot just put a concrete wall everywhere to make it exciting. You have to find a good compromise between paying the price for your mistake and not hurting yourself, obviously, because Formula One has been investing so much in safety and it is incredible what has been achieved. Let’s say here also, Turn Five, Turn Six, there are gravel escape roads so you pay a higher price if you go off, let’s say. I think this kind of track, they have a bit more value. In my view, personally.

    Esteban?
    EG: I have the same opinion as Kevin and Daniil.

    Felipe?
    FN: I would say so. I think Baku was something… you would pay the price for it if you did a mistake or something but we’ve been working so much on safety that we don’t need to give up all of it to just say we should risk more on tracks that is, more… if you want to call it dangerous. Like the other guys said as well. It’s also true to say that some tracks, you lock-up, you go off and you come back on the race… I feel for me it’s sometimes so easy to give up time there and you are back on the race. If it was like before you wouldn’t have been able… if you have a gravel trap or something, you would have lost a lot more time to come back. Drivers that do less mistakes, somehow they get benefited.

    How about you Kimi? Precision’s always been a big part of your game.
    KR: Well, comparing last race and this, they’re completely different because one is a street circuit so it will never have the run-off areas than in a normal circuit. In the end the FIA has the group that works on measurements of how much run-off area you need in each place and, y’know, it’s safe everywhere. They would never make the circuit where there is not enough run-off area in how they calculate the chances. It may look different but the end result, it can’t be an awful lot different. Obviously it will because it’s a street circuit and there’s no space like we have here at a normal circuit. I think it looks a lot of different but in the end it’s a different place. Every circuit is different. Some are a bit older circuits, obviously then there are different run-off areas. New ones usually are tarmac but what it good, what is not… you always try to stay on the circuit because that’s the fastest way around.

