INDIA in F1

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  • Incredible victory here but World champion in karting is still the best: Max Verstappen

    DRIVERS: 1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing); 2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes);  3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Mark Webber)

    Max, what a special day, buddy. Second victory; yesterday you turned 20. The previous win was not a gift, but this was… you had to work so hard for it, but what were the main points and how did you get the job done today.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: I think in the beginning, straight away the car felt good and I saw Lewis struggling a bit with traction and he was clipping a bit more than me, so I used my battery as much as I could and of course he has more to lose than me in the championship so I went for it in Turn 1 and from there I could do my own race. The car was unbelievable. I had pace. If I needed to speed up I sped up. Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s a very tough race but of course incredible to win.

    I saw the neck a little bit. How does it feel at the end there – a little bit tight?

    MV: Of course. You get a bit tired. I thought maybe let’s rest a bit, maybe I need it in the end of the race.

    Incredible victory. Lewis, no one has stood on this podium more than you. Six times up on this podium, you have such a great affinity with Malaysia. It’s the last time we’re going to race here, a 34-point lead now in the championship. This was a very important second place, right?

    LH: Yeah, absolutely. A big congratulations to Max and a happy birthday. He did a fantastic job today. And a big thank you to all the crowd here. This is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had here in Malaysia. We needed that. It’s been such a great for us for so many years, we appreciate you guys having us and all the support you give us. So, thank you so much. The race was a tough one. Obviously they just had the upper hand on us today. But we love driving this track. It is the most difficult circuit; you are the most depleted afterwards and that’s a great thing.

    Well done buddy. Obviously, Sebastian did get back into fourth place but championship-wise, where’s your head at now and how do you go to bed tonight?

    LH: I feel good, but I think we have some work to do with the car. Obviously we didn’t have the pace today, this weekend, so there’s still work to do, there are still races ahead and there are some we can for sure win but we just have to keep pushing.

    Well done. Over to Danny Ric – well done buddy. Fantastic podium. It was a pretty hot afternoon for you; pretty boring in a ways, but that’s sometimes how those races go. But when Sebastian arrived you fought him off really well. So run us through the race and tactically how you had to deal with Sebastian at the end of it?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, at the start it looked like Mercedes were struggling, so I was behind Bottas for a few laps. Obviously tried to get him as soon as possible, but he defended well. Seb came so quick at the end. I thought I was going to have a handful, but he only really had one strong attack and then we were able to pull away. I guess pretty lonely, but it was hot, it was physical, so nice to get a podium. Congrats to Max. Second win, he drove well all weekend, so good race for the team. Thanks to all the Aussies, appreciate it.

    Beautiful double podium for Red Bull, good to see you guys back on form. Max, your dad is down here and when the national anthem was going I think your father’s bottom lip was on the edge, I could see a bit of emotion from Jos the Boss. Run us through your emotions, what this means to get these victories at this level is just phenomenal…

    MV: You know, especially after the season I’ve had, I think this victory came at a very good time, so I was very happy when I crossed the line and together with my dad I got this far and of course I got the great help from Red Bull.

    Q: Max, you said yesterday, right here, that you would love to win a grand prix on merit. You fought-off Bottas at the start, you overtook Lewis, and you won by 12 seconds. Is that what you would call ‘on merit’.

    MV: Yeah, I think the whole race went well. Once I got past Lewis I could basically just focus on my pace and look after the tyres and when I needed to speed up I had the pace to do it. So, that was, of course, very pleasing. I think the first time I’ve had that in my career so far and I’ve won. So, to do something like that was, of course, great. The car had a great balance in the second sector and, yeah, I just had to stay very focussed, of course, because with the backmarkers you could easily lose a lot of lap time so you had to be focussed on that. Almost got taken out in Turn One when I passed two backmarkers but from there onwards, yeah, I could control everything, so of course very happy with that.

    And the detail on the overtake on Lewis.

    MV: I had a good run out of the last corner and then yeah, I opted to go for the inside. Of course I know that Lewis has more to lose because he’s fighting for the championship, so maybe I look a bit of extra risk because of it – but it was my only chance, I think, because that was one of the laps I could see he was clipping a bit more than I was, so I used the battery I had. Of course, very happy I got past.

    Q: Lewis, second place and extending championship lead. The risk/reward profile from your side when Max came through. What was going through your head?

    LH: yeah, I didn’t really know how close Max was and, yeah, I was having some problems with de-rates at the beginning of the race so, yeah, just struggling with battery power. I went to defend but didn’t really want to risk it, so I left enough room, didn’t completely close the door and be too aggressive. At the end of the day Max had more pace than me and it would have been a struggle anyway, even if he hadn’t got past at that point. Perhaps it would have happened somewhere else. It was going to be a real struggle but I did everything I could after that just to maintain position and, yeah, good to still get second.

    Q: It was a little bit reminiscent of Bahrain, the Mercedes seemed to struggle particularly on the supersoft tyre. Would that be accurate?

    LH: Yes. To be honest I struggled on both sets, a little bit less on the soft. But yeah, the car’s… the car’s good obviously in some places and in some others the issues that we have with the car are magnified, so we do have some big problems with it. It wasn’t… we struggled with pace, as you can see but still, it was good enough to get second. There’s still work to do to try and fix it but I think it’s a fundamental issue with this year’s car, so we’ve just got to try and work on improving it for next year.

    Q: Daniel, thrills at either end of the race for you. Obviously, the pass on Bottas early on and then the defence from Vettel at the end. Extremely robust defence, it must be said, into Turn One. Give us the detail on that, and obviously you had the time to think about him coming through, you were kept informed of his progress, so did you have a plan, or was it pure instinct.

    DR: The plan was to keep him behind. My engineer kept telling me he was catching me, and I like, ‘right… thanks… I know’, so I didn’t get to a point where I told him to…  yeah, I wasn’t giving much feedback on the radio so I think he got the picture but yeah, I defended a bit and I saw Seb was still coming, so I closed the door a bit later towards the apex, I don’t know how it looked from the outside. I don’t know if he was unhappy about it, or whatever, but it didn’t seem over-aggressive from my side. It didn’t feel like I did a really late move or anything, so from there I expected him to attack to the end but I was going to do all I could to keep him behind but I expected him to keep coming, keep coming and I guess maybe he killed the tyres trying to chase me and then getting close to me. And then, yeah, with Bottas, off the start I chose to go to the inside, obviously in the end he had a better run on the outside, so that was not the best line, I guess, from me. I had a couple of goes at him, he defended pretty well initially and then finally got around him – but by then Max and Lewis had obviously taken off. I think towards the end of that first stint, the end of the supersoft, I was keeping pretty good times on them, finally bringing some laptime back – but then they all pitted before and pulled away again, and on the soft I wouldn’t say I was as strong as probably the end of that first stint. It was, for the most part, a lonely race but yeah, obviously congrats to Max. He was strong all weekend. I think it’s our first double podium of the year so it’s a good result.

    Q: Finally, when the rules came out to make these cars a lot faster in 2017, this would have been the race that you’d have thought about and thought how tough it was going to be. Just a quick snapshot from each of you. How do you feel now? How hard was it?

    DR: Better that we’ve had some fluids. Yeah, it’s quick. Already last year it was probably the most physical race. This and Singapore. Singapore, we got given an easier time this year with the wet conditions. It made the race less physical because of the pace. So yeah, this I’d say was the toughest race and, yeah, you feel it. I think having a battle, having Seb catch me and keeping me on my toes, actually made it a bit easier.

    And Max, how do you feel?

    MV: Yeah, of course it was a very tough race but the whole week already I was not feeling too well, so that also doesn’t help in the toughest race of the season but luckily I managed to hold on so that was all good.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Lewis, you gained six more points on Sebastian; how do you rate the importance (of that)?

    LH: Of gaining six more points? How do I rate it? Any points are important, so I don’t really know how to answer that. It’s a step towards trying to win this World Championship so every point counts.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Max, was that a clear sign that the Red Bull can now be strong on any type of circuit which still follows in the calendar?

    MV: I hope so. I didn’t expect to win here and be faster than the Mercedes but I think the whole weekend we looked pretty decent. Of course in qualifying, I think it’s a bit more tricky for us to be in front of them but we know that in the race normally our car is a bit stronger and we can look after our tyres quite well, so hopefully that’s a benefit maybe for some upcoming races but we have to wait and see. Every single weekend you have to set up the car well. You can say, yeah, here we were really quick so now we should be quick on every track but you are never 100 percent sure.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Lewis, you gained six points but Seb came from last to fourth; what concerns you about the Ferrari pace in the remaining races?

    LH: What concerns me? Yeah, when we went into the race we knew that they had something like eight tenths on us so it was no surprise. Going on towards the next races, I have no idea how it will work out but the others have generally picked up a bit more pace I would say than us. And as I said, circuits like this there are corners that really magnify the issues we have with the car, so that’s something which we struggled with here. Whether or not that will be the same at the next races we go to we will see.

    Q: (Heikku Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Max, congratulations. Did it make it any easier for you when Kimi was taken away before the start?

    MV: It’s always easier, yeah, it’s one competitor less. If you look at the performance of Sebastian, for sure they would have been really strong. It’s of course a bit of a gift in that way, that it’s one less competitor but we never know how quick he was in the race.

    Q : (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you must be very happy because Friday you had a difficult car, just one hour on Saturday to test a new set-up. You were surprised by that as you said, and now in the race also, in spite of a difficult car, you finished second and your rival is in the back. If you can comment on that please?

    LH: Yeah, definitely, a much better weekend that we had anticipated after our Friday. Still, as I said, we’ve got a lot of work to do with this car so considering the issues we did have with the car, I think this is a good result. I think Valtteri obviously seemed to struggle a lot more and I was able to just pull a little bit more out of it, I guess, but these next races are going to be crucial in terms of finding out whether we can iron out some of the creases that we have with the car but yeah, who would have thought that the Ferraris would have had a problem? All we can do is try and capitalise as much on those. Naturally, I wanted to win the race and so Max did a fantastic job today, but obviously winning the race is still the goal so even if I get second it’s not that satisfying.

    Q : (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) And Max, you said that you enjoyed the car in the sector two here which is very similar to what we will find in Suzuka, no?

    MV: Yeah, but like I said before, it’s easy to say, yes now we will be good on every track. We just have to wait and see when we go to Suzuka. I think it’s a bit too early to say that we will be really competitive there. We were not too bad last year but we still have to find a good set-up.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Max, could you compare this one to your first victory in Spain?

    MV: No, because there we definitely normally didn’t have the pace to win. Today we had and I had to really fight to overtake, and then look after the tyres so it was for me a bit different and it actually feels better.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Max, you got a podium in China and then I think twelve races until this one and then seven DNFs. How much of a relief is it that luck has finally turned your way, not that it was a lucky win but that luck has finally turned in your favour a bit?

    MV: Yeah, of course it’s been a dramatic season so far so of course I’m very happy then to win this race and hopefully from now onwards it will be OK. I’m not saying we’re going to win every race but at least score some good points. Up until now, it was really a season to forget.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – De Volkskrant) Max, yesterday you said becoming World Champion in karting was the best victory you ever experienced in your career…

    MV: It still is.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – De Volkskrant) It still is? This one doesn’t feel better?

    MV: No. Because it doesn’t feel like that.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • Max Verstappen celebrates birthday week with a win; Hamilton 2nd; Vettel 4th: Malaysian GP

    Max Verstappen celebrates birthday week with a win; Hamilton 2nd; Vettel 4th: Malaysian GP

    Max Verstappen

    Sepang: The final Malaysian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen celebrate his birthday in style by claiming a superb win at the Sepang International Circuit.

    After overtaking championship leader Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps to take the lead, Verstappen who turned 20 yesterday, delivered a faultless drive to march unchallenged to the chequered flag ahead of the Mercedes driver and Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    Hamilton’s second place now gives him a 34-point Drivers’ Championship lead over Sebastian Vettel after the Ferrari driver fought his way from last on the grid to fourth place at the flag.

    There was drama before the start as on his laps to grid, Kimi Räikkönen reported a loss of power. Ferrari attempted to resolve the problem on the grid but eventually the decision was taken to roll the Finn’s car back to the garage to fix the issue. In the end, however, no solution could be found and Räikkönen, who as set to start from second on the grid was forced to retire before the start.

