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Author: David Bodapati
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Akhil wins place in FIA Institute Young Driver’s Excellence Academy
31 Oct 2013: After an intensive three days of tests and evaluations at the FIA Institute Asia-Pacific Selection Event hosted by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), India’s Akhil Rabindra won himself a place in the FIA Institute Young Drivers Excellence Academy. Rabindra, 17, who races in the JK Racing India Series (Formula BMW) won his place on the fully-funded Academy program after demonstrating his ability not just on the track but also in terms of fitness and understanding of safety and vehicle dynamics.
There were three judges on the selection panel with the Gus Glover from the FIA Institute, Academy Instructor Dr. Tony Turner and Lead Driving Instructor Cameron McConville . In the end it was a tough decision, but all three felt Rabindra was a worthy winner, and he was naturally thrilled to have been chosen with the announcement made by FIA Institute Deputy President Garry Connelly.
“I am honoured to have been selected I would like to thank the FIA Institute, CAMS and my ASN The FMSCI for making this possible. I am looking forward to taking on the other drivers from across the world. The Academy should be great and I hope to lean a lot,” Rabindra said.
Rabindra now has the opportunity to follow i
Akhil Rabindran who won the Young Driver Excellence Award. An Adrenna Photo n the footsteps of previous participants in the Academy who have gone on to drive in Formula One and the World Rally Championship.
All the young drivers, who had been nominated by the national motor sport authorities in their own countries, gained invaluable knowledge and experience to help them in their careers.
Andrew Papadopoulos, President of CAMS, which hosted the event on behalf of the FIA Institute, congratulated the winner and all those involved.
“It has been fantastic to host this event we would like to thank the New South Wales Institute of Sport and Sydney Motorsport Park and Mazda for their support. Driver development is important in the Asia Pacific region and we are happy to have helped raise the standard in this part of the world.” said Papadopoulos.
FMSCI President Vicky Chandhok commented, “This is a great initiative by the FIA to develop young drivers across the world. On behalf of the FMSCI, I would like to congratulate Akhil on winning the APAC selection, and wish him all the best in the Academy. There are so many young drivers with so much potential that the future of Indian motorsport looks promising.”
On the final day of the selection event the 12 drivers were whittled down to three, Rabindra, Petr Borodin from Kazakhstan and Mark Gibson from New Zealand.
Ultimately, the choice of Rabindra as the regional winner was based not only on the shoot-out result but on all-round skills displayed over the three days.
He now joins Venezuelan Diego Ferreira who won the Americas region selection event, South Africa’s Kelvin Van der Linde as the winner of the African regional event, Lithuania’s Ignas Gelzinis, the winner of the European regional event, and Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Bamogaddam, winner of the Middle East and Mediterranean event, on the Academy programme. They in turn will join three additional wild card entries to form the eight of the Academy.
Beginning in December, the next Academy provides a fully-funded training programme which aims to help drivers develop their motor sport careers, whilst increasing safety skills and actively promoting the principles of safety, fairness and responsibility on and off the track.
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The development of Force India car stopped six months back: Sutil
DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Adrian SUTIL (Force India), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Sebastian, your fourth world title of course. Tell us about the last four days. What have you been doing, how have you celebrated and what has the reaction been like?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, the reaction has been very positive. Obviously great relief when I crossed the line on Sunday, a great feeling. Sunday night, obviously the whole team still had to do the pack-up, but we had a little bit of fun in the hotel bar – quite spontaneous. Obviously, there’s not a lot of time between the race in India and the race here, so the team is very busy. So we couldn’t go completely made, but I had a time on Sunday night and then I had two days at home before coming here, again fairly quiet, not very spectacular. I just enjoyed the peace at home. I had some time for myself, back with my girlfriend as well. So, fairly quiet.
Probably history will remember this achievement as you in a strong team with a strong beating a very strong field of drivers – looking at the gentlemen sitting around you here. Is that how you see it?
SV: I think that’s the way it always has been. When Lewis won his title in 2008 he was with a strong team facing strong drivers, same for Fernando in 2005 and 2006, so yeah, even 20 or 30 years ago it has always been the name of the game. That’s how people remember the past and one day will remember what we are doing now.
Fernando, runner-up again. So hard to hit the sweet spot in Formula One isn’t it? How far off championship level do you feel your group is?
Fernando ALONSO: I think we need to be realistic, knowing that we didn’t have the chance this year to fight for the championship. In the beginning of the year we were a little bit closer but then we were not quick enough and we are fighting now for other targets, which is the Constructors’ Championship and second place in the Drivers’ [Championship] as well, which was not the main priority when we started the season but still a good target to achieve and a good thing for the team, to help them. We’ll see, I think we need to keep very focused in the remaining races and try to do our best and obviously with half of our mind thinking of 2014 because we are competitive people, we want to win. This year it was not possible but next year we start from zero.
How has your relationship with the team evolved over the course of the year, particularly in terms of steering a course for the future?
FA: It’s fantastic. Obviously, every weekend I repeat the same thing. So I guess in Austin on Thursday the first question in the press conference will be how is my relationship with the team…
The question was how has it evolved?
FA: It was perfect, it’s perfect and it will be perfect.
Lewis, coming to you. You didn’t perhaps expect to challenge for the title this year but can you talk about the level of the challenge coming from Sebastian and Red Bull and how you take the fight to them from here?
Lewis HAMILTON: They’ve done an incredible job for some time now, so you know, they’ve raised the bar and everyone just needs to work harder. Us, as a team, we’re working as hard as we can to really put the energy into next year and hope that we can compete with them. That’s ultimately what I’d love to do and ultimately what the team desires too. That’s what the dream is. There’s a long steep curve for us to climb or hill for us to climb for next year but it’s more of a level starting ground for everyone and you can either get it right or wrong. Hopefully we’re on the right side.
Racing drivers always move on very quickly and I wonder if mentally you’re already in 2014.
LH: No, no. I’m still trying to… this year hasn’t been perfect for me and I’m always trying to learn and improve. There are lots of areas that can always be improved on, from myself and from the team, and we’re just working on those because we don’t want to carry the negatives of anything we have into next year.
Q: Romain, really strong run of form at the moment. Was India your best performance yet in Formula One, do you think? How much more is there to come from you?
Romain GROSJEAN: Hopefully two more places! It was certainly one of our best races. We misjudged our level of performance on the Saturday and we took the right decision about the strategy, how to go for the race. It was clearly not an easy one as I really had to first make the option tyre last and then try to make the prime tyre last for 47 laps. There were some quick cars around me, especially behind me, and yeah, just try to take care as much as we can of our tyres and do good driving. But I think Japan was a pretty good race. We had certainly a fantastic start and led the race from there, which was somehow easy to control in the first part. I think Red Bull was just a little bit too quick behind but when you watch the gap with Fernando who was P4, it was quite big, so I think those last four races have been pretty good: trying to improve myself every time, car is getting there and clearly the blue cars are still a little bit quicker than we are – but we try to push them as much as we can.
Q: Let’s cut to the chase: you’re a completely different racing driver from 12 months ago. What’s the key to the turnaround do you think?
RG: I don’t think there is any particular key to be honest. We like to put some things are changes but to me the work started a year ago and I’m improving myself day after day – or I’m trying to. The start of the season was poor. It’s a bit of a shame when we look at what we are capable to do right now but then since we put back the car in place it has been getting better and better. I was a bit unlucky before Germany and then Germany things turn out to be well together and from there we had very, very good races and the car is doing well. Hopefully it’s going to be the case until the end of the season.
Q: Adrian, strong drive in India, bold strategy. How important was it to stem the recent tide of Sauber getting closer and closer to you? And how much confidence has that given the team going forward now for the rest of the year?
Adrian SUTIL: Well it was an important race for us, of course. It was our home grand prix and we wanted to show that we’re still able to be in the top ten. The last couple of races were a bit more difficult to score the points but we recovered and we did what we could to make a good result. We risked a little bit with the strategy – where we had both cars on a different strategy. I was on a one-stop – more risky – but almost the same outcome. Eighth and ninth position was almost the maximum we could achieve. Six points as a team, now 23 points ahead of Sauber, which is quite a good gap. It’s not over yet, we have to push on, but I think quite comfortable. It’s very important for us to save this sixth position in the championship, looking to next year of course, as a team. But I think, yeah, nice to have recovered a bit. Now we focus on what we have and try to optimise the package and do similar results in the next couple of races.
Q: Looking from the outside it seems that the tyre change mid-season didn’t really help your team particularly. What do you feel about that?