    How about you Daniel, how do you feel about paying a high price for mistakes on those sorts of tracks and this sort of track?
    DR: Yeah, I think we’ve all got a similar view. It’s a hard one. You obviously want to balance the safety always but Baku, I can obviously speak because I had a… it wasn’t a big accident but it was at least an accident and, yeah, I thought it, in a way, had a good balance because it destroyed my car, so if that was the race it was clear I was out – but the impact didn’t feel like anything. So I thought all the… you paid a price but looking at the track you were going to pay it in a safe way. Sure the walls, sometimes don’t tickle, but wherever there was the high speed there was generally a SAFER barrier or something. So, I think that’s the main one. As Felipe touched on, if you do make a mistake, at least pay a bit of a price for it. Whether it puts you completely out of the race or not, at least lose time – because sometimes it is too easy to just run wide, come back on and lose a second as opposed to losing ten or whatever. Yeah, tough one. I’ve always liked street circuits. It does give you the biggest rush, and I think now they’ve got a good balance. All the street circuits we go to are pretty good. Sure, you crash but I think you can crash safely.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, there are 100 points to gain in July. How many of those hundred would you need to still be in the fight for the championship in the second part of the season?
    KR: Obviously we try to get as many as we can. I don’t think one month will decide the whole story. It’s still a long way to go and the end of season a lot of things can happen. The point is always, when we come racing is to do the best and try to score as many points as we can. No need to make any plans. We go to every race like normal and hopefully get out the good result.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Daniel, your team-mate Max Verstappen has also been confirmed through 2018. How do you see that relationship evolving or is it too early to tell?
    DR: It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen in the long run. I can obviously speak for the first few races and it’s been good. Max came in and set a bit of a tone in Barcelona. That was obviously a pretty crazy weekend and I think since then it’s been good. Obviously Monaco didn’t work as well for him and he openly admitted it and took it on the chin. In a way we’ve thrived off the new challenge, the new rivalry, so hopefully it can keep pushing the team in the right direction. Hopefully there is some rivalry. A rivalry would probably mean we’re fighting for victories more often. Sure you can still have a healthy one. I think if you’re mature about it and if you can basically just admit if one guys better on the day and be open about it, then you’ll have good respect for each other. It’s probably when you start making excuses out of nothing, is when it doesn’t work out so well. Keep going hard and, so far, so good.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Bernie had the idea, fifteen or maybe 20 years ago, that there should be a race at the Olympic Games, every four years – a non-championship race? Basically, what do you think about this idea and of course, Felipe, will you be at the Olympic Games in Rio this year?
    FN: You want me to go to Rio? You want me to race? We have our break so if I’m in town, I probably will be, so a flight to Rio is not far away, give a bit of support to my Brazilian athletes wouldn’t be a bad idea. Yeah, but you said, to have a race every four years then I don’t know. I don’t know. I think we have got enough races going on already.
    EG: Yeah, it would not be a bad idea actually, why not?
    KM: Yeah, I wouldn’t mind another race.
    DK: We would maybe build a same car, probably, for the Olympic sport and all 22 drivers, same car, same tyres everything the same. Maybe it could be interesting, like a world final, if you like.
    DR: I was about to say, I like medals so yeah.
    KR: What can I say? There’s always ideas, let’s see what happens in the future but it’s hard to see that it’s going to happen so…
    DR: No points, but a lot of prize-money, I guess. Yeah?
    Q: A quick question: apart from Felipe, is anybody here planning to go to any of the Olympic Games, just as a spectator or is anyone hanging out there? No? No.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) Danny, as your 27th birthday is approaching, how do you look back at your career so far and are you where you expected to be, 10 or 15 years ago?
    DR: Getting deep, getting deep. Let me bring out my notebook and see what notes I made when I was ten. I don’t know. I didn’t really look back on it, so far, to be honest. I think it all happened so quickly that you just sort of get into a bit of a… you sort of roll with it and just keep going but sure, as a kid, I dreamed to be racing Formula One, it’s one of those things, you know. In 2011 I got my chance and it was like a dream come true but then you do a few races and then it’s like, OK, now I want to be with a better team and I want points and then I want podiums, I want wins. Fortunately I’ve been able to get some wins now which is a big box ticked for me but now it’s like, OK, I want the next best thing which is the World Championship. In a way, you’re never satisfied but I think obviously that’s good because I’m obviously still very young and hungry so I think that fuels my hunger but sure, I’m happy and I’m obviously very grateful to be in this position. I think of all us appreciate the… it’s 22 of us that are here. It is awesome but you can’t help but want more, you know? I think Seb at my age, already his 24… not 24, his four titles so I go look at Seb and I go aaahhh. Obviously I would love to achieve more at this age but fortunately I’ve got some time on my side, I think.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Esteban and to Felipe: Mr Ecclestone said that at the end of the new Concorde Agreement, he will fight to share the money in Formula One in a more equal way. You from Sauber, you from Haas, what’s your point of view about it?
    EG: Well, luckily I’m a racing driver, I don’t have to think about… Yeah, exactly. Well, it’s not happening now, not necessarily going to affect me. There are many propositions which are probably going around, many ideas but I’m sure they are going to chose the most convenient for Formula One. We have to think in all other sports and try to bring the sport higher and higher and if that is the right way then for sure everybody will be happy with that.
