INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • It’s fantastic to see my home country fans happy: Kamui

    Hinwil/Suzuka, 8 October 2012: There was hardly anyone in the Formula One paddock in Suzuka who could resist smiling at the sight of an elated Kamui Kobayashi after his third place finish in front of a home crowd at the Japanese Grand Prix. A day later, the Sauber F1 Team driver talks about the first podium in his Formula One career.
    Kamui, has yesterday’s achievement sunk in yet?
    Kamui Kobayashi: “To be honest I don’t really know because I’ve been busy since the race was over. Last night there was a party with fans in Suzuka, and this morning I went straight back to Suzuka circuit because there was another event organised with more than 5,000 fans. In every respect it was a very intense weekend. I had a lot of confidence before we came to Japan, but then on Friday we were slower than expected, which was a bit worrying. Then qualifying went well, except I lost time due to a yellow flag, and the race was close until the very end.”
    What does the first podium finish mean for you personally?
    KK: “I’ve always felt that if you ever want to look back and regard yourself as a Formula One driver, you have to have been on the podium at least once. Without such a photo it’s a bit as if you had never been there. So it means a lot to me.”
    You frequently said in public before the race that you wanted to finish on the podium. That was quite a bold statement. What made you so confident?
    KK: “Firstly, I had great faith in our team; secondly, I knew we had a fast car; and thirdly, it was clear to me that Suzuka is the perfect track for it. Despite becoming a bit uncertain during Friday, I was very positive again on Saturday and after the formation lap I really had the feeling it would all go well this time. I had a couple of chances earlier in the season but missed them due to bad luck. I knew that the potential was there and this time it all went smoothly.”
    What were your thoughts and feelings when you crossed the line?
    KK: “I instantly relaxed when all the pressure came off. Without doubt it was a very important race for me in my career. And I felt: yes, now we will be having more strong races and really go for 5th place in the constructors’ championship.”
    And how was it being on the podium, facing the huge grandstand with all your fellow countrymen cheering you?
    KK: “This I cannot put into words. It was a fantastic feeling to see all the people in my home country so emotional and happy. It gave me such a lot and I will never forget that moment. I want to thank the Japanese fans for the great support they gave to the Sauber F1 Team and to myself.”
    A fan of F1 Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi, who won a podium finish last week in Suzuka. Photo by Sauber F1 team.

    ends

  • Now it’s an all-out race with Vettel: Alonso

    Suzuka, 7 Oct 2012:

    Fernando Alonso of Ferrari's dreams come to an end at the first corner as he retires in the Japan GP on Sunday 7 Oct 2012. FIA photo

    Fernando Alonso says the final five races of the season are now “a mini-championship” after his title lead was almost wiped out by a first-corner collision with Kimi Raikkonen at Suzuka.

    The Ferrari driver started from sixth, directly in front of Raikkonen, and at lights out the Lotus driver attempted to pressure Alonso with a move around the outside. The Finn made a small mistake, however, putting a wheel into the dirt, and the momentary loss of control led to a collision. Alonso immediately spun off in a cloud of dust, his race over.

    “Today, we were very unlucky: to finish a race like this, at the very first corner is really a shame. Contact from Raikkonen caused a puncture to the left rear tyre and my race ended there,” he said. “This result has practically wiped out the advantage I had before, but if I’d been told at the start of the season that we would have been in this situation five races from the end, I’d have happily signed for it!

    “Now we start a sort of mini-championship, run over five grands prix,” he added. “The aim will be to score at least one point more than all the others. What happened to us today could happen to the others next time: the wheel turns and that is what races are all about.”

    Alonso admitted that the accident could have been avoided if he had a car capable of qualifying beyond the lower half of the top-10, where he said incidents are common.

    “Unfortunately, when you start in the middle of the pack, these things can happen, because apart from the performance of the car – and ours is usually better on Sunday – circumstance can count for a lot. That could be seen from Felipe’s race. He started tenth, but produced a perfect race, fighting with the fastest cars.

    “Clearly, we must work a lot on the development of the car: I’m not worried, but we must react to the step forward that the other competitors have made.”

  • Monisha meets Kaiko – Women in Motorsports

    Suzuka: Monisha Kaltenborn, Chief Executive Officer of Sauber Motorsport and one of the FIA Women in Motorsport Ambassadors, took time out of her hectic schedule at the Japanese Grand Prix to welcome Keiko Ihara to the world of Formula One.

    Ihara is the only woman competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and was recently named as one of the Japanese people with “Passion with no border” by the National Policy Unit of the Japanese Government. This was in recognition of her extraordinary determination and contribution to top level motorsport.

    “It came as a big surprise to me when Monisha invited me to this race,” said Keiko. “She is an ambassador of women in motorsport and the only female CEO in Formula One. I’m so happy to meet her and Kamui Kobayashi, and to be here in the Suzuka paddock with the Sauber F1 Team. It is very impressive to see all the engineers and the computer equipment which is really on a incredible high level. I would love to drive a Formula One car.”

    Adding to the delight at being invited to join the team at her home round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, Ihara’s fellow countryman Kamui Kobayashi finished the race on the podium in third position for the Sauber F1 Team.

    Women in Motorsports ambassador Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO of Sauber, takes time off to mee Keiko as Kamui Kobayashi, who finished on the podium today watches. FIA photo

  • FIA Press Conference – Japan

    Suzuka, 7 Oct 2012: Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing team closed the gap as leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari retired early and the championship was thrown wide open at the Japan GP here on Sunday. The top three drivers attended the mandatory FIA Press Conference. Felipe Massa was second followed by a well-deserved victory for home star Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber.

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) celebrate on the podium in Suzuka on Sunday 7 Oct 2012. A Sauber F1 team photo.

    (Conducted by Jean Alesi)

    Sebastian, yesterday pole position, today winner but you pushed very hard until the last laps. Did you know Fernando was not racing again?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I saw the safety car at the beginning. I think first of all we had a very good start which was very important because I think right behind me there was a little bit of a crash and I saw a Ferrari was out. I wasn’t sure, halfway through the race when I was looking at the tower to see where the others are, I saw the car that was still racing was Felipe, so I was assuming Fernando was not racing any more. First of all I would like to thank everyone. The atmosphere here every weekend is unbelievable, we leave the hotel, we get so much support from all of you, the grandstands are full when we go down the main straight, nearly every single corner is full of people and it really makes our job very, very special. Thanks for all of that, domo arigato, and… unfortunately that’s all of my Japanese. I’ll try to pick up some words for next year. Thank you very, very much. Thanks to the team, thanks to Renault, all the guys have pushed so hard the last couple of months and I said on the radio, when you’re dreaming at night, you dream about being able to race a car like that. The balance was fantastic, and I was enjoying every lap. That’s why, I think we were has such a big gap to the guys behind – so I’m very, very happy.

    Felipe, we cannot say the race or the podium of your life… but almost. Two years without a podium, now you’re back. How do you feel about that?

    Felipe MASSA: I think it’s fantastic. To come here in Japan, starting tenth, which I was very happy with the car since the practice and then qualifying was not so good. I’m sure I was able to start in the top five so I was tenth. I was able to do a very good start, very clever on the first corner with the accident and everything that happened, and then the pace was very good from the car. Since the beginning of the race the pace was really good. I was behind Jenson and I was quicker than him, when he stopped to do the pitstop I was straight away half a second quicker per lap, so then I was able to push hard and overtake Jenson but also Kamui which was very quick in the front as well. So, for sure the race was much better than I expected. We did a good job, unfortunately Fernando is not here, fighting for the Championship as well, but I am very happy with my race and let’s keep pushing hard to be on the podium now, more than two years but every race now.

