Valencia (Spain) 23 June 2012: Jenson Button topped the timesheets in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying in Valencia but Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber will head into the grid shoot-out minus an hour’s set-up work after problems with his car.
Romain Grosjean was the early pace setter on Pirelli’s medium tyre, the Lotus driver setting a time of 1:40.136 to top the time sheet with his opening timed run. He was quickly joined by second-placed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen then moved into first only for Hamilton to ursurp him with his next run.
Down in 12th, though, was Mark Webber and after his first run the Red Bull driver returned to the garage where frantic activity began at the front end of his car. It was work that would continue until the end of the session.
The mid-point of the session was marked by Sebastian Vettel leaping to the top of the table with a lap of 1:39.448. It was a time that would remain the best set on the medium tyres.
Thereafter, it was down to how the qualifying simulations on the yellow-banded Soft tyres would play out. Grosjean was the first to show and promptly roared ahead of Vettel by almost eight tenths of a second. Raikkonen quickly slotted into third and the rest of the field gradually abandoned the harder tyre and chased a quick lap.
In the end it was Button who emerged as the session’s quickest man, the McLaren driver recording a lap of 1:38.562, to end the hour 0.093 of a second ahead of Grosjean, whose first soft run time stood until the end. They were followed by Raikkonen, two tenths back, and then the impressive-looking Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg, fourth, and Paul Di Resta, fifth. Sergio Perez was sixth, half a second off Button’s pace. The Sauber driver was followed by Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado, who completed the top ten.
In a disjointed final flurry several potential front-runners were caught out by either traffic or incidents. Fernando Alonso finished 12th after getting caught behind a Marussia and on his final run suffering a lock-up that saw him briefly slide off. Sebastian Vettel’s final run was compromised when he locked up into Turn Two and was forced to use the escape road.
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Riad ASMAT (Caterham), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Luis PEREZ SALA (HRT), Eric BOULLIER (Lotus).
Franz, as it’s your first time in the press conference this year, can you give us an assessment of your two new drivers? They’ve had time to settle down. Two drivers for whom there are a lot of new circuit too.
Franz TOST: Yes. Daniel Ricciardo, our driver from Australia, he is a little bit more experienced, he did already 11 races last year. So far he is doing a good job. He is a highly skilled driver. He is committed, with a positive attitude and so far I must say he is really doing a good job. Jean-Eric Vergne, his new, a French driver. Last year he did Formula Renault 3.5 litre and of course all the tracks are new for him. It’s not so easy, Friday morning, in the first session is to learn the tracks. But also he is a highly-skilled driver. I rate him very high. He is doing a good job and improving from race to race and if we provide the drivers with a good car they show a good performance.
The car itself: Is the team able to ensure that the car is maintaining a good position, even catching the teams in front?
FT: We started the season quite successfully with ninth place in Melbourne for Daniel Ricciardo and then eighth place in Sepang with Jean-Eric Vergne. Then afterward, I don’t know, we struggled a little bit. Our direct competitors improved their performance, Williams as well as Force India. They are clear in front of us. We brought some new parts here. We have to analyse the data and everything and hopefully set-up the car in a good way tomorrow for the qualifying and then for Sunday for the race. But there is a lot of work in front of us because currently the gap increased instead of decreasing.
Riad, first of all, I think you’ve got some developments here, but how much more can you do. How much closer can you get to the teams in front this year?
Riad ASMAT: I think what we’ve done is obviously going to be a progression but there is a huge push back home obviously with the team we have currently. We have some parts here, hopefully again we evaluated them today and if we get the set-up right for tomorrow then maybe we will pull a lucky one. But I’m more looking forward towards to Silverstone and onwards where more developments are being done for the car and hopefully by year’s end we’ll be able to prove our worth, where we actually aim to be this year.
And you’ve got changes to the team. The team is moving and you have John Iley now as well.
RA: Yes, it’s been positive. We had a real look over the past three years in terms of what we’ve done in terms of investment and in terms of people. More importantly people – the latest being John. He’s been with us a couple of months now and he’s actually very influential now with the performance levels we’re aiming for. Again, we’ll be moving to Leafield in August. I think that’s a definite plus for us. It’s a bit tight for us now in Hingham but with the ambitions we have currently I think Leafield is the right place for us.
Norbert, a certain amount has been made of the fact that you’ve had four mechanical failures on one car and the other one has done every single racing lap. How easy is it to explain that?
Norbert HAUG: Well, things like that happen. This is not our plan and we are not satisfied with these results for sure. I really feel sorry for Michael. This should not be the case, these are not our standards; the team can do a better job. But we need to have a calm and concentrated approach and I think all my colleagues here have been through phases like that. That happens in Formula One if you’re pushing and on the limit. But still, it is not our plan to be like that for sure. We will fix that. A lot of people are working in a concentrated and focused manner. Michael is a perfect team player and I would have every understanding if he would be critical but he never is outside the team, so he fully supports the team and we support him. I think he is an example for each and every driver. His behaviour is just first class and so authentic. I rate that very, very highly. Going through thick and thin he could complain and say ‘I should have as many points as Nico’ or stuff like that, but you never hear that. He’s a professional and he deserves good results. I hope they will come sooner rather than later. And again, he deserves that. We need to give him a fully competitive and fully reliable car and we’re working hard to achieve that.
We’re only a third of the way through the season, do you think Nico can win the world championship. Do you think Mercedes can be a world championship-winning team?
NH: Well, I think that whatever we did in the past, we have had at the last race the 300th race together with our partner McLaren-Mercedes and they won 73 grands prix. So we have been here for quite a while but what I think we never did is make any predictions or announcement saying ‘we are going to win the next race or fight for this or that’. We do our best job and we are doing it in a focused and concentrated manner. I think if you see that we have had two difficult at the beginning, Nico being on the last lap in Australia eighth and then he had a coming together with another car and lost points eight points and was 35 points down to the leader and now he’s 21 points down, so this is certainly the right direction. But we need to score points on a regular basis, we need to hopefully win more races and we are working, again… very focused on the direction. I think if you look at today, Nico did the fastest time on the prime tyre and then he was on the option. But he had this handicap of a yellow flag. Whatever Friday times mean, he would have been in a position to probably post the quickest time. And then the long runs look quite good. I don not know what that means compared to the others because you obviously do not know the fuel loads but our lap times were consistent. I think they have been in Canada. We have been very competitive in Monaco and we won in China. So the last five races I think we had three times good and convincing speed to be at the top or to mix with the top guys. Hopefully we can continue that trend. I would never go so far as to say we are definitely fighting for the world championship but of course it has to be the ultimate target. If we can achieve it, it would be fantastic and it would our ultimate goal for sure.
Luis, first of all, brake problems in Canada. Have you got them beat here, do you feel – as this is quite a tough circuit on brakes as well.
Luis PÉREZ-SALA: Yes, we knew from the beginning, from Melbourne, that our brake ducts were not perfect. We knew that Montreal was the biggest, maybe most difficult track for the brakes and here is one as well, one of the tracks were you can have problems with the brakes. But the data that we have this morning suggests we are going to be close to the limit but inside the limit.
Yesterday Pedro [de la Rosa] said how much he was enjoying bringing the team up, advancing the team. How much are you enjoying it?
LPS: Ha-ha! Really, I’m struggling a lot! But what is for me the worst thing of Formula One is that you have to travel a lot and be abroad from your house and far from the family. But this is a world that I like and I’m happy to be here and I try to push, to keep pushing, to try to get the team better and better each day.
Eric, many times we’ve been told that Lotus is ready to win. The question is which driver? Who would you put your money on?
Eric BOULLIER: I never put money on anything or anybody. I just wish one of my two drivers is going to be the eighth man, maybe this weekend. But rather than focussing on who will be the eighth man winning, I think it’s in our philosophy just to improve ourselves, to work hard, to clearly look at ourselves, to be better, to improve our weaknesses to make sure that we keep this consistency first – and if we can score podiums as well it is very important for the championship. And if we can have a win obviously I will be the most delighted guy.
