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  • Bottas edges past Vettel for Austin pole; Hamilton to start on P5

    Bottas edges past Vettel for Austin pole; Hamilton to start on P5

    By Abhishek Aggarwal

    Valtteri Bottas in action on Saturday. Photos by Abhishek Aggarwal

    Austin, 2 Nov 2019: The pole position in Austin was decided by Twelve thousandths of a second. That was the infinitesimal gap that separated Sebastian Vettel from Valtteri Bottas’ pole times in qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix, the 19th round of the 21-event FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

    Thus it was even stevens, with the Silver Arrows stopping the dominance of the Ferraris in the qualifying sessions. Now both Mercedes and Ferrari have 9 pole each this year, with Max Verstappen being the fastest in Hungary. The German will thus start from second on the grid, when the race gets underway on Sunday night at 11.30 IST (13.10 local -20.10 CET).

    So it is Bottas, Vettel, Verstappen and right behind him will be Charles Leclerc, who had to settle for fourth place, these top four drivers were within 108 thousandths. Then comes the champion, Lewis Hamilton who will start on P5.

    Valtteri Bottas put himself in the best position to keep his slim Formula 1 title chances alive by claiming his fifth pole position of the season. But it would be easy for Hamilton, who just needs to finish sixth, even if Bottas wins the race, so as to defend his title.

    After finishing fifth and sixth in the opening two segments of qualifying in Austin, Bottas upped the pace in the first runs of Q3 to set an unbeatable time of 1:32.029. Vettel got closest, posting a first-run time of 1:32.041 but with only Max Verstappen improving slightly on his final run to keep third place, Bottas took his 11th career pole, just 0.012s ahead of Vettel.

    Another equation where Bottas can keep his title hopes alive is a must-win situation and if he adds fastest lap, he can hope that Hamilton finishes outside the top eight…

    Hamilton was able to give himself every chance of taking the four points that would bring with fifth place in qualifying thanks to a time of 1:32.321.

    Hamilton set the pace in the opening phase of Q1, with the Mercedes driver setting a best time of 1:33.454 that left him a little under a tenth of a second ahead of Max Verstappen who held P2. Bottas was in third place at the end of the first sequence of runs, with Vettel fourth ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and the second Red Bull of Alex Albon.

    The top six elected to skip final runs in the segment and their absence allowed Lando Norris to vault up the timesheet, with the McLaren rookie claiming top spot thanks to a lap of 1:33.353. That put him a tenth of a second ahead of Hamilton with Verstappen third.

    Along with Norris a host of other drivers improved on their final runs, with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly jumping to fourth place ahead of Bottas and Vettel, and with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen jumping to seventh place ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.

    The improvements meant that Albon slid down the order, but in the end the the Red Bull driver’s lap of 1:33.984 was good enough for P11, just ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

    The talking point here on Saturday is the bumpy track and when asked how it may affect tyre management, Bottas said:  “I think with the bumps here, just the main place where it can really affect your race, if you have big lock-ups into Turn One under braking. Those are quite big bumps – but normally, even though, if you lock the wheels, you can recover. So, I don’t think it’s going to make like a massive difference. Every track, there’s tricky points, tricky places that you can really damage the tyres and, obviously, coming into the weekend and in the weekend we’ve done all the analysis already for the long runs in terms of, in theory, where are the best places to preserve the tyres, and where to be slightly cautious at times, when you can, and so on. So business as usual, I would say.”

    Eliminated at the end of Q1 were Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen in 16thand 17threspectively, followed by Williams’ George Russell, Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and the second Williams of Robert Kubica, adds a release.

    In Q2, it was Albion who set the pace in the first runs. While team-mate Verstappen and the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers went out on medium tyres, the Thai racer opted for soft compound Pirellis and he took P1with a time of 1:32.898 ahead of Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc and Vettel.

    Albon then sat out the final runs as the medium tyre runners from the first laps went out again on softs as a precautionary measure. As expected, though, Verstappen, Hamilton and Bottas aborted their laps in order to ensure a race start on medium tyres. The Ferrari drivers, though, bolted on a second set of medium tyres and went quicker, with Leclerc topping the segment with a lap of 1:32.760.

    Vettel took second ahead of Alex and Hamilton, with Max progressing in fifth place ahead of Bottas and Norris. Sainz went through in eighth ahead of Ricciardo and Gasly.

    Eliminated at the end of the second segment were 11th-placed Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, followed by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the second Haas of Romain Grosjean.

    It was Bottas who set the early pace in the final top-10 shoot-out. The Finn put in a lap of 1:32.029 to head Vettel by just 0.012s. Verstappen took third place with a time of 1:32.191, with Leclerc and Hamilton fourth and fifth.

    And that was how the order remained. Desperate to find an improvement, Bottas’ rivals pushed too hard and only Verstappen made a dent on his opening time – though his 1:32.096 was not enough to make up a place.

    Bottas therefore took the 11thpole position of his career, a hundredth of a second ahead of Vettel and just under seven hundredths clear of Verstappen. Leclerc will start from the back of row two, with Hamilton ahead of Alex on row three. Row four will feature the McLarens of Sainz and Norris and the last two top-10 places will be filled by Ricciardo and Gasly.

    2019 FIA Formula One United States Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:32.029 7 215.658
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:32.041 0.012 7 215.629
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:32.096 0.067 7 215.501
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.137 0.108 6 215.405
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.321 0.292 5 214.976
    6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:32.548 0.519 6 214.448
    7 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:32.847 0.818 6 213.758
    8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:33.175 1.146 6 213.005
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:33.488 1.459 3 212.292
    10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1:33.601 1.572 6 212.036
    11 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:33.815 1.055 6 211.552
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:33.979 1.219 6 211.183
    13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 1:33.989 1.229 6 211.160
    14 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:34.100 1.340 6 210.911
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:34.158 1.398 6 210.781
    16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.226 0.873 8 210.629
    17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.369 1.016 8 210.310
    18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:35.372 2.019 9 208.098
    19 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:35.808 2.455 5 207.151
    20 Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 1:35.889 2.536 9 206.976.

  • Fabio Quartararo claims stunning home pole for Petronas Yamaha SRT

    Fabio Quartararo claims stunning home pole for Petronas Yamaha SRT

    Marquez crashes out after shadowing the Frenchman in Q2, Yamaha lock out the front row

    Fabio Quartararo celebrates his pole posing to the onboard camera on Saturday. Photos by Srinivasa Krishnan

    Sepang, 2 Nov 2019: Fabio Quartararo took a sensational home GP pole position for Petronas Yamaha SRT in a hugely dramatic Q2 at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix; a stunning 1:58.303 meaning he saw off fellow Yamaha riders Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) in the fight for the top. Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez crashed out from following the Frenchman, and he’ll start P11.

    A frantic session started with Marquez backing out of his first flying lap, and soon after the 2019 World Champion was locked on to Quartararo. The rookie kept his head down on his first lap to take provisional pole, however, before Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) then took over at the summit in Q2.

    Quartararo remained unfazed though, firing in a stunner as Marquez quickly lost touch. The Hondas of Marquez and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) were unable to do anything about the flying Frenchman, but Viñales was the next to take up the challenge and he managed to edge him out by just 0.087.

    And then came the drama. As Quartararo headed out for his second run, Marquez rumbled out of pitlane right next to the Yamaha and shadowed him around Sepang, intent on remaining latched onto the rear of the fastest man on Friday. But would Quartararo ruin his next lap in order to not drag the World Champion round? The answer was no, and as the number 20 fired his Yamaha out of the final corner and down the straight, it was go time.

    Despatching Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) to latch back onto Quartararo, Marquez made Turn 1 in hot pursuit before it all went wrong soon after. Pushing to stay with the rookie, the reigning Champion then suddenly suffered a highside and tumbled off in to the gravel at Turn 2 as Quartararo continued his final charge.

    At the time of the crash, Marquez was fifth. As the red and yellow sectors lit up the timing screens for the rest, that started to look in doubt. And sure enough, it would all shuffle again. Quartararo was pulling out the tenths; 0.2 under halfway around the lap, 0.3 under at the third split…but would he hold on? A slight twitch at the final corner threatened to spoil a phenomenal lap but, although losing time, Quartararo took the chequered flag to take an immense fifth pole of 2019 and his sixth consecutive front row start.

    Viñales and Morbidelli make it a Yamaha front row lockout in Malaysia in second and third, with a Ducati, Honda and Yamaha making up the second row: Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) spearheads Row 3 in P7 ahead of Petrucci, with LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Johann Zarco having a sterling ride in Q2 to grab his best dry qualifying of the year in P9 – the second best Honda on the grid.

    Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) took P10 in the end and pipped the man he’s fought for the title for the last three years to the honour, with Marquez’ crash proving even more costly than it initially seemed and the number 93 down in P11 in his worst qualifying since Mugello 2015. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) took P12 to start alongside him.

    Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) complete the top fifteen.

    The Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix was already set up to impress, but a tale of two halves for Marquez and a few of his biggest rivals mean Sunday is really poised for a showdown. Who can take the heat? Find out at 15:00 (GMT +8) as the lights go out for the premier class.

    MotoGP Qualifying top-three:

    1 – Fabio Quartararo* (FRA – Yamaha) 1’58.303
    2 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) +0.103
    3 – Franco Morbidelli* (ITA – Yamaha) +0.129

    *Independent Team rider

    Here are some more photos from popular motorsports photographer Srinivasa Krishnan from Sepang to INDIAinF1:

  • Afridza Munandar killed in Sepang accident during Idemitsu Talent Cup

    Sepang, 2 Nov 2019: Following an incident in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup race at Sepang International Circuit on Saturday, it is with great sadness that we report the passing of Afridza Munandar.

    The incident occurred at Turn 10 on Lap 1, with the race Red Flagged immediately thereafter. The 20-year-old Indonesian first received medical attention by the side of the track before being transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital by helicopter.

    Despite the best efforts of circuit medical staff and those at the hospital, Munandar sadly succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.

    Munandar was a standout rider in the 2019 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup (IATC) season, taking two wins, two second places and two third-place finishes in a season that had seen him poised to fight for the Championship this weekend.

    The FIM, FIM Asia, Dorna Sports, and all those in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup pass on our deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Munandar.

    The Repsol Honda Team would like to extend their deepest condolences to the friends and family of Indonesia’s Afridza Munandar, who passed away today while racing in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup at the Sepang International Circuit.

    The INDIAinF1 team sends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family and to the entire racing fraternity and friends of the talented Indonesian rider.

  • Photo gallery from Abhishek Aggarwal in Austin

    Photo gallery from Abhishek Aggarwal in Austin

    By Abhishek Aggarwal

    Austin, 1 Nov 2019: The first two practice sessions on Friday at the US Grand Prix at the Ciruit of the Americas proved that the track is a bit tricky due to the bumpy nature.

    The first day of the weekend and the two practice sessions are done and the track (10 to 25 C) and air temperatures (5 to 15) were a bit colder than usual and as a result favoured some due to more downforce and thick air from the circuit. The first practice session saw Red Bull’s Max Verstrappen at the top whereas Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton topped the second practice session.

    Many felt that the track was a bit bumpy and the likes of Romain Grosjean (Turn 5 followed by a crash), Daniel Kvyat (Turn 17) and Sebastian Vettel (Turn 15) spun around while many of the drivers had lock-ups and showed break sparks followed by understeer.

    The first practice session also witnessed 2020 Test tires being used for the first time by both the drivers of Haas team and Lewis Hamilton, however the result wasn’t that favorable (+2 secs than the best lap) due to the drivers taking those runs a bit slow.

    At the team principals’ press conference, Mattia Binotto on being asked about this week’s race pace, said: “First, we are still lacking downforce compared to our competitors and that’s an area of weakness, something that we improved all through the season. I think that today we’ve got a good package but not good enough and we are very aware that having downforce is important, certainly on some circuits, like Budapest and Mexico. But if you look from Budapest to Mexico we did a great step forward in the right direction. So we will need to add further downforce, we will need to add further downforce for next season and that is important for the race pace, tyre degradation and so on. Adding downforce will mean adding drag and we will be slower then on the straight. But still today we believe we’ve got a good engine and that’s in our favour and we hope to keep the same advantage in the future.”
    Tomorrow’s qualifying will look interesting with both Max Verstappen and  Lewis Hamilton pushing hard and getting competition from the two Prancing Horses’ drivers.

    Here are some photos for INDIAinF1 from Austin on Friday:

  • We have a good engine and we hope to keep the advantage in future: Ferrari

    We have a good engine and we hope to keep the advantage in future: Ferrari

    Austin, 1 Nov 2019: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Zak BROWN (McLaren), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Claire Williams (Williams)

    The FIA Friday Press Conference in progress in Austin. Photo by Abhishek Aggarwal

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: The 2021 regulations are now locked-in, having been unanimously ratified by the World Council, so can we start please by getting your thoughts on them. Perhaps Mattia, you could start?

    Mattia BINOTTO: Obviously, as you said, it has been voted. As Ferrari we are part of the World Council, we voted as well in favour. We believe it is the right moment to look for a discontinuity, for our sport, it has to be sustainable, we are all aware of that. We need to work hard as well in the future on a more sustainable, green, as well, sport. There is a still much to work on, so if there is anything, I would avoid to say that it is locked down. I think this is still at a starting point where altogether now we need to collaborate, improve furthermore what is certainly a good set of regulations, but still much to develop, improve and certainly as well, looking at a more sustainable sport in the future, on the power unit, on the fuel, whatever can be done. I think that’s a responsibility we’ve all got together. So far, we collaborate well with FIA and F1 but still much to do.

    Q: Cyril?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Yes, I think it’s good that it’s done. It’s an important milestone but, as mentioned by Mattia, there is so much more to be one. I would still acknowledge a number of innovations in this set of regulations, because there will be a new set of regulations with the financial regulations that will complement technical and sporting. Otherwise it’s a compromise. Some people would have liked it to be a bit different, maybe a bit more open or a budget cap a bit lower, things like that – but it’s a first step, in my opinion a good step, it’s in Renault’s opinion a step that’s going in the right direction for a sustainable sport, so let’s see what’s coming next but it’s good now that we have clarity on what’s coming up for 2021. We can all now start building up this beautiful car that we have ahead of us, and start spending towards this new regulation.

    Q: Claire, your thoughts?

    Claire WILLIAMS: I think from a Williams perspective we’re delighted that that new regulations were approved by the World Motor Sport Council. They’re everything that we’ve wanted to see from the various perspectives, whether they be technical and most clearly the financial regulations that are coming on board for 2021 are exactly where we wanted to be. We understand that they’re a first step, moving forward but they’re certainly a right step in the direction that we wanted to ensure that the sport – but also teams like ours – remain sustainable for the future. I think we’re all very aware of how unsustainable at the moment Formula 1 is from a cost perspective. So, to have a level of cost-capping at this first juncture is really important to teams like ours. I don’t think that can be underestimated. The technical regulations as well are a step in the right direction. I think there’s probably some tweaking to do – but I think certainly as a first step they’re exactly what we wanted to see.

    Q: Zak?

    Zak BROWN: I agree with everything that’s been said before me. I think it’s a good day for Formula 1. I think it’s going to be exciting, 2021, because there’ll be much change. I think through this process, the Formula 1 teams got closer relationships with each other, which is something that, while we certainly still don’t all agree on everything, I think relationships have been built for the better of the sport. I also think working with Chase and Ross and the FIA, that’s been a good process. I’m sure we all would like to see some things modified but that’s always going to be the case. In our case, I think the budget cap, there was one area we would like to have seen something more aggressive, quicker, it would have been that, but it is what it is and I think most importantly we have clear direction moving forward.

    Q: And Franz?

    Franz TOST: All the parties have done a good job. That means Liberty Media, the FIA and the teams to come up with these new regulations – because all the main topics are covered. What are the main topics? The cost cap – because we need to come down with the costs in Formula 1; b) the money distribution: it’s more fair than it was before. Then the new technical regulations; the new sporting regulations and as well the governance. I think that’s an important time frame to bring everything within next year and then 2021 in the right direction. It’s a new start for Formula 1 and I hope it will be a successful start.

    Q: Zak, you’ve worked hard at restructuring McLaren over the last 18 months, so how much personal satisfaction does the prospect of P4 in the Constructors’ Championship give you?

    ZB: I’m very pleased with the season so far. There are still three races to go. We had a poor Mexico which I think was a good reminder that, while we’ve had a good year, with three races to go there’s plenty of points still up for grabs but certainly the off-season progress, the people that we’ve brought on board, Andreas leading the team, James Key, Andrea Stella getting promoted, and really all the men and women at McLaren. Our relationship with Renault, they’ve been an excellent partner. I’d like to give them a lot of credit for our success this year and our improvements. And yeah, it’s certainly a lot more enjoyable being at this Austin US Grand Prix than it was this time last year.

    Q: Cyril, while we’re talking about restructurings, you announced a reorganisation of your aero department this morning. Just tell us a little bit more about that. Why have you done that?