    When the lights went out, pole position man Hamilton held his advantage and led from Verstappen. Bottas made a good start and managed to get past fourth-on-the-grid Daniel Ricciardo. Further back, Vettel quickly began to carve his way through the pack and by the end of lap one he was up to 13th place from 20th on the grid.

    Verstappen, though, was the man on the move and on the next tour he used DRS well to attack Hamilton in Turn 1 and the Red Bull driver assumed the race lead. Ricciardo also attacked Bottas but the Finn resisted the threat and held third place. Vettel, meanwhile, continued to press forward and by lap seven he was in 11th place behind Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, and by lap 10 the German has dismissed the McLaren driver and passed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen to take P9.

    Ricciardo also found a way to move ahead, launching an attack on Bottas into Turn 1. The Finn fought back and they tussled hard through the next three turns before Ricciardo at last drew ahead and firmly shut the door on any further resistance.

    Vettel’s march continued. By lap 14 Vettel was setting purple sector times and was running in sixth place, just under 30 seconds behind leader Verstappen, and 23s adrift of title rival Hamilton. On lap 21, Vettel made his next move, tucking in behind Force India’s Sergio Perez and passing the Mexican under DRS into Turn 1.

    The Ferrari driver then quickly closed on fourth-placed Bottas but before he could pass the Finn on the track, Hamilton triggered a round of pit stops for the frontrunners on lap 27 by moving to softs. Verstappen followed on lap 28 with Vettel also heading towards the pit lane. But while the Red Bull driver swapped starting supersofts for soft tyres, Vettel made the opposite switch. Bottas was the last of the top five to pit and when he did so he had lost fourth place to Vettel. At the front, Verstappen now led Hamilton by 6.5s, with Ricciardo a further 11.7s back.

    The race among the top three then settled as Verstappen held the gap to Hamilton at around nine seconds and Ricciardo edged towards to the Mercedes driver.

    Vettel, though, was continuing to push ahead and by lap 42 he was just 4.4s behind Ricciardo and on lap 46 the German slipped inside DRS range of the Australian’s Red Bull.

    Ricciardo’s defence was solid, however, as he bypassed traffic and dropped backmarkers into the space between himself and Vettel and then invited attacks in an effort to make the German burn his tyres. The tactic evidently worked as the final laps began Vettel drifted out to three seconds behind the Australian.

    Ahead, Verstappen was coasting and after 56 laps the Dutchman crossed the line to take his second career win in his 55th grand prix.

    Hamilton held a useful second to open out a 34-point lead over Vettel who finished fourth behind Ricciardo. Just as there had been drama before the race began for Ferrari, there was more after the flag as on the slow down lap Land Stroll collided with Vettel, destroying the rear of the German’s car.

    Behind Vettel, Bottas took fifth place, with Perez finishing a solid sixth after starting the race in ninth place. Stoffel Vandoorne took seventh ahead of Stroll, Williams team-mate Massa and the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    eom/FIA press release

  • It is a real surprise, says Hamilton about his pole: Malaysian GP

    It is a real surprise, says Hamilton about his pole: Malaysian GP

    Hamilton after taking the pole in the Malaysian GP on Saturday. An FIA image

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari); 3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (conducted by Johnny Herbert)

    Lewis, what a great result for you. You must be very happy. That looked like a pretty decent lap?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, look at this crowd. I know it’s our last grand prix here but this is the best crowd I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much for all the support. We had no idea how it was going to go today. I’m sorry for whatever happened to Sebastian, because obviously he was very, very quick through practice. But somehow we turned it round. The engineers did such a great job yesterday, the car felt great, for both Valtteri and I, and so it’s a real surprise to be up here with these guys, so I’m very, very grateful.

    Kimi come and join us. What a try that was! Happy with that? I’m sure you wanted just a little bit more. I would have thought you would have done one of the old karting moves – jumping up and down in the seat, leaning forward. Maybe you should do that next time. 

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, it’s OK, but obviously when you get that close it’s disappointing. I made the most out of it. Yes, there are always places you can improve, but you are never going to get it 100% perfect anywhere. You always find some things you can improve, but I must say the car has been behaving nicely all weekend and it’s been a pleasure so far. We’ll try to get further than 100 metres tomorrow, and let’s see what we can do.

    Tomorrow is going to be important, obviously you have been on the front row before but this is going to be an interesting little drive towards Turn One. Are you ready for this? This crowd is looking forward to a big race tomorrow, yeah?

    KR: Yeah, obviously it’s a long way, so if you make a good start you will benefit quite a bit from it. It’s a pretty tight first two corners and a lot usually happens. We’ll try to make sure the first two corners go well and go from there. I think we’re going to have a very good race car, so let’s see.

    Well here’s a man we’re going to get on – the birthday boy, that you got on very closely with in the last race. Hopefully that’s not going to be the case. Max, happy with that result? You seemed to get the best from the car. 

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think it’s good for us in qualifying to be in this position. I mean it’s always good to drive on this track, especially in qualifying – Turns 5 and 6 are flat out, so it’s a lot of fun. And also the crowd – it’s amazing how passionate they are. So on my birthday to be third here is perfect.

    LH: I thought you were 19?

    MV: Twenty now.

    LH: Twenty now! Does he look much younger than me?

    I’m sorry to say, yes. Lewis, tomorrow, the race is going to be so important. We know what happened the last time out, but this is a long run up to Turn 1, but you must be looking forward to it, because this is the perfect situation for you.

    LH: It is. Obviously we are going to have a tough battle with these guys. Particularly the Red Bulls had really great long-run pace yesterday, and today I think. I’m hoping our car has moved in the right direction for the race run but we’ll see tomorrow. But there is a long, long run down to Turn 1, so lots can happen. But exciting to see all these guys coming out tomorrow and hopefully [it will be] the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.

    You’re going to be after the perfect start, Kimi, Max, tomorrow you’re going to want to get in front of this guy, who is the man who is going to do that.

    MV: I don’t want to be sandwiched – that’s the only thing.

    Kimi?

    KR: I don’t want to be hit.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, fifth Malaysian pole position, four years in a row here, and becomes the first man in Formula One history to get into the 70s of pole positions. What a turnaround from yesterday, and even from this morning. Seven tenths of a second ahead of your team-mate suggest that was a moment of inspiration. Tell us about it.

    LH: We had such a difficult day yesterday; it was difficult to know where we stood. I didn’t sleep very well, just like all my engineers as well, because we didn’t know whether we would fix the issue or not. But today we arrived and the car was much better but still I think it looked like the Ferraris were a little bit ahead. We had some big calls to make going into qualifying and then those laps were, particularly the last one, the first Q3 lap, was very well put together, a very nice lap. I don’t really know where it came from, to be honest, so I’m a little bit surprised at myself. As I said, it’s a surprise to be up here. I’m very grateful. These guys have been driving exceptionally well all weekend. It’s always a special thing to be able to extract a little bit more out of the car than it’s particularly willing to go. That’s what I’ve always enjoyed, since my dad would say… my first go-kart was fifth-hand or something like that, and he’d say it was like a four-poster bed. Not that my car was a four-poster bed today but I was hoping I could extract a little bit more out of it.

    You acknowledged in Singapore that you had a slice of luck with what happened at the start, and a slice of luck with your main title rival Vettel starting from the back of the grid. You’ve got to capitalise on it, so will Valtteri have a part to play in it as Vettel comes through the field?

    LH: I haven’t really thought… I don’t know what happened to Sebastian. I mean, he would have been up there with us, he’d been driving well all weekend, very, very quick, between him and Kimi. Very unfortunate for him, but of course we just have to continue to focus on our job and try to maximise on every opportunity that we get collectively. Hopefully we are in a good position for tomorrow. Obviously we have put ourselves in the best position for tomorrow but we still have a tough race ahead of us, so we’ll just try and keep our heads down and hopefully those behind me and it will just unfold the way it unfolds.

    Q: Kimi, it equals your best qualifying performance here in Sepang: 0.045 of a second off pole position. A lot of weight on your shoulders obviously in qualifying from the Ferrari team with Vettel in trouble. You were on target, it seemed, until the final corner – tell us about it.

    KR: Well, I don’t know. Obviously, I only know how it was and I think overall, the whole weekend, it’s been pretty straightforward. The car’s been handling well. I think we were quite happy all day, also in qualifying but, y’know, you can always improve here and there. I don’t think you ever going to make an absolutely perfect lap and it’s a bit more painful when you get that close, for sure. There’s places that you improve a little bit and it’s just enough – but it wasn’t today. Obviously was a shame for the team, with Seb’s issue, whatever, not having him in the qualifying – but that’s how it goes sometimes. I think the car’s [inaudible] very well but to try to fix it and then obviously had some problem. It’s a shame for him. Sure he will be good tomorrow. I’m happy but I’d rather have qualified in first place but I think tomorrow is a long race, it’s going to be tough for tyres and I think we should have a very good car tomorrow. I have a good feeling about it.

    Q: Max, happy 20th birthday. Going well so far…

    MV: Thank you very much!

    …strong weekend thus far. I think it’s the 11th time now this season you’ve out-qualified Daniel, so once again very strong qualifying performance. Four-tenths off today in qualifying but do you feel with what you saw yesterday in the long runs, quite low degradation, the car looked quick, obviously, the faint possibility of rain as well, that there’s room for optimism in the race tomorrow.

    MV: Well, for sure, if it rains, then then I think we always have a good opportunity. I think in the dry today, I’m actually very happy that I’m here in third because this morning – afternoon, the last session – I was struggling a lot with the balance of the car. Actually, the whole weekend has been up and down in terms of happiness with the car but we managed to do a good qualifying again. Really happy with that, of course. The car, except maybe the final run in Q3, before that was really well balanced, so I can’t complain. I think we could have been a bit closer, definitely we couldn’t have beaten them today but for us, to be third here, on this track, is perfect. Also, in the long runs, it was all looking good. If it’s good enough, I don’t know. We’ll see tomorrow. From my side, I want to have a good Sunday finally. Because every time on Saturday it’s always going well, but on Sunday I haven’t scored a lot of points.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, in the long runs yesterday you didn’t show good performance and today you have very good performance in one lap. Do you have an indication with this new setup for the race?

    LH: Yeah, in the P3 we did a long-ish short run, only five laps. I think the car was in a much better position but I think we were something like four- or five-tenths off the other guys. So we shall see tomorrow whether that is still the case – but I think we made some changes going into qualifying that should suit the car better for tomorrow, so I’m hopefully that we will be there or thereabouts.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max, as you turn 20, you’re no longer a teen sensation so to speak. What is the highlights of your career. If you had to choose, for example, between Interlagos, coming through the rain and that victory on your debut, which would you choose?

    MV: It’s difficult. To be honest, I think my best memory is still from go-karting, when I won the World Championship, because you always dream of it, to achieve something like that, and especially… I worked really hard with my Dad, to achieve something like that, because he was my engine tuner, he was my mechanic. We have travelled the world together since I was four years old. I think I was 15 at the time. You win the World Championship in the highest category in go-karting. That was very emotional. Then the victory in Spain was also very emotional at the time – but I want to win a race on merit and not with luck. So that hasn’t happened yet, so I think still that victory in go-karting is more satisfying.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, in Monaco you won the pole with the same margin as you did lose it today. How big is the difference in your feeling compared to that Monaco?

    KR: It makes no difference to compare what happened in Monaco with here. I don’t really care what’s the time difference, or position today. It’s what happened. We came second, I’m pretty happy because things have been running pretty smoothly all weekend and I think we’re going to have a good car tomorrow, at least so far that’s how it’s been. You always look for more and for sure there’s always things to improve, to go a bit faster and that little bit would have been enough today.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, once again Beast-mode. You find a way to really turn it up when your back is against the wall like this, again we’re seeing this level that you can’t figure out where it’s coming from. What is it, the many fans out there that, the Union Jacks, all the Lewis Hamilton fans, team LH is out there, coming thousands of miles to watch you race at this last Malaysian Grand Prix?

