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MotoGP qualifying re-scheduled for Sunday as wind stops play at Phillip Island
Deteriorating weather after Moto2 and Moto3 qualifying sees the remainder of premier class track action cancelled on Saturday
The Press Conference on Saturday instead featured the MotoGP™ Championship top three to talk through the day’s decisions, as well as the lightweight and intermediate class polesitters. From left: Navarro, Dovizioso, Marquez, Rins and Ramirez. A MotoGP image Phillip Island (Australia), 26 Oct 2019: After conditions at Phillip Island deteriorated on Saturday afternoon at the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, FP4 was suspended pending a decision on whether or not to continue in the high winds hitting the Island. Race Direction, in consultation with the riders at a Safety Commission meeting, decided to cancel the day’s remaining track action and that creates a first: qualifying on Sunday.
The lightweight and intermediate classes had already headed out to decide their grids but by the time MotoGP™ were back on track, the ever-increasing wind put paid to the program – so the combined timesheets therefore remain the same. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is fastest ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), with no one improving in FP3 and entry to Q2 unchanged from the provisional glimpse we got on Friday.
There was some news from Saturday before the weather got worse, however, as Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) got back out on track after his crash in FP1. The Frenchman sat out FP2 yesterday due to the medication he was given after hitting his left foot in the crash, and was to be reviewed before heading out on track this morning. Deemed fighting fit to continue, he did just that and improved his lap time – although that was somewhat a given his fastest FP1 effort was set in the wet.
The Frenchman will be back out with the rest of the field at the slightly different time of 9:50 (GMT +11) on Sunday morning before Q1 then beckons the rookie for the first time. That begins at 10:20 am before Q2 decides the grid just after. The race time remains unchanged from the 15:00 (GMT +11) original schedule.
Marc Marquez: “In my opinion there was a small chance to ride but it was very dangerous. The wind was there, but the speed on this track…it’s high speed corners and I was riding alone, it was a problem but it was inside the limit. Then, it looked like when riders were overtaking like Zarco and Oliveira, you feel it much more so for safety reasons we decided to cancel. Tomorrow is another day and it was only qualifying so better to not take the risk.
“In MotoGP at 330kph at the end of the straight it was shaking a lot. For me it was on the limit, I would have ridden but it was only qualifying practice, tomorrow is another day and so we decided to cancel.”
Andrea Dovizioso: “Unfortunately it’s happened a lot riding here in a lot of wind, this is the worst track to have that kind of wind because you have to keep the angle almost everywhere so to manage the bike with that, it wasn’t regular. The strength of the wind was the problem, but it was even worse because it’s wasn’t regular. I think it was the right decision to not do the qualifying.
“The schedule change is the same for everyone so it’s fine, the difference is we have to be ready at the beginning, we have to qualifying after fifteen minutes, but the important thing is the weather.”
Alex Rins: “I agree with what Marc said, I was riding alone too and it was windy, worse than FP3, but it was ok. But maybe in a group it was worse and more dangerous although alone it was ok. In qualifying you try to ride alone. The difficult thing would have been in the race…if we start the race 22 riders all together, that could be really dangerous in the wind. The shame was not trying today at this amazing track!
“It’s the same for everyone, so let’s qualify tomorrow, for me I’ll try and get ready from the beginning. I’ll try to wake up earlier to try and be more on it, but let’s race tomorrow!”
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Vettel sets the pace in FP2 ahead of Verstappen
Vettel tops FP2 on Friday. Photo by Abhishek Aggarwal Mexico City, 25 Oct 2019: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led the way in second practice for the Mexican Grand prix edging Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by 0.115s. Charles Leclerc was third 0.465s off the pace of his Ferrari team-mate on Friday.
In the opening phase of the 90-minute session, run on medium tyres, Vettel went quickest with a best time of 1:17.960, over two tenths of a second clear of Leclerc. The session was red-flagged was red-flagged after just a quarter of an hour, however, thanks to Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon crashing out in Turn 7.
The Thai driver lost control on entry and slid wide across the run-off area. He hit the barriers hard with the right side of his car, causing substantial damage.
When the action resumed Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas slotted in from third to fifth respectively before Leclerc and Vettel moved to soft compound Pirellis for their qualifying simulations.
Leclerc initially went quickest with a lap of 1:17.072s but Vettel cleared that mark with ease, going quicker in all three sectors to post a table-topping time of 1:16.607. Verstappen then stole second place with his best time of 1:16.722.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was fourth fastest in the session, 0.614s off the pace and was 0.349s quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton who finished in fifth place.
Best of the rest in the session was Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat with the Russian claiming sixth place close to the end of the session. His lap of 1:17.747 put him over two tenths of a second ahead of seventh-placed team-mate Pierre Gasly.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz set the eighth-fastest time, almost two tenths faster than Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 in the second McLaren, 1.742s off the pace.
2019 FIA Formula One Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.607
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 37 1:16.722 0.115
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 34 1:17.072 0.465
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 39 1:17.221 0.614
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:17.570 0.963
6 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 40 1:17.747 01.140
7 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso 39 1:18.003 01.396
8 Carlos Sainz McLaren 38 1:18.079 01.472
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 23 1:18.261 01.654
10 Lando Norris McLaren 36 1:18.349 01.742
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point 38 1:18.362 01.755
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point 34 1:18.366 01.759
13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 34 1:18.380 01.773
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 37 1:18.681 02.074
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 37 1:18.766 02.159
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 46 1:18.889 02.282
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 37 1:19.306 02.699
18 George Russell Williams 36 1:19.968 03.361
19 Robert Kubica Williams 37 1:20.180 03.573
20 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 5 1:21.665 05.058 -
Racing Point is up for a fight in the last 4 races: Szafnauer
FIA Friday press conference in progress. An FIA image TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andreas SEIDL (McLaren), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Andreas, we’ve seen some strong performances by McLaren in recent races. How comfortable are you in P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, 43 points ahead of Renault?
Andreas SEIDL: Yeah… well, I wouldn’t say ‘comfortable’! It’s obviously good to be in that position; it’s good to see how we perform as a team, still getting better and better, still bringing more parts to the track as well for this year – but at the same time it’s not something we get carried away with. The targets we are having are a lot higher, so for me it’s a lot more important… of course we want to score this P4 this year but it’s a lot more important to get everything in place, let’s say, in the next weeks, months, which we think is important to make the next step also.
Q: Well, let’s talk about that step Andreas, because you’ve already announced Mercedes power units in 2021 but also a change in design philosophy for the 2020 car. Can you explain why you’re doing that, given the progress you’ve made this season? Can you stitch those two things together for us?
AS: First of all, regarding the Mercedes decision, I think we have communicated everything regarding that. Obviously, it was an important milestone, also for myself, to have clarity here as quickly as possible, so very happy to have the World Championship-winning powertrain in the back of our car from 2021 onwards. At the same time, this is 2021, so our focus is on next year, on 2020. The reality is that we are still more than a second down compared to these guys next to me, so this means, even with the regulations staying the same, we still see a lot of stuff we want to tackle with next year’s car, which means we also have to do some bigger changes also, in terms of car concept. James Key is working hard on that, together with the entire team back home. I’m very happy with the progress that I’m seeing there and the target is clear for next year: we want to somehow jump in between these… let’s say a position in terms of lap time also where we are right now and where these guys are, and hopefully we can make that step for next year.
Q: Otmar, it’s pretty congested where you are in the Constructors’ table at the minute. You’re currently lying P7 but only ten points behind Renault in P5. Looking at these last four races, do you think you have the car to take P5?
Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, we hope that we do, and we’ve made some significant upgrades recently to the car and we’re still understanding it a little bit. Our drivers and team are up for the fight. It’s not going to be easy. We are ten points behind not ten ahead, which makes it doubly difficult but we’ll do all we can to finish fifth, if that’s possible.
Q: And a quick word on Lance Stroll if we may. We saw a strong performance from him in Japan, out-qualifying Checo Pérez for only the second time this year. Do you feel he’s finally turned a corner?
OS: Lance is a very intelligent and good racer and he’s been learning all year, so I’m not sure it’s turning a corner but he’s getting better and better. And apart from the little mishap we had, here he looked pretty strong in FP1 as well but that came to an abrupt end at Turn 16. But we’ve got two good drivers. Sergio’s been with us for a long time, he knows the team, he’s great on a Sunday; Lance is learning and hopefully between the two of them we can make up that ten-point deficit that we talked about.
Q: Christian, how confident are you coming into this weekend. Max Verstappen has won this race for the last two years, what chance a third?
