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Author: David Bodapati
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Rosberg wins action-packed Monaco GP
Monaco, 26 May 2013: Nico Rosberg has taken his first win for Mercedes this year, ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who extends his championship lead. Rosberg was in front from start to finish. An accident on lap 45 brought out the red flag and under the current rules the drivers were allowed to change tyres during the stoppage. Rosberg completed the race on the supersoft tyre, following yet another safety car period with 15 laps to go.
Kimi Raikkonen, who was in the fifth place was hit by Sergio Perez and pitted, to eventually finish 10th for a point. Both Force India cars made it to the points with Sutil taking 5th place and Paul di Resta finishing 9th after starting from 17th on the grid.
Mercedes AMG Petronas quotes:
Nico Rosberg took his second career victory today at the Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of his home city.
- Nico’s win came exactly 30 years after his father, Keke, scored the second win of his own career at Monaco in 1983
- Lewis Hamilton finished fourth after losing position during the pit stops at the start of the first Safety Car period
- In spite of two Safety Car periods and one red flag interruption, Nico led every lap of the race after starting from pole
DriverCar No.Chassis No.Result / Fastest LapNico Rosberg9F1 W04 / 03P1 1:18.327Lewis Hamilton10F1 W04 / 04P4 1:18.133WeatherWarm and sunnyTemperaturesAir: 18-20°CTrack: 39-44°CNico Rosberg
Monaco is such a special place to win and it just feels amazing today. It was my childhood dream to win this race and to do it in a Silver Arrow on the streets where I have lived all of my life is fantastic. I can’t quite believe it has happened yet and it will probably take a while to sink in. Thank you to the team for the car that we had this weekend and it’s good to have been able to show the same level of performance on Sunday and convert our pole position. The whole weekend went pretty much to plan, even though qualifying was tough with the weather conditions. I didn’t have the best start today which meant Lewis and Seb got pretty close but after the first corner, I was able to set my own pace. Then it was just a case of keeping a cool head through all the incidents and the team did a great job of keeping me in touch with what was happening. Thank you to everyone here today and back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth. I hope this win today is the first of many more to come for us.Lewis Hamilton
It’s been a great weekend for the team and I’m really happy for everyone. Big congratulations to Nico, he’s been awesome all weekend here and really deserves that victory. From my side, this weekend hasn’t really been the best and we didn’t make the most of the opportunity for a one-two finish today. When the safety car came out, I needed to maintain a gap so we didn’t get delayed with the double pit stop but unfortunately the gap was too big and we lost out to the two Red Bulls. That’s motor racing and these things happen sometimes. It’s the tightest track in the world here and virtually impossible to overtake unless you are much quicker than the car in front so there was nothing I could do to improve my position. But it’s great for the team to have achieved our first victory of the season and I hope we can carry through the performance we showed here to Montreal.Ross Brawn
Congratulations to Nico today. He did not put a foot wrong all weekend, topping every session and driving a very poised and controlled race. He richly deserves this second win of his career. Lewis was running very comfortably in second position until the Safety Car period just before both drivers had made their first stops. The team did a fantastic job all weekend in a challenging qualifying session and a difficult race. But we are all aware, Monaco is not a completely representative circuit. We will take the time this evening to enjoy our success but know that we need to keep pushing to understand how to extract the maximum from our car at every circuit and keep improving further.Toto Wolff
Nico was dominant not just this afternoon but all weekend. He did everything right from the first lap on Thursday and he really earned this victory. Lewis lost some time in the second sector on his in-lap behind the Safety Car and that cost him position to the Red Bulls, so we need to find out what happened there. As for the team, congratulations to everybody in Brackley and Brixworth. The guys at the track overcame all the obstacles that were put in their way this weekend and the team at the factory have achieved a great step in performance with the car. Now we need to keep pushing so we can repeat this taste of success at different types of circuit through the rest of the season.
Pirelli release:After the original start Red Bull’s Mark Webber was the first of the frontrunners to make his scheduled stop, coming in on lap 25 to change from supersoft to soft. But the complexion of the race was altered when the safety car came out for the first time this year on lap 29 – provoking a round of pit stops. Both the Mercedes pitted consecutively for soft tyres two laps later, with Lewis Hamilton dropping from second to fourth as a result of the safety car intervention.
Following the red flag, the teams could chose whichever tyres they wished at the re-start, 25 minutes after the accident that caused it. The majority of the drivers chose to go with a used set of supersofts, with Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen the highest-placed driver to re-start on the soft tyre, from fifth place. The Finn was forced into a final pit stop for the supersoft following a collision, passing six cars in the final five laps to score a point.
Force India’s Paul di Resta, who started from 17th, planned a two-stop strategy. He changed from the supersoft to the soft tyre on lap nine, climbing to 11th place by the red flag. This effectively allowed him a ‘free’ pit stop and he eventually ended the race in a points-scoring ninth.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Once again, we saw a Monaco Grand Prix where safety cars and a red flag played a prominent role. This had a defining effect on strategy, effectively meaning that all the careful pre-race planning went out of the window. Nonetheless, we experienced the expected low levels of tyre wear and degradation: in fact the race leader went one lap longer this year during his first stint on the supersoft compared to last year, even though the compounds are generally softer. After the race was stopped, most drivers chose to re-start on used supersofts, having to make them last for 32 laps for the finish – although they were certainly helped by a second safety car period. Congratulations to Nico Rosberg and Mercedes, who dominated every session and led an action-packed grand prix from start to finish. We also saw some great performances lower down the field from drivers who used their tyres and strategy to very good effect, despite the extremely unpredictable race circumstances.”
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Raj Bharath finishes 2nd in Formula Masters at Shanghai circuit
Shanghai (China), 25 May 2013: After completing a solid debut weekend at Zhuhai, Indian youngster Raj Bharath continued his charge in the Formula Masters championship as he clinched second place at round two of the series at Shanghai International Circuit.
Backed by Bangalore-based real estate developer Embassy Group and driving for Meco Motorsport, Raj had qualified fourth on the grid and finished race one in the same position before following it up with a second place in race two, according to a Meco Motorsports press release from Shanghai.
The weekend had started on a difficult note the team worked to find the right setup to suit the 4.6-kilometre layout.
The venue, which also hosts the F1 Chinese Grand Prix is a unique challenge on the setup front, as sectors 1 and 2 consist of high-speed corners, while sector 3 has long straights – the longest being over 1.1-kilometre long.
This makes the setup choice difficult since balance between drag and downforce become critical. High downforce offers an advantage in the first two sectors with high cornering speeds, but due to excess drag, top speed will suffer.
A low-downforce setup will make the car twitchy and difficult to drive in the first two sectors, but will benefit top-speed in a straight line so getting the balance right was crucial for a good lap time.
“Even though the chassis is same as last year, the car feels completely different right now”, said Raj, comparing his last year’s outing at the same venue where he scored his first international victory.
“The new tyres and engine package makes it a new car altogether, so we spent a lot of time chasing a good setup in the practice sessions. We knew that low-downforce was the way to go, even though it makes the car slightly more on the limit”, he elaborated.
Although Raj was able to muscle his way to the sharp-end of the grid in qualifying, he was unable to get close to pole position – a feat that he had achieved in Zhuhai two weeks back. As a result he had to settle for fourth on the grid but there were other contributing factors as well.
“It was quite weird out there. It felt like the track was changing every few minutes – sometimes we would just come in and go out, without changing anything on the car and it would behave differently.
“I’m not sure what the issue was, but it wasn’t just weather where we had a drizzle one day and hot sun the other. There are a lot of other types of race cars running on the weekend as well so I think the track kept getting rubbered in and out continuously with all different compounds and as a result there was a lot of dirty rubber on the track.”, he explained.
Race one turned out to be uneventful as Raj tried his best to gain positions from the second row but after losing out in the opening sectors, he was unable to claw back the difference through the long straights of the final sector.
After a brief dice with Akash Nandy who went on to finish third, Raj decided to focus on lap times which would enable him to study how he could get himself in a better position for race two.
“We made some small setup changes before race two but we stuck to the low-downforce philosophy while everyone else went with high-downforce for cornering advantage”, he revealed.
As lights went out for race two, Raj immediately managed to jump Akash Nandy to slot himself in third at the start, while his front-running rivals Aidan Wright and Afiq Yazid got away.
Slowly though, he began to haul in Aidan, who was running second and managed to get a good slipstream on the back straight before diving down the inside at the hairpin to relieve the Australian of second place.
After that Raj didn’t look back and put his head down to chase Afiq for the top spot, but it wasn’t to be as he fell short by two seconds at the finish line.
“Second race gave us confidence as the low-downforce approach finally paid off”, said Raj
“Rain is expected for tomorrow’s race so anything can happen, but I’m hoping for another podium which would help me stay in the top-three in the championship. Scoring consistent points is what we need but we’ll hopefully be able to seal that win soon”, he concluded.
ABOUT RAJ BHARATH:
Born November 20, 1994 in Bangalore, Raj took his first steps in motorsport with karting in 2008 – like all aspiring F1 drivers. Then aged 14, he immediately showed glimpses of his potential in his debut year, winning the trophy for the ‘Most promising rookie of the year’ in the National Karting championship.
He eventually won the title in 2010 and progressed to Formula BMW Asia in 2011 followed by the Ferrari Academy supported Formula Pilota in 2012.
For 2013, Raj aims to participate in the Formula Masters China and win the championship before moving to Europe in 2014, and getting closer to his aim of making it to Formula 1.
Career highlights:
2008 Most promising rookie in the JK Rotax Karting championship.
2009 Second runner-up in JK Rotax Max Karting championship.
2010 Rotax Max Karting NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2011 Debut in Formula BMW Asia Pacific – five top ten finishes.