    LH: Well one thing for sure, the support is… I mean, we’ve been coming here for ten years and it’s known not to have a very attendance here but the crowd already from Thursday was pretty awesome and today, every time you leave the garage, every time you come in, I can see all these flags opposite my garage. It’s the most… in all the ten years put together, today was more than all of those. Incredibly grateful for that. Of course, I get a lot of energy from that, and from special people I met, I met this young kid, Brandon, the other day who just was the highlight of the week, and then I guess always digging deep. I’m very, very grateful that the laps have come at the right time, throughout qualifying, because you know you approach it and you hope that you’re able to execute at the right time – but it’s not always… you’re never always on point but so far this weekend and particularly, obviously, just now, that lap, the one that really counts was the one I need and the one that I got. So it’s a combination of a lot of things, but my team worked so hard last night to really try to… I think they were here until 2am, trying to understand the car and make sure we made the right steps with real good analysis, so I’m grateful for all that hard work.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, you took the old aero package today, your teammate the new one, was it your decision, was it a joint decision and why did you take the decision to go back to the old one?

    LH: How do you know that? Hmm? Did Niki tell you that? We came with an upgrade that was supposed to be better but we were unsure yesterday because we were so far off. We went back to one car trying one, the other car trying the other. Before qualifying I was thinking of going back to the new package because Valtteri’s and my times were very similar and Valtteri seemed really happy with it and so I didn’t want to carry a penalty going into qualifying. You want every little millisecond you can get but there wasn’t really enough time so we ended up staying with it and also it was kind of a risk, changing the car again for qualifying and maybe getting something wrong and so we just… that was really why we ended up staying with it but fortunately I’d done P3 with it so I was quite comfortable with where I was and it provided a stepping stone in terms of making the set-up change. Ultimately it was down, it is down in performance but fortunately it didn’t make a difference.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, did that experience of having a home Finnish sauna help you to beat this other Finnish guy because you seem to be sweating less than him?

    LH: Did you say the home Finnish sauna? I haven’t been in it for a long time. I used the sauna here but it’s not as good as a Finnish sauna. I used the one in KL. Kimi, do you still use a sauna? You do? It doesn’t strike me as a usual Finnish guy, Kimi, but for me, coming from England, this is a sauna here. It’s bloody roasting.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – De Volksrant) Max, touching upon the extension of contracts for China and Singapore and the possibility of new races being added in the near future, how do you feel about a calendar with 24 races? I believe Fernando Alonso isn’t a fan of expanding the calendar and Lewis isn’t that fond of it as well, I heard.

    MV: I think 21 is more than enough. I think it’s already quite a lot.

    LH: Shit. Is it really 24? They’re talking about 24?

    MV: Yeah. Yeah, I think it’s quite a lot. So I may…

    LH: He’s young, he’s got…

    MV: Several family and friends. Racing is one part but you also have your private life, away from racing, but you don’t really see them a lot, so I think if you’re going to do 24, 25, it’s not only for the drivers but also the mechanics. I think it’s better to get a divorce straight away.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Lewis, I guess we have got three top teams again after the start of the season where it was mainly Mercedes and Ferrari. Are you happy with more battles? Does it make it better?

    LH: Absolutely, absolutely. I think we need even more than that. Red Bull have really stepped it up, stepped up their game in the last… through the last race and coming here and it’s great to see them performing so well. We obviously want them to be even closer so it really mixes things up. I was hopeful they were going to be even quicker today but I don’t know what happened, whether they lost a little bit of pace or not. But yesterday they were looking fantastic but again, their long run pace in the race here is often very very good so without doubt tomorrow they will be on our tails, I would imagine. In the past they’ve always been great here and looking after their tyres and keeping the temperatures low. I think it’s great, I think it’s more exciting for the fans. Wouldn’t it be great if we had Williams back there and McLaren back there and then there would be a real race.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Kimi, your teammate is in the back, he’s fighting for the championship. You on the first row, do you think you can believe also the team can ask you to change the strategy in order to take maximum possible points from Lewis, keeping that in mind?

    KR: What do you  mean exactly, because as a team, we want to get maximum points out of any race with two cars and obviously for Seb we hope he’s going to make a good recovery but it’s not going to change my  race. We’re always going to try and make the fastest race and I don’t really know what else…

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • Hamilton takes pole as Vettel suffers mechanical issue, starts last: Malaysian GP

    Hamilton takes pole as Vettel suffers mechanical issue, starts last: Malaysian GP

    Hamilton after taking the pole at Sepang on Saturday. An FIA image

    Sepang: Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth career Malaysian Grand Prix pole position, equalling Michael Schumacher’s Sepang record, as the qualifying hopes of title Sebastian Vettel wrecked by a mechanical issue that saw him dumped out of the session at the end of Q1.

    Kimi Räkkönen was left to uphold Ferrari honour and the Finn almost claimed his second pole of the year as he got to within five hundredths of a second of Hamilton’s pole time. Third place on the grid will be taken by Max Verstappen with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo making it an all Red Bull second row.

    The major story of Q1 surrounded Vettel. A problem late in final practice led to a change of ICE and MGU-H on the German’s Ferrari, but the team managed to get the title contender out on track at the beginning of Q1.

    However, just a minute later Vettel was on the radio saying that he had lost drive. “It feels like I have no turbo,” he told his team as he limped back to the pitlane.

    With about three minutes remaining in the session, his mechanics were replacing the engine cover on his Ferrari and it seemed like he would get one run in which to set a time. However, he was held in the garage as checks were done and eventually the window of time available to complete a warm-up lap and cross the line for a flyer before the chequered flag was waved ran out. Vettel was eliminated from the session having failed to set a time.

    Also ruled out at this stage were 16th-placed Romain Grosjean of Haas, with the Frenchman finishing ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen and the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson.

    At the top of the order, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was quickest, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in second. Third place in the session went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes, with Kimi Räikkönen fourth in the sole Ferrari to set a time.

    In Q2 it was Räikkönen who set the early pace, with the Finn taking P1 with a time of 1:30.926, just five thousandths of a second ahead of Verstappen. However, as the Finn and the Dutchman elected to stay put for the final runs, it was Bottas who ended the segment in P1, the Mercedes driver setting a time of 1:30.803.

    Through to Q3 behind third-placed Verstappen were Hamilton, Ricciardo, Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and the McLarens of Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso.

    Eliminated at the end of the Q2 were Williams Felipe Massa in P11, with the Brazillian followed by Jolyon Palmer in the second Renault, Williams’ Lance Stroll and the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

    In Q3 Hamilton finally made his move, claiming provisional pole at the end of the first runs, with Räikkönen three tenths behind the Briton. Ricciardo was third ahead of team-mate Verstappen.

    And the Mercedes man was not to be denied in the final runs, though it was a close-run thing. Ricciardo was first across the line but failed to improved having made small errors in the final two sectors. Verstappen then jumped ahead of his team-mate to claim P3.

    It was then Hamilton’s turn to post a final time and surprisingly, the Mercedes driver made no improvement. That left the door open for Räikkönen, but though the Ferrari driver put in a superb effort to improve by almost two tenths, he ended up in P2, just 0.045s behind Hamilton.

    With the Red Bulls locking out row two, fifth place went to Valtteri Bottas. He was followed by Force India’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, the Renault of Nico Hulkbenberg, the second Force India of Sergio Perez and the second McLaren of Fernando Alonso.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Our target for next year too is to stay 4th: Otmar Szafnauer of Force India

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India).

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Christian, let’s begin with you and the announcement of the Aston Martin deal. Tell us the scope of that, the ambition and whether there is an engine dimension to it going forward?

    Christian HORNER: Well, it’s great news for our team. We have been working with Aston over the last 18 months now on a project, starting with the Valkyrie road car, and out of the upturn there has been within the Aston business over the last couple of years, they have decided that Formula 1 is the right platform to invest in and have taken up the title sponsorship of our team for the next three years. That collaboration will not only see an on-track, with the team being named Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, it also sees behind the scenes a collaboration on future products that Aston are working on and then producing some of those cars in Milton Keynes, producing more jobs in Milton Keynes – over 100 new positions are going to be created in the future – to hopefully produce some great looking cars.

    And the engine dimension?

    CH: There is no engine dimension at this point in time but what we await with interest is what will the regulations be, what are Liberty’s plans regarding engines and chassis from 2021 onwards. So in an ideal world it would allow an independent manufacturer such as an Ilmor or a Cosworth to be able to compete with the big guns. But until we can see what the scope of those regulations are, it’s difficult to make any assumptions.

    And on the subject of engines, your sister team Toro Rosso has the Honda engines next season and you collaborate technically with that team, so how closely will you be monitoring the progress of Honda?

    CH: I think it’s a really exciting development for Toro Rosso. It’s an opportunity for them to move forward. It keeps Honda in Formula One, which I think is also a positive and we’ll certainly be keeping an interested eye on how things are developing in Italy.

    Otmar, you’ve kept the same two drivers for next season – a very exciting pairing – how are things working out between them since you had a talking to them in Spa and do you feel you have got on top of their issues without blunting their competitiveness?

    Otmar SZAFNAUER: Yeah, they’ve always gotten on. They have their on-track incidents, like you mentioned in Spa. That event kind of focused both their minds and now they have a good understanding that if they come together you never know who the winner or loser is, but for certain the team loses. We all work for a team, we all pull together, we’re all team members. They understand that and they’ll be working for the team going forward.

    You’re a clear fourth in the Constructors’ Championship now, and likely to stay there. Obviously next year with Renault likely to move forward, with McLaren pairing up with Renault and all the other moves going on, will it be an achievement to just stand still in fourth next year, or are you pushing the team to get third?

    OS: Well, it will be difficult next year. Like you say, Renault have shown great steps forward this year from where they started to where they are now. I think it’s no secret that McLaren have a lot of resources and are also capable. It will be difficult for us to remain fourth, but we always set our sights on achievable goals and we will push hard next year to at least stay fourth and someone makes a mistake ahead of us, you never know what can happen.

    Frédéric, you ran Charles Leclerc in FP1. How did he do? And how do you rate him, given that you’ve had so many great young drivers pass through your hands – the Hamiltons, the Hulkenbergs, the Rosbergs – how do you rate Charles against them?

    Frédéric VASSEUR: I won’t rate Charles, only on the FP1 this morning, and it was a tricky session. He did very well this morning. He had not so many laps to do but he was at a good pace from the start and he did a very good session, even on the technical feedback everything went well. If you look on the global picture, he did very well in the junior series, he is doing very well in Formula 2. So far I think he had to be focused on the last part of the championship, to win the title and then you will see for next year.

    It looks like Sauber could be more closely linked to Ferrari next season. You’re obviously an expert in bringing young drivers on, as we’ve just discussed. Is that the best direction, you believe, for Sauber to take?

    FV: For sure there is a huge gap today between Sauber and the top teams and we need to find a way of collaborating with a top team fi we want to improve and if we want to improve quickly. Because the most important thing is to bring the team back into the field and then to be able to compete. OK, with the Ferrari deal we will improve and we will improve a lot and then we have to build up our own project to be able to fight with the guy in front of us.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all three of you: there has been a resignation this week from a senior member of the FIA’s technical team. He has three months’ ‘gardening leave’, which would then allow him to go to another team in a technical capacity. Does it concern you that he could be taking some secrets from teams with him?

    CH: Well, we take major issue with that if he does end up with another team. Obviously in these individuals you place an enormous amount of trust. In the role that Marcin has been responsible for he has been in an extremely privileged position and extremely recently he has been in people’s wind tunnels and looking at intimate details of knowledge of next year’s cars and I think three months’ notice period for him to then turn up in a competitor team in Formula One is entirely inappropriate. I certainly hope that isn’t the case and I’m sure it will get discussed quite seriously at the next strategy group meeting. It’s an important and vital role and it’s vital that the teams have trust and faith in the governing body that they can discuss their technical know-how, their technical secrets in many respects, which cost millions and millions of pounds, in confidence that that information doesn’t have the ability to end up in a rival team.

    FV: First, we need to know where Marcin will go but I agree with Christian, it is a big issue, because the FIA is fully aware of all the teams’ project and at the end of the day if we can’t be open with the FIA it’s a tricky situation. But first we need to know where Marcin will go.

    OS: I do agree and it would have been nice to know the notice period. Three months I don’t think is long enough and had we known it was three months earlier, perhaps we would have hired him. But I think three months is nowhere near long enough.

    What is?

    OS: I think a year. I mean, it has to be long enough such that the technology that he is aware of becomes, if not obsolete, then not leading edge. There are some sporting regulations as well that prohibit us from selling current-year cars for exactly the same reason. The cars have to be at least one year before we can dispose of them and it’s for that reason and I think notice periods should follow along the same lines.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) For the other two gentlemen: what do you think would be an appropriate time, one year or more?