    FN: Well, I think it would for sure balance out things better for teams that are dependent on other resources. For example, Sauber is a private team, it just gives you a better chance to start the year developing the car, developing things. Sometimes you’re just so spread apart that we cannot even get close to other teams, just on how much we can do with Sauber, financially or resources. It wouldn’t be  a bad idea. For sure, it’s something to consider but it has to balance out for everyone as well, not only thinking about us so let’s see.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Coming back to the danger topic; obviously many fans and even some drivers say that danger is part of the attraction but if we look at the race in Baku, it was actually quite dull and every one of you seemed to be quite cautious, maybe because of what happened in the GP2 race, and we always moan about these big run-off areas and the tracks being not dangerous enough, or some people do anyway. But can you argue that actually a risky track doesn’t produce really good racing? If you look at Monaco or Baku, because you are obviously being more cautious and these tracks that are more safe and have these big run-offs actually are able to produce better racing, because you take more risks?
    DK: Well, it’s a good point because we saw in GP2 that it was quite a big mess, there was a lot going on so obviously everyone knew that on this track a lot might happen but actually didn’t happen, but these kind of races just happen and it was just a one-off. I think the track, when you look it, could provide a lot of entertainment and I think in the future that will happen, a lot of races on the track which I think will enter history because I think this kind of track, in my opinion, will provide some great racing. I think everyone was good because in the end we are professional drivers, no one hit the wall during the race. There was no safety car to reshuffle the strategies so everyone more or less knew what they were doing. The faster cars just went ahead, the slower cars just settled there in the middle so there was no big action going on, I think. I still think that this kind of track should be… of course not every track should be a street circuit. It didn’t affect me at least.
    Q: How about you, Kevin. As you came through the field, were you holding anything in reserve or were you giving it everything?
    KM: No, I think we were giving it everything but for sure, after watching the GP2 race I thought this is going to be a good one to finish because I thought there would be quite a few crashes and safety cars and stuff. For sure, I took a little bit more care not to crash but not a huge amount. I think it was just coincidence that no one did.
    KR: That’s probably why it’s GP2 and F1 is a different story. We’ve seen many other weekends when we watch their race…
    EG: I thought Baku was pretty exciting.
    DR: I was going to go more towards the open circuits, like the modern ones and that. I think some have done it well and some not as well. Yeah, that’s the thing. If you have a modern circuit then sure there’s some risk which is taken away because of the safer run-offs but if they shape the circuit well, then it can produce good racing. For me, Austin is a great example. Austin’s a pretty safe track, there is a lot of run-off but I think the way they’ve tried to design it… like turn one, it’s such a wide apex. You can take so many different lines into that corner, that creates great passing and you’ve got other corners on that track which are a bit unique. I think a lot of the time with our sport, a lot of it is one line. There’s an ideal racing line. I follow… also this guy next to me… we follow motocross a lot and there’s so many different lines in motocross and I think there’s some room in F1 to create something like that. Obviously not extreme but you’ve got some… you know the ideal line is perhaps… like in motocross you go the long way round because the corner’s like a bowl, it’s banked, you carry momentum but then if you’re close you sort of do a block pass. I don’t know, so maybe there’s some room for these modern circuits to be more exciting. So they’d be safe, sure, but the racing could be more exciting. I think there’s still some things which circuit designers can implement and maybe we can learn from other motorsports.
    KR: Obviously you always want to see more overtaking but it’s not easy, there has been a lot of different rules and stuff been done in F1 to create overtaking but has it really changed a lot? Over the years, not really in my view but you know you’re going to blame the circuits that they built, they will not spend I don’t know how many millions of dollars or euros, money, to make a new circuit like in US and expect them to make it without run-off areas. In MotoGP, they have to have run-off areas for when they fall down. They’re being used for a lot more than just F1, they are not building circuits just for us so they have to make everybody happy.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Kimi, I would like to know how difficult it is for Ferrari to get the right temperature in the tyres and what do you expect in this race?
    KR: For sure, it’s not been easiest job in the last few years but it varies a lot depending on how the circuit is, conditions, weather, all those things, what tyres we will have over the weekend and I think in the last few races it’s been quite difficult but we managed to find something and turn it around for qualifying, for the race. It depends how the weather will be here, obviously. It’s a bit unknown. There’s a new surface on the circuit so how will that affect things we will have to see but I think it should be OK.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) There are some rumours that the old Osterreichring will be restored, the big layout for endurance racing. As Formula One drivers, what do you think? Would it be better to use that one or is it OK right now?
    Q: Double thumbs up from Dan Ricciardo, you’re obviously aware of the history, Dan.
    DR: A little bit.
    Q: Seen the old vids on YouTube?
    DR: Ah, no, but I’m aware of it. For a few reasons. I think it would be cool to have a bit more distance on the track. I think next year, as well, if the cars are going to be as quick as they say they are then the lap times are going to be close to a minute which is a very short lap and I think it would create a bit more to the circuit. I think that there is the space so yeah, I’ve heard a few people talk about it and I think it could be pretty interesting for us.
    DK: I tried to open a video last night but wifi was slow so I had to give up. But I agree with Daniel…
    DR: He was too busy looking at other things!
    DK: No, sorry Dan!
    DR: Don’t be sorry!
    DK: So I agree with Dan, yeah, on track.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference
  • Sahara Force India fan zone at the British GP