2012 Formula Pilota China – 10 podium finishes and three wins.Formula Masters China car specifications
Chassis: Tatuus FA010, FIA F3 homologated
Engine: Volkswagen Formula EVO 2.0
Gearbox: Six-speed sequential with LSD
Power: 180 PS
Torque: 200Nm
Suspension: Double-wishbone with pushrod activation
Brakes: Four-pot Dixcel calipers
Tyres: Front – 180/550 R13
Rear – 240/570 R13
Weight: 540kg with driverFormula Masters China calendar
Zhuhai (China) 10-12 May
Shanghai (China) 24-26 May
Ordos (China) 28-30 June
Inje (Korea) 2-4 August
Sepang (Malaysia) 13-15 Sep
Shanghai (China) 25-27 Oct
Macau Grand Prix 8-10 Nov -
It’s great to be on pole again: Rosberg
Drivers present at the Saturday’s FIA Press Conference after qualification:
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes),2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes),3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)TV UNILATERAL
Q: Nico, I guess in some ways the result that many people had expected – but it was not straightforward in the way it was achieved today, given the conditions.Nico ROSBERG: Oh, definitely, yeah! It could have been a lot easier out there today. The conditions were all over the place and as soon as it started drizzling again the lap times became a lot slower, even on the Inters. So it was really difficult and changing so much, y’know? So you really have to be out there at the right time with the right tyres, especially in Q2, changing over to slicks – but I’m really happy. Everything went to plan and the last lap was OK. It’s great to be on pole again, especially in Monaco. If at any track then it’s this track where it makes a difference.Q: Lewis, you held provisional pole position for a matter of a few seconds…Lewis HAMILTON: Thanks!Q: …before Nico came through. Did you think you’d done enough on that lap? Did you think that today was the day?LH: I didn’t, definitely not. I’ve been struggling all weekend as you can see, my pace was sucking all weekend and just struggling with the car if I’m honest. It’s the first time I’ve ever had that experience here in Monaco, since 2005, every year, I was on it and didn’t have any problems with confidence or anything like that – but this weekend has been difficult. So I’m really happy to be here, be able to lock-out, obviously, the front row for the team and just massive improvement for me, considering all the sessions in qualifying – so I’m still chuffed.Q: Sebastian, you were fastest in Q2 but when push came to shove at the very end, were you just missing that final little bit, do you think?Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think it was very close. Mercedes was very quick all weekend, we know they are very quick on one lap. But I don’t want that to sound like an excuse. I think it was a bit more than a tenth missing and I think I had that today but it didn’t come together on the last lap. Really, if anyone’s to blame… I think the car was very, very good and if anyone’s to blame then it’s me. So, not entirely happy .with the last lap but quite happy that there isn’t a Ferrari or a Lotus ahead. Tomorrow I think these guys will have to stop at least as much as us – yeah therefore I think sitting in third is still a good result and should be a good opportunity tomorrow to win the race.Q: Back to you Nico, it’s 30 years since your father Keke won this grand prix, 30 years to the year You’re bidding to become the first son of a former winner to win the Monaco Grand Prix. Your thoughts on tomorrow’s grand prix.NR: Well, it’s always nice to hear these statistics but… yeah, it’s nice but it doesn’t really change much for tomorrow. Just very happy starting first. And you know, in Barcelona we were still struggling a lot in the race. I was 70 seconds behind at the end of the race from the race winner. We’re improving, it’s difficult to understand the tyres and get the most out of it. We’re improving step by step – but there’s still a lot of question marks remaining. And so here, yeah, I’m sure we’ve made a step forward but it’s still going to be difficult for us tomorrow, definitely. It’s still our weakness but we’ll make the best of it and, who knows? You can always have a few surprises.PRESS CONFERENCEQ: Obviously Nico it’s an all-German final this evening in the Champions’ League, you’ve stuck the car on pole position so a fair bit to shout about there – but there was one moment in Q1 at Mirabeau where you appeared to be about to go straight on – so quite a close moment. Did you have your heart in your mouth at that moment?NR: Two moments actually! I did exactly the same thing twice. I was just surprised by the lack of grip going into there and then I didn’t really want to accept the next time around that I had to take so much speed out, and so I went straight again. But anyway, it was the beginning of the session, it was drying out so I knew that there was plenty of time to set a time later on. But of course those moments are not great. Prefer staying on track.Q: Lewis, I guess it’s moments like that where you guys really show what you can do, finding grip levels. At no point in the weekend have we had any wet-running and you had to go out there and find the limit almost immediately. Can you just put into words how you do that and what it feels like, what you’re getting back through the car?LH: That’s not an easy question to answer. It’s just down to feel and we all have… that’s the skill that we have, to feel the grip when it’s unknown and that’s really one of the most exciting things about this session: you never knew where the grip was. You’d arrive in a corner: sometimes you’ve overdone it; sometimes you’ve undershot. And like Nico said, it’s surprising how little grip there was in some places. And that’s what makes the session so exciting. And like I said, I’m just happy. Congratulations to Nico, he did a great job today – but I’m really happy I could be up here with him.Q: Sebastian, your thoughts on that – and also on what we saw on Thursday from Red Bull in terms of long-run performance. Obviously we know what’s happened the last few races with Mercedes after strong qualifying but this is a very different kind of race track in terms of tyre wear, isn’t it?SV: Yeah, I think we will have to wait until tomorrow really to be precise – but I think we had an idea on Thursday. Our performance on Thursday – my performance on Thursday was not great. I wasn’t feeling the car and therefore today I was much, much happier. We improved the car a lot so having that extra day yesterday I think helped us. Right from the start this morning the car was much more to my liking. I felt much more confident, got into the rhythm nicer which is the most important around here. If you don’t feel comfortable then you just don’t dare to go faster. So I was very happy with the car and I’m, I think, very confident for tomorrow. Long run pace looked already good on Thursday so I expect it to be again a bit again a stronger on Friday [Sunday]. I think we’re pretty much average in terms of tyre wear, so yeah, the last couple of races Mercedes was worst in that regard but Monaco is a different track. A little bit different what we can expect tomorrow, so I think we still have a great chance from P3, hoping for a good start and then getting into the race nicely, doing the right calls at the right time and hopefully come out ahead. That’s the plan. But surely those guys have something against that. But yeah, our target tomorrow is to win.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR.Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Seb, you were the only one in the last outing who did only one flying lap instead of two. First of all, why did you do it? And second, was it a mistake? Because everybody seems to be faster on the second lap.SV: Yeah, would, could, should! I think if I could decide again then I’d probably go for two and two. Two laps every time. I was confident that when the track picks up I’m able to nail the first lap. My first sector wasn’t bad but the first two corners, which is turn one and then the Casino, the fronts weren’t ready and then you play catching up. You feel that you’ve lost something. Overall I was happy with the lap but I think there was a tenth, a tenth-and-a-half for sure somewhere. So therefore initially a little disappointed. But as I said, overall happy because on Thursday it didn’t look as if we were anywhere close to the first two rows, so I’m happy with the result and confident for tomorrow.Q: (David Tremayne – The Independent) Two questions to Lewis. Can you expand a little bit more on what you said about this struggle. Is it a matter of just the setup of the car?LH: No, the setup of the car is good. It’s been good all weekend but that’s probably… that last lap is probably the first time I’ve switched my tyres on all weekend. And when you don’t generate the heat in your tyres you don’t have the confidence to hit the brakes hard and brake late. Even on that lap, my tyres weren’t ready by turn one, similar to what Seb was experiencing. That means you just have a bit of understeer and you’re playing catch-up for the rest of the lap. But generally the rest of the lap was great. That’s why my middle and my last sector were competitive. It was a big improvement for me because in P1, P2 and P3 it was a disaster. I think it’s just that it’s a new car still. For whatever reason I’m still coming to terms with it.Q: (David Tremayne – The Independent) Lewis you’ve been criticised again lately – it’s the lifestyle thing again and that’s why you’re struggling and everything else. What’s your reaction to that?LH: Well, I’m not really aware of it. Someone mentioned something about my dog. How the hell can a dog be distracting? I don’t really know how I could live my life any different. I’m enjoying my life, so if people have a got a problem with that then that’s there problem.Q: (Frederic Ferret – l’Equipe) A question to Sebastian. Apart from the start, where do you think you can overtake the Mercedes tomorrow?SV: I don’t know. There’s a lot of laps here, 78, so… I think on track it will be difficult, we all know that. I think obviously I was fourth last year at the end of the race for quite… many laps. I had the feeling I could go faster, I think Nico was in second, he had the feeling he could go faster but it’s difficult to overtake. In 2009 I didn’t mind that it was difficult because I was in the lead, it always depends where you are. On track it will be difficult but, yeah, if all goes well hopefully the Mercedes will struggle and we’ll sail past in the pit stop. I think we can’t rely on that. As I said tyre wear for will for sure play a role tomorrow but I think we need to look after ourselves first and then we’ll see what happens and hopefully we make the right calls at the right time. I think that will definitely be the chance we have.Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) My question is to all three of you. Two weeks ago Fernando Alonso was mentioning the GP2 race, he was mentioning the fact that it helped him because he realised that he could overtake at a specific curve and in some words he was… Tom Dillmann was helping him to overtake at this curve. So my question to all three of you, I would is when you are watching the GP2 races, does it help you. How do you watch it, what do you feel, do you prepare for the race with that?NR: I always watch it, and especially I learn from the start. See how it goes, grip left and right, how it goes into the first corner. That’s probably the only thing I personally pick up from them.LH: The same really. I have a question, though. What corner was it?It was in Barcelona. It was the third corner.LH: Round the outside.Yes, Tom Dilmann did it. He [Alonso] was saying that he was not thinking he was able to overtake there.LH: Yeah, it can definitely help sometimes.Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life) My question is to Sebastian Vettel. Do you have maybe special training exercises for Monaco race? Or maybe for you it’s same race as other races?SV: Interesting question. I think it would be ideal to get some extra laps compared to everyone else, but that’s not possible – they would need to block the whole city and you’re not allowed tot do that so it’s a bit difficult. Surely around here it’s a very different track, it’s very bumpy, you need to be very sharp. Timing matters. You need to dare to go close to the rails. It’s difficult to practice. Obviously we have a simulator and you get an idea, but it’s different in reality, especially when you brush the wall. You feel it a little bit more than in the simulator. But it’s good fun. We enjoy coming here. There has been some talk about the track not being safe. There will always be some risk but I think we have for example the best marshals here for the whole year, so it does make you feel safe when you know that if something goes wrong these people know how to take care of you. So compliments for that and generally I quite like street circuits.What about you Nico, because you have a whole warm-up routine involving footballs and various things with your trainer. Is it different in any way here in Monaco?NR: No same thing. I just like to play some soccer before getting in the car – just to move about it.Q: (Malcolm Folley – Mail on Sunday) Nico and Lewis, now that I’ve been reprimanded by the headmaster, you’ll talk through tonight how you’ll approach the start tomorrow. Can you just confirm to us that you’ll be expected to race against one another but clearly the instruction will be to make sure that you don’t take each off early in the race?NR: Can you assure us that you’re going to behave from now on? Then we’ll answer the question. Of course, well we respect each other and the start is going to be important for sure and we’ll see who gets to the first corner first. I have the advantage that I’m ahead and on the clean side of the grid so that will definitely be good and then from there we have to see how it goes – who’s quicker in the race and strategy and things like that.Your thoughts, Lewis?LH: Yeah, I think tonight we’ll speak about it. It’s obviously important that we position ourselves in a smart way that we can keep Sebastian behind and then focus on trying to grab that one-two.Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico congratulations for the pole. How much easier would it have been in dry conditions?NR: It’s never easy, but for sure the conditions out there were more difficult out there than if it had been completely dry. I don’t know it was probably similar because it’s the same for everybody, so yeah similar.Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To both drivers of Mercedes. Your car has some news here on this track. From the information you got in free practice do you believe you can have a race different from the last ones where you also started from the front and lost a lot of performance?NR: It’s only two weeks since then, yeah. We were 70 seconds away then so for sure we still have large problems in the race and it’s definitely still going to be a difficulty yeah. The track is an advantage for us because you can’t overtake so easily. It also eats the tyres less this track, so for sure there are some advantages. We made a few changes to improve things so we are progressing and hopefully looking better than Barcelona but it’s still our weakness you know, so we have to wait. But it can also be a bit better than expected tomorrow. We just have to wait and see.Your thoughts on that Lewis and when there is a fix coming for this problem in the race?LH: There isn’t a fix. Obviously we’ve been working very hard to understand them, so there will be a slight adjustment. Hoping that they will be a little bit better for us. As Nico said it’s difficult to overtake here but it has only been two weeks so we haven’t made a huge step forward but hopefully with less high-speed corners here we might stand a better chance.Q: (Walter Kosta – Saarbrücker Zeitung) Question to Sebastian. Did you expect that the team Lotus, in this qualifying, would be the third power, with your friend, I mean Kimi, before Ferrari, with Alonso?SV: I think it was difficult to foresee what is going to happen in qualifying. In practice it looked as if the Lotus is very quick, at least Romain was very, very quick through all the sessions – sometimes a little bit too quick, especially in the first corner, he was struggling a little bit there. I spoke to Kimi on Thursday and he said that he didn’t feel so well yet but I think they managed to improve the car. But as I said before, when you feel confident around here, when you like you car, you can gain quite a lot of time, much more than on a normal track. So it’s very important to feel comfortable. So in that regard it is a surprise that Lotus beat Ferrari because Ferrari looked very competitive already on Thursday.Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, it’s already three-in-a-row for Nico. How do you cope psychologically that your team-mate is constantly faster than you in the qualifying, because it’s a completely new situation for you?LH: It is a new situation for me, one that I seem to be dealing with pretty well. As I said, I’ve had pretty good seasons here in the past in terms of being on the pace. This has definitely been one of the worst so far. So to be second is a bit of a blessing for me considering how slow I was earlier on in practice. Of course I need to correct this. As soon as I’m able to extract the maximum from the car hopefully in the next couple of races, hopefully we’ll see the true pace.Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, this is the third pole in a row for you. I would like to know how is the situation. You made pole position ion the last two races and don’t make any mistake and you are the real Monegasque guy because you grew up here. I want to know how is the feeling to make this achievement, the pole position, in your really home grand prix.NR: Very special for sure. I’ve grown up here. Lived here all my life. Gone to school here. The way through the tunnel is my way to school and now I’m driving through there with a silver arrow. To be on pole today is a great feeling and yeah fantastic, look forward to tomorrow and make the best of it and try to get a good result.ends -
Mercedes’ 2nd consecutive front row lockout
Monaco, 25 May 2013: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has claimed his third consecutive pole position – an achievement never matched by his 1982 world champion father Keke, who won in Monaco 30 years ago – using the P Zero Red supersoft tyre, which is nominated with the P Zero Yellow soft this weekend. Rosberg’s time of 1m13.876s was nearly half a second quicker than last year’s pole time – set by Michael Schumacher in a Mercedes – and marked the fourth pole in a row for the team, after a thrilling session.