    CA: I think it’s fairly straightforward what we’re trying to achieve. This year has been marked be an amount of satisfaction but also some struggles. It’s clear that this position of P4 that we had last year is going to be challenging to retain this year, to say the least, against Zak. But I’m happy that it’s a Renault powertrain that’s going to maintain that spot in the future. We’re also in a close fight against Franz and Toro Rosso, and Racing Point, so a number of challenges. We’ve been focussed on growing, in terms of quantity, making up the numbers, it had to be done, but in parallel we need also to look for a bit stronger technical leadership and making the team stronger in that area where we were a bit lean at that level, so that’s exactly what we’ve gone by restructuring our aero department with a mix of external recruitment and internal promotion. So, I’m not going to go into the specifics but we all hope it’s going to support our best, all that there is to offer because aero department is a big department with very nice facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, so they need to know to deliver more.

    Q: Claire, Nico Hülkenberg has ruled out a move to Williams in 2020 and Nicholas Latifi is doing FP1 for the remainder of the season except for Abu Dhabi. Is that an indication of your plans for next year?

    CW: No, the plan was always to have Nicholas Latifi in the car for these practice session that you’re seeing him in, in the next couple of races and in Mexico as well. It’s no clear indication. We’ve made it very clear in the media that we won’t be making our driver announcement for that second seat for 2020 until after Abu Dhabi this year.

    Q: Franz, Pierre Gasly said yesterday that your car hasn’t changed much since he’s been back with the team – yet the results have been strong in the last few races. If what he says is the case, how do you explain the upturn in performance in recent races?

    FT: Maybe he slept not so good here. The car made some progress because we came up with a lot of aero updates, and don’t forget that also Honda also came with a new fuel, in Suzuka, which brought us a good performance advantage. Nevertheless, Pierre gets also more and more familiar with the car and with the team, and therefore he is showing a good performance and we are happy about this.

    Q: And you’ve finished in the points here for the last five years. Do you think you can do it again this weekend?

    FT: I hope so. This is the target. It’s not only to finish in the points. We should be really good in the points, to score a lot of points, not only one or two points. But we will see. Our competitors are very strong and it will become an interesting race.

    Q: Mattia, what’s your analysis of last weekend’s race in Mexico? Have you had a chance to look through what happened and how you can help yourself this weekend?

    MB: Well, what happened? Certainly when starting on the first row it’s always difficult somehow not to get the best result in the race but I think what happened is that first maybe we were not fast enough in the race, because if being faster they could not have undercut us. That’s the first analysis. Generally speaking, sometimes to win you need to take some more risks. And risk to me means somehow brave and brave enough means that maybe when Albon stopped we should not have stopped with Charles, staying out. But in doing that means that we were pretty sure the tyres would not have lasted to the end by stopping at that time, which was wrong, wrong assumption. So it means that in terms of tyre modelling, tyres understanding, there was still some tuning that was required. So now, they’re looking back at all the data. We are furthermore trying to improve our tyre model for a better understanding and that will give us in the future probably a better opportunity for a better choice.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Mattia. Your two drivers are fighting for the third place in the Championship. Is it an important thing for you? And the one who will finish ahead of the other, will be the team leader for next year?

    MB: OK. What is important for us, at first is to confirm the second place in the Constructors’, and hopefully we can do it here this weekend. What is still important for us is to add some victories for Ferrari team in the last few races. And I think very last is third place in the Drivers’. And then whoever will be… not important. With that said, the start of next year, not at all.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Line / Racefans.net) A question to Mattia. Obviously, you are on the WMSC and you voted in favour of the regulations. You also have a veto. Had you any stage considered triggering the veto about any aspect of the regulations or at the very least voting against the set of regulations?

    MB: As first, as we said, we voted in favour, so we are happy with the new set of regulations or if not happy then we are at least convinced it is the right way to go. Did we consider it in the past? I think as many times we answered to the same question, for us it was more important to collaborate with F1 and the FIA to makes sure that by the end of October we got the best package to be voted and I think that’s where we put our focus and put our effort. That’s all.

    Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – INDIAinF1.com) Mattia, last week in the post-race press conference Vettel mentioned that Ferrari cars are quickest in a straight line and the fact that the power unit is great, it’s just that there’s less downforce and that when the tyres get a bit older there’s some pressure. Now, given the fact that this track is more favourable with regard to downforce do you think Ferrari will have an edge this weekend?

    MB: No. I think of this as two different points. First, we are still lacking downforce compared to our competitors and that’s an area of weakness, something that we improved all through the season. I think that today we’ve got a good package but not good enough and we are very aware that having downforce is important, certainly on some circuits, like Budapest and Mexico. But if you look from Budapest to Mexico we did a great step forward in the right direction. So we will need to add further downforce, we will need to add further downforce for next season and that is important for the race pace, tyre degradation and so on. Adding downforce will mean adding drag and we will be slower then on the straight. But still today we believe we’ve got a good engine and that’s in our favour and we hope to keep the same advantage in the future.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all five please. The final regulations came out yesterday. They’ve been described as immature and underdeveloped in recent weeks. Now you’ve got the initial tranche of provisional regulations, I guess, are there any early red flags or concerns about areas that needs further development or are particularly green?

    FT: No. So far we have now a good basis on the technical regulations as well as the sporting regulations. Of course there will be further discussions and some fine tuning but the most important pillars are fixed and the rest then we will see.

    ZB: I agree with Franz. There are no red flags. Fine tuning the regulations… they’re quite complex and long and new, so I’m sure there will be questions, comments and modifications but nothing that appears to be alarming and no big, gaping holes at the moment.

    MB: No big issues. Certainly all the teams will start developing the cars for 2021 and put more effort and I’m pretty sure by putting more effort into it we will find out eventually some areas that will need to be further improved. But again, I think what will be important is the process of discussions, the process of regs modifications, which means as well a governance we need to put in place and that will be key from now to the start of 2021 and the earlier we do that the better it will be.

    CA: To pick up from where Mattia left it: to confirm all details of the governance, because in order to make changes as we develop the cars and as we face some unknowns or some loopholes, we need to see how we can fix what is missing from the regulations. The other aspect, the other chapter that is maybe not developed enough is maybe the roadmap on the engine side. We exactly know where we are on 2021, but fuel, bio-fuel, freeze, partial freeze, progressive freeze, complete freeze? In our opinion those aspects need to be addressed so that the economic side of the engine activity is also sustainable – just as sustainable as the chassis side.

    CW: I would agree with what everyone has said so far. I don’t think there are any red flags in there. I would also probably say use of the word ‘immature’ would be slightly unfair to the countless people that have put a huge amount of effort into these regulations on the side of the FIA and F1. A lot of people have been involved and a lot of people have spent many, many hours making sure that these regulations are in the best possible place that they can be up until this point. And I agree with everyone else that there is just some tweaking that needs to be done to them.

    Q: (Bernardo Becht – Correio do Povo) With the cost cap coming and these new regulations – for Zak and Claire, the teams most concerned – won’t there be two development teams for two cars until the cost cap coming in, stars to take place. Won’t it be harder to catch up? Ferrari and Mercedes will have two teams working to develop a 2020 and 2021 car. Won’t it be harder to catch up later, with less money, when there is a cost cap working?

    ZB: It’s hard to catch them right now. Ferrari and Mercedes are fantastic racing teams and they have tremendous resources. Yeah, this is going to be a journey, the cost cap. There will be a lot of spending in ’20 that will have implications for ’21. And of course once you get a head start when you see regulations, whether it’s on the power unit front, stability over time tends to bring things together. So, I think Ferrari and Mercedes are in a great position and we’re all trying to catch up and it will take some time.

    CW: Yeah, obviously, I think we’re in a slightly different position to McLaren. Our budget is much smaller than theirs. For teams like ours, for Alfa, for Haas, they’re operating on considerably less budget than the rest of the grid. It’s a really difficult piece of work at the moment to try to marry up the programmes we are running for not just this year but for next year and ’21. But I would say it is probably the lesser of two evils. We did try, in the Strategy Group, to see if we could bring the cost cap in earlier, so the bigger teams wouldn’t have to spend all this money they’re worried about spending for next year. That would be clearly a bonus. There’s clearly going to need to be some convergence, which I’m sure we will see – we’ve got stability on these regulations for five years from ’21 and beyond. It is difficult. It is incredibly difficult. But these regulations, particularly as I said earlier, the financial regulations that we are seeing, are the right things for teams like ours that are truly independent and rely solely on sponsorship.

    FT: Yeah, I mean it’s clear that the top teams have an advantage. They will use the next year, even this year already for developing the ’21 car. They will have this performance advantage for ’21. The cost cap, real, will count from 2022 and ’23 onwards – 2021 will be a difficult one. But this was discussed anyway.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Autoweek) We’re talking about saving money and we’re increasing the number of races. Now, there is a cost to that, financial and human. I’d like to hear your views on whether 25 races is too much? To everyone.