Christian HORNER: I think you’d have to look at season in isolation, and I think at the moment Ferrari are very much the benchmark in terms of outright, one-lap pace, and qualifying is so important here because it’s pretty difficult to follow closely other cars. Obviously, Mercedes’ form has been phenomenal across all types of circuit this year. I think coming here it’s a bigger challenge than we’ve faced previously. And, of course, on top of that, we’ve got some variable weather around on Saturday and Sunday. I think it looking pretty tight if you looked at the first session though, looking at the relative competitiveness of the cars. So, it looks like it could be a fantastic battle over the next couple of days.
Q: You were third and fourth in FP1. Quick word on Alex Albon who has out-scored Max Verstappen 48-31 in the five races that they’ve done together as team-mates. His race performances have been very strong, he’s now starting to maximise the car in qualifying. Can you just sum-up his progress.
CH: Yeah, I think he’s doing a very good job. You have to remember this is his first season in Formula One. He’s up against an incredibly tough team-mate in Max and he hasn’t had the benefit of a bunch of testing or anything like that, so I think he’s equipped himself and adapted well. His feedback shows a very strong understanding of the car – and as he gains confidence on circuits he’s visiting for the first time, he’s certainly impressed the whole team with his attitude, his application and his performance so far.
Q: Re-sign him for 2020?
CH: It’s still early days. I think the privileged position that we’re in as Red Bull with the ownership of two teams is that we don’t have to make any firm decision about who partners Max until the end of the year. They’re all under contract to Red Bull, all of the drivers, so we’ll take our time to make sure we make all the evaluations in readiness for next year.
Q: While we’re talking about the future, can you provide us with some clarity about the team’s long term future with Honda? What are the plans?
CH: I think it’s very similar to everybody else at the moment: there is no Concorde Agreement in place; there’s a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes but there’s no team with any commitment to Formula One past the end of 2020. And so I think Honda, wisely, are waiting to see how the technical regulations, the sporting regulations pan out, and the commitment of the teams to the relevant Concorde Agreement, so, yeah, I think we’re in a relatively similar position to the other teams around me.
Q: Toto, so you clinched the Constructors’ Championship in Japan, great weekend for the team. Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect, where does this Constructors’ Championship rank in comparison to the other five?
Toto WOLFF: This year has been very different, because first of all the loss of Niki is overshadowing everything we do. He was such an important part of the team and with us at every single race and there’s still this big void – and you could feel that when we won the Championship in Japan, that he was missing. On the pure sporting side, obviously we set ourselves this unbelievable objective of trying to win six double-championships in a row, which was not done before and I think achieving that is really something that we can be proud of. But, having said that, we are always sceptical about our own performances and, if Ferrari wouldn’t have dropped the ball in Sochi, and wouldn’t have dropped the ball in Suzuka at the start, it would have gone much further than Japan, and for this very reason, it’s nice to have locked it in, and have it between our two drivers for the Drivers’ World Championship but it doesn’t feel as if we have been really the dominant force in those last few races. And I see the positives in that – because it helps you to not get carried away with this fantastic achievement of six titles.
Q: While we’re talking about performance, your last pole position was back in Germany. Is that stat an accurate reflection of performance, or have you missed some opportunities?
TW: No, I think it’s an accurate reflection of performance and you can see that the Ferrari on a Saturday is almost unbeatable. They are able to up their game from Friday to Saturday and once all the power kicks in that they have available, it’s very difficult to compensate for the loss in straight line. But I don’t want to diminish their performance with the rest of the chassis either. They just seem to have the strongest car on Saturday. And when it comes to racing on Sunday, the Red Bull and the Mercedes are maybe a tiny bit more competitive at some of the races. Not the high-speed tracks that we’ve seen – but all of the others. We seem to be crawling back a little bit.
Q: And the Drivers’ Championship is now a straight fight between your guys. Are the orders from the boss going to be a little bit different this weekend?
TW: Well, Japan was a very complicated race for us in terms of strategies. I think we have an obligation to do our best, to give them a car that is reliable and fast for them to fight it out on track, give them equal opportunity, and if you look at the points, the probability is probably much better on Lewis’ side to win the Championship, but nevertheless, we don’t want to interfere in their fight and will do our best to stay neutral as we’ve always been.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Otmar, regarding the protest you filed against Renault in Japan, was that an issue you’d been looking at for a few races, or is it something you’ve been looking at for a long time?
OS: Well, we started looking at it after Silverstone. We, ourselves, had some issues with our brake bias actually failing, with I think resulted in Checo I think running into Hülkenberg at the restart after the Safety Car. That’s when we started looking at making our system a little bit more robust. As I’m sure everyone does, we started looking at our competitors to see what they do better than we do, and that’s when we noticed that Renault had the system that we really wanted. So it started in Silverstone. We then wrote to the FIA asking if we could do the same, and the FIA wrote back saying we can’t. So that’s how that all came about.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport-Total.com) A question to all four gentlemen: with the budget cap kicking in in ’21, is there an element of danger for sort of a spending war going on now and in 2020 for those who can afford to get a head start into ’21, as happened in 2014 with the hybrid formula?
TW: The truth is that we are all within the same financial reality and none of us has unlimited resource, unlimited financial resource behind us to just pour money into the system. It’s still about efficiency. I can tell you, and you know very well, that in the auto industry things are not looking easy. Nevertheless, having said that, it is clear that the big teams are the ones that are very restricted from 2021 onwards. We need to look at our structures, change process and maybe also the organisation in a way to adapt to these new challenges, which will hit us hard in 2021, because we will be doing things differently to the way we are doing them today. This is why it’s a clear in 2020 that we have to adapt and change and all this change is costly and will be happening in 2020, so 2020 will be a year of more financial expenditure in order to get ready for 2021.
AS: From my point of view I don’t see this big risk. The big teams or the top teams still really have a head start clearly for the ’21 regulations. I would say not just because of budget but because they are simply in better shape and are doing a better job. For the ’21 regulations the aerodynamics will still be a key performance differentiator. There are limitations also in place for next year, in terms of CFD and wind tunnel hours that you can do, so in the end everyone has to decide how much hours you want to spend on the ’20 car and the ’21 car, so that’s how we see it. On our side, on the budget side, we have a given budget so this will not be affected by the ’21 regs coming in, in ’20.
CH: I think we’ve missed a bit of an opportunity, in fact I raised it at the meeting last week, where, if you look at it, we have the budget cap, which in principle I think is pretty much agreed. It’s painful for the bigger teams and obviously will prevent the bigger teams from spending beyond that 175 million cap. I think with hindsight we would have been better bringing the cap in first for ’21 and then taking more time to develop these regulations and evolve them and bring them in in time for ’22, so that any development that the big teams undertake would be under the umbrella of the cap. I think it’s impossible to bring that cap forward to 2020 because you will never achieve agreement on it. So therefore, my feeling is that a budget cap is ultimately a sensible thing for Formula 1, but the interim period of 2020 with the current regulations we have as teams gear up for 2021 with unrestricted spend makes it a very expensive year and I think it will create a broader gap between the teams going into 2021 as those teams with more resource will simply spend more time in the research and development phase before the cars hit the track at the beginning of ’21. So, as I said, I think an opportunity has perhaps been lost to have that process more controlled under the cap and delay these regulations and evolve them, because there is some great stuff going on, but the car and the concept looks very underdeveloped at the moment and I think if another 12 months was taken to develop that concept and bring in something that works and perhaps addresses some of the other issues like weight and so on, I think would have been perhaps a more beneficial approach.
OS: From our perspective we’ll be way under the cost cap this year, next year and in future years to come. As Christian says, if next year there is a tendency to spend more to prepare for 2021, we certainly won’t be doing that, because we just don’t have the financial resources to do so and that might give the bigger teams that do have those resources an advantage going into 2021. So perhaps the sensible thing to be done, as Christian says, is to move the rules out so that you are faced with the umbrella of the cost cap when you’re developing for the new rules. I don’t know if that opportunity is completely gone but if it isn’t then it’s a sensible thing to do, because for us, we won’t be anywhere near the cost cap.
Q: Just before we move on: Toto, your thoughts on what Christian has just suggested?
TW: I think Christian said it in a very right way. I think in Formula 1 we are very ‘actionistic’ (sic). Things need to be done immediately and everything is so bad and we can’t continue without deploying a more strategic long-term vision. There are arguments that said ‘well, why don’t we put the cost cap forward, why don’t we implement it one year earlier and then start with the technical and sporting regulations in 2021’, but as Christian said, I think they are not very mature, the regulations will need some more input around the cost cap. The single most important factor is the auditing and policing process and none of that is in place for 2020 and obviously if you can’t police it in the right way it makes no sense to implement the rule. In general it’s a situation that we need to see a ramp-up in resource, in the way things are being policed, on the financial side and on the technical side. This is something that we need to address and therefore I think that the idea of pushing it one year out looks logical and strategically well thought through, but it didn’t gain the traction and didn’t trigger enough appetite with the ones that decide.