Mercedes AMG Petronas release:
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton claimed the second consecutive front-row lockout for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
- Pole position is Nico’s third in a row and the fourth consecutive pole for the team in the 2013 season
- Nico was fastest in every practice session of the weekend prior to qualifying on pole this afternoon
- The 0.091s gap between the drivers is equivalent to less than a car length around the 3.340 km Monaco lap
Nico Rosberg
It’s a great feeling to be on pole in the city where I grew up and it means so much to me to drive through the streets here in a Silver Arrow. The conditions were really difficult out there today with the rain at the start but we handled it well. I have to say thank you to everybody at the team for all of their hard work in improving our car and our performance so much since last year. Having said that, we know that race pace has been our weakness. We’ve learnt a lot since the last race, and this track should suit us, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if this will be enough.Lewis Hamilton
Congratulations to Nico and the team today, a great job all round. It’s a big improvement for me after struggling in the practice sessions here so I’m really happy to be on the front row of the grid. I didn’t have a great first sector on my lap today but after that it really came together. I’ve got some work to do as I haven’t felt completely comfortable in the car this weekend but I’m confident that we can have a good race tomorrow and we’ll be aiming to get the best possible result for the team.Ross Brawn
That was a tricky session and the weather kept us on our toes for the whole hour. Nico, Lewis and the whole team did a great job throughout qualifying to put us in the perfect position at the front of the grid for tomorrow. We are well aware of our fate in the last few races and we have to make sure that we are in better shape for tomorrow. I believe we have moved in the right direction and we’ll see tomorrow if those improvements are enough and we can have a good race.Toto Wolff
What a fantastic result and a brilliant performance from both drivers. There was a lot to lose at the beginning of the session in the wet conditions and it was important to judge the right changeover point from intermediate to dry tyres. The team did a perfect job of keeping both drivers in the chase and they then delivered the rest out on track. Of course we are very pleased this afternoon but, at the risk of sounding like I am repeating myself, we know it’s tomorrow that really counts.A Pirelli report: A sprinkling of rain half an hour before the start of Q1 meant that the track was damp for the first time all weekend. All the drivers started the opening session on the Cinturato Green intermediate tyre as the rain fell harder, before easing off in the closing minutes. The fastest driver in Q1 was Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, on the intermediate, while Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde also used the intermediate to take his team into Q2 for the first time this year.
The rain continued in Q2, meaning that intermediates were once more the obvious choice. With just under five minutes to go the drivers began to switch to supersoft slick tyres, led by van der Garde. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was the fastest of the Q2 drivers on the supersoft, with a time set right at the end of the session.
The Q3 session was the only one where drivers were able to use slicks from the start, with all of them heading out on the supersoft. Pole position was decided in the closing seconds, with Rosberg taking pole from his team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg completed his domination of all the free practice sessions held at Monaco this year after going quickest by seven-tenths of a second in FP3 this morning on the P Zero Red supersoft.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said:“Qualifying got off to a tricky start as the drivers were immediately confronted with wet conditions for the first time all weekend in Q1, making it difficult to judge the amount of grip available – particularly as some parts of the circuit were much wetter than others. Generally we saw that the track got a lot quicker as each session went on, making the timing of each qualifying run absolutely crucial. As usual track position will be the key to a good result heretomorrow, but there is always scope to use a creative strategy to move further up the order. However, if the uncertain conditions continue tomorrow then the strategies will be blown wide open. We’re still expecting to see more track evolution over the course of the weekend. Whether or not the drivers opt for one or two stops will depend on the speed of their cars and the track position they can maintain; we’re not expecting wear or degradation to be a significant issue. Congratulations to Mercedes for a one-two on the grid; it will be interesting to see what they do with their strategies as they aim to convert this result into a race win.”
The Pirelli mystery strategy predictor:
At Monaco, the strategy has to be very flexible in order to maintain track position and react to the high probability of a safety car at some point.
But theoretically, a two-stop strategy is quickest: start on the supersoft, change to the soft on lap 20 and soft again on lap 49.
An alternative strategy is a one-stopper, starting on the supersoft and moving to the soft on lap 36.
Another approach would be to start on the soft and change to the supersoft on lap 42.
ends
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It does not matter how much else you do, you ‘ve to make the tyres work: Bob
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Gerard LOPEZ (Lotus), Robert FEARNLEY (Force India), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Alain PROST (Renault Sport)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Alain, it’s been a while since we last saw you in an FIA press conference, welcome. Explain a little bit about your role with Renault Sport?
Alain PROST: Well, my role is mainly is an ambassador for Renault, the brand Renault, since last year. Even if I have done many things with Renault in the last few years, for different things. Also this year I’m advisor for the strategy, being part of the executive committee.
In terms of 2014, how far advanced is Renault’s programme?
AP: Everything goes well. The engine should run in June on the dyno, the final version. But everything is belonging to the programme.
And when do you think that Renault Sport will be finalising its teams for 2014?
AP: I’m not myself negotiating with the teams but we all know that it’s going to be accelerating during this weekend. I don’t know. I cannot say all the dates for all the teams but I hope very quickly.
Paul, if I could turn to you next. An awful lot of debate and opinion in Formula One at the moment regarding the Pirelli tyres this year, some pro, some anti. What is your opinion on the way that the Pirelli tyres are influencing the racing, and also what changes will we see to the tyres from Canada onwards?
Paul HEMBERY: Well, obviously there’s a lot of different opinion, quite divided, among fans, commentators, teams and you’re never going to please everyone. That’s one of the challenges you have but from our point of view it’s the same for everybody, they have exactly the same tyres to work with and somebody’s going to end up winning on a Sunday. From Canada? Well, we’re still finalising the ultimate details for Canada. We’re trying to minimise the changes, for sporting equity reasons of course. We want to resolve the delaminations that we’ve seen, that have occurred when we’ve picked up debris. That, from a tyre maker of course is something that we’ve wanted to solve. It doesn’t look good. The tyres have stayed inflated but it still doesn’t look good from an image point of view. So that’s where we’re at. We’re trying to finalise that, working with the teams. We’ve had good collaboration. Of course, some people might want something different and again you’re not going to please everybody but we have to do what’s correct for the sport and what’s correct for Pirelli.
While we’re talking tyres I think it would be nice to get the reaction of the team principals and chairmen here on the panel. Christian, can I start with you. What’s your opinion on the Pirelli tyres and the racing this year?
Christian HORNER: I think we’ve been pretty consistent throughout the year really. The tyres, on occasion, have been a bit too marginal. That includes races we’ve won at in Malaysia and Bahrain. I think it’s good that Pirelli are looking at it. I think the most important and most fundamental thing is from a safety perspective, if you do have a delamination, if you have a big chunk of rubber, you don’t want that to hit a car component or worst case a driver. So, there are safety issues that I know some of the drivers are concerned about. Hopefully, Pirelli are a very capable company. I think they know what they need to do and hopefully that can be resolved very quickly.
Gerard, is that an opinion your share – that the tyres have been too marginal this year?
Gerard LOPEZ: Yeah, we’ve echoed the safety issues and said that whatever needs to be done on safety grounds is obviously fine with us, we’re not going to go against that. As far as the tyres being marginal goes, we’ve found them to be quite consistent. But then again – different cars, different drivers, different styles… they work for us. So we’re actually quite happy with the way they are.
Franz, what about you and Toro Rosso?
Franz TOST: I think the problems started in testing, because in February it was very cold when we were out the first time this year and if I remember only Jerez was an acceptable test but otherwise in Barcelona it was quite cold. There we couldn’t do a proper test for the tyres. I think if we had tested in a warmer country some of the problems we observe now could have been sorted out. Therefore, I hope that in future we will do these tests under other conditions, under conditions under which we are racing and then I think Pirelli immediately will react and will come up with a proper solution. So far we at Toro Rosso haven’t faced bigger problems.
Finally to you Bob. From a deputy team principal’s perspective: safety, racing, what’s your opinion:
Bob FEARNLEY: I think Pirelli have done a good job. Fundamentally we’re looking to try to average out at two to three stops per race and I think if you take the extremes in any 20-race series you’re going to have some that might do four and some that might do one. But overall were going to achieve the objective. I agree with Paul, it’s the same for everybody. I think some of the teams will have put in resource perhaps this time year to start looking at how they’re going to develop their car, what suspension programme they’re going to put in to optimise the tyres, other teams will continued to work on aero. That’s the choice of the teams at the end of the day and you’ve got to deliver what you think is the most competitive package. But there are four points of contact on a track, it doesn’t matter how much else you do, you’ve got to make the tyres work.
Alain, I’m sure you’ve been watching the racing quite intently. Has the sport got the right balance at the moment between exciting racing or tyres dominating too much?
AP: I think in the past and very recently it’s been very [much] criticised for not having a show or indecision. We should [feel] very lucky that we have these kind of races. In the last few years, we have the decision only in the last grand prix. Obviously, also think about next year when we have the new engine coming we will talk maybe a little bit more about the engine, the technology, about being much closer to the product of the automotive industry. But we still need to keep the show also. We need to keep the indecision so it’s going to be even better balanced but at the moment I wouldn’t criticize what we have today.
If I could move on and turn to you, Franz. Both of your drivers in their second year with Toro Rosso this season. What improvements are you seeing from Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo and as drivers who have been part of the Red Bull driver programme, do you see something in either of them that suggests that they could move up to the senior team?
FT: Yeah I must say that both of the drivers have increased their performance and their understanding of the car of the technik, of everything, much during the last two years and they are still learning a lot. But I must say that so far they have done a reasonably good job and if we provide them with a good car, a good package, they are always able to score points. Of course, Daniel Ricciardo has a little bit more experience as he did already 11 races with HRT and you can see this. Jean-Eric Vergne is coming up with good technical feedback. He is learning also a lot. I expect from both of the drivers a very competitive second half of the season, once more if we provide them with a good car and then we will see how the future will be.
Christian, I’m sure as Red Bull team principal you keep an eye on all the young drivers in the young development programme?
CH: Yeah, absolutely. Both youngsters have been members of the Red Bull Junior team for quite a few years now and or course we watch their progress with great interest. They’re both young, talented drivers, both developing very well. It’s good to see. They’re both racing here on merit. For sure they’re two guys we have a watchful eye over.
Q: We’re getting to that stage of the season where traditionally you sit down, Red Bull, with Mark Webber and negotiate a new contract for next year, it’s normally towards the early part of the summer. Has anything been the case or has happened this season that might influence those negotiations? Will you be sitting down with Mark soon? What’s your thinking for the future?
CH: Well, we’re sitting here at race six, so y’know there’s still quite a few to go. But at the relevant time we’ll sit down with Mark and see what he wants to do, what his plans are for the future. Our interest is quite simple: we want the best two drivers in our cars going forward. Mark and Sebastian has been a tremendously successful partnership. It’s won three consecutive Constructors’ World Championships for us and obviously Mark’s made a significant contribution to that. At the relevant time – which isn’t now – we will sit down and talk about the future.
Q: Gerard, can we talk drivers with yourself too? Kimi Räikkönen has hinted recently that there are maybe a couple of options open to him for next season. He’s certainly being asked an awful lot about his future. I assume Lotus would like to keep him but realistically how likely is that?
GL: Well I think Kimi’s quite happy where he is right now. Knowing Kimi well, outside of the track too, he could just as well announce that he’s stopping altogether. So, I wouldn’t take any bets whatsoever. I think we’re looking pretty good in terms of keeping him, as long as he gets what he wants, including a performing car, which is what he really wants. For the rest, we’ll see. He for sure will tell you there’s no such thing as a pre-contract, only real contract, and we’ll sit down at some point in time and discuss the future with him. But everything is wide open on the one hand but on the other hand everything is looking pretty good for us to stay with us. So we’ll see.
Q: Do you feel external and internal pressure then? A) to develop a car that Kimi – and Romain – can perform in and b) is there external pressure from other teams who would be interested?
GL: I don’t think we need to put on any additional pressure, I think I put enough pressure on them to perform – but I think it’s good if you have a driver that really wants to have the best possible package and actually can make use of it – and Kimi certainly can. The other thing with Kimi is that he needs an environment in which he can function, and he certainly has that with us.