AS: Yes, it’s true. It’s one reason. We were a bit slower after that change but also we decided to stop the development very early in the season, so we had no parts on the car for the last six months or so. It’s quite a long time. I think it just hit us: from the tyre; from the development. Also the strategies in the race were more equal for everyone. Normally we were able to save one pitstop just because our tyre life was much better to others. After the tyre change that was different. But also we messed up a little bit the setup in the last races. We tried to somehow go back where we were but with a package where we just couldn’t make it. We tried different setups and it almost just slowed us down even more. We got problems, we made mistakes as the driver because the car was so difficult to drive. So, in India was said “we stop it, we take what we’ve got,” and that was the key for the points.
Q: Valtteri, been obviously a difficult, challenging year for you. What sort of shape are Williams in going forward?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it’s been a challenging year. We’ve been learning a lot the whole year as a team. It’s been very tough. So we’re definitely I think going in a good direction, we’re now very focussed for next year. What I’ve seen at the factory, the working at the factory is changing. We’ve got some new people and I’ve already seen some good things. I really think the future of Williams will be much better than what we’ve seen this year.
Q: Not too many rumours about you, does that indicate that you’re staying put for next year?
VB: I think Claire Williams is tomorrow in the press conference so maybe you can ask her.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Joy Chakravarty– Sport 360) Seb, considering that the big prize is already yours, how will you motivate yourself to win over the next three races, and if you win on Sunday, will it be one of your greatest challenges, when you win with just about nothing to gain from the season, at least?
SV: Well, I don’t think we approach the weekend as if there’s nothing to gain. I think we – as a fact – we love what we’re doing. We enjoy the challenge and that’s why there’s no question as to why we are here and what we have to do. We want to race, race the others as hard as possible. If we have a chance, we want to win. As I said, I had some quiet days at home which was good, to sober up after India and get ready for here.
Q: (Khodr Rawi – Autosport Middle East) Sebastian, after winning so many races and four consecutive championships, do you think it will be harder again for you to lose?
SV: To be honest, I’m not getting in the car and thinking that there’s a guarantee that we will do well. Maybe that’s a little bit the impression that you get from the outside; obviously since the summer break we’ve won all the races but we come here and there’s absolutely no guarantee that we will do well, so we have to give it everything we have. Yes, we have a strong package so I think we have reason to be confident. I need the team, I think the team needs Mark and myself to push the car to the limit and to get some good results. There’s no guarantee for what we’ve been doing the last couple of races to make it last.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, last four qualifyings you have managed to beat your teammate. Have you found something new in your one lap performance?
VB: The whole season I’ve been learning a lot and there are little things you’re picking up all the time. In qualifying, it’s been very tight this year – it’s always like that – and every hundredth counts. I think after the August break, for sure I’ve also improved in qualifying. I think I can now maybe get a bit more out of the car more consistently than before. I feel more confident all the time, so maybe we can see that in the results.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, we heard yesterday some declaration from Dieter Mateschitz saying that Red Bull has been working hard on the development for this season but also trying many new parts that they will use in 2014; about 50 percent of that will be on next year’s car. How is the situation at Mercedes? Have you been trying the same path or also working on trying to fight with Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ series?
LH: Probably not being doing as much as it sounds as they have been doing, in terms of developing for next year, but I think that a lot of the stuff that you do develop on this year’s car, upgrades that we do bring to this year’s hopefully will have an effect on next year’s car. It’s kinda of similar but some teams obviously can turn their focus a little bit earlier and some a little bit later, but hopefully, ultimately, we’ll still be competitive next year with these guys.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) To Romain, Sebastian and Fernando: what do you think of Kimi as a man and as a driver?
RG: As a man, I would say yeah, Kimi basically I don’t know him. He is with me as he is with you. As a driver, he’s a very good driver and he has been, until recently, a very good teammate. He’s a quicker driver, he’s a consistent driver and to me, having him to learn (from) and to improve myself has been pretty good. But yeah, I don’t see him in different clothes to the ones we’re wearing right now.
SV: Well, I think I have huge respect for the fact that he loves what he’s doing, he loves motor racing, any form of it. Obviously, I think Formula One gives him a lot of satisfaction to drive a Formula One car. He doesn’t like the rest of it so much. On a personal level, he does talk to me. I don’t know what I do differently. He’s one of the most straightforward guys I’ve met so far and I respect a lot that he has always been very honest. Since I came into Formula One, he was ready to help, even gave me a lift a couple of times early on. I get along with him.
FA: Personally, I cannot say anything because I do not know him enough to speak about him personally. As a driver, he’s a great champion, great talent, very very fast. He likes what he’s doing. That’s the best thing.
File photo of Adrian Sutil with an Engineer. Photo by Sahara Force India F1 team Ends
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Some out-of-the-box thinking helped us to double-points finish: Mallya
Abu Dhabhi, 30 Oct 2013: Even as Sahara Force India gets ready for round 17 of the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship, team Principal and Managing Director speaks his mind out after returning to double points for the home race in India last week.
Dr Mallya, how satisfying was it to see both cars score points in India?
I was delighted with the double points finish; I don’t think we could have done much better. The result was due to a combination of the small steps we’ve made optimising the set-up and some out-of-the-box thinking in terms of strategy. That’s got to be the mantra for the next three races.
Given how challenging the second part of the season has been, it must be a welcome boost for team morale…
The last few races have been frustrating for us. Even tracks such as Monza and Spa, where we have traditionally been strong, did not work out well for us. But I feel that a lot of the frustration is now behind us, not quite all of it, but most of it. The car is working better and we seem to be heading in the right direction.
It was another successful event as a whole for India. How important is it that Formula One returns to India in the near future?
India is an economy that cannot be ignored. This country has enormous potential, not just for Sahara Force India, but in terms of all the partners and stakeholders in Formula One. It’s unfortunate that there won’t be a race in 2014, but the promoter has assured me personally and also assured the Indian fans at large in media interviews that the race will return from 2015 on a sustainable basis. With that kind of optimism and forceful commitment all I can do is hope that it will return.
What are your thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race in Abu Dhabi?
We’re certainly very happy that we got things right last weekend and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in the points going forward. Don’t forget this team was a regular top ten finisher in the first half of the year, so we just need to recapture our old form. Our performance in India showed what we are capable of and there’s no reason why we can’t carry this through to the final three races.
Meanwhile, the lead driver Paul di Resta comments on Abu Dhabi as he reflects on a strong Indian Grand Prix and looks forward to racing at Yas Marina.
Paul, a strong drive in India must have been a welcome boost in the team’s home race…
It’s a well-earned result by everyone and very important for the team’s hopes in the championship. We’ve had a tough run of things lately, so to get two cars in the points at the team’s home race has given us something to smile about.
After a tricky second half of the season do you feel more optimistic heading into this weekend?
We will certainly go to Abu Dhabi to try and repeat the performance. The direction we’ve taken with the car recently is more of a back-to-basics approach, which has helped. It’s given me more confidence and I can be more committed with the car. That’s really important for a driver and it will help us for both qualifying and the race.
Abu Dhabi is a spectacular venue for Formula One. Do you enjoy the event?
I enjoy driving there because it’s a twilight race and one of the more spectacular events of the year – a bit like Singapore. As a track you don’t have to rely too much on aero performance because it’s mostly low-speed and that should suit our car quite well.
Adrian on Abu Dhabi: Adrian Sutil gets set for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Adrian, you must have been happy to pick up two points following your one-stop strategy in the Indian Grand Prix…
I think the strategy we chose led us to the best result we could achieve. It just shows that if you try something a bit different you can come away with a good result. It was the riskier choice because the soft tyre was an unknown experience in race conditions, but I was able to look after it well and I still had strong pace in the last few laps of the race.
How is the mood in the team after a strong performance at the team’s home race?
We certainly needed some points and I think we are feeling more optimistic now. The car had a very nice balance in India – it was easier to drive, much more consistent and that helped us achieve the one-stop race. With both cars in the points everybody is feeling more positive going into this weekend.
What about your thoughts on the Yas Marina circuit?
It’s one of the most perfect tracks on the calendar because there’s not a stone out of place! It almost feels like a futuristic venue and with the harbour location it’s like a second Monaco. The track layout is not my favourite because it’s mostly low-speed, but as an event it’s certainly a highlight of the year.
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Volkswagen wins Manufacturers
28 Oct 2013: Part two of the World Champions’ story: Volkswagen has won the manufacturers’ title in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with an outstanding one-two victory at the Rally Spain. That means all the WRC titles* for 2013 will go to the car maker from Wolfsburg. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) claimed the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ crown three weeks ago at the Rally France. The French duo went on to score an impressive win – their eighth this season – ahead of their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) at the “Rally de España”. As a result, Volkswagen has an unassailable lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship with one round still to go this season. Winning three titles in its debut year with the Polo R WRC is Volkswagen’s greatest motorsport achievement to date, a press release said.