Q: Andreas?
AS: Yeah, not a lot more to add really. I think our position is clear. We like what is on the table now, what we have seen last week also, in terms of what’s coming in on the technical side, the sporting side and on the financial side ands just waiting now for the 31st of October to see the publication of these regulations and we all know what we have to work to from ’21 onwards.
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports News) Toto, we read some very powerful words today about your understanding of the racism Lewis suffered as a young boy. You also talked about how he’s not perhaps appreciated as he should be or has the honours he perhaps deserves. We see all the furore about making some comments about the environment recently. Do you have any lingering worry as his boss that there is an unconscious racial bias against him still?
TW: I don’t want to step too much into personal experiences and things that he made aware to me, because this is a discussion we had in private, but look at the room here, it’s not very diverse. I think for us it is very difficult to understand that if you are one of the very few that you are faced with these kind of situations. I can tell you that from my personal perspective, racism is not something that is out there and in a more educated environment and very into the face it’s more the subtle side that is very painful and hurts and this is why we sometimes need to put ourselves into a different perspective and I have very much learned to do that because of him and his perspective. I have never seen things in that way before he had explained it to me and I realised them. In terms of things that have been said around the environment, I think it is very important that each of us tries – and this is my personal opinion – tries to the best of his abilities to be conscious about things and help in reducing emissions and our own personal bit to the whole story. I have seen Lewis doing that. I have seen him changing in his behaviours, be it reducing his own flying, and he has done that, and I think we need to acknowledge that and respect rather than criticize. It’s the power… how can I say, almost like the economies of scale – if everybody changes we will have nine billion people changing and I think it needs to start with yourself and he has done that and I think he is right.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all four please. To pick up on the comments about the 2021 rules and what could have been done in terms of the cost cap. To be clear, do you think there is any scope to delay the wider introduction of new rules for 2021, would you support that, and what shape are 2021 rules in in general after last week’s meeting?
OS: Well, it was discussed at last week’s meeting. We had a bit of discussion, a debate on delaying the rules by a year, just for the reasons Christian mentioned. I think it’s just a bit more equitable between the big teams that can afford to spend more now if we delayed it by a year, but I think there is a small chance of that happening. As far the regulations go, we’ll know in a week’s time. They are a bit more restrictive than what we have today but it’s financial, technical and sporting, so it’s three different publications that we will get.
CH: As Otmar said, there are three elements that are going to be passed through at the end of the month. The sporting side is arguably the easiest. I think the technical regulations, they are immature and there are still a large amount of questions being raised. So I think what does get published there will be inevitable TDs and refinements before we get to the 2021 season. Likewise with the financial regulations, there has never been a policed budget cap in Formula 1 previously and obviously having all the tools and the infrastructure to police all the different corporate entities that exist and subsidiaries etc within Formula 1 is no small undertaking. It’s a very complex business and everybody’s structure is different. So there is a lot of ground to cover and even though I think regulations will come out on the 31st, I think there will still be financial directives, technical directives that see adjustments happen before we actually get to the 2021 year.
TW: Yeah, maybe only one point to add, because it’s pretty much my point of view too, is that I don’t think these regulations are going to be stopped. It’s been made very clear that this is moving forward. There will be tweaks and changes in detail and interpretations but broadly I think this is moving forward.
AS: Nothing to add really.
Q: (Christoph Becker – Frankfurter Allgemainer Zeitung) Coming into the year it looked like this was going to be Brexit season. Now it’s most likely not, it’s going to be in the future probably. Could you elaborate a little bit as to how much this issue has affected your teams this year, and how much it will continue to affect you, since the political situation seems to be a little bit unclear still?
AS: I obviously have also heard what’s going on there in detail….
TW: They’re going to kick him out first!
AS: … in the newspaper, but I’ve got the guarantee that I can stay at least, whatever happens. I think as a team we simply did our homework and prepared for every possible scenario which is on the horizon and I’m sure whatever happens in the next weeks and months there will be solutions in place and we will keep going racing.
TW: I think you need to prepare as in every company out there, for a potential impact. It’s clear that it will harm us in a way because our business live with the just-in-time concept of product supplies, but we are going to get our head around it and as a team I think we have put a lot of effort into understanding what the potential impact could be and we are ready for whatever outcome.
CH: Likewise we’ve done our research, as far as you can do, as to what is the potential impacts of a Brexit, if there is a deal, if there’s no deal, if there’s extensions, and I think it’s been a bit of distraction this year in certain respects. I think people, as a whole, are fed up with it. They just want it done, one way or another and whatever it is we’ll deal with and get on with it. It’s a little bit of a comedy show, British politics, at the moment in the way that the whole issue has been handled with obviously different agendas being covered. But whatever it is, we will deal with it and I think we’ve done our due diligence whichever way it goes.
OS: We’ve been planning for the worst case, the worst case being a no deal Brexit so I think we’ve put some plans in place to cope with that and we’re hoping for the best case. But only time will tell, but I think we’re well prepared to keep going if Brexit does happen sooner rather than later and there is no deal.
Q: (Bart van Dooijeweert – Nu.NL) Christian, Max Verstappen is driving the 99th GP of his career this weekend, making one hundred in the US. Obviously he’s not a rookie any more. You’ve been very positive about his results the last 18 months. On the other hand, in this sport, nobody’s perfect, there’s always room to improve so what can he still do better do you think?
CH: Well, I think you’re always learning in any sport. I think that it’s incredible to think that Max has only just turned 22 years of age and he’s about to celebrate his 100th Grand Prix, which is a remarkable record already. I think he’s doing a great job. You can see that the experience of those 99 races is really serving him well. I think he’d probably only done about 25 races in cars before he arrived in Formula One so all his learning has been very much under the scrutiny of the media and I think he’s dealt with that incredibly well. He’s extremely well rounded now; he’s almost a veteran!
Q: (Fernando Alonso – Motorlat.com) Toto, there’s a subject about the upgrades on your engine, that there are a lot of worries, precisely in the site of Racing Point and the problems that the car that Checo has in several races. Do you think these problems are more about the hard to develop this season or is it because the development is taking as high as possible or is more about the configuration for the other teams?
TW: I think you have no differences between the configurations. As per the rules, you need to have the same hard and software on every car and our philosophy has always been that the learning that is happening across a multitude of cars is very important to improve the performance. On the Racing Point cars, we’ve been unlucky this year, in the same way we’ve been unlucky with Robert (Kubica), I think it was Spa and these have been incidents that are not down to pushing performance but more things that we haven’t seen before on the dynos, so things still break, this is a mechanical sport and with all the best simulations in the world you still sometimes find out while running them in anger that things break and this is what happened to us and this is something we need to keep under control, also for the future races. Certainly it’s something that we need to be on our toes for the last few races in order to give equal material to our two drivers and next year we just need to get better in terms of reliability as well.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Toto, Lewis traditionally turns up in the second half of the season but this year he has won just one race since the summer break and then Ferrari have come back as well. Lewis spoke the other day about how he’s had quite a lot going on his life and I just wondered if you’d noticed anything different with him this season or is it perhaps just very draining going for his sixth title?
TW: There is a reason why this is a record. I think it’s very difficult to keep yourself in the right spot, motivated, energised, passionate about things and we certainly are but it’s not trivial. I don’t think this has really played a role in his second part of the season. I think that Valtteri has upped his game which is good for the team, it’s good for Lewis, it’s good to see. The Ferrari has become very strong and has resurged after the summer break and has become the benchmark and the result is that we’ve not been able to score the results that we had in the first half of the season, so I wouldn’t put it down to him as a driver, I think he’s still in a very good place. It’s more that he didn’t have the car that was able to give him these kind of results.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Toto, I was wondering that when you get the new regulations signed and sealed, will you then sit down with Lewis to discuss a new deal and how strongly do you believe that you will be able to keep him away from Ferrari?
TW: I think that this Ferrari thing has maybe been blown out of proportion. Lewis has a clear opinion where he sees himself in the future and we are and have always been very loyal to our drivers. This is taking it ordinary cross of business, 2021 everything is different and the drivers in the same way as the teams will be looking at opportunities and their future evaluate options that are on the table, benchmark the team’s performance and at the end of the day the cars’ performance is what counts the most for the top guys. These discussions have slowly but surely started but I don’t see this coming to any closure in terms of the 2021 line-up any time soon. That will be going into the next season, is my opinion.