Q: Bob, turning to you, it’s been a very positive start for Force India this season. I wonder if the start changes the target and your goals for this year? Is fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship a realistic target given what’s happened so far?
BF: I think it’s one that we certainly should aspire to. It would be very, very hard to continuously compete with McLaren through the year but they’re also going to have some issues in terms of when they switch over to the 2014 car and, like all of us, when do we move those resources? I think a lot will depend on how far they’ve got with this car when they actually do that. But for sure, we’ve already amended our programs and our team principal is very keen for us to ensure we stay fifth.
Q: Finally on the subject of drivers, Alain, for French drivers in Formula One this season, we’re here in the South of France for the Monaco Grand Prix, do you see anything in those drivers that might indicate to you that one day they could be the next French World Champion?
AP: Difficult question! Because the last 20 years there have been announced many, many times a new French champion. Just let them work, y’know? There are four, we are very lucky to have four, different competitiveness in teams. Romain for sure is in the best position to win at least maybe the first race very soon. And just wait and see. Don’t put them under too much pressure, they have enough.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Question for everyone except Monsieur Prost. Going on the subject of the tyres, one of the things, one of the theories that we’ve had in the press room is that the part of the difficulty has been the lack of a more modern test car. You know we haven’t got the DRS, the KERS, the… everything’s a bit different. Have the teams considered investing in a Dallara machine – or similar – that Pirelli might be able to use that you can all agree on? Then that way no one team would have an advantage.
Christian?
CH: I guess the fundamental thing is we can never agree. Everybody agreed for Lotus to do the testing when they weren’t so competitive. Now they’re competitive and probably there’s a few teams that aren’t so happy that they’re not doing the testing. So, it’s a difficult one. It’s a difficult one for Pirelli, it’s a difficult one for the teams but at the end of the day we don’t need to make it too complicated. I think the way things are at the moment is too complicated for the fans. It’s too difficult to follow races where you’ve got four stops, going on. It’s hard enough when you’re in the race. I think we need to just wind that back a little bit and more than anything make sure we eliminate any safety issues.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) That isn’t really what I asked. I was wondering what sort of things you guys as a group could do going forward to try and make sure the y’know, the focus of the… wasn’t necessary criticisms of the tyres but how you could actually improve them as a group so that everybody was happy with what they were running on?
CH: Well, I don’t think you’re ever going to get everybody happy. Y’know, that’s the fundamental issue and unless you open testing up again, where everybody tests, it’s probably very difficult because people’s cars behave in different ways. So I can’t see a situation where the teams will say ‘yes, we’ll jointly fund and run a car for a tyre supplier.’ I’d be surprised.
Franz?
FT: No, we should use Friday morning, the first session or the first half-hour for testing new tyres – not sitting around like today, doing nothing. People in the grandstands, no cars out there. We just could use this – it was half an hour or 35 minutes as usually – to test new tyres. This is what I suggest since two years.
Gerard, your thoughts?
GL: My thoughts are… I would agree with Christian on the fact that it’s really difficult to get everybody to agree on anything in Formula One – be it tyres or be it anything else. And I think it’s going to stay that way just because it’s competitive both on and off the track and so on. I remember when, indeed, when we were asked to propose a car – and by the way, that car has nothing in common with what we’re running now – everybody agreed and now suddenly everybody thinks that’s the mystery to knowing how to use those tyres. And as I said, both cars are completely unrelated. So it’s very difficult to get anything done that everybody accepts. Maybe a solution like running Friday tests, I don’t know – but even that requires everybody to agree and some will and some won’t. And so I think that’s always going to be part of Formula One: The fact that this is agreement and disagreement and that’s the way forward I guess.
Bob?
BF: I think Franz’s idea’s got a certain amount of merit. I’d love to endorse that with the element of having young drivers in there as well, just so that it ticks two boxes. But I think that Pirelli have a great deal of resource, as we all do outside of actually track testing. And for instance, even with the incidents that we’ve had with the delamination, a lot of it can be done on rigs and everything else – and I think that’s where most of it will be done in the long term.
So Paul, how difficult is the job that Pirelli have without the facilities to test in the way that was traditional in Formula One?
PH: Well, it’s one of those cases where you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You’re clearly not going to get everyone to agree, and with a tyre, certainly if you design it around a certain application you can make a certain vehicle go quicker – and that’s clearly why we’re wanting to make changes now. Some people want more changes, some people don’t want any changes for example. The Friday is useful where you’re coming to a point of wanting to actually introduce a change – but you can’t go testing with 11 teams on a Friday with various specifications because it simply doesn’t work that way. I think a good step forward would be winter testing actually in hot conditions. Y’know, if we were able to get to Abu Dhabi or Bahrain before we get to Australia, at least you’d have an advanced indication. You’ve also got to remember, if we do find surprises, and I’m quite sure next season there could be – assuming we have a contract which we don’t have at the moment – but assuming we’re going forward, you could get to a situation with the new powertrain, which from the indications of the teams will have a lot of torque, and will increase wheelspin, tyre wear, overheating, you could end up in a situation with a surprise again. So there needs to be a balance. Teams have clearly got restrictions on resources. The test teams were got rid of for good reasons from their point of view – but some sort of mid-range solution would be useful to us, even if it means staying on after a few events during the season, then that would be extremely valuable from our point of view.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Alain, as Renault Sport brand ambassador, how do you feel about the fact that the public perception is that in fact Infiniti won the championship last year as the engine supplier because if one looks at the team principal’s shirt, there are five Infiniti badges and two Renault badges, yet Renault seems to be paying it all. How do you feel about that?
AP: I know it’s very difficult… it’s always difficult to answer this kind of question for me. The perception you can have here is obviously the right one, could be the right one. The involvement of Renault in Formula One, is very clear over the last few years. As you can see, the market in Europe is not very good and they’re already aiming for having a new image, new visibility in new markets: Russia, Brazil, India and a little bit less in China, those are the big markets for Renault. Obviously everybody would like to maybe have a different situation for Renault inside Formula One, for example, again, a new team, a Renault team, but the strategy of the president and of Renault is very clear. They want to stay the way they are at the moment and I must say that in this country they were talking about how it’s working very well and they’re increasing the image of the brand and they’re selling more and more cars and they want to continue like this. As I said, the perception you can have here maybe is a bit different to what they achieve instead of having a proper team, more aggravation. Again, talking about strategy, if you see what Renault has done in the last 37 years, they went from the French national team to being a partner with Williams and Benetton and then another team and then now they are supporting a team with whom we have won the World Champion for the last three years. So they could change, they could maybe change in the future, but at the moment we need to keep to this strategy decided by the president.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speedsport News) A question for Alain: there’s a lot of talk these days that the drivers cannot drive 100 percent flat out for the whole race Let’s take a year when you had a good car, say 1985. How much of the race could you drive 100 percent flat out? When you weren’t driving one hundred percent, what percent were you at and what parts of the car did you have to conserve, to make sure they lasted the race?
AP: I think it’s difficult to compare, obviously, because today the cars are so advanced; normally the driver can push 100 percent in normal conditions. The tyres this year are very soft which makes it a little bit different. In our time, if you want to compare, we had to take care of the brakes and gearbox and fuel consumption and obviously also tyres because sometimes we had to be careful of the tyres, but the regulations were also very different and at one stage we had three types of rubber and we could make changes and I very often ran hard tyres on the left and soft tyres on the front. I even raced in Las Vegas in ’81 with qualifying tyres on the front, but that means we cannot compare, but that also proves that you need to adapt yourself, as a driver, as an engineer, to the regulations and obviously we’re experiencing complaints this year… in fact it’s not that different compared to last year, except that you maybe don’t want to see some rubber on the track and having accidents. But apart from that, you just have to adapt to the situation, drivers or engineers. It’s typically Formula One.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Christian, I may have misconstrued your comment earlier but do you seriously believe that Lotus have somehow benefitted from the fact that Pirelli are using a 2010 Renault for testing, and maybe Paul could answer whether privileged information has somehow been given to one team?
CH: No, I don’t think privileged information or anything in any way has been done underhand. At the end of the day, Pirelli needed a car to test, they originally came to Red Bull. At that time, it was almost unanimously agreed that Red Bull shouldn’t provide a car and then it was a matter of finding who could provide a car. Lotus was an obvious choice. Running had to be done by Pirelli with drivers that weren’t current race drivers. You can understand that that work has had to be done. I wasn’t trying to point out that there was any specific advantage from that, I was trying to point out that you’re always going to struggle to achieve compromise and agreement.
Q: Given the changes between 2010 and now, Paul, how different is your test car to what we would see on the track?
PH: They’re probably, in terms of performance, closer to the 2011 cars with the blown diffusers. They’re going, certainly, a little bit harder than we anticipated this season. We’re probably lapping our 2010 car three to four seconds slower, for example. That gives you an indication that we’re not stressing the tyres during our testing as much as the cars are today. But there’s not a perfect solution to that. We’re not going to get unanimous agreement from everybody. Next year, the cars are so different that there’s really nothing available today, even including today’s cars, that would allow us to simulate the effect of the new powertrain. I think if we just take a sensible approach, in terms as I’ve already mentioned, of the winter testing and the potential to make adjustments during the season, but bear in mind you need agreement, you need eleven teams to agree to adjustments so if we’ve something that’s affecting eleven teams, then that’s really often easy to do. If you’re making something that might affect some teams and not all teams or perceived benefit to others then you can imagine that’s difficult. So that’s a very strange balancing act that we’re trying to do. We agree, we set out this year for two to three pit stops over the season, we probably will average that still, we will get some races like Barcelona which was won this time with four stops. It was won two years ago by Red Bull with four stops so it’s not exceptional but I guess as commentators it’s harder to follow, it keeps you awake, you don’t have your afternoon snooze any more, and that’s one of the difficulties. It will be easier here for you.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Alain Prost, it’s not been since Olivier Panis in 1996 for a French driver. What advice would you give Romain Grosjean, for example or the other French drivers… the frustration about that long spell, what advice would you give to them?
AP: I don’t think you can give advice to the drivers to be honest. They know what they do, I’m out of Formula One as a driver for the last 20 years exactly and why should I give advice to… we all see what is happening, we see that Romain, for example, has a very good car, he should be able to win a race very soon as I said. But no advice from myself. If they want to have advice they can ask a question and I’m happy to answer but not giving advice like this, no. Mental is a very strong thing for sure, but also we give them a lot of pressure very often, but this is a cycle. As soon as one is going to be winning, it could snowball and I hope it works like this.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Alain, every year someone says that Monaco is too dangerous. This week’s hero was Ralf Schumacher. I wonder, it hasn’t really changed much since your day. Do you think it is too dangerous? Do you think it’s still a relevant place for a Formula One to be held?
AP: I wouldn’t say that. It’s as dangerous as another race track can be dangerous. It’s different, for sure. You have to be a little bit careful, especially in the traffic with all the cars. Being alone is not being more dangerous than with another car. I must also say that the passive safety, what they do with the marshals and all the work they have done in the last thirty/forty years, is exceptional and yeah, there are some conditions… when it’s wet in some places where it could be a bit tough but it’s such a fantastic race for everybody, especially for the drivers obviously. That is part of the tradition and you should accept it, even if it was a little bit dangerous, obviously. You should accept that.
Q: On the pit wall, is that a bit of a worry when you send the cars out?
BF: I think that Monaco represents the ultimate of the man and machine around a very difficult circuit and if I was a driver, I would relish the thought of it and I’m sure most drivers do. From a team point of view, it’s wonderful to see the cars on the limit so close to the barriers. It’s what we should be doing.
GL: Yeah, Romain came close to the barriers too. On another race track we would have gotten away with it, just overbraked and instead of trying to go straight on, decided he could take the corner and just took off a little bit of the left front of the car. I think the drivers love it. It’s a different track, they love it for the atmosphere, they love it for the excitement. If you talk to the drivers it’s quite an amazing experience. I’ve driven it myself actually, it’s quite an amazing experience if you get really close. I remember one of Robert’s laps, he probably thought it was one of the best laps he ever did and it was here in Monaco, so I think drivers love it.
Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Speaking of 2014, what do you think about the improvement of the Formula One show and also, what is the biggest challenge for the teams and Pirelli for the new regulations of the V6?