Are you able to keep on top of development? Are you happy with the rate of development?
EB: Yeah, definitely. In 2010 we had a very strong rate of development, last year we had a strong rate but not as successful as we would have expected. This year is still good development: we have some good parts and good improvement in performance package that we bring not every race but nearly.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Wei An Mao – la Vie Creative) To all the gentlemen. As for the economic situation in Europe, do you think it will influence Formula One? Especially to all tracks in Europe in the future?
LPS: We have economic problems in my house – in my team! I think it is for everybody, economic problems, I think not only in Europe. Europe now is focussing on the situation but it’s something that we have and of course it’s going to touch us in some way. But this is still… I think this is not from this year: it’s come in from the last three or four years.
And is it going to affect Formula One?
LPS: Of course it’s touching us in some way. We are getting less money from sponsors; you have less money to spend on the cars, on the team.
Do you see the effect as well Norbert?
NH: Well, I mean the general issue is that we have to have this – however you call it – resource restrictions, limits, whatever – who does not see that? Who does not see what’s going on? We have to have limits, you know the figures of the medium and high class teams as good as I do. There should be limits of how to achieve it: that needs to be discussed but I think there are quite constructive and good ideas but we need to make sure that this comes through. This is an important step coming to the economic situation. I think that is part of the challenge. We have had bigger challenges in the past and I’m sure we will have even bigger ones in the future. You have some ups and downs and I think these times are very good for learning. You will always learn. You will learn how to be more efficient – so there are also positives. We just need to deal with the facts.
Franz?
FT: For sure it’s not good, the economic crisis in Europe and we are also working in Formula One to come down with the costs but thanks to Bernie we are not only racing in Europe, we are racing in areas where there is some money and no economic crisis: like India, like Australia, like Canada, like Brazil and like Saudi Arabia, with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. We go to Russia, we are in China and I think that’s very, very important for Formula One, especially for the sponsors to be present all over the world. And this also prevents a major influence from the economic side on Formula One. Because all over the world, hopefully there is no crisis.
Riad, perhaps a comment from you?
RA: I think, I mean it’s a given, the economic crisis is not just this year, I have to agree, it’s been around for the last two years. But the fact is that it affects everyone around the world and business-wise obviously Formula One. As a team commercially you will be affected because the companies that want to be part of it will have to reduce their marketing budgets, so on and so forth. That being said, I agree with Norbert: we do need to look at what we’re doing internally and be more precise and be more resource restricted to a degree. It’s a matter of the business that we’re running at the end of the day: I have to make it as efficient as possible in the hope that we can sustain our being here. But it’s a given, we can’t avoid it, it’s there. We just have to be smarter – and one of the areas is to manage our own resources, and hopefully with us working together maybe we’ll find a solution.
Eric?
EB: I will do a résumé, I guess, of what has been said. We have to be sensitive to this economic crisis especially in Europe. And we have to monitor also us being based in Europe. We have the chance, as Franz says, that Bernie’s business model for Formula One is global. Our sport is the only global sport in the world, so thanks to this global platform, we, as a team, for example, have been able to bring some big names and new sponsors, like Microsoft, who were never in the Championship in Formula One. Obviously we don’t have to hide behind this, we have to be very careful about the impact of the economy in Europe but we are lucky that our sport is global.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To all five of you: a lot has been made recently about the cost-cutting, cost-saving measures in Formula One. Enshrining them in the regulations was discussed after Monaco on the Monday, it was discussed last week on Friday in the WMSC meeting. I believe you people had a follow-up meeting yesterday. Has anybody got any reservations about enshrining the cost-saving measures or cost-cutting measures, budget caps – whatever you want to call it – in the Formula One regulations?
EB: It’s true that actually it’s a good follow-up after the previous question. If you monitor the economical situation in some parts of the world, you obviously have to consider yourself and think not only that you’re plus one, you’re plus two but also you’re plus five. And it’s true that there are some very constructive discussions between the FIA, Bernie and teams today, to try to take conscience and to try to clearly understand what is Formula One and what will Formula One be in the future and what we want to do with Formula One. Formula One has already downsized its costs a lot but we believe there is some more work to be done and this is why there are all these discussions, but the more people around the table, the less easy it is to take radical decisions.
FT: We are discussing the resource restriction agreement. Currently we are mainly only discussing about the resource restriction agreement regarding the chassis. In my opinion, the chassis resource restriction agreement is one point but the costs – especially from 2014 onwards, which will come up and which will increase dramatically – is the powertrain, and therefore the resource restriction agreement for the powertrain would be for me or let me say for Toro Rosso even more important than for the chassis. It must be a complete package. I am really worried that we are discussing on one side the costs decrease, but from 2014 onwards, with this new powertrain and the new engine, with the new ERS system, pick-up batteries, the cost will dramatically increase and this is what we also have to discuss, which is quite important, the development and the research costs which will rise to develop this package.
NH: You need to deal with the facts. The engine lease years ago was twice as much as it is right now, that’s due to manufacturers bringing that down. I think that was a big help for all the teams. It’s very clear that if you develop a new engine that it costs money and I think Formula One has never had an engine formula like today, where basically everybody gets a competitive engine, ten teams at least. That needs to be mentioned. Then there was a process in the past deciding that a new engine has to be developed and of course that costs money. We worked very hard, together with the FIA, and we have the same opinion with the other manufacturers to bring costs down but this is over a period of five years, so the target has to be minus twenty, minus thirty percent over five years and I’m sure the engine lease will, over five years, be comparable to what we have right now, but we need to see that we will have a new engine, an engine that you can market in a very good way, if it comes to sustainable ??? and so on. We just need to have changes. I hear some voices saying ‘ delay the engine.’ One thing is for sure; if you delay the engine, you run two programmes in parallel one year longer and your customers will pay for that. We cannot have fully subsidised engines, this is not possible. I think the engine manufacturers especially have been very very fair and I would be pleased to hear that at one stage as well, because the engine lease was in excess of 25/30 million years ago and we brought it down, and I think that fact has to be mentioned. We can discuss aerodynamics and so on and so on. There are lots of areas where we can save money, but deciding and building and developing a new engine costs money – much less money than the last one, the V8, but we need to see where we are. I’m the first guy to support restrictions but then we need to do it in a coherent way: chassis, engine, whatever. Mercedes has always been one of the driving forces. I’m sure the Renault guys do not see it differently, the Ferrari guys do not see it differently. If we all work together we will achieve our targets but one thing is for sure: just listening to voices saying the engine is more expensive than it used to be. Let’s deal with the facts and then we know where it’s coming from.
RA: We’ve had numerous meetings on this matter but one thing is for sure is that everyone agrees that we need to reduce costs. I’ve been in this for two and a half years and I can see the level of exorbitant areas that could be managed better. The points are taken, we have discussed it. There are some ideas bandied around. The groups that are related to those areas will be talking to each other and hopefully soon enough we do come to a conclusion, but we have a position, obviously, and we will support anything with regard to resource restriction, we will support that all the while. I think there has been some improvement over the last two years from previous times, but there is a lot more we can do, I think, going forward. From our side, we will support anything that’s positive.
LPS: It’s clear that for the biggest teams there are going to be clear rules. They are going to reduce their budgets but I’m a bit worried about the small teams like us. To reduce our budget is not easy but even to stay with the same budget, I would say, will be difficult, because maybe next year it will be at the same level but we will need to understand how the situation will be in 2014, as Norbert says, what will be the cost of the KERS, the engine, to have a clear view of the future for us, maybe in five years’ time. I’m quite happy with Norbert that the engines have reduced a lot. I was not involved in Formula One as I am now but I remember the cost was large, maybe four or five times what it is now but I would like to maintain this level of costs for the future. It seems that it is going to be difficult, or we have to understand what the situation will be.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Sorry, the question was – thanks for all the detail – but the question was does anybody have any reservations about including the cost-saving measures in the Formula One regulations?