    FV: For sure, one year would fit with the spirit of the regulations but three months is really too short.

    CH: I think industry standard for the type of role that Marcin has been performing would be anywhere between 12 and 18 months. We would look to place senior personnel within our team on at least 12 months.

    Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) To all three of you: How can concerning was what we saw at the end of the session, with Romain Grosjean going off?

    FV: For sure it was a huge crash. I am not an expert on the drain cover but I think we have to find a solution for tomorrow because it will be very, very risky, but I think that the FIA is focused on this point and I hope that we will be able to find a solution for tomorrow morning.

    Christian you have experienced this before.

    CH: Yeah, we had an incident quite a while back similar to that. The good thing is that nobody was hurt. Obviously the session was stopped and I’m sure all the covers here will be inspected rigorously before tomorrow’s running. I’m pretty confident and hopefully we won’t see a repeat issue.

    Otmar?

    OS: I think it just teaches that in future we should do it before it happens, have good inspection before something like this happens.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This question’s for Christian, since your announcement with Aston Martin for 2018, social media has been very creative coming up with some liveries for next year – would you be considering taking some of those ideas from social media, maybe getting the fans involved – because Red Bull’s very good at fan engagement.

    CH: We enjoy the work we do on social media, we have great interaction with the fans and followers of the teams. The livery is pretty much decided for next year but it’s great to see people’s interpretations and ideas and they should keep putting them out there.

    Have you seen anything that’s on the right track?

    CH: No!

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christian, your team has recently published its financial results – or rather submitted them, filed them with Companies House. When I look at them, first of all, there’s about a £40million contribution from the parent company, but apart from that your budget’s about two and a half times the size of Otmar’s. Do you actually get 250 per cent the value compared to theirs or is this not really proof that there should be some form of budget cap in place?

    CH: Well, I think what you have to look at is what are the cost-drivers in Formula One, and they are absolutely the sporting and technical regulations. We see costs spiralling out of control. We’re not by any means the biggest spender in Formula One as you’re well aware. And I think what’s going to be fascinating to see, hopefully over the next month or so, is what are Liberty’s and FIA’s plans regarding the future – because a budget cap becomes far less emotive if it goes hand-in-hand with sporting and technical regulations that absolutely deal with the costs, because they are the cost drivers. So I think, if the sporting and technical side are dealt with, some form of cap will be easier to bring in but if you put all of the pressure on the cap, then it becomes an accounting world championship and I think that some of the issues we have today with disparity of performance, with the amount of spend that’s going on, with the situation that’s regarding… Red Bull Racing is the only British registered team to be registering a profit, albeit a moderate one, and that shouldn’t be right in this level of sport.

    Otmar?

    OS: We welcome a budget cap or some cost controls within the sport. I mean, even with a cap I don’t think we’ll have the resources to spend up to it but I think it will help reduce some of the disparity in performance and that can only be good for the fans.

    Fred?

    FV: Yeah, we spoke about this in Monza, as I told you, I think the cap won’t be an issue for me.

    CH: Just coming back on Dieter’s point, I think one of the key things within Red Bull’s cost is how much goes into promotion, and promotion of the sport as well, that are contained within that budget. I think Red Bull does more than any other team on the grid with its running show car activities around the world, with the way that we try to promote not just the team and the brand but obviously the sport in general as well.

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Mario ISOLA (Pirelli), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Guenther STEINER (Haas).

    Q: Mario, let’s start with you. We’re three-quarters of the way through the 2017 season on these new, wider tyres. We can all see what the lap time improvements have been but can you give us an idea of the increase in things like the cornering speeds and any other things you’ve noticed – apart from ‘don’t’ run over drain covers’.

    Mario ISOLA: Yeah, we have seen on the corners that are grip-limited, we had an increasing speed that is 30km/h – 40km/h. We made an analysis on the quickest and most famous turn in Barcelona, in Spa, at Silverstone and it was impressive to see that Copse is now 290km/h and it is 30km/h quicker than last year, or we have Pouhon in Spa that is 40km/h quicker, so it is, in terms of performance, I believe we reached the target. Lap times, as you said, are visible for everybody. We are also analysing the data because this additional grip is generated not only by the wider tyres but also by the increase in downforce and, as an average, we have 100kg of downforce more on each tyre, as an average obviously, it depends on the circuit and layout, type of configuration and setup – but it’s quite a lot.

    Q: What can you share with us about the plans for 2018? What are you going to do with the range? Are you going to go a bit softer? What’s the plan?

    MI: We have defined the construction and we released the data to the teams on the First of September. We have a new construction front and rear, we will give some additional information soon. Obviously we are now working on our compounds – because the target is still to go one step softer compared to this year. We know that this year we have been quite conservative – but last year it was not easy to develop the new sizes with the mule cars so we decided to be on the conservative side. So the current Soft will be the new Medium next year, and we also intend to increase the number of compounds. It is still not defined but we have probably next year more compounds to give us more freedom in the selection during one event, because there are no modifications in the sporting regulations, so it still three compounds per event and the target is to have more flexibility.

    Q: And just a comment from you on the Grosjean incident. We all saw what happened but from your point of view.

    MI: Well, the tyres are not made to resist such a big impact so I cannot add anything else other than what we have seen on the television.

    Q: Guenther, coming to you, talking about Romain’s accident, we all saw what happened, what can you tell us from his point of view, and also the state of the car.

    GS: I think from his point of view, he is OK. Thank God he didn’t get hurt or anything. The car is damaged, in my opinion, things like this in 2017 shouldn’t happen on a permanent circuit, they shouldn’t happen on any circuit. This is, in my opinion, not acceptable. This is not up to the standards. So, I haven’t spoken with anybody. The next thing we need to make sure is how we can prove that it doesn’t happen in the race? Because in the race this would have been a little bit of a bigger disaster. If a few cars go over it, then the cover comes up. I’m still not through… to think completely through what happened to end up in this situation. In a few hours hopefully we know more. The damage is very big on the car. I don’t know exactly what it is because the car just came back five minutes before I had to get here, so they hadn’t taken the parts off to see if the chassis is damaged as well – but once we know that we see what we can do for tomorrow. We need to be sure that all the drain covers stay in place tomorrow.

    Q: You dropped down to eighth in the Constructors’ after the race in Singapore – big result for Renault there, of course, but it’s so tight in the midfield, it’s still possible for you to finish fifth in the Constructors’ this year – even though you’re pulling a face – are you throwing development resource at finishing 2017 as strongly as you possibly can, given the battle you find yourself in?

    GS: No. I think fifth is a little bit ambitious from your side. I think we can not finish fifth but we try to finish seventh. I think at this moment in time we would be happen with that. We stopped developing the ’17 car quite a while ago to concentrate on next year’s car. We have limited resources. We need to focus that we stay stable year-to-year, not just one year up and down because then you create a wave-effect and you never get a grip of what you’re doing. We try to do our best. We will bring a few more developments but they are small. The last one comes in Austin. We hopefully can score some points. I hope also that our worst circuits are behind us, like the slow speed, high downforce ones. Our car doesn’t like them. It’s tough, as you said, in the midfield. We just need to try to do always a perfect job – and not hit drain covers.

    Q: And a final thought. We asked Fred Vasseur in part one about the idea of a closer collaboration with Ferrari on his side, particularly on the driver aspect. Would that have any bearing on your team? How does your Ferrari collaboration develop from here?

    GS: I think our one is stable. We are doing it since now, it’s our third year since we started, and we do what we do. I have no influence what they do with somebody else and I don’t want to have one. We are happy with our contracts and our collaboration. So, if Sauber wants to work with them, I have no opinion and I’m OK with it. I can’t do anything about it any way – so why worry? We get what we want, and we are happy and we continue this.

    Q: Toto, you’re defending a 28 point lead rather than chasing down a deficit but today things looked a little bit difficult for your cars. Is that truly representative of where you were and is there that much work to do?

    Toto WOLFF: The lap time is reality, the stopwatch always tells the truth. The lap time today showed that we are not quick enough. The car seems to be unbalanced and that triggers an awful lot of consequences and it was certainly one of the worst Fridays I can remember.

    Q: Now you renewed Valtteri Bottas’s contract but only for one year rather than longer term; what does he have to do next season to stay on, or is it more about what happens with other teams’ drivers and whether they look to move?

    TW: It’s all in his hands, he just needs to drive fast and score good results. The dynamics between the drivers and the drivers and the engineer team is great so that is positive and it’s about competing on track and being fast.

    Q: It’s the final Malaysian Grand Prix, obviously, but F1 has announced the contract with China has been extended for another three years. Your thoughts on both?

    TW: It’s sad that we’re leaving Malaysia because of our partnership with Petronas it has become like a second home Grand Prix. We spend five or six or seven times a year in Kuala Lumpur and therefore I will be missing the race. On China, China is an important market for us with huge potential and insofar as extending their race there is good, good for Formula One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you, certainly the two team principals: a senior member of the FIA’s technical department has recently resigned. He’s got three months’ gardening leave, he’s obviously worked pretty closely with the teams during his tenure. How do you feel about the fact that he could possibly be joining an opposition team within the next… certainly by the start of next year?

    TW: Do you want an undiplomatic answer or the diplomatic answer?

    GS: They were sandbagging today just to promote comment but anyway… I was not involved in the strategy group meeting this morning but I know that a senior member has left or is leaving the FIA but I’m not sure where he’s going in the end, so I cannot accuse him of something, that he’s going somewhere if I don’t know. I guess somebody’s taking him so it’s as much as who is taking him’s fault as the guy who is going. I think a little bit in between. But first of all, we need to know if he’s going to a team and then where he’s going but I don’t know that yet, Dieter.

    TW: I don’t think it’s correct because he’s had access to a lot of information, especially from Mercedes so he will tell everybody else, so I think for sure they are not happy. It’s like Guenther said, we don’t know where Martin is going. It’s just a rumour. We’ve received an e-mail from Charlie saying that he will be leaving the FIA and he will be on gardening leave for three months. I personally get on well with Martin and we wish him success for his career, that is clear, but we need to look at the timings, we need to be transparent with the FIA and give them access and therefore, in order to have the full trust of the teams, it’s important to have a certain stability and understanding how quick somebody can leave the FIA and join another competitive team.

    MI: I don’t think I’m involved in that. For me, I was working very very well with Martin, we were co-operating on a number of things on tyres, future regulations and so on so it’s a pity that he’s leaving the FIA. I agree with Guenther on the fact that Martin obviously has a lot of knowledge and going to another team creates an issue for them but we don’t know where he is going so…

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, if we put aside the fact that your son was obviously a member of one of the F1 in Schools winning teams on Wednesday night, you were there, very enthusiastic about it. Could you tell us from a pure Formula One team principal perspective what you think of the project, the initiative and how you think it can help Formula One overall?

    TW: I didn’t know anything about Formula in Schools before I was actually surprised to hear that my son was joining it two years ago and it was his own initiative. I find it a really nice competition because young teenagers are creating a mini Formula One team. They have to raise sponsorship, they have to make a garage, create a marketing proposition, develop a little car. They are using tools such as CFD and mini-wind tunnels and then they put it on track and it’s very competitive and the best 52 teams made it to the world final last Wednesday and out of every corner of the world. And seeing them, how capable they are, and how enthusiastic they are for the sport, it’s really nice to see, so I will be cheering for Formula One in Schools, independently of whether my son is involved or not.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, it would be fair to say that it would be one of the worst Fridays in your career. I would like to know if it’s just a question of lacking of grip, it’s just a question of heat or there is some other reason? And Ferrari put a lot of effort with new aerodynamic parts here. It seems that Mercedes is not at the same level at this event. Is that because you are thinking of bringing something more in Japan or in America?

    TW: As I said before, it feels like one of the worst Fridays. We have brought some new parts to the cars as well and now we need to chase back why it didn’t go today, independent whether it was in the wet or in the dry, on the long runs or on a single lap, we just lacked pace today and we have twelve hours to understand and then hopefully have a car tomorrow that is more stable.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) There will be a triple header next year; Formula One has this tendency that if they get away with it once, they will do it again, so how keen are you to see triple headers and know that if it happens, everything works out once, it will happen again?