FT: First of all, the new regulation is a big challenge from the technical side, because it’s a new engine, new air system, the complete car will be new and then it’s a challenge also from the financial side because everything is much more expensive. Whether the show will be improved or not I can’t say yet because it depends how good the different engine manufacturers work. If there’s one of them finding a special solution then we will not have such interesting races as we have now because these cars will be in front. If they are all nearly equal as is the case in the current races then I’m sure we will also have very interesting races in the future. Nevertheless, this is a new regulation and we have to get the best out of it.
Q: Challenge for Pirelli?
PH: A contract? A contract is probably the first one. If you follow the regulations, on the first of September we’re meant to define the specification for next year but as yet we don’t really have a full picture of what the cars are going to be like, so you can imagine there’s a certain element of shooting in the dark. Having said that, it’s a probably a year where we will probably step back, be cautious. There’s going to be enough going on for the teams next year as you just heard from Franz, all those changes. So I think it’s a year where we’ll be stepping back: zero degradation, no pit stops and they can do all the talking.
CH: It’s difficult to say. It’s a massive change, probably the biggest change Formula One’s seen for probably the last 25 years, I would have thought. It’s hellishly expensive, especially with trying to develop a car this year and design and produce a car for next year with the changes that have been introduced, the timing of which probably isn’t ideal for some of the teams further down the grid. It’s a big regulation change. I think you’ll probably see significant differences between the teams early on but that will then converge and engineers will undoubtedly be very creative with the solutions that they come up with. It’s going to represent a different challenge, a different type of racing as fuel economy will suddenly become a premium point. We’re yet to see what affect that will have on the racing. At the moment, we’ve very much got an open mind.
GL: I would agree, the timing is… I don’t know if it’s well chosen. It’s certainly odd. We can understand the engine manufacturers who are trying to have a product that is closer to what people are buying out on the streets. At the same time, there comes a point where Formula One was doing really well in terms of excitement, in terms of cars being matched, in terms of races being open, so let’s hope that it doesn’t reshuffle the cards in a way that is… unexpected would be good but unexpected with huge gaps would be really bad. I don’t think any of us can really say today what the effect is going to be, so that’s it, a little bit of an unknown for everybody.
BF: Yeah, I think that we won’t be having discussions about tyres next year, it will be a completely different programme.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Paul, you’ve talked about changing or tweaking the tyres from a safety perspective yet when we discussed the matter in Barcelona, you said that there had been no more failures this year than in previous seasons, so are you genuinely changing the tyres for safety aspects or are external pressures being brought to bear from other more powerful teams?
PH: No, I think the team pressure is something that is really in the media rather than a reality. I think that if you’re a tyre maker and the mode of failure this year is more dramatic because the tyres aren’t deflating they’re actually cutting into what we have now is a high tensile steel belt, that creates an opening that overheats and then creates what you’ve seen with the delamination. That’s something that’s not very good from a tyre maker’s point of view and we wish to get rid of so we need to do it for good reason. I think every team would agree with that. So you’ve got to try and do it though with a minimum amount of change because there’s a number of teams that have taken an approach this year that’s different. They decided early on what the challenges of the tyres would be this year and quite rightly they’re saying OK, change but don’t make it so dramatic, so that’s the situation we’re in and we’re closer to finalising the changes for Canada and that should be the end of it.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Alain, when we spoke a year ago here you said that what ultimately pushed your team, Prost Grand Prix, out of business was the engine costs. We’ve heard quite a few people here talk about engine costs next year. Renault, in particular has come out and said that their price will be between 20 and 25 million which is a 250 percent increase over the current price. What do you say to that? Is there a chance, do you think that teams could go out of business because of engine prices next year?
AP: It is a problem, it’s first of all part of negotiation and the price you’ve said is much higher than it is in reality, but again, I’m not the one negotiating. Your reference with my team is obviously a good reference. I was paying 28 million dollars for the Ferrari engine in the first year and I was supposed to give 32 million the year after. I had to pay this money but I had to give a guarantee and pay almost cash before. That was in September, October or November, I don’t know. Why I say that because it’s always a way of trying to get the best for the general interest and we will see what is going to happen in negotiation but also you need to know that the budget of Renault Sport F1 is 150 million euros per year, and you can imagine… if you just make a very quick calculation about the price you can imagine divided by four teams, for example, and you will realise that Renault is paying a big contribution.
Ends
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Monaco on course for a two-stop race: Pirelli
And one from Pirelli….
Monaco, 23 May 2013: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has gone fastest in both the free practice sessions at Monaco today, setting fastest time in the morning on the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, and then going fastest again in the afternoon, this time using the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft. His fastest time of 1m14.759s in FP2 was nearly one second faster than the equivalent time last year, a Pirelli press release said.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “With Monaco always being one of the circuits that has the most noticeable degree of track evolution during the weekend throughout the year, it’s hard to draw many firm conclusions from the first two free practice sessions, although there is already some idea of the pecking order. So far we’re seeing a difference of up to a second per lap between the two compounds, which is in line with our expectations at this point, but we would expect that gap to come down as the weekend goes on. More rubber going onto the track over the weekend also means that the cars will slide less: that in turn slows down the rate of wear and degradation even more – which is never especially high at Monaco anyway. So far, we’d say that the teams are on course to make two stops during the race – one seems very possible too – but we’ll have a much better picture after qualifying on Saturday, which is when we can make a more accurate forecast in representative track conditions. We saw today that as usual, traffic will play a key role in setting a quick time at Monaco, but the rapid warm-up time of the supersoft compound allows the cars to get up to speed very quickly and maximise their one-lap pace.”
Fastest tyre of the day:
FP1: FP2: 1. Rosberg 1m16.195s Soft Used 1. Rosberg 1m14.759s Supersoft New 2. Alonso 1m16.282s Soft Used 2. Hamilton 1m15.077s Supersoft New 3. Grosjean 1m16.380s Soft Used 3. Alonso 1m15.196s Supersoft Used Tyre statistics of the day:
Soft Supersoft Intermediate Wet kms driven * 3,152 1,566 N/A N/A sets used overall ** 51 25 N/A N/A highest number of laps ** 33 30 N/A N/A * The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.May the Force be with you:
Max. g-force braking (longitudinal force): -4.26 @ T1
Max. g-force cornering (lateral force): 4.55 @ T3Pirelli fact of the day:
The race has only been won from outside the top three in qualifying on 10 occasions since 1950. On most of these occasions, wet weather intervened to mix up the order. The forecast for Saturday is currently dry. The lowest grid position the Monaco Grand Prix has ever been won from is 14th.
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Monaco is very unforgiving, tricky circuit: Adrian Sutil
DRIVERS – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Adrian SUTIL (Force India), Jules BIANCHI (Marussia), Nico HULKENBERG (Sauber), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
A question to you all. Round six of a 19-race season coming up, the same points are up for grabs as any other Grands Prix. It’s just another race… or is it? Is Monaco the greatest race of them all?
Jenson BUTTON: Good afternoon. Is it the greatest of them all? I don’t know really. I think they’re all pretty special in their own right. Some of them have more history than others and Monaco is definitely one of them. A lot of us also live here, so it’s a very special race. But I think if you’ve had the opportunity to fight for a win and actually cross the finish line first, it’s a very special race, yeah. You feel as though you celebrate that win, obviously with your team, but also with everyone watching here, because it’s such a confined space. It’s a very special place to win. But there are so many other races that mean a lot to us and certain races that mean more to us as individuals than Formula One as a whole.
What about you Adrian – greatest race, or will it be when you finally get a good points-scoring finish?
Adrian SUTIL: It could be, yes, definitely. But I feel this as a normal race. Like every other race really. You try to the best possible. In a way it’s a bit different because you know from the past and from experience that there are more possibilities out there. It’s a very tricky circuit, unforgiving and easy to make mistakes, [see a] safety car. The risk is high here and that opens up some situations for you… it can work well for you or the other way. Having that in mind gives a nice race, a nice weekend. Starting last or starting at the front doesn’t mean you will win the race. It’s all up [for grabs]. You need to be on the point and just stay focused for the whole race, until the race is finished.
What about you Jules? You’ve raced here before, not in F1 of course but it’s like your home race. How up for it are you?
Jules BIANCHI: Yeah, of course I’m really excited to be in the car tomorrow. I think this race is special for me because I was born in Nice, which is not really far from here. It’s like a home race, as you said. I can’t wait to be in the car even if I know it is a tricky track. It’s not easy to be quick here. But anyway I had some good records in the junior categories so let’s see what we will do.
Nico?
Nico HULKENBERG: Like Adrian said, the approach is the same to every other Grand Prix. It’s definitely special. I’ve never won here. I’ve been on the podium in GP2 and that was certainly. Even in F1 to achieve a podium here or even a win would be special and I think it stands out a bit more than a normal grand prix let’s say.
Romain, another man for whom Monaco Grand is also a home race.
Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah sort of. Monaco is not France but basically it’s not far. A special race, with a special podium as well at the finish, when you get meet the Prince, which is nice. There’s 25 points, as every other grand, but I think Monaco is a special one to me.
Lewis, how special is this place?
Lewis HAMILTON: Good afternoon everyone. Yeah, Monaco is spectacular. As Jenson said, a lot of us live here. I don’t feel like it’s like any other race. Winning here is unique and special, in its own way. When you do win here, when you finally get that, you have the most incredible feeling. Every time you come here that’s what you’re chasing for every year.
Jenson, before we came to Monaco, news that Honda are returning to Formula One as engine suppliers to McLaren in 2015. What was your reaction to that news?
JBu: I thought it was good news. I think for us as a team it’s good news for the future but I also think for the sport as a whole it’s fantastic news. Having another engine manufacturer in the sport is good. We have three very strong… four, sorry, four very strong engine manufacturers in the sport and I think with the new regulations it’s going to bring in other manufacturers and Honda being the first to announce that is great and hopefully there will be more.
Was it good news for you personally? You had quite a long association with Honda before?
JB: I’ve got a lot of connections to Japan and Honda is one of them. I spent a lot of time working with them in the old days… it seems like a long time ago now, but a lot of very positive moments and I look forward to that in the future. But it’s a long way down the road still so we’ve got to focus on what we’re doing now at the moment, with Mercedes and in 2015 it will change.
This season, Adrian Sutil, started really well for you in Australia. Since then things haven’t gone quite your way. Do you think you’re suffering a huge amount of bad luck at the moment?
AS: There’s no good luck and no bad luck for me. It’s just certain things happen and then you have to get behind it and see where the problem is. Many problems we had… small, but they turned out to be absolutely important for the race. A little wheel nut in Barcelona, which was a problem and it caused a pit stop which was almost a minute long and the race was over – no question. It was very impressive how quick the car was again. The race speed was very good, and the pace. So, it’s good to know the car is fast; the package is fast. It’s like the little piece of the puzzle we need to put together. The most important thing: the problem we had, we solved it. It was a different problem to Malaysia. It’s just a question of time that I will have my results. I will not give up. I will fight hard for it and try to also be clever and make a good result soon.
Q: Jules, a lot of people are talking about you and paying you quite a few compliments given your start to Formula One. How would you assess the opening five races of your Formula One career?
JBi: Well obviously it’s been a really positive start for me – and for the team as well. Trying to do the best result that we can. We know it’s difficult, we have to be realistic – we won’t score… well, it will be difficult to score points for us. So, just trying to do our best, trying to push as hard as possible and yeah, the first five races has been really nice. Some improvement on the car, some improvement with myself, so I’m really confident for the next fourteen races.
Q: It’s been a good battle between Caterham and Marussia. The last couple of races Caterham seem to have had the upper hand. Will that change this weekend?
JBi: I’ll try my best to do it, yeah for sure. Caterham are a bit in front but we saw in Barcelona that we were a bit quicker in the race pace – so that’s positive for this race. Anyway it’s a bit special so we will see tomorrow – but anyway we will have a good fight with them.
Q: Nico – if one word were to sum up your season so far ‘frustrating’ might be right up there. Has it been a huge frustration for you since you moved to Sauber?
NH: Well, frustrating is maybe not the right word but it hasn’t been super-satisfying for sure. We’re not delivering the results we want to and the results we thought we could deliver. We’re just a bit too slow, it’s as simple as that and we’re not competitive enough. At the moment the whole team is pushing and everybody in the factory at Hinwil is trying his best to make the car quicker and solve the issues. And that’s where all the focus is, to be honest now. We have to improve this car and then I’m sure we can fight for points more often.