Sebastian Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia who won the Rally Spain clinched the Constructors’ title for Volkswagen. A VW Motorsport photo Title wins that will go down in history – Volkswagen’s debut
Volkswagen’s achievements in the 2013 WRC season are unparalleled. The German team clinched all of the titles in the top category of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in its debut year – the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championship and the manufacturers’ trophy. No other manufacturer has managed to win a World Championship in its first year since the World Rally Championship began. Even in the history of Formula 1, no car maker has yet taken the title in its opening season through their own efforts. Volkswagen’s performance has exceeded all expectations. Originally, it was considered to have set itself ambitious goals by aiming for podium finishes in year one, round wins in the second year and championship titles in its third year.
Volkswagen drivers shine in extreme conditions
On its last day, the Rally Spain turned into a real showdown between the Volkswagen pairings Ogier/Ingrassia and Latvala/Anttila. Following a puncture on day two, Ogier started the final 138.54 kilometres on gravel fourth overall, with Latvala in the lead. On the third and final day, the Volkswagen duos rose to the different challenges they faced. While Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila opened the road on the concluding gravel stages of the Rally Spain, forcing them to clean the optimum line for the cars behind them, Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia faced another problem. The new World Rally Champions* tackled the course fourth in a cloud of dust thrown up by their toughest rivals as they fought to win the round. This obviously didn’t slow down the season’s dominant duo too much: Ogier/Ingrassia put in best times on four of the six Special Stages on Sunday alone, plus two more top-three times. Only one other driver/co-driver pairing really shone on Sunday: Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula recorded two best times in the third Polo R WRC.
An extra pair of eyes in the dust: co-drivers play a crucial role on Sunday
Clouds of dust thrown up by the car in front, low morning sun – the conditions on Sunday posed a huge challenge for drivers and co-drivers alike. Thanks to a precise reading of the pace notes, pairings like Ogier/Ingrassia were able to gain up to 20 seconds on their direct competitors in the dust, despite poor visibility. Trust between the driver and co-driver is absolutely crucial in situations like this. When reading the pace notes, the co-drivers have to rely completely on their instincts – there are no clues to fall back on in zero visibility. “It was really tough going for us co-drivers,” said Julien Ingrassia, Sébastien Ogier’s right-hand man.
The all-rounder: 13 of 15 best stage times go to the Polo R WRC
The Rally Spain was the only round in this season’s WRC series to cover both asphalt and gravel. The Volkswagen Polo R WRC proved to be a great all-rounder in these unique conditions: 13 of 15 best stage times and 26 of 45 possible top-three times went to the World Rally Car from Wolfsburg. The all-wheel-drive triumphed seven times on the nine asphalt stages and on all six gravel sections. Since the Polo R WRC first lined up in the WRC at the Rally Monte Carlo, it has racked up 132 of the 215 possible best stage times – that’s 61.4 per cent. Sébastien Ogier has put in 101 best stage times single-handedly so far this year.
Quotes following day three of the Rally Spain
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7
“I’m absolutely delighted for the team. Volkswagen more than deserved to win the World Championship title this year. The Polo R WRC is a real World Champion car. Even though we had a few technical problems at the end today, it got us over the finishing line again and we won the very first one-two victory in the WRC with the team. I would’ve liked to have fought with Sébastien Ogier for victory in the round right to the bitter end because we had a fair duel without tactical instructions until just before the finish. I’m still pleased with second place. It gives me confidence ahead of the forthcoming Rally GB in Wales, which is definitely one of my favourite rallies. I can hardly wait to tackle it.”Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #8
“What an incredible rally, and what a fantastic season! Our team really deserved the World Championship title. I’m incredibly proud to be part of the Volkswagen team. And of course I’m ecstatic that Julien and I managed to secure the win here in Spain. I promised beforehand that I would try everything – and it worked. It has to be said that it was extremely difficult early this morning though. Driving through the dust thrown up by the cars in front was like being in the thickest of fog – zero visibility. At times, we had to slow down in the middle of full-speed stretches because we couldn’t see anything at all. We made a strong comeback in France and left as World Champions. Now we’ve managed to play catch-up big style in Spain – and we’re World Champions again!”Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9
“Volkswagen are World Champions! I’m so pleased for the team – they’ve just been great this season. It’s just a fantastic bunch of people. I wanted to give them something back today too and tried to perform as well as possible. I felt comfortable in the Polo R WRC right from the start this morning and adjusted to gravel really quickly. Starting so far back certainly wasn’t a disadvantage, but all that dust was. But we did a good job during the recce and I had a lot of confidence in the pace notes. Seeing your own name right at the top of the list of times twice is great, of course. On the third stage of the day, I slid off the road after a long right-hand bend that went into a sharp left-hand turn. This afternoon, I wanted to go on the attack again, but I hit something on the straight. After that, the steering wheel was wonky. Later on, the suspension got damaged too, which is why we couldn’t take part in the last Special Stage. Nevertheless, I’m not dissatisfied with the Rally Spain.”Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director
“Winning all three World Championship titles in one season is simply unbelievable. Given that this is the first season we have competed in the World Rally Championship with the Polo R WRC, it is an even greater achievement. Winning the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ World Championship was an absolute highlight for the whole team. It was a dream come true for Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in particular at their home event three weeks ago. But the Manufacturers’ World Championship is even more important for a car maker because it proves that it’s not just the driver who’s exceptional – the product is too.”And then there was …
… Santiago Cañizares. The former Real Madrid and FC Valencia goalkeeper is a big rallying fan. He paid a visit to the Volkswagen Motorsport team and his compatriots Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya at the Rally Spain. Cañizares has 46 caps for Spain and commentates on the WRC for Canal+ in his home country. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his three vintage rally cars: a Porsche 911, a Renault Alpine and a Renault 5.* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.
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Incredible two years in India and a very nice trophy to boot: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Martin Brundle)Sebastian, did you help design this race track or something? You seem so at home here, as a driver and with your car.
Sebastian VETTEL: I think it’s been an incredible two years for us, both times to come here and win the race, get the pole on Saturday and win the race on Sunday is fantastic. There’s always a very nice trophy so I’m very, very happy to pick up another nice one this year, so a very special grand prix. I don’t know what is it about this circuit but I really like the flow of it. Sector One is a bit slow with long straights but Sector Two and Three are really nice and I think we all enjoy it. Big thanks to the team, as I said on the radio, every single one is pushing very hard and I think there’s not one thing that stands out and makes the difference: not today’ not yesterday; not this weekend. I think it’s all of us working hand in hand together. If we’re here on the track or back in Milton Keynes, everyone is pushing hard and I think that’s what makes the difference. I’m very, very happy, I’m glad to be part of that and just enjoying the moment.You’ve led every race, every lap for three consecutive races now. The last man to do that was the great Ayrton Senna in 1989, you’re in great company and you’re clearly on great form.
SV: Don’t say things like that! It’s very, very special. I think we all will remember Ayrton forever, not just because he was successful and he had these kinds of numbers speaking for him but he was a great person. So very, very happy.Fernando, do you ever, ever give up? You’re relentless.
Fernando ALONSO. No, obviously, it’s not easy at the moment to fight with Red Bull but we will never give up. I think we are happy today, we have to congratulate them, they were fantastic this weekend so well done Red Bull, well done Sebastian – but yeah, we want to be happy and we want to enjoy Brazil, not only here so I’m sure we will do it.Bittersweet for you? You split the Red Bulls but you still lost points in the World Championship.
FA: Yeah, we lost points but I think this was more or less the plan this weekend: we were not fast enough to compete against them, so we lost the minimum points, which is finishing second, so a s I said, better races will come.How fast was your car in a straight line. Take us down to Turn Four at the start, it was incredible.
FA: Yeah, we were quite fast in a straight line but we are still missing a little bit of grip in the corners that hopefully will come in the next races. Today we have to thank the team for this fantastic straight-line speed that give us some good overtaking manoeuvres and some good action.Mark, you had to work hard to be up on this podium today.
Mark WEBBER: Yes. First of all thanks to the crowd, they are fantastic today. I enjoyed the fight today; it was a difficult race, very difficult for me to get into a rhythm, we had a few issues we needed to manage on the car but fair play to the other guys it was a good, tough grand prix. Lewis and Fernando were very strong on the hard tyre and with our KERS it was very difficult. I was happy with how I drove and we’ll come back for Abu Dhabi.So when he breezed past you down the straight, you were missing your KERS at that time and just helpless? There’s nothing you could do?
MW: Yes, that right. It was very difficult to defend there because you need the KERS to get you on that type of corner.Sebastian, we see some amazing names up here, champions including Fernando alongside you and you’re on there twice. Surely you must feel now that you’ve got one hand on that World Championship trophy for 2012.