    CW: Twenty-five is a lot of races, you quite right. Looking at 22 for next year is an awful lot and all the teams are having to look at the impact of that on personnel, just purely from a lifestyle perspective and having that work-life balance, it’s incredibly difficult. We’ve all got support personnel that we can rotate in and out. I think obviously for the bigger teams it might be an easier challenge from that perspective: they have a bigger budget in order to bring in more people in order to support that rotation. It is difficult. From a financial perspective though there is an offset, so obviously we go to more races, there is more money in the pot that then gets distributed. So really from an offset financial piece, it’s not the end of the world. It’s more managing people, the people we have working for us and not putting too much pressure on them for 25 weekends a year.

    CA: I think it’s a good summary. I’m pretty sure that the figures can work, so it can still be economically positive to expand the calendar, to increase the number of races, but as Claire mentioned it’s really a stretch for everyone and I think the main questions is a question of quantity versus quality. But having said that we live in a world where we need to have as much and as frequent touch points as possible with the fans, with the media, with digital, creating content. We are in a world of content, where you need market share, you need to visible, you need the exposure. It’s a difficult one, probably not one for us to answer, probably one for the promoter mainly. It’s a stretch for all of us. In my opinion the measure made on the sporting side to sort of reduce the weekend are going in the right direction, it doesn’t really balance enough of what an expansion of the calendar will mean in the future.

    MB: I think there is not a clear answer, and by not having a clear answer it means it’s a good question. I think we are not all convinced at the moment. I think it’s part of the discussions we may need to have with F1. It is a compromise at the end. It is an extra effort financially and I’m even not too sure it will be to our benefit. It depends on where we are going racing in the extra races. How much are the revenues for those ones. There are a lot of points that will need to be addressed on the number of races. But still, again, it’s a matter of being positive, collaborative and finding all together the right answer.

    ZB: I think my only build is I’d like to maybe see alternating races as a potential solution. I think when you have new countries that want to embrace Formula 1, that is a good things and it exposes us to new parts of the world, but maybe instead of having 25 races, which I think is achievable, though it would require doing things differently than we do today, then I think maybe alternating some races on the calendar would be a good compromise to grow the sport without straining the system as much as I think 25 races would.

    FT: There is nothing to add, everything has been mentioned.

    Q: (Jean-Louis Doublet – Agence France Presse) The track looks much bumpier this year than it was last year; do you think it could create problems with the integrity of the cars during the race?

    FT: So far I don’t expect any problems. The engineers have time to analyse all the data and then I’m convinced they will find a correct set-up, even for a bumpy track. I don’t expect any problems in this case.

    ZB: It certainly looked bumpy from what I saw on the screens from the first session. I’ve not had a chance to speak with the drivers to get their feedback. I’m not worried about the integrity of the car. Could catch a driver or two out in the race, there were definitely a few drivers going off the track so it could create some excitement.

    MB: Yeah, certainly bumpy. I think that to say right now that it will not affect the reliability would be very brave because later on in the race weekend we may find the opposite. As a matter of fact this morning, with Charles, we had a small inconvenience due to, we believe, on a bump, a small issue happened just as an example so yes, it needs to be managed, we all need to be aware of it and making sure that it doesn’t affect the result.

    CA: Not much to add. I think it’s in addition to the reliability, it can also affect the set-ups and finding the proper balance between sector one with the understeer that you can create on those bumps, that you can fight but to the expense of what you get in sector and stability and oversteer. So it will be a compromise, might be an interesting chance for all of us.

    CW: Our engineers were talking about it this morning, how bumpy it is and Nicolas was reporting particularly turn one and two were particularly difficult to get round, I think. Just from our perspective, we’ve had a lot of race attrition over the past three or four races and we just would like a very clean weekend so that our poor manufacturing guys don’t have to do a whole lot of work after this race going into Brazil.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City Radio) Zak, do technology fans need to worry about the 2021 rules with cost caps? Cars look great but technology fans don’t want F1 not to be at the pinnacle.

    ZB: No, I don’t think they have anything to worry about. Formula One’s always been the pinnacle of motor sport, unbelievable technologies and I think where things are going with the broadcasts and social media I think the way that we communicate with fans via technology is actually just going to increase so I think fans have plenty to be excited about for the future of Formula One.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, MotorsportWeek.com) For Franz, Zak and Cyril with perhaps some comments from Mattia and Claire: that dreaded word Brexit looks like it’s headed sometime before January 31. With Zak and Franz and Cyril having facilities in and out of the European Union, what measures have you taken that your daily workload isn’t increased and there are no problems going forward. And perhaps Claire and Mattia, have you made any preparations for Brexit, has it wasted a lot of money so far? Any other comments?

    CA: I have to say that I have lost this plot a bit recently but yeah, we’re working, we have some measures in place. I think we know how things are going to take place and shape up for anything related to races. We are not totally clear on the logistics between our two factories, one being in France, the other one being in the UK, that could cause some delay and that’s still unclear. We are working with the Renault-Nissan Group on the logistics side to make sure that we understand exactly… we have access to the authorities and then they will be able to help us in that respect so we are lucky to be part of a group in that respect. On the personnel side – because we’ve recruited a lot, 24 nationalities working in our factory in the UK, obviously we don’t want to lose these people, so we understand that there will be some sort of grandfathering, some measures to protect them, at least for initial years, until we know a bit more about the exact measures but again, I think we first need clarity about Brexit itself.

    FT: I was at the wind tunnel in Bicester on Tuesday when we discussed this topic for quite a long time. You know the major issues are logistics and of course the people, the employees who are working there, not coming from England and currently it’s difficult to make a plan and a programme because we don’t know all… at least the final process. Once this is out, once first of all if they decide the Brexit, that they know what they do, or what they want to do and then we have to sit once more together and find the best possible way.

    ZB: We have a team back at the factory, a little Brexit working group so we’re prepared for it. I think it will impact everyone’s business to a certain degree but fortunately it’s been going on long enough that I don’t think there will be any surprises and we’ll be working around it accordingly.

    Q: Mattia, any Brexit thoughts?

    MB: No, not really. We do not have a working group, at least in Maranello on that one. Obviously we will need to take care for our people we’ve got, for UK people in Italy but it’s not worrying us, certainly.

    CW: Like Zak says, we’ve had a steering committee on this for the past year now because there are clearly a lot of touch points that are going to have an impact when it eventually does happen around personnel in particular. I think Cyril said he has 24 nationalities, we have 28. There are a lot of considerations on obviously not just the people who are working for us but their families as well, whether they are based with those people in the UK or whether they are in Europe. There are issues around foreign exchange, around freight, crossing through borders, people crossing through borders, so there’s a lot of working that’s going on and obviously with the continued uncertainty that makes life a bit difficult so we’re looking forward to the whole thing being resolved sooner rather than later and we can all move on from that.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / Racefans.net) I believe you’ve very recently received your draft commercial offers, let’s call it the Concorde Agreement. Is this is a good document, acceptable document for your business models or is it just a good starting point for negotiations?

    MB: So through that, we just voted the new set of regulations but the entire Concorde Agreement needs to be discussed and agreed and signed, that’s on the commercial button, the governance as well. Working group have been set, to start discussing the details of the documents. I think it’s only after having seen the details that we may assess where we are and what’s required.

    ZB: Same as Mattia. We’re going through it, it’s a long complicated document, no major red flags and we’ve got the necessary people within our group going through it to all contribute to questions, comments that we have so I think like any legal document, there’ll be lots of commentary but we’re pretty comfortable with what’s been presented.

    FT: The basis is OK, we are working on it, our people and so far I haven’t seen any big dramas or red flags. I think the document itself is so far acceptable. Once more, we are still studying it.

    CA: Well, I hope and believe that the principles of Concorde are more or less in a good place. Maybe not everyone will agree with that but I’m talking really about the key principles but clearly we are not dealing with the details… You are both looking at me. Am I going too far? No, frankly I don’t expect any major renegotiations of Concorde terms, what’s been proposed, because that’s something also that’s part of the discussion of the whole package, even though it’s not been signed up so anyone is free to sign or not to sign but clearly I expect that the details of the drafting of the document to take much longer – we all know that when one lawyer gets involved so at least we have twelve lawyers. So that’s going to take a bit of time probably to get a grid.

    CW: I don’t have much to add. Everyone has said what I would say. We’re looking through it and we haven’t seen any red flags to date.

    Ends

  • Lewis Hamilton quickest in FP2: US GP

    Austin, 1 Nov 2019: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton went quickest in the second practice session for the United States Grand Prix, lapping three tenths of a second faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and third-placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen

    Leclerc led the way in the early part of the 90-minute session, with the Monegasque racer climbing to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:34.434 on medium compound Pirelli tyres as Hamilton restricted himself to the hard compound.

    Prior to Leclerc’s table topper the opening phase session was briefly interrupted when Romain Grosjean crashed in Turn 5. The Haas driver lost control and arrowed into the barriers. The incident brought out the red flags while the Frenchman’s car was recovered.