Ends
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Rea victorious in Race 1 ahead of Davies, Lowes
With Rea 15th victory of the season, Kawasaki secures a fifth consecutive Manufacturers’ Championship
Qatar, 25 Oct 2019: The 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship launched racing action at the Motul Qatar Round, with the first of three races getting underway on Friday night. With first and second in the title race already sorted out, the attention and all eyes were on the battle for third, with the three protagonists spread out across the top ten. Taking the win in convincing fashion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) led from lights to flag, giving Kawasaki the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Before the race even began, Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) crashed on the exit of Turn 1 on the Warm Up Lap. The Spaniard highsided all on his own accord in the middle of the pack was thankfully OK. However, his race was run before it started, as he retired to the pits after the eventual completion of his Warm Up Lap.
Steaming off from pole position, Jonathan Rea took the holeshot down into Turn 1, fending off a fast-starting Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). However, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) got ahead of the BMW rider and the front four were as they were. Other good getaways came from Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati), up from 12th to sixth and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing), from tenth to seventh.
At the beginning of Lap 2, there was drama for Sykes, as he clipped the back of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at Turn 1, as the two outbroke themselves. Chaz Davies had now picked up the pieces and was up to fourth, whilst Haslam had slipped back into the clutches of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati) courtesy of his collision with Sykes, as both of them were seventh and eighth. By the end of Lap 2, Bautista was seventh and Haslam had dropped to eighth.
It would be heartache for Cortese on Lap 6, as the German rider crashed out of fourth place at Turn 7, after just being passed by Davies. This promoted Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to sixth, before the Dutchman scythed ahead of Razgatlioglu to pinch fifth. The battle for third however was looking like it would go the way of Alex Lowes, who was up in second, whilst teammate van der Mark and 2020 Pata Yamaha replacement Razgatliolgu were fifth and sixth. There was more despair downfield for Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), who suffered a technical problem on the front straight.
Into the second half of the race, the gap at the front was still the same, with no move made from Lowes just yet. The duelling Brits at the front were running their own pace, whilst Lowes was getting the time to see where his rival was strong. Chaz Davies was still running a solid third, although he was incrementally closing the gap to the leaders.
With eight laps to go, Haslam took sixth place from Razgatlioglu at Turn 1, using the slipstream to get the job done. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ now set his sights on van der Mark ahead of him, whilst Razgatlioglu had to keep his eyes open behind him, as Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) zeroed-in, just ahead of a revitalised Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
With six laps to go, Toprak Razgatlioglu got it all wrong going into Turn 6, with his bike snapping sideways in an aggressive manner. The Turkish rider took to the gravel and somehow kept it upright, but slipped from seventh to 13th, seriously hurting the 23-year-old’s chances of third overall in the Championship. In the battle for fifth, Leon Haslam was now ahead of van der Mark, passing the Dutchman at Turn 1 with five laps remaining.
Five laps to go and Davies passed Lowes at the final corner, parking his Ducati down the inside and now, began to hunt down Jonathan Rea out front, immediately slicing the gap to under a second. Davies was particularly quicker in the middle sectors. All the time, Alvaro Bautista was having a lonely race in fourth place.
Despite closing down the gap to Rea, Davies couldn’t get the better of the Northern Irishman’s metronomic consistency. Rea took another victory in 2019, his fourth at Losail and gave Kawasaki the Manufacturers’ Championship. Davies came from 12th to second in an impressive fightback, whilst Alex Lowes came home third. Alvaro Bautista was fourth in a quiet race for the Spaniard behind the all-British podium, whilst prevailing in the battle for fifth was Leon Haslam, seeing off Michael van der Mark on the run to the line.
Loris Baz was a strong seventh place, whilst it was a classy eighth place for Markus Reiterberger, with his first top ten since the Tissot Superpole Race at Imola. Ninth place went to Ireland’s Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven), who had a strong ride into the top ten, whilst Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) made it all manufacturers represented inside the top ten. Toprak Razgatlioglu recovered to 11th.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) “It feels like we reached our target. It has been an incredible season so far and to wrap up the manufacturers’ title, which I know is really important for Kawasaki, is incredible. I felt really good with the bike today. I settled into a comfortable rhythm at the beginning and I was able to stay in high 1’57 and low 1’58 during all the race. I kept controlling my pit board and ride accordingly. Now we’ll save some energy for the rest of the weekend. Thanks to my team for making the bike a little bit better, and we will try to improve the front performance because I am sure is going to be a big fight tomorrow”.P2 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati)
“My poor performance in qualifying left me with a little bit of work to do, but I got a good start and made some ground in the first corner. Obviously coming from behind I used up a bit of tyre, but same as San Juan I got to a point where I felt really good, but when I tried just to step up the pace a little bit more the tyre was already past its best. I am overall really happy! Finishing second its a good way to nearly finish the season and I look forward to tomorrow races”.P3 – Alex Lowes (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
“Today was really good. The second part of the race I wasn’t too strong. I struggled a little bit with the front of the bike, but these guys have done a fantastic job all year and they have been improving the bike overnight. I am quite confident we can make a step forward for tomorrow. I am really proud of what we have done today and I look forward to tomorrow”.#QATWorldSBK at Losail International Circuit: Race 1
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati) +2.732
3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +5.423 -
Sebastien Loeb leads Hyundai’s 1-2-3: WRC Spanish Rally
Sebastian Loeb takes lead on Friday. An FIA image Nine-time FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb took the lead of Rally de España ahead of his Hyundai teammates with a commanding time on Friday’s final stage.
Sixth overall after his stage win on the first run over the event’s longest stage – the 38.85 kilometre “La Fatarella-Vilalba” – Loeb continued to set impressive pace in the afternoon’s loop of three stages, held mostly on gravel to the west of Salou.
A win on SS5 moved the Frenchman to third behind his colleagues Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville, before another fastest time on SS6 – by 8.9 seconds – propelled him into the lead, ahead of Saturday’s tarmac stages.
He now holds a small advantage of 1.7s over Neuville, while Sordo is a further 5.9s behind after struggling in the day’s final stage.
The three Hyundais are followed by the three Toyotas, with Kris Meeke moving up to fourth ahead of Ott Tänak by setting the second quickest time in SS6. Running first on the road, Tänak ended the day 21.7s off the lead and 8.7s behind Meeke, although the Estonian “pushed hard”.
Jari-Matti Latvala said he was lacking confidence in the morning but improved in the afternoon to move from eighth after SS3 to sixth overall; another eight seconds behind Tänak.
Elfyn Evans dropped to seventh after he had an issue on his Ford Fiesta in SS6. His teammate Teemu Suninen is eighth and Takamoto Katsuta holds ninth in a privately entered Toyota.
A difficult day for Citroën continued as Esapekka Lappi was forced to stop and retire in SS5 because of a technical issue affecting his engine. Sébastien Ogier is 17th overnight, with a deficit of four minutes, following an hydraulic problem that hampered him during the morning.
Mads Østberg is 10th overall and leading FIA WRC2 Pro in his Citroën, increasing his advantage over Škoda’s Kalle Rovanperä to over 40 seconds. Jan Kopecky completes the class standings overnight.
Pierre-Louis Loubet now leads FIA WRC 2, just 1.5s in front of fellow compatriot Eric Camilli, while Ole Christian Veiby is in third position, a further 20.7s behind.
Unofficial Results after Section 2 (Day 1):
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) / Daniel Elena (MON) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 21min 24.7sec 2. Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 21min 26.4sec 3. Dani Sordo (SPA) / Carlos Del Barrio (SPA) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 21min 32.3sec 4. Kris Meeke (GBR) / Sebastian Marshall (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 21min 37.7sec 5. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST) Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 21min 46.4sec 6. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) / Mikka Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 21min 54.8sec 7. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 1hr 22min 8.7sec 8. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Marko Salminen (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC 1hr 22min 16.5sec 9. Takamoto Katsuta (JAP) / Daniel Barritt (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 23min 15.1sec 10. Mads Østberg (NOR) / Torstein Eriksen (NOR) Citroën C3 R5 1hr 24min 24.5sec -
Demolition job: Viñales stakes an early claim on victory Down Under
The 2018 winner puts himself in another postcode, Quartararo suffers a highside and Marquez is outside the top five as action opens in Australia
Maverick Vinales tops Friday times. A MotoGP image Phillip Island (Australia), 25 Oct 2019: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) ruled Day 1 at the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, fastest in the wet and dry to make it double trouble for his rivals. By the end of the play the only man within half a second of the Spaniard was Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), although Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was only a hundredths off joining the bracket as the Briton took third.
In classic Phillip Island style, Friday saw a few different seasons hit the circuit and it started with a wintery, rainy FP1. Viñales made short work of that from home hero Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), and once the sun was back out in the afternoon the 2018 winner repeated the feat, this time from Dovizioso and Crutchlow, who were split by just five thousandths.