SV: The other one is probably Fernando and there are other ones as well. So I think if we speak about the World Championship, obviously this was another good step for us but still a long way to go and we have seen this year how quickly things can change. As I said earlier, it feels fantastic to be up here and have a race like that where everything works the way you want it to. Yeah, very, very proud, very, very happy and enjoying it. That was today. Now we are focusing on Abu Dhabi next week. There’s a lot more to come and we’ll try to take things step by step.PRESS CONFERENCE
Sebastian well done, your fourth win in succession, which is amazing. And your thoughts on that.
SV: As you said, it’s pretty amazing obviously. It’s very hard to target those kind of things. I think they either happen or they don’t happen. I think the secret, if there is any, is that we didn’t approach the first of those four races thinking we can win four. We focussed on the first one, then on the second one, then on the third one, then on the fourth one. So, really step by step. I think, as I said on the radio and earlier, I think the whole team is working together fantastically well. I don’t think there is one thing that stands out to make a difference. We can see that in every kind of area. We don’t have any problems on Friday, we get through our programme, we get more or less the answers we want, we are able to improve the car from Friday to Saturday with support here on the track but also in the factory. Guys helping us to improve the car. We get the most out of it in qualifying. We had a fantastic race today. Great pitstops as well, obviously those things are easy to forget and easy to remember when they go wrong but I think the pitstops were fantastic – at least the one I had. It takes a lot of discipline, focus in the right moment, to be there, to be sharp and I think we were in the moment. Not thinking about yesterday or last week or last race and not thinking about the end of the race or next week. So, really tried to focus on the moment, which I think is the best thing we can do to maximise the result today. As I said, I’m very happy, I enjoyed the race a lot. I think it was crucial to open a gap in the first stint to break the DRS early to Mark, who had a very good start I think, and it was quite close in Turn One. But I was able to brake a little bit late and have quite a good exit out of Turn Three, which was important for the remainder of the race, and then was able to open a gap, not just to Mark but also to the cars behind and obviously control the race from there. I think we were very competitive on the soft tyres; on the hard tyres I think McLarens and Ferrari were pretty competitive. Unfortunately Mark lost KERS but as I said, I think we were probably not as competitive on the primes as on the soft tyres but all in all a fantastic race. And again a fantastic trophy this year in India. Just very, very happy.A pretty amazing 33 laps on used soft tyres.
SV: To be honest it’s difficult to know when you start the race how long you can go – but I think we felt after a couple of laps that the tyres were holding up reasonably well and then when you cross around 15/16 to 20 laps with still something in the tyres left, you obviously know it goes more to the direction of one stop. I think it was anyway always going to be one or two stops. On Friday the tyres seemed to last fairly well and again they did today. So yeah, it’s not always happening like that, sometimes we have a surprise on Sunday, so I think we prepared as much as we could but by that stage it was obviously clear to not split the 27 remaining laps in two bits: so to go with the prime stint and do the same as everyone else did. I think we all came the pits within five to ten laps.Were you actually being pushed in by Mark at the end there, back into the pits? Had you ran out of fuel?
SV: Ah yes! I switched off the car. I was told to park the car under the podium but I didn’t know how far away it was. I didn’t remember that from last year. I think it’s the only big mistake that happened to us this weekend. But it didn’t really matter and Mark gave me a push. He’s quite popular for those sort of things. I think he gave Fernando a lift last year in Nürburgring when he had to stop on track. Yeah, gave me a little bit of a push to make it to Park Ferme to stop the car. Thank You.Fernando, as Martin was saying on the podium, we had a fairly good illustration of how good your DRS is on the straight. Two extraordinary overtaking manoeuvres, particularly at the start for example with the McLarens and then later with Mark.
FA: The first lap we cannot use DRS anyway, it was just the slipstream and I was a nice run out of Turn Three and I could overtake both the McLarens. They were fighting but forgot I was there in Turn Four so they keep the fight by their own selves. We nearly touch each other but I was lucky to exit Turn Four without any damage and overtake one of them. Jenson was defending into Turn Six quite a lot so unfortunately we could overtake only one at the start. One after a few laps because I think we had a little bit more pace than Jenson and then with Mark it was a combination of KERS and DRS because I think Mark was running without KERS so that make a huge difference in terms of top speed and the overtaking was relatively easy.You must be pretty encouraged by this second place today. To be so close to Sebastian today.
FA: Yes, I think it’s good news for us, seeing that we could fight Red Bull in the race. More or less we knew this. In qualifying we are not close enough to fight for pole position but in the race normally things improve for us. Today was another example but it was perfect for the strategy from the team: very good start, very good top speed and tyre management. Everything set up for the race, everything was fine and I push 120 per cent every lap so the combination was this second place.So when you look at Abu Dhabi, what are your hopes there?
FA: I think we need to bring some new parts to Abu Dhabi, hopefully improve a little bit more then competitiveness of the car, try to be a little bit closer to Red Bulls on Saturday and hopefully on Sunday as well. Obviously three races remaining; championship is the main target so we need to recover some points and will be nice to finish in front of Sebastian in Abu Dhabi, whatever the position it is. And if we can win the race it will be even better – but for that we need to make a step forward. At the moment we are not able to win.Mark, a good start off the line.
MW: It was good – just a shame it wasn’t a long Barcelona or Malaysia: it would have been a bit nicer but I had the run, obviously, but then the radius into Turn One on the inside… I mean we were together but it’s very, very tricky down in there and also I saw Fernando last year obviously if you brake on the limit it’s very easy to go a bit too far. So, Seb come across, which is fair enough and then I was worried about the other guys obviously having a very good exit on not just me but both of us. Turn Three: was very important to get to there in good shape. So, the start was good, exit at Turn Three wasn’t too bad. Obviously it’s tricky for all of use to get off there on the first lap. I got off there not too bad, got a little bit of a tow off Seb and then settled into the race from there.And then that first pitstop – you must have been longing to make that first pitstop and knowing you couldn’t – because you were losing time obviously just before the end of the stint.
MW: No, I was pretty happy with where the stop is. It’s nice to go a little bit longer. We had to react to Fernando. We would have gone even longer. Obviously it wasn’t due to tyres, it was due to KERS that I started to lose the rhythm and the tempo: obviously when the KERS is coming on and off, we need to also screw around with the brake balance and lots of other things. The guys have got a huge amount of plate-spinning to try to feed that into the cockpit for me. The last thing you want in a one-stop strategy race is starting to have front locking. Because we need to do long, long stints. So obviously this is a pain in the arse and we had to manage it as best we can. The stop was really because of when Fernando pitted, so we had to react to that. Stop was alright and then the prime was a little bit more high-maintenance; a little bit trickier actually, I think for both Seb and I. I managed to break the DRS, managed to get away from Fernando. I then got myself together. KERS was there or there abouts, on and off, and then I caught… I mean the blue flags didn’t do nothing for the backmarkers, that’s the problem: the guys don’t know how much time they kill us in the fast corners. So, when you catch some of those guys in those corners, you lose a second and a half in one sector, or a second. Which happened twice. But, that’s the way it was. And those guys can’t do that when you’ve got guys… when you’re racing with Fernando, the three of us on the limit, Fernando’s going to be all over that stuff. So, it was back on again, and then when I had no KERS, I mean it’s not really a battle on the back straight. I went across to the inside but Fernando come past. They’ve got a very good top gear as well, big top speed. That was it. Then I pushed like… as strong as possible to get to the end of the race. So third, I’m pretty happy with how I drove, I think I drove a pretty good race but in the end it wasn’t enough. We could have got more points today for sure. Well done to Seb on the win.How much pressure from Lewis at the end?
MW: Certainly needed to keep the focus and y’know, it’s so demoralising, that straight with no KERS. I think I was very lucky that Lewis made a mistake in Turn Three, I think on lap 57. I saw it in the mirrors, it was either 57 or 58. And that was important because I think he was starting to get a bit of momentum and I was very keen to keep him off the DRS as long as possible because once he got that I was toast. I think another two laps and he would have got me.When did you have the problem with KERS? When did you lose it first?
MW: Around about lap 19, 20. Maybe a bit earlier. It was on and off and then completely off and then off. It was a moving target really.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Vinayak Pande – Hindustan Times) Fernando, yesterday you were quoted as saying that you were 100 percent certain that you will be this year’s World Champion. Do you still feel that way after this race?
FA: Of course. We know that there were still 100 points yesterday and now 75 points (available). We are 13 behind. We know that we need to improve. We are not fast enough, especially on Saturdays, as I said, but hopefully we can improve the situation in Abu Dhabi or in USA. The races are long, and as we saw today with Mark, a KERS problem can happen to anyone, it can happen to Seb, it can happen to me and it can happen to all of us. Still many points on the table and I’m still very optimistic.Q: (Vinayak Pande – Hindustan Times) Of the three races that are left, is there any one in particular, do you think, that will favour Ferrari?