    Halfway through the session the field began to migrate to soft tyres for qualifying simulations and again it was Leclerc who initially set the pace with a time of 1:33.553, though the Ferrari driver might have gone quicker if not for a slightly slow final sector.

    It was left to Hamilton to lead the way and just a couple of minutes after Leclerc has established the benchmark the Briton crossed the line in a 1:33.232 to beat the young Ferrari star by 0.301 with Verstappen 0.014s further back.

    Sebastian Vettel was fourth in the second Ferrari, though the German was more than three tenths of a second slower than team-mate Leclerc and some 0.658s behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas was fifth in the second Mercedes, while Alex Albon finished sixth in the second Red Bull.

    Best of the rest honours went to Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman couldn’t match the fourth pace he’d reached in the morning session but his lap of 1:34.509, 1.277 off Hamilton was good enough for seventh place and continued the Toro Rosso driver’s good start to the weekend.
    Carlos Sainz took eighth place for McLaren 34, a little under two tenths behind Gasly, Lance Stroll was ninth for Racing Point and the final top-10 position went to Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

    2019 FIA Formula One United States Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 34 1:33.232
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 33 1:33.533 0.301
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 28 1:33.547 0.315
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 35 1:33.890 0.658
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 34 1:34.045 0.813
    6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 32 1:34.434 1.202
    7 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 31 1:34.509 1.277
    8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 34 1:34.667 1.435
    9 Lance Stroll Racing Point 29 1:34.744 1.512
    10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 29 1:34.839 1.607
    11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 29 1:34.924 1.692
    12 Federation Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 36 1:34.975 1.743
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 32 1:34.988 1.756
    14 Lando Norris McLaren 30 1:35.025 1.793
    15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 26 1:35.109 1.877
    16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 34 1:35.387 2.155
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 28 1:35.442 2.210
    18 Romain Grosjean Haas 4 1:35.789 2.557
    19 George Russell Williams 37 1:36.749 3.517
    20 Robert Kubica Williams 33 1:37.283 4.051.

  • Mohamed Mikail selected for Asia Talent Cup

    Mohamed Mikail selected for Asia Talent Cup

    Mohamed Mikail of India (standing – centre) is selected for the 2020 Asia Talent Cup grid. INDIAinF1 image

    Sepang, 1 Nov 2019: Honda 2Wheelers India announced that Mohamed Mikail, the Indian National NSF250R Champion and the 2018 Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt find is selected to join the prestigious 2020 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup (IATC) grid.

    Just two years into racing with Honda, the 15-year-old Mohamed Mikail from Chennai was among the five young riders from India to participate in the selection for 2020 season of IATC at Sepang circuit of Malaysia that concluded on Nov 1. These included 13-year-old Sarthak Shrikant Chavan from Pune, 14-year-old Kavin Samaar Quintal, 15-year-old Geoffrey and 16-year-old Varoon S from Chennai.

    Since its inaugural season in 2014, the Asia Talent Cup is Dorna’s development platform for young riders in the Asia and Oceania region. One of the key objective is to ensure development of future generations of such new talented riders, who will eventually take the place of current stars of MotoGP and WorldSBK.

    Honda Racing India’s Mikail journeys from 90 registrations to final 12:

    This year’s the Selection Event saw drier skies than last year, allowing nearly 90 young riders from over 15 countries to prove their racing mettle throughout the day around Sepang Go-Kart track. After 3 consecutive short listings based on actual riding, the Selection Committee, led by Talent Promotion Director Alberto Puig (a former premier class racer and renowned talent scout) selected a total of 17 riders from India, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and Turkey. While 12 selected riders including India’s Mikail are selected to join the grid next year, another 5 are on the reserve list.

    Talking about Honda’s plans to nurture Indian riders Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said: “In 2018, Honda announced its biggest racing shift. Since then, our focus is to develop next-generation Indian rider for the world. Our first step was to identify high-potential riders as young as 13 years with our Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt. These stars of future were further armed with the world class racing infrastructure. We were the first to bring NSF250R, Honda’s Moto3 race machine for Indian riders. In our journey to develop a top Indian rider for MotoGP, we are giving young Indian riders international racing opportunities like ARRC and Thailand Talent Cup. We are confident that, boosted by his team, Mikhail will make India proud at world stage and inspire young riders like him.”

    Mohamed Mikail’s racing journey began in 2018, when the Chennai racing prodigy was first identified by Honda 2Wheelers India in the Season 1 of Honda Talent Hunt.

    In his inaugural year itself, 15 year-old Mikail showed raw racing talent and closed the season as Champion of in CBR 150R class. Spotting his potential earlier on, Honda put him on an accelerated growth path.

    In 2019, Mikail got his first international racing taste in the ongoing Thailand Talent Cup. In the national road racing scenario too, Mikail was also among first 8 next-gen Indian riders to get the opportunity to race on NSF250R – Honda’s legendary Moto3 race machine platform. Showing true challenging spirit, Mikhail created a new best ever lap time record on a 250cc motorcycle at MMRT circuit (Chennai) and ultimately won the inaugural Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup in NSF250R class too.

    Mohamed Mikail said:  “First, I would like to thank Honda 2Wheelers India, my team and our sponsors for giving me this big opportunity to race on the world stage. My racing journey ever since Honda 2Wheelers India shortlisted me in 2018 season of Honda Talent Hunt has been nothing short of a dream come true. With Honda  giving wings to me, I got the opportunity to improve my skills internationally with best of Thai riders in 2019 Thailand Talent Cup. Thanks to NSF250R bikes, Honda’s Moto3 platform machine, I feel more confident on this world class race machine. As the solo Honda rider from India, I will work hard with the team and do my best in every race.”

    2020 Asia Talent Cup race calendar:

    For Mohamed Mikail and the other Asia-Oceania stars of the future, racing action starts from February 2020 with pre-season testing. This will give Mikail a closer look at the characteristics of the Honda NSF250R Moto3 bikes and his competition. This will also help him learn the trajectories, response of the suspension, and also better his understanding of the limits of braking – a challenge for the talented young riders as they take a step up onto this more demanding machinery.

    Overall, the 7th edition of Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup will be a 12-race championship held over 6 rounds from March to November 2020. The 2020 season kick-starts from Qatar (Losail circuit) and then travels to Thailand (Buriram) in the MotoGP weekends. Round 3 at Australia (Bend) and Round 4 at Malaysia (Sepang) will be staged alongside the Australian & Malaysian Superbike Championships. The last 2 rounds will once again see Asia’s young stars battle it out in Japan (Motegi) and then Malaysia (Sepang) in MotoGP race weekends.

  • Fabio Quartararo eclipses the field on another record-breaking Friday

    Fabio Quartararo eclipses the field on another record-breaking Friday

    The Frenchman leads a Petronas Yamaha SRT 1-2, breaking the lap record not once, but twice

    Fabio Quartararo sets the best lap with a record to boost in practice. Photos by Srinivasa Krishnan from Sepang

    Sepang, 1 Nov 2019: Breaking the lap record seems a good way to start your team’s home Grand Prix, so doing it once in FP1 and again in FP2 makes it an even better Friday for Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Frenchman was over half a second clear, but it was teammate Franco Morbidelli who was closest to him by the end of play, making it double delight for the team. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) rounded out the top three.

    Day 1 was dry but it’s a mix of FP1 and FP2 times at the top, although Quartararo’s best lap in FP1 would still have been enough to take to the top. In the afternoon he unleashed even more pace to stretch his advantage, however, smashing Dani Pedrosa’s former lap record even further. Morbidelli was nevertheless impressive in second, his lap from FP1, and all Yamahas were at the front as Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Valentino Rossi locked out the top five – the former from a lap in the morning and the latter, afternoon.

    Marc Marquez at Sepang on Friday.

     

    That makes Dovizioso the only non-Iwata marque machine in the mix after the opening day’s action, with reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) the next closest but a couple of tenths off Rossi. He was sixth on Friday, his FP1 time his best, and began that very session with a trademark save on the edge. There was also an interesting extra spotted on his machine: a second lever on the left handlebar. What was it? A rear brake lever, although the number 93 says it’ll go back in the box for now as it isn’t ready to race.

    Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) put Suzuki in seventh, his laptime from FP1, ahead of Quartararo’s closest rival for the title of top Independent Team rider in 2019: Jack Miller (Pramac Racing). An impressive showing from Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) put the Noale factory in ninth, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) rounding out what could prove a pivotal top ten.

    Number 63 Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) just missed the cut by a seemingly grudge-bearing margin of just 0.063 as he was 11th, just ahead of fellow rookie Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) had a tougher day in P13, with Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) rounding out the fastest fifteen on Friday, with Frenchman despite a slow lowside.