LPS: I don’t think so. Does anybody?
(General shaking of heads and ‘No’)
Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Autosport today is reporting that customer cars are back on the table – second hand cars from the previous year. Is that something that’s right for Formula One which is supposed to be the technological pinnacle of motorsport? And is it something that any of your teams would be looking at either supplying or purchasing?
NH: I think that’s very easy to answer. If you ran this year with last year’s car then just guess what happens.
LPS: Maybe for a small team it’s going to be at the beginning this year, some years, like in 2014. There are a lot of changes, it’s not easy because they’re changing the engines, it’s not an easy thing to do.
EB: The question is easy but the debate is more complex. Today’s Formula One is based on constructor regulations. If we have to go to customer cars to serve Formula One and be the Formula One of the future, why not? I think the discussion is open now. I know some teams would like to stay as constructors, some teams would maybe need to be customers to save their budget or their company, but it’s a more complex debate and actually together with the previous question about cost-saving, it’s obviously crucial in this discussion.
FT: It depends how much money a team has. The customer teams can buy the car and can run the car. We at Toro Rosso have started to build up the infrastructure and will build the car by ourselves.
RA: From our point of view, again, we’re a constructor. We came in with that particular objective and we’ve been doing it for the past two and a half years. But again, an idea is an idea. We’re always open to ideas and obviously we will have to review things if it does come to fruition then go from there. But we are proud of where we are, what we’ve built. We came in as a constructor, as Eric mentioned, and we hope to stay that way for now.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) We are talking about cutting costs, reducing costs and so on, and there is the rumour that the number of Grand Prix could increase. The number on the calendar could be larger. I can understand that more Grand Prix means more money for everybody but in your opinion, what is the ideal calendar for the future: twenty, 24? How many Grand Prix in Europe, because the crisis is deeper here in Europe?
FT: The year has 52 weeks. We should have 26 Grand Prix! Some in Europe, yeah!
EB: I think you have two philosophies. Is it going to be like NASCAR with 38 weekends, if I’m not wrong, or staying around twenty. The true question is over 20 Grand Prix we have to reconsider our structure, because we obviously have a team personnel issue, travelling and logistical issue. As you say, we can speak about cost-saving but more Grand Prix means more revenue for Formula One and the more countries we can visit is the more countries we can bring Formula One to fans. There is no exact number, no magic number I guess, but I’m rather like Franz – more races, why not?
Valencia: Vettel managed a time of 1: 39.334 with half an hour of the session remaining, having just switched to running on the softer of the two available tyre compounds. Vettel’s fastest lap came shortly after the debris of an earlier crash had been cleared: Pedro de la Rosa ended up in the barriers at Turn 14 – his HRT appeared to understeer on the exit and drive straight into the wall.
Behind Vettel, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was a tenth off the pace, followed by Kamui Kobayashi, Michael Schumacher, Bruno Senna, Paul di Resta, Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg completing the top ten. In a busy session with most drivers doing long runs on both tyre compounds, Heikki Kovalainen completed the most mileage with 38 laps, and de la Rosa aside, Kobayashi the least with 20 laps.
Earlier in the session Jenson Button had been the first man to set a time below 1m40s this weekend. Putting on a set of soft tyres early in proceedings, his lap of 1:39.990 briefly held top spot before being beaten by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes. Significantly, Rosberg was able to do his time on the harder compound. After Rosberg, Alonso led briefly before Vettel set his quick lap.
Several drivers had spins or off-track moments, most notably Sergio Pérez who finished up facing the wrong way in his Sauber at Turn 17.
endsRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest time in Free Practice 2 on Friday. FIA photo
Maldonado has a reputation as a street track specialist and has won on the Valencia Street Circuit in GP2. He looked very assured in this morning’s first practice session and went to the top of the timesheet at around the 50 minute mark.
Friday morning saw track temperatures around 14°C lower than their peak yesterday afternoon as heavy cloud cover descended on the Western Mediterranean, presenting conditions similar to those experienced in Montreal two weeks ago. There was no great rush to take to the circuit, with most drivers content to do only installation laps in the first third of the session. Only the Toro Rosso pair recorded times, while performing the public surface of cleaning the racing line on what is a very dirty, low-grip street course.
With an hour to go track action began to pick up, with first the Lotuses and then Rosberg’s Mercedes each briefly holding top spot. Then Maldonado appeared and was the first driver into the 1m40s bracket. His best time of 1:40.890 would stand for the rest of the session. Behind him Fernando Alonso went second for Ferrari before being eclipsed by the late-arriving Red Bulls. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were running with near-identical times. Webber initially took P2, within a tenth of Maldonado’s time, only to be supplanted in the last ten minutes by Vettel who lapped a hundredth of a second quicker than his Australian team-mate.
Behind them Jenson Button appeared to put his recent struggles behind him, taking fourth place, a tenth of a second behind Maldonado. He led Alonso, Paul Di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, with Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top ten.
The session was largely trouble-free with most drivers completing around 20 laps. Daniel Ricciardo managed 28 laps as Toro Rosso worked to optimise their new exhaust system, while Timo Glock was only able to complete seven laps for Marussia.
ends
Following DRIVERS – Heikki KOVALAINEN (Caterham), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Kamui KOBAYASHI (Sauber), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Pedro DE LA ROSA (HRT) participated in the Thursday Press Conference, the first FIA conference of the race week-end.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Heikki, you made some comments in your preview that this isn’t your favourite circuit: brake cooling so important here and the track evolves more than others. Perhaps you’d like to expand on those comments?
Heikki KOVALAINEN: Good afternoon everyone. Yes, I read that preview and I think our press officer Tom Webb had something to do with that. It doesn’t mean I hate the place. I mean look at the weather, look at the circuit. Everything here is actually very, very good here. I’ve had pretty good races in the past here. I was on the front row with McLaren in 2009, so there’s nothing negative for me to day about that. That’s all I can say really. I look forward to a good race. It is a street circuit but not as hardcore as Monaco or Montreal. It’s easier, the kerbs are easier. It’s slightly smoother, we can run the car very low. It’s very, very smooth. I think if you just find a good set-up on Friday and Saturday morning I think it’s really good fun to drive. In terms of competitiveness, whether we’ll be closer to the cars ahead of us or not, it’s hard to say yet. We need to wait and see where we are. But I’ll definitely look forward to a good weekend. I think everyone here will have a good weekend, the weather looks fantastic.
Just looking overall at the performance so far, over the seven races we’ve had so far, how do you feel the team is progressing: definitely getting closer to the teams in front?
HK: I think it’s fair to say that we were hoping to start the season closer to the cars in front of us. Obviously at the winter testing, we thought we were closer but then we arrived at the first few races we were not as close as we thought. But since then the team has made a lot of effort and in my opinion in all the right areas. I’m very happy to see that. I think we are making good progress. Obviously John Iley from McLaren has joined us very recently and I think in the next few races we’ll see updates coming every race. For us they feel like quite significant updates but I think we need to wait and see how they translate onto circuits, actually on to the racetracks before really making too many predictions. The main point being that the team had grown a lot since last year and since the beginning of the year I think we have focused absolutely on the right areas to make that relative gain to the teams ahead of us. Whether we can do it or not, really on track, I think we need to wait and see. I think we can do it and I’m looking forward towards the end of the season more regularly beating the cars ahead of us.
Dan, it’s virtually a full year for you in Formula One now, are you pretty much where you want to be?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Good day everyone. It’s gone very quick. Someone, probably my dad, told me very recently that it’s nearly been a year that I’ve been here. I remember Silverstone like it was a week ago. Time goes very fast. You have to try and take advantage of every opportunity and make the most of everything so… I’ve had some good times in the first year and some times I wish were better but generally I’m enjoying it. It’s a huge experience and a great learning curve for me but after a year it’s time to kick on and get some solid results. As for this season we’ve been a bit up and down. We kicked it off pretty well in Melbourne and we probably would have liked that to continue, which it hasn’t done as smoothly, but yeah, we still have a long season ahead of us. The experience is growing now and I think it’s time now to try to get a few more points on the board and to turn a few heads would be nice.