    Sahara Force India fan zone at the British GP

    Silverstone, 28 June 2016: Sahara Force India is inviting fans to get even closer to the team with the launch of its Fan Zone at Silverstone Woodlands Campsite during the upcoming British Grand Prix.
    Fans will be able to meet senior members of the team, ask questions to the drivers, and get a close-up look at one of the team’s F1 cars.

    The Fan Zone stage will be the centrepiece for the team’s activation at its local race. Daily interviews with prominent team members will give fans valuable insights into the sp

    Sahara Force India fan zone. Image by Sahara Force India
    Sahara Force India fan zone. Image by Sahara Force India

    ort and the team’s progress over the weekend.

    On Saturday, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will headline the stage taking questions from fans in the campsite and around the world through Facebook Live in collaboration with Sky Sports F1. British racing legends, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert, will join them on stage from 6pm.
    The Fan Zone will allow Woodlands’ campers to connect with the team’s partners: the Kingfisher Beer truck shall be serving ice cold pints of India’s finest, while audio brand, Skullcandy, will provide the soundtrack with their mobile beast hosting DJ sets.
    Fans can get competitive in the Kingfisher Scalextric challenge, while budding racing drivers can show their skills on an F1 simulator provided by Codemasters. Aspiring F1 mechanics can indulge their fantasy by taking part in a wheel change challenge and keep energised with Hype Energy drinks.
    Visitors to the Fan Zone can also fuel their shopping habits by exploring Memento Exclusives range of F1 memorabilia.
    Anybody who participates in the Fan Zone will be entered into a competition to win tickets to Sahara Force India’s British Grand Prix party, held at the team’s HQ in Silverstone on Sunday. Other prizes include a year’s supply of Kingfisher beer, a karting experience and free energy drinks from Hype Energy, Skullcandy merchandise, team clothing, and a wheel rim coffee table from Memento.
    Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director of Sahara Force India: “The British fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world and they’ve always shown great support for Sahara Force India. That’s why we wanted to give something back to bring them closer to the team. I’ve visited the Woodlands Campsite a few times before and I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere. There’s a true festival spirit and you can see how much the fans love our sport. I’m delighted we have created the Fan Zone and I look forward to meeting all the fans once again this year.” 
  • Miller takes maiden MotoGP win as Rossi crashes

    Miller takes maiden MotoGP win as Rossi crashes

    JACK MILLER AUS MARC VDS RACING TEAM HONDA MotoGP GP Assen 2016 (Circuit Assen) 24-26/06.2016 photo: MICHELIN
    JACK MILLER AUS
    MARC VDS RACING TEAM
    HONDA
    MotoGP
    GP Assen 2016 (Circuit Assen)
    24-26/06.2016
    photo: MICHELIN

    Assen, 26 June 2016: Michelin saw its rain tyres used in competitive action for the first time this season as Australian Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) took his inaugural MotoGP™ win in treacherous conditions during the Dutch TT at Assen in the Netherlands today.

    Due to a heavy rainstorm that swept over the 4,452m circuit shortly before the start of the 26-lap race, all riders started the event with MICHELIN Power Rain tyres. From the beginning the race became an intense battle with the lead changing hands, before the skies opened and the track was deluged with water, giving race direction no other option than to red flag the event due to the adverse weather conditions after 14-laps.

