Tag: F1

Silverstone, 7 July 2012:

DRIVERS who qualified in the top three and attended the FIA Press Conference 3 at the British Grand Prix are;

1 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)

2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)

3 – Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes)

TV UNILATERAL

Fernando first pole since 2010, very difficult to get it right today, especially with that long delay in Q2. What was the secret though at the end?

Fernando ALONSO: No secret. I think it’s tricky conditions for everyone. You have to be calm in some difficult moments. In Q2, as you mentioned, we were at the red flag, in position 15 and 16, Felipe and me. It was not easy, so we went through Q2 and in Q3 difficult choice between extreme and intermediate tyres. We chose the intermediates and when we saw everyone planning on those tyres we more or less calmed down a little bit. And then we put a lap together, which is not easy. You make a little mistake here or there and to complete a lap without making a huge mistake is not easy in these conditions. Yeah, happy with pole position after nearly two years, for Ferrari that’s a long time and we’ll see. Tomorrow is the race and with these weather conditions the qualifying becomes one of the less important qualifyings of the year because everything will mix up after a few laps tomorrow maybe, but for visibility and things like that it’s always better to start at the front, so very happy.

Mark, a great duel between you and Fernando at the end there. You missed out on pole by five one hundredths of a second – it’s always good to compete against this guy [Alonso] yes?

Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it was a very tight session. Ultimately, you don’t know how you’re going, you’re completely focused on yourself, putting a lap together. As Fernando said it’s very tricky in sections around the lap. Obviously, in a session like this when you’ve got five or 10 seconds sometimes between one session to the next session obviously it’s a huge amount down t

o the driver to get comfortable in the conditions, also with the car. The guys did a great job. Yeah it was nip and tuck with Fernando for the pole. I think ultimately we put a pretty good lap together, our strategy in quali I was pretty happy with it, doing four laps… and race tomorrow.

Michael, another strong qualifying for you. You used to be known as the rain meister, how do you fancy your chances tomorrow in a wet British Grand Prix?

Michael SCHUMACHER: I think we look reasonably competitive in wet conditions – either on intermediate or heavy wet – so therefore rain is welcome tomorrow. It was a bit of an exciting session today, particularly Q2 where I had the wrong visor on, that didn’t have anti-fog. I didn’t have much visibility and found myself sideways in Becketts. That didn’t help either. But we recovered well in the delay and got back in our rhythm. Yeah, very happy to be third; good for the team; good for my boys, so thanks to all of the guys.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Fernando, first of all well done, is it a surprise or did you feel it was a lottery a little bit out there in the conditions?

FA: It’s always a surprise to be on pole position because you know that conditions in qualifying… it’s always difficult to beat some of the guys around and we maybe feel more confident in dry conditions. We did some tests today in FP3 and the car felt quite good in the high-speed corners and we were quite happy with the balance – but in wet conditions you never know. You need to be in the right place in the right moment, with the circuit in the best conditions possible when you do the lap and that lap has to be clean with not huge mistakes because a little bit here and there you always lose or you can improve a little bit because you never know exactly the conditions of the next corner when you arrive on a day like today. It can be a little bit drier than the lap before but we saw some drops of rain on the visors so it can be a little bit wetter so it’s a little bit of… gambling what would be the grip at the next corner. To put the lap together was the only thing we had to do today and when you find yourself in pole position, for sure it’s a little bit surprising but, yeah, good to battle like this.

It was nearly all over in the first part of Q2, wasn’t it – at one point you were facing the wall?

FA: Yes. I had a spin in Turn 13. It was a lot of aquaplaning there. We changed tyres, we went for the extreme tyres and there was a red flag. It was impossible to run, to be honest it was a good decision. And then also it was a good decision waiting for the time the circuit was in condition to run again. So, sometimes we criticise the decisions when we are not happy with them and today they were doing a really good job. The first priority is safety, the track was not in condition to continue qualifying and we wait the necessary time to do it and we’ve been at the limit for Q3, I think P9, so it was not easy. I had a Toro Rosso for two laps in front of me with no visibility, so the Q2 lap was a little bit like a blind lap: you do whatever time the Toro Rosso will do – more or less.