Of course you’ll know all the circuits from now on – apart from American, which no one will know – so how important is that? You haven’t raced here but you were here as a Friday driver last year.
DR: Yeah, I think it helps a bit. Once you get to this level you can pick up a new circuit fairly quickly but I guess if it’s one you’ve driven on over and over you tend to know a few more secrets about it. But, having FP1 here last year will get me into the groove of things a bit quicker but you know come Saturday and qualifying I think everyone’s pretty much into it whether it’s a new circuit or one we’ve been to before. There are some special circuits on the calendar, maybe Monaco for example, where the more experience you have there the quicker you’ll eventually be able to go, knowing a few more little secrets; knowing which lines to take. But generally I don’t think it changes much now. Looking forward to a stronger second half of the season and hopefully that can start here. It’s nice and warm, a bit like home – though I haven’t really been living at home much in the past six years or something, so maybe it will take me a little bit of time to get used to the heat again, but yeah, looking forward to it.
Kamui, first of all, the Sauber seems to be suited in certain areas and not in others, but what about this circuit?
Kamui KOBAYASHI: Here I think pretty OK. Only we have to focus on working the tyre with this track temperature because this is quite… extremely high. I think the car itself is OK for this track but difficult to say how it will perform on the track in this temperature.
Is it still about tyre management. Your team-mate for example is always cited as someone who will make a one-stop, just as he did here last year. How does that affect you?
KK: I think in the last race Sergio did a really great job with the tyre management. But I think this season so far, it’s very important to be [in] clear air. If we are in traffic we damage the tyre of course. It’s not only the tyre management, we have to be clear. It’s not only the driving, it’s the situation as well. It’s difficult to say that it’s coming only from the tyre and the driving, it’s all a mixture. Let’s say Sergio last race had great driving but he also had quite a lot of time with not so much traffic and that’s the key to managing the tyre. Also last race I think everybody expected in the race to do two-stop but actually one-stop is quicker. But at the same time it seems to be difficult to overtake again because everybody is like a train. So that was mis-predicted for the last race. For my situation I had to change strategy during the race, which is quite difficult. But I think the team did a great job for the performance and they gave us really great advice and we see a good step from the car and we try to understand more the tyre because with this track temperature it’s difficult to see but with there experience I think we can sort it out.
Fernando, we read that you team-mate, part of his resurgence is because of a different set-up and he’s gone his own way on set-up. How does that affect you? Is it an advantage for you?
Fernando ALONSO: I’m not sure about the different set-up comments. I don’t think that there is any big difference compared with the first races. It’s not affecting my programme. For Felipe, he’s getting some good confidence now in the car with the last changes and some tweaks maybe in the set-up but nothing dramatically changed. And now it seems we can both be competitive. This is the best news for the team. As we always repeat: the team, myself, he’s having full support from everybody inside Ferrari and now we are convinced that in the second half of the season we will both be up at the front.
How do you feel about the development of the car? Obviously it didn’t start off as a very good car and you were pushing for development. Has it taken longer or shorter than you imagined and now are you nearly there?
FA: I’m extremely happy with the effort of the team. It’s true that we didn’t start in the best position so maybe in that aspect we were a little bit advantaged because it’s easier to improve to a bad car than a good car normally because we had many things that didn’t work at the beginning, so maybe it was a little bit easier to put everything right. Bit it’s true that in the last four grands prix or something like that every new part we bring to the race it correlates and is working as we expect from the wind tunnel. This is something we struggled with in the past, in the last two years especially. Yeah, more self-confidence in the team now, in all the new designs, in all the information we get from the wind tunnel, this is good. Not just for now but for the near future.
Lewis, championship leader, three times second at this race, pole in 2009 as well – but it’s a very different championship this year, as we’re all aware and it’s very important to bank points, as you’ve pointed out in the past. How difficult is that for you – as we see you as an out and out racer who wants to win all the time – how difficult is it for you, is it a change of mindset?
Lewis HAMILTON: Good afternoon everyone. Not for me: I still want to win every race it’s just you have to be perhaps a little more strategic with your approach this year. We’ve seen seven different winners, both me and Fernando have scored pretty much in every race yet the Championship is so close. I don’t think there is too much of a different approach but you have to be a little bit more sensible this year.
And, in terms of the Championship again, obviously consistency is hugely important. Is the development still coming all the time from the factory? We hear about it from various other teams, is it still coming from McLaren as well?
LH: The guys are working as hard as they can and pushing as hard as we can to improve. We’ve not had the same size of upgrades as others potentially have. We’ve not really had an upgrade since Barcelona but we hopefully will have something very soon.
For here or for the British Grand Prix?
LH: Probably for the British Grand Prix, I would have thought.
Pedro, first of all, problems with the brakes at the last grand prix, do you think you’ve pretty much sorted those out?
Pedro DE LA ROSA: We are not sure. We think we have and actually we’ve brought slightly more front brake pulley, which was our limiting factor in Canada, knowing that Valencia is also a little bit easier on the brakes. So, I think, all in all, we should be OK and be able to go flat out all the race and finish this race with the brakes.
How much are you enjoying the development of the HRT team and the car itself? Especially when you get as close as you did in the last grand prix as well, where you were starting to make in-roads with the team in front.
PdlR: Well, we’re having fun. We’re having fun because in the team we are all pushing very hard and we are making progress, which is essential in this sport, especially when you make more progress than the people around you. However, we still have a long way to go and we are not where we want to be and there is still a lot to be gained. But we’re having fun because each race we are more competitive, and especially in Canada it was such a shame to retire so early because I was having a lot of fun inside the car. We were able to fight, we were able to fight against people behind and in front and we were actually looking good on strategy. But anyway, let’s see how it goes here. Valencia is a similar track to Canada in terms of car setup. Slightly more overall downforce but there are a lot of slow-speed corners and a lot of heavy braking which we seem to be quite good at.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Alex Popov – RTR) Question for Fernando and Lewis, first of all for Fernando. It seems to be already a silly season but not even for the next one but for 2014 and beyond. It seems to be a lot of rumours, even from your team, about you and Sebastian together. What do you think about the possibility of this cooperation? And for Lewis, about this point, you seem to be a lot more friendly with Fernando now than back to your cooperation. What do you think? Maybe in the future would you like to work together in the same team.
FA: Rumours, I think, with Ferrari are always the same: when I won the 2005 Championship with Renault, I was linked to Ferrari immediately – and I arrived in 2010. So, if Sebastian is linked now, maybe he’ll arrive in five year’s time. I don’t know. Every summer it is the same with Ferrari, as I said, but at the moment we repeat the same thing. Extremely happy with Felipe, whatever team-mate comes in the future will be welcome, will be part of the team and part of Ferrari and, as I said, when I joined this team the most important thing in Ferrari is to help each other to make one red car win. It’s something that President di Montezemolo is very clear on when you arrive on day one in Ferrari. So, whatever teammate is coming in the future, if it comes, will be no problem and we will try to work as we are doing now with Felipe.
LH: I really don’t know what else to say. It looks like they have a good team already and me and Jenson provide a strong line-up here at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. That’s the thing I need to focus on; that’s the most important thing for us at the moment. I don’t really know what else I can say.
(Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Question for Fernando: Fernando, would you be happy repeating last year’s second place, or do you want to win here, considering this is one of the very few circuits where you haven’t won yet?
FA: Well, difficult question. Sure, getting some podiums now, in the next couple of races, especially in July when we have three races in four weeks, it will be important to have some consistency in this very important month, we think. But, being on Thursday, we only think about victory, because we want to win, especially here in Spain, in front of our fans and we will try our best. Difficult question because we know second in this type of Championship is also good points.
(Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Fernando, what do you like on that track, what do you dislike and how to you rate the atmosphere of this venue?
FA: From the track, I like the heavy braking in the last sector especially, which is maybe the most challenging one. The first two sectors are more or less the same. So much straights but they are not really straights so you are always turning in and it’s not so easy maybe for overtaking for this reason – but in the last sector you find some interesting combination of corners that I think you enjoy. The high-speed corners plus the last braking which is a little bit challenging. What I don’t like from this circuit… nothing really. I think it’s all fine. There is not any place or anything that is a big problem. The atmosphere is one of the best. It’s one of my preferred grands prix of the year. I like the city, I like the atmosphere here, there are a lot of activities around the grand prix as well – like Singapore in a way, with a lot of music concerts around. There are some go-kart circuits outside for the fans and some other activities, so I think the weekend overall, with the beach 400m from the track etc., makes something nice for the people that come for the weekend. I think we also like it from a driver point of view.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, Ron Dennis came out with an interesting comment after the Canadian Grand Prix when he was asked about you staying with the team. He mentioned that you were coming towards the end of a contract that was signed at a time when the economy was somewhat different. He said ‘now there has to be a balance.’ Can you understand Ron’s comments, first of all, and do you appreciate that when it comes down to negotiations with McLaren and yourself and your management team, you might have to ease off on your financial demands because economic times are very different now?
LH: Ron is a very tough negotiator. He was very tough when they negotiated the contract that I have now and I expect him to be the same when we go back in (this time). I don’t see there being many problems, to be honest.
Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Fernando, you know Romain Grosjean pretty well from your experiences at Renault in 2009. In your opinion, what are his best qualities for this season and in which area could he still improve?
FA: Yeah, I know him. We were teammates first as a test driver for us and then racing with us as well. He’s a very talented driver. He won GP2 easily and in 2009 in Formula One I think the car was not so easy to drive and he found it tough, but now he’s showing his potential. He’s young, talented, very quick. He can keep up a very good pace with few mistakes over a whole race. Things to improve? Experience for sure because this is something that you never stop learning and the more races you do, the more championships you do, you improve little things and little tricks at different circuits. A little bit of consistency will only come from experience. I’m happy with his performance, happy for him. I think he will have a very interesting season from now on, after the podium in Canada and the toughest time will only come on Saturday with the football, I think.
Q: (Ignacio Naya – DPA) Fernando, Pedro and Lewis, I know you are football fans. You are probably following the European Cup. I would like to know what you think about the Spanish team. Are you enjoying them, what do you expect from them, how are you going to follow the match on Saturday, and have you talked to Romain Grosjean?
PdelaR: Well, I’m enjoying it massively, because we are the best, it’s simple, having a great time watching our team – a lot of Barcelona players in the Spanish national team which also helps. It’s great to see us doing so well. Actually, I also quite liked what the Spanish coach said the other day, that we go from poor to rich too quickly. I think it’s a great competition and we should never forget that all Spain is behind the team and we are all very proud. I don’t know who is unhappy about it: no one. Not me.
FA: Yes, same thing. I enjoy it, I watch all of Euro. I will watch Saturday here in the motorhome with some friends. I haven’t spoken yet with Grosjean at the moment but I will. Yeah, I’m enjoying it as well, like Pedro. I think we are very privileged to have this national team, this generation of players. Probably, as Pedro and the coach said, we will remember this generation in a few years’ time, but now it’s very easy to criticise, but we will regret this soon.
Q: (David Croft – Sky TV) I think you’re sitting on the fence a bit with your football punditry here folks. What we want to know is who has got the best chance of winning this weekend, Spanish or the English football teams or Lewis or Fernando out on the track? Pedro, you get the casting vote on this one.
PdelaR: I don’t know what you want.
HK: Pedro, you need to talk after this press conference and ask for some money and then you make the comment.
FA: I will not give you money. You can tell Lewis, no problem.
LH: I don’t even know when the game is, if I’m honest. Hopefully I will be able to watch it then. They’ve been playing pretty well recently. I hope that we have a better shot this year than we have in the past, but there are other great teams out there. Spain, of course, is obviously one of the best teams there so it will be interesting. I’m not going to pay Pedro either.
Q: (David Croft – Sky TV) You’ll be rooting for Italy, I suppose.
FA: Yes. Sorry but I prefer Italy in this game.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you said in Canada after the race that you weren’t able to make a one pit stop strategy. With these hot conditions, do you believe that your car can react well or will it be too hard on the tyres? And regarding your pit stops: you had a problem with your pit stops again in the last Grand Prix and you had to push a lot. Did you work on the pit stops in the last ten days?
LH: On the tyre side of things, I anticipate it could be another very very tough weekend, trying to look after them. I think it will be very interesting to see how the teams vary as they did in the last race. You have to expect teams like Lotus and Sauber doing very very well on their long runs and Ferrari are also very very good on their long runs. So I definitely don’t anticipate even doing a one stop strategy this weekend, but I will obviously try to look after the tyres as best we can.
In terms of our pit stops, we are constantly altering and improving race by race, and the guys go back to the factory after every race with footage of the pit stop to understand and analyse exactly what went wrong, so that next time we go out we don’t have those problems. I think this weekend we will have an even better set of pit stops again. I think at the last race the first pit stop – if we didn’t have the problem with the pull away – I think it would have maybe been the fastest of the whole season so far. I think it was 2.8s or 2.9s. The stationary time was 2.9s, I think, or something like that, so quite quick, but I lost a second as I pulled away. We are just going to keep working on it.
Q: (Olaf Mol – RTL7) Fernando and Lewis, some countries are no longer in the European soccer championship like Holland; some of their soccer players are being criticised for not talking to their fans. Do you feel that Formula One and you as drivers are doing enough for your fans?
LH: Do we think we are doing enough for the fans? I don’t know. If you look at the last race, for example, we had such a great event. There are definitely races where there aren’t so many people who come to watch the race, but I think we’re doing a pretty good job. I don’t know what else… I’m sure we can always do better, but I don’t see a problem, personally.
FA: Yes, I agree. Anyone can do more or less, depending on which one, but apart from NBA (National Basketball Association) I don’t think there’s any big sport that does a better job than Formula One.
HK: I think that FOTA has asked the fans many times… Martin Whitmarsh has been very open and the fans have had a word, and I think many times the fans have been happy. I don’t see any problem there, no.
Q: (Patrick Grivaz – Radio France) We are here in Valencia, Spain and there is an economic crisis in Europe and in Spain particularly. I want to ask a question to Pedro and Fernando: what is your feeling about the economic crisis in Spain and what can you do about it?
FA: I think we obviously feel sad and worried about the situation in Spain which is not ideal at the moment. I think we are in a completely different matter which is sport and we are having a great event in one city which will be known worldwide on Sunday on millions and millions of televisions throughout the world, so it’s very good publicity. At the same time, I think the economic crisis is not only in Spain, not only in Europe but worldwide and if we question races and sporting events, we will never finish, because then we have to question why, in Poland, they hold the European Championship, maybe the Olympic Games and so on and so on, because there are macro-sporting events over which there is always a question whether they are necessary or not.
PdelaR: I fully agree, it’s terrible for Spain, it’s terrible for Europe, the world. We are in crisis. We have friends in Barcelona who have lost their jobs and it’s very bad. But as Fernando said, it’s not only in Spain, it’s everywhere, I would say. The only thing we can do is first of all concentrate on our job and try to make their lives better with a good entertainment show on Saturday and Sunday and then also, as a team, I think HRT is an example of what you can do in Spain: invest at a difficult moment, give opportunities to young mechanics, engineers, people, drivers and this is what we are doing. It’s very bad, but as I’ve said, crises come and go. It’s not the end of the world. We have to look ahead and we have to recover, we have to fight crises and wait for the long straights that will come.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) Fernando, how much involvement do you have when teams come to select teammates, wherever you’ve been. Do they consult you, do they ask you what do you think of him, could you work with him?