    Kamui, you can also speak in Japanese as well today, congratulations, the first podium of your life on your home racing track. Tell us about that.

    Kamui KOBAYASHI: English or Japanese? I think first of all, thank you very much for everyone. Everybody know this is my first podium, in Japan this is fantastic and unbelievable you know?

    PRESS CONFERENCE.

    Sebastian, that looked like a near-perfect race – a near perfect weekend in fact.

    SV: Yeah, as I just said, it’s unbelievable. Since yesterday in qualifying, nothing I think could be better. You come across these kinds of races or weekends very, very rarely. Unbelievable. We had a very good start, obviously it was important as Mark was running into trouble at Turn One and Two, I didn’t see what happened behind him. I saw I had a better start than him and Kamui was probably already past Mark before the first corner, I was focusing on my car and to get through the first couple of corners. But, yeah, obviously very quickly saw the safety car boards. Wasn’t sure what happened. When we came around the first time, surprisingly there was nothing there, so I think the marshals probably did a very good job cleaning up the track. I don’t know how many cars were involved but obviously, yeah, it was crucial to not be in that kind of pack. And after that I had a very, very good race car. It was behaving very well, so yeah, it’s very difficult to describe why. We didn’t have major upgrades for this race. I think it was just the fact of the car suiting to the track, finding the right setup on Friday and then toward Saturday it was just coming together. The balance was there and it was just working. I think we had a fantastic race and I said to the guys, when you have a dream about how your race car should be, that’s exactly what you’re wishing for, so I’m very, very happy and very proud of the team. They stayed very calm all the race. The pitstops obviously we had a big gap so we had a bit of luxury to the guys behind to drop some time – but they seemed very focused. Also, inside the car I tried not to drop too much time, because obviously with the sun coming down, the sun was quite low in the end and there’s a couple of tricky corners, especially Turn Eight, entrance of 13 where we’ve seen cars spinning over the weekend. And it’s very easy to get carried away and think about the corner after the present corner; you start to think ahead and lose the focus and do a little mistake. I tried to stay in the moment and until the end it was fantastic because I had a car where I could control the race and I could push as hard as I wanted to and take care of the tyres, so – not to make this too long – all in all it was… fantastic.

    It seems extraordinary that it’s only your third win and yet it brings you right into championship contention.

    SV: I’m very careful on this obviously, in terms of championships this race was a big step and it helped us but we see how quickly things can change. Look at the last… I don’t know how many races there were since the summer break but four or five; we had a DNF in Monza, if you look last year we had only one race where we didn’t finish, so obviously this year is entirely different for everyone. It seems that we are more on the limit, trying to find a step in the right direction, and that’s true for everyone, so it’s much closer; every weekend can be different and instead of then having a bad weekend and still finishing fourth or fifth, you might then be only tenth, because of guys like Sauber and Kamui, Sergio and other guys – the Lotus is very strong this year – so they all keep scoring consistently but obviously one of us at some point has to park and watch the race from the outside, which is not nice and something you don’t hope for. That is why I say I want to be very careful because it’s still a long way ahead and there’s a lot of things that can happen. I think it was important for us, obviously we did have some pace this weekend and important for us to make use of that.

    Felipe, obviously the start was very important for you, you picked up a lot of places there. Tell us what you saw at the start and how you picked up those places?

    FM: First of all I think my start was very good, I was able to overtake Lewis and then I get to corner one, I saw that Fernando and Kimi went a little bit outside… not outside of the track but very wide after corner one and then I pull inside both, so I was able to overtake both, and then after I saw Mark spinning around, I think a car push him, which I don’t remember very well but I think a car touch him and it push him and he’s spinning in front of me. Then I saw a space and I was able to go on the throttle and take this space and even take the KERS as it was another two cars going out of the corner a little bit slower. I was able to overtake these two cars by using the KERS and going before on the throttle. I think the start was a little bit complicated in corner one but I think we did a perfect job with all these things happening. After that, I was behind Jenson and Kamui, and Jenson was not so quick, so anyway, it was very important. It’s very difficult to overtake in this track, so as soon as they stop I prefer to stay out just to see. And then I improve half a second straight away and a little bit more in the next lap and I think they were a little bit in traffic, so I managed to pass both and then the pace was very good on the hard as well. So, very consistent, very good. Actually, the pace was very good since the whole weekend – unfortunately I couldn’t do a very good qualifying yesterday but y’know I think I was very happy with the car all weekend and very nice to be on the podium again after a little bit of time. Hopefully this is just the beginning of many podiums now in front.

    How much of a relief is it to be on the podium?

    FM: ah, it’s nice! It’s like a relief, y’know? It was great, and a great race anyway, able to push hard from the beginning to the end and show that we are here to fight for victory and for pole and not just to fight for a few points.

    Kamui, how much did you enjoy being on that podium at home?

    KK: Well, it was a fantastic race. We really working hard to get the podium, and you know my team mate has a couple of podiums already but myself, I had a couple of chance in qualifying, I mean I had good position to start, but always I never had luck. I mean we struggle at the start. But this time, maybe it’s good to start third, it’s no front row but the feeling was good because we had a long run on Friday and that was, I think pretty good pace and we had good confidence for the rest of the week. So, I think, when I gained position to second after the start, I was pretty sure to be on the podium. But then some point I think we really struggle a lot to hold Jenson. Especially the last stint was really tough because I change quite early for hard compound tyres but I think Jenson change, I think, a couple of laps later and I think that’s what’s really challenging for us. But if we want to hold Jenson we have to do it. And finally we need to manage tyres, I mean in the last couple of laps. It was within one second and really challenging for us – but I think finally we finish in the points, on the podium and that’s fantastic. Especially in front of my home grand prix, my first podium, that’s… y’know… amazing. Before the race I was joking: a couple of times I have a chance to get podium but I have bad luck and I couldn’t get it. But maybe I get this race in podium, maybe it’s something in destiny, y’know? So I’m very happy for the fans. There’s so many people supporting us. When we look there is so much crowd around the circuit and that’s amazing. Really, thanks to all the fans. I think we need to keep going for the future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Felipe, you had a great day and Fernando was unlucky but the question is, do you believe that the pace of the Ferrari is enough to match Red Bull now?

    FM: Well, let’s say not on this track. I think that on this track Sebastian has incredible pace compared to all the other cars. We saw that in qualifying and in the race it was the same. Anyway, I think it changes from track to track. Maybe this was a track where they were stronger during the whole championship. I think we need to wait and see track to track. We need to keep pushing very hard, we need to work very hard in the factory too to bring the right pieces for the car as well and try. Nothing is finished for Fernando. He did many many good races until now. What happened today was not nice for him but these things happen in the championship. It’s important that we push hard and concentrate on the next race. He’s still leading the championship and that’s important.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, this was also a pretty important race for you and your future, also for you Kamui. Do think that this podium, for both of you, will help you to secure your seats at Ferrari and Sauber respectively for next season? Yesterday you said that this could be your last Suzuka. Is that true?

    FM: I think so.

    KK: Yeah, I think so too.

    FM: So, we think so.

    KK: We think so together, you know? We will have a good meeting tonight, to speak with our managers.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Soon?

    FM: Yeah. I think so!

    KK: I think so.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, your first title was won by you chasing; the second was you being chased. What is your view on what might be the third one?

    SV: I don’t know. I can answer your question when I’m fortunate enough to win for the third time. Whether that’s this year or not I don’t know. Like I said, I’m very careful. I think we had a long journey so far, and it’s been a tough year. Still there are many races to go so today I don’t want to talk about the championship. I know I finished in front of everyone today, I won the race, so I know that I scored more points than anybody else today but you don’t know what happens next weekend. I think we have a very tough remainder of the season with a very new calendar for all of us, with a lot of back-to-back races. Basically next week Korea, then two races, one in India and Abu Dhabi, and then obviously America and Sao Paulo. I think there’s still a long way to go and as I said, we have to focus on every single race and try to do our best and then we will see whether it’s good enough. The target is to do our maximum in those five races, then we calculate our points. If it’s enough, I think it’s fantastic. If it’s not then it’s not the fault of these five or six races that we will do at the end.

    Q: (Nobuaki Tadaki – Tokyo Sankei Shimbun) Kamui-san, in the closing laps, Jenson was catching you and the podium was getting closer too and your many fans were cheering you. Would you please explain how you were feeling in that situation?

    KK: Well, it was a difficult moment. I think my tyre situation was quite tough. We spent more than 20 laps on them, especially in the last three laps my rear tyres were really getting bad. Of course, I needed to push, I could not slow down to save the tyres. Whatever I had, like oversteer, I had to really push. In the end, into the last lap, I was pretty sure I could hold Jenson because normally, I think, after the main straight, there is no chance to overtake on this track. Apart from that, I think getting on the podium but I was focusing on every lap because if I missed one corner, we could easily have lost my position so I think it was a good challenge for myself. And I think Jenson was pretty fast in the last stint. Finally, we survived and let’s say it was a great job from the team, because they gave us great advice while I was driving, and I was pretty sure to hold him and I was very happy. Every fan was shaking their hands at me, especially on the last lap so it was fantastic.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Sebastian, since you first started in F1 you’ve been breaking record after record. Today you equalled Fangio on wins, you now have 25 percent victories from your race starts. Do you find these constant statistics – the reminders of these statistics from the press a pressure at all or do you just forget about them and get on with the racing?

    SV: No, I think they’re very special. Obviously I’m not aware of those kind of numbers but I think that’s a special thing about Formula One. We had great drivers in the past, great champions and great characters, and I think for all of us… when I said earlier the last time I was with Kamui on the podium it was probably in Formula Three and both of us had a dream for Formula One but at the same time, you know you are a young guy, you are racing in Formula Three, you know it’s only one or two steps away but then it’s so far away still. There’s only a handful of us, 24 drivers in Formula One. I think first of all you feel extremely fortunate and proud to be one of them and to race a Formula One car, stand on the grid, winning a race, driving for championships. At the time we were racing in Formula Three this was so far away. Obviously I knew these kind of guys, when you talk about records. When I was young I was following Formula One and Michael most of the time. But you never dreamed… imagined yourself being one of those guys and breaking any kind of record, even if it’s just having the best start or something silly which would already make you extremely proud. I think it’s an honour and as I said yesterday already, a circuit like this, where you really get to feel what the cars can do… unfortunately it’s impossible to explain to you how it feels, so it’s only something we share amongst ourselves and I think it’s something we should not forget at any stage, and it’s something very very special. I think it’s one of the best jobs you can have in the world in my – in our – point of view, but then to be successful it obviously starts to feed on itself and makes it very very enjoyable.

    Q: (Ted Kravitz – Sky Sport) Sebastian, how important has qualifying been for you? You look at earlier on in the European season you’ve sometimes struggled to get even close to the front row. Now you’ve really been doing the job in qualifying. How key is that in the championship run-in, and also do you feel that this is finished business after this time last year when you were made to be conservative and not win for the championship?

    SV: I think it’s very important… at the beginning of the season I think there was a little bit of a trend of saying that qualifying was not that important this year because the races were very upside down. Some of the races changed completely in the last ten laps, but I think it still shows how important it is, to be well positioned after Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s race. If you then take an average of 15 races or whatever we’ve had so far and you see how important qualifying is still, I think it was important for us to make a step forward on Saturday. Still, I think it’s very easy this year to not have the perfect Saturday afternoon – I experienced it last time two weeks ago in Singapore, how quickly it can change. I had a very good car, I was happy and everything seemed to work as per plan in Q1 and Q2. Then you arrive in Q3 and you don’t understand why you can’t go quicker. This morning I read an article about Felipe, or Felipe did an interview and I think he experienced the same thing yesterday. We do so many new sets of tyres, so many qualifyings and it’s then difficult to say OK, I didn’t get the grip on that run and it just didn’t come together and that’s why I was lacking the speed… because you always want an explanation, you want to find the reason why you weren’t quick enough. It seems this year that cars are obviously much closer together and the window seems much narrower this year, to make the tyres work. You especially feel that in qualifying so that’s why things can change quickly. You might get a messy qualifying even after a brilliant start and then it might compromise your whole weekend, so that’s how quickly it can change.

    Q: (Marco Dell’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, at the end of the race, they said to you to be careful and in spite of it you set the fastest lap. Are you sure that nothing could happen, and secondly did you race with the double DRS today?

    SV: Well, today in the race I wasn’t really using DRS, so it didn’t really matter. Fortunately I didn’t have to use it. I think we’ve made improvements over the last couple of races. As I said earlier, qualifying was a bit our weakness and has seemed a little bit better in the last races.

    At the end, I obviously wasn’t trying to take any unnecessary risks. I was trying to control the gap to Felipe. I think last year I was sometimes in a similar situation with a gap of five or six seconds and trying to control the race too much and it got very close towards the end of the race, so I didn’t want to lift at any stage. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t want to lose the focus and concentration and in the end, obviously I thought to myself maybe it’s not the smartest thing but as I said, I wasn’t trying to do something stupid but you don’t get to race a car like that too often in your life, where you feel in control and the car is balanced and you’re just very happy with what the car does, and how it behaves, so I was able to put some reasonably quick lap times in at the end.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, was this the hardest one of the last six races for Ferrari on paper and what do you really have to do, where do have to concentrate the most to try to come back?

    FM: Are you talking hard for Ferrari or hard for me? Well, I would say our car was competitive here, not compared with the Red Bulls, but I think we had very good pace in the race. We had very good pace in practice as well. When I did a long run on Friday I was one of the quickest guys on the track, so I think the car was good here. I’m sure Fernando would have done a good job today. But anyway, we need to improve, we need to bring more new pieces, we need to push in that direction, to improve the car. Just going back to the qualifying, I didn’t have a good qualifying. Actually, I had a very good qualifying until the second set in Q2. Before that, I was always in the top five, top seven and I couldn’t use the tyres. As Sebastian said, sometimes you have that opportunity and you cannot use it, and I didn’t have any grip on the front tyres, and I think that was the biggest problem for my qualifying. I’m sure that starting in the top five would have been as the race was today, because I was fourth after corner three. Starting at the front is very important. The race is easier, you can control your tyres better and use the pace in a better direction. For sure, qualifying is very important.

    Q: (Tetsuya Otani – Car Graphic) Kamui, at the restart after the safety car, you had a pretty big gap in front of you, between Sebastian and you. What was the situation for you?

    KK: Actually I was stuck in gear. It was holding in first gear, it was already on the rev limiter and I couldn’t shift up to second and I need to brake, so I was really surprised. Anyway, I couldn’t fight with Sebastian. I didn’t mind, I couldn’t hold my position. He started pretty early, before, quite far away to the safety car line, so I had enough to recover. But it was a bit of a surprise.

    Ends

  • Grosjean is a `first-lap nutcase’, says Webber

    Suzuka, 7 Oct 2012: Mark Webber has branded Romain Grosjean a “first-lap nutcase” after the Lotus driver slammed into the back of his car at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix and denied the Red Bull driver the chance of a podium finish.

    Starting from second place, Webber made a poor getaway and was passed by Kamui Kobayashi. That left him battling Grosjean, and going into turn two Webber, in front, turned in. Grosjean, however, misjudged the Australian’s pace and collided with the rear of the Red Bull Racing car.

    The accident caused both drivers to head to the pits for repairs. Webber took on hard tyres and opted for a one-stop strategy that eventually allowed him to finish eighth and afterwards he hit out at the Lotus driver’s race craft.

    “I haven’t seen what happened at the start but the guys confirmed it was the first-lap nutcase again – Grosjean,” said Webber. “The rest of us are trying to fight for some decent results each weekend but he’s trying to get to the third corner as fast as he can at every race.

    “It makes it frustrating because a few big guys obviously suffered from that today. Maybe he needs another holiday,” Webber added, referring to the one-race ban Grosjean received for causing a first-corner accident in Belgium. “He needs to have a look at himself obviously. It was completely his fault. How many mistakes can you make, how many times can you make the same error with first-lap incidents? It’s quite embarrassing at this level for him.”

    Grosjean, meanwhile, was forced to retire late in the race and afterwards admitted that the incident with Webber was his fault.

    “Ever since I came back in Singapore my priority has been to be very cautious at the start, and I was watching Sergio [Pérez] on my left to make sure there was no contact with him. There was quite a big speed difference between me and Mark as I came into the first corner, which caught me by surprise and we collided. It was a stupid mistake,” he admitted.

    “Mark came to see me after the race and was obviously not happy, but I apologised and we have to move on,” he added. “We’ll sit down and look at things again before the next race to see what we can do to improve these situations. Not a good day, but we have to look ahead to Korea and a chance to make amends.”

    ends

    Mark Webber slams Grosjean, after the Frenchman creates havoc once again during the opening lap at Suzuka on 7 Oct 2012. Photo Red Bull Racing.

  • Flash: Vettel wins Japan GP

    Suzuka, 7 Oct 2012: “Unbelievable,” exclaimed reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel after a stunning lights-to-flag victory for Red Bull team but not before he made a few hearts to skip a beat with a fastest lap in the penultimate lap of the Formula One World Championship Grand Prix of Japan here on Sunday. The 25-year old who became the first driver to win back-to-back races this year after his Singapore win and is back as a strong contender to win his third straight World Championship.

    Vettel’s heroics and his fastest lap were greeted by a radio message to `calm’ down. The brilliant drive won the German 25 full points and with championship leader Fernando Alonso retiring with a rear puncture in the first lap with a `tiny-touch’ from Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, the Red Bull star closed the championship gap to four points and suddenly the Drivers’ championship is wide open with only five races remaining. Alonso leads with 194 points with Vettel on 190 with his fourth win this year. Kimi Raikkonen who is yet to win a race is on third with 157 points and his chances of being a dark horse are slowly vanishing unless he comes up with a victory soon.

    Force India’s Paul Di Resta finished 12th behind Schumacher but Nico Hulkenberg was seventh not to allow Sauber to take too much of a lead with Kobayashi’s well-deserved third place behind Felipe Massa’s who got some consolation for Ferrari. Jenson Button of McLaren pushed home hero Kobayashi in the last few laps but had to be content with a fourth place followed by former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in that order. Raikkonen is still in third place in the Driver’s championship with 157 points ahead of Hamilton on 152 points. Both have an outside chance to go after the title.

     The next race will be in Korea on October 14 before we move to the Indian GP at the Budh International Circuit on October 28.

    ends

    Sebastian Vettel in Japan. File photo by Red Bull Racing team from Saturday qualifier.

  • Vettel on final assault

    Suzuka, 6 Oct 2012: Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel took his fourth consecutive pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix and is all set to launch a final assault in the fly-away races to keep at a striking distance to table leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.  Alonso who won three races this year saw his lead reduce to 29 points after Vettel took his victory in Singapore to inch closer. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who was in second place then had recorded a DNF to slide back.

    Sebastian Vettel took a dominant pole position at Suzuka and with Mark Webber  second he will be in a much better position to go for a kill. Red Bull recorded their first front-row lockout since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.  Alonso will be starting on P6 and with both McLarens much behind it would be a wonderful opportunity for the Red Bulls.

    After topping the timesheet in the final free practice session on Saturday morning, Vettel set about confirming his dominance in qualifying. He was content with a single run in Q1, and another in Q2. His first effort in Q3 set the benchmark of 1:30.839. It was not bettered and he duly collected his fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka.

    “I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, we couldn’t really ask for more,” said the World Champion. “The car feels fantastic around here… and it came together nicely and now obviously we hope for a very good race tomorrow.”

    Alongside Vettel on the front row will be team-mate Mark Webber, the first time the two Red Bulls have locked out the positions this year.

    Sebastian Vettel takes fourth consecutive pole in Japan on Saturday 6 Oct 2012. Red Bull photo

    Jenson Button qualified third but will drop to eighth after taking a grid penalty for a gearbox change in his McLaren. Kamui Kobayashi qualified fourth for a resurgent Sauber, Romain Grosjean was fifth in his Lotus, the second Sauber of Sergio Pérez was sixth, Fernando Alonso a disappointed seventh for Ferarri, Kimi Räikkönen eighth in the second Lotus, Lewis Hamilton a surprising ninth for McLaren, later admitting he made the wrong choice on setup. Nico Hülkenberg qualified tenth, not setting a Q3 time. He also will receive a demotion after a gearbox change.

    Q1 saw many of the front runners stick with the slower, hard tyre but both Lotus and Sauber decided on safety first and did a run on the soft compound. It left Romain Grosjean in P1 at the end of the session. Of those eliminated, Bruno Senna was the midfielder in the unwelcome 18th position.  The Williams driver was heard to complain over the radio that he’d been blocked on a flying lap by Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. The stewards concurred and penalized Vergne three places.

    “It was a frustrating qualifying session as I was held up on my final timed lap at the end of Q1 and couldn’t post the time that I wanted,” said Senna. “However, it’s a long race tomorrow and although this track is difficult to overtake at, we’ve been in this position before and so we’ll give it our best shot to score some points in the race.”

    Behind Senna, Heikki Kovalainen was 19th for Caterham, followed by Timo Glock’s Marussia, Pedro de la Rosa was 21st for HRT, followed by Pic in the second Marussia, Petrov’s Caterham and Narain Karthikeyan for HRT.

    Session two saw the soft tyre come out in earnest as the battle for the top-10 shoot-out intensified. Vettel quickly laid a marker of 1:31.501 with his first run and as those around him failed to make a significant impact on that time, the champion decided to stay in the garage. It was a similar story for Webber and Button, neither of whom took a second run in Q2.

    The big casualty of Q2 was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who had been third quickest in FP3. The Brazilian missed out on Q3 by just two-hundredths of a second. Behind him was Paul di Resta for Force India twelfth and Michael Schumacher 13th. Schumacher will drop down the order, having a ten-place grid penalty from Singapore. Pastor Maldonado was 14th, Nico Rosberg 15th and the Toro Rossos of Daniel Ricciardo and Vergne 16th and 17th respectively.

    Q3 looked like being a straight fight between the Red Bulls. Vettel’s lap gave him the early advantage but Webber was denied a chance to respond when Kimi Räikkönen spun at Spoon in the dying seconds of the session. Obeying the yellow flags, Webber lifted, and Vettel was able to abandon his own lap.

    “I had to back-off for the lights and the flags,” said the Australian. “There was no car when I got there, so it was very, very close. Obviously [Button] was behind me and I saw he was still committed to his lap with the DRS etc., so obviously the lights were just cleared for him.”

    ends

  • Vettel happy with the car, hopes for a good race

    Suzuka, 6 Oct 2012: Once again Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing proved his worth taking the pole at the Japan GP.

    The top three drivers attended the FIA Press Conference after qualification included: 1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), 2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing) and 3 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Sebastian, your fourth consecutive pole here, you must love this place.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s not bad. I’m very, very happy with today’s result, I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, so we couldn’t really ask for more. The car felt fantastic from the start. We didn’t really have the best start to the weekend; yesterday morning I wasn’t very happy but then we seemed to get it better every time we go out, so very pleased with the result, very happy, the car feels fantastic around here and I was able to pick up a little bit overnight and it came together nicely and now obviously we hope for a very good race tomorrow.

    It’s the 50th anniversary for Suzuka and it’s a circuit that everyone seems to adore driving around. What’s the best part of the circuit?

    SV: I think you have to say the first sector, up the Esses, obviously we don’t have that kind of combination in Formula One elsewhere. I think it’s unique. I think this place in general is quite special with all the fans around the track. When I was walking into the garage you can obviously see Turn One, Two, Three and the grandstands mostly and you see a lot of people. It’s just, for us, nice to see the excitement people have for Formula One and the support we get. I think they are very crazy – in a positive way – so it’s nice coming here and wonderful to drive the circuit. The rest of the track is very enjoyable: The Degners and then Spoon is very special: you always lose the car a little bit, just when you come off. The lap I had in qualifying in the end was just right in those places, so I was very happy.

    Mark, great result for the team, Red Bull Racing, you seem to have made real progress.

    Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it’s been a good weekend for us so far. Seb and I had a clean run in Q3 when it mattered at the start there. And two pretty big laps from both of us. Obviously Seb got me a bit, so that was a good lap from him. But to be this much further up for us, obviously we’ve had a rough run with qualifying of late, particularly my side with penalties and bits and bobs. It just makes the race much more difficult: you have to start doing wacky strategies and stuff like that. So, I am happy to be on the front row and looking forward to a good result tomorrow. Like you say, for the team it’s just a great tonic for them, at this point in the championship to have the cars towards the front again.

    Jenson, third in qualifying but obviously with a five-place grid penalty.

    Jenson BUTTON: That hurts a little bit. Today was good. This morning in practice I wasn’t that happy but we made some good improvements for qualifying. For me both laps I did in Q3 were good. I was happy with the laps, really enjoyed driving around here, it’s always great with low fuel and new tyres – new soft tyres. It was a lot of fun but we’re just not quick enough. I wouldn’t know what to put my finger on, where that four-tenths is. A good qualifying for us, just a pity we’re starting back in eighth. This place is such a nice place to fight for a win; it’s going to be very difficult for me tomorrow but never say never. There’s always possibilities and I think we’ll have a good race car also.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    So Sebastian, I guess one of the main factors tomorrow is going to be all about tyres, have you got enough sets left? New tyres, new softs?

    SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t finish the run in Q3, so saved a little bit there, saved a lap, didn’t push to the end. Before that we had a very smooth session in qualifying in general. We saved as many tyres as we can and I think we have a pretty good car, the balance felt very good in qualifying so I was very happy with the laps I had every time and yeah, all in all I think we should have a good race car as well tomorrow. I think we were able to improve the car from yesterday to today which also helps us on the long run and with tyre consumption. But you never know until you find out. I think we’ve seen a lot of races this year where probably we expected something, and people expected something, other teams had expectations but the last ten laps everything turned around. We have to stay focussed and see what we get from start to finish.

    I guess you were OK in traffic, because particularly in Q1 a lot of people were complaining.

    SV: I was very lucky, I saw a couple of incidents on the screen but I think we found a good gap, and I needed only one lap, which obviously helps. So that was good – it doesn’t always go that way. So, it was helping to save tyres, I’m not sure if we’re going to use that one again – but still it’s good to get through without any trouble.

    Mark, on that last lap, did you have yellow flags at Spoon?

    MW: Yeah, I had to back-off for the lights and the flags. There was no car there when I got there, so it was very, very close. Obviously JB was behind me and I saw he was still committed to his lap with the DRS etc., so obviously the lights were just cleared for him. Would have been nice to have a look at the last chicane, would have liked to have got that a little bit better. I was down a sniff into Spoon but… the hairpin was tricky for us today, trying to get the hairpin a little bit better would have been nice but in general the first sector was very strong, and for both of us to have a strong car here, when it really mattered, to put ourselves right towards the front of the grid, on the front row, is something we’re really, really happy with. We can really race from there and have a good grand prix tomorrow.

    Jenson, is it a bit worrying, the progress they’ve made?

    JB: I think we expected them to be quick. Their race pace especially has been quick over the last few races. Qualifying hasn’t gone their way and Seb looked really quick in Singapore but it wasn’t there, it didn’t seem, at the end. But their pace is very good here. The balance for me felt great, I felt really happy with the car but I just… that was it. Y’know, I felt I got everything out of it on both laps but still quite a long way off these two but a long way in front of everyone else. So, third place would have been nice to start the race because I think with this race you really don’t know what’s going to happen with tyre strategies and degradation and what-have-you. A lot of people are struggling with blistering. But I’m starting down in eighth; it’s not the easiest place to start from. But I still think we can really race well from there. There’s an unusual group of cars in front. So hopefully we can not just get good points – you never know, maybe we can still challenge these two.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q:  (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Seb and Mark: do you have any explanation why you succeed so well in Suzuka?

    MW: In years gone by, I think we’ve had cars that have really enjoyed this type of venue, whether RB5 a little bit, RB6 especially was very strong. We had a very tough Grand Prix with Fernando that year – Seb and I, the three of us, a good race in 2010. JB was quick last year, there was a tight field last year but in general Silverstone, Suzuka, these type of circuits, you just have to look at Adrian’s (Newey’s) record on some of these tracks. You go back to the Williamses with Mansell, Hakkinen, McLarens blah blah blah. He’s always been strong on these type of tracks, so that’s good for us but it’s always challenging, and we’ve had to work like hell to get the car in the window where we would like it and now, this weekend, it seems pretty good so we would be very very disappointed if we weren’t competitive here because, as you say, it should be a track where we can charge for very good results. I think, basically, to answer your question it’s in the DNA of our car, it’s in the DNA of the philosophy of our car. That’s it.

    SV: As Mark said, we worked very hard to get it to where it is now. I think we were struggling this year at the beginning of the year in places, in corners where usually, traditionally, we were competitive, so we didn’t really know what to expect here this weekend but sector one seemed very competitive for both of us all weekend so I think that’s an indication whether the car is happy around here or not. I’m happy we are back to our shape that we had over the last couple of years around here.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Michael Schumacher has announced his retirement; could I have your thoughts please?

    SV: I think it’s a loss for Formula One. It’s a shame, obviously, I think it was good fun to have him around, race against him and joke with him, so I think I will miss that but obviously you can understand his decision and, as I said, we will miss him, but obviously wish him all the best for his future, and hope we still have him around somehow in some function.

    MW: I think it’s pretty obvious that there were two different careers: one phenomenal one and then in the next one the car, everything together didn’t get close to what he did in the past, and that’s how sensitive Formula One can be. He knows that, he took a new challenge on – which you have to take your hat off to – because he didn’t want to be back at home just doing the groceries, and he was also very hungry to challenge himself again. We saw some flash points of what he’s capable of, but he also knows himself, he’s seen some flash points which is the right time for him to stop, so move on.

    JB: Yes, wonderfully put by both parties. I think the last three years, we’ve all been wondering and watching to see what happened to his second career and it wasn’t like the first one, but I think it just shows and proves how amazing the first one was because he hasn’t done badly. It is a loss for the sport, having a seven time World Champion and someone that’s achieved more than anyone else and will for a very long time leaving the sport. He feels that it’s the right time to leave, and good luck to him.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, now there are only two people in front of you for the number of pole positions: Michael and Ayrton Senna. Do you think you can catch them?

    SV: As Jenson just said, I think Michael has a lot of the records that will probably stay there forever. You don’t really jump into the car thinking about those sort of things. Obviously, when you end up here and end up with people telling you some things it’s nice for all of us but it’s not the number one motivation that makes you jump into the car. I enjoy what I do a lot and on tracks like this, as Jenson said, on soft tyres, low fuel, you really feel what the cars can achieve and I think our job becomes very very special and unique in the world. That’s what I enjoy most. Obviously if you’re successful then it feeds on itself. I think they are quite a long way ahead as well, so we will see. We have to work, obviously, focus step by step, and not think about those kind of things.

    File picture of Sebastian Vettel courtesy Red Bull F1 pool content.

    Ends

  • Wind tunnel to blame for failure: Domenicali

    Suzuka, 5 Oct 2012: Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has admitted that problems at the team’s ageing wind tunnel have been to blame for a series of car updates that failed to bring any improvement in recent races.

    “In the second part of the season, when we were trying to bring new updates on the car, not all the updates were working on the track,” he admitted. “So, we started to investigate and we found (an) issue coming from a tool that is… not obsolete, but not really up to the speed of the new technologies available on the market.

     

    Stefano Domenicali, team principal. A Ferrari F1 team photo.

    “I think for sure our structure is not the best one in that respect; it is quite old,” he added. “So, as always we’re trying to improve the quality of the tools that we have. And this is something that we are trying to do mainly to improve the correlation issue that we had and this is the plan: that we should be able to do (so) in the next season.”

    But despite attempting to adjust for the unreliable data by using Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne as well its own Maranello facility, Domenicali admitted that the team will face a tough battle in trying to keep Fernando Alonso at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, where he currently enjoys a 29-point advantage over a resurgent Sebastian Vettel.

    “The plan is to try to push as much as we can, bring new developments every race but it isn’t easy,” he said. “I think the situation in the championship is very clear: if you are not able to improve the car then it is more difficult to fight for the championship because we cannot rely on the problem of the others. That’s the fact but it doesn’t mean that we will not push as hard as possible. But we cannot rely only on being third, fourth, whatever it is. We need to make sure that at least we win a race and then we will see what will be the situation with the others.”

    ends

  • `Schumy’s retirement will be a big loss to the sport’

    Suzuka, 5 Oct 2012: All the team representatives who attended the FIA Friday Press Conference were unanimous is proclaiming the loss for the sport with the retirement of seven time world champion Michael Schumacher.

    The Team representatives who attended the Press meet are:

    Schumacher photo by Mercedes F1 team.

    John BOOTH (Marussia), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Kim SPEARMAN (Cosworth), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Ross BRAWN (Mercedes)

    John, the excellent result from Singapore means the team is currently 10th in the Constructors’ Championship? What does that mean to a team, its people and what does in mean in terms of finance as well?

    John BOOTH: As far as the finance is concerned it’s a little unclear at the moment as the Concorde expires at the end of the year so we don’t really know where we are with that at the moment. But certainly it was a great lift for the whole team. There are only 12 places there and 10th place takes some earning. These Formula One cars just don’t break down anymore. You have to earn every position. We had a small celebration afterwards, as you do, but we do realise that we still have a mountain to climb. It’s a small step. It’s the right direction but it’s not where we want to be; we want to be a bit further.

    You’ve recently announced Max Chilton as your third or reserve driver. What are your plans for him and what are your plans for Charles Pic, who has done a good job for the team this year?

    JB: We’re in discussions with Charles. He’s done an outstanding job, as you say. He’s had a wonderful rookie year. We’re in talks with his management and we’d love to keep him for 2013. He’s done a great job, particularly in getting quite close to Timo in race situations; I think he’s done a really good job there. Max is part of our young driver programme and has been for a couple of years. He’s part of the natural progression and maybe we’ll give him a Friday morning before the end of the year.

    Monisha, first of all, you’ve lost Sergio but is Esteban Gutierrez almost an instant replacement for him?

    Monisha KALTENBORN: Well, as we’ve been saying before, we will announce our driver line-up for next year in due course and we’re not in a hurry in doing that.

    Stefano DOMENICALI: We will do the same!

    MK: We still have to sort things out. Regarding Esteban, he’s been with the team a long time, and this goes back to Formula BMW times, and whatever we do with him, and he’s been our reserve and test driver for the past two years, is something totally independent from Sergio’s leaving and we don’t really want to mix them together. We’ll announce whatever we have to in due course.

    In terms of performances over the last few races, they’ve been a bit up and down but there have been some very promising performances as well. Is there a certain frustration within the team that those performances haven’t led to the results they should have?

    MK: Of course there is, because we have been seeing that the car is a very competitive car and when you don’t get the results you expect because of situations which you have no chance to change, you’re just in there without any fault of your own, it is a bit frustrating but more important is that we still continue to believe in this car, which is also the basis for next year’s car. So we just take it race by race and we hope it will turn out better next time.

    Kim, can you tell us where Cosworth is at the moment, in terms of 2012 and 2013?

    Kim SPEARMAN: For 2012, obviously we turn our attention to the next six races and helping out teams to do the best they can. Trying to consolidate John’s team’s situation in 10th place in the Constructors’ (Championship). As you’ve probably read they’ve re-signed and partnered with us for 2013 when they’ll use a KERS-enabled package, which we hope will bring yet another step up in pace for them. We’re very excited about that. And we’re still in negotiation with HRT.

    And in terms of 2014, new engine; what are the plans?

    KS: Love to do it. If we can find a commercially sustainable way to provide a competitive platform for some potential customers, we’d like to do that. We are in useful negotiations with customers and hopefully we’ll find a way to be in. We’ve been in business for 54 years, much of it in Formula One. We’ve got passionate people back at Cosworth who want to stay in Formula One and we’d like to get there.

    Has anything started on paper?

    KS: Oh yes. We’ve been working on the engine for 18 months.

    Martin, very interesting, your driver line-up for next year; they’re two drivers who are known to be very easy on tyres. What effect will that have on the team and the car?

    Martin WHITMARSH: I don’t think it will have a distinct effect. I just think we will be working hard to make the car as quick as we can and of course as kind to the tyres as we can. It’s not easy but obviously if you have a well-balanced car with plenty of downforce then typically they’re kinder on the tyres but I don’t think the drive line-up will influence that, we’ll be doing the best job we can in that regard.