FA: I think Brazil will be quite good for us and hopefully it’s a happy Grand Prix.Q: (Sudhir Chandran – Chequered Flag) Now that you have been a part of two editions of the Indian Grand Prix, is there one unique feature about thi
Vettel at the post-race FIA Press Conference. A photo by BIC s track, destination or venue, which you find distinctly different from the others that you race at around the world, fans included?
SV: I think every Grand Prix is special and has something special about it. Obviously it’s the second time that we’ve run here. So far, all the quotes from the drivers regarding this circuit have been very positive. It’s a lot of fun for us. It’s not so easy to manage the tyres in one lap for qualifying, but also over the race (distance) so it’s a big challenge and I think that’s what we like. There are some corners, like turn 15, where you always think that something went wrong and you will try and do it better next time. You get challenged to the limit which is obviously what we like. We don’t want to make mistakes but obviously we like those sort of places.On top of that, I think it’s an impressive country. Obviously last year I had a bit of time to have a look, and I think coming back is quite a big difference. Obviously, in here (the paddock) it’s something that we all know, the Formula One paddock but having a look at Delhi or a little bit the life outside the circuit is very different to other places. I think there’s a couple of stations or a couple of stops on the calendar that are very impressive in that regard. India has a lot to offer. There are a lot of people here: 1.3 billion or more so quite incredible and just to see that, to see how people live here, to see the culture, I think is very very different.
In life, I think a lot is always about expectations and in Europe expectations are very very high. Money plays a big role whereas here, I think, expectations are fairly low. Money is not that important. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I think it’s more important to have a healthy, happy life, to enjoy your life with your family, with your kids. Sometimes to compare the circumstances you live in, here in India compared to Europe – obviously I grew up in Germany – it’s black and white, it’s very different but it’s nice to see that the people are so happy, warm-hearted. I think it would definitely be nice to spend a little bit more time to travel around and get more of an idea. As I said, in here, everything is more or less the same. It will be the same next week when we go to Abu Dhabi, even though it’s a completely different place. As a country, this place has a lot to offer.
MW: Good question and a good answer.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Moto und Sport) Sebastian, in the latter part of the race, the front end of your floor seemed to touch the ground. You could see sparks coming off it. Did it cost you time; it seemed to have repaired itself later on?
SV: I noticed the problem. I think it was when I got the DRS of a backmarker, from Timo (Glock) actually, pretty close to the end of the race and obviously when you open DRS, you go much quicker down the straight and I saw some sparks. I think you’ve seen a couple of cars throwing out some sparks out of the back of the car this weekend. I don’t think it was really a problem. I didn’t feel anything regarding the balance (of the car). All the other laps it was no problem, but I saw it in the mirror, I saw Timo backing off and I think he was a bit afraid at the time. We obviously need to analyse what was the problem, but it didn’t cost us anything or slow us down.Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media House) Sebastian, every time you make a point about the team members in the factory and those working behind the scenes. You seem to have a special bond with your pit crew which plays an important role in any driver’s success, whether he is a World Champion contender or not. Can you share what kind of relationship you have with your pit crew members and the main members of the team?
SV: I think it’s the same for Mark and myself. Obviously we work very closely with the guys. I think we have 20 races a year, a couple of pre-season tests and obviously we spend a lot of time in the factory, we spend time here at the track, working with the members of the team, every single one: mechanics, engineers, all sorts of staff. Obviously you know who you’re talking to. If you’re new to the environment it takes a bit of time to get to know everyone and to get to know how everyone ticks. I think the special thing at the moment and the special thing at the beginning of the year at any stage is the atmosphere in the garage is fantastic, the guys are really incredible. I don’t know how they do it, they hardly sleep at night, only a couple of hours. They try to prepare the car as best as they can in order to give Mark and myself the best chance to have a solid race. Back in the factory, the people are pushing, obviously trying to improve the car. It’s obviously difficult to say thank you to each and every one because quite a lot of people work behind the scenes in our team, but everyone plays their role, it’s not a one man show. I think the result today or the result last week or whenever, the results in the last two years are not just thanks to me or thanks to Adrian (Newey), or thanks to any particular person in the team, I think it’s thanks to all of us. Everyone is pushing hard, there are lots of bright guys with good ideas. Obviously some guys are really important but all in all, that’s the spirit we share and it’s just nice to be a big part of it.Q: (L.P. Shahi – The Telegraph India) Sebastian, you say there is no one element that makes the difference. Are you under-estimating your own part in this?
SV: No, that’s the way I see it. Obviously on a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday afternoon, whenever, in qualifying, in the race, when I’m out in the circuit in the car, then I know that there is a lot depending on me. If I get it wrong there’s no result, if I get it right it might be a good result. But I think there’s far more work behind that than just one lap in the race, or one lap in qualifying, one result in a year, in the season. That’s why I’m convinced of what I said and I think everyone is pushing very hard. Obviously it’s easier to measure if I make a mistake, I lose half a second in the last corner, it’s easy to say that instead of 1m 30.0s, I could have done 1m 29.5s but that’s why it’s difficult to measure the effort everyone brings in. The guys in the garage are working hard, preparing the car, preparing the pit stop etc. It’s obviously difficult to measure if you’re talking about performance or lap time, but then it becomes very easy to measure if you don’t finish the race, compared to a race where you do finish and you collect a lot of points. Sometimes it’s down to one guy who is obviously committed and does the right thing at the right moment, preventing a problem or sometimes his head is not right, he’s not fully committed then small mistakes add up to maybe a big mistake costing a certain result on a Sunday. I think that’s where it’s fair to say that we win together and we lose together.Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, looking at the performance that you had during the race, and the result that you had at the end, second place, may we say that this was the best race of your season, or the best performance in the car?
FA: I think it’s difficult to say, I don’t know, it’s difficult to chose. I’m really proud and happy of the Valencia performance, or Malaysia or some other races where we fight all the race through, Monza etc, but definitely this one was one of the best, I think, pushing from lap one to the last lap, not risking or taking more risks that in previous races with overtakings etc, so quite happy .Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Seb, there’s been all the stories on the internet about you and Ferrari. Could you set the record straight please: is there any arrangement, agreement, talk between you and your people and Ferrari?
SV: This could be quite funny now, what I say… No, there’s nothing, nothing to tell you, nothing I’ve signed. Nothing has changed. It’s quite amusing. I don’t know where it came from but… I don’t read much, so it’s quite a surprise when you get to the circuit and get all these questions. Nothing to report. As I said, I can’t be happier at the moment, I’m very happy with…Actually, there’s one thing I would like to say about this. As I said, there’s no reason to write anything or report anything but obviously, as I said earlier, you don’t know every single one in the team, and it’s hard to speak to every single one, so if there’s – sorry to say – some bullshit in the press, obviously there might be some concerns back in the factory, but I’m 100 percent behind them as I feel they’re 100 percent behind me and therefore I want to get this straight: there’s nothing to report and I’m very happy at Red Bull Racing.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, during the last ten laps when Fernando passed Mark, did you fear that Fernando would come back after you and may be successful?
SV: You never feel too certain. Obviously it’s important, as I said earlier, I tried to open a gap to – you know – later on, and no matter what happened, to have a little bit of a cushion, to have time to react to be able to control the race in the end. Obviously I was told that Fernando got into P2, Mark had the problem, so I think, as Mark said, obviously with a completely smooth race he could stay ahead. As we also said, on the hard tyres, McLaren and Ferrari were quite competitive. I think I had the same gap when he started to be second as I had in the end, so I was able to keep the gap and control the race.Q: (Frank Schneider – Bild Zeitung) Question to Fernando and to Seb: Seb, first, is there anything you want from Fernando at the moment; and Fernando is there anything you want to have from Seb at the moment?
SV: Could I…? Ah, no you have a cap. I was just about to say, his cap, but he hasn’t… Where did you get that from?
FA: I can give it to you but… I didn’t understand the…
SV: I think we are both happy with what we have.Ends
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Lorenzo takes victory in Japan to stretch the title-battle
Motegi (Japan), 27 Oct 2013: Defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo delivered an incredible performance today to take victory in the Grand Prix of Japan, claiming the Motegi circuit for Yamaha. A dramatic weekend dominated by complicated weather conditions meant the only dry set up time for today’s race was this morning in the final warm up session.
An Yamaha Factory Racing release said: Lorenzo rose to the occasion, firing off the start line like a bullet in front of Yamaha’s home crowd to lead the race into the first laps. The Mallorcan was able to build a gap of nearly two seconds in the first three laps then saw it cut as championship rival Marc Marquez closed in. Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were able to get onto the heels of Lorenzo but unable to pass. The defending champion held on to the line to score his 51stGrand Prix victory, crossing the line just over three seconds clear of Marquez.Teammate Valentino Rossi made a great start to the race from the second row and tucked in behind Lorenzo in second position as the Japanese Grand prix got underway. Unfortunately a lack of braking power on turn 11 of the second lap caused him to run wide, allowing Marquez and Pedrosa past. He then got back on track but suffered the same issue the following lap, dropping down to 11th in the process. In typical Rossi fashion he then put his head down and made several passes as he fought back up the field to finish in sixth position.
The stunning victory by Lorenzo brings him five points closer to Marquez. 13 points separate them now as they head to the final round in Valencia. Rossi increases his point score to 224 and remains in fourth place in the standings.
After the race, a visibly pleased Lorenzo said: “We chose the soft tyre and the others chose the hard tyre, we knew that at the end of the race we might have problems but finally I could push even more the lap times. The strategy could have been different but to take this win at the home of Honda makes me very happy.”
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Ogier-Julien pair slip to 4th; Latvala-Anttila in narrow lead: Day 2
A WRC fan finds a vantage point on Day 2 of Rally Spain. Photo by Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen, Citroën and Ford each have two teams in the top six – on day two of three, the Rally Spain developed into a thrilling three-way battle of the brands. Volkswagen’s factory duo Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) are leading by a narrow margin with their Polo R WRC after the nine asphalt stages of round twelve in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Latvala/Anttila will go into Sunday’s leg with a 1.6-second lead over asphalt specialist Daniel Sordo (Citroën). The “Rallye de España” now changes character completely. On the last day, the drivers will tackle gravel Special Stages in the only WRC event held on both asphalt and gravel. On Saturdayevening, the Volkswagen Team will reconfigure the Polo R WRCs for gravel rather than asphalt in the longest service of the year (75 minutes). This involves changing the suspension components, shock absorbers, springs and differentials. A tall order for the mechanics.
The new World Rally Champions* Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) experienced something of a setback today. A puncture during SS 06 of the Rally Spain cost the Volkswagen duo approximately 50 seconds. Thanks to best times in four Special Stages and three further top-three finishes, they are still fourth in the overall standings, 46.5 seconds behind their team-mates Latvala/Anttila. In spite of this, Ogier/Ingrassia could still claim victory: on Sunday, they will benefit from starting fourth as their biggest rivals will already have cleared the ideal line. Meanwhile, Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN) were forced to retire early in the third Polo R WRC after an error in the first stage on Saturday damaged the car’s suspension. They will return on Sunday under Rally 2 regulations.Saturday’s SS 08 was the so-called Power Stage, where bonus points are awarded in the Drivers’ Championship. Ogier/Ingrassia came second after Thierry Neuville (Ford) to earn two points, while Latvala/Anttila bagged one by finishing third. With this performance, Ogier/Ingrassia continued their indomitable run of success: the World Champions* have collected extra points in all of the Power Stages held in 2013 to date. So far, the pair have bagged 28 bonus points – equivalent to winning a round plus a Power Stage. All they have to do to secure today’s extra points is cross the line on Sunday.
Quotes following day two of the Rally SpainJari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7
“Of course I’m pleased to be leading in the Rally Spain at the end of day two. But the terrain is about to change from asphalt to gravel. It’s not an easy situation because I’ll have to open the route as the leading driver, meaning I’ll clear the ideal line for the cars behind me. All the same, we didn’t spend a single second today driving tactically – instead, we tried to secure ourselves a bit of a lead. I hope that the weather will give me a bit of extra help tomorrow and the damp will improve grip, at least first thing in the morning. It is certainly set to be exciting because four drivers could still win. We’ll have to give 100 per cent if we want to stay in the running.”Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #8
“Today was going pretty well for us until the sixth stage, then we got a puncture in our front left tyre in the 15th kilometre. Although we still made it to the end of the stage, it cost us more than 50 seconds. And even though starting further back is an advantage tomorrow on gravel, it certainly wasn’t a strategic move! Anyway, it will be difficult to make it right to the fronttomorrow – but I never give up. We’ll definitely go on the attack 100 per cent tomorrow.”Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9
“About halfway through the first Special Stage, I slid off the track because of a understeer. It was only a small mistake, but I hit a big stone in a ditch. Then the back right suspension broke and we replaced lots of parts on the car. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the start of the next stage in time. Now we face the gravel stages tomorrow, but we’ve got a good starting position at the back of the WRC field because we retired today. I hope this will mean we can put in a couple of good SS times tomorrow.”Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director
“A little bit of bad luck can make a huge difference in the World Rally Championship, as Sébastien Ogier’s experience today showed. His puncture put him back from first to sixth place. After that, he managed to work his way forward to fourth position. However, this also means that the WRC is never boring. With this in mind, Jari-Matti Latvala’s performance today was all the more exceptional – he managed to stay objective and faultless in every situation. He is leading going into tomorrow’s gravel stages, but that also means he has to tackle them first. That’s not an easy job and it’s certainly not advantageous. After switching from asphalt to gravel, absolutely anything is possible on Sunday. So it’s definitely worth following the World Rally Championship tomorrow.”
And then there was …… “El Clásico”. The 258th face-off between Spain’s two biggest football clubs, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, also occupied the rallying legends Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya. Sainz is a member and avid supporter of the “Royal Club”, while his former co-pilot Moya is an FC Barcelona fan. Moya also works as a live football commentator for the radio station Cadena SER. Both men are part of the Volkswagen Motorsport team at the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
And then there also was …
… Miikka Anttila’s brother. He congratulated Jari-Matti Latvala’s co-driver on his first-ever win in an asphalt rally with a wink. The duo has yet to win an event on this terrain. Saturday evening marked the end of the asphalt stages at the Rally Spain and the Finns are currently in the lead. Reason enough to celebrate the interim result.
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.
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It’s a brilliant weekend; hope to make it big: Sebastian Vettel
Greater Noida, 26 Oct 2013: After taking the pole position in India, the reigning world champion who is well-equipped to seal his fourth world championship driver’s title said that he hopes to make it big on Sunday
Vettel and Hamilton in a jovial mood during the FIA Press Conference after qualies on Saturday. A BIC photo DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
Q: Sebastian, it seems to have just been a seamless weekend for you. It seems to have all gone perfectly so far.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah – so far it’s a brilliant weekend. The car has run basically very, very well since yesterday morning. We didn’t have to change a lot and through qualifying it just got better when the track ramped up. New tyres again, new tyres again and yeah, the car was amazing. It’s a great circuit, I really like the flow of the track, especially around the middle sector with all the high-speed corners – but for sure it’s not a secret if your car behaves the way you want to through there then for sure you’re going to enjoy that a lot. So, I think we did that today. Great result – also for the team. Obviously Mark is on a different strategy so we’ll see what the race brings tomorrow.
Q: Your third pole position here, you’ve led every lap so far, you must start favourite to win the race tomorrow – and take the ultimate prize.
SV: Yeah – I’m trying not to think about it. Obviously it’s difficult when every second person in the paddock asks you the same question. But I think we’ve done pretty well in the past, focussing on every single step and I don’t see a reason why to change things for tomorrow or the next couple of races. So, yeah, we’re in a good position. I think we worked hard to be there and yeah, tomorrow is a long race, as I touched on, with strategy I think it will be tricky to always do the right thing – but there’s a lot of laps so I think we have a quick package and should be in good shape tomorrow.
Q: Nico, you said yesterday it was a tough day. Obviously a lot of progress made.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, and to be honest we’re – I’m – completely on a knife’s edge. Really pushing the limits this weekend, just trying to extract that little tenth more out of the car. Trying different things, new ways, new setups and until now it works. So I’m very pleased with that. Qualifying in second is better than I hoped for – because of Mark being on another strategy, so for the moment it’s looking OK. The race is still going to be tough because it’s very different circumstances here with the Option tyre really struggling at the beginning of the race tomorrow and then Prime will be OK but also the balance of the car is all very different. So, we’ll see.
Q: The strategy really is what it’s down to. Is that preferable for you drivers? Is that something you enjoy?
NR: Well, I’m very interested in it, yeah, but it’s so complex that you really rely on the pit wall to do their job – but of course I prepare for it well before the race and look into it and also discuss what my preference is and all of those things.
Q: Lewis, third on the grid and obviously great that the two Mercedes are second and third – best of the rest as it were – behind Sebastian. What are your feelings?
Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a tough weekend. It’s been a tough weekend for us and incredible… congratulations to Sebastian, it’s obvious that that’s some serious pace that they have, especially with Webber on the Primes just behind us. But we’ve been pushing, as Nico said, as hard as we can. We really want to get a great result this weekend. Strategy is going to play a huge part but I was a little bit surprised to be where we are but generally, bit by bit, adjusting the set-up and everything, we got a reasonable balance and hopefully tomorrow we can push together to try and stay ahead of the rest.
Q: Any traffic issues out there?
LH: I did have through eight and nine. I did have someone in front of me – I’m not really sure who it was, I was so focussed on the road. It didn’t help (To Vettel: “It might have been you!”). I think it may have been one of the Red Bulls, but I probably didn’t lose too much time. Yeah, anyways, look forward to tomorrow.
Q: Sebastian, did you consider the same strategy as Mark?
SV: Well, I have to start on the different tyre so obviously the strategy is different. It’s all difficult now, as Nico touched on, obviously. It’s very interesting, surely not easy. I think in the end if everybody does his bit then it probably doesn’t matter too much. Surely the race will different in the beginning if you start on the opposite tyre. So for us three I think it’s the same thing but then obviously I think Mark is the first car on Primes – with a different strategy.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian: 43rd pole position, as I said, you’ve got an amazing record around here. What is it about this circuit?
SV: I don’t know. I really like this circuit, especially the middle sector. I think it’s very challenging with all the fast, or high-speed corners. It really depends, obviously, if the car does what you want. I think that’s what all of us enjoy and in particular you get to enjoy that around these couple of corners. So, yeah, the car’s been strong since Friday morning, since yesterday morning. We didn’t have to adjust that much. Of course you always trim a little bit – in the right direction hopefully. But, yeah, we’ve been very strong on both compounds, so a good result, and also a good result for the team with Mark sitting in fourth, right behind those two guys.
Q: Interesting with that strategy certainly. I wondered if you’d considered that or how much of a threat that strategy is?
SV: Which one?
Q: With the medium tyre.
SV: Well, difficult to say now. Obviously we decided to go for what I did together, and Mark decided to go for the opposite. So, yeah, what turns out to be the right strategy, we’ll find out tomorrow. But I’m sure the race is long and you will have plenty of time to make up. In the end I think the strategies shouldn’t determine the result that much. We’re got very good pace, the car, as I said, behaves well around here, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.
Q: Have you solved the problem – if there was a problem – about the start from Japan?
SV: Well, we just got surprised by how low the grip was, I think. Yeah, obviously, both then, I think we’ve been a bit too aggressive, too much wheel-slip and the guys behind us had a better start. So, for sure, we’ll try to do better tomorrow – but quite confident. I think the starts we had before that were pretty good. Korea, I had a very good start, so I think we know how to do it, we just need to get it all right.
Q: Nico, easily your best qualifying here, your previous best was seventh a couple of years ago – so you must be very pleased with that.
NR: I am, yeah, definitely. Coming here I knew it was going to be trying to be best of the rest and managed to do that really well today with second place. And even getting Mark because he’s on a different strategy. So, yeah, I’m pleased with that. It’s really been a tough weekend because we really just pushed the limits, completely on everything, to try to extract that tenth or two more out of the car. I think up to now it’s been successful. It’s been very, very difficult, on a knife’s edge all the time but for now it’s worked, it seems. We’re a step forward from where we were in recent races and that’s good to see. But still a long race tomorrow.
Q: Question for both you and Lewis really. Did you consider going the medium tyre route?
NR: Well of course it’s always a consideration. It was a consideration for tomorrow but we decided that soft tyre was the best way to go.
Q: Do you feel it was a bit of gamble to go that way?
NR: No, not a gamble. It was the best thing to do from my point of view.
Q: To go on the mediums would have been a gamble?
NR: Not really a gamble either because that strategy is also a good one, yeah? But we just through our one was better.
Q: Lewis, basically happy with third or do you think you could have pipped Nico?
LH: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Nico did a great job, he’s been strong all weekend and on my side, I’ve struggled a little bit through this weekend. I struggled a little bit with something different on the car this weekend which Nico had had experience of seeing maybe in the past. I came to grips with it really quite quickly at the end and I’m really happy with the result and the lap time that I was able to get. There’s always a little bit of time everywhere but we’ll try and push these guys as hard as we can in the race obviously. They’re in another world but we’ll try to stay ahead of the rest.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazetta dello Sport) Nico and Lewis, obviously, as you said, you are the best of the rest and probably Sebastian will do the race by himself and you’re going to control Ferrari more for second place in the Constructors’ championship. Do you think that Alonso’s strategy, starting with medium, could be a threat to you or do you feel confident that you have better pace than them here?
NR: Well, we’ve been a little bit quicker, I feel, until now, the whole weekend, but of course that strategy is a threat, because there’s not that much difference between the two strategies so for sure we need to keep an eye on, them.
Q: (Sudhir P. Chandran – Chequered Flag) Sebastian , I’m curious to know what kind of music or chant do you listen to on your headphones before qualifying and the race, every single time, to get on top, every time you’ve gone out?
NR: Didn’t you say Justin Bieber last time? No?
SV: No.
NR: Ok, I must have misunderstood or misheard that one
SV: It’s not really… it’s music, yes, but it’s more like melodies, no singing, so no Justin Bieber. I think that was on your iPod. In the end, it’s not a secret, it’s just music that gets me or tries to get me in the zone so that I hopefully get the best out of myself.
Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media) Sebastian, the second part of the season has always been fruitful for you, the last two seasons when you have delivered most and this year also you are delivering your best in the second part of the season. Is there anything special about the races, especially in Asia?
SV: Not a lot, really. I’m trying hard in the first half as well. Obviously the last couple of years it was a benefit to do well in the second half. I think generally there’s no track in the calendar that I dislike. I think towards the end, we’ve got very good tracks such as here and the best one, I think, Suzuka. For the last race, maybe there’s a little bit of that but I don’t think there’s a reason why we perform better in the second half than the first one. I think, as a team, we’ve been working very hard and very consciously on our fitness; it’s a long year for all the teams so that we make sure that we’re still on top of our game towards the end.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Nico and Lewis answered this earlier, so just for Seb: in a few weeks we will be in Texas, what are your thoughts on the track and also the ambiance at the track and in the city of Austin?
SV: Well, I think it was fantastic last year. To be honest, we were all very surprised. Obviously, up to that point, Formula One didn’t have the best record in the United States, so it was great to see that there were so many people. The whole city… I think that’s really the special thing that we enjoy, apart from the track itself, that the whole city was living the Grand Prix. You could feel that there was a special vibe and that everyone was looking forward to the event. I think it was generally very positive. We obviously look forward to going there again. I think the track is tricky, very challenging, mixed, with high speed and slow corners. It was nice to be on the podium last year, nice to get a different kind of hat. Yeah, we’ll try to do it again.
Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Sebastian, it is known how much you admire the history of F1 so what is your top five drivers of all time?
SV: I don’t think it’s fair to only name… that for sure there is more than five. There are different times in Formula One so if you look back recently, you’ve got a couple of drivers racing now but obviously if you don’t look too far back, drivers like Mika (Hakkinen), Michael (Schumacher), Ayrton (Senna), Nigel Mansell dominated their times in a way – Prost – so you cover quite a lot of the last couple of years. After that, there’s guys like Lauda, Piquet. I don’t think it’s fair to highlight one-two-three because Formula One has changed.
Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media) Sebastian after the qualifying was over, you took an instrument from your teammate and checked the brakes. This shows 100 percent involvement, that you’re very serious about the set-up and the technical preparation of the car and 100 percent involvement is giving you 100 percent commitment and earning nearly 100 percent success. So how much involvement and what motivates you to be so into the game?
SV: Well, I think first off, if you don’t give your 100 percent, then you would be disappointed because you didn’t give your 100 percent… No, I’m joking. It’s a team effort at the end of the day, you know. The team is pushing very hard and you also feel that you have to deliver as well, as I feel part of the team, so I feel that I’ve got to do my bit right as well and for sure you’re very conscious, so you try to find the right set-up. The team obviously tries to support you as much as possible, before the race, at the race weekend. I love what I do, it’s days like this when you get out and the car feels fantastic, it’s the greatest reward you can get so for sure you want to use all that 100 percent.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, if you look at the previous three years when you won the championship, the day before, what is the difference? What is your approach, how are you going to approach tomorrow’s race?
SV: To be honest, I think they’ve been very similar. Obviously two of the three years have been very different: 2011, you could say that it was more relaxed. Obviously 2010 and 2012 was a different situation but at the end of the day there’s no secret, no secret preparation. I think we all have a certain routine we go through before a race but also the night before. I don’t think I did anything special the last three times, not that I can remember and I wasn’t really looking forward to the race, saying that ‘yeah, tomorrow is the day, could be the day.’ I was basically trying to focus on the race and in a way, trying to ignore the fact that it could be the decisive race. At the end of the day, you also have so many races a year that on the last race of the season, if you do your best and it’s enough then it’s fine, if you do your best and it’s not enough, then it’s not the last race that’s to blame.