FA: In the past, never. Now at Ferrari, yes. I’m in Italy every week so when we are there, sometimes I see the president, I see Stefano (Domenicali – team principal) and we talk about development of the car, we talk about GT, now there is some work on a new GT car that they are doing some test with at the end of year. We talk about the future of Formula One, about Corsa Clienti which is owners of old Formula One cars which they want us to take to some circuits to teach some senior drivers, and also about the future and teammates as well.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) So if you said you didn’t want A or B would you hope that they listened to you?
FA: I doubt it. It’s an open chat, we talk, but in the end, it’s their decision.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) So would you welcome to chance to work with Lewis again, would that be on the agenda or is that..?
FA: No problem.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) Not a problem, no one at all, even Sebastian Vettel?
FA: No problem. Why?
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) There should be no reason, absolutely, but you would welcome the challenge from whoever would be deemed good enough to be a Ferrari driver or whichever team you were in?
FA: Yeah. I do. I think I have a lot of respect for Felipe. I think the challenging moment, that even from the outside it’s difficult to appreciate, what a challenging time he’s given to me in the last three years. He’s not bad, even if from the outside he looks…
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) So you wouldn’t mind him staying on then? Do you think he could stay on? Has he got the potential to do that?
FA: I think so.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, Lewis and Pedro: when I saw you in this row, I remembered McLaren in 2007. What were your best and worst memories of that season for you three guys when you were teammates?
PdelaR: From my point of view it was a pleasure to have two super drivers next to me and learn from them. It was really interesting. The worst bit, clearly, was to lose the championship at the last race in Brazil. I think that the three of us – more them than myself because I was unfortunately not driving – but we all woke up at one point at four or five am in a cold sweat around our heads, because it was a shame but they are the best, it was really a pleasure for me to be in the team with them. I learned. I’m a sponge.
LH: It was the same, losing the championship was definitely the… I had only just got to Formula One but just having it and then losing it and then having it was very very tough. I think the best moment was winning my first Grand Prix that year; firstly getting into Formula One and then having the great opportunity and privilege of working alongside Fernando and Pedro, and working for such a great team, and winning my first race in Montreal. That was part of my life that I could only have ever dreamed of.
FA: Yes, same. The worst moment was losing the championship, for sure, at the last race after being at the top of the table for the whole season, and then we lost it at the last race. Best thing for me was the technical approach that was very different compared to Renault and all the things that I learned on the technical side in that year… I think they were very very important for the rest of my career and I improved 200 percent as a driver that year.
Valencia, 20 June 2012: The Valencia Street Circuit will host the eighth round of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. Valencia has been home to the European Grand Prix since 2008. Following rounds in Monaco and Montreal, it is the third race in a row to be held on a ‘street’ circuit. It is going to be interesting to see an eighth winner here, as the first seven Grands Prix have been won by seven different drivers, a new record and the Pirelli tyres are being cited as the reason but it augurs well as anyone can win the title this year with the race wide open and no visible leader.
This track features four long straights but also more corners than any other current F1 venue, ten of which are taken in low gears. It requires teams to strike a difficult balance between high straight-line speed on the four 300kph-plus sections, and excellent low-speed grip and traction. It’s a circuit that rewards a good all-round car: every year the winning team in Valencia has gone on to lift the Constructors’ Championship according to an FIA release, but let us see if this will hold good this year tooValencia circuit. FIA graphic..
As is often the case for street circuits, qualifying position will be at a premium: three times from the four races here the man qualifying in pole position has gone on to win the race. Pitstops have a role to play also. Pirelli are bringing Medium and Soft compound tyres, the same combination that featured last year. Unlike in Canada, where a one-stop strategy provided two podium finishes, the slippery surface in Valencia and the high-load corners tend to induce much greater tyre wear. Last year the strategy used exclusively by the front-runners was three equal-length stints on the soft tyre followed by a switch to the medium rubber at the end of the race. However, alternative strategies were successful lower down the order: Sergio Pérez managed a one-stop race that elevated him from 16th on the grid to 11th at the chequered flag, while Jaime Alguersuari was catapulted from 18th to eighth with a two-stopper.
The 2012 season has rewritten records so far, with the first seven races of the year producing seven different winners from five different teams and two very competitive championship tables. It is being hailed in some quarters as the most unpredictable season in the history of the sport.
ends
Valencia, 19 June 2012: Sahara Force India looks forward to round eight of the season, the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
Sahara Force India has come up with a track guide by Paul Di Resta. To view a video of Di Resta’s Valencia track guide, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/KYc1S9
After a disappointing Canadian GP, team Principal Vijay Mallya said: “Looking back on Canada it’s fair to say that we have mixed emotions. We were disappointed with the overall outcome, but take the positives from knowing that we did have a quick car for most of the weekend. After a promising start to the race when Paul ran as high as fifth, everything dropped off and we underachieved. We have looked into the issues we had in the race and believe we understand why we lost out.”
“I think Canada showed once again that Formula One is hard to predict at the moment. It’s seriously competitive with seven different winners in seven races, all of which is great for the sport – I would certainly go along with that. But while it’s hard to predict, we still need to lift our game, especially if we want to target fifth or sixth in the constructors’ championship. Yes, we’ve had one of our best starts to a season ever in terms of points scored, but the teams around us have also performed exceptionally well,” the liquour baron continued.
“The teams that we have been comparable with in the past few years like Sauber and Williams have been on the podium, and I’m sure our time will come, as long as we get things right. It’s something we need to do sooner rather than later because we are quickly approaching the midway point of the season. I hope we can recapture our form in Valencia, return to the points and demonstrate our potential,” concluded Mallya, who is also the Managing Director of Sahara Force India F1 team.
Paul on Valencia
Paul Di Resta looks ahead to his second European Grand Prix.
Paul, tell us about the challenge of racing on the Valencia street circuit?
It’s a mix between a street circuit and a normal track and it’s got a lot of corners to go with it – maybe the most corners of any circuit on the calendar. The track is very smooth but it’s tricky to get on top of the set-up and if you don’t find the sweet spot it can make quite a big difference to your laptime across such a long lap.
Is it difficult to set the car up because of the variety of corners?
The main challenge is to be strong in the low-speed chicanes and also through the high-speed end of the lap. There are some big braking zones too followed by big traction zones, so the degradation rate is quite high, which is why it’s hard to manage the rear tyres through the race.
And what about Valencia as a venue?
It’s a fun place to visit. The city has nice architecture, some great restaurants and we stay next to the beach so I sometimes go for a jog in the morning. City races usually provide a good atmosphere on race day and there are always lots of British fans who come along and show their support.
Nico on Valencia
Nico Hulkenberg reflects on Montreal and looks forward to racing in Valencia.
What are your thoughts as you look back on the Canadian Grand Prix?
I was disappointed with the weekend as a whole because things looked promising on Friday. I was unlucky during qualifying and I think that stopped us from getting a better result from the race. The important thing is that we understand the issues we had in the race and we can solve them. I think if we were to race there again today we would get a lot more from the race.
Are you looking forward to racing in Valencia? What do you remember about your first race there in 2010?
My race there in 2010 was not a particularly happy one. There was some bodywork burning away and I eventually had to retire. I’m looking forward to going back to Valencia because I like the track, even though we’ve seen how difficult it is to overtake there. The track has are a few special corners in the final sector of the lap and it’s enjoyable to drive. It’s also quite a long lap with 25 corners so it can be quite difficult to get a perfect lap together.
Paris, 15 June 2012: A meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) took place today, 15 June, in Paris and the following decisions were taken.
The WMSC also reiterated its intention to make motor sport more affordable in all categories.
FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
At their request, the FIA is having active discussions with teams regarding cost control and any amendments to the technical regulations resulting from a further limit on expenditure on the chassis will be submitted to the WMSC via a fax vote before 30 June. The intention is to help all teams participate in the Championship in a fair and equal manner.
Constructive Concorde Agreement discussions are on-going between the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder, with the intention of finalising an agreement in the coming weeks. It was also decided that the deadline for the closing of entries be deferred to 30 September.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP AND RALLYING
Following discussions with the FIA World Rally Championship stakeholders regarding the 2013 calendar, the WMSC adopted the calendar proposed by the WRC Commission. Events will be hosted in the following countries:
Argentina
Australia
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Italy
Mexico
Monte Carlo
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
The dates will be submitted at a later time, taking logistics and the calendars of the other FIA Championships into account and to avoid, where possible, date clashes.
Candidate rallies will be considered for the 2014 calendar, to ensure their events meet the requirements of a WRC event. These rallies will be run and observed before the end of April 2013. Brazil and South Africa have already expressed their interest in participating.
Following the call for Expression of Interest launched earlier this year to promote the WRC, and the assessment of the numerous bids received, a shortlist of candidates has been established. Final discussions with those candidates are currently being conducted with a view to establishing the best possible platform for the promotion of the FIA World Rally Championship. A final recommendation will be presented to the World Motor Sport Council in September at the latest.
With immediate effect, Priority 1, 2 and 3 drivers are authorised to re-use tyres during an event run on asphalt. However, their re-use will only be permitted if the depth of the profile of the tread pattern is at least 1.6 mm.
In order to further assist in cost reduction, from January 2013 the number of new tyres priority drivers are permitted during a service is reduced to four.
The FIA will seek greater involvement in world and regional rallies and is going to work on establishing more flexibility in the technical regulations in order to be able to attract more entries.
The date of the Rally of Tanzania has been changed to 31 August-2 September, and the KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally has moved to 21-23 September.
FIA WORLD CUP FOR CROSS COUNTRY RALLIES
For reasons of safety, and therefore with immediate effect, priority and non-priority drivers may be re-seeded at the start of each leg in accordance with their performance.
The date for Baja Poland has been changed to 6-9 September.
FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2014 LMP1 Technical Regulations were ratified by members of the World Motor Sport Council via a fax vote in early June and were officially announced at a press conference on 14 June at Le Mans. As approved in March, the principles of these regulations are to steer endurance towards energy efficiency and ‘green’ technologies, in particular hybrids, while at the same time maintaining a high level of attention to costs, to enable smaller private teams to take part alongside major manufacturers.
Former Formula One and sports car driver Derek Warwick has been appointed a member of the Endurance Commission. The Briton is also an FIA Formula One Steward.
FIA GT1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
In order to set in place the necessary marketing and commercial plans and create stability for the series, the 2013 FIA GT1 World Championship will only be confirmed if 10 teams representing 10 brands enter before 30 August 2012.
For the FIA GT3 European Championship, the project of the promoter is to adopt the same philosophy as the FIA GT1 World Championship, with one two-car team per brand. It is also intended to market this Championship as a genuine junior series for both teams and drivers.
FIA WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT COMMISSION
The FIA Women in Motor Sport Commission hosted its first National Coordinators Seminar on 13/14 June in Paris. This brought together 40 of the 47 National Coordinators currently representing their ASNs around the world, together with key people in motor sport, and provided the opportunity to discuss issues that affect women in motor sport – both at national and international level – with a view to putting in place strategies and recommendations for the future that will promote and encourage more women in motor sport.
The Commission also announced its first Ambassadors who represent excellence in different segments of the motor sport world, announcing Michèle Mouton (Honorary), Monisha Kaltenborn, Katherine Legge, Maria de Villota and Susie Wolff as its first global Ambassadors.
PROMOTERS
The WMSC approved proposals from both the Truck Racing Commission and the Rallycross Commission to source a promoter for those Championships.
IOC RECOGNITION – FIA DRIVERS’ COMMISSION
Following the granting of provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee, the WMSC agreed the composition, objectives and structure of a Drivers’ Commission. In addition to a President and Vice President, drivers and co-drivers from across all disciplines of motor sport will be represented in this 10-member Commission to be proposed by the ASNs. Draft modifications to the FIA Statutes will be submitted to the WMSC in September with a view to being ratified at the next General Assembly.
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COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
CONSEIL MONDIAL DU SPORT AUTOMOBILE
Une réunion du Conseil Mondial du Sport Automobile (CMSA) a eu lieu ce jour, 15 juin, à Paris. Les décisions mentionnées ci-après ont été prises.
Le CMSA a par ailleurs réitéré son intention de rendre le sport automobile plus abordable dans toutes les catégories.
CHAMPIONNAT DU MONDE DE FORMULE UN DE LA FIA
A la demande des équipes, la FIA est actuellement en pourparlers avec ces dernières sur la question de la réduction des coûts. Toutes les modifications apportées au règlement technique suite à un nouveau plafonnement des dépenses relatives au châssis seront soumises au CMSA via un vote fax avant le 30 juin. L’objectif est de permettre à toutes les équipes de participer au Championnat de manière juste et équitable.
Des discussions constructives sont en cours entre la FIA et le Détenteur des Droits Commerciaux concernant la Convention de la Concorde, l’intention étant de finaliser un accord dans les prochaines semaines. Il a également été décidé de reporter la date de clôture des engagements au 30 septembre.
RALLYES ET CHAMPIONNAT DU MONDE DES RALLYES DE LA FIA
Suite aux discussions intervenues avec les parties prenantes du Championnat du Monde des Rallyes de la FIA concernant le calendrier 2013, le CMSA a adopté le calendrier proposé par la Commission WRC. Les épreuves seront disputées dans les pays ci-après :
Argentine
Australie
Finlande
France
Allemagne
Grande-Bretagne
Grèce
Italie
Mexique
Monte-Carlo
Portugal
Espagne
Suède
Les dates seront soumises ultérieurement, compte tenu des questions de logistique et des calendriers des autres Championnats de la FIA, ceci afin d’éviter, dans la mesure du possible, des chevauchements de dates.
Des rallyes candidats seront pris en considération pour le calendrier 2014, l’objectif étant de veiller à ce que leurs épreuves soient conformes aux exigences d’une épreuve WRC. Ces rallyes seront disputés et observés avant la fin avril 2013. Le Brésil et l’Afrique du Sud ont déjà manifesté leur intérêt.
Suite à l’appel à manifestations d’intérêt lancé précédemment cette année pour promouvoir le WRC et à l’étude des nombreuses offres reçues, une liste restreinte de candidats a été établie. Des discussions finales sont actuellement en cours avec ces candidats, l’objectif étant d’établir la meilleure plate-forme possible pour la promotion du Championnat du Monde des Rallyes de la FIA. Une recommandation finale sera soumise au Conseil Mondial du Sport Automobile en septembre au plus tard.
Avec effet immédiat, les pilotes de Priorité 1, 2 et 3 sont autorisés à réutiliser des pneus pendant une épreuve se déroulant sur asphalte. Ces pneus ne pourront cependant être réutilisés que si la sculpture du profil de la bande de roulement est de 1,6 mm au minimum.
Dans l’optique de réduire davantage les coûts, à compter de janvier 2013, le nombre de nouveaux pneus autorisé pour les pilotes prioritaires pendant une assistance est réduit à quatre.
La FIA cherchera à s’impliquer davantage dans les championnats régionaux et mondiaux et entend œuvrer en faveur d’une plus grande flexibilité du règlement technique afin de pouvoir attirer davantage de concurrents.
La date du Rallye de Tanzanie a été déplacée aux 31 août-2 septembre et celle du Rallye KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla aux 21-23 septembre.
COUPE DU MONDE DES RALLYES TOUT-TERRAIN DE LA FIA
Pour des raisons de sécurité, et par conséquent avec effet immédiat, les pilotes prioritaires et non-prioritaires peuvent être reclassés au départ de chaque Etape selon leurs performances.