Behind Viñales, hundredths and thousandths were the deciding margins in a tight top eight. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) was just 0.002 behind Crutchlow, with local favourite Miller completing the top five after ending up 0.017 in further arrears. 0.077 was then the gap back to Marquez in P6, with the number 93 getting the better of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) by just 0.015. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made for close company in eighth as well, 0.036 off the ‘The Doctor’.
Missing someone? By the time you get to the latter half of the top ten of late, there’s a name that you expect to have read a while ago but it wasn’t to be for Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) on Friday. The French rookie was putting together a solid performance for much of FP1 but disaster struck towards the end of the session as he suffered a highside and then headed for the Medical Centre. He was declared fit but to be reviewed before FP3, although the number 20 was sidelined for FP2 after the medication he was given. His left foot is the affected area but the key good news was that he’s suffered no fractures in the crash. His teammate Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) flew the flag for the team on Friday, the Italian sixth in the wet and ninth overall after laptimes plummeted in the dry.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completed the top ten after a solid outing for the Noale factory, the last man within a second of Viñales (and within half a second of everyone else). Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was 11th ahead of an impressive push from Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) in P12, with Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) in 13th.
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) finished the day in 14th despite a crash, just 0.015 ahead of the returning Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Idemitsu). The Frenchman acquitted himself well on first contact with his machine for the next three races; 13th in FP1 in the wet and the second Honda behind, as could be expected, Marquez, but he did get the better of Crutchlow by hundredths and Lorenzo by a few tenths. In FP2 in the dry, the number 5 put it in 15th and only a second and a half off the top. Lorenzo was in hot pursuit in P16.KTM had a solid start to the weekend in the wet as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was ninth in FP1, just ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) by an apt 0.088. But the dry saw the Austrian factory slip down the order a little and they’ll be looking for more on Saturday. Espargaro also suffered a big crash on Day 1, rider ok.
For the premier class, Saturday begins at 10:50 (GMT +11), before qualifying from 15:05 to decide the grid for the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Will the rain return? Tune in to find out.
Friday’s Fasterst:
1 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) 1’28.824
2 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA – Ducati) +0.496
3 – Cal Crutchlow* (GBR – Honda) +0.501
4 – Danilo Petrucci (ITA – Ducati) +0.503
5 – Jack Miller* (AUS – Ducati) +0.520*Independent Team rider
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It is a special week-end for me, say Sergio Perez
Thursday FIA press conference in progress. An FIA image Mexico City, 24 Oct 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA Thursday press conference ahead of the Mexican GP. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Racing Point), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Alexander Albon (Red Bull Racing).
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sergio, home race coming up. How has the build up been? I think you’ve been busy running marathons, a taxi service, all sorts of things?
SERGIO PÉREZ: A little one – 8 km. Yeah, it’s been a busy one. Basically I’ve been doing everything, every single stuff out there. It’s a pretty special weekend for me. I think it’s the best grand prix on the calendar, but very special for me. Yeah, I’m just looking forward to it. If there’s a weekend I want to be perfect and do very well, it’s this weekend.
Q: Well if you do very well, you might record the 100th points finish of your career this weekend. What would it mean for you to do that in front of your home crowd?
SP: It would be very special. More than that I look forward to giving them a great race. I think last year we were doing a very good race but then we ran out of brakes, so I think in the past we’ve been a bit unlucky in a couple of races – one in 2015 with the safety car that came at the wrong moment – so I hope this weekend… we are in a good run, so hopefully we can do a good one this weekend.
Q: Thanks very much and good luck Checo. Alex, Suzuka two weeks ago was a tremendous weekend for you, culminating in fourth place, the best result of your Formula 1 career to date. Did you change anything going into the Japanese Grand Prix or was it more of a reflection of the general progress you’ve been making?
ALEXANDER ALBON: I think it was more of a reflection. I don’t think anything special went on before Japan. Just getting more comfortable every time. Japan was just a really good track; I love it. I just enjoyed it and it suited me a bit better. It was a good weekend.
Q: You say you’re getting comfortable all the time. How different is the Red Bull to drive compared to the Toro Rosso you did the first half of the season in?
AA: Yeah, I’d say they have their differences, obviously. But it’s like every car. I think you’ve got to learn its little tricks and everything like that. Spending that time with Toro Rosso you kind of develop a bit of a driving style towards it and changing teams you’ve got to almost start blank again and work again, so it does take time but it’s very normal for every time you change to a new car.
Q: Your team-mate has won this grand prix for the last couple of years. How confident are you coming into the weekend that you can get your first podium?
AA: We’ll see. Maybe we’re not as favorites as we were in previous years. We do have our success here but the Ferraris are looking very strong as always, so we’ll see. On my side, just focus on myself. A podium would be nice, obviously, but not too focused on that at the minute. We’ll see.
Q: Thank you Alex, good luck this weekend. Antonio, you’re enjoying a good run at the moment, you’ve outqualified Kimi Räikkönen for the last three races. A question that’s quite similar to the one I asked Alex: have you changed anything in your approach to qualifying in particular?
Antonio GIOVINAZZI: No, I don’t think so. I think already in the first part of the season I was really close to Kimi, always really there. Second part, yeah, the confidence was coming better and better. But I don’t think it’s something we need to talk about – I was in front of Kimi three times. I’m just really happy that my confidence is coming better and better. The speed is better. I think we are struggling a little bit on race pace now. I hope we can find the right way this weekend and come back [into the] points, so we miss from two races already, so we need to get back there.
Q: How confident are you of finding the right way, because both Alfas were in Q3 here last year and raced well, so do you think you are going to have a better weekend than you have had at the last couple?
AG: I hope so. We had an intensive week last weekend and we tried to find something in the car, because I think the car is fast, because in qualifying we are there, almost close to Q3, but in the race we are struggling a lot, so I think we need to find just the last detail and then try to be back in the points soon.
Q: You’re doing a great job at the minute, what have the team told you about next year?
AG: Nothing yet. I think I just need to focus on my job and try to continue like that and then we’ll see for next year.
Q: Are you confident?
AG: Yes, I need to be confident. I think the second part of the season was quite strong from my side. I need to just keep pushing like that and then we’ll see.
Q: Good luck, thank you Antonio. Sebastian, tremendous pole position by you in Japan a couple of weeks ago. How much did you enjoy that moment and how much did you need that moment for your own peace of mind?
Sebastian VETTEL: Not so much. Obviously we had both quali and the race on Sunday, so there was not so much time to enjoy. I think there was nothing wrong before. Obviously, qualifying, maybe some events before that didn’t really go my way but yeah, I enjoyed Suzuka more than that particularly qualifying session. Obviously it was a good day, a near perfect day, the race should have been a little bit better but yeah…
Q: This weekend, are Ferrari favourites coming into this Mexican Grand Prix?
SV: I don’t know. So-so. Obviously people look at the track and they look at the straight line but I think that, yeah, we have obviously been strong on the straight lines in recent races but there are a couple of corners plus here it’s not one of the tracks where efficiency matters so much. We do have quite an efficient car but maybe we can’t use that to our advantage, so we’ll see how we manage around the ‘cornery’ sections, because some of these type of corners have been our weakness, so we’ll see.
Q: OK, good luck with that. Lewis, we talked about Checo’s busy build-up to this weekend and I see that you have been in the boxing ring with Julio Chávez. Tell us about it?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I was with Puma yesterday at an event. We had a great turnout. It’s crazy; I started boxing when I was eight. Obviously I was much younger and I wouldn’t say In was particular ever great at it, but it was really quite an honour to be in the ring with such a legend.
Q: Did he teach you anything?
LH: Yeah, yeah, he gave me a few pointers. He said I had a heavy hand, so I don’t know…
SP: Ready for the fight!
Q: Let’s talk about the fight this weekend then. It’s been six races since you last had a pole position. How confident are you of breaking that run this weekend?
LH: Oh, I don’t think a lot has changed. We’re going to go into this weekend knowing that Ferrari are massively quick usually on the straights and obviously straights are a powerful element of this circuit, so I don’t know when we’ll be getting another pole – unless it rains, which can change everything. But as you’ve seen in previous races it’s not necessarily all about qualifying nowadays. It’s about making sure you’ve got the car ready for the race, so we’ll still give it everything. This is a race that bodes well for the Red Bulls and the Ferraris in the past, but we’ve made a lot of improvements in our understanding of the car and how we use it, so maybe this weekend maybe we’ll a better chance than we have in the past.
Q: Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, you will clinch the world championship if you beat Valtteri Bottas by 14 points. What would it mean to you to win it here in Mexico for the third consecutive season?