    GS: OK, I think it is… if you plan it well, I think the crew for sure are the most stressed out but the triple header is in Europe so at least we have got that advantage. We don’t have to fly from continent to continent. I think let’s see how it is but again, we need to get organised for this stuff and if it doesn’t work or if it is too stressful or if you can change something – you have to learn from it and change something for the year after because… I’m with you there, if we do it once, we will do it again. If we get spectators in front of the TV or some factor out of this, it will happen again. It’s just one of those things that you need to do and then come out and analyse and see if it is worthwhile to do again and how to deal best with it.

    TW: I think Guenther summarised it pretty well. There will be other factors such as important events in other sports or outside of sport that need to be considered and I think making a calendar is not easy so we need to wait and see how we can cope with the three races and then learn the lesson.

    MI: Yeah, we are like a small team so we have the same problems so we are organising our people and we need additional people of course to cover all this because also if it is in Europe, we have trucks moving with the new tyres or bringing back the used tyres. For overseas it will be more complicated and if it happens, we need to make a proper plan in advance. Everything is possible if it is an advantage for the sport obviously we will be ready to do that but it will have an increase in logistics and people we are obliged to use.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, today we saw an Instagram movie – if I can say – something about Trump that was posted by Lewis. Are you worried that there can be some effect coming to the USA Grand Prix for him?

    TW: This is a very controversial and polarising story. I wouldn’t want to get involved in politics. We all have our opinion. Lewis’s feelings about human rights are very strong and I think he wanted to show that and probably Instagram as the communication channel is something that he needs to rethink but I can relate to his feelings.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Are you worried for the United States Grand Prix?

    TW: No, I think one of the most important things in the US is that you have the right to express your opinion and I would want to leave it there and not comment any more. I think we are here as sport teams and sports should unite and I’m not sure it is happening everywhere in the world so I would rather lead by example and not comment on politics.

    End

  • Vettel tops FP2; Grosjean crash ends session early: Malaysian GP

    Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in second practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, six tenths clear of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, as the session was ended early by a heavy crash involving Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

    Vettel’s performance run on the Pirelli supersoft compound tyres netted a best time of 1:31.261. Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was second, 0.604 seconds adrift, while Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull Racing, just over two tenths further back.

    It was a trickier session for championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Both has off-track excursions that led to Hamilton ending the day in sixth place with Bottas just over a tenth of a second further back in seventh place.

    There was a more destructive excursion late in the session, with Romain Grosjean crashing heavily.

    A dislodged drain cover between Turns 12 and 13 sliced through the Frenchman’s right rear tyre and he careered off track and into the barriers. The Haas driver emerged unscathed from the crash. The session was immediately red-flagged, while an FIA inspection took place and it was decided that no further running would take place.

    During the session, Max Verstappen was the first driver to run a qualiuging simulation, using the supersoft Pirellis to rise to P2 behind soft-tyre pacesetter Vettel.

    Ricciardo then went quickest on the super-softs with a time of 1:32.099s, but his time as the top was short-lived as Raikkonen and the Vettel went quicker still.

    With Ricciardo third, Verstappen was left to take fourth spot, with the Dutchman finishing just one hundredth of a second behind his Red Bull team-mate.

    McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was the day’s surprise package, with the Spaniard claiming fifth spot ahead of the two Mercedes, with a best time of 1:32,564, 1.3 seconds off Vettel’s pace.

    Force India’s Sergio Perez finished in eighth place behind the Mercedes, with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg ninth ahead of the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    2017 Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 23 1:31.261
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 19 1:31.865 0.604
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 19 1:32.099 0.838
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 11 1:32.109 0.848
    5 Fernando Alonso McLaren 14 1:32.564 1.303
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 15 1:32.677 1.416
    7 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 21 1:32.720 1.459
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 20 1:32.862 1.601
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 24 1:33.060 1.799
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India 24 1:33.096 1.835
    11 Jolyon Palmer Renault 26 1:33.381 2.120
    12 Felipe Massa Williams 20 1:33.394 2.133
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 15 1:33.673 2.412
    14 Lance Stroll Williams 16 1:33.818 2.557
    15 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 22 1:34.043 2.782
    16 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 19 1:34.104 2.843
    17 Romain Grosjean Haas 18 1:34.118 2.857
    18 Kevin Magnussen Haas 17 1:34.343 3.082
    19 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 29 1:35.246 3.985
    20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 27 1:35.697 4.436

    eom/FIA press release

  • We have a lot of races, so I am not thinking of the 28-point deficit: Vettel

    We have a lot of races, so I am not thinking of the 28-point deficit: Vettel

    Max Verstappen (left), Sebastian Vettel (centre) and Kimi Raikkonen at the Thursday Press Conference. An FIA image

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Start with a question to all of you. Clearly a painful moment in Singapore, three cars eliminated on the first lap of the grand prix, how do all three of you assess it now and how do you move forward?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think there’s much assessment necessary. Obviously on Sunday all three of us were unhappy, but you move on.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: It happened, you know. You can’t change it any more — it was just a very unfortunate moment. But there’s nothing you can do about it — we just come here and we try again.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really anything. Obviously moved on since Sunday, since the weekend.

    Q: Sebastian, you’re a four time winner here. Since the summer break you’ve gone from a 14 point championship lead to a 28 point deficit to Hamilton. You’ve obviously seen quite a fluctuation throughout this year and in your previous title-winning years. Do you still think it’s possible to get back on terms? Or do you rely on him to have problems?

    SV: I don’t know. I think we have a lot of races left. I think we have a strong car. I’m not too fussed about the amount of points. Obviously it’s never good to be behind, I’d like to be in front but we’re not so I’m not thinking about that.

    Q: Max, it’s your 20th birthday on Saturday. You’re committed obviously to Red Bull for next year. What kind of progress does the team need to make next year to satisfy you?

    MV: I think for next year, the team and I, we want to win, so that’s our priority and we’ll see what happens afterwards.

    Q: And Kimi, it’s the 19th and last Malaysian Grand Prix. You’ve raced in most of them, all but three, and you got your first win here. What do you think this event has contributed to the world championship over the years?

    KR: I think to start with it’s a very nice circuit, I think there’s been quite good racing over the years here. I think the layout obviously helps that, and conditions have been always tricky. I think everybody has got more used to it since the early days, but nevertheless I think the racing has been good and that’s the main thing. Obviously all the rest, it doesn’t matter because we are here for racing and if that’s good then that’s fine.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Question to Sebastian. A 28 point gap is tough for sure, but in some ways could it help you because there is maybe less pressure and you don’t have anything to lose?

    SV: I don’t look at it that way. I think it depends on the points you have at the end of the year or not, so yeah. As I said, if you would choose you want always to be ahead. I would rather not be a little bit behind, but overall it doesn’t change anything for how you tackle the last six races from here.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Leaving aside yourselves, who would you each nominate as the most able driver out there, the best?

    MV: I find that one really difficult. I think you can only compare with your teammate, because you don’t know what’s going on in the other teams. Also, the car you know, it can suit you better, so I don’t know to be honest.

    SV: I agree with Max, I don’t want to answer.

    KR: I think it’s pointless to answer this one. It’s up to you guys, you’re very good on it at least over the years, so do it again and we can obviously read it then.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Question for all three of you. Nineteen years of Malaysian Grand Prix, this is the final one. What have been some of your fondest memories of this race?

    SV: Obviously it’s a while ago, but for sure one of the nicest ones was 2015, my first win with Ferrari. It certainly was very special — we came here early in the season, at the very beginning of my time with Ferrari. There’s still a lot of very nice memories coming up, I’m thinking about that day, and how the race happened, what happened after the race. I had a really good time. I think the other races, I’m not sure I remember all of them, but 2013 obviously was a bit of a special one — which came with a bit of noise after the race — but still I think it was a good race.

    MV: Well, I haven’t done that many races but I always enjoy coming here. It’s a good track, and I think last year it was good to be second. I would have preferred to win, of course, but still you know for the team it was a great day. That’s my fondest memory. Hopefully this weekend will be better.

    KR: Obviously I won my first race here, it was a while ago now, but it obviously meant a lot. Then there was the win in 2008 with Ferrari, I mean it was a good fight with Felipe and obviously good memories, some bad memories over the years, but that’s when you go many times in the same place that will happen — you have some good years and some not so good. But it’s been pretty good.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. You seem to have got over Singapore quite quickly, quite easily. How do you put that frustration aside so easily?

    SV: Well, I think it would have been more difficult if I had lost the car somewhere in the race and it’s obviously different but with collision at the start like that, I think we all three after the race, that was when we had to go to the stewards. What can you do? The lights went off, obviously, we did our starts, everyone was trying to move at the start and it was the way it happened. It ended up really bad for all three of us and that was it. Obviously I could continue a little bit more, but the damage was so bad that I had to stop anyway. Not much you can do — I think it’s part of racing. It’s also not the first time I’ve been in a situation like this and probably it will not be the last time. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but it’s part of racing. It happened, there’s not much you can do, and therefore not much point in trying to look at it again and again, I think it’s much better if your time and energy is spent looking forward.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) This is more or less in line with the last question to Sebastian and Kimi. Sebastian, you are the leader of the championship since the beginning of the season till Monza, and then you lost it and you saw your one race lead to 20 points. What is the psychological impact of that in you and in the team? Will you discuss it so that it does not interfere in the rest of the season?

    SV: I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss. As I said, with things like this happening, what can you do? We could have had major problems with the car, or I might have made a mistake, and it might be a different story. There’s something you need to change, some way you need to react quickly to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and it might be a different story. Looking at it now, obviously there’s been one race where we didn’t finish. Certainly didn’t help that Lewis scored a lot of points, but that’s the way it goes. Certainly we would all three love to have had a different race, championship yes or no. We just want to race, and that’s what we set out to do in Singapore. All three of us didn’t get very far.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Sebastian. At the beginning of this race, will you go about it in any, will you try to protect your lead, maybe be slightly less rash? How will you, what will be going through your mind on lap one of the race? And b, everyone’s saying — all the experts — that the next five races or so all suit the Merc rather than the Ferrari. How do you respond to that? You obviously I guess believe it’s all still alive?

    SV: Some might say that in order for them to remain experts we have to prove them wrong every now and then, otherwise they will maybe be out of a job if they are never wrong! The second thing is I wanted to say it was flattering that you said ‘when on Sunday you are starting from the lead’ — providing, obviously, that we qualify on pole, so it’s nice to have you on board as a fan! Not really. Every start is different, and the way Singapore happened you can look at it again and again; it doesn’t matter. First of all it’s done, and second I think it was pretty unfortunate for all three of us so we want to move on. Having said that, I can’t promise you now what will be on my mind on Sunday when I leave the grid, but normally I don’t, I never thought about the last race, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be focussed on seeing what I can do on that race start on Sunday.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for Max. It was obviously not your first frustration this season. Do you still expectations for this race or is that already something you completely don’t have before a new race because of all the frustration you have?

    MV: I’m here, I always try to do well. It’s not my year in terms of Sunday finishes, but in general you have to try to stay positive, and to look at the positives. I think the speed is there, so we need to try again here in Malaysia, and see how competitive we are. It’s a bit difficult to say. But last year I think was pretty alright, and we’ll just try again.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for all three drivers. How do you guys cope with the heat during a race weekend like this? Do you have any tips and tricks during the race? Is the preparation different?

    KR: I don’t think it’s an awful lot different, really. It’s obviously a bit more hot than other races, Singapore is quite hot. At least myself, I don’t feel that we do an awful lot different things and it’s probably drink a bit more, but that’s about it.  It doesn’t feel too bad in the past, at least in the car, you more feel it in the practice when you keep stopping in the box and all the heat comes from there, but during the driving it’s not too bad.

    Q: Sebastian? How much do you need to drink before the race in terms of litres?

    SV: I don’t know, I generally try and hydrate, I think everybody does. You’re always thirsty, and you sweat a lot, but you stay hydrated — there are no big secrets. I think at some point you try and not to drink too much because you don’t want to stop during the race doing another stop if you know what I mean, yeah. Once you go normally you sweat so much that it’s not really a big problem. Normally they say you should drink around two litres a day, at least, here I think it’s at least double on race day, maybe a bit more.

    Max, any special preparations?