    Drivers always say they’re always learning. Where is Sergio Pérez on that learning curve, in comparison with Lewis Hamilton?

    MW: In fact, Sergio’s about the same age now as Lewis was when he started in Formula One, so he’s some way further down the learning curve, which of course makes it intriguing and exciting to see what we can do and how he can develop. So I think it’s going to be a very interesting spring as we work together, and of course the goal is to have him in a condition where he can go into that first race with the potential to win it.

    Do you think it weakens the team at all in comparison with the current situation?

    MW: Well, I think the current driver line-up is a very strong driver line-up and we’ll see next year just how strong Sergio can be and we’ll whether it’s weakened us or not. But I think whatever happens, we’ve got a super experienced guy in Jenson and we’ve got an exciting, fresh young talent in Sergio so we’re looking forward to it.

    Stefano, you’ve already denied that you’re going to tell us who you’re drivers are going to be next year, so a very easy question for you: do you know who’s going to drive for you next year?

    Stefano DOMENICALI: I should.

    You should know? Do you?

    I think to go ahead with this kind of speculation I don’t think it’s so relevant or interesting. As we said: very soon we will tell you what is the situation and up until the moment I have news on that I will stay quiet. Also because I would start to be very boring in giving the same answer to the same question.

    In terms of the wind tunnel, interesting news there. What can be done to the wind tunnel in the short term? Is there a problem with it, do you think? What is the problem with the wind tunnel at the moment?

    SD: I think for sure our structure is not the best one in that respect, it is quite old, so as always – and I think it’s happened to all of us – for sure in different situations, we’re trying to improve the quality of the tools that we have. And this is something that we are trying to do mainly to improve the correlation issue that we had and this is the plan: that we should be able to do in the next season.

    So, when will it be open again?

    First of all it’s still open and we’re working in our wind tunnel. As you know we are using another facility and in the next couple of weeks we will define what is the problem to be more specific than that, in order to see what’s really the time we have to spend by shutting it down and trying to improve the things that are not at the maximum level at the moment.

    Ross, obviously new driver, what sort of promises did you make to him? Obviously all drivers want a winning car, what sort of promises did you have to make in terms of your team, the team which will be building next year’s car?

    Ross BRAWN: I’m not sure you’d describe them as promises but we set out the path that the team is on, what we’re trying to do, the people we have in place to try and achieve that, the facilities we’ve built up over the last couple of years and, as you do with any driver, you present that vision and the objectives you have for the next few years and that’s what we did.

    What sort of pressure are you under from a driver like Lewis, but also from the board as well?

    RB: I think all of us here are under substantial pressure but a lot of it is pressure you generate yourself because you want to take part in a very competitive sport. I think none of us have handcuffs holding us to this business, we do it because we enjoy it and it’s our ambition to succeed in this business, so there is pressure at every level. There’s pressure at John’s [Booth] level, he’s trying to achieve tenth place, a massive task; we’re trying to go forward. Most of that pressure for me personally is the pressure from within, not the pressure from a driver or the pressure from a board.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:

    (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta Dello Sport ) Martin, did you feel betrayed by Lewis’ decision?

    MW: No.

    (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Question for Stefano, you mentioned there’s been a correlation issue with your wind tunnel, how has that affect the development of this year’s car so far?

    SD: I think that… well, I’m sure that is happening also to other things. I’ve seen above all in the second part of the season when we were trying to bring new updates on the car, that not all the updates were working on the track. So, we start to investigate a little bit better and we’ve found that was this issue, that going into the deep analysis of the reason, we understood, we considered it was coming from the tool that is… not obsolete but not really up to the speed of the new technologies that are available on the market. So, that was the reason why we are thinking to do that, to make sure that at the least the percentage of the things that we bring at the track is higher than what we have now.

    (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Monisha, you have three or four Mexican sponsors, without Sergio can you keep them? What’s the prospect for next season?

    MK: Well, to start with, the prospect for next season is good. We are very confident we will be around, for hopefully more years. As for the sponsors, we know that Telmex, that is Mr [Carlos] Slim Domit has also publically stated that his project with Sauber, regarding the Escuderia Telmex, is a long-term project, so it will not be affected by Sergio’s leaving the team.

    (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Are the other sponsors linked to that project, or are they separate with Sergio?

    MK: It’s a natural link there, obviously, because they are from the same country, but it is not just all that simple that because one driver leaves us all these sponsors will leave. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean that.

    (Thibaut Villemant – Auto Hendo) Question to Monisha, we saw that you wanted to try Robin Frijns for the rookie test – can you confirm the information?

    MK: We have not as yet announced our drivers for the Young Driver days – we will also do that very shortly.

    (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Martin, yesterday when we sat here, Lewis joked to Sergio that he knows exactly what’s going on with Sergio’s car for next year. To what extent is that true, and how much of a concern is it for McLaren?

    MW: No, I think Lewis has been part of the team for a long time, I think he knows the people and what we’re trying to do but I don’t think there’s any great secrets in that, so I don’t think it’s a concern. I think if I was pursuing intellectual property from other teams, I’d probably go for engineers not drivers. But I think again, Lewis is respectful of the team and what it’s doing, and I think he knows we’re doing to do everything we can in the remaining six races to try and win, and try and win some championships and I think the best way to do that is to work together, be open and carry on as you ordinarily would.

    (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta Dello Sport) Stefano, Fernando has said in the last few races that he’s waiting for Ferrari to counter-attack and not always be on the defensive. Looking also at the problem you have with wind tunnel, how can you guarantee that you’re going to be able to give him the things he needs to attack and not always defend and wait for what the others are doing? Is there a plan with that? Have you discussed it?

    SD: The plan is to try to push as much as we can, bring new developments every race but it isn’t easy. So the guarantee is the effect on the effort on the team to work very hard. More than that is just pure words, and that doesn’t help the situation. So, for sure, I think the situation in the championship is very clear: if you are not able to improve the car then it is more difficult  to fight for the championship because we cannot rely on the problem of the others. That’s the fact but it doesn’t mean that we will not push as hard as possible. But is a consideration that we cannot rely only on being third, fourth, whatever it is, we need to make sure that at least we win a race and then we will see what will be the situation with the others.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Martin, among Lewis’s other comments was the possibility of him going back to McLaren in the future. I don’t know when the last McLaren driver was who came back to McLaren after leaving but is that possible? Would you say that’s a possibility in the future?

    MW: Yes, certainly, yes, I think it is. But I think he’s joining a strong team in Mercedes, I don’t think he’ll be coming back any time soon. I’m sure they’ve got a good contract and they will want to work with him. I don’t think Lewis’s intention is to hop from team to team on an annual basis. I’m sure that’s not Ross’s intention either but never say never, as they say, and we’ll see what happens in the future. Again, people want to talk about it a lot, obviously, and we’re trying to focus on doing the job that we’re here to do, but I think the relationship between the team and Lewis is a good one, I think it’s a respectful relationship between Mercedes and McLaren as well. We’re out there competing and we don’t have a problem with anything that’s happened, with Lewis’s decision or anything else. In the future, I don’t think it will be in the very near term but who knows?

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Question to the engine suppliers: you have, from the sound of it, V6 engine designs, on the test bench or on the CAD system. Are you looking at full energy recovery systems or are you outsourcing those?