    The likes of Petrucci, Mir and Bagnaia will have their eyes to the skies on Saturday as once again the forecast looks set to close in and throw a spanner in the works of improving laptimes in FP3, and then there’s qualifying itself from 15:05 (GMT +8). Can Quartararo keep the momentum on Saturday? Will the likes of Marquez – out solely for speed – strike back? Stay tuned.

    Friday’s MotoGP top results:

    1 – Fabio Quartararo* (FRA – Yamaha) 1’58.576
    2 – Franco Morbidelli* (ITA – Yamaha) +0.534
    3 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA – Ducati) +0.630
    4 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) +0.642
    5 – Valentino Rossi (ITA – Yamaha) +0.708

    *Independent Team rider

    Here are some more photos from popular motorsports photographer Srinivasa Krishnan from Sepang to INDIAinF1:

  • Drivers talk about the 2021 car at the FIA Thursday Press Meet

    Drivers talk about the 2021 car at the FIA Thursday Press Meet

    F1 drivers at the FIA Thursday Press Conference with the 2021 car. An FIA image

    DRIVERS – George RUSSELL (Williams), Lance STROLL (Racing Point), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Lando NORRIS (McLaren), Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Gentlemen, you can see the 2021 car sitting in front of you. I’d like to start by asking you all about it, the car and the general direction of Formula 1 in a couple of years’ time? Max, if we can start with you, please?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: It’s a bit small!

    Lando NORRIS: I was going to say that! That’s my joke!

    MV: Yeah, also for us it’s still early days. I haven’t really looked through all the things – I mean it’s just announced. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how it looks like or whatever, as long as it gives us better racing and we can follow better. Of course we want to be within two seconds, three seconds of what we are doing now, definitely, because if it’s going to be about four or five it’s not what we want, because then it feels a bit too slow. But I think this is just the start of it and I’m sure that teams will come up with a little bit of a different look as well, so let’s just find out over time how it’s going to work out.

    Q: Ross Brawn has just said that lap times will be similar to 2016.

    MV: Yeah, I guess… To be honest I didn’t really enjoy driving the cars as much back then as I do now, but of course you have to find a middle way in terms of what you want with following and stuff like that. Anyway, throughout the season the cars will improve.

    Q: OK, let’s get some other thoughts: George?

    George RUSSELL: Yeah, from my side it doesn’t really matter how it looks or the speed of it as long as we have great racing. I think that’s what we all want. Obviously the weight is heavier which I think is not ideal for any of us. I mean, even driving like a Formula 3 car it was really fun to drive but it was much lighter than what these Formula 1 cars are. But as long as it improves the racing and brings the field together that’s all I care about.

    Q: Lance?

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, not much more to add really. I think the main thing is to focus on the racing. We need to be able to follow closer to one another and to improve the wheel-to-wheel racing, the show for the fans, and I think for us drivers, too, it will be very exciting if we can see closer racing. Hopefully it levels the playing field as well. If we can see the gaps reduced to the top teams and there are more opportunities for the midfield teams to score podiums and to fight for positions further up the grid, that would be exciting.

    Q: Lando?

    Lando NORRIS: I think it’s pretty much been covered. As they all said as long as the racing’s better and we all have a chance to fight for wins in different races and as teams we can all fight for being a strong constructor, I think that’s the key thing. That’s about it.

    Q: Do you like the look?

    LN: I would change the paint scheme slightly! Apart from that, I think it’s alright. I mean, I’ve seen the renders our designers are designing and it looks pretty cool. I don’t really mind too much, that’s not what I’m fussed about. I’m just fussed about the racing and having fun and being able to follow cars closely and just enjoy racing more than what we do now.

    Q: And Pierre?

    Pierre GASLY: Well, I agree with all of them, so not much to add.

    Q: OK, well Lando, a frustrating race for both McLaren drivers in Mexico. What did you learn from your various problems in Mexico and do the temperatures we’re experiencing here in Austin worry you?

    LN: Yeah, not a great race for us as a team, especially after our qualifying position and a good chance to score some more points. I think there are obvious things… I think my race was put down fairly quickly with the pit stop. There’s something that’s easily known and understood in terms of what the problem was, but fixing it isn’t something that is going to happen overnight and it doesn’t happen often at the same time, so it’s not like we’re worried about pit stops or anything, it’s just we can be a bit unlucky and this time it was the first pit stop that I had where I was a but unlucky. I’m not so worried about that; the team have got solutions in the pipeline, which is a good thing for us. We just have to look on to this weekend. I wouldn’t say we are worried about the track temperatures or anything, it’s just how it is. It’s similar to Barcelona in pre-season. It might be a bit more difficult to get the tyres in the right window and so one, but I’m hoping it will play a little bit more to our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

    Q: And an opportunity to reflect on your first season in F1. What’s the take-home message from this year for you?

    LN: Meh.

    MV: You sound like a sheep. I think there is a meme incoming now.

    LN: I’m happy with bits of it. There are bits I’m not so happy with. I’ve not made any huge mistakes. I’ve not crashed a lot, I’ve not done anything stupid. But as a racing driver, and I’m sure all drivers on the whole grid would say the same, there’s always room for improvement and things they want to do better. So, I am happy, I think 90% of the things I’ve done, I think I’ve done them reasonably well. It’s just the smaller things – you mess up a qualifying lap or you don’t progress enough on how you work on the set-up with the engineers as much as you want. It’s just putting all the small things together. A bit of it comes with experience, but a bit of I don’t think I did a good enough job in. I’m happy, it’s been a good year, a very enjoyable year, but I want to make sure I come back next year and already in the next races in slightly stronger form.

    Q: Thanks Lando and good luck this weekend. Pierre, how’s your health?

    PG: Really good. I think that’s about 20 times people asked me since I arrived in the paddock today. It was a rough time last weekend, but everything’s perfect now.

    Q: How tough was that race? You finished ninth but you really weren’t… 

    PG: Yeah, it was probably one of the most challenging race weekends I’ve had…

    MV: The seat [inaudible]…

    PG: No, the seat was clean – nothing wrong with that. It was pretty tough from Saturday morning onwards, just in terms of energy and trying to keep the focus. It wasn’t an easy one but I’m happy we went through it. We managed to get the best result we could out of the weekend. Pretty strong qualifying and race, even though it wasn’t easy, but yeah, it was definitely a challenging one.

    Q: You say strong qualifying. Both Toro Rossos got into Q3. How much progress have you made with the car recently?

    PG: To be fair, the car is more or less the same as it was in the last couple of races, since I rejoined. But I think it’s just trying to extract the maximum from what we have and trying to find the set-up directions that suit tracks and what I need from the car. I must say I’m really happy with the way we’re working with the team. They are providing me with everything I need so we can extract everything from the car. So far we are doing well. We can always do better and we’ll try to keep that form in the next three races.

    Q: You say the team is giving you everything you needs. Confidence looks high. Are you driving better now than when you were with Red Bull Racing?

    PG: Not really. I didn’t learn or forget how to drive in a couple of months. It’s just a matter of putting everything together. As I said, I’m just focusing on the job to do with Toro Rosso. I think we are doing pretty well. There are always things we need to focus on and improve and that’s what we need to focus one.

    Q: Lance, if I could come to you now. Belated happy birthday. Turned 21 on Tuesday. What have you done since Mexico?

    Lance STROLL: I mean, just been laying low and enjoyed my birthday. It was nice… I went for dinner and was able to have my first drink in America! That’s a real breakthrough. First time ever in the United States. So that was a lot of fun – but in moderation, looking forward to this weekend. I’m a professional athlete, so I’ve got to be in the best shape I can be for the weekend – and here I am.

    Q: Now, it was a competitive showing by both Racing Points in Mexico. Was that track-specific or are you really starting to add performance to the car?

    LS: A bit of both. I didn’t have the best weekend myself. It was really my team-mate who had a solid weekend. On Saturday and especially Sunday I had a scruffy qualifying session and then my race was going well until the second stint where I got a lot of lapping events, graining etcetera. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way but we definitely had potential again to score points and it’s looking that way over the last five or six races since we brought the upgrade in Spa. That’s really positive. Looking good for the next three races.

    Q: George, coming on to you. The team has been introducing new parts in recent races. How much better is the car to drive now than it was at the start of the season?

    George RUSSELL: I think the upgrades we’ve brought to the car recently, it’s more been looking into 2020. We knew that it’s not going to necessarily unlock a lot of performance on the car as it is now – but it’s definitely looking promising going into next year. Overall, the car is definitely nicer to drive. I mean, at the start of the year it was not nice at all, let’s say, and it was pretty tricky just to get around a lap. But we’ve done a good job to fine-tune the balance, just to make it a nicer car to drive – but now we need to rely on the engineers back at the factory to bolt some more downforce on it.

    Q: And what about your own development as a driver this year? You said you wanted to learn out of the spotlight, which you’ve been able to do – but what do you take into year two next year?