How big a moment was it on the grass when you went off in Q2? You got a round of applause in the press room for sorting it out…

FA: It was very big and you are not in control of the car. You need a bit of luck and we were lucky today. With that moment in Q2, with all the decisions that we make for the tyres that it was the right one – and lucky also that we put the lap together and lucky as well in the distance with Mark because there were some milliseconds. It can be first and second in a very easy way and today it was everything perfect for us. But the race is tomorrow, not today.

Mark, for you pole last year and you won in 2010, you’ve been on the podium for the last three years. A good circuit for you? You seem to have adapted very well to the British weather…

MW: It’s been a good track for me since 1995 when I won my first Formula Ford race here – so it goes back quite a while – don’t want to show my age too much! But yeah, it’s a good track, it’s challenging for the drivers and it’s nice to let the car breathe a little bit in some of the quick stuff. Obviously this morning it was nice to feel the car in dry conditions, obviously we didn’t get that in quali – and as Fernando’s touched on, it was a very tricky session for us when the track’s moving around by five, six seconds a go in terms of conditions. Each session is tricky for us. But the guys made all the right decisions. There were a few calls from the cockpit as well to pull things together and ultimately I think we got the maximum out of what we could have done today. As Fernando says, it’s a long lap to put together; there are rivers, you can improve here and there but also if you try to push a bit harder you can have no corners on the car. So it’s better to try to finish the lap and get yourself up there. Risk management was very important today. I’m very happy with my lap and ultimately we’re in a good position to start the race tomorrow. Visibility will be important if it’s wet, and go from there.

Michael, pole in 2001 of course and three wins here, how difficult was it to get going again after that hour delay? 60 minutes of delay…

MS: I guess first of all we should give applause to all the fans who remained with us in all these conditions. That’s been pretty special and big applause to them. For us, in the position that some cars had been, you would probably have wished just to finish qualifying there. The ones that would have been out, Fernando and myself, we were happy to get this opportunity under drivable conditions because Q2, when it started, almost from the beginning it was already on the limit, if not slightly over the limit, and therefore thanks to the FIA to take the right decision and abort it and put it into a spot that was probably the only one – and a perfect one – that was available today. For us to get going, it’s not that big a deal. It’s worse hanging around and waiting. It’s more tiring than driving and sitting in the car and being in action, that’s pretty straightforward to me.

How difficult was the tyre choice?

MS: I think it was only initially difficult to decide but when you give it a second and watch what others do then it becomes pretty straightforward. By the end it was clear the inter was the tyre to be on. Ideally you would have had more than one lap – because it was the last lap that counted and obviously you’re not allowed to make a mistake so you always somewhere leave some margin, that another lap for sure you could recover and do a much better job. Nevertheless, to then finish third was good for us. I’m pleased with this, it’s a good position to start the race from. It’s a good line and, depending on the condition we have tomorrow, maybe I’m on the lucky side because it might be the slightly drier line compared to the inner side that’s a little bit wet. We’ll find out tomorrow if that’s the case or not the case – but that expedition will be very much appreciated to me.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Michael, some of your most memorable wins have been in the wet. This circuit has a reputation for holding water. It did take a very long time to drain. Do you have any criticisms either of that or of the fact that the circuit is unpredictable from place to place as you go along, perhaps less predictable where you’ve won in the wet before?

MS: First of all, a compliment to all the marshals, they managed to get the track in pretty good shape with all the sweeping and drying up. There was almost no standing water when we went back out again. That was a good job, so in case of heavy rain tomorrow, I hope they’re going to be ready, in between the safety car or whatever they have to decide. But I think on some circuits they have that situation and they did the best from what was available today.

Q: (Manuel Franco – AS) Fernando, you said in Spanish that this pole is dedicated to someone special, is it for Maria de Villota?

FA: Yes, obviously she’s having some difficult moments, her family as well and I think all of us, this weekend, we are all racing with a little bit of sadness about the news at the beginning of the week from Marussia and from her. Anything we do this weekend hopefully will bring strength to her and her family, and we wish her a very good recovery.

Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Fernando, first place in qualifying in the rain; was this difficult or not very difficult for you?