La date de la Baja de Pologne a été avancée aux 6-9 septembre.
CHAMPIONNAT DU MONDE D’ENDURANCE DE LA FIA
Le Règlement Technique LMP1 2014 a été ratifié par les membres du Conseil Mondial du Sport Automobile via un vote fax début juin et a été officiellement présenté lors d’une conférence de presse le 14 juin au Mans. Comme approuvé en mars, les principes de ce règlement sont d’orienter l’endurance vers l’efficacité énergétique et les technologies “vertes”, en particulier hybrides, tout en maintenant un niveau d’attention élevé pour ce qui est des coûts afin de permettre à de petites équipes privées de participer aux côtés des grands constructeurs.
L’ancien pilote britannique de Formule Un et de voitures de sport, Derek Warwick, a été désigné membre de la Commission Endurance. Il est également Commissaire Sportif FIA de Formule Un.
CHAMPIONNAT DU MONDE GT1 DE LA FIA
Afin de mettre en place les projets commerciaux et marketing nécessaires et de créer une certaine stabilité pour la série, le Championnat du Monde GT1 de la FIA 2013 ne sera confirmé que si 10 équipes représentant 10 marques s’engagent avant le 30 août 2012.
Pour le Championnat d’Europe GT3 de la FIA, le projet du promoteur consiste à adopter la même approche que pour le Championnat du Monde GT1 de la FIA, avec une équipe de deux voitures par marque. Il est également prévu de commercialiser ce Championnat comme une série purement junior à la fois pour les équipes et les pilotes.
COMMISSION FEMMES DANS LE SPORT AUTOMOBILE DE LA FIA
La Commission Femmes dans le Sport Automobile de la FIA a accueilli son premier Séminaire des Coordinatrices nationales les 13/14 juin à Paris. Celui-ci a permis de rassembler 40 des 47 Coordinatrices nationales représentant actuellement les ASN du monde entier ainsi que des personnalités clés du sport automobile. Il a permis également d’étudier des questions qui concernent les femmes dans le sport automobile – tant au niveau national qu’international – l’objectif étant de mettre en place des stratégies et des recommandations visant à promouvoir et encourager davantage la participation des femmes au sport automobile.
La Commission a également dévoilé les noms de ses premières Ambassadrices qui représentent l’excellence dans différents secteurs du sport automobile : Michèle Mouton (Ambassadrice d’Honneur), Monisha Kaltenborn, Katherine Legge, Maria de Villota et Susie Wolff.
PROMOTEURS
Le CMSA a approuvé les propositions de la Commission des Courses de Camions et de la Commission Rallycross de doter les Championnats concernés d’un promoteur.
RECONNAISSANCE DU CIO – COMMISSION DES PILOTES DE LA FIA
Suite à l’octroi de la reconnaissance du Comité Olympique International à titre provisoire, la CMSA a approuvé la composition, les objectifs et la structure d’une Commission des Pilotes. Aux côtés d’un Président et d’un Vice-président, les pilotes et copilotes de toutes les disciplines du sport automobile seront représentés au sein de cette Commission composée de 10 membres qui seront proposés par les ASN. Un projet de modification des Statuts de la FIA sera soumis au CMSA en septembre, pour ratification lors de la prochaine Assemblée Générale.
ends
Montreal, 10 June 2012: Even as Sahara Force India prepare for the next GP in Valencia, Spain next Sunday, we shall go back to last Sunday at Canada where Sahara Force India drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on points in the Canadian Grand Prix, coming home P11 and P12 respectively.
P11 Paul Di Resta (VJM05/02)
Tyre strategy: Used supersoft, New soft, New soft
Paul: “I think we all feel a bit disappointed to miss out on points today. To qualify eighth and run as high as fifth shows we were well placed and things were running smoothly for the first few laps. Then I seemed to suffer with some high tyre degradation on the super-softs so we pitted quite early, but on the soft tyres we just didn’t have the performance to race the cars around us and we slipped back. It’s a missed opportunity but sometimes you get weekends like this. We need to go away and analyse things, lift our heads high and bounce back harder next time.”
P12 Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
Tyre strategy: New soft, New supersoft, New soft
Nico: “Our result today is a bit disappointing. We thought we could get in the points, but every race is hard to predict this year and we were not able to deliver what we hoped for. Ultimately we didn’t have enough speed today and suffered with high tyre wear compared to the cars around us. We had to do a two-stop strategy while a lot of our rivals were able to stop once and they got a big benefit from that.”
Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director
“A hot afternoon’s work and unfortunately we didn’t come away with the results we wanted. The car has shown strong pace throughout the weekend, but for whatever reason we could not find the sweet spot today. It’s a shame because for the first stint we looked very strong and Paul moved up to fifth place before his first stop. But we were not able to make the super-soft tyres last long enough and we didn’t have enough pace on the soft tyres. So we leave here feeling that we didn’t quite realise our potential, but determined to learn from the lessons of today before we arrive in Valencia.”
Hinwil, 14 June 2012: Last Sunday in Canada, Sergio Pérez captured the second podium place of the season for the Sauber F1 Team. Team Principal Peter Sauber talks about this extraordinary race, an exciting season and the targets for the forthcoming grands prix.
When did you realise on Sunday that a podium place was within grasp?
Peter Sauber: “Not until late on in the race. Sergio had started from 15th on the grid, so you wouldn’t normally be contemplating a podium place – you’d be happy just to get into the points. But once the front-runners began to develop problems with their tyres towards the end of the race, it became clear that something very special could be unfolding. Unlike the other drivers, Sergio was not affected by these tyre problems and was able to continue his all-out offensive right to the end. He drove an extraordinary race.”
Did the result come as a surprise?
PS: “Yes and no. Of course it was a surprise that Sergio managed to advance from 15th on the grid to a third-placed finish in a perfectly normal race, without rain and without any safety car periods. But basically we knew the Sauber C31 was far better than the results of the last few GPs might have suggested. Our performance in Barcelona and Monaco fell well short of our capability. We had the potential in both races to be right up in front, but things just didn’t fall into place.”
What are your expectations for the upcoming races?
PS: “If we manage to exploit our full potential as a team, in other words get everything right from Friday morning to Sunday evening, a great deal is possible. After seven races it is patently clear that the C31 can be fast on virtually any kind of track.”
Do you think a win would be on the cards?
PS: “Before the season I don’t suppose anyone would have put that question to me. But now, after seven races with seven different winners, so much seems possible. In Malaysia we came very close to winning. Further podium places certainly seem a realistic prospect. The prerequisite of course is that our drivers go into the race from good grid positions.”
Not everyone is happy about seven races with seven different winners – it throws them. What’s your take?
PS: “As far as I can see it’s just a handful of people in the paddock who can’t get used to not knowing by Friday who’s going to win on Sunday. I think the fans see it in a completely different light. They’re delighted with the unpredictability, the sheer variety and the unbelievably close competition. I’ve been in Formula One for 20 years now and for me it’s never been better or more exciting. That’s partly down to Pirelli, who are supplying the tyres for this show.”
Can the Sauber F1 Team keep up with the major players when it comes to further development of the car?
PS: “Of course the four big teams have very different financial possibilities compared to the private teams in the middle of the pack. But that doesn’t in any way discourage us. Our forte is efficiency. The development package that was given its first airing in Barcelona showed what we are capable of. The crucial thing is that the C31 gives us an excellent foundation with real potential for further development.”
What are your targets for the rest of the season?
PS: “At the start of the season we said that we wanted to pick up points regularly and improve our position in the constructors’ rankings. That essentially remains in place, but naturally I’m now keen to see a few more podium places. The fact is that after seven out of 20 races we have a tally of 58 points. That’s already 14 more than we had at the end of last season. So far things are panning out quite well.”
ends