    This forced a re-start to be scheduled which would be just a 12-lap race in length. Fortunately the rain subsided and the event got underway on a wet track, but without any further precipitation. With every rider on the soft front and rear version of the Power Rain tyres, the grid reformed in the positions that the racers had finished in the previous aborted race, giving a front-row start to Andrea Dovizioso in pole-position for the Ducati Team, Danilo Petrucci on the OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati in second and Valentino Rossi on his Movistar Yamaha in third, Miller started from the third row in eighth position. Dovizioso led off the line, but was soon passed by Rossi as the Italian set about securing another victory at Assen. This unfortunately didn’t go to plan, as the Yamaha-man crashed while in the lead on lap-three. This handed first place to championship–leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), but his lead only lasted for one-lap before he was passed by the hard-charging, but smooth, Miller. The 21-year-old Australian on-board a Honda then took control of the race and never looked like surrendering the lead, as he crossed the finish line with an almost two-second advantage.

    This year’s Dutch TT was held on a Sunday for the first time in its history and despite the torrential rain the huge crowd of 105,000 – the largest race-day attendance of the season so far – were treated to an exciting and incident packed race. Miller also took the accolade for the First Independent Rider and became the first non-Factory racer to win a premier class event since 2006.  Marquez took second in the race, with Scott Redding (OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati) filling the final podium position after an exciting battle with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Pol Espagaro, which saw the Englishman get the better of the Yamaha rider as the race drew to a close. Andrea Iannone of the Ducati Team took fifth, with Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) sixth and Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) in seventh completing a trio of Ducatis to cross the line in quick succession. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Stefan Bradl was eighth, with Maverick Viñales the first Team SUZUKI ECSTAR rider in ninth. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha took the final top-ten position.

    Prior to today’s wet proceeding the MICHELIN Power Slicks had worked well throughout the weekend and had given the riders plenty of grip and feedback during the first three free practice sessions, before the rain also intervened in yesterday’s FP4 and qualifying. The data obtained during this weekend’s various wet sessions and the two versions of today’s race will prove invaluable for the Michelin technicians as the season continues, as will all the information gathered in the dry.

    The MotoGP paddock will now cross the Dutch border and head to Sachsenring in Germany for the ninth round of this season’s championship, scheduled to be held on Sunday 17th July.

    Jack Miller – Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:

    “It was an amazing day today and a very special race! We had two races, so it almost felt like World Superbike day. We haven’t had much wet track time this year so it was nice to get some feedback from the Michelin tyres and how they were working, and how the bike worked with the tyres. Yesterday I had two little crashes, but that was to do with not setting the bike up right for the different tyre. We adapted our bike around it and changed the set-up for today. After the first race we made some more changes to get it ready for the re-start and it was even better and the tyres worked very good for me in the race. I think with more time we can take things further with the Michelin tyres.”

    Nicolas Goubert – Deputy Director, Technical Director and Supervisor of the MotoGP Programme:

    “This is the first time we have used the wet tyres in a race and in the first event – that unfortunately was red-flagged – they performed very well. All the riders had time yesterday to try them and adapt the set-up accordingly, so the race went trouble free, despite the almost impossible conditions with lots of water on the track. The second race was completely different, because with the shortened distance many riders  were going much harder and as they pushed so hard some made mistakes, but Miller rode a great race and I was very impressed with how smooth he was on the bike and he thoroughly deserved his victory, so congratulations to him.

    “In the dry on Friday and Saturday we were very pleased with the performance of the tyres and if the conditions had been different today I am sure we would have seen the race produce a fast pace, but the weather intervened so we will never know. We have learned a lot from this circuit, certainly about the wets and we will act on all the data to make sure we continue to supply the riders with the best tyres for all conditions and carry on evolving.”

    eom/Michelin press release

  • Bagnaia gets historic maiden victory for Mahindra in MotoGP

    Assen, 26 June 2016: Gaviota Aspar Mahindra rider Pecco Bagnaia made history today as the first rider ever to win a motorcycle Grand Prix on a Sunday at Assen.