    MV: I agree with what Sebastian and Kimi said.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max. When you say you’re looking at next season, and we’ll see what happens after this, do you have a specific target in mind in terms of race wins? What are you actually aiming for next season?

    MV: I want to be able to fight for the championship. If you win one race and you win the championship, that’s wonderful. It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment, when you’re not in that position. Hopefully we are next year, but it’s a bit too early to say so. We just have to wait and see till we go to Melbourne.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. How would you feel about Max joining you one day at Ferrari. And to Max, how would you feel joining Ferrari with Seb.

    SV: I don’t know. I feel that you need to be prepared to race anyone on the grid, so obviously Max is still quite young and has more years left than we have, but yeah, you never know. Obviously I have a longer contract now than him but Formula One… some things they take time. Other things they tend to change very quickly. So it’s a bit pointless to look too far into the future. For now I think we are pretty calm inside the team: myself; everyone – because we know what’s going on this year, what’s going on next year and then I think it’s more for the team as well…

    Max, your side of that.

    MV: Yeah, I mean, to be honest I don’t want to look too much in the future. I just want to focus on the job I have now and try to finish it off in a good way this season and then for next season, I know where I am and, well, before we finish next season is still such a long time, so, just have to wait.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio  – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian and Kimi, the last results of the team were not so good: Monza and Singapore. Do you think it’s due to circumstances of the competition or maybe again Mercedes did a step forward that Ferrari didn’t and could not follow it, concerning the project of the six rounds to the end of the season?

    SV: It’s normal. It’s the way that people look at the races. If you then highlight the last two, certainly they were not good. We’re not proud, not happy with them. Singapore is fairly quickly explained: didn’t make it very far and then in Monza I think we didn’t do our best, Saturday and Sunday, probably a bit of a combination and, equally, Mercedes was very strong. So yeah, it’s been very tight all season. At Monza we didn’t have a very good weekend and lost a little bit, but still, I think we had a very good recovery from the Saturday that we had. So, yeah, I think it you look at those two races you can argue that they were not great – but I think it’s mostly Singapore where we didn’t race. Monza, I think third was not that bad, given that we were just not competitive to fight for the win.

    Kimi, your perspective.

    KR: Not really different. Singapore, Seb was first in the qualifying, I was fourth. So, if you purely compare to Mercedes, it was better. Obviously the race didn’t go that way but I don’t see why you would look at everything so negative. It’s your question, obviously. It’s up and down: some circuits are better for one guy and others for other guys – but it’s a normal story, every year it’s the same thing: some races go better, others not and there’s so many reasons for those. In the end the whole season is one season and in the end wherever the points are, are the best. It’s pointless to look at one race here, one race there. It’s over the whole year.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for the two Ferrari guys and one for Max. The two Ferrari guys, I would like to know if you talked, after the Ferrari race to the president Marchionne. What did he say to you? And the second question, if you think you have the same chance here as Singapore, and for Max, if you lost the last chance to win a race this year, due to the characteristics of the track there in Singapore – or there is some other track that you can stay in front, and fight for the victory?

    OK, Sebastian, have you spoken to the president?

    SV: No, I haven’t. Not spoke but I’ve been in contact. Obviously not a great day, as you can imagine. Fairly quickly, the response also from the whole team has been very positive. It’s been a bad day, no doubt about it but I think by Monday – Tuesday, everybody moved on and there has been a lot of excitement in the factory. We had family days last weekend which obviously is very special for all the team members and all the Ferrari employees, so there has been a lot of positives, to be honest, and yeah, what’s done is done. You have to look at what’s coming. And that’s what we are excited about. The car is strong this year, we know that, we’ve seen that, so there’s plenty of positives to look forward to. And, yeah, I think that partly answers your second question, if the car will be competitive here. I think there’s so many things on paper and you tend to look and you tend to say one way or the other – but we have to go here, and that’s the good thing about racing, the part that I enjoy. You go here and you find out. That’s what you fight for, you fight for every centimetre, every tenth that you can find somewhere, over a lot of laps in the race or over one lap in quali, to make the difference. So, I’m sure that, as a team, we can make that difference.

    What’s your feeling Kimi? Is this a track that you think the Ferrari, as you feel it, will go well around, compared to Mercedes?

    KR: Very hard to answer. It’s like any weekend when we go we don’t really know our self any more than any of you guys. You are always guessing a bit how it’s going to be and hoping the best – and then we will see tomorrow some ideas. To be honest, some weekends you seem to start a bit better and more straightforward and everything seems to go more easily, and some you have to… you struggle a bit to find the right way and then come Saturday it turns out to be pretty OK, so, it’s impossible to really answer. I’m feeling we should be OK here, but I might be wrong. I might be right. I don’t know.

    Max, did you feel that was the last, best chance to win a race – or is there another one that you can see that Red Bull might win before the end of the year?

    MV:  It was definitely a good opportunity of course in Singapore. But never say never. A lot of things can happen. As you can see, the lights go out in Singapore and there are immediately three cars out. So, yeah, you have to stay positive and we’ll see what happens.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. I just wanted to get your thoughts on Charles Leclerc who’s going to drive in first practice for Sauber. Quite a promising driver, lot of expectation surrounding him.

    SV: Well, I mean, in terms of expectations, I think he has proven enough so I don’t think you need to have high expectations. Obviously he’s helped us a lot developing this year’s car, done a lot of work on the simulator and had a fantastic season so far in GP2, bit up and down at times but the speed I think has been quite incredible. I’m sure he’ll do well. I don’t think he needs a word of advice, or yeah, any sort of expectations. He looks like he loves racing, enjoys that, and that, I think, for me is the key recipe.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) for all drivers, what will you miss from Malaysia next year when we are not returning?

    MV: I think the track in general. I always enjoyed driving the track, so I think that’s the biggest part we’ll miss. The heat, to be honest, maybe not so much.

    SV: I don’t know, I don’t think there’s one specific thing. It’s the mixture of the circuit, the conditions, the element of rain at any time during the day being possible. Yeah, I think it’s provided very good racing. I’m not obviously involved in why we’re not racing here any more but, who knows, maybe we’re back after a year break or two. I don’t know.

    KR: To be honest, I don’t know if we’re going to miss it. It’s a nice circuit but the only thing you see is the airport, the hotel next to the airport and the circuit, so you can choose from that what you’re going to miss.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Question for Max again. You already mentioned your birthday. Is there time in a busy race weekend to spend some attention on a birthday, to do something for a birthday – or not?

    MV: Well, it’s so humid here and warm, you make a cake but who wants to eat cake on such a warm day?

    SV: I do!

    MV: I’ll bring it to the garage before quali.

    SV: ten to three…

    MV: It’s fine. Do I need to serve you as well in the car?

    SV: Yeah, five to three.

    MV: OK, I’ll wait a bit in Q1 and then go out…

    SV: No! Actually the quali’s at five…

    MV: OK, that’s a plan then

  • With new updates, Force India looking forward to stabilise its 4th place: Malaysian GP

    With new updates, Force India looking forward to stabilise its 4th place: Malaysian GP

    Malaysian GP preview File photo from Sahara Force India

    Sepang, 26 Sept. 2017: Sahara Force India looks forward to the Formula One Malaysian GP at the Sepang F1 International Circuit which will be hosting its 19th and final F1 race this year. The Indian outfit has been punching about its weight and despite meagre financial resources has come fourth in the standings last year and the reward money for the slot in the top-four of the Constructors’ standings helped the team to continue its good running this year too.

    Currently, the team is doing much better than last year and is firmly placed 4th at this stage in the team points with both the drivers confirmed for 2018. Force India has 124 points, 65 points ahead of fifth-placed Williams Mercedes with six races to go.

    The Sepang circuit may not suit the Silverstone-based team, but with new upgrades coming up, the team management and drivers feel that they can get some more valuable points at the resurfaced circuit which is known not only for its hot and humid conditions but also abrupt and sudden bouts of rain which can change any equation on the track.

    Speaking from England, Team Principal Vijay Mallya said in a release: “Leaving Singapore with 11 points to help consolidate our fourth place in the championship was a very satisfactory outcome from a tricky weekend. It reminds us that even after a tough qualifying session, there is always plenty to fight for on Sunday. We also took a lot of positives from the pace of the VJM10 during the race and it’s clear that we have the potential for some more strong performances in the final six events.

    “This weekend is the last visit to Sepang for the foreseeable future and hopefully we can sign-off with some points. It probably won’t be our strongest circuit of the year, but we should be competitive, especially with the updates we continue to bring to the car. The drivers enjoy the quick corners and it’s always been a good track for overtaking and competitive racing. It’s sad to say goodbye to a circuit, but Malaysia can be proud of the events it has staged during the last 19 years and Formula One has always been given an extremely warm welcome by the fans.

    Confirming the drivers early in the season has its advantages and the Indian liquor baron, who is facing charges and stuck with a travel ban, felt that: “We head to Sepang having recently confirmed Sergio will remain with the team alongside Esteban in 2018. I’m extremely happy with the job both drivers are doing and delighted that we have stability with our line-up. Getting this all finalised relatively early in the year is always helpful. We can simply focus on maximising the final six races and plan effectively for next year.”

    The drivers too are confident that they can pull out one more successful round with a double points score. Recently, the two have clashed on the track which triggered a media trial and the management too has dropped its policy of allowing the drivers to race and warned them to be careful on track so that there will not be any such DNFs in the future. The team orders had their effect and both the drivers buried their hatchet and have promised to be more `professional’. Sergio Perez, who had his first podium here with a 2nd place in 2012, has good memories and is raring to go. He currently has 68 points and is in 7th place while Esteban Ocon is just behind with 56 points in 8th.

    Sergio Perez: “Malaysia is a place that means a lot to me. It’s where I got my first ever podium in Formula One, in 2012. After Singapore, it’s another very hot race. I think last year’s was the hottest race I’ve ever experienced during my whole career, so I expect to sweat a lot on Sunday!

    “The weather is so unpredictable, you can have a big storm all of a sudden and then it can dry up again in five minutes, because it’s so warm and humid.

    “Every year, Malaysia has been a special race because of the heat and the characteristics of the track. I’ll be really sad to see Sepang disappear from the calendar. I hope to see all the Malaysian fans at some other race and I hope they keep following us online.”

    Esteban Ocon: “Sepang is such a beautiful track. I really love it. I enjoy chicanes and there are quite a few in Malaysia, with some nice combinations of fast and medium-speed corners. When you have a good car in qualifying, you can just feel the grip; it’s very enjoyable. On the other hand, it’s a very tough race because of the heat and humidity. The rain can play a big part – at least I am told! Last year everyone kept telling me that, but it was just mega sunny and warm all weekend. It’s sad we will be racing here for the last time because it’s such a cool track. I am going to miss it.”

    Sahara Force India’s Chief Race Engineer, Tom McCullough, looks ahead the challenge of Sepang: “Malaysia is another race where the weather will be very hot: last year, we had track temperatures up to 60C. The conditions can be very unpredictable and there’s always a chance of rain showers, in particular during the early evening qualifying session at 5pm. In this regard, the conditions are very similar to what we saw in Singapore, with extreme heat and humidity; the main difference being the start time of the race, with the lights going off in the heat of the day at 3pm. The Sepang track features a good mix of low, medium and very high-speed corners, so the set-up needs to accommodate a large speed range. The track was resurfaced prior to the race last year, which improved ride response and reduced tyre degradation. It will be interesting to see how the track surface has evolved since.”

    eom/with inputs from SFI press release

  • I love to drive in rain, we had good pace in trickier and cooler conditions: Hamilton

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing); 3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

    Singapore, what an unbelievable race, particularly after the rain started. We were served up a titanic. Ladies and gentlemen, he looks exhausted…

    Lewis HAMILTON: I’m not exhausted.

    He’s not exhausted. That doesn’t look like champagne to me, Obviously, you’ve made a bit of history here, you really like coming to Singapore, it’s the tenth anniversary, your third win here, come on, tell me about it.

    LH: Well, firstly, as always I want to really congratulate my team, this is a great result. Valtteri did a fantastic to get a one and a three up here – amazing points for the team. Obviously, yesterday we struggled. We had no idea what was going to happen today but the thing is we just tried to stay focused and tried to get ahead. Obviously it was very fortunate with the Ferraris at the beginning, so yeah, I couldn’t be happier. I’m really grateful.