Q: (Nirmal John – Fortune India Magazine) I just wanted to ask your views on Formula E which is the new electric car racing series which is in the works. How sustainable is that kind of racing series and what does that signify in terms of the future of Formula One meeting something like electric cars?
SV: I don’t like it at all. I think it’s not the future, I think the people come here to feel Formula One and there’s not much to feel when a car goes by and you don’t even hear anything else but the wind. Maybe I’m very old fashioned, but I think Formula One needs to scream, needs to be loud, there needs to be the vibration. That’s what I remember from the first time I went to see Formula One in 1992 for free practice at Hockenheim, even though it was wet and the cars didn’t go out, but once they did their installation laps it was a great feeling just to be there and hear them coming through the forest and feel it through the ground. That’s why I’m not a big fan at all.
NR: Well, it’s an interesting thing, for sure, something new and I know there’s a lot of interest and it’s planned to be in the cities so it’s bringing the race to the people, not the people to the race and of course it’s a bit of the future, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. We need to wait and see.
LH: I agree with both of them.
Q: (Lokendra Pratap Sahi – The Telegraph, Kolkata) Seb, what has made you the driver you are?
SV: I don’t know. I think in the end there’s a little bit of influence on the guy you become but also you have your preference in life, you have a certain thing called taste so you do what in the end you’d like. Sometimes some people lead you to one thing or another but in the end you make the decision. On track, obviously, if you look at my career, I think there’s a lot of people that I had behind me supporting me from an early age but to be fair, when I started, all this was not even… we didn’t even really dream about it. I had a hobby and I started together with my father to go racing with the whole family as well. Obviously it became a little bit more serious, a little bit faster, a little bit more serious. I think you really go step by step. In the end, I think it’s passion that drives us all, the love that we have for the sport, the love we have to challenge ourselves, challenge the cars and nowadays instead of racing with go-karts we just end up in bigger cars on bigger tracks with more people watching. I think the core hasn’t changed.
Ends
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Vettel claims third pole in India
Greater Noida, 26 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel claimed his third consecutive Indian Grand Prix pole position in emphatic style at the Buddh International Circuit, beating out Nico Rosberg by over seven tenths of a second, with Lewis Hamilton third.
Vettel just needs to finish 5th or ahead to clinch his 4th Driver’s World Championship on Sunday.
Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel (GER) of Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during the Indian Grand Prix at BIC on Saturday in Greater Noida. © Buddh International Circuit In a Q3 segment shaped by race strategy, the top three qualified on the soft tyre, the quicker of the two compounds on offer. However, a number of top-10 runners opted to complete their runs on the medium tyre, including Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who settled for fourth place in the belief that a longer first stint in the race may well bGreae advantageous tomorrow. The others starting on the medium are Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who qualified eighth, and the McLaren drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button, who qualified ninth and tenth respectively.
At the sharp end of the action, however, Vettel was untouchable. In Q1, when Alonso put on the soft tyre and surged into P1 with a lap of 1:25.934, Vettel slotted into P2 with an identical time, to the thousandth of a second, on the slower medium compound. As the clock ran out on the session and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, who had gambled on a medium-shod opening segment, was eliminated, Vettel sailed into Q2 as the only man not to use the option tyre.
In Q2 he was equally unstoppable. Finally armed with the soft tyre, he blasted into P1 with his first flying lap, his time of 1:24.568 already seven tenths up on his 2012 pole position time. The lap was good enough to see him through to Q3 in P1, ahead of Alonso who was the only other driver in that segment to dip below the 1m25s mark.
In Q3, Vettel simply drove away from the pack. His first run yielded a time of 1:24.119 and though Rosberg and Hamilton explored the limits of their Mercedes, neither could get remotely close to the Red Bull driver’s time.
Vettel attempted to lower his benchmark with a second run but a small error midway through the lap put paid to that. It mattered little, he had claimed his 43rd career pole and put himself in the ideal position to challenge for a third Indian GP win, which if achieved will also garner the German his fourth championship title on the trot.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” said Vettel of his title chances. “But I think we’ve done pretty well in the past, focusing on every single step and I don’t see a reason why we’d change things for tomorrow. We’re in a good position. Tomorrow is a long race and with strategy it will be tricky to always do the right thing – but there are a lot of laps so I think we have a quick package and should be in good shape tomorrow.”
Rosberg, meanwhile, admitted that he had taken his Mercedes to the limit in pursuit of Vettel’s time.
“To be honest I’m completely on a knife’s edge,” he said. “Really pushing the limits this weekend, just trying to extract that little tenth more out of the car. Trying different things, new ways, new set-ups and until now it works. So I’m very pleased with that.
“Qualifying in second is better than I hoped for – because of Mark being on another strategy, so for the moment it’s looking OK,” he added. “The race is still going to be tough because it’s very different circumstances here, with the option tyre really struggling at the beginning of the race tomorrow and then prime will be OK but also the balance of the car is very different. So, we’ll see.”
The result is a positive for Mercedes in the team’s bid to overtake Ferrari in the race for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, as Hamilton admitted.
“We really want to get a great result this weekend,” he said. “Strategy is going to play a huge part but I was a little bit surprised to be where we are. But generally, bit by bit, adjusting the set-up and everything , we got a reasonable balance and hopefully tomorrow we can push together to try and stay ahead of the rest.”
Behind the top three, Webber will be the first to start on the medium tyre, a choice he said puts him in a “good position to capitalise” in the race.
“We thought it was worth trying something a little bit different with the strategy today, so that’s why we ran the primes in Q3,” he said. “We thought we would probably be a bit further back than the second row to be honest, so it turned out to be a good session for us.
“It’s not easy to manage the primes when you just get a look at them in Q3, but I think we did a good job and we didn’t leave too much out there,” he added. “We’re in a good position to capitalise on a different approach tomorrow. The option tyre shouldn’t last too long and we’ll be on a different strategy. That said, I’ll still have to use the softer tyre in the race at some point, so let’s see.”
The row behind the Australian will be occupied by soft-tyre starters Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who finished fifth, and Kimi Raikkonen, who will hoping to salvage something for Lotus after the team’s medium-tyre Q1 gamble with team-mate Grosjean backfired.
Nico Hulkenberg will line up seventh on the grid, ahead of Alonso. Perez and Button will occupy row five.
Grosjean’s elimination was the only major upset of Q1, in which the other fallers, from P18 back, were Pastor Maldonado, Jules Bianchi, Giedo van der Garde, Charles Pic and Max Chilton.
In Q2, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a place in the final segment by less than a tenth of a second and had to settle for P11. He’ll be joined on row six by Force India’s Paul Di Resta. The Scot’s team-mate Adrian Sutil finished 13th with the second Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne 14th. The final two spots in Q2 were taken by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez.
2013 Indian Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:24.119
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.871
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.941
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:25.047
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.201
6 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:25.248
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:25.334
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.826
9 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:26.153
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.487
11 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:25.519
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:25.711
13 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:25.740
14 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:25.798
15 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.134
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:26.336
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.577
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:26.842
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:26.970
20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:27.105
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:27.487
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:28.138ends
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Lorenzo Masters Wet Motegi for Perfect Pole: Grand Prix of Japan
Motegi (Japan), 26 Oct 2013: Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo delivered a stunning performance in this afternoon’s extended MotoGP qualifying session to take pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan.Following yesterday’s cancellation of practice sessions due to weather conditions, the premier class were today given a special 75-minute qualifying heat, allowing the drama of the Japanese round to finally move to the track.
Defending world champion Lorenzo made full use of the extended session, getting straight out onto the wet circuit to start working on his race set up. Having initially swapped the top spot with rival Marc Marquez early in the session he dropped down the timesheets. After some work on the set up he was back, rising quickly to 2nd after a third of the time had gone, 0.1seconds from Marquez in top. The top positions continued to change until with 15 minutes to go, when Lorenzo put the hammer down and delivered a perfect 1’53.965 to go over half a second clear at the top. Whilst his rivals were able to improve, so was he, dropping even further to a 1’53.471 in the final seconds to secure pole 0.65 ahead of Marquez.
Lorenzo said: “I’m really happy, it was not so simple because my last memory of the rain was Assen. At the beginning I was a little bit scared and didn’t want to crash. We were lucky to have the extended qualifying time to get used to the track. Little by little I got confidence and finally I felt really good with the bike and the grip of the track, especially under braking. It doesn’t matter if it’s wet or dry tomorrow, it’s not my problem to think about it, I have to ride in whatever conditions we have. A wet race would be better for the championship though!”
ends