LH: Well, I don’t remember if in a season I’ve finished 14 points ahead of Valtteri at any point, and if it has it may have been one race maybe. So I anticipate that it will be a difficult weekend. Valtteri has been strong all year and obviously won the last race so I expect him to be strong this weekend too. It doesn’t matter where it’s done, as long as you get it done, and that’s what I’m trying to do. But I’m fully aware that there are still plenty of points on the table and I’ve got to deliver over these next four races.
Questions from the floor
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) For Lewis: you’ve never been afraid to use your profile on social media to raise issues you have outside F1, what you think about the world etc, so you made people take notice in between Japan and here with your comments about the state of the planet and what people can do. I think that led to a few people questioning whether it’s valid to raise concerns about the planet if you’re part of the F1 circus, with all the travelling and stuff. I think even Fernando Alonso was quoted as saying it’s not something you can comment on really, because it’s not fair. I just wondered how you balance using your personal profile to raise stuff like that with the role you have in F1? A second part: Jean-Eric Vergne, the Formula E champion, said Formula E would be a natural move for you, given your eco-friendly status and what the championship is trying to do. Are you interested in doing Formula E after Formula 1?
LH: I have no interest whatsoever to do Formula E, so that’s not something I currently plan to do beyond. And then, lots of people have had opinions about how I utilise my social media, but ultimately it’s my platform and we all have a voice, everyone here and around the world, and it’s how you choose to… how you want to use it. Personally, it’s not the easiest, because yes, we are travelling around the world, we are racing Formula 1 cars and our carbon footprint for sure is higher than the average homeowner who lives in the same city, but that doesn’t mean that you should be afraid to speak out about things that can be a positive change and I’m always looking at things, and how I can improve the effect that I’m having on the world. I guess it’s something that over time I have become more and more aware of and it takes a while. It’s not a quick-fix thing. It takes time to understand the implications and I think it’s just about education and I’m just trying to highlight areas. Whether people choose to look into those, that’s up to them, but I’d feel like I wasn’t doing anything positive if I didn’t mention it.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) I had a very similar question to Lewis, so obviously it’s been answers. So, to the other drivers there, how do you feel about the environmental factors that Lewis has raised on social media. Are you also sort of active about the environment?
SV: Yeah. I’m not following Lewis. I’m not active on social media but I think the point is very clear. I think you would be ignorant if you wouldn’t look at it and obviously, as Lewis mentioned, it’s very difficult, in a way, to us to get acceptance from outside, because we don’t have the smallest footprint because the races happen around the world. We do have to travel, so it’s part of our jobs. But I think in general, Formula 1 should do more. It’s a worldwide operating platform. I think we should send a much stronger message regarding this subject and I think personally – this is free to everyone – but I think everybody can do something, contribute a little bit and if the whole world would act like that, it would make a huge difference. I think it’s inevitable that change is coming and hopefully rather sooner than later.
Antonio?
AG: I completely agree with Seb, what he says. So nothing to add.
Checo?
SP: Yeah, I think it’s very important that we raise our voices. A lot of people hear us – especially for someone like Lewis. It’s very important. I see the messages that he sends often on his social media are good. A lot of people are following him, so if we can impact the world, if we can help a bit, I think we are obliged to do so. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Alex?
AA: Not to much to add to that. I think what Lewis said was really good and… yeah, just because we’re in Formula 1 doesn’t mean we can’t care about the environment.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, just on those Instagram posts. In one of them you said you feel like giving up on everything and shutting down completely. I was just wondering what provoked you to say that and how your frame of mind is going into this weekend.
LH: Well, I’m only human so, like everyone you have up and down days. I think that’s really what I’ve been trying to convey really, because I think it’s very difficult for people who are watching on social media to be able to relate to certain individuals who live in a celebrity world. A lot of people don’t realise that they’re also humans and they also have feelings and have the ups and downs. Some people do care, some people care less, or whatever. And… I don’t know. It was not the best feeling at the moment but I’ve got great people around me, I’ve had a lot of support from fans, I’ve had a lot of support from around my family. There’s a lot going on in my life at the moment and, I don’t know, I think I was just… well, anyway, coming into this weekend I feel very positive, back to doing what I love doing and… yeah, I think it’s just always trying to stay positive, which is not always easy but I think I’ve done really well in the past to stay positive for the majority of the time – but I think there’s a lot that goes on in our lives and I think it’s important to also be open. And the whole thing’s in… so I’m always very open, very transparent with my feelings, whether people like it or not but I’m super-focused still on these four races and what I can do to get the job done, as the team have done such a great job and I continue. I’ve got lots and lots of positive plans for the future for positive change.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Following up on the environmental issue, are you guys political. And the question is to all drivers – and I’m not asking if you have sentiments for any political party or anything – but do you support a party, not telling us who it is probably, do you care, do you follow the news, would you say you are political persons.
AA: No, not so much. Is that OK?
LH: I don’t think I’m particularly political. I watch the news as much as I can. I find it very interesting to watch what is happening around the world. I think it’s a scary time for all of us. There’s so much talk in all the different governments around the world and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of solutions, or they don’t seem to be coming up with a lot of solutions, so it definitely is a bit worrying but there’s not a lot that we can do individually except for just try to be better within our own bubble. And if you have a platform, try to project some positivity – but I’m not supportive of any particular party.
Checo?
SP: Nothing more to add to what Lewis said.
SV: I think it’s not so much about knowing which party you want to support. I think, when you talk about the environment, supporting the planet. So, I think politics in a way have failed in the past, and at the moment we have seen, or we see in different areas that is critical and hopefully they will manage to get their act together and succeed in trying to find solutions that will help our planet and will help other problems that we have amongst ourselves, as in human beings, to try and improve the situation. In that regard I’m a supporter of the planet and, again, as I said earlier, I think change is coming. So I think it’s up to us to embrace it rather than ignore it before probably it’s too late.
AG: Nothing too much to add.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, sorry to come back to the Instagram post. It’s already been mentioned about the criticism you received on the back of some of it. I just wondered how you deal with that, because obviously you’re trying to put out a positive message and people then come back with their own views on that. Does it ever get to you and how do you get over it?
LH: I don’t normally spend a lot of time reading comments but of course I’m aware of that people have their own opinions and some people are going to be with it, some people are going to be against it. And that’s just the name of the game. I generally try not to let that kind of thing get to me. I think it’s important for all of us in life to feel good and feel like you’re doing something positive regardless of those that try to knock it down, the stuff that you do do that is positive. And yeah… just staying true to your values and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. And, as I said, I’ve got great people around me who are constantly lifting me up. So, there’s no… I’m fortunately not alone. I’ve got a lot of great people around me who, within my team, within my closest friends and family. Not all my family’s vegan but it doesn’t matter. They are also trying to make positive change in the decisions they make in their lives and I think that’s great.
Q: (Fernando Alonso – motorlat.com) Sebastian, right now we talk about the things that help Ferrari with the motor upgrades but you already said that you have to focus on the slow corners. You as a team are thinking in balance all the performance in the track or what is the way you will approach this weekend?
SV: Well, obviously for this weekend here it’s quite straightforward. Normally you think about the downforce choice you make – so trying to find the right balance whereas here obviously you put the maximum downforce on the car that you can, because of the difference in altitude and the air being thinner, so, as I said previously, the efficiency around this track is not so important. And yeah, to focus on the low speed corners in particular around here, other than trying to put every single bit of downforce on the car that you have, is trying to find the right set-up, finding the right balance, in terms of obviously extracting grip – but on the other hand, finding the right handling, the confidence in the car, looking after the tyres, getting the tyres in the window and all these small things. They do make a big difference for one lap in quali – but also then how you treat the tyres, especially throughout the race.
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you are very close to taking your sixth title, largely because you’ve had a such a strong season. Would you just consider how you got to this position? Are you able to identify what has been the most difficult challenges you’ve had to overcome, to be in such a strong position now?
LH: I think every season you’re looking at it… obviously we got to the beginning of the year and people thought we were talking ourselves down and not showing our true performance. In actual fact it was the reality. Ferrari had a good car at the beginning, perhaps it just wasn’t working that great earlier on in the season. I think our focus is just always trying to… the biggest challenges are always trying to understand these tyres. I think everyone has been on that case each year and there’s quite a different dynamic to them this season. So if you look at qualifying, for example, I think that’s an area which has probably been my weakest, even though I feel like I’ve been doing good laps but they’ve not been as good as others. I think the races have obviously been stronger and continued, I guess, on from last year but been very, very strong this season. But then I guess it’s also just been the balance of everything you’re doing outside of the sport, the obstacles you come across in the build-up to the races and just remaining consistent. Punching out these performances each weekend in, weekend out for us guys it’s such a hard task and I think people underestimate and undervalue how hard that is. Perhaps other athletes would understand because they go to competition after competition but it’s really hard because people turn on the TV and see a few hours of our weekend but there’s a massive amount of work that goes on obviously in the background, which you guys will know, obviously and I think it’s really just trying to continue to make… keep the team motivated, steering them in the right direction – because they can easily go in the wrong direction quite often with these cars nowadays.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Sorry to go back to the environmental stuff Lewis. You mentioned that your post came as a result of a down, a period that you mentioned highs and lows. Was there a particular moment that you can share with us which was the trigger for putting that statement out? And just as a follow-up; what sort of changes have you made to your day-to-day life to help the environment? I know there’s the diet but diet aside is there anything else which you’re doing which you can tell us?