FA: Yes, yes, it is very difficult, always very difficult to be on pole position, but on days like today, it’s difficult for everyone. I think from pole position to 24^th, we had a very difficult time in the car, because, as I said, you don’t know how the grip will be in the next corner. We had a lot of rivers on the track, especially in Q2 and it’s not just to find the last tenth or half a tenth of a second; just to complete the lap is difficult. Very stressful qualifying, but it’s the same for everybody and today we have been lucky, as I said.

Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, for tomorrow, will it be difficult for you on intermediate tyres and what are you afraid of in the race?

FA: Well, I think the car should also be competitive on extreme wet tyres, but as I said, in Q2 I did a lap exactly the same as a Toro Rosso whatever the lap. I started the lap one second behind him and I finished the lap around 0.8s behind him, and I was in and he was out, for virtually nothing. So I think with normal visibility, I think we should also be competitive with the extremes. For sure ideally we would like a dry race because you maximise the pole position a little bit and you have a bit of free air, especially in the first stint if you do a good start. If it’s wet or changeable conditions as we’ve the whole weekend, grid positions are not really important, because on lap eight it could start raining or drying up or whatever and someone at the back may have nothing to lose and could maybe change tyres or whatever and finds himself first or second. It’s more difficult but let’s see. I think we felt competitive on the dry, inters and wet so we will see tomorrow what we can do.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) How do you prepare yourself for a race which could be very wet? Is there a way of thinking differently, or driving differently for the whole of a wet race?

MW: Obviously the concentration is a little bit different to a dry Grand Prix, so you’ve got to have that in mind. Some of the straights here are not very straightforward in terms of… like out of turn seven, going through there with compromised visibility, standing water, so dry Grands Prix still obviously require immense concentration and focus to put everything together but in the wet you have more balls in the air and you need to be ready for that and also be flexible and focused and I said before, controlled aggression and stay composed. You know that the grass doesn’t have much grip so best stay away from that if you can and get to the flag.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, we saw you take the P9 position in Q2 when there were yellow flags for Grosjean. Could you explain what happened at that moment, if you feel that you’re safe(from incurring any penalty)?

FA: Yes. I didn’t set a green sector in that particular lap with the yellow. I backed off in the area where they were taking away the car, so I don’t have any worries.

Q: I’ve been asked to ask you is if any of you will be following Wimbledon after the race tomorrow?

FA: No.

MW: Absolutely. Federer for seven, honestly it’s a great final. Whoever wins it’s a great story. Obviously for Andy, first Grand Slam, first Wimbledon and for Roger, obviously he’s a phenomenal sportsman, to match Pistol Pete (Sampras) on seven. He’s a real inspiration, Federer. He would be good to watch.

MS: What time is it? I would like to watch it if I have time, but I would prefer not to have time!

Q: (Marco dell’Ignocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Could you not imagine that if the weather conditions and track conditions were similar tomorrow to today, would you not fear a very boring race behind the safety car?

MS: In that case we’re going to watch Federer and Murray!

FA: Hopefully not, not only for us, I think, but for the fans. As Michael said, they’ve been amazing all weekend with these weather conditions and they deserve a normal race tomorrow, so even if it’s wet, not stopping the race or nothing like that, hopefully.

MW: Charlie (Whiting, race director) has learned a lot in the last few years and has done a very good job in certain conditions, so he know what wet tyres are capable of, the extreme, also factor in the visibility so they are the two main things: standing water and visibility. If they are under control then we race, if they’re not then we don’t. After that, we work through the tyres and the race is OK. Tomorrow is obviously a big day for Charlie tomorrow to communicate with us like he does a good job over the last few years, no problems.

Q: (Silva Arias – Argentina) Fernando, it’s very nice for you as well to get pole position after two years, as you said before. How important is it for your team as well and for your confidence and everything?

FA: Yeah, yeah, definitely very important. It’s nice to be on pole position. We know that the conditions were not normal. They were very tricky so we are still aiming for pole position one day on a sunny day and no factors around which will prove the level of competitiveness that the car can have and that’s what we want, but until that point arrives, today’s pole position is very welcome and as I said, it’s more for the history of Ferrari etc. Two years is a long time.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Michael, you were looking strong yesterday in the wet today as well. This morning, at least from the lap time it was a different picture. Is it just an impression that the Mercedes is better in the wet and if so why?

MS: The question is how much fuel was in the cars this morning, so I think it is a hypopthetical situation, to judge what you have seen in qualifying with what you have seen this morning.

Ends

DRIVERS – Vitaly PETROV (Caterham), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Bruno SENNA (Williams), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Paul DI RESTA (Force India).

PRESS CONFERENCE

Vitaly, your thoughts on the updates that the team brought to Valencia, where you ran very competitively, and I think you have more here as well.

Vitaly PETROV: Actually we bring not so many updates to Valencia, just front wing and, slightly, bodywork. But here, yes, we bring new back bodywork, new exhaust, some front wings and probably the rear wing, so we have quite a big update here.

Where do you think that can bring you? Do you have any idea? Can you be in the points? That, obviously, has to be the major aim.

VP: First of all we need to see how these upgrades will work. This weekend we know the weather will be not fantastic it. It’s a disappointment. Also our straight-line test, we didn’t do much work because of heavy rain. But you know all the 24 cars are quite close to each other and quite competitive, so if we gain something definitely we will be, maybe, more competitive than in the last race. So I hope these upgrades will give us some good feedback and we can fight with the cars in front.

Romain, first of all, congratulations on you marriage, week before last I think. In Valencia, you led the grand prix. People forget sometimes that you haven’t been a front runner for long, that you haven’t done that many grands prix. How exciting was that? And what did you learn from leading the race?

Romain GROSJEAN: Well, same position as Valencia, behind Fernando. It was a very good weekend, a very good grand prix. It’s nice to be able to fight for the front with Lewis, Fernando with Sebastian Vettel, all the big guys. We have a car, which is very competitive, and the factory is doing a fantastic job. It’s good to be here, good to be able to get a lot of experience by fighting with the big teams and the top drivers and hopefully at the next one we get a little bit more luck and I can got to first place.

Do you feel you have made a lot of progress this year? Do you feel you have matured almost?

RG: I think you progress every time you’re in the car. It’s difficult with no testing to improve yourself so every race weekend you learn something new, in terms of set-up, in terms of driving, in terms of tyre management or whatever, and for sure when you fight at the front you learn even more than when you are at the back.

Bruno, in a couple of weeks’ time you’re going to be picking up the Trofeo Bandini. What does it mean to you to have won that trophy?

Bruno SENNA: It’s very special. You know that Lewis has taken it before, Seb and Nico. So there are quite a few drivers that are successful now have won this in the past, so it’s very encouraging for me that they see potential in me – especially from last year as that was such a tough situation to be in. It’s going to be a special event and I’m looking forward to being there.

We can see that the Williams car this year has performance. But are you happy with it? Are there any issues you have with the car?

BS: Of course we’re happy with it. It’s difficult for a team to make such a leap from a difficult season [last year] as Williams has done. So it’s very encouraging for us to have a car that is consistently in the points. On the other hand we always want more. We always want the car to be faster and faster, so we keep pushing the team and the team keeps pushing us to improve. We are always trying to find the magic button to make the car go faster than the other ones.

Lewis, we saw in Valencia that Red Bull seem to be really quick, I don’t think there’s any disputing that, but have McLaren got an answer to that, because we see that they’re bringing update to this race?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, we definitely have some upgrades, so I’m really, really excited to see how they behave on the car and if they actually deliver what we think they’re going to deliver. But whether or not… I don’t know if it’s as big as what they brought at the last race, but who knows. I think our car generally goes a little bit better on high-speed circuits than it does at low-speed circuits, so fingers crossed it will be a little bit stronger this weekend.

You’ve had so many instances where you’ve been so close to scoring big points this season and Valencia to some extent was the same again. Are you still changing your attitude and working towards maximising on those sorts of race?

LH: I haven’t changed anything from the beginning of the season – everything’s still the same. Things don’t always go according to plan, but that’s life. I’m excited now that we have another race and that we have so many races ahead of us and that we still have plenty of opportunities to continue fighting for this championship and that’s what racing is all about.

Fernando, Spain have had a rollercoaster of various things: Nadal going out of Wimbledon, you winning in Valencia, Spain winning the European Championships – how has that effected you, or does it not affect you at all?

Fernando ALONSO: It’s not affecting. You watch TV. Obviously I prefer Nadal wins and the Spain football team wins but it’s not changing your preparation, so your approach for the next race. You are concentrated in your job, speaking with the team, doing some simulator work. You go to bed a little bit more happy or sad but nothing changes.

You were a winner here last year, at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, won the last grand prix at Valencia as well – but two very different circuits I would have thought. How do you see your changes this weekend?

FA: Looking at the characteristics of the circuit, Silverstone should be a little bit better for us and suit our car characteristics a little bit better. As we saw at the beginning of the year in the high-speed corners and also as we saw in Mugello, that the car was performing quite well. Hopefully we see a good Ferrari here this weekend, with me and Felipe. And we see, I think, that it also all depends on the weather. We know that here anything can happen, or more rain than dry at times we will have, looking at the forecast, so we need to be ready for all: we need to be prepared for any track conditions at any time and try to have a smooth qualifying – and that will not be easy when the weather is changing, so you need to be in the right moment on the track to do the lap. And then the race, you know, straight to score as many points as possible – as I said, hopefully the car is performing well here.

Paul, Valencia obviously not such a good qualifying but a reasonable race, I don’t know how you would have looked at that. Really, can you improve on that?

Paul di RESTA: I think Valencia was by far our strongest performance as a team. You have to be relatively confident that hopefully you can carry that into this weekend. We had the potential to be much higher up in qualifying; a mistake in Q3 by me cost that. But we set ourselves quite a risky target in the race and achieved a one-stop strategy, the only car that did that. Obviously the safety car compromised us a lot, so not ideal, but the positive side is that we picked up points. And really that’s key when you’re a midfield team: to capitalise on those small points that are out there to get.

When you do a one-stop strategy like that, what is it like for the driver? Are you holding yourself back all the time, is it frustrating?

PdR: I won’t go into the details of it but it is certainly a different approach. It starts quite early on in the weekend with what your strategy guys come up with and obviously your setup drives you forward that way but I think our car performed well on low and high fuel in Valencia. It was just risky whether that worked. In hindsight, maybe we’d do the race a bit different if we went back – but certainly to come away with a double points finish for the team, we can be very happy. We both ended up doing different things.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Romain Grosjean, you prefer heat, just like your car, what do you expect this weekend with the rain?

RG: Well, we have to see. This track puts a lot of energy into the tyres so the heat shouldn’t be a problem as it was in Canada, for example, but we have to see if it’s raining or if it’s dry – as Fernando says, take the best chance to get on track at the right time and try to analyse the weather forecast. It shouldn’t be as bad as it has been on the cold conditions.

Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Question for Fernando and for Lewis, you’ve been extremely successful, both of you, in wet races over the last few years: between you I think you’ve won, could be half. Just tell me why you think that is, why you think you’re so successful when conditions are like that and what extra demands it brings to a driver?

FA: I don’t know really. I think it’s a combination of factors, one will be for sure how competitive is your car. I think either Lewis or me, we’ve been normally lucky to drive in our career good cars and winning cars, so in dry and wet conditions, normally it’s a help, for sure. And then I think it’s the experience that you have and how many wet races you do. Probably with Lewis, racing here in the early categories it rains a lot, and it rains a lot in my region, in Spain. It normally rains a lot of the time, so same also with the experience. The first races I did in Formula One in wet conditions, ten years, eleven years ago, I make a lot of mistakes that now I try to avoid. So the more races you do, the better you feel.

LH: I don’t really have anything else to add to that. I think it’s just a mixture of things coming together on those races. I think we’ve been very fortunate, I would say, to drive for good teams and have good cars in those circumstances.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, just following on from that, one of your best memories in Formula One, of course, was winning here in 2008. What was the secret to success that day because everybody else was spinning off but you won that race by over a minute?

LH: I really still don’t know until today why we were so quick that weekend and didn’t really have any problems at all during the race. I think I had one moment when I went straight on at Abbey, maybe, but otherwise it was quite a smooth race, and I really still don’t know, today, why it all came together, but it was obviously a combination of what I was just commenting on: the tyres, the good pit stops, the good call strategies and maximising the grip on a track which I’d learned for a few years before I’d even got to know in Formula One, where that grip was and I was able to put it into play.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) I think, with the exception of one man, all five of you have lived in the UK at some point in your career. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about that, what it’s like for a young ambitious driver growing up in the UK?

BS: Very wet.

PdiR: I think it is where home is. Obviously Lewis and I are from this country, it wasn’t wet in Scotland, I don’t think. I suppose there’s no place like it. It’s where your family is. I suppose memories: when you’re a child, travelling all over the UK, taking part in many go-kart races. I wouldn’t change it, I don’t see why I should. It’s got me to where I am at the moment.

LH: Generally, I think us Brits should be pretty good in the wet. I think a lot of my success in the wet has come down to a lot of the weather we have here. A lot of my races up in Scotland – Larkhall, Rowrah, all over the country – all the experiences I have had in karting, they have all contributed to the success that I have nowadays, so I’m quite grateful for the changeable conditions throughout my career and also grateful for good weather nowadays.

VP: I agree with what they said.

RG: Never lived here.

FA: My English is not very good, but in 2001 it was zero English. It was not an easy time. The supermarket was not easy.

Q: (Adam Scriven – Racing Post) Fernando, after a difficult winter for the team, you must be delighted with the season so far. How much better is the car now than it was then, and how much more improvement do you think there is to come?

FA: Yeah, we are definitely quite happy with the situation now in terms of points, at least, because in terms of performance we know that there are still a few cars quicker than our car, so we are still not completely happy but the job that the team has done over the last three or four months has been amazing, recovering the maybe 1.5s or something like that that we were off the pace in Australia. So this is good news, not only for this championship or for this moment, but also for the near future of the team, because we faced some difficult times with the wind tunnel correlation etc which was not the best, also for the next projects. Now, definitely, we are in a good direction. There is still a lot to come from the team in the next couple of races and in the next couple of months, in terms of performance in the car, so hopefully they work as they are working now.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere Della Sera) Fernando, what is the value of the advantage that you have in the championship?

FA: I think that regarding the points, it’s for sure not a situation that maybe we were expecting because leading the championship is good news for us, but we are also very honest with ourselves and as I said, now there are a few cars that are quicker than us at the moment and we need to close that gap in the next couple of races if we want to fight for the championship. If not, we know that sooner or later they will be in front, if we don’t work better than the others. We are in race eight or nine of twenty, so at the moment championship positions or points are important but it’s not our main priority. As I said, first thing is to improve the car.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Paul, what is the situation with your manager now, because I see reports about Lewis’s Dad no longer working with you. Is that correct?

PdiR: I think everything’s been said that has to be said. I confirm that we’re not working together. I think it’s been reported that we’re no longer working together, so that is the matter at the moment.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Romain, your first period in Formula One, a couple of years ago, didn’t go too well, and only a few drivers actually get a second chance at Formula One but you did and now you’re a strong candidate to become yet another winner this year. My question is: looking back, was it a mistake to come into Formula One at that time and take the risk of failing or did it help you this second time around?

RG: Let’s turn it a different way: can you say no one gets a chance in Formula One. The answer is no so it was not a mistake, it was as it was and it was a good experience being with Fernando in the team, it taught me a lot and all the experience I got in 2009 is now in my pocket. I think then it was a little bit of a difficult time but I’m back today, very happy to be and very proud to be part of Lotus and everything I’ve learned is very important today.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Paul,  I appreciate you don’t want to talk about the reasons behind your split with Anthony but can you at least explain what it means to you going forward now, whether you’re looking at other options: a new manager and in particular bearing in mind that this is the time of year when a driver will look towards negotiating a new contract  with other teams etc? How is that going to affect you now without a manager?

PdiR: At the moment I’m just fully focused on my racing. At the end of the day, it’s the results that count for me and what’s going to drive me forward. We’ve had a good year up until now. We need to continue that progress. The focus this weekend is to have a good race. It’s obviously a big weekend for me to have a lot of friends and family around, a lot of support. Being one of the three Brits, I got a feeling for what it is like to have a country behind you at this venue, and the atmosphere is electric. Hopefully we can put on a good show for them and certainly encourage them to get out in their rain jackets because it looks like they’re going to get wet.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN ) Romain, what are the latest updates you and the team have received about the engine failure (in Valencia) and also how does that affect the sense of reliability, because you had a big loss, you and Vettel, you were fighting relevant things like winning a race? And also, do you already know if the car had something to do with it, other parts of the car maybe, the way the car works? What is the news on that?

RG: Well, I think the best person to explain that will be the engineer at Renault Sport F1 but no, we have been trying to analyse what has happened. There are a few ideas on things that have been changed since the last race and hopefully it was a one shot experience that we are not going to have again. But on the other hand, it’s the first time that we’ve had a reliability issue. It was a ‘stupid’ issue, not a big deal, so it should be sorted out by now, and we shouldn’t have any more.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Romain, you said that you were fighting with big guys, with three World Champions. How far are you from them, what are you missing, what don’t you have to be a winner?

RG: At least one World Championship. The more you race, the more you have experience. It’s only my first complete season. I’m in a good team so I’m lucky to have a good car. I’m very pleased to fight at the front but in terms of results, I’m missing at least one World Championship.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Bit of a sensitive question but to anyone who would like to answer: obviously we had the accident suffered by Maria de Villota on Tuesday, I’m sure you’re all aware of that. Just your thoughts on that, first of all, if anyone would like to pass on any thoughts and secondly, obviously it was a straightline aero test. I’m sure you’ve all probably done that at some time in the past. Is there anything that can be learned from what Maria went through, going forward in terms of safety and that kind of thing?

FA: Obviously we are very worried for this situation because we are still waiting for some more news. We only know what you all know and there are still some difficult days until the situation is completely clear. The operation has passed completely etc. Sad days, for sure, completely shock when you hear the news and how what happened is possible. Obviously we don’t know all the information it’s difficult to talk about the reasons etc until we know the official version but at the moment, it’s so difficult to imagine how this can happen.

LH: I don’t know her personally, but when I read about it I was absolutely devastated for her and for her family. I think it’s very very tragic and myself and my team, we send on our warmest wishes her way and hope that she has a speedy recovery, hope that things get better.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) On a lighter note, when I look through the preview press releases, a lot of the drivers spoke about the fans in the UK being very knowledgeable. I was wondering if any of you can think of any interaction you’ve had with a fan here that made you really step back and think ‘wow, this person really  knows what they’re talking about’?

PdiR: I think something that is quite unique here is that a lot of the Formula One teams are based around this part of the country and based in Britain, the majority of them, and obviously you get a lot of factory staff, people that are involved in the manufacturing side, smaller companies that are involved, and it’s nice to see the support and see that people are as dedicated to Formula One as they can be. It’s a shame that obviously they can’t get a bit closer to see the design work that they do but the support is well-respected by us.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN) Bruno, we heard that Williams are bringing a lot of updates. Pastor was saying earlier that he feels a lot of pressure because it’s Williams’s home race and there are the updates, and a lot of expectation also because he has already won a Grand Prix, so I wonder how you feel about it, and also if you could explain exactly what you’re bringing here, because you’ve been testing it since Mugello, if I’m right?

BS: I feel really happy that we’re bring updates because everybody else is also moving forward. We have a few bits and pieces. We have wings and pieces of the bodywork that will be different, so it’s always hard to quantify how much that will improve the car, but every little helps as we’ve seen in Barcelona when Pastor won. There was a bit of an update there. So, for sure, it’s going to be the case of trying to maximise the package but again, as Paul said before, the weather is very changeable here and that can mean everything or it can mean nothing. But for sure, it’s the team’s home race, we want to do well, it would be great to finish with both cars in good points-scoring positions. I think that listening to everybody here, everybody is very optimistic about their chances on this track because everybody seems to think that their cars should be well suited to this type of track so I guess we’re going to see another tough weekend, very close battles. Hopefully we can score some good points from there. There is always pressure on a driver, pressure is there every single time we’re in the car.

Ends