    SD: Yes, as we are doing this now in the current situation, so developing our system together with our suppliers and this is part of the challenge of the 2014 powertrain project, to confirm the fact that we are already on full boost in our department, to make sure that we are ready in proper time for this new huge challenge, because for us, it means that we had to start and to update all the infrastructure, to make sure that these new engines and this new system are ready to run, first in the facility and then we need to be ready with a new engine, trying to find the customers for the future and trying to make sure that we are competitive, because one of the things for 2014 is the fact that for all of us, both from the chassis point of view, due to the regulations and also for the engine and powertrain regulations point of view, we are starting from target references that are purely – how can I say? – self-made without having any kind of information or relation with the other competitors. So it will be an incredible task, at least for us which is a small team in terms of dimension to make sure that we are able, both, as I said, from the chassis project but also from the engine, to match strong teams like Mercedes, like Renault and all the other teams that are working very hard already on this new 2014 project.

    RB: This past couple of seasons we’ve done our own energy recovery system in-house. We felt we wanted to take that under our control and so the battery technology is bought in but most of the other technology is developed within Mercedes and we will plan to continue to do so for 2014.

    KS: Yeah, we’ll be developing a bespoke Cosworth system with an outsource supplier and by necessity, different chassis will need variants of that, so we will be doing our own with somebody else, if you like.

    Q: (Gaetan Vigneron – RTBF) Ross, were you surprised by the announcement of the retirement of Michael Schumacher yesterday, or was it something that you suspected for a few weeks or months?  And for all of you, would you give your opinion about his retirement, which is a big loss for F1?

    RB: We’ve had a lot of discussions with Michael over the past months, six weeks or so and whilst Michael hadn’t made his decision in those early discussions, he came to that conclusion in the past few days. In many ways, it’s a sad moment, when someone of the calibre and achievements of Michael stops racing but he’s happy with that decision, he’s at peace with that decision, and I think that’s the important thing. He’s happy with the decision that he’s made and I think we’ve all got to have huge respect for him making that decision. I think Formula One will be losing someone very important, especially as this second time that Michael came back he had a slightly different approach and I think I saw many fans who were perhaps not quite so enthusiastic during Michael’s first era coming back and really supporting him. When he got a podium in Valencia, it was nice to see how much support he had from the paddock. But he’s done a very very good job for us and we’ve repeated many times that if we’d provided him with a better car then he would have won races. There are some races where he was certainly quick enough to win – this year alone, Monaco – so it’s the passing of an era and one which is hard to imagine anyone repeating the achievements that he’s managed in his driving career.

    SD: What I can add to what Ross has just said is that I think Michael has showed that he is still a very very fast driver He’s a seven time World Champion but he’s still one of the top drivers in the field and as a friend of his, I’m very happy for the decision that he takes because I think that in his experience he’s come to this conclusion because I think that considering the situation it’s the best for him. We all wish – not only from my personal side, but from all the Ferrari family – the best for his future. He’s still young, so he will do a lot of things for sure.

    MW: Firstly, I’m not as qualified as the two gentlemen on my left (Domenicali and Brawn) who know him much better than I do, but his achievements are difficult to imagine, certainly in our lifetime, being improved on so inevitably it’s a loss. He’s a name, a brand within the sport, his achievements have been great whatever he does. I personally think this year has been his strongest since he returned and as Ross said, with a bit more luck he could have won some races this year, but clearly it’s his decision and it’s a loss to the sport but I guess any great athlete has to decide when it’s time to go.

    KS: He’s obviously one of the greats and I’m sure he will be a fantastic ambassador both for Mercedes and the sport going forwards. I think we’ll still see him around a lot.

    MK: Michael Schumacher is by far the most successful driver in Formula One’s history, and when he returned to the sport, it was undoubtedly good for Formula One and his leaving now will for sure be a loss for the sport.

    JB: I’ve only been fortunate enough to experience Michael’s last few years in Formula One but I think he’s been a wonderful ambassador. Obviously his performances speak for themselves. The way he handles himself in the paddock, particularly in adversity, he is the absolute professional and a real example to young drivers.

    Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Martin, Lewis told us in Tokyo that there was nothing you could have put on the table that would have kept him at McLaren at the end of the day, although maybe a £100m cheque would have done it. But he seems to have been lured him by the attraction of what Mercedes can offer him in 2014 when engine changes are made. Is it frustrating for you that you couldn’t hang on to him with something concrete, and do you feel that you will be at a disadvantage in 2014?

    MW: Not just 2013. Lewis is a great driver and Mercedes, I’m sure, are very happy to have him and therefore losing a driver like that is something that, as a team principal, you don’t set out to do. But if you tell me that there’s nothing we could have put on the table which would have kept him then it makes me feel a whole lot better. Lewis made a decision, I respect that and believe me, we’re working very closely and very hard together to see if we can win these remaining races and that’s what we’re focused on. Looking forward to 2013/2014, then we’ve got a fantastic partnership with Mercedes Benz and we’re going to be heading into both of those seasons trying to win.

    Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Ross, do you feel that you will have an advantage?

    RB: Well, our agreement with McLaren is to supply engines to the same specification. None of us really know how it’s going to be in 2014 in terms of engine performance, engine reliability. There won’t be huge differences. We have a one team policy, a one team principle. Our staff at Brixworth and Brackley work together as one entity and that does bring them closer than can be achieved with a customer, but McLaren are an extremely professional customer. Our ambition is to have the best engine in 2014 as is Stefano’s and McLaren will have that engine as well.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Stefano, you have to try to win at least a race in these last six races Today, Ferrari seems to be struggling a little bit compared to McLaren and Red Bull. How do you see things this weekend?

    SD: As always on Fridays it’s very difficult to have a clear picture because you never know what the others are doing. For sure we know what we’ve done. It’s a little bit too premature to see, after today, that we will struggle this weekend. For sure what we have seen is that as normal we have competitors that are very strong but this is nothing new. This is the picture just one hour after the end of free practice two, so we need to analyse, try to understand what the others were doing. So I don’t want to say anything that will be different tomorrow so I’m a little bit cautious.

    Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN Radio) Stefano, one of the possible views on the McLaren/Perez deal is that Ferrari lost a talented young driver since Perez was from the academy, so what does the team have to say about it, what’s your view on that?

    SD: Nothing. I mean he had this opportunity, and I think that what we wish to him is the best for his future. I think that he received this offer or he discussed this offer with a very important team and I think that first of all we didn’t have any right to block him or to say something in that respect, because he was a driver who is working for the Sauber team. As I said, I think that Ferrari gave him a bit of experience by helping him in understanding something and that’s the way it is. We need to accept that and we will see. We are working with other young drivers that we hope we will be able to bring in our team as they will be considered ready, so that’s what I can say.

    Q: (Bryon Young – The Daily Mirror) Could I just ask Monisha whether any talks were held with Michael Schumacher about him potentially driving for you in the future?

    MK: We were never in negotiations with him.

    Q: (Andrew Gwilym – Press Association) Ross, Michael mentioned yesterday that he has plenty of options what to do with his future. Is one of those options for him to be retained within your team in a different role?

    RB: We’ve not discussed that. It’s not something that we’ve explored yet. Michael’s got huge experience and everyone’s got massive respect for him. It’s not possible to say. I think Michael’s going to spend a few months just reflecting on – let’s say – this new opportunity he has and I’m sure he will think very seriously about whatever he’ll do, he will do extremely professionally and effectively, but at the moment, no idea what that will be.

    Ends