    I’ve got to ask you this, because we interviewed him yesterday and he said that he needed a miracle today. Well, I think he had Santa Claus, the reindeer and he had the miracle. Come on, tell me, this was just out of heaven!

    LH: Yeah, God blessed me today for sure. I capitalised on the incident… I mean who would have  known that would happen. Really unfortunate for the Ferraris but it was, as I said, a really great result for the team. Daniel put up a really good fight today, I enjoyed racing him. I was hoping I would get to race with Sebastian at the beginning…

    Come on, you don’t mean that. You were just seeing what was going on in front of you. It was classic for your 60th win.

    LH: It was, but when I got round to Turn 2 or Turn 3, I had Sebastian in front and I thought ‘I’m going to have a real race here’. Obviously it’s better the way it is, but I’m just glad I brought it home.

    We’ll come back to you, but just enjoy the 28-point lead you have in the championship at the moment.  Daniel Ricciardo: he’s made a bit of a habit of this. This is his fourth time, out of 10 years, his fourth time on the podium. What is it about Singapore?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I can’t win the bloody thing! I’m trying; I’m trying. I like it around here. Today, we probably didn’t show that Friday pace we showed in practice to have the pace on the Mercedes. A little bit disappointed to miss out on a win but I’ve still got to be pretty grateful and happy with another podium and I think there are more Aussies here than last year and there was more then than the year before, so it’s getting better. Thanks a lot.

    We’ve got to ask you because it was one of the key factors of the entire race. What was your take on it – without blaming anybody?

    DR: I just kind of watched the chaos unfold in front of me. It was probably a good thing I had a bad start, otherwise I would probably have got caught up in it. It just looked like three were trying to go into one. I don’t know whose fault it was but it was just too close.

    We know that Lewis won driver of the day but you’ve got the fans here on your side, man, and many congratulations. Fantastic. Where’s Valtteri? Valtteri, you had a Sunday evening cruise. You were just sitting back in your armchair watching what was going to happen?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, of course it was, for us, very good damage limitation today. We definitely got lucky, but I have to say the car was working better than expected today. I was really waiting for the opportunities. Personally, I struggled in the wet with the pace, but in the dry it was pretty good and from time to time I could put pressure on Daniel but that was about it.

    I’ve got to talk about your own championship. You’re closing that gap now to Sebastian. That must be in the back of your mind, with all these races to come?

    VB: Definitely. There are plenty of races to come and plenty of opportunities, so yeah, definitely Sebastian is the next target.

    Were you aware, in all the 10 years here, we have yet to have a team 1-2 here and we thought today you might be the first to break that duck. You fought very hard but it didn’t happen. Did you have that in the back of your mind or did you know about it?

    VB: No I didn’t really think about it. I was just trying to get the most out of it. I think we take it, although it’s not a 1-2, but on a difficult circuit for us a 1-3 is nearly perfect.

    Lewis I’ve got to say to you, when you saw what was unfolding in front of you, what was going through your mind?

    LH: You’re just focused on winning so I was just trying to get to the front…

    Yeah, but you said yesterday that you needed a miracle…

    LH: I needed it to rain. As soon as it rained I knew where I was going to finish. I knew I had the pace when it rains. Unfortunately we just didn’t have the car in the dry. But today, with it raining, those are my conditions, so…

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, many congratulations. Third win here in Singapore, seventh of the season, perhaps an even more satisfying number, 60th career win, only the second man to reach that number, third win in a row and obviously lots of fun going on to your side? Great win against the odds. I think the real thing is that you seemed to have an answer for everything. Whatever the conditions, whether it was used inters, new inters on Daniel’s car, ultrasofts, you just always seemed to have answer. Just give us a window into your state of mind when he was on the new inters and you were on the used and it was looking as though you might not have the right equipment on the car.

    LH: I feel like we distracted you. Have we distracted you? That was a very long-winded question. For those of you watching – we’re all a bit gassy up here. That’s why we are in tears. Yeah, what a day. What can I say? When it start raining when I woke up this morning, I was thinking, ‘fantastic’, because it’s a very difficult circuit on which to overtake. Being fifth, knowing that the Red Bulls and the Ferraris were so quick, on a grippy circuit, being dry, I knew it would be very, very difficult to progress from fifth place. But I did know there is a start, a strategy, and the potential for a safety car, that often happens here every year. It dried up and it started to rain just as I started, which was really a real blessing. Those are my conditions, that I love to drive in. Once we got going… I felt like I had a good start, but I think Kimi had an incredible launch and then I saw this commotion happening, I was alongside Daniel. I had a great Turn 1 and came out behind Sebastian. I couldn’t really see what had happened behind. And then I came out of Turn 3 and I was just excited to race Sebastian. I was like: ‘it’s on; I’m ready.’ But then he had a problem with the car or whatever it was and he lost control. Then I was in the lead and the safety car came out. After that it was about managing the tyres. Daniel had that stop, which was a bit of a surprise to me that you could have a free stop and be behind me on brand new tyres. But I think… if you remember back in 2008 in Monaco, I just nursed the tyres. We often shred our intermediate tyres and the Red Bulls are usually very, very good on them, so today was just about making sure we managed them to the maximum. I was able to keep them cool and not have any degradation. Even at the end when I pitted I still had life left in the tyres, which is very, very rare. After that we had a great battle. It was quite tricky conditions when we went back out but it was really just about managing the gap. I had a good amount of pace in the car today, it seemed to work in those trickier, cooler, slippier conditions, so a real blessing and just grateful for the team, grateful for all of the effort that went in, strategy. I’m happy with the performance from myself and Valtteri did a fantastic job as well to really solidify some really great points from the team.

    And just a thought on the big 6-0? Only the second man to reach 60 grands prix wins and what a way to do it.

    LH: Oh jeez, I hadn’t even realised. And I didn’t hear you say that before. Wow. I guess I need some time to digest it. These kind of wins are a lot more satisfying than pole to win or… these wins when it is those tricky conditions. It is the toughest race for us. There are so many white line that are painted white and also painted black, it’s so tricky. Any little mistake. Plus, all I needed to was bring it home, but I’ve got Daniel behind me, I can’t make any mistakes today, so it was a real challenge today but one I thoroughly enjoyed.

    Very well done – great win. Daniel, all OK?

    DR: Better now. I feel our battle here was bigger than the battle on track. We’re doing our own version of beatboxing.

    Another Singapore podium, but not the victory. You rolled the dice and went for those new intermediates and did you think it was going to gibe you more. Basically, where did the pace go? It didn’t seem that in any situation today you had the pace to give this guy a hard time.

    DR: Yeah, that was probably the most frustrating thing. I mean frustrating not to get that first win here. I think it’s three years in a row with second now. Normally I’m happy with a podium, obviously it’s great. It’s more that we didn’t have the pace that we showed on Friday in the long run. We just struggled to look after the tyres. Just felt like when I was able to punch out a good lap time, I couldn’t really maintain it, where Lewis could answer and then answer again. So it felt like every time we matched his pace we were taking more out of the tyre. We had a couple of little issues as well. I had to manage the car in some situations with the gearbox and that, but ultimately I don’t think it changed the shape of the race. I don’t think that was the reason we were second and not first. I have an idea, if we were to do the race again, how to set up the car differently. I feel something we did on the car it would have helped if we went the other way for how the track conditions were, but it was fun nonetheless, you know the beginning, never going around here really in the wet. As Lewis touched on, the lines are so slippery. Even the painted lines that are black, they don’t seem like they are line but they are underneath the dark paint and the car kind of slides, grips, slides, grips and just really tricky, Just I guess still happy to come away with a podium. It’s not a win but I’ll be grateful and still happy with second.

    You mentioned the start on the podium, but what about the secondary impact, the one that took the Ferrari and your team-mate off the track and hit Alonso as well? How did you get around that?

    DR: In hindsight it was a good thing I had a pretty average start. It gave me some time to basically see what was going to happen. I saw there was contact with Kimi. I knew there was a bit going on there. I could see Max had sparks, so I wasn’t sure which way Max’s car was going to go, so I had already backed off in case Max let’s say turned into because I was on his outside and then I could see Kimi coming and I knew he had damage. If it was Fernando I don’t think he saw probably as much. It looked like he just braked late and tried to make the move stick, but then those cars were obviously going up the track. I was just trying to play it cautious and look ahead and fortunately that was the right thing to do. It was pretty chaotic. The spray was really bad, so just even the spray along with that meant it was a pretty chaotic first few corners.

    Q: Valtteri, your 10th podium of 2017. Mercedes take a 102-point lead in the Constructors’ over Ferrari. Your view of the start as well, and also it was clearly a very tricky Friday for you, single lap pace and long run pace. Tell us about the improvement today.

    VB: Yeah, the start was definitely quite special and it came to me and Lewis in the end. I got a bad start personally, so I had plenty of time to observe what was happening at the front and just try to avoid any debris and impacts. So, yeah, from my side it was all clean. Was struggling in the beginning of the race in the wet, just purely with the pace. Have been struggling with the pace all weekend but as the track started to dry up everything was feeling actually not too bad and could keep up with the guys ahead and sometimes get really close to Daniel – but for us, the starting point we had for this weekend after such a tricky Friday and Saturday, it’s a really good result for us as a team. Our approach today, it was all about damage-limitation. I think this was pretty good damage limitation today, so we can be quite happy about that.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, way to get the job done, congratulations. The deck was stacked against you and it seems in situations like this you really seem to thrive and you found pace in the car where nobody thought there was pace in the car – and you showed that will and determination of a Green Lantern. What is it about these situations that just makes you come alive like that?

    LH: Thank you. I’m not sure. Yeah, I’m not playing any games, and preparing in the best way I can. Obviously super-focused. Obviously today really came to me. As I said, I would have given everything, obviously, if it was dry – would have been a much, much harder race. For some reason the Ferraris and also the Red Bulls are much stronger in those conditions, when it’s warmer and grippier but, it was a nice reset with the rain that came in today, which dropped the grip level, I think. And then obviously being Intermediates to start with, still even in that scenario, I thought they would be a lot closer pace-wise but… yeah, these conditions, as I said, I love, and it’s very much an opportunity to really make a difference with your driving in those conditions, and today I was really able to. It was the first time for all of us driving here in the rain, so it was a massive, massive challenge, which I love. I love that. When you have to rise to the toughest of challenges, that’s the most exciting part for me. For me it was just about staying focussed and not making any mistakes. Something I’m very set on this year. That’s kind of, for me, coming from last year, for example, where there were lots of mistakes, this is a year I try to make sure that, if I’m going to grow anywhere, in any space, that’s going to be it. And focus on not making any mistakes seems to be working.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speed Sport) For Valtteri and Daniel, first time we’ve had a race here in the rain. Daniel said the spray was bad. Had it continued raining, and had their not been a Safety Car, with that spray under the lights, could you have gone on? Would it have been driveable?

    DR: I think we would have persisted. The spray was probably more than I thought – but yeah, we would have continued because the Aquaplaning and stuff wasn’t an issue. So, OK, visibility is bad but as long as the car is obviously not skating around, out of control, I think we can just hold on. But yeah, I mean I was… even the warm-up lap, I was third, so not many cars in front and there was still quite a lot, so I think back in the pack would have been pretty tough – but yeah, I don’t think they’ll have to plan for that in the future, it doesn’t seem to rain here often – but yeah, I don’t know. Maybe Valtteri’s got other comments.

    VB: Yeah, the spray was the main thing. I think we all would have been happy – at least I would have been happy to get racing even with some race. And like Daniel said, it is all about aquaplaning. If we have that then it’s so unpredictable, and you never know, if you don’t see on the straight, it’s fine if you know there’s no-one sideways on track, and if there’s aquaplaning then it’s possible. So, yeah, I think it was OK.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for everybody about the start. For a long time I don’t think we have seen a conventional start under the rain, Would like to know if it was OK for you and if it had some affect on the accident, the wet track at the start?

    LH: I think it was great. It wasn’t that wet really on the grid, so I think it’s always worse when it’s a rolling start and being that there is so much spray it would have just been a lot more dangerous, I potentially think. So, I think it was the right decision.

    Did it contribute to the accident?

    LH: I don’t think so. It looks like Kimi got a great launch. Sebastian not as good and for some reason… really I’ve not seen it all… but Kimi got a great launch and I think it was just an unfortunate racing incident.

    Daniel?

    DR: I think yeah, they were right to start it as a standing start because, as Lewis said, the grid was not too bad. I would say if it was a rolling start, probably nothing would have happened in Turn One. Because normally it just goes off in order and yeah, probably would have been clean and less exciting for the fans. But yeah, regardless, I think the grid was fine. So, obviously unfortunate for the guys involved in the crash but I don’t think they can blame the decision of the stewards or Charlie for starting the race. I think that was perfectly fair and fine.

    Anything to add, Valtteri?

    VB: Nope.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Lewis. What are your thoughts on a 28 point lead and will it change something in the last six races for you dealing with the grand prix?

    LH: Definitely won’t change anything. Because it’s working. Whatever it is with the approach that I have, there’s no reason to change it. It’s a perfect balance of being aggressive and cautious at the same time. So, the formula works at the moment, so I’ll just continue with it. Right to the last race. I’ve not really thought about it, it’s still soaking up really. It’s hard to believe. Firstly it’s my 60th grand prix win. I don’t know why but it’s not sinking in just yet, and also the gap, it’s kind of hard to believe. It’s a long, long race and I definitely went into today thinking it was about damage limitation, it was trying to minimise the loss somehow. If I’d got stuck behind Kimi it could have been just finishing fifth. It could have come out a lot worse. So, to come out the complete other direction, for sure it’s a shock. But, I’ll take it and I’m grateful. I’m grateful for it. As I said, we’ve worked so hard as a team, I think today was just fortunate conditions, really just fell into our direction and we capitalised on it.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, tenth podium for the season. After the qualifying, was this the podium that you least expected?

    VB: I think yeah. After such a difficult Friday we had, and then such a difficult qualifying, like I said yesterday, when we had the press in the motorhome, I said I’m not too confident, if it’s going to be a normal race, that we have the pace to be on the podium – but I said ‘you never know’. And I will never, ever give up. Today, waking up to the day as normal, I feel positive. I know anything is possible, there’s no point giving up beforehand, so yeah, we went for it and really, really pleased we had both drivers on the podium and Lewis managed to win. Of course it’s been a tricky weekend for me all around – but it’s nice to have at least third place and a trophy to take home – but the main thing, like I said before, is to learn from this weekend – but yeah, we have to be happy as a team to get such a good amount of points against Ferrari. So good weekend for us in the end.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto Week) Lewis, on about lap 44 you lost a lot of time and there was a radio exchange with the team, can you explain what was going on there – they were asking you to back something up?

    LH: Lap 44?

    You lost around 2.5s and the team said something about backing the field up.

    LH: Was that after the Safety Car? Yeah. I had a lot of pace at the time and I was pulling a decent chunk per lap and I think the team didn’t want me to continue to pull, and for us to all open up and a potential Safety Car window open up for Daniel. If a Safety Car window opened up and a Safety Car came out, he could have stopped and potentially jumped us or had better performance with the next set of tyres, so it was really about not extending the pace there, so backed off and then it was too slow, so I had to pick up – because at the same time he was picking up pace, so that was really why.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, how surprised are you that you have a hat-trick of wins after the summer break?

    LH: Oh shoot, it is, isn’t it? I didn’t really realise that. Going into the break, Ferrari were incredibly strong in Hungary. We had the great British Grand Prix and then I didn’t really know what to expect coming back. You come into these races and you don’t… obviously we came here, we anticipated that Red Bull would be particularly quick, we thought Ferrari would be quick but we were hopeful that we might still be within the battle and obviously in the dry conditions we were nowhere. So to come to our weak… probably our weakest circuit, perhaps second or first to Monaco, and to win is obviously a great result. The goal has been to – since the break – has been to come and win every race, that’s always the goal, is to win every race but I’m very very happy with the tally right this second and I want to continue it, I want to keep it up. As I said, Red Bull have been putting in some great performances and Daniel is always very very consistent in his races so we’ve just got to stay on our toes and keep trying to extract everything out of this car. I think this weekend, and particularly this race showing the conditions really shows the strengths and weaknesses of our car and the characteristics and we understand what we can do, potentially for the future, to make it better. It won’t happen with this car, potentially for the next one. We’ve just got to make sure we do it, that it doesn’t make it worse because it’s actually pretty good elsewhere.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, what are the races you think Ferrari could be better than you or Red Bull?

    LH: What do we have coming up? We have Malaysia… we should be, I think we should be OK. Then we have Japan, high downforce circuit; could be close, Red Bulls are very very strong at that circuit but I think we might be… it won’t definitely be our strongest circuit and then we’ve got Mexico, I think we’ll be… Austin, I think we’ll be fine. I think Brazil would be a place where these guys will be particularly strong. Ferrari will be particularly strong. Honestly, I think it’s going to be very close in the next races. It’s hard to predict, as I said, but I think that one particularly… and maybe when you go to Mexico, for example, you’ve put your maximum downforce on but because it’s so high there’s little drag and maybe the cars that have a little bit more downforce might just have the edge on us but it’s all hearsay. We’ll find out when we get there.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Lewis, have you been surprised by Sebastian at the start, that he pulled to the left that far because it opened up some space for you?

    LH: He didn’t open space for me because I was behind Daniel. At that time, once I got to turn one I realised I was kind of alongside Sebastian but as I pulled away, I was only focused on trying to get away faster than Daniel. I saw Kimi so I was just keeping an eye on what’s happening on my left side and if some drama was going to happen I was just going to have to go straight at turn one and not get collected which I was conscious of. I think Sebastian… often – when you look at my last start at Monza – when you pull away, you can’t actually see the guy who’s in second place, they’re generally in your blind spot if they get as good a start as you and it’s difficult to know where they are so all you’ve got to do, you’ve got to start, your immediate thought is to cover your ground, get to the inside and cover and turn them down, so I assume that’s what he did. At least, when you do that, then all of a sudden they appear in your mirror so you can understand where they are or in your peripheral view. But sometimes you do it and you realise you’re ahead so you actually didn’t need to. I don’t if Sebastian felt that way or not.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto Week) Lewis, would you describe from a championship point of view, today being the perfect result for you?

    LH: Of course. That answer is pretty obvious. Today was… it couldn’t be a more perfect scenario really  for us, as I said, being that we are at a circuit where they were in another world in hotter, drier conditions and we really had not a lot of hope, we really had to just bank on potentially a good start and maybe a bit of strategy, just to get us one or two places… it was going to be one place maybe  or hope for reliability for another car but for the rain to fall, I was so happy, you can’t imagine how happy I was. Normally when it rains, you’re kind of a little bit apprehensive, it’s a little bit nerve wracking, isn’t it, because it makes it so much trickier for us and here we’ve never even driven in the rain so… but for me, I’m kind of like… yes. I think there’s a couple of us that particularly love those conditions more than maybe others. I just know that… when those conditions happen it’s more of a lottery, there’s more opportunity, it levels the playing field and then there’s a real race and that’s what I was excited to have. A bunch of cars went missing and then I was like I still have to try to enjoy it and it was still a massive challenge, I could have easily just binned it. I think just generally, through the whole race, I kept… every now and then, Senna pops into my mind… his Monaco Grand Prix where he was obviously in the lead and hit the wall and that always comes in and reminds me not to do that. I’ve had experiences like that but I learnt that lesson, that always just comes in and reminds me in the back of my mind, it’s almost like he talks to me, just stay focused, keep it together.

    Q: (Bharat Sharma – Press Trust of India) Lewis, would you end up re-assessing your future if you end up winning a fourth World title and have you ever thought about getting close to Michael’s tally?

    LH: Honestly, I’m working just step by step, trying to… it’s hard enough to get these championships won one at a time, it’s hard enough just to get this fourth one. My goal is just to… I’m loving driving more than ever. I feel like I’m driving better than ever. Often, I guess, it’s easy to say that but I really feel that I’m… I feel the most whole as a driver that I’ve ever been which is a great feeling. And as I said, I’m enjoying it more than ever, I’m enjoying the challenge, the fact that we don’t… we have a balanced car alongside a Ferrari and sometimes a Red Bull so it’s great to be able to be challenged by another team and really have to play on your qualities and work on your weaknesses. But at the end of every season, you always have a think about your future, you’re always assessing… you set a five year plan… for me personally I set a good five year plan but it gets altered every year as you add another year onto it. Currently it’s quite clear for me. Who knows if we’re going to get anywhere near Michael? I mean that was… his records are so… seven championships, I personally don’t have a desire to chase that. I don’t know how the other drivers feel about that but the wins feel more exciting to try and chase. Records are there to be broken so at some stage someone will break them, whether it’s me, I can’t tell you.

    Q: (Andreas Haupt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, you mentioned some problems with your car, especially with the gearbox, you had to manage. Could you give us some more details about it please?

    DR:  Yeah, I’m actually not too sure what the issue was but I was just advised to do some short shifts from fairly early in the race and I was then reminded to continue to do that up to the end. Yeah, obviously there were probably some issues going on and that was a way of managing it. I think that was the main thing. But I’m not sure the reason, but that’s what I was told to do.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport Week.com) Daniel, you came into this race very stoked, you wanted to win it, you said you were going to win it and obviously things panned out a little differently. You have six races left, do you feel the same way about any of those six, are you aiming for one or two of them?

    DR: Because people from the outside are probably thinking well, doesn’t every driver feel they can win when they rock up.  That’s obviously the mindset that coming here, I really felt the package we were coming with was a realistic goal of ours that we thought we could achieve. That was kind of where I was coming off with that. Malaysia, obviously there were a few incidents last year but I think our general pace wasn’t too bad so we might be stronger than we think there. Malaysia, Japan and then we’ll see. I think we can be podium cars, probably Malaysia, Japan, Austin. But yeah, we might need some alternate conditions to really give us raw pace to fight for a win. Yeah, I’m not going to sit here and say we’re not going to win one. I believe we’ll get at least one chance somewhere.

     

    eom/FIA press release of the transcript

  • Gaurav Gill beats teammate to take Hokkaido win: APRC

    Hokkaido, 17 Sept 2017: India’s Gaurav Gill has won the 2017 Rally of Hokkaido in his MRF Team Skoda and moved into the lead of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship points, ahead of the final round in India, late November.

    There was high drama on the first morning when four of Gill’s main rivals retired on Stage 3, including his MRF team-mate Ole Christian Veiby from Norway.

    Gill though completed both days with no problems and prior to celebrating on the finish podium said ” Its been a perfect weekend, getting maximum points. Most importantly I’m back in the championship and the last round is in India, my home country. Japan as always is difficult with such high speeds and rough roads, however we had the perfect tyre choice and the perfect car from our team MRF Skoda. Would have been good to have OC in the fight but unfortunately he went off yesterday – we had a great weekend, overall very satisfying.

    Arriving in Hokkaido Veiby led the championship points but his off road excursion on Day 1 means the title will now be decided in India, “Saturday was a big disappointment we had some problems with a damper, after that we went a little bit off and we got stuck. Today was really good and I think we got some good points. The championship is still on and its going to be a very exciting rally in India”, said Veiby at final service.

    Behind, it was Mpart’s Robert Blomberg (co-driver Lars Andersson) in the Mitsubishi Mirage taking his first podium of the seasom, finishing 11m41.4s aloof Gill.

    The Swedish driver inherited second after Cusco Racing’s Yuyi Sumiyama (co-driver co-driver Takahiro Yasui) in the Skoda R5 was forced to retire in SS12 due to mechanical issues.

    Third in the APRC class went to Fuyuhiko Takahashi (co-driver Mitsuo Nakamura) in the Subaru Impreza. He was fourth overall in Rally Hokkaido, which was run alongside the Japanese Rally Championship.

    Returning after Leg 1 retirements were MRF Skoda’s Ole Christian Veiby (co-driver Stig Skjarmoen) in his Skoda R5 and Mpart Sport’s Sanjay Takale (co-driver Noriko Takeshita) in his Mitsubishi Mirage in Leg 2.

    The duo had a huge gap to bridge down with the leaders. In the end, Takale finished fourth, while Veiby was fifth in the APRC class – the latter also managing to eke out two stage wins (SS13 & SS15). They were 15th and 16th overall respectively.

    The title fight goes into the final rally of the 2017 season, with the Rally of India to be held during the November 24-26 weekend​