Q: Is it fair to say you would have expected more than the five points from the first five races with the team?
NH: Yes, that’s fair to say.
Q: Romain, qualifying: always important here in Monaco. This year your average grid position 8.4. If you qualify there that puts you in the thick of things again. How much of your focus and preparation this weekend is on qualifying – not just the race?
RG: I think here more than everywhere else qualifying is important. It’s not a secret that overtaking in Monaco in hard – unless there is a little bit more degradation than we had last year and you can try a different strategy. But yeah, we will work on it. We started quite slowly this season and we recovered pretty well from Bahrain onwards and that’s what is important to know. And yes, we can definitely improve that which is not as good as we would like.
Q: Can you be more aggressive personally, do you feel, going into the qualifying on Saturday?
RG: I don’t think it’s a question of ‘aggressivity’. It’s just the relation between the car and yourself. It’s very tight this year. The tyres have changed a little bit, you need to understand them fully and from there I’ll push.
Q: Lewis, talking of tyres, both you and your team-mate Nico Rosberg have suffered similar problems – but not at the same time in the last couple of races. Is it a puzzle? Whereas in Bahrain you had a better race than Nico, in Barcelona he had a better race than you. Is the problem easily solved?
LH: It’s definitely not easily solved. It’s something we’re working on internally. Just working as hard as we can to assess and understand where we went wrong: tyre pressures, temperatures and all of those kind of things. I don’t think it’s going to be as bad – hopefully – moving forward. It’s definitely something we’re trying to improve on. So hopefully we won’t have as many bad races as we did the last one.
Q: Given what’s happened in the last couple of races, some people say this is your best chance of a race victory. Do you share that view?
LH: Not particularly. Not particularly. I think it’s a good… we have a good opportunity this weekend but you never know what the others are capable of. Last year they were quite competitive, Mercedes was quite competitive here. Obviously our car is better this year so we should still be competitive this year. But the Ferraris and the Lotuses and the Red Bulls are massively competitive as well. So, we just have to wait and see.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Question for Lewis, obviously you had a very difficult weekend in Barcelona and we assume you will have gone back to the factory, studied all manner of data and drawn some conclusions. While you can’t necessarily tell us about those conclusions are you expecting an improved performance for the weekend? Do you think you’ve got a good level from which to build after, you know, what was quite a challenging weekend?
LH: I definitely do. I think a huge amount of work has gone into understanding where we went wrong. As I said, the guys have really kickstarted a lot of different discussions. Obviously it’s a real science trying to understand these tyres. Everyone’s trying to understand them but I really feel this weekend will be a better weekend for us compared to the last. And moving on from here I think we’ll just continue to learn and improve.
Q: (Alex Popov – RTR) Question to all the drivers except Lewis – because Lewis just tweeted a photo of new helmet especially for Monaco. Do you do something for this race specially? And for Lewis, another question, if you can comment about Paddy Lowe who will follow you from Woking to Brackley.
Helmets first, Jenson?
JBu: No more special than normal, no.
Romain?
RG: That means you don’t follow me on Twitter! I tweeted it yesterday. Blue, white and red.
Adrian?
AS: The only change I have on the helmet is a Uruguayan flag. Since many years I wanted to do it and now it’s on – because my father is from Uruguay but I will keep it on for the whole season and from now on for the rest of my career. It’s not special – not specially Monaco.
Jules?
JBi: Yeah, I have a special helmet for Monaco – but you will see it tomorrow.
Nico?
NH: No. No special – just the basic helmet.
Q: () What does Paddy Lowe bring to Mercedes?
LH: We’ll see, time will tell but obviously Paddy’s… I’ve had great experience of Paddy over the last five or six years. He’s obviously a great person and massively intelligent and will be a great asset for the team, so I’m really looking forward to working with him. We look forward to it.
Q: (Livio Orrichio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, in 2002 David Coulthard started in pole position, he didn’t have the fastest car in race conditions and he won the race. Michael Schumacher was behind him with a car which was much faster but he didn’t get to overtake him. Do you think this is the reality this year, that you can repeat what Coulthard did?
LH: I think that if you were just watching last year, it’s very difficult to overtake. I think Mark won it last year and just controlled it from the front, even though he had a very competitive car, so yeah, overtaking is very very difficult here as I proved a couple of years ago. So if you’re able to get out in front, it’s more than likely if you’re able to manage your tyres that you can stay there. Definitely.
Q: On the subject of overtaking here, is it all about patience, Adrian? Do you just have to hope the moment comes but you’ve really got wait for it?
AS: Yes, well, overtaking is difficult but I don’t see qualifying being an important thing for the race. Just looking at all the last races, there have been several drivers starting from the back or in midfield and they were on the podium. I think Lotus have been a good example. You need to have the right strategy. Mercedes? Yeah, they’ve struggled. They were one and two in Barcelona and had big problems in the race. It just shows that the tyres are so difficult in the race and it’s a very different thing – qualifying and race – but I’m here to race and the points are given in the race. Qualifying… it doesn’t really matter where you are, you have to stay focused really.
Q: (Jens Walthers – German Radio) Lewis, how would you describe your relationship with your teammate, Nico Rosberg? Are you teammates, colleagues, friends, neighbours?
LH: Well, we’re neighbours, next door neighbours but we’re teammates too. We work hard together to try and push this team forward. Obviously we have a lot of history together from being teammates and friends since 1997, so we’ve known each other for a long long time so naturally we have a friendship but of course ultimately we are fierce competitors.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Jenson, when the Honda deal was announced, it naturally raised the question as to whether you might still be around in 2015, but Jonathan Neale (McLaren managing director) said you have a job for life. Can I ask how that makes you feel first of all, and secondly, when he says for life, how many more years do you think you might have left as a racing driver?
JBu: Did he say a job for life or a job as a racing driver for life?
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Job for life.
JBu: Ah, OK. I don’t know what that means then. I don’t know. I don’t want to think about the future too much at the moment. I think that yeah, you’ve got to live for the moment and I don’t think that trying to agree a lengthy deal for the future is something that is interesting at the moment for me. I’m 13 years in the sport, I want to have freedom and that feeling that if it doesn’t feel right any more: stop. But I definitely don’t feel that yet. It feels that it is going to be a long way down the road. For me, that freedom is important in the future.
Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you think that if the Pirellis do change slightly that it will help Mercedes in the rest of the championship?
LH: I definitely hope so, it can’t be any worse for us, that’s for sure. I think that if they do make some changes they will help everyone really and will definitely change the way the races will go, compared to how they have gone.
Q: Nico, Romain, do you welcome a few tweaks to the tyres, a few changes?
NH: I’m not sure what happens now. Obviously Pirelli provides the tyres and I understand that there are still some discussions there with the FIA and Pirelli, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen but we will go forward, we will work with what Pirelli will provide. Tyres are changing, some people deal better with them than others and I think we have to adapt.
RG: Well, it’s not able to change in the middle of the championship, even though it’s maybe only a small change, we don’t know but I think we were pretty competitive with the original ones and the team has been working well with that so we will see, we will do our best.
Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National, Abu Dhabi) Question to all of you: could you just talk about your first memory of Monaco when you were growing up as a fan and what your impressions were and how they compare to how it was when you actually got here as a racer?
JBi: Obviously, when I was young, I was watching Formula One and that was my life because I was racing in go-karts and coming here to Monaco with my family to watch a race was something special, it was like a dream to maybe one day drive on this track. I didn’t expect that. Now I’m here, it’s a special moment for me and I can’t wait to be on the track and enjoy this moment with my car; for sure it will be a great moment.
AS: My first time here in Monaco was in Formula Three in 2006, I believe, when I raced with Lewis in the European championship. It was a great race weekend, yes, I really enjoyed it, but no contact before that. It was maybe a bit too expensive for my family at that time, we couldn’t afford it.
NH: Is that specially about Monaco or in general? First time I came here was in karting, there used to be a kart race here. I don’t know if that’s still on and then after that, GP2 in 2009, yeah, it was great, good fun, a very unique place, very challenging, one of the few circuits that we still have in the calendar which doesn’t allow any mistakes. I always really enjoy coming here for the track, for the atmosphere, for everything really so I’m happy to be here.
RG: One of my first memories was 1996 when Olivier Panis won, the last French driver to win, a long time ago. When I came here, I found it more challenging than what you think it is on the TV. A long time ago.
JBu: Well, my first memory was in 2000, my first year in F1 and it was all going well until Loews (now Grand Hotel) and I T-boned Pedro de la Rosa and caused a red flag. In those days we had spare cars – in those days, Christ, a long time ago – so we basically had a running race back to the paddock for who got the spare car. That was quite fun.
LH: I think for me, apart from watching Ayrton crash into the wall when he was leading by a long way, I think my first real experience here was the same as Adrian’s when we were both here in Formula Three. It was a great weekend. I remember I was planning to stay in Menton and then I called Martin (Whitmarsh) and he fixed me up with a hotel room in the Beach Plaza and it was just a ball all weekend, it was one of the best weekends of my life up to that point.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, you’ve been asked about your relationship with Nico a few questions ago; what about your relationship with Adrian these days? Has that changed at all now since Adrian’s returned to Formula One? Obviously it ended quite acrimoniously not so long ago. Adrian, from your perspective, how are things between you and Lewis now?
LH: Things are different, definitely. We’ve spoken a couple of times and we’ve planned to get together at some stage and just have a chat basically. We’ve been great friends for a long long time and we’ve had some of the best times together along the way, especially, as you said, in Formula Three times. You can only really count your good friends on one hand maybe, so as people say, good friends are hard to come by, so I want to make sure we get things right.
AS: Well, as he said, yes, different and I’m still waiting for a coming together. I can’t say anything more.
Q: (Aleksander Tabakovski – Vecer Macedonia) Question for all drivers and especially for the German drivers, because this weekend will be the final of the football Champions’ league, between two German teams, Borussia and Bayern. I just want to hear your feelings about it and from each driver, who is their favourite soccer team?
JBu: I’m not a big football fan.
Q: Which B do you fancy most?
JBu: Whoever scores more goals, I’ll go for.
LH: I always like Bayern Munich. When I was playing football – I used to – when I was playing on the computer games I used to play Bayern Munich quite often, so I will say them.
RG: I’ll follow Jenson’s club.
JBi: I kind of like Bayern so I hope they will win.
NH: It’s kind of cool to have two German clubs in the final but strange as well at the same time. They’ve played twice in the German league and now they meet again in the European final which is a bit weird. I’m pretty neutral, I’m not a Munich or Dortmund fan but I’ve become more of a football follower recently and I just watch it, enjoy it, but I don’t really care who wins.
AS: OK, so I’m not a football fan but I’m from Munich, that’s the answer: Bayern Munich for me, yes. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Q: More importantly, do either of you think you could be the back page headlines in the German newspapers on Monday morning or will it all be about the football?
NH: Probably be a lot about the football.
AS: I hope I make some good headlines after this weekend.
Ends
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Monaco holds a special place in our hearts: Mallya
Sahara Force India looks forward to round six of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix.Team Principal, Vijay Mallya, looks forward to the Monaco Grand Prix.“Monaco holds a special place in the heart of every Formula One fan. Its history, the unforgiving circuit and the unique atmosphere of the place make it a highlight of the season. As a venue, it’s one of my favourites and a track where our car has always worked well. We’ve scored points there for the last three seasons and will be aiming to do the same this year,” said Vijay Mallya.“In our first European race, two weeks ago in Barcelona, the team once again showed its form. A strong points finish by Paul Di Resta ensured we held on to fifth position in the World Championship, and we look capable of fighting at this level in the races to come. With a little help from Lady Luck, who hasn’t been much on Adrian Sutil’s side lately, we will be able to score points with both cars and firmly establish our position in the championship. So far our weakness has been failing to get both cars home in the points and it’s something we need to remedy,” he added.“As for Adrian’s race in Spain, he would have been on course for scoring some big points had it not been for the pit stop problem. His race pace was superb, but things are not going his way at the moment. The good news is that Adrian is mentally very strong and he will deal with it. In the cockpit he’s doing exactly what we expect and that’s why we put him in the car. With 14 races remaining there is plenty of opportunity for Adrian to get the results he deserves,” he concluded.Paul on MonacoMore points for you in Barcelona, and it is now time for Monaco. What do you expect from this race?