LH: I was watching a documentary and it was just sad to see the things that we are kind of not aware of. Again, it just inspired me to want to do more and reach out to those who perhaps don’t know some of the things that are happening. In terms of the things that I’m doing in my life, I’m trying to make sure that by the end of the year I’m carbon neutral at the end of the year. I don’t allow anyone in my office but also within my household to buy any plastics. I want everything recyclable down to deodorant, down to toothbrush, all these kind of things so I’m trying to make as much change as I can in my personal space. I told you I sold my plane over a year ago. I fly a lot less now, I’m trying to fly less through the year and mostly flying commercial so that’s been a big change in my habits. I’ve avoided trips as well, if I didn’t need to do it, been in the UK, for example, with family and going up to Bedfordshire and kind of stayed at Soho House for example, with the family instead of going on holiday. What else? Obviously I’ve changed my diet which is quite a drastic difference. I’m also pushing for… so for example I have a new smart electric hybrid at home – it’s not hybrid, it’s electric. I’ve sold several of my cars, some of them I don’t really want to sell because I still love them and I’ve worked hard for them and I don’t drive them a lot if I’m honest. And also, all the cars that I have, so Mercedes, I’m very fortunate that I get quite a few cars around the world, so I have three Mercedes in the States for example. Send them back and get new QCs. I have a Maybach in London for example. I think they’re bring the hybrid out at the end of next year for the Maybachs. However, right now that doesn’t really suit what I’m fighting for so I need to change that also for either an EQC or one of the hybrids they have. I’m constantly making changes. It’s not a quick fix. It’s not something you do over a short period of time, but I feel (Indistinct) that I’m making those changes and I’m encouraging people around me to also… my friends are seeing me doing those and also being more conscious and also looking to do those kind of things. I work with the team who are also really pushing to be carbon neutral, also changing things in their canteen because there’s a lot of plastics which you will see here, for example, we have mostly just water which are biodegradable bottles. I’m working with Mercedes on the future plan with them, for example. Car manufacturers have all leather interiors. There’s no reason why we cannot have for the leather for the suede so I’m pushing to be a part of that change with Mercedes Benz. And what’s the last one? There’s one more. Oh yes, and obviously I work with Tommy Hilfiger, nearly 70 per cent of all the clothes that I’ve done are sustainable and either recycled fabrics of leather, faux suede and the goal is to have that 100 percent and I’m looking at some point that to be 100 per cent sustainable, hopefully in the next year or two. That’s also encouraged Tommy Hilfiger, who work in quite a damaging business or industry to also look into that and push that direction. I don’t know much more I can do at the moment. I still love racing and I want to continue with that. If you look at our sport, it’s shifted from… we use a third less fuel now, there is more I think that Formula One can do and I think they are putting plans together but I think we have to push all the industries, you have to push Formula One to do more and I think that they’re giving us a proposal later on, I think today, of the plans that they have in place and we’ll do whatever we can to support that.
Q: (Yhacbec López – Motorlat) Seb, Ferrari has not won here, the Mexican Grand Prix, since 1990 so is this the biggest chance since F1 came back in 2015 to win the Mexican Grand Prix finally?
SV: I don’t know. I think we can answer on Sunday. If yes, then hopefully we can make it happen; if no then we obviously come back again next year. Yeah, I can’t predict what’s going to happen. I feel confident, I think we have a strong package. There’s part of the track that should be in our favour. Other parts might be a bit more difficult but we will see how it works out. The weather could be a bit of a difficult role this weekend so we will see what happens.
Q: (Arturo Escalona – Compania Periodistica ESTO) I would like to know your opinion about three more years of the Mexican Grand Prix?
SP: Well, those were great news for our country, for Formula One. I think Formula One is looking to have more races like Mexico. We don’t have that many where we go there and the fans are cheering – not just for me but for everyone up there. It’s just something that’s extremely good to have and you see places like Monza, England, those unique places that are, for us, very special so for me especially, it was extremely good to hear that the Mexican Grand Prix is for another three years, especially as it has grown so much in the past. Now can you say Formula One is very big in Mexico so I hope it carries on not just three years, more than that.
LH: Oh great. I love coming to Mexico so it’s good for me. I think Mexico City is… Mexico in general has such a beautiful culture, the people have always been so warm and welcoming. I’ve got friends from when I lived in Switzerland who are still my dear friends today. And also I spend a lot of time in Colorado for example, a lot of the Mexicans are out there skiing with us. But this Grand Prix, it’s very very unique, obviously with the high altitude that we have here, it always put a huge demand on the drivers but also the cars. I didn’t think when we came here for the first time that we would have such a big turn-out consistently each year. I think it’s getting bigger each time they come and the atmosphere is really created by the people that come here, the people who come and support us. I see no reason for this Grand Prix to ever stop. The only thing I hope is that we can try to make sure that when we do come to these Grands Prix and we leave, we will leave a positive (indistinct) on the city in some way, shape or form, whether it’s working with certain foundations. Because I know there’s a lot of people in need within the city and within the country so I think there’s more we can do.
SV: Yeah, I think it’s great to continue going to a Grand Prix where there’s passion for racing. I think that since we’ve come back – I don’t know how it was when Ferrari last won in 1990, how it was before, but certainly since we’ve been coming back since 2015 it’s been very positive, lots of people, full grandstands. It’s not the case everywhere we go so we should be very happy about the fact that we are allowed to come back.
AG: Of course it will be my first time here but I did two FP1 in ’17 and ’18. The track is really nice to drive and we always see a really good race here. Also like the other say, the passion here is quite high, so really happy to continue to race here.
AA: Yeah, first time here so excited. I’ve loved the food already: spicy and excited. Coming into the stadium is supposed to be really special so I’m excited to see that on Sunday.
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Riders ready to take on “iconic” Phillip Island
The pre-event Press Conference sees the action start to heat up Down Under
From Left: Zarco, Rossi, Dovizioso, Marquez, Quartararo, Miller, Lecuona pose for a picture after the Thursday press meet. A MotoGP image Phillip Island, 24 Oct 2019: It’s Thursday in Australia and that means one thing and one thing only: animals! But more on that later. First it’s time to hear a little from the riders in the pre-event Press Conference, with reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) joined by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Rookie of the Year Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), home hero Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), returning Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Idemitsu), newly-announced 2020 MotoGP™ rider Iker Lecuona and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who makes an incredible 400th Grand Prix start this weekend.
Marquez spoke first, and he says Phillip Island is all about feel. “We are coming from another great weekend in Japan a week ago and the target here on Sunday is to fight for victory. It’s a circuit you need to feel, you need to feel that you can because it has a lot of high speed corners, this means a lot of risk. It’s a circuit that if you don’t feel, you need to stay calm, try to finish on the podium or try to finish the race. Apart from that, today we have a summer day, tomorrow we might have a winter’s day – you never know. This is where we will try to work in a good way to try and fight against Yamaha and Suzuki, I think they have a bike that works very well here, very stable in the high speed corners. It will be tough to beat them but we will try.”
Next up was Dovizioso, who was asked if he’s optimistic returning to the Island after a solid event last season. Not quite, but almost. “Optimistic is a bit too much. Last year we did a really fast and good race, so I hope to be on the podium again. I think it will be hard because of course Marc and the Yamaha riders will be strong, Rins too, so it will be hard.
“In the last race at the end we were quite fast and we have to understand something about that because it’s happened too many times this season, I think there’s a technical reason. But here is a completely different track. Like Marc said, the conditions are always quite strange and it will affect everyone. The tyres but also the wind, which way it’s going. We’ll wake up tomorrow morning and see the conditions!”
Quartararo, meanwhile, arrives having already been crowned Rookie of the Year, and he’s now gunning for the honour of top Independent – against Jack Miller.
“I think the Yamaha suits this track really well but we will see about the conditions. Like Marc said, today we have nice weather but it looks like it will be quite tricky for the weekend.