    Bagnaia made his charge from tenth on the grid to take the first win of his career and a historic first for Mahindra, a result that moves him up to fourth in the championship, fourteen points shy of third. Bagnaia was followed across the line by fellow Italians Fabio di Giannantonio, Andrea Migno, Romano Fenati and Nicolo Bulega, who filled the top five positions after a memorable 22-lap race that featured countless overtakes. In the end Bagnaia took the flag by just 0.018 seconds from Migno, who was relegated one position after a penalty, handing second place to Di Giannantonio. Series leader Brad Binder could only manage twelfth place today with a 48-point advantage over Jorge Navarro, who remains second despite missing this race through injury.

    For the Gaviota Aspar Mahindra Team the win for Bagnaia was their first since Jonas Folger in the Czech Republic Grand Prix of 2012. Bagnaia rode his Mahindra brilliantly from the start of the race at Assen, making up seven positions on the first lap as he moved up to third. Lap by lap he picked his way to the front but with more than ten riders in the lead group it was a case of fighting to stay in the hunt until the end. A series of impossible manoeuvres around the outside eventually gave Pecco his memorable first win at Assen. His team-mate for this weekend Albert Arenas, stepping in for the injured Jorge Martín, was unable to build on his experience during practice yesterday after a crash at the end of the first lap, which left him with a fractured big toe on his left foot.

    “I am very happy, I can’t believe it because it was very hard to stay at the front today. I have managed to set a fast pace all weekend even though in qualifying it was difficult to set a fast lap because of the amount of slow riders on track. I am happy with my first win, I’m excited, also this is the first win for Mahindra. To win by just 0.018 seconds is incredible. In the race I managed to be quicker in the final sector than I managed in practice and I knew that if I was third in the penultimate sector I had a chance to overtake and win. This win has come on the back of a lot of hard work, two years of working to be stronger and more consistent. I knew I had to give 110%  and on the last lap I knew I could win. I am so happy,’’ says Pecco Bagnaia.

    eom/Aspar Mahindra press release

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Williams announces Karun as Heritage Driver

    Williams announces Karun as Heritage Driver

    Oxfordshire, 20 June

    File photo of Karun Chandhok by Adrenna
    File photo of Karun Chandhok by Adrenna

    2016: Williams is delighted to welcome India’s former Formula 1 racer Karun Chandhok as official driver for its Heritage division.

    In his new role as Williams Heritage Driver, Karun will focus on the testing and public demonstration of Williams’ historic racing cars. He will make his first appearance as a Williams Heritage driver at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 23rd – 26th), where Karun will drive up the iconic Goodwood Hill behind the wheel of an FW08C from 1983 and an FW13B from 1990.
    Williams Heritage was created to manage the team’s collection of historic Formula One cars, dating from Williams’ first season in Formula One in 1977 to the most recently retired models. The division showcases these classic racing cars to fans at a selection of events throughout the year, and also identifies and prepares a selection of cars for private sale. With one of the world’s finest reserves of competition cars with an impeccable pedigree, the Williams Heritage programme presents an exclusive investment and ownership opportunity for active enthusiasts and investors. As part of his new role, Karun will also act as a driver coach to customers of Williams Heritage who have purchased a running car and use Williams Heritage to run and maintain it.
    Speaking about his appointment Karun Chandhok said; “Williams is such an iconic British team, steeped in racing history so it’s a real honour to be involved in its Heritage programme. So many of the Williams Heritage cars are pieces of racing history with great stories to tell, so to be offered the chance to get up close and personal and drive them – sometimes being the first person to do so in decades – is an incredible opportunity. I look forward to not only demonstrating the cars from time to time, but working with other Williams car owners to help them fully enjoy their experience of driving these pieces of F1 history.” 
    Jonathan Williams, Williams Heritage Director, said “With a wealth of experience in a wide range of championships, including Formula One, GT, LMP1 and Formula E, Karun was the ideal candidate to be our Heritage driver. What’s more, he has a real passion for motorsport history and is a font of knowledge when it comes to Formula One. The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a highlight of the motorsport calendar, always providing fans with a truly impressive collection of modern and historic cars. We are very much looking forward to taking part in the event once more.”
    eom/Williams press release