We are fairly happy with the end result in Spain: with the limited time we had in the car and the DRS problems later in the race, seventh was a good position to come away with. As for the next race, having more time to optimise the car with the upgrades should allow us to extract even more performance from it. Monaco was a rewarding race for us last year and we will try to go there and continue our run of points finishes.You live in Monaco, so this is a home race for you. How does it make it different?
It’s really interesting to see how busy the place gets when the race is in town and the atmosphere builds up throughout the week. Racing close to home is really nice because I can go back to my place every night. I sleep in my bed and enjoy my own space. It’s also a chance for my family and friends to come and stay with me, and when the weather is nice, there’s nowhere better.Both you and the team had a very strong start of the season. Is fifth place in the Constructors’ a realistic target?
McLaren is a strong team and they will keep improving, but in the races so far we have been fighting them and we’ve often been quicker. Realistically, though, we are doing a great job regularly beating our direct rivals – Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso. Our strength has been our consistency – we have been performing well in each of the races so far, and we are now looking forward to the Sundays with confidence.Adrian on MonacoAdrian, you’ve been one of the quickest drivers of 2013, but also one of the unluckiest. How are you feeling after five races?Despite everything that has happened during the last four races, I remain positive. Most of the things that happened were out of my control, but still I believe we can improve certain things to avoid mistakes in the future. We as a team have to stay confident and work on solving these small problems. The car is fast and if we have a perfect weekend, which is our aim all the time, I’m sure the podium will come soon.Is the VJM06 the best car you’ve ever driven?I think so, yes. Wherever we have gone so far the car has looked competitive – and that includes some very different tracks. It’s a good sign for the rest of the season. Of course, Monaco will be the first real street circuit, but I think we will be quick there. The car is very strong in the front with a very neutral balance so it’s very driveable.Tell us what Monaco means to you…It’s a special place for sure. I’ve always liked street races and Monaco is the best street circuit of them all. There’s no room for even the smallest mistake and that’s why it’s different to other tracks. You have to give the walls so much respect and build up your speed. More than anything it’s a test of your mental strength because you keep your concentration for nearly two hours during the race.ends -
Monaco is a different challenge: Kimi
After five races and four podiums, Kimi heads to Monaco a tantalising four points off the Drivers’ Championship lead. As our Iceman explains, the challenge of Monaco is quite different from that of the circuits seen so far this season
You must be feeling pretty good with your championship position and the performance of the car this season?
Well, we’re not in first place so we can’t be too happy. For sure it’s not a nightmare, but we’ve still got a lot of races yet to come and anything can happen in Formula 1. Monaco’s a different challenge, so we’ll have to see what happens there this year.Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was not one of the team’s better outings, so you’ll be hoping for better this year?
We certainly won’t make the mistakes we made last time. There were a few things we didn’t do right over the weekend and we suffered because of that. Sometimes that’s the way it goes, but the important thing is not to make the same mistakes again.
How do you define the Monaco Grand Prix?
It’s useless to put races in different categories, because all of them are as important as each other if you want to win a Championship. However, as a real special race there is nothing like Monaco; there is no better feeling than to get things going well there. To race in the streets of Monte Carlo is really different from everywhere else and it’s a challenge I look forward to every year. It is very, very difficult – almost impossible in fact – to have a clean weekend down there.
You won in Monaco in 2005; how did that feel?
I’ve only managed to get it right once before and you really experience the greatest feeling you can get by
winning it. My win in 2005 ranks up there with my most memorable, so to win it again would be just as special.What’s the challenge behind the wheel?
It’s such a narrow, twisty track; you have to be extra sharp and focused through every single metre. It gives such a good feeling; a fast lap around Monaco. Overtaking is almost impossible, so to really enjoy racing there you have to be in the front.
What about the atmosphere?
Monaco is always special. It’s an interesting place to go to, with a lot of fans and a lot of parties going on; or so I’m told. It’s a completely different atmosphere from anywhere else.
What’s your approach to the weekend?
We have to focus on qualifying. It’s a difficult place to race as it’s so narrow and – as I said before – passing is nearly impossible. I was stuck behind Rubens [Barrichello] in 2009 and we had KERS then, but you just couldn’t get past. We’ll have to see how the tyres perform and if there are any good strategies to be made, but the most important thing is to qualify well. It’s difficult to know how good the car will be in Monaco as you can’t simulate its characteristics; certainly not at any of the circuits we’ve visited so far this year anyway. We can say the E21’s been fast everywhere else so let’s hope it’s also fast there.With qualifying so important, is it a worry that this doesn’t seem to be one of the E21’s strongest areas?
We’ll do the best we can, but of course everyone will be trying to be on the front row. It’s not impossible for us, but we won’t know how good we are until we get there. We know that tyre changes have to be made so there are opportunities if you run a different strategy to your rivals, but it’s certainly more difficult here than anywhere else.Romain Grosjean: “Monaco’s a circuit I really love” It was a short and not so sweet Spanish Grand Prix for our Frenchman, so heading to Monaco and the nearest thing to a ‘home’ race, he’s hungry for a good result
How frustrating was the Spanish Grand Prix?
I can’t lie and say I wasn’t frustrated! As a driver you want to race every lap possible, especially when you’ve got a good car. That said, at least with a technical problem like we experienced it’s easier to move on as it was immediately obvious that it was a component failure rather than being caused by a mistake, contact or driving off the track. In the race itself, I didn’t make the best start but after that I was on the pace and we know we’re able to have strong race strategies, so there was potential for a good result. The car was feeling pretty good until the issue with the rear suspension.
When did you feel there was something wrong?
It was a sudden sensation that something was wrong, and it was clear straight away that we wouldn’t be able to continue in the race. I returned to the pits and that was the end.What do you do after a short race like this?
Get out of the car, speak with your engineers to confirm if there’s anything more which can be done, then you join the crew to watch the rest of the race. Sometimes you can give some extra information to the engineers on the pit wall which might assist them. After the chequered flag you have a quick debrief as you would after a race where you’ve completed all the laps, though if there are only eight laps to talk about it doesn’t take too long. The full post-race analysis takes place with the engineers afterwards, back at Enstone.Monaco next, a track you really love…
It’s going to be fantastic to be racing there again. It’s like a home race to me and it’s a circuit I really love. We were quick there last year so I hope we’re quick again. It’s a crazy week with all the focus and attention, but everyone loves Monaco. I’ve got a week to get some rest before it all starts. I can’t wait.
What is so special about Monaco?
Monaco is a very special event in its own right, and the atmosphere is quite crazy! As a driver you have to stay calm and relaxed and try to do your job. It is a track that doesn’t allow any mistakes. You have to respect it and that is the key there. For me it’s fantastic for there to be so many French fans, and I’m looking forward to their support.
It’s a very particular and distinct track; how do you think the E21 will perform there?
Well this is what we will discover. Monaco is quite a specialist track and it is very difficult to say if a car will be suited to it or not. It’s bumpy on the straights and it’s a very low grip surface. All these things mean that you never know what to expect. On a more normal racetrack you know more what you are going to get. I hope we will have a pleasant surprise and that the car will suit Monaco’s unique challenges. That would be nice.What do you want to achieve in the sixth race of the season?
I have to be honest and say I want to be on the podium again. I experienced it for the first time last season, and it felt just as good this year too. A podium result in Monaco would be amazing.
ends
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Winning at home is very special: Alonso
DRIVERS
1 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus)
3 – Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)
Fernando, how much did this crowd… we saw you go off to see the crowd… How much did the embrace of the crowd help you today?
Fernando ALONSO: Well, hello everybody. Definitely it was a fantastic emotion and it really helped. You feel the support from everybody, every single member of the team taking care of every detail because we want to do well here, in front of our fans, so many people supporting Ferrari. So, we did it, we’re happy for that but we don’t want to stop here obviously.
How much today mean for your confidence that you can go on to win this championship?
FA: Nothing really changed. We know that we have five races only, some up and downs. Some races we had a good race with no problems and we more or less finished on the podium in all of them. Some races we had some mistakes, some mechanical problems as well that we don’t want to repeat. We know that we have a car to fight with the top and if we do well we can fight for the championship. If we don’t do good enough maybe we don’t fight but we want to do so.
Kimi, four points off the championship lead at this stage and you’re coming in under the radar so to speak, because nobody is really giving you enough credit for what you’re doing at the moment. How do you respond to that?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I don’t mind. I’m here only to do as good races as we can and always you want to win and it’s disappointing to finish second but sometimes we have to take what we can get. Like I said, I don’t mind if people don’t notice us. We do our work, be happy what we do and obviously try to achieve in Enstone.
Is the lack of attention possibly helping you?
KR: It makes no difference really to me. We know in the team, and all the sponsors, what we try to achieve and what we are doing and that’s the main thing.
Felipe, what a great drive, from ninth place on the grid [to third]. Felipe, are you back to your very best?
Felipe MASSA: Yeah, I think so. For sure I was a little bit disappointed yesterday after the qualifying losing three places but anyway the race was very good for us, our car was fantastic. Very aggressive straight away. I gained back the positions. I think maybe in the first lap I was already sixth. Then overtaking cars. Struggling a bit with the tyres, to make it survive every stint in a good way but I think the race was very good for us.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Fernando, as you were saying, the first time the race has been won from that far back on the grid. Obviously your third win on home soil. Can you describe the emotion you’re feeling right now?
FA: Very good again. It’s very special winning at home. It doesn’t matter how many times you can do it, how many you repeat it, it’s always like starting from zero and you have again very emotional last laps, very long last laps because you want to finish obviously as soon as possible. Extremely happy for the team to have both cars on the podium after a difficult qualifying that maybe we were not too fast yesterday. But we knew we had the pace on the long runs and we wanted to have some clear air to exploit this potential in the car. We did it. Everything worked perfect. Happy for the team, for the fans and hopefully this is not a one-off.
Obviously you took a lot of points today out Sebastian Vettel as well. The start was clearly crucial, as was the timing of the first stop – you undercut Vettel at that point but at what stage of this grand prix did you feel you had it under control.
FA: Let’s see, after the last stop. Until that point you never know what can happen. We had more or less an easy race in terms of traffic etc but we know Kimi was on a different strategy but you never know how the tyres are going to behave. When we pit two or three laps later than Kimi and we were first, at that point.
Kimi, we heard you say on the podium there you were disappointed you didn’t win. You had a different strategy to Fernando, doing one stop less than the Ferrari today. Was there a point at which you thought you might have an opportunity to challenge Fernando for the win today?
KR: Maybe half way through. Obviously, we were leading but when we were on old tyres and he had newer tyres, it’s too easy to overtake. There’s no point to really fight against [him] because you cannot hold him behind. I knew if I could somehow stay a bit more closer, even with old tyres, maybe I have some chance, even if I’m already behind and will be with old tyres in the end but you never know. But they were just too fast. He had a good start around the outside of me. I don’t think the end result really was decided there but we just did a different way of doing the race. It wasn’t a winning way today but… We’re never happy if we’re not winning. We’re only here to try to win. But we kind of caught up with Vettel few points and obviously Fernando caught me up [by] some points but we’re still in the hunt and we’ll keep ourselves there and hopefully in the future just try to win a bit more.
Consistency is the key though, isn’t it? It’s the fourth time in five races you’ve stood on the podium, including that win in Australia and as you say you’ve got it down to just five points to Vettel. How do you feel about your championship situation and what comes from here?
KR: Obviously it’s better than before the race now. It will not be easy. We cannot fight against… it’s the same for everybody. Everybody wants to win it, but sometimes you have a bad day. You try to minimise those and make the most out of them and give yourself a chance to be up there and fight for wins. I think if you can do that often it will give a good chance in the end to fight for the championship. It’s only a five race-old season, so there’s an awful lot to be raced. We’ll see what happens. We’ll try to do well and see where we are in the end.
Felipe, your first podium of 2013. You recovered from your penalty in starting ninth to finish in third today. What does this result say about you and Ferrari this season?