“We don’t need focus a lot on the victory, just do the same work that we did from the beginning of the year, step by step, and feel the temperature of the tyres. It’s a track that I really like, fast corners, the Yamaha looks good, so we’ll do our best and our best will be good enough.”
Valentino Rossi, on the other side of the spectrum of experience, spoke next. 400 is quite a milestone, and ‘The Doctor’ thinks the place is a good one to play host. “It’s a long, long time; a long road. Like you said it’s good to hit the 400 here in Phillip Island. It’s an iconic place for MotoGP, all the riders love the circuit because it’s something special compared to the rest. So it’s one of the best places. We pray, everybody prays for a weekend here like this, the blue sky and the fantastic weather, but unfortunately the good weather arrived too much in anticipation so we will have to fight the weather in Phillip Island but anyway, it’s a pleasure.
Home hero Jack Miller agrees it’s a great place to ride – and says he’s lucky it’s his home race to boot.
“We’ll give it a go! It’s a place I love to ride at first of all, like everyone else. I think it’s one of the best circuits on the calendar and fortunately for me, it’s my home Grand Prix. I’m looking forward to getting out there. Like the boys said, the weather isn’t going to be ideal but for me here at Phillip Island there’s no point looking at the forecast. If the wind changes, we’ll have either beautiful sunshine or freezing cold. So, we’ll wait until the morning and make a plan from there. Feeling really good, it was a shame about the race in Japan, but we had good pace there. Looking forward to my weekend at home, I’m normally pretty strong and with the form we’ve had this year I think I’ve got a chance of taking it to these guys!”
These guys, this weekend, also includes a familiar face making a return: Zarco. The Frenchman makes the first of his three appearances replacing Takaaki Nakagami this weekend at the Island.
“The smile is there! It’s difficult to set a target. I want to clear all the feelings I got this year. I started well in MotoGP the first two years, but this year has been really complicated, so it seemed it was finished – my MotoGP story – but Lucio called me to take these three races, and yes I’m taking it because maybe it’s my last three races. I took a big risk this summer stopping my contract for 2020, and now I can realise that racing is what I want to do. I have a short future at the moment but I can live it with a lot of intensity and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Finally, Iker Lecuona spoke. He was confirmed earlier as riding in the premier class in Red Bull KTM Tech 3 colours next year, and that was, of course, the key talking point.
“For sure I’m very happy to have this opportunity. For me it’s crazy, to be here with Marc or Valentino. When I was a kid I saw everybody on TV and I wanted to ride with everyone on track, finally it’s possible. I want to thank KTM for this opportunity and Herve Poncharal for giving me this opportunity to ride in MotoGP.”
That’s it from the Press Conference, for more on the upcoming Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix head to motogp.com and tune in for another awesome race on Sunday 27th October at 15:00 (GMT +11). In India the telecast will be at 9.30 am IST.
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Davies shines under the floodlights to end Day 1 on top in Qatar: #QATWorldSBK
The Ducati rider led the way, while the chasing pack have work to do for Friday
Chaz Davies tops chart on Friday. A WorldSBK image Losail, 24 Oct 2019: The first day of action at the Losail International Circuit came to a close with the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship class taking to the circuit. The final session of the day for the WorldSBK class was one of the most important yet, with the first look of realistic race pace coming in the night time. Rocketing up the order, Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati) hit the top spot, ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).
Chaz Davies has been twice a winner at Losail and looks like he could be on course to repeat that this weekend, topping the final session of Friday. Davies, who was in the top six for the entirety of the session, hit first with five minutes to go and headed his teammate. It was a strong session for Alvaro Bautista, as the Spaniard looks to finish his rookie season in World Superbike on a high. The 34-year-old was down in seventh after the first session but come to the end of FP2, he was up in third.
Having led to the opening session of the weekend, Jonathan Rea was right back in the mix of things and ready for battle in FP2. The Northern Irishman was in second for the majority of the session and that is where he would finish coming to the end of proceedings, with the five-time World Superbike Champion working solidly on his race pace. After a difficult opening session, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was left down on the 12th.
After a top-three performance in FP1, Toprak Razgatliolgu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) set his sights on third place overall in the Championship in the best way possible. The 23-year-old from Alanya is in a strong position to overhaul those ahead of him in the Championship and completed the first day of Qatar action in fourth. There were plenty of other Independent riders inside the top ten, with Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) in ninth and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) in tenth.
Closely matched in the Championship and closely matched after Thursday action, the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team duo of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark continue to squabble on their last weekend in the same team. Van der Mark had the upper hand and was up in fifth place, whilst Lowes was seventh when the chequered flag came out. Both are in a fierce battle for third with Toprak Razgatlioglu and will thus need to work together in order to bring Yamaha the bronze medal position.
The BMW charge in Qatar was led by 2013 WorldSBK Champion Tom Sykes, who spent most of the session down in 15th place, before firing in good lap time with less than eight minutes to go, putting him in sixth. Teammate Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) came to the fore and was eighth after day one. The German rider, so far without a ride confirmed on the 2020 grid in WorldSBK, put himself in the shop window at the right time, reminding everyone what he is capable of.
Outside of the top ten on his final weekend, Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) goes into the final two days of his WorldSBK career in 14th, whilst top Honda belonged to Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) in 17th, now confirmed at BARNI Ducati for 2020.
#QATWorldSBK at Losail International Circuit: Thursday
1. Chaz Davies (Aruba. IT Racing Ducati) 1’57.449
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’57.722
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba. IT Racing Ducati) 1’57.767For full results from Day 1, click here
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Formula 1 Mexican GP according to Brembo
An in-depth look at the braking systems on the Formula 1 single-seaters at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez
After the race in Japan, the Formula 1 cars move on to Americas for the 18th competition in the 2019 World Championship being held October 25-27 at the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez.
The track is named for the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, both Formula 1 drivers who lost their lives prematurely in track accidents.
Brembo has three production plants in Mexico: Puebla, Apodaca and Escobedo.
Inaugurated in 2016, the plant in Escobedo extends across more than 35.000 square meters feet and can produce 2 million aluminum calipers every year.
Although the circuit is located 2,229 meters (7,313 feet) above sea level, the altitude doesn’t cause any problems for the braking system.
What does put the system to the test are the velocity spikes: last year Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari car reached 362 km/h (225 mph).Besides speed, the temperature of the tarmac can have a big influence on the temperature of the discs and calipers.
During qualifying of two years ago, these got up to 44°C (111°F). Also, the increase in grip on the tarmac during the race weekend typically leads to a rise in the amount of braking torque discharged to the ground.
According to Brembo technicians, who have ranked the 21 World Champion circuits, the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez is very demanding on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 5 on the difficulty index.
Brake use during the GP
The brakes are used on ten of the 17 corners on the track, and in the first section, brake use is especially intense due to being able to use the DRS on two different straightaways.
On average over the course of one lap, each single-seater applies the brakes for 15 seconds, which is 20% of the overall duration of the race. The winding central and final sections of the track contribute to lowering the average peak deceleration per lap, which doesn’t exceed 3.3 G, one of the lowest values in the World Championship.
The energy dissipated in braking throughout the GP by one single-seater however, is among the highest for the entire season: 258 kWh, two times that of the British GP.
The load applied to the brake pedal by each driver from the starting line to the checkered flag is average for the World Championship: less than 53 tons.
The most challenging braking sections
Of the ten braking sections on the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez, 3 are classified by the Brembo technicians as challenging, none is of medium difficulty and 7 are light.
The most demanding over all is on the first corner after the finish because the single-seaters go from 362 km/h (225 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph) in barely 145 meters (476 feet). To perform like this, the drivers apply a load of 177 kg (390 lbs) on the brake pedal for a total of 2.52 seconds during which they experience a deceleration of 5.4 G.
On turn 4, which also follows a straight where the drivers can use the DRS, they need 2.43 seconds to get outside the racing line. The cars arrive going 338 km/h (210 mph) and slow down to 105 km/h (65 mph) by applying a load of 166 kg (366 lbs) on the brake pedal. But only 1.93 seconds and 114 meters (374 feet) are needed to go uphill on turn 12 and reduce the speed from 324 km/h (201 mph) to 137 km/h (85 mph). The 4.6 G in deceleration proves that the braking here shouldn’t be underrated, just like the 114 kg (251 lbs) load on the brake pedal.
On the stretch between turns 5 and 7 though, the drivers never use their brakes for more than 65 meters (213 feet). But none of these three braking sections require a drop in speed measuring more than 85 km/h (53 mph).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/LC4zXXN728s
Brembo performance
Single-seaters with Brembo brakes have won seven of the last eleven Mexican GP races they have participated in.
OIn 2017 Ferrari took the pole position and the fastest lap, but did not win in Mexico since 1990.