    GR: Similar to what Lando said. I think there’s things I’ve been happy with, things I haven’t been… just experience really. The little things that you only improve on, race by race: understanding the tyres; the starts. It’s pretty tricky starting at the back of the grid, with all the cars around, a massive lack of downforce. Even less downforce than what we’ve got, let’s say. Just little bits and bobs here and there. I think I’ll definitely be a better driver into next year.

    Q: Max, just off the plane from L.A. at the fan festival yesterday. How was that?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was good. Good amount of fans and some good donuts as well. So, that’s always nice to do.

    Q: This weekend, believe it or not, is your 100th grand prix.

    LN: Same as Carlos!

    MV: Yeah, we started together.

    LN: That’s sweet!

    Q: What does that stat means to you, Max?

    MV: Good beginning! And, of course, it all happened very quick. To realise and see that you are about to do your 100th grand prix at 22 years old, I think I would never have expected that – but I guess it’s a good thing. Basically, those five years have gone very quickly.

    Q: Just looking ahead to this weekend, you had a cracking race here last year. Onto the podium from 18th. What are your expectations this year?

    MV: I think we can have a good race. Last year, coming from the back and then still finishing on the podium was a very good result. Of course, it gave me an opportunity to have a different strategy, which at the end of the day was not a bad one – but now we want to start a bit more upfront and see what we can do. But I think in Mexico the car was working really well, so we just try to continue that here.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to Max initially and then secondary question to Lando and George. Max, it looks like Lewis is going to wrap up his title very soon – potentially here, he only needs four points. In competing with him these past few years, what makes him the driver he has become, do you feel, effectively now on the brink of becoming a six time World Champion. And to Lando and George, what does Lewis mean to you guys as British drivers growing up, potentially wanting to emulate him as a future British world champion?

    MV: From my side, unfortunately I haven’t really had the time to compete with him that much. I mean, just a few races. Most of the time we didn’t have equal material but he was always clearly the better of the two within the team. And then, when you have the best car out there, of course you can win the Championship. It’s amazing, of course, to go for your sixth World Championship.

    Q: Lando, let’s start with you. What does Lewis mean to you?

    LN: I guess he’s a guy who I’ve always looked up to since I was young. A driver who I’ve loved to watch. I’ve been very excited to watch a lot of his races since I started watching F1 when I was six or seven years old. So, I’ve kind of not been on the journey but I’ve been able to watch a lot of the races and it gives a bit of… I wouldn’t say belief or faith but it gives a bit of confidence knowing that, or hoping to go into the future and emulate him in a way – but like Max said, the equipment’s very different to when he joined Formula One, when he was with McLaren. So some things aren’t going to be exactly the same; it’s not possible to do the same as other drivers – but there are a lot of things that he’s extremely good at and I would like to improve on and be as good as him on, so yeah, a guy and a driver who’s inspired me and who I’ve looked up to since I was very young.

    Q: George?

    GR: Similar to Lando. Definitely somebody who I’ve looked up to for a while, since I’ve been wanting to become a Formula One driver but especially in the last couple of years. I’ve gained a huge amount of respect for him, seeing him within the team. I used to think he just relied on his natural talent to jump in the car and do the business but he puts a huge amount of effort in and the attention to detail he goes into is massive. I did learn a lot from him in the years I spent with Mercedes, so yeah, definitely respect and admire what he’s achieved.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) For Max. Just on Lewis. He had some comments to say about you after the last race. Said he affords you more space than other drivers in fear of being torpedoed…

    MV: Torpedoed? I didn’t hear that one.

    Q: …well, it was part of what he said. And I think Seb also said that he copy-and-pasted what Lewis had to say. I was wondering what your feeling is about those two comments?

    MV: Well, looking at Turns One and Two in Mexico, I don’t think that happened. From my side, yeah, it was a bit of a silly comment to make. I think I’m always a hard racer but fair. I think it’s just not correct – but of course it’s easy to have a dig at someone. From my side, it’s fine. It’s always positive when the talk about you. That means you’re in their head, So, for my side, I just focus on my driving and I think that’s enough said.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Pierre, Lando and Lance: we’ve got the 2021 regulations which are aiming to bring the field closer together but for the three of you, competing in a very tight midfield this season, do you really enjoy those battles when the main target really for you is what we call best of the rest, behind the top three teams, and when you do come up on top of those, does it really feel like a win in a junior category or is it quite frustrating to be limited like that?

    PG: Well, I do enjoy these tight battles because at the end of the day I love racing and that’s what you get when you’re right there, like six to eight cars within three or four tenths. It brings a lot of excitement to the track on my side actually. I do like it; for sure, knowing that the best you can achieve is seventh is always a bit disappointing sometimes when you need to be satisfied with this kind of result because of course as a racer you want to fight for the top position. When you finish seventh, that’s kind of the first place you can target; you don’t get any trophy, you don’t get any champagne, it doesn’t really taste the same. Hopefully this can be improved for 2021. I don’t have the answer at the moment. Of course I think we have all the common targets with F1 and that’s what all the driver wants so yeah, hopefully it’s going to be achieved by 2021.

    LN: I agree with Pierre, to be honest. 2021 regulations are not going to mean we are going to be winning races or we’re going to be on the podium all the time. It’s a much better chance for us to achieve those things and as drivers to achieve those things and experience a podium at one time. It’s going to just even up the field I hope, make racing better, make it  more enjoyable to watch, more enjoyable to race for us drivers because that is something we miss. A lot of the drivers who are in Formula One have done very well in the junior categories since karting, F4, F3, F2, whatever, so we’ve always loved it and it’s part of the feeling we enjoy so much as a team is getting on the podium and knowing we’ve been able to beat sometimes the rest of the field and we’ve done a better job because of it. So it’s something I do miss but it’s not just me, it’s the whole team as well. Yeah, something I look forward to and hope we can take advantage of.

    LS: I’ve loved the midfield competition this year. I think it’s been tighter than it’s ever been. You look at the gaps on Saturdays and then on the Sunday how close the racing is, it’s great for the drivers, for the fans. Unfortunately we are so getting lapped by Mercedes and Ferraris, even Red Bulls, so hopefully that can change in ’21. I agree with what Pierre said: it’s great to fight for the best of the rest but when you’re seventh and there’s no reward for that. We’re always trying to score World Championship points but the podium is realistically out of reach and victories are out of the question in today’s sport. I really do hope that we can see some changes in ’21, closer racing as well. That is the priority, I think, with the regulation changes this year, capable of following cars nose to tail but then on top of that, if we can see the gaps reduced to the top teams the opportunity to fight for podiums and wins potentially – that would be awesome.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City) Pierre, we got to go to Houston with you yesterday to go to NASA. How was it, talking to an astronaut while he was live in the space station?

    PG: This was really amazing. I would have never imagined one day in my life talking to an astronaut who was actually in space, I don’t know how many kilometres away but that was just incredible to imagine that just from that fun talking and then getting an answer two seconds later from that same guy who was in space. It was an amazing experience. We got to visit the whole NASA control centre, speak with astronauts who have already been a couple of times in space. Saw some rocket ships – no, it was just an incredible experience.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City) Max, going to the festival in Los Angeles and the talk of a race in Miami, do you think this is important, not only for the sport but for you as a driver to get this exposure here in the United States, and what do you think about the possibility of more races here?

    MV: Well, in general I think it’s good for the sport, the owners as well, they want more races I think in the US. I think what we’re doing, at the moment, is of course trying to make the sport more popular and more well known in the US. I enjoy being here. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Austin or LA or Miami or wherever in America, I think it’s just a very cool place to be. I think a few – or one or two more races, they wouldn’t hurt, as long as they are exciting of course and a lot of fans are attending.

    Q: Max, what was the atmosphere like in Los Angeles yesterday? Was there a great atmosphere? What was the reception like from the crowd?

    MV: It felt good. They liked the noise as well from the cars, as soon as we were warming the engines already they loved it. Of course it was all very limited, we could basically only do a few doughnuts and stuff but I guess they liked that already but of course it would be even better to show how quick we can go through corners as well and hopefully with those kind of regulations coming in also the racing will be really cool to watch.

    Q: (Yhacbec Lopez – Motorlat) Max, do you think Lewis and Seb are more aggressive with you than any other driver on the grid?

    MV: I don’t know. I think you should ask them that question.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Max, it’s for you, unfortunately, again…

    MV: It’s not a surprise so…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Well, you’re quite topical at the moment. Do you think you’re being treated fairly by the FIA in the wake of what happened at the last race, for your honesty, your brutal honesty, about the yellow flags? And also do you think that you’re getting dug out by Lewis, by Sebastian? They don’t seem to dig anyone else out, it just seems to be you; you seem to be the centre of attention a lot of time.