Felipe MASSA: Well, I think a bit disappointed for what’s happening yesterday. These things happen many times and no penalties happen so I’m disappointed with that. I didn’t cause him any issues for him in the qualifying, so I’m disappointed for that. The race was good. Very good start; very good beginning of the race; overtaking cars; trying to be aggressive, you know and passing people, which was the case. I tried to undercut people as well, stopping before. Maybe it was a little bit early as well. Looking at the end of the race I thought I maybe had the opportunity to fight with Kimi. But I think it was a great race, we did a good job. Our car was really superb for this track. The degradation on the tyres was not Lotus but I think we did the best as we’re supposed to do and we showed a good performance that I expected to have from Friday. I think we are [heading] in a good direction so I hope from now on we are fighting for the podium every race, especially in the race, which is where it counts. Qualifying we know is not easy for us. We are pushing very hard to improve the car, to make the car quicker in qualifying. But we know we have a good car for the race so I hope me and Fernando are having great races from now and until the end of the year.
And looking at your performance across this weekend, from what you felt in the car, do you feel that you could be winning races soon?
FM: Yeah, definitely.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Adrian R. Huber – Agencia EFE) In China you equalised Mansell’s victories now you have overtaken him, 32 victories. Senna has 41, do you think that’s possible? How about Prost, 51 and Schumacher, 91?
FA: No. I don’t know. I just be happy if I finish second all the races and I win more championships.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) This is your fourth year in Ferrari, is there in this moment, have you got the best chance to win the Championship this year, do you feel like that?
FA: Probably yes, in terms of performance of the car. We should have won the championship, I believe, in 2010. We arrived in Abu Dhabi with seven points, or nine points ahead of Sebastian [15]. We lost there but nothing we can change now. Last year maybe we didn’t deserve it because we were one second off the pace but even with that we manage to fight until Brazil race. So, this year we have in our hands a package that maybe is not the fastest, still not the fastest but we are working on that. But definitely on Sundays it’s a very competitive team package, let’s say. We are not the quickest over one lap, maybe we don’t set the fastest time in the race but we have fantastic strategy people, fantastic pitstops, the starts, tyre degradation. We have many ingredients to have a competitive car to fight for the championship. In the four years in Ferrari maybe it’s true that this is the one we feel more confident with but we are not happy still with the performance of the car and we want to have a good and aggressive developing programme for the next races.
Q: (Toni Lopez – La Vanguardia) Two questions for Fernando. Congratulations. In 2006 you said, when you had your first winning at home that it had been your best race in Formula One. What can you say now? And when have you realised that you can win this race?
FA: Well the first, I didn’t remember to say this in 2006. And if I say that, obviously from 2008 to 2013 I did better races. Maybe, as I said before, after the last pitstop when I found myself in front of Kimi, eight or nine seconds, and our tyres were two or three laps newer than Kimi, I realised that the race was in our pocket if we don’t do mistakes.
Q: (Carlos Miquel Gomez – La Gaceta) A question for Fernando: what about the overtake, two guys, Hamilton and Räikkönen in the third corner. Was your belief in the last moment that you can pass Hamilton because you stay very, very near of the line.
FA: Yes, I think we knew that to win the race we needed to pass people at the start. The start was very good but then it was very narrow and we didn’t have the space to move a little bit. So, I wait for a better opportunity. It came straight after turn one. I saw Kimi and Lewis running a little bit wide in turn one so I changed trajectory and I had a clean exit in turn two. I passed Kimi and I said ‘why not also Hamilton?’ I had a little bit of KERS that I saved from the start for turn three, so I used that to pass Hamilton and I think that was a lot in the race and I think also when exiting the first pitstop, we undercut and we overtook Vettel, in the strategy in lap 11 but not Rosberg. So Rosberg, we have to overtake him at the end of the straight. And that was also very close.
Q: [Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, historically this has always been a track where it was pretty difficult to overtake but today we have seen that there were many manoeuvres. You made history because nobody every won starting fifth, so how do you feel about it? And also, to all of you, don’t you think it’s too much with these tyres having too many pitstops and there is too much confusion?
FA: I don’t know. I’m happy to win from whatever position to start. Here, I think this historically has been difficult to overtake and starting off the front row was hard for the race but now with this year’s degradation and this year’s tyres we see the races keep changing all the time. Whatever car keeps the tyre alive normally is on the podium at least – or winning the race. So, happy for this. If it’s too much confusion for the spectators? There is no doubt. I think it is impossible to follow one race now. Here it’s good because you have the tower and I think you follow the race on the tower with the numbers and you see who is first, who is second. But in some other circuits, if I’m sitting in the grandstand, without any information: radio, telephone or something, you only see cars passing.
Kimi, your thoughts on that?
KR: I don’t really think it’s any different to last year. Obviously I wasn’t there the year before but they had a lot of pitstops also. So that’s the way it is and it’s the same for everybody. For sure sometimes it’s a bit tricky, even for us, who is where and what is going on if you haven’t seen it as the guy in front, what’s going on. But that’s what Formula One is today. It might change, it might not.
And Felipe. Do you know where you are in the race at all times?
FM: Yes. You can see on the…[points]
Q: (Pierre Van Vliet – F1i.com) Kimi, in the early part of the race when you had your first pitstop, you came back with new soft tyres and you spent… you lost a few laps behind Vettel. Without that time lost do you think you could have been in front of Fernando on the last stint?
KR: It wasn’t a new, it was used from qualifying. So, I mean obviously I have to overtake and I took maybe a few laps more than I expected but I got past him and I really could pull away but in the end I really don’t think those were the decisions that were the deciding story of the race. I think we had the speed but we should have done it different. Maybe more pitstops, then you can push all the time – but I think this was our best way of doing the race. That’s what we planned and that’s what we did and I think we deserved to be second and not really winning today. It’s OK for the team, the guys did a good job and we go for the next race to try to do better and get the best out of it.
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Kimi, what do you think about the pit stop strategy in Monaco?
KR: I have no idea. I know what we did here and yesterday. There’s a few weeks to go. We will see what happens, what tyres they bring and how everything plans out. I think it’s usually quite straightforward there. Usually, if you’re not in the front, you start behind somebody else and it’s really difficult to overtake. We will see.
Q: Fernando, what are your thoughts on Monaco, because obviously the Mercedes is very quick in qualifying, they were quick in Monaco last year, do you think the problem that they have at the moment with tyres in the race is less of an issue there? Are they going to be more difficult to beat in Monaco?
FA: Yes, definitely. They will arrive as favourites for Monaco. They’ve been on pole position for the last three races, they were on pole last year with Michael’s lap, so it would be a surprise if they weren’t on pole position in Monaco. And as you said, it’s more difficult to overtake in Monaco, so maybe they can keep good positions for longer. It’s something we need to understand and we need to do a better job on Saturday, Felipe and I, and Monaco is one of those places where we must do it.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have three successive second places and now you’ve managed to catch up Sebastian by six points; was this the most rewarding of these three races, and how do you see your chances to do better in Monaco?
KR: First of all, Monaco is a different place compared to this, so it’s a bit hard to say. Last year I wasn’t very good there. For sure, it should be a bit better but I’ve had some good races there – it’s a dangerous thing to say – but as Fernando said, I think Mercedes will unfortunately be pretty quick there and after that it’s difficult to overtake. The only difference that they have made against most of us is in the last sector where it’s tight so you can really expect, from what they did last year and what they did here, that they should be pretty fast there. We will see what happens there, but gaining the points on Sebastian was nice. If he would have lost more points and still be second it would have been even more annoying, but OK, you also want to win but we cannot still put ourselves in a better position for the championship so at least something good came out of it.
Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) Fernando, are you concerned that this fantastic situation with this marvellous pace of Ferrari in the race can be changed in Monte Carlo?
FA: I’m confident for Monte Carlo. Looking at the last three years, even when we were not competitive in Monte Carlo, we always managed to be on the podium, more or less, in a consistent way so that’s the aim for this year as well. We had a problem in Malaysia, the retirement, the problem with the rear wing in Bahrain and we lost some of the consistency that we need to fight for the championship. In the three troublefree races we’ve had this year we finished second in Australia, we won in China and in Spain so what we want to do is put together four or five consistent races with no problems and try to get some podiums in our pocket and score some good points, and I think in Monaco we can continue this trend. I remember in 2011 we were lapped here by the McLarens and Red Bull and we arrived in Monaco and we nearly won the race, we finished second behind Sebastian with a red flag on the last lap. We were fighting for victory so I don’t see any reason – with this car which is also competitive everywhere – not to fight for top positions in Monaco. Let’s hope so.
Q: (Sarah Holt – CNN.com) Fernando, an impressive drive. I’m wondering if you felt under pressure this weekend after two difficult races and you’re at home. Did you feel pressure that you had to perform this weekend? Maybe you like pressure. I wonder.
FA: Not extra pressure but it’s true that, as I said just now, we need some good races and I will feel more or less the same in Monaco. We must take extra care for the next races, in terms of possible mechanical issues, driver errors, strategy mistakes, whatever. All these things happen sometimes in races. I think all the team and myself are extra focused now on this part of the championship, because we felt we lost too many points with some things that we didn’t do right and we must put everything together and avoid any more mistakes. Here, there was this extra pressure to do everything well but I don’t think it will be any different in Monaco or in Canada where we will go and approach the race to really avoid any mistakes that can arise. So good to race at home, extra motivation, little bit more pressure but I didn’t do 100 percent in the car sometimes. You are fifth, sometimes third or first, the happiness of the grandstands changes, it depends on the position but inside yourself, you are normally quite happy with the performance if you give 100percent of the time.
Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Fernando, have you been surprised not having Sebastian breathing down your neck today?
FA: Sebastian, not really. I think that when we started the race we knew that Kimi was probably the fastest on race pace of the leading guys. The Mercedes were a question mark. We thought that maybe they would have problems in the race but you never know until it happens really. And Sebastian… they didn’t have an easy weekend on Friday and in qualifying they were not on pole which is normal for them and then in the race, they struggle a little bit more, so, as I said, Lotus was the team that we looked at a little bit more.
Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) And Fernando, could you please compare your feelings when you seem to be very relaxed in comparison to the European Grand Prix last year?
FA: Emotions compared to last year? Valencia was very different because it’s not that we expected to win today but we were completely surprised last year when we won the race. We knew that today, if everything goes well and we do a fantastic race, we can win the race but in Valencia last year, we thought optimistic strategies pays etc, maybe our final results in the simulation were sixth, seventh, fifth and when we won that race starting eleventh and in front of everybody, it was a little bit more joy or a little bit more of an emotional win.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Fernando, you had to catch up the time for one extra pit stop against Kimi. How difficult was it to balance the speed or the pace against tyre saving?
FA: Not so difficult today. We had the pace in the car, we had clean air, no traffic, only a little bit in the first stint behind Sebastian and Rosberg. Then we undercut and we passed Sebastian in the pits and Rosberg two laps later at the first corner, from that point we just pushed 90 percent, more or less. You have enough pace to open the necessary gap and you know that if you push 100percent maybe you kill the tyres, so it’s more or less normal driving, let’s say, in 2013 races. You try to control the pace and the tyres and you put in balance these two things.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Felipe, when you left the pit at the last stop, you were ten seconds behind Kimi on new hard tyres, and Kimi had already pitted before you. Did you think it could be possible to overtake him?
FM: Well, first of all I was 15.5s behind Kimi, not 10s, so anyway, I was pushing hard to see if I could manage to catch him. I was catching him until lap six or seven by more than one second per lap but then maybe I was pushing too hard, I lost the tyres at the end, so I saw that maybe it was not possible to catch him so I started to save the rears more and the pace didn’t carry on like that. The only way to catch him was to push so I tried to push but it was not possible.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Alonso, did you anticipate a third pit stop, because you set very good laps and then suddenly you came into the pits?
FA: I don’t have any answer, really. They called me in; I don’t know if it was too early or too late, because our fight was with Kimi at that point, because we were out of sync with Kimi for five laps always. It didn’t look anything special, short or long. I don’t know really.
Q: (Jussi Jakala – YLE) Kimi, all top drivers are kind of supermen; did you have time to enjoy the battle that you had with Sebastian?
KR: Yeah, it didn’t last very long. It took a few laps. I maybe had a chance earlier but I didn’t think that I would take him at the end of the straight but actually they were very fast at the start of the straight so I couldn’t catch him there, so it took a bit longer than I expected but then it was quite nice, fair but quite tough fight, but it worked out OK.
Ends