    MV: No, I think it was very fair from the FIA. We had a good talk in the stewards and I said ‘I didn’t see the yellow flag’ but of course there’s a rule that when there is a yellow flag displayed that you have to slow down so from my side, there are also no hard feelings about that. It’s just very unfortunate I didn’t see that yellow flag and in hindsight I also didn’t need to go for that lap time because I was already on pole position but what was going through my head throughout that lap was you don’t know what the other guys in front of you are doing, if they are improving, are they beating your pole lap time? I didn’t see the yellow flag, I improved my lap time, in hindsight I didn’t need to do it but also in hindsight I think next time I’m anyway going to lift even if they would improve my lap time, just because they got lucky, they were in front of the accident. It is what it is but of course…. At the moment we are still not in a position to fight for pole position all the time so of course I was enjoying the moment as well. But still, it was a great result for us, it showed that after the few difficult races we’ve had in terms of performance the car was working really well so that was a big boost even though we didn’t start from pole position.

    And then your second question, I think from my side it only shows that I’m in their heads and I guess that’s a good thing but from my side I don’t need to dig in to other people in the press conferences because first of all I think it’s a bit disrespectful as well and I prefer to fight on track which I love to do and of course I like to fight hard but on the edge. Otherwise, if they want me to stay behind, it’s also better to stay at home. I really want to take the fight to them because that’s what we are here for. We are racers, we in Formula One, I think we are the best out there and we do fight for victories because that’s what I live for.

     

  • Feeling the heat: pressure, podiums and points in the Sepang Press Conference

    Feeling the heat: pressure, podiums and points in the Sepang Press Conference

    From left: Hafizh Syahrin, Jack Miller, Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, and Cal Crutchlow at the Thursday MotoGP press conferene. Photos by Srinivasa Krishnan at Sepang

    Sepang, 31 Oct 2019: It’s time for the final flyaway of the season as Sepang International Circuit hosts the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, and the pre-event Press Conference saw reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) joined by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) – now confirmed as second overall this season – as well as Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) and home hero Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) to talk shop before go-time.

    Marquez spoke first, and he sounds pretty upbeat about the weekend ahead. He also has chance to beat the record of points scored in a single season this weekend – teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s 383 from 2010. “We are in a good moment obviously and we’re enjoying being on the bike, everything we try is working and now it’s time to keep going, I already said in Aragon that the target was to try and finish all races on the podium and here it’s the same target. We’ll try to work hard all weekend, fight for another victory again and put some pressure on our opponents, that’s the best way to finish the season.

    “On paper, if we look at this year’s bike, and the fact that last year we won, we can say it should be better with more speed because we have a better engine for these two straights. But then last year on the podium was a Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, and the fastest on the straights, Ducati, weren’t on the podium. It will be difficult with the weather, trying to understand track conditions which change a lot from morning to afternoon, but I’ll try to be in top positions in all conditions and see if we can fight for the victory.”

    Andrea Dovizioso at the Press Meet.

    Next up it was time to hear from Dovizioso, who says they’re still looking for more – although he is a winner at Sepang. He started by debriefing Australia. “I think we have to look at the gap, not the real position. I was able to fight with Jack and Bagnaia until the last corner if I hadn’t made a mistake on the last lap, so my position was there. But I don’t think that’s the point, the point is the gap because it’s much bigger than last year. We can’t be happy. We finished the tyre in the last ten laps but that’s always a consequence of the way you have to ride. I didn’t feel good all weekend, but it is what it is.

    “This season I think in the end we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We’ve struggled in a lot of situations compared to the last two years, but we’ve finished second, so we have to be happy about that. When we look at Marc, for sure the gap is too big, but the gap is too big for everybody. Everybody has to complain about that and it’s difficult to think how we can stop Marc because this season he’s done something even better than in the past. I think in Malaysia it isn’t the best situation for us in the afternoon when it’s hot. We’ve never had a good race in the dry. We have to be better in that situation, so let’s see the condition because every year you can find different conditions. I think they resurfaced three corners so let’s see what they’re like, but we must be better in the afternoon here.

    “For sure, we don’t have the same speed as last year. We speak about the real speed in the practice and at the beginning of the race when the tyre is new. That’s created a tough situation for us because we can’t make a strategy. When you push at the beginning and you don’t have the speed everything is a problem. I was able to manage myself I think in the right way in a lot of races. I was able to stay calm when I didn’t have the pace at the start, I managed the tyre and kept the same lap times so I could gain a second and more positions in the end. But it’s not enough, it’s not what we need. We need to be better.”

    Quartararo took the mic next, and the Frenchman can clinch top Independent Team rider here, as well as the team being able to take the same title – on Petronas’ home turf. First, however, he spoke about his injury from the crash in Australia. “I’m feeling better. For sure I still have pain but when you are on the bike you have other things to think about. It will be a very important weekend for us, there’s a lot expectation for the team at their home GP, so we will give our best and try to make them proud.

    “When you have a bad crash, you are not worried but you want to get back on the bike as soon as possible to not lose the feeling. On the Saturday, unfortunately, with the wind and conditions, we only did a few laps, so the Sunday was quite fun; we had the Warm Up, I was into Q1 for the first time and it was good because I needed more time on the track. We didn’t expect a front row finish in the Q2. Apart from the race and the crash, the qualifying was good and we need to take the positives from this weekend and it’s that we found the speed at a tough track.”

    Miller also found that speed, and the Australian goes from being the first Aussie rider on the podium on home turf in seven years to now fighting Quartararo for top Independent once again. “I was actually pretty worried leading into this because – Cal will verify – I had no voice Monday or Tuesday, it came back yesterday a little bit. And you can hear it’s still not ideal but I’m here, I’m alive, that’s the positive thing!

    “I think Marc and Cal will say, the podium was ridiculous, I’ve never experienced anything like that. It was an amazing day. Here we are now, quick turnaround back in Malaysia. Looking forward to hopefully a solid weekend. We had a good test here but you can never really compare the test with the race weekend because you always get good conditions throughout the test, so I look forward to going back to our base settings and working through the practice as usual.

    And the key? “Tyre management, it’s such a long race, I think that’s going to be one of the key things. Just on paper and what the boys ran last year it looks like the softs are the ones to go for for the race. Just try to get enough laps under out belts in practice and qualifying, especially in the afternoon. It usually rains around 2:30/3 o’clock every day. Just try to make a good strategy throughout the practice, maximise the track time to get as comfortable as possible for the race in order to as ready as we can for Sunday. I think the last three times we’ve been here, twice it’s been wet so we need to be ready for both conditions.”

    Crutchlow, meanwhile, was also on the podium last time out – and at a track that saw him suffer a huge crash last year. He was positive about that, and about his current run of form in general. Can he pounce for a late surprise as top Independent? “It’s definitely good to have a fifth place in Motegi as well. Hopefully, we can finish these flyaways in good shape. I didn’t race here last year but I made the test. It’s a circuit I enjoy but not one I’ve always been fantastic at but that can always change. I look forward to seeing what we can do here. The team are working very hard along with Honda and we need another good result to make these three weekends worthwhile.

    “You need to ride to the conditions, ride to the bike and the tyres you have underneath you to try make the best job of it that you can. It’s not an easy circuit to ride with the long braking zones, the fast corners and the changes of direction, then you have the heat on top of it. It’s always a difficult race for everyone but we’re all in the same boat and need to try make a good job of it here in Malaysia.”

    Finally, the room fell silent to hear from the home hero. For Syahrin it’s been a good hunting ground in the past, and he spoke about that and the future. “Back to the home GP, it’s always great and of course there’s always a bit of pressure in front of the home fans and you hope you do well. Last night we had a some small football friendly match with the SRT team and I think at the moment it’s the only way I can beat them, on the circuit they are a bit too fast! We train sometimes together with the SRT riders, with Fabio in Spain, sometimes with Jack, so sometimes we beat their time on the small bike, we fight each other. Athletes always like to win in whatever they do! This small game gave me a bit of motivation, I enjoyed it, it’s a nice place to play here.”

    And his favourite memory at Sepang and in the premier class? “I always enjoy it with my team because my team is like my family. Last year gave me a big smile when I finished the race in Sepang. I started from last and finished tenth, it was a nice memory. I would to thank Tech 3 for giving me this opportunity, it was amazing and made my dream come true. Next year will be my new era, the same as two years ago, but it’s a new bike with a triumph engine, and a bit more power than two years ago, of Moto2. I hope I can enjoy and keep smiling. Smiling is a good therapy for me.”

    With that, it’s time to buckle up and get ready to hit the track as practice starts on Friday – before the race on Sunday at 15:00 (GMT +8). Tune in for another weekend that could break records!

    Well-known Motorsports Photo Journalist from Chennai Srinivasa Krishnan has sent the following photo gallery for INDIAinF1: