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Tag: Ferrari
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Webber signs off F1 career in style; Vettel on a record-spree
Sao Paulo, 24 Nov 2013: At Interlagos, Sebastian Vettel took a record-equalling ninth win in succession, as Mark Webber signed off on his Formula One career with a second place that delivered Red Bull Racing a fifth one-two finish of the season. Fernando Alonso was third for Ferrari at the 19th and last round of the Formula One World Championship. Vettel took his fourth straight Driver’s title at the Indian GP earlier in October.
Vettel’s victory, which also drew him level with Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record of 13 wins in a single season, was a comfortable one, save for a few key moments, according to an FIA release.
Now familiar Vettel’s donuts to end the season at Brazil. A Pirelli photo Starting from the 45th pole position of his career, the German made an uncharacteristically poor start, allowing Nico Rosberg to steal the lead in Turn One. The Mercedes man wasn’t there for long, however. Vettel muscled past Rosberg on the pit straight at the end of the first tour and then streaked away to build a solid gap.
His lead was briefly threatened in his second stop on lap 47 when his team were unprepared for his arrival but even then the only threat came from Webber in second place and the Australian was already steering his RB9 into the pit lane to queue up behind his team-mate for a change of tyres.
The remaining laps were simply a case of race management for Vettel. Webber closed the gap for a short period soon after their pit stops, but Vettel had proceedings well in hand and responded with a burst of pace that eventually saw him cross the line just over 10 seconds clear of the Australian.
“I’m actually quite sad that this season comes to an end,” said Vettel afterwards. “I think the last races, since the summer break… to win every race is unbelievable. The car has been phenomenal. Just kept getting better.”
Vettel also pointed to the difficulty of the final laps of the race, when fog and persistent drizzle threatened to influence the outcome.
“The last laps were very difficult with the rain because you could see the fog is coming, [then] it’s leaving, so it was very difficult to judge,” he said.
Webber’s march to second place was, typically, a more battling affair. Starting fourth he too made a poor start and dropped to fifth behind Lewis Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel and Rosberg.
He was soon past Hamilton, though, overtaking the Mercedes on lap two in Turn Six. He then passed Rosberg, who had fallen to P3, and soon became involved in a tussle for P2 with regular sparring partner Fernando Alonso. Mark passed the Ferrari man under DRS into Turn One on lap 13 but then lost P2 during a slow first stop.
There was no halting the Aussie though and just two laps after his stop he passed the Spaniard once again. From there, it was simply a case of powering to the finish for Webber.
“It was a very good finish to my career,” he said afterwards. “I had a good fight with all the guys I’ve enjoyed fighting with for most of my career: Seb, Fernando, Lewis, Nico, all the guys who have been in the window for the last five or six years.
“I want to thank the team, I enjoyed the last laps,” he added. “It was a very nice way to finish. I want to thank everyone in Australia. I wouldn’t be here where I am without the support in the early days. It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable career. A great journey, one of which I’m proud.”
Behind the front pair, the race was all about the battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, with Ferrari and Mercedes involved in a tight contest.
Mercedes started the race 15 points clear and despite Alonso and team-mate Felipe Massa running as high as third and fourth respectively midway through the race, the German squad weren’t in real danger, as with Rosberg fifth and Hamilton seventh the advantage still lay with them.
It remained the case even as drama hit both teams. First Felipe Massa was handed a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry, which dropped him to ninth. That seemed to swing the pendulum very firmly towards Mercedes, but then Hamilton clashed with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, ending the Finn’s race and earning himself a drive through.
By the time the flag fell, Alonso was third, with Massa seventh in his final race for Ferrari. Rosberg, meanwhile, finished fifth and Hamilton ninth, the results handing Mercedes 12 points, enough to take them clear of Ferrari in the overall standings, despite the Scuderia’s 21-point haul.
Elsewhere, excellent drives from Jenson Button, 14th to fourth, and Sergio Perez, 19th to sixth gave McLaren a boost at the end of a difficult season. The team ends the campaign with fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship behind Lotus.
Nico Hulkenberg took more points for Sauber with ninth place, leaving the Swiss team seventh in the teams’ standings, behind Force India. Finally, Daniel Ricciardo bade farewell to Toro Rosso with a point for tenth place. He will, of course, replace the departing Webber at Red Bull Racing in 2014.
2013 Brazilian Grand Prix – Race Result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 71 1:32:36.300 25
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 71 +10.4 secs 18
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +18.9 secs 15
4 Jenson Button McLaren 71 +37.3 secs 12
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 71 +39.0 secs 10
6 Sergio Perez McLaren 71 +44.0 secs 8
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 71 +49.1 secs 6
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 71 +64.2 secs 4
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +72.9 secs 2
10 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 70 +1 Lap 7 1
11 Paul di Resta Force India70 +1 Lap
12 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 70+1 Lap
13 Adrian Sutil Force India 70 +1 Lap
14 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 70 +1 Lap
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 70 +1 Lap
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 70 +1 Lap
17 Jules Bianchi Marussia 69 +2 Laps
18 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 69 +2 Laps
19 Max Chilton Marussia 69 +2 Laps
Ret Charles Pic Caterham 58 Mechanical
Ret Valtteri Bottas Williams 45 Accident
Ret Romain Grosjean Lotus 2 Engineeom
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Will miss having myself on the edge in the ultimate machine: Webber
Sao Paulo, 24 Nov 2013: FIA post-race Press Conference at the Season-ending race at Sao Paulo in Brazil on Sunday.
Webber at the FIA press conference in Sao Paulo at the Brazilian GP. An FIA photo DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Glenda Kozlowski, TV Globo)
Sebastian Vettel, you just broke two records.,.
Sebastian VETTEL: No, please start with him. Start with Mark.
Q: OK! Mark Webber, that’s your last race in Formula One, today is a very emotional day for you. You have over 200 races in your career.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it was a very good finish to my career, a good fight with all the guys I’ve enjoyed fighting with for most of my career: Seb, Fernando, Lewis, Nico, all the guys who have been in the window for the last five or six years. I want to thank the team, I enjoyed the last few laps. It was a very nice way to finish. I want to thank everyone in Australia. I wouldn’t be here where I am without the support in the early days. It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable career. A great journey, one of which I’m proud of, and there’s been so many people who have played a special role in my career. They know who they all are – thank you very much if you are watching and…yeah… enjoy watching Formula One next year with these guys, but off to Porsche and looking forward to it.
Q: Sebastian, so, you just made [equalled] two records, the most consecutive wins – nine – and the highest number of wins in a single season: 13. So, what do you feel?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I’m actually quite sad that this season comes to an end. I think the last couple of races, really since the summer break, to win every race is unbelievable. The car has been phenomenal. Just kept getting better. I think today was a very interesting race. I had a poor start but then I was able to come back straight away in the first lap, build a gap which was nice to control then. But in the pitstop, obviously, I was waiting for my tyres again. I think it was a bit of a confusion going on because we had both cars coming in at the same time. Fortunately I got all the tyres in time ready to go. Mark was behind and then, yeah, the last laps, very difficult with the rain because you could see the fog is coming, [then] it’s leaving, so it was very difficult to judge but yeah, for sure, extremely proud. Big, big thank you to the team, big thanks to Renault. I think there’s a couple of guys that stand out. First of all Mark, obviously it’s his last race, we’ve been team-mates for a very, very long time. After all we didn’t have the best relationship but I think we always had tremendous respect for each other. And together I think we’ve been very, very successful for the team. And then there’s one other guy, he’s working on my car. His name is Tom Batch and unfortunately he’s leaving so farewell Tom, all the best for the future, and who knows, maybe we’ll meet each other again in the future.
Q: Fernando, since Singapore this was your first podium. Now the season is over and today was a tough race because like he said, the rain came and gone, came and gone. A light rain all the time. So how was it there?
Fernando ALONSO: Well it was a difficult race for everyone, unfortunately the rain didn’t come: I think we were more competitive in wet conditions but again, it seems as if it’s going to rain in any moment but it didn’t, so it was a shame for us but at least we’re in the podium, so ending the season on a high and hopefully for next year we start with a completely new direction and a positive trend. I’m looking forward.
Q: I know you’re missing Felipe Massa. Today was his last race with Ferrari.
FA: It was a shame, sad that he had this drive-through because I think the podium was very close for Felipe today. When I saw him fourth I said this would be a very good celebration for him. Sad for this race but happy for the last four years: he has been an amazing team-mate – inside the circuit with very competitive skills and also like a person. We build a friendly relationship in the last four years, a lot of time together. We’ll see him in the paddock next year with different colours but always he will remain a very good man.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, lots of things really to talk to you about but just tell us about the race – give us some idea. Bit of a voyage into the unknown for all three of you in terms of tyres as well but also the start, the pitstop…
SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t have any dry running, which was quite exciting when we started: bit of an adventure to find braking points, etcetera. Start was obviously quite bad for me. I had lots of wheel-slip and didn’t get the initial launch off the line as good as I was hoping for. Nico passed me straight away, Fernando was closing in. I was lucky that as soon as I got on the KERS I could recover a little bit and then it’s not a long way to Turn One – which helped today. So, lost the position, saved some KERS for the end of the lap. Was hoping to get him back up the hill which worked well, so I managed to get back in the lead straight away and was basically benefitting I think from Nico probably a little bit slower than the cars behind – Fernando and Mark – so I could open a gap and control that for more or less the rest of the race – until we came in for the second stop, which was a last minute call. I think we were afraid of a safety car at that stage. I came in, hoping everybody was ready. I think I had three wheels on the car but I was waiting for the front right. For some reason, last year and this year, it seemed to be the front right that… yeah, they let me wait for a little bit. I saw that obviously Mark was queuing behind me and I wanted to go and there was a bit of chaos in the pitlane but it was obviously fine to get the right tyres in the end, get out again and I still had a bit of a gap. We obviously lost to Fernando at that stage, both of us, but was still able to have a little bit of a gap and control that until the end which was very helpful to get through traffic and with the rain coming in and going – you could really see it from the car. The fog was coming and the rain clouds. You didn’t know how strong the rain was and, yeah, in the end it was fine all the time to stay on dries but a little harder rain and it could have been a different story so, yeah, lucky to get away with that.
Mark, a great end to your Formula One career. I hope you’re happy with it as well. How did it go?
MW: Yeah, I was happy with today. Tricky grand prix for all of us as you say, straight into dry conditions for a Sunday afternoon race. Maybe it’s what Bernie should do! He should just have Sunday afternoons mate, just turn up for Sundays and just race from there because it was a pretty good start to the grand prix, I think, all of us getting into the groove with no dry running: challenging for the teams and the drivers. So we all got there in the end. Both Seb and I had tough starts, I was happy to lose only to Lewis actually. I had a good little scrap in the first lap: Fernando and Lewis were having a good battle and then we settled into it. It looked like the Mercedes were struggling to hold the tempo of Fernando, myself and Seb, so we had to clear the Mercs as best we could. And then it was coming up to Fernando, so, managed to pass Fernando as well. There was some really nice moves and some good racing and I think for the team to get a one-two today with obviously not their cleanest day in the pitlane – which we can let them off every now and again, because they’ve had a superb season in the pitlane – so we gave the red guys a sniff but we managed to respond each time. Very proud to have raced with these guys at the end. I mean I raced pretty much all four or five of them at some stage in the race today – apart from Seb, obviously who was a little bit down the road – but the pace… it was a good battle for all of us. It’s been a real pleasure for me to finish today’s race like this. Yeah, and also to finish on the podium with arguable the two best guys of the generation we’re in at the moment. I hold them in very high esteem. I’m happy with the finish and I’m happy to go and do something different now. It was a special day for myself, all the people that helped me get here. Australia. And the team, of course, had a nice car to finish. Renault as well, a 1-2 for them, last time with the V8s. Lots of things which are special, so thank you very much.
Fernando, obviously a good result for you. As Glenda said on the podium, first time on the podium since the Singapore Grand Prix. Nice to go out with a podium?
FA: Yeah, definitely. I think to finish the season on a high is always better. We missed this podium finish from many races and today we had a chance. Obviously maybe with rain conditions, a wet race, maybe we had a little more performance than on the dry but at the end to finish behind the two Red Bulls today is the maximum we could achieve and I’m happy for that. The last race for Mark as you touched on now. We will miss him, that’s for sure. A great driver and a great person. Last race also for Felipe in Ferrari, which we wanted to help in whatever way to try to celebrate a podium finish with Felipe or something but he get a drive-through unfortunately. But, y’know, mixed emotions today but happy to finish 2013 which has been an amazing year in terms of fighting and the number of points we achieve, I think. We didn’t win the championship, which is the goal every year and for next year we reset again, start from zero and new motivations.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Mark, what will you miss most and what won’t you miss most?
MW: What will I miss most about Formula One? I think there are some special circuits which we race on: obviously Suzuka, Spa, Monte Carlo, Silverstone, even here to a degree. There are some really nice circuits which, when you have the car in the window, particularly in qualifying, there’s not much that can please a driver more than having the car on the edge and having yourself on the edge in the ultimate machine and that is something which I will miss. But you also have to respect that you want to make sure that you’re getting the best out of yourself in that scenario. If you think you’re a little bit off, then it’s not as rewarding as it once was. I will miss those scenarios. I will miss, I think, also the perfection that goes on in this game, especially with a team like Red Bull, the amount of work that goes in, the details. It’s quite inspiring to watch the relentless approach with the work, that’s something which I’ve learned a lot and I will take it to future challenges around the corner. What I won’t miss: looking to pull the travel back down a little bit, spending a bit more time with my people that helped me to get to where I am. I’m not young but I’m not old, I’m in the window, it’s a good time for me to get that balance, a little bit less intensity in the private life and also in the professional life. It doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be pushing hard with Porsche, obviously. I will be pushing very hard with those guys but in this game, you need to be on it all the time and I’m finding that more and more difficult. It’s a chance for me to finish strongly, which I’ve done. That’s some of the things I’ll miss. I think I answered that right.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Mark, what is your schedule now, are you going to take some holiday, just like retire or are you working for Porsche as soon as possible?
MW: No, I’m going to have a few weeks out, for sure, doing nothing. I love putting the fire on at home, chopping some wood, putting the fire on and maybe a bit of red wine and chill out with some chocolate. Also my Tasmania Challenge is on which I can’t get to this year, it’s just too busy to get to my charity event, so I hope that goes well for everyone taking part. It starts on Wednesday but I just can’t get to Tasmania from here, it’s just been a relentless year and quite difficult so I’m looking forward to just having a bit of a break. For sure there is some Porsche stuff in the background. Obviously there is a chance I can do some stuff with them before the year is out, which Red Bull have been very good with and then it will be a steady loading into January as it will be for all of us.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action Australia and National Speedsport News) Mark, tell us about taking your helmet off on that last ever lap and savouring it? Your eyes seem to be tearing a bit; maybe that was just the wind in your eyes.
MW: Yeah, it was the wind, Dan, I was tearing at that time. Look, it’s not easy to get the HANS device system away from the helmet so I spent half a lap trying to get the left hand side off, so I finally got it there but the cars are bloody noisy with no helmet on, I know that much, so it was really noisy, all the vibrations and you can hear lots of things that you don’t want to be hearing with the helmet on, that’s for sure. It was good to get it off, obviously the marshals, the fans, to see… in this sport, it’s not always easy to show the person that’s behind the wheel. We can in lots of other sports but in Formula One we’ve always got the helmet on so it was nice to drive back with the helmet off. Only time you’re seen with the helmet off is on the podium if we have a good day which we did both, so nice to get it off. In the last sector, I got it a little bit jammed, so I think the marshals were a little bit worried that I couldn’t turn left but in the end, no it was fine, it was a nice moment to come back, a little bit of a different touch to bring the car back.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian first, when did you tell your team that you wanted to come in? Was it because of a potential safety car, and to Mark, do you think it would have been better for you if the team had left you out for one more lap and then go in, because you obviously had to wait for Seb?
SV: I didn’t decide to pit. Obviously with the weather it was critical, we were trying to go as long as possible because we didn’t know… when it starts to rain and you pit one lap before, you lose a lot of time because you have to come in again to fit inters (intermediate tyres). So basically, I was told, exit of turn 12, box if I can. I had enough time to get ready. Arguably the team was on the limit and obviously they were preparing a stop for both cars so they had to get both set of tyres out, mine and Mark’s, and I think it was just a little bit of a rush, because I think the team was afraid of a safety car. Obviously I didn’t know what was going on around the track; the team is obviously able to monitor much better… to see the whole track, whereas I’m very good at judging what’s going on where I am right now but not five, six corners down the road. I think that was the reason why I got called in but unfortunately it got a bit messy.
MW: I got the pit call quite early in the lap, they were worried about a safety car as well. I think Maldonado had been off or something had happened. When I braked for the pit lane line, I looked on the big screen and I could see that Seb was in the box, saw on the TV that he was pitting and I thought ‘I hope it’s a replay’ but it wasn’t. When I got over the top, he was in the bloody box so I thought ‘shit, we’ve got a bit on here now’. In that case, mainly we were losing time, that’s the biggest thing but then just the rear jack guy remembering to get out of the way. Obviously I’m going to stop but I have to wait for him to move out of the way so I thought it was obviously a complete surprise, uncharacteristic of the team to do something quite tricky and risky, when there wasn’t a huge amount to risk but it turns out obviously that there was an issue at the start of Seb’s stop which snowballed into me and then we had the little Spanish lion on the back of me again, so it was a good recovery but the team… I’m sure they want to do that part again. In the end, we recovered well and cool heads…
Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Seb and Fernando, Mark is going to take off some weeks for relaxing but you have to race next year and Formula One is changing a lot next year. What are you going to do until Christmas?
SV: Nothing. Obviously there are some things you have to attend to in December which is also nice, but mostly try to relax. Obviously Mark is retiring from Formula One but he’s not retiring from racing so, as he said, he will obviously get ready, probably has a little bit less pressure because the season maybe starts in a different way but I think for us it’s the same thing as the previous years. Obviously a lot of changes for next year but in terms of rhythm it is probably largely the same. Potentially you start a week or two earlier in January, to prepare the tests a little bit more. Equally, you can’t prepare so much because you need to wait for the first day on track, to know and see where we are.
FA: Obviously until Christmas time we are quite busy at Ferrari with some events with the sponsors and there are many activities in Maranello around Christmas time with the people working there at Ferrari, with their families etc and we will use those days while we are already in Italy to spend some time on the simulator and to do some work, looking at next year’s regulations. Christmas time will probably be the first time that we completely stop, so until the 21st of December, I think, we are on, still.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Fernando and Sebastian: Seb, what do you feel having reached Alberto Ascari’s record with nine victories in a row, a driver who comes from the distant past of Formula One, and to Fernando, do you feel more optimistic for 2014 after this result?
SV: Well, I think it is very very difficult for me to realise probably now and in the next couple of weeks what we have achieved again, and in particular this year at the end of the season. I think in terms of a certain record with Alberto Ascari you can’t really compare it, it’s at a completely different time. If you consider the fact that in the fifties the races were much longer and there were a lot of things that were breaking down, much more than nowadays where it’s very professional, reliability is exceptionally good for everybody. I think his record still stands out a lot. So at the end of the day, as I see it now, it’s just a number but hopefully one day, when I’ve got less hair and chubby then it’s probably something nice to look back to.
FA: Nothing changed, to be honest. I’m still optimistic for next year because I trust my team, I trust Ferrari preparation and philosophy for the 2014 car. We will be a contender, always, even this year when we haven’t been competitive and we only won two Grands Prix, we were off the podium for the last six or seven Grands Prix etc, we finished second in the World Championship, so with whatever the car that Ferrari do, normally, better or worse, you are a contender. That’s my optimistic point for next year, not because today we are on the podium or not on the podium.
Ends
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There is no magic bullet; the Red Bull car development is the same: Newey
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Sam MICHAEL (McLaren), Rob WHITE (Renault Sport F1), Nick CHESTER (Lotus), Paddy LOWE (Mercedes), Adrian NEWEY (Red Bull Racing), James ALLISON (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Three of the gentlemen here are, of course, in new roles, one within the same team, in Nick’s case, but in Paddy and James within different teams, so plenty to talk about. James, can I start with you? How big is the job you’ve taken on at Ferrari and what’s it going to take to get back to winning ways?
James ALLISON: I think technical director at any Formula One team is a very big job, it certainly doesn’t leave room for much else than the job in your life, Ferrari is an extremely prestigious Formula One team with a lot of resource and an extremely high level of expectation. There is really no result other than winning that is good enough at Ferrari. So there is a lot of pressure to make sure I play my part in achieving that, but it is a wholly realistic ambition. It’s a team with the kit, with the resource, with the people and with the drivers to get the job done, so looking forward to being there when it happens.
You’ve been in the post for a few months now, what’s your assessment of what you’ve seen so far? Have you seen where changes need to be made and have you already started making those changes?
JA: I’ve, first of all, been very fortunate to arrive at Ferrari at a point in their cycle when a lot of the changes necessary to return to the front rank – I mean right at the front rank, i.e. winning championships – a lot of the changes necessary to do that have been put in place by Pat Fry. I think I’m particularly lucky to have arrived and been able to benefit from those investments rather than having to start them from scratch. There is much more to be done but I’m a lucky chap to be picking up where I am.
Thanks for the moment. Coming to you Nick. Obviously we have to start with Heikki Kovalainen and his performance this afternoon – fifth fastest in the free practice session. Was that as impressive within the team as it looked from the outside?
Nick CHESTER: Yes, it was. We feel he’s done a brilliant job today, particularly with all the procedures and getting used to driving a new car. We felt it might take a little bit of time. But actually straight away in P1 he was already looking after the car very well and in P2 he was fifth quickest and good long runs, I think he’s done a great job today.
Like James, you’ve been in your role for a little bit of time now, taking over from James at the Lotus team. What’s your route forward? Are you going to continue the path he had set or have you got some changes you want to make in the technical structure?
NC: There are a few changes. There are a couple of areas where we felt things could be moved on. Those are going into place now. Most of it’s a good baseline. It’s a very good team and there are a lot of good guys there. But there are always chances to look at things you could do better and you have to move those things on when you can.
Thank you for that. Paddy, coming to you. Like these other two gentlemen, you’re a few months into your position at Mercedes. What excites you about the role you have and how do you see it evolving over the next period of time?
Paddy LOWE: It’s fantastic to come to a team like Mercedes, they’ve got a very positive momentum. We’ve seen the progress made since last year through to this season. So it’s just fantastic to come into that team. Had a great welcome from Ross and all the other people there. It’s just very exciting to build on that. I really feel I can make a difference, but they’re already in a great place, with momentum going the same way.
Obviously, you’re locked in a fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship with James’ team and Nick’s team. You’ve got it at the moment. If you were to finish there on Sunday in Sao Paulo – second in the championship – would you consider that a success for Mercedes this year, particularly given the distance behind Red Bull. And also, would it build a sense of expectation within the Mercedes board in terms of 2014?
PL: Absolutely. Formula One is a very tough business and you can’t build to championships from nowhere. Our target this year was actually to come third, so if we can get third or exceed third that would be meeting our ambitions. We very much hope we can get second and that would be a fantastic platform from which to mount an attack for the championship next year. But we have tough rivals around us, so we’re not underestimating how difficult that would be.
And expectations from the board if you were to do that [finish second]? Would that be a positive thing or would that put extra pressure on you?
PL: We get tremendous support from the board. Daimler is a very big company, with a huge, long pedigree of motor racing success. They’re full of support for us but they want us to win, clearly, and that what we want to do.
Coming to you Sam. Obviously we have to start by talking about the decision this week to replace Sergio Perez with Kevin Magnussen. Simple question: why was this the right thing to do?
Sam MICHAEL: I think it doesn’t overshadow the fact that we haven’t had a good enough car this year, I think that’s been pretty well documented, so it’s one of those decisions that every team takes every year. You look and assess where your capabilities are where you think you can improve and the view internally is that we could improve by going with Magnussen. As I said, Checo’s doing a fantastic job at the moment considering the pressure that he’s under. He’s keeping his head level and being very professional about it. So, very commendable his approach over the recent races, and as recently as this one. It’s obviously a discussion that’s been going on for quiet some time. It’s always going to be difficult when you make a call like that. But I think we’re in a very fortunate position at the moment with our young driver programme, in that it’s very rich with talent and Kevin’s just the first of the guys in that pool. I’ve come across lots of drivers in my time in Formula One and when you see drivers like that come along, it’s very important that you react and make the most of those opportunities. So really, it’s always a twofold thing. It’s what you currently have and what you can do to improve yourself. To be honest, it’s not that much different with engineers and designers and all your people. You’re always looking to add and improve the team. Clearly, the driver is much more in the public eye, because there’s only two of them and they’re in the race cars at any one time. Anyway, it’s a decision the team has taken and we’re looking forward from here.
Q: Jenson Button was saying yesterday that there’s a lot of work to do with the new technology for 2014 with these cars and obviously it’s an extra challenge having a rookie driving one of the two cars. To what extent have you factored that into your plans and is there an element of risk there?
SM: I think we’ve factored all of those sort of things into what we’re doing, including the testing he’s done for us already, all the simulator work, his performance in the lower categories and any sort of work that we can do between now and the start of next season. I think with the rule change – and it is a huge rule change, on the powertrain and aerodynamics – the way you drive the cars is going to be quite different. We’ve already done quite a lot of work in the simulator on that at this point and, if anything, it probably lends itself some good opportunities for change. To be honest you can argue that either way: you can argue and say experience is going to count; you can also argue the benchmark is being reset. But ultimately it’s four tyres on the ground that you drive as quick as you can around a circuit. We’ve got a good balance of Jenson, who’s a world champion, plenty of experience, and if you’re going to have the risk that you take of putting a young guy in – because there inevitably is – then it’s a good time to do it.
Q: Adrian, obviously the standout story of this season is the way that you have developed this Red Bull car and also, Sebastian’s way of driving it. Now that the title is decided and obviously the technology is obsolete for next year, can you tell us how you did it?
Adrian NEWEY: There’s no magic bullet, it’s the usual development story I think. This year’s car was a very close cousin of last year’s. Relatively small evolutions over the winter with essentially stable regulations. So really started this year where we left off last year from a car point of view and it was just about developing it, understanding it. I think the change in tyres back to the 2012 tyres was also obviously something that had an effect on the car and possibly suited us – it’s difficult to know exactly. So general development, no magic.
Q: Obviously continuity is an important part of your success, as it was with Ferrari’s ten years ago. You’re losing one of your closest lieutenants in Peter Prodromou who’s moving on at some point in the next couple of years. What’s your feeling on that? How disappointed are you in that and how difficult is it to keep a winning group together?
AN: Movement is the nature of Formula One – and you only have to look at the people sitting at this table. I think it’s healthy in many ways that there is a bit of movement otherwise it would all go stale. I am sad that Peter’s leaving because I’ve worked with him for many years but I guess he has his reasons for wanting to move on. I think we’ve got good strength in depth in Red Bull so we will carry on as well.
Q: Rob, as Adrian was saying, there has been a fair bit of movement between teams of engineers and obviously the same thing’s been going on to some extent within engine builders as well. As a result of that do you feel you have a better understanding now of where you stand relative to Mercedes and Ferrari in terms of 2014 technology – and where do you think that is?
Rob WHITE: I think the first thing to say is that traditionally – and it’s still the case – there’s perhaps a less volatile environment amongst the engine people and that remains the case and there hasn’t been substantial movement around. Answering the question about does that give us incite into where we stand relative to the other guys in 2014, we have very little way of knowing where we shall be in 2014 relative to the others. At the moment, it’s absolutely about getting the best out of our own programme, making the best of the resources that we have. I feel that we have everything that we need to do a good job but we’re now in a phase where actually delivering is absolutely the top of everybody’s job list.
Q: And how much will driving styles have to change next year, do you think and how much slower or how much faster will the cars be do you believe than they are this year?
RW: I think driving style… I’m not sure I can give a good answer to that but one of the things that I think will be important and perhaps a differentiating factor is just the capacity to get the most out of these new and complex power units and the way in which they’ll be operated over the course of the race weekend. Clearly we’ve had some idea of what this would entail for some long time but we’re getting up close and personal now with the necessary tools and procedures necessary to do that. Some of the underlying engineering work is still under way. Some of the code-writing in order to execute the necessary control systems on the cars is still under way and the tools that the engineers and technicians in the garage will use to look after it all is still work in progress. I think the drivers adapting to the new environment will be something that will be interesting to watch.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) For the five chassis guys, how do you see next season unfolding and what is the target for your team?
NC: Our target is to carry on where we’ve been now, so try and be around the top three in the constructors. It’s a bit hard to say how it’s going to develop right from this point. The changes are so big, it’s the biggest change in regulations that I’ve seen in 20 years in the sport and there’s going to be a lot of different solutions. It will be very interesting to see what everyone takes to the first race. There will be different solutions for aerodynamics and some cars will be better packaged than others.
SM: I think that Nick’s right about the magnitude of change. I think it’s going to be a development war all the way through the season and probably into the next year as well, it’s such a big change to not just the powertrain but the aerodynamics and knowing that the slope that we currently have in the wind tunnel… when you have a slope so steep, then it normally means that you’re far away from the optimum when you first make these type of changes. The powertrain is probably bigger in reality and probably more visible because you have such a brand new gearbox, brand new engine, completely new ERS system and don’t underestimate how developed these current powertrains are on all fronts because they’ve been… especially the engine, obviously, but also the gearbox so those changes are significant as well. I’m sure you will see different levels of reliability, even though teams are much better now than what they used to be 10/15 years ago with dynos and simulations etc, there’s nothing that has anywhere near… you can’t replicate the almost decade of powertrain mileage on the track across different teams so I think that’s going to be a big player in the next year and potentially a bit longer.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) And the team’s target?
SM: To win.
JA: Ferrari’s target is always to win. As far as how next year will work out, I think that the size of the rule change means that there will be some unanticipated reshuffling of the pack in terms of where all the teams will find themselves in the pecking order. However, I think – notwithstanding the size of the changes – over the years it’s been fairly clear that the teams, although they’re hundreds of people in different places end up producing cars independent of one another that come together and are very competitive with one another and I would expect that to be true next year as well. I would also imagine that the first half of next year is likely to be heavily affected by reliability. Next year’s rule changes are big enough, just in terms of the configuration of the car but they also place a much much higher burden of reliability on us as well.
Q: Adrian, Mark Webber was saying that he sees Red Bull as the clear favourites for next year. Do you see it that way?
AN: Don’t know to be perfectly honest. I think that first of all, as James said, the cars are hugely complex compared to the cars that we’ve been used to. The level of reliability that everybody’s achieving now is the result of a lot of evolution on what actually looks a relatively simple product compared to what we’re facing next year so I think reliability’s going to be quite an issue for the teams, could well be a deciding factor in the championship, who knows? And then, as everybody’s said, then effectively you can divide it into the very large powertrain regulation changes which is obviously in the powertrain itself down to the three manufacturers for next year, but then from the team’s point of view, how you install the engines and the power train… I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of different solutions to start with to what is a very complicated problem.
PL: Our target is to win and I think the exciting aspect about next year is that we return to competition amongst engines. The last seven or eight years, the engine has been a frozen product. Of course there are differences between the engines but not in the way they used to be, so we return to an issue of a campaign not just with the chassis but with the power unit as well and I think that’s really exciting and a good thing for Formula One.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) James, having worked with Kimi for a while at Lotus, how important do you feel your familiar face will be to him at the start of next season to ensure that he hits the ground running?
JA: I don’t think it will make much difference to Kimi at all! Beautiful though I am, I don’t think I have a massive impact on his life. Kimi’s relationship with the team is predominantly with the people that are at the track, racing the car, with him, with his race engineer and with the chief race engineer and the people that campaign round the world with him. My job is mainly a factory-based one and while I would try to lead a factory team that is sensitive to what the drivers are saying about the car and hopefully making the most of the feedback that they give us, my day-to-day interaction with the drivers is not overly extensive.
Q: (Karen Crouse – New York Times) Adrian, what are the one or two qualities Sebastian possesses that you think separates him from all the other drivers right now?
AN: Crikey. I think he, like all the true greats, then he has the ability to drive the car and at the same time have enough mental reserve to be able to understand how he’s driving the car and be able to play that back and understand when to push and when not to, how the race is unfolding. I think he has very good recall which means that when he gets out of the car he’s able to play back in his own mind what he’s experienced, digest that. He works hard in the evenings with the race engineers and the result of all that is that when he steps in the car again the next day he’s learned that little bit more. You apply that over many races then he keeps improving.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Question for the three in the front row: obviously, from a performance point of view the answer is not at all, but how important is it that Formula One cars look really good, look spectacular and therefore how important is it that the regulations that dictate what the cars look like are conceived with that in mind?
PL: Yes, it’s an interesting question. I think, in the end, cars tend to look good when they’re quick, so we take a while to get used to change but it’s surprising how you look back at old cars and they suddenly don’t look so attractive when you didn’t like the change that came. But I think any car that actually is quick tends to start looking good, that’s my view.
Q: James, do you agree with that?
JA: Yeah. I think if you look back over the years there are some prettier years than other years. When 2009 came along, I didn’t like the look of those cars at all but I’m wholly used to it now and I think they look pretty sexy. The stepped nose… again, I didn’t like that to start with but I’m OK with it now. So I think as a technical team, we really have a duty to try and make the thing quick rather than make it beautiful. Hopefully the beauty is got for free along the way.
Q: Adrian, are aesthetics important to you when you put a car together?
AN: They are important but they are kind of dictated by the rules inasmuch as technically obviously our job is to try and make the car as quick as possible rather than to win any styling awards so we are at the mercy of the regulations in that regard. I must admit that I think the regulations have caused some ugly areas… in terms of the stepped nose I think aren’t as attractive as they used to be. Probably, in truth, the narrow track cars I don’t think have ever looked quite as attractive as… they’ve always looked a bit out of proportion compared to the pre-’98 cars. The low nose that we have next year, I think there could be some fairly awkward looking aesthetics, nose arising. So it’s something that in my view should be given a bit more consideration when the regulations are drawn up.
Q: (Craig Scarborough – Scarbs F1) You’ve all spoken – looking towards next year – about unreliability being a big issue; with winter testing being quite a limited amount of time… you can obviously spend a lot of time with red flags with your cars in the garage, how’s that going to affect your winter testing approach, and equally, is there a case for two car test teams now?
NC: Well obviously it puts a lot impetus to make sure we get to the first test with a car that can run as much as possible, so that means you put a lot more effort into the dyno work and you try and get there with something that’s going to get you out on track as much as possible but I think everyone’s expecting they’re going to find a few problems. I think the development through the first three tests and up to the first race will be very very strong.
RW: In real life, the opportunity to substantially change the specification as a result of what happens in testing independent of the timing, give or take a week or two, is quite limited but it’s absolutely a key part of the final phase of preparation to go racing. Yeah, reliability is a tough call. We have to aim for the same place, which is of course not to break down, not to stop the car. It’s more difficult to achieve because the systems are more complicated, more numerate on the car. It’s more difficult to achieve because the durability requirement is higher. Coming back to the question: how would it affect the way we approach testing, I think paradoxically then we have a responsibility to be more ready and to be aiming to role-play the race weekend right from the very start of private testing. I’m sure that there’s so much new stuff to come in all of the procedures in every stage of the weekend that we’ll going to be trying to practise those right from the get-go.
SM: I think it’s the same as what those guys said, it’s going to be pretty tight in that time. If you have major problems they are difficult to solve, not impossible, that’s what F1 teams are quite capable of proving, impossible things are possible in that short period of time as with all the experience round here. So I think it’s an entirely necessary area. If you get into fundamental redesign such as bearing issues or cooling problems, they can be quite damaging but I don’t think it really changes… I think in terms of… one of your questions was about two car testing, I think one of the reasons for going with a single car was cost and containment. I think in terms of parts and things like that, it would be a pretty tall order to go and produce two cars at this stage of the day.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Paddy, we’ve had a lot of speculation about Ross’s position over the past month or so. Are you able to shed any more light on that, going forward, your prospects of taking over as team principal? Is it being mentioned at all in any meetings with Daimler etc?
PL: There’s been a lot of talk about this in the last few months, you’re right. The fact is that Ross will step back at some point. It’s not clear what the timing is for that or whether he will step back completely or remain in a different role within the team. At the moment we’re waiting for Ross’s call on that. In the meantime, I’m working very well with Ross and with Toto, there’s no issue there, we work very well together. I would like to say there’s no impatience on that aspect, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
Ends
Wheel checks on Pirelli tyres at the US GP in Austin on Friday. A Pirelli photo -
A fantastic race and we beat the red guys: Sebastian Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by John Surtees and Jean Alesi)
Q: Sebastian, you won your first grand prix, here at Monza, in an Italian team. So, it’s very special coming back for you, isn’t it?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys. So we are very proud of that. Great job by the whole team today, very good job by Renault. Usually this is one of the toughest tracks we go to but this year the car’s been absolutely fantastic, the race has been incredible. I think for both of us towards the end we were struggling a little bit with the gearbox so we had to pace ourselves but obviously for me it was not that bad because I had a little bit of a cushion but very great to win here, to see all the fans coming, it’s the best podium of the season so very proud to be up here.
Q: It’s important that they come and the emotion is all about Italy, isn’t it?
SV: Yeah, for sure.
…Fernando did a very good drive and kept you honourable, so that was fantastic.
SV: Yeah, definitely. Most people, you can see are dressed in red – but there’s a lot of blue caps as well and I’m sure those guys are very happy. Thank you.
Q: Fernando, you must explain how was the overtaking in the beginning of the race for you.
Fernando ALONSO: It was difficult obviously. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Hülkenberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe later on. And then with Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony that is the most spectacular podium of the year for sure and hopefully next one, next year, we come back here but in the top place.
Q: And Fernando, when you make the pass, the whole public jump on the grandstand, it was amazing. Inside the car, how it was? It was very close.
FA: It was close. Obviously we have to risk. There is nothing now to lose for us. We are second in the championship and we have to take some risk. We did it and that’s OK.
Q: You understand Ferrari love you? You have to love Ferrari, we are all behind you…
FA: Ah, of course. I always said the same thing, big thanks to the team for everything they do for me and huge support from all the fans from all Italy. Some people still try to create some tension between team and driver but here is the better symbol: zero tension and we fight for the championship always.
Q: Mark, you had to fight very hard to be on the podium. From the middle of the race you had… it looked like from outside you had better speed, compared to the beginning. Can you explain how it was at the beginning of the grand prix?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I felt a little bit better on the tyre at the end of the race. The hard tyre was not quite as comfortable for me but I felt very, very good at the end. So it was a good battle with Fernando. Great team result. Thank you to Monza, last time here in Formula One, so thank you very much. See you next time.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well done Sebastian, your third win here but tell us the problems you had with the gearbox – you said between fifteen and ten laps from the end. Was it getting worse or was it just one problem?
SV: In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster. I think yeah, the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pitwall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps. Obviously it was good to have these ten seconds on hand, so I didn’t have to push that much and also I didn’t have to squeeze it all out of the tyres even though I stopped a couple of laps earlier than Fernando. So that was positive. But yeah, we didn’t know how bad the problem is. We’ll probably know better once we strip the car next week and have a look inside the gearbox. We’ll probably know for both cars, I think, how close it was.
Q: Fernando, were you happy with that second place? Was that as much as you could have achieved today?
FA: Yes, very happy. I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car. Practice were OK and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so very, very long time, so we were very, very happy. Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, the four times that I was in the podium and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment. And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but y’know, when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend and we need to do hopefully a better job next time but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.
Q: Mark, you’ve had your best finishing position here and finally experienced a Monza podium – but at the same time, tell us about the start, tell us why you pulled off at the end.
MW: Yeah, very happy to be on the podium here at Monza. It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice. It was good to have a clean weekend from start to finish and then fight for top positions, which was certainly the case today. The start was pretty good but both Sebastian and I, I think, compared to the Ferraris were not as strong off the line. Felipe had a good one so he had to go to the other side. Seb gave me enough room up the inside. I thought he was going to go straight. He was very deep on the brakes but just managed to pull it up, so then we settled into the first part of the race. I was not super-happy on the hard tyre but anyway that’s the way it was. Fernando was into the rhythm a little bit quicker, we had a good little battle in the second chicane and then after that really just trying to managed the pace on the rear tyres to when we were going to stop to try to pass Felipe – which I was very, very happy with, the in-lap. And also the whole thing went well in terms of for the line, pitstop, exit, out-lap. We executed that as a team effort: driver, pitcrew, and got the job done against Felipe. And then actually it was a good battle with Fernando on the other tyre. Tried everything but yeah, as Seb touched on, we had to nurse the gearbox a little bit but in the end second was the maximum, we got third but we pushed Fernando all the way. It’s always a good battle racing Fernando, you have to be very accurate. We pushed as hard as we could and I’m satisfied with today’s result.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, is the only way for you to win this championship is for Sebastian to lose it?
FA: Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year. We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) And yesterday, there was so much talk and so much written as to whether you had said this or said that. Did you feel today that the fans spoke out for you? They cheered you; do you feel much better today than yesterday?
FA: Concerning yesterday, it’s the third or fourth consecutive race that some people have tried to create some tension between the team and the drivers. Then we come to the press conference, we explain everything but obviously this doesn’t sell so many newspapers – normality. Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere – here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team and we keep repeating this and we saw today on the podium maybe not many of them read the newspapers in the morning, luckily.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, can you explain the overtaking manoeuvre on Mark, maybe the most spectacular in the whole race?
FA: I tried a lap before but I was not close enough in turn four, in the second chicane, and then we were very close in the first chicane on that lap. Mark had a little slower exit in the first chicane so I used all the KERS on that straight hoping that with the KERS plus the slipstream it will be enough to pass, but it was not enough so that we arrived side by side. At one point, I thought ‘well, I will miss the second chicane and I will give the place back’ but at the last moment I get the grip, we were very close to touching each other but again we come back to the point that it’s not the same fighting with an experienced and respectful driver compared to some others with whom you would never try that move, with whom we’ve had some incidents already.
Q: (Cesare Manucci – Autosprint) Sebastian, in parc ferme you changed gears five, six and seven I think, because you already had a warning of the same problems with the transmission that you had during the race, or was it a completely different problem, or just to be more safe for the race?
SV: We already saw something on Friday, obviously something similar but Friday to Saturday we changed the gearbox and then I think in the race it was a surprise. We were obviously aware of the Friday problem but we didn’t see anything before that. There’s not much you can do; obviously once you start the car there’s nothing you can change so in the end, I think we were lucky or in a comfortable position to have a little bit of a gap especially towards the end. I don’t know what they saw on the pit wall in terms of data, if the problem got worse and worse and worse or stabilised, but obviously I tried to save the car, save the engine and gearbox as much as I can. In the end, I still have to go full power on the straights; basically try to short shift and save the car a little bit.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, does it hurt to see the people against you on the podium?
SV: About the general atmosphere, fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely when we won here in an Italian team with a Ferrari engine so the atmosphere was fantastic. When we won here in 2011 and this year… 2011 was a surprise, this year I think it was kind of expected. I said on the radio on the in lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal. I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special. Obviously Fernando is in a great position on the podium, whereas if you’re dressed in any other colour it’s not the same, but still, it’s a fantastic race, a fantastic podium here.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, I think the only hard moment was at the start when you locked up the front tyres a bit. How was it after that, please?
SV: Our start was difficult, as I mentioned. I didn’t get off the line that well, couldn’t see Mark so tried to give him enough room and then tried to brake late, probably a little bit too late, locked the front right and then had lots of vibrations after that because I had a flat spot on the front right tyre. Fortunately we weren’t front limited on this circuit, so the front tyre was not a big issue, so I tried to look after the rears after that and we still got far enough to make the one stop work.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, can you describe your side of when Alonso passed you and how badly did that damaged wing affect your race?
MW: I think that I braked pretty deep into there, so did Fernando. It was early in the race, we were still to get a feel for where everything is. Obviously as Fernando touched on, it’s very easy to go straight there and not make the entry to the chicane. I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted to make the entry to the chicane as well but when Fernando then got pretty much level on the outside of three, the chess match is over, basically, so you then obviously have to concede and look to take the fight to another part of the race. The wing, I think, wasn’t too bad. I think we’ve had quite a few little snags on the front wings this season but that seemed to be OK. It wouldn’t have helped; I don’t think we had the best balance in the first ten, 15 laps because of that. As the race went on towards the end, it might not have been too bad to help the stint but I couldn’t go anywhere against that with Felipe and at the end of the stop the guys might have tweaked it up a little bit, but in general, not a big difference. I was concerned that the wing might have been more damaged when I saw it go and also on the back straight on the way to the Parabolica I thought I saw Fernando’s left rear – just an illusion maybe – but I saw the tyre about to go down but it didn’t, it stayed up and in the end we both survived.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, Adrian Newey in Spa said that Monza wouldn’t be a positive track for Red Bull, but looking at the dominance here, maybe he was wrong. What happened, how were you able to change the situation?
SV: I think he was as surprised as we were. Just on the way up to the podium, he said ‘I thought that it was going to be damage limitation this weekend.’ I said to him ‘well, if damage limitation is like that, I want to have a lot of damage for the rest of the season.’ It was very unexpected. Already the pace on Friday surprised us. From a balance point of view, I was very happy with the car, similar to two years ago. So obviously we’ve been very competitive in Canada, very competitive in Spa on medium downforce tracks. This one was a little bit unknown. We haven’t been the fastest down the straights again, but fast enough, somewhere in the mid-field which is enough to use the strengths that we have through the corners, despite running as little wing as we can afford.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, what do you expect for Singapore, because in theory it is very good for your car. Do you believe Red Bull is now at the level of 2011?
FA: Yeah, we will see. Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before. We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check. If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.
The level of domination? Well, I think as Sebastian touched on before as well, already in Canada, Spa, Monza are very unique tracks in terms of level of downforce. They were quick in Spa so more or less… we saw it in Canada so Spa was not a surprise and here in Monza also they performed really well. I think it’s more tight this year than 2011 and also there are more teams in the battle. There is not only Red Bull who can be on pole position etc; there is Mercedes who have done many pole positions this year etc, so many races are coming with many interesting combinations of performance so what we have to do is try to be close to the top in all track characteristics.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you said some minutes ago that the car reminded you of the 2011 car here. It means a very dominant car as we already saw in Spa – Francorchamps, you have 53 points advantage over Alonso. What do you predict for the rest of the season? You are very close to being World Champion for the fourth consecutive time?
SV: I’m trying not to think about it too much. I think that when I spoke about the fact that it was similar to 2011 I was speaking about the experience here in Monza because usually… you know, 2009, 2010, 2012 it was very tricky for us here. Obviously this year was similar to 2011 when the car just seemed to be very well balanced in the corners, I felt very good through all the medium speed and the chicanes. It’s not as simple as you think. People say ‘at Monza, you just need horsepower, little wing on the car’ but in fact if the car doesn’t feel right and doesn’t allow you to play, you lose a lot of lap time, just because you are not comfortable. The cars are sliding more than the rest of the year because you run less downforce so you need to be happy with that and accept that. We have a car this year that was similar in 2011 in that regard and allowed myself to play and still to feel comfortable, even though the car was loose. Other than that, I think I tend to agree with Fernando. Obviously the last two races have been very good for us but overall this year, I think it’s been very close. Yesterday was the first pole position we got in real dry dry conditions, if you don’t consider Melbourne because it was a little bit damp and drying up in Q3. So on that front, we seem to have made progress and in the race it has stood out this year that we have had a very very strong race car. Together with Ferrari, I think on average we have been the fastest in the race.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, during the race we heard a little message radioed by you that you were complaining about the rear light on the Vettel car. I would like to know how disturbing, how annoying it was for you during the race?
SV: Me?
FA: Was the question for me? Well, it was…
SV: Will you listen now? You complained about the red light?
FA: Yeah, yeah. It was disturbing a little bit. Obviously it’s a very strong light with no rain.
SV: It’s worse in here.
FA: Sebastian is not used to having a car in front so he doesn’t know how it feels to have a red light on but when you are behind, a little bit close, it’s always flashing and sometimes you just have to touch one button because that’s the red light or something that you press by mistake, if he could switch, but he didn’t. So the whole race I had it flashing in my eyes.
SV: I was trying to get away so it wasn’t disturbing you so much.
FA: You didn’t…
Ends
From left: Alonso (2nd), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Vettel and Webber (3rd) on the the Podum at Monza on Sunday. An FIA photo -
Facile victory for Vettel at Monza; Alonso second, Webber third
Monza, 8 Sept 2013: Sebastian Vettel took a controlled Italian Grand Prix victory ahead of Fernando Alonso and third-placed Mark Webber, despite late-race gearbox troubles that forced the Red Bull Racing driver to drop his pace in the closing stages.Starting from pole position, Vettel held his lead into turn one despite close attention from team-mate Mark Webber, who started second. As Vettel protected his lead, however, Webber was forced to back off and that allowed fourth-on-the grid Felipe Massa to steal P2 as the field swept towards the Curva Grande, an FIA release said.
File photo of Vettel courtesy FIA photo gallery Behind them, though, there were incidents. A good start saw Kimi Raikkonen close on Sergio Perez but under braking the Finn collided with the rear of the Mexican’s McLaren in turn one. Perez continued but Raikkonen’s was forced to pit for a new front wing. The accident defined the Lotus man’s race and he spent the next 52 laps battling through the midfield to eventually finish 11th.
Force India’s Paul Di Resta also ran into trouble, slamming into the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus as the field entered the Roggia chicane. The Lotus driver continued on but Di Resta’s front left wheel was torn off and his race ended there.
Ahead, Alonso slotted into fourth behind Webber and on the third lap, the Ferrari driver made a brave move at the second chicane and passed the Red Bull. Alonso soon reeled in team-mate Massa and on lap eight he breezed passed Massa into the Rettifilo.
That leading order held until the first, and for many, only pit stop. Vettel and Webber both dived in on lap 23 for hard Pirelli tyres and Alonso swept into the lead.
It didn’t last long. The Ferrari’s pace was never a match for the Red Bull’s and when the Spaniard made his stop for hard tyres on lap 27, Vettel flew into the lead again. When Alonso rejoined, the gap to the Red Bull driver was more than 10 seconds and the race was largely run.
Webber, meanwhile, gained in the tyre switches. Massa stopped on lap 24 but when he exited pit lane he found the Red Bull alongside and Webber held a tough line into the first corner to take third place.
He set off in pursuit of Alonso and soon closed to within half a second of the Ferrari and for a while it looked like the race might turn into a Red Bull one-two.
But first Webber’s engineer told him to short shift second and third gears and then Vettel was given the same message. The duo duly moderated their pace and the order held until the flag.
Afterwards, Vettel admitted that while the issue had not been serious, it had caused nervous moments in the final quarter of the race.
“In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster,” said Vettel of the gearbox issue. “I think the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pit wall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, I tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps.”
Alonso, meanwhile, said that his second place was the best possible with the car at his disposal.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I think this weekend we took the maximum from the car. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Rosberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe. With Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap, so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good to have [and] this podium ceremony is the most spectacular podium of the year. Hopefully next year, we’ll come back here but in the top place.”
Behind fourth-placed Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg took an excellent fifth place for Sauber. After a successful 2012 in which it landed three podium finishes, the Swiss outfit has struggled with an uncompetitive car throughout this season, but on Saturday Hulkenberg took a shock third place on the grid to give his team hope of its best result of the year.
And the German didn’t disappoint. Despite losing two places at the start, any expected further drop failed to materialise and Hulkenberg matched the pace of those around him to take 10 points, three more than the team has managed in the whole of the season so far.
Behind him Nico Rosberg finished sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo and eighth-placed finisher Grosjean.
It was Lewis Hamilton who made the most significant moves in the closing stages. The Mercedes driver made a relatively early pit stop on lap 13 to shed his starting hard tyres and then cycled through two sets of mediums as he attempted to use their better pace to work his way up the order.
The tactic worked and in the closing laps he leaped from 12th place to ninth, passing Raikkonen, Pérez and McLaren’s Jenson Button, leaving Button to take the final point on offer.
Vettel 32nd career win means he extends his lead over Alonso at the top of the drivers’ championship leaderboard to 53 points. The German now has 222 points, Alonso 169. Hamilton lies third with 141. In the Constructors’ title fight, Red Bull Racing now have 352 points. Ferrari move back into second with 248 and Mercedes are third with 245.
Italian Grand Prix 2013 – Race result
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 53 1:18:33.352 25
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +5.4 secs 18
3. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 53 +6.3 secs 15
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +9.3 secs 12
5. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 53 +10.3 secs 10
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +10.9 secs 8
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 53 +32.3 secs 6
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus 53 +33.1 secs 4
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 +33.5 secs 2
10. Jenson Button McLaren 53 +38.3 secs
11. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 53 +38.6 secs
12. Sergio Perez McLaren 53 +39.7 secs
13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 53 +40.8 secs
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams 53 +49.0 secs
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams 53 +56.8 secs
16. Adrian Sutil Force India 52 +1 Lap
17. Charles Pic Caterham 52 +1 Lap
18. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 52 +1 Lap
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia 52 +1 Lap
20. Max Chilton Marussia 52 +1 Lap
Ret Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 14 Transmission
Ret Paul di Resta Force India 0 Accidentends
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I wish Nico stays third, for him and for Sauber… and it would do me no harm; But I have to be ahead of him: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Nico HULKENBERG (Sauber)
TV UNILATERAL
Sebastian, you’ve got a long history here, how much do you love this place?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s a special track for sure. It’s always nice to come back here. Obviously the memories of 2008 are great. I had another victory in 2011 but I think the first victory is always special. Today I think, or generally this weekend, the car was fantastic so far. I think better than what we could expect. We had a very strong pace yesterday and we were able to take that into the qualifying today. I had two good runs in the end. In the end I think it’s a bit of a surprise to have both cars on the front row at a place where historically we’ve had bad years. Yeah, this year it seems to work well and hopefully we’ll have a good race from where we start tomorrow.
You mentioned historically. How much has the team targeted the performance here?
SV: Well we do target to have the optimum every year. Obviously, some years we were closer and other years we were quite far away. It seems that this year we’re obviously in a very strong position. We’re able to match other cars down the straight and we know that in corners we have a strong car. It’s a nice place, a nice track, very challenging to get the lap right, because you have low downforce on the car, so the car is very light, sliding a little bit here and there. It doesn’t cost us as much probably as in other places but yeah obviously if you try too often to go over the limit there is a big penalty, so, yeah, I think it was a tough session but we managed to get through and get a great result.
Mark, your best qualifying position here and presumably you’re looking to follow it up with a good result as well, your best result here?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, exactly. I said to the boys before the session I was looking for a quali PB. It hasn’t been the best track for me, so as your say it’s a nice step towards a very, very good result tomorrow. I’m happy with qualifying, to be up there. It took the old boy a little bit of while to be ready for Q1 but I got there in end, in the sessions where it counted. Actually pretty happy with my laps. Jean-Eric [Vergne] went off in the Parabolica, in the last corner, so I didn’t know if he’d dropped a wheel or if he was continuing on the circuit, so I couldn’t really see with the dust. Obviously then when I got further round I could see he was in the gravel. So a little bit of a tricky finish to the lap but overall it wouldn’t have been enough to get Seb, he did a very good lap. We have a few different people up here as well with us, which is good. It was a bit of a mixed-up session and that can happen at Monza, it’s not an easy track to get right. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.
This is you last European Grand Prix. Is that an emotional moment for you?
MW: Not really. I think Brazil will probably be a little bit more emotional of course, but if I’ve got the tissues out then I’ve made the wrong decision. It’s good that I still enjoy my driving. I’m not too uncompetitive. Just look for a clean weekend and get some very good results in the future in the coming races and that’s got to be my goal. I’m not retiring. I’m stopping from Formula One but of course there’s a lot of people that can come and watch me in the Porsche next year at Le Mans and some other races.
Thanks very much. Nico, where did that come from?
Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know either. Really a nice surprise to ourselves. I didn’t expect it, especially after a very difficult Friday. Yesterday we struggled a lot with the car, we were trying some different bits and bobs, but the guys have done a fantastic job to turn the car around and give me such a competitive car today. It was just that Q1, Q2, Q3 the car just got better and better, I think with the track improvement and with the right decision just to go for one timed lap, fuelled for one timed lap, was the right call. Yeah a burning lap which made this nice surprise happen.
Of course it’s a good circuit for Sauber. They finished second here last year, so what are your hopes for tomorrow?
NH: Yeah, last year is a very different year. Obviously Sauber was very competitive very often last year in races. This year we have been struggling more, we’ve had a more difficult year, let’s put it this way. So I hope that the long run pace is good. From what I could see yesterday it should be all right. I don’t think we can challenge these guys but definitely points are now the target.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your third pole position here and 40th in your career. Tell us about the importance of pole position here. Is it an important pole?
SV: I think pole is always important. It’s the best place to start the race from on Sunday. Especially here, I think it’s important to manage to qualify in the top group, we know the first two chicanes are quite tricky. So, I’m looking forward to start the race from pole tomorrow, focus on the start and then we’ll see where we get. But it’s a long race, we’ve seen in the past that there’s a lot of things that can happen. A good example of how quickly things can change last year, I think Sergio [Pérez] had a fantastic race and coming through with an opposite strategy so yeah, race pace is very important but surely today we did our homework with qualifying, P1 and P2.
Q: Mark, yesterday we saw a margin of six-tenths of a second. We saw a margin of six-tenths again this morning. Do you feel that you’ve got some of that back?
MW: To Seb? Yeah, the lap time looks like it. It’s down to two. It’s not quite there but it was still a session which I was pretty happy with because to qualify in second position is good. Seb’s strong here, quick in Monza. He’s not slow here so it’s not… it’s a bit of an opposite circuit for me so certainly happy to have a PB in quali and I’ll do my best tomorrow. The car’s
[INAUDIBLE – MIXED IN RADIO CHATTER]but in general looking forward towards the race tomorrow. The big clutch behaving itself in a good fashion, hopefully it should be OK, then we’re going to get a good start to the race in terms of the first few laps and settle in for the afternoon.
Q: Nico, possibility of showers tomorrow. What would you like?
NH: I think I’d like it to stay dry to be honest. I think that would be the easier option but we’ll take it as it comes. We haven’t run in wet or inter conditions so it will be new to everyone. Obviously more challenging but I’m open-minded.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Complimenti Sebastian; are you happy to have the first Ferrari engine in Nico Hulkenberg’s car than one of the works cars? How important is it not to have the Ferrari there?
SV: I think today it was obviously all about preparing for the race, getting the best position. As I said, in this regard we got our job done but the main job comes up tomorrow so we will see. The races are long, a lot of things can happen so I don’t know. I think Felipe is P4 so I think Ferrari was strong in every race this year in terms of race pace so they will be strong tomorrow as well. I think their long run looked quite competitive; I don’t know what they have done exactly in terms of fuel loads but I’m sure they have the pace and the ability to come through. Equally, I wish that Nico stays there, first of all for him and for his team, to have a strong result and secondly, obviously, it would do me no harm in terms of the championship. But first of all, I have to finish in front of him.
Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) To both Red Bull drivers: what is your strategy tomorrow for the start, as Nico is quite close to you?
SV: I think the usual: accelerate as quick as we can, try to get a good start. Partly it’s in our hands, literally, with the clutch and then our feet, but also it depends on how well we set up the start, how accurate we are. I think we’ve worked a lot in the past, we’ve had some very good starts, we’ve had some not so good starts. You never know what you get, but we’re both, I think, hoping for the best launch.
Q: Mark, have you solved the problem with the clutch, do you feel you’re on top of it?
MW: (I’m) The wrong guy to ask. But anyway, there’s always a guy third on the grid, it’s Nico or whoever. We can’t start one and two and then have a fifty meter gap. He’s third because he did a good job. Nico or someone else, it doesn’t matter. We focus on ourselves really. That’s it.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Sebastian, there was a strange phrase by Fernando on the radio and it seemed to be against the team. Do you believe he’s getting nervous and nervous in the fight against you?
SV: Today? I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t what they… Maybe they had a problem. Obviously they were quite competitive this morning in the beginning of qualifying, I think it was very close at the end of qualifying to be fair. Obviously I fortunately had a bit of a gap but I think everyone behind Nico was quite close to each other. I don’t know, maybe they had some problem.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Nico, the drivers’ market is very sensitive at this moment, especially concerning the teammate of Alonso. You have put in a greater performance then Ferrari; do you think it can influence Ferrari’s decision to take you?
NH: I can only influence it by performing very well and obviously today’s result is not the worst. For me it’s just important to focus on my competitiveness and my performance and that will make the rest easier but probably the timing is not the worst at this moment.
Sebastian Vettel on his way to pole position at Monza. Photo by Pirelli Ends
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A race in Mexico is a Great Step Forward: Monica Kaltenborn, Sauber
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Graeme LOWDON (Marussia), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Ross BRAWN (Mercedes), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Stefano, as it’s your home race, I’ll start with you if I might. First of all, we’ve had two practice sessions today. Have we seen the same sort of upturn here as you had in Spa in terms of your performance and can you maintain that through the rest of the weekend?
Stefano DOMENICALI: From what we have seen today, for sure above all in the second session, Red Bull seems to be very strong. I have to say, we have seen them doing a lap time immediately, so normally this is a good sign. Therefore, I am expecting, for sure, them to be very strong, and I’m sure the other team surrounding me they were a little bit doing some other stuff. I think it will be a tough weekend, for everyone, because with this kind of temperature also the car will be under pressure. At the end of the day we need to understand all the data we have collected and make sure that we have selected the right configuration for the car for tomorrow and this is really the work that the engineers will do tonight. I really hope that we can do a good weekend because in front of our people it will be very important and of course, as we know, if you want to put the pressure on the guys who are in front of us we need to try to be faster and faster and it is not enough to try to be very close to them in case they have an issue and then be ready, otherwise we will; lose our opportunities.
Thanks very much, Stefano. Graeme, yesterday Max Chilton told us of his hopes of staying with the team. What chances are there of that? Where are you in terms of drivers for next year and how important is your position in the Constructors’ Championship – that 10th place?
Graeme LOWDON: Well, we’re all competitive people so every position is important and we want to maintain that 10th place and given half a chance move forward as well. So that’s really important. As far as drivers, it’s kind of this period onwards when we really start to make some key decisions. Typically it’s a lot later in the year that we make any announcements but both drivers have done an extremely good job and at times under quite difficult circumstances. There’s a very good harmony in the team and a good team spirit and it would be nice to maintain that but let’s wait and see.
Monisha, Sauber have had a very close relationship with Mexico for a few years now, so how important is the Mexican Grand Prix, which is on the draft calendar we have seen this weekend?
Monisha KALTENBORN: It’s very important, not only for us a team but for Formula One itself, because we know that Latin America, generally America, is a very important market, so it attracts new partners as well. As far as our partner is concerned, it just shows that the strategy they have with motorsport is being implemented step by step. It was about the drivers coming into Formula One and the next logical step is hosting a race there. So I think it’s a great step.
It’s important for the team?
MK: It’s important for the team because we could see already in Austin last year, we felt like it was a home grand prix there if you could just hear people chant Checo’s name. So I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere.
Ross, the team has emerged very much as title contenders, but still a big gap to Red Bull Racing. How long can you maintain your challenge before it starts impacting on next year?
Ross BRAWN: I think it depends on what work you’re talking about. Obviously work that is unique to the current car would be taking away from next year’s programme. If it’s work that is still relevant for next year of course we’re still keen to develop ideas and continue with developments that would be relevant for next year. Those sort of micro-decisions are going on all the time with what we should or shouldn’t do. I think I said we’ll have a clearer picture after Singapore about our emphasis going from Singapore until the end of the season. I think Spa, a medium-low downforce circuit, Monza, a very low drag circuit, and Singapore, a high downforce circuit, after that mix we’ll see where we are. There’s very little variability left now in terms of what we can move from ’13 to ’14 and vice versa, so our programme is pretty set and we think we’ve got a programme that is not compromising the ’14 car at all.
Christian, historically Monza has been quite difficult for you in the past, for Red Bull Racing. What are you expecting this weekend? How good has it been in FP1 and FP2, certainly FP2 looked amazing today, especially the long runs. How do you feel the team is making an impact here?
Christian HORNER: We’ve had a strong start to the weekend, particularly in free practice two. We’ve worked through a programme and obviously the drivers are tuning themselves into the circuit and fine-tuning set-ups as well for the rest of the weekend. Monza traditionally, bar 2011, has been a difficult hunting ground for us and has exposed some of our weaknesses in previous years, but we just have to do the best that we can. For sure we know that Ferrari will be quick here. We know that Mercedes will be certainly quick and McLaren aren’t too fare away either this weekend. I think it’s set to be a very competitive grand prix and we’ve seen so many times that Friday means very little, so hopefully we can be on the podium here. That would be a strong result for us here.
Martin, great celebrations for the 50th anniversary of McLaren. Where do see the current team standing in that heritage?
Martin WHITMARSH: I haven’t thought about it that way. I think this isn’t the way we want to celebrate the 50thyear of McLaren but I think we’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved over that time and it’s been quite incredible how we’ve been able to grow that business. We’d like to be being more competitive – it’s a very hero to zero business. So to come out this year, as tough as it’s been, we’ve been able to pull ourselves a little bit back but we’re not with the quicker cars, yet. I think over the last couple of months we’ve had an unusual situation. Certainly for many years, this time of year we’ve been fighting for wins or championships and we’ve been devoting probablytoo much resource to the here and now and not enough to the next year. We’re very clear [now] that we’re very concentrated on next year. That’s made it quite tough on the race team and the drivers. As we’re racers we can’t come to a race event without parts to try so Fridays have been experimental days, probably been difficult for the drivers then to do the set-up work they’d like to. But we gather data and we’ve been able to use the experimental day of Friday to make a little bit of progress and we’re probably going to keep doing that because we can’t afford to detract from next year’s programme in the principal development facilities – wind tunnel, CFD and the like. So I think the team has responded to a kick up the pants we’ve had for ourselves. The team has pulled together, although we don’t like going motor racing without the real prospect of winning. I think we are very close as a team. I think we are working well together under difficult circumstances and we’re determined to do a better job in the coming races. But really focused on making sure we come out next year very, very strong.
And would you like a brief word on Mexico as well?
MW: I think Monisha put it very well. It was amazing Texas last year that you felt you were actually in Mexico, not in Texas, although maybe other parts of Texas feel that occasionally as well. It’s clear that there’s a huge passion there. Some of us, I think Ross at least, remember going to Mexico quite a few years ago. We know it’s entertaining, different and certainly passionate, so it’s good for the sport. It’s a huge and exciting market for Formula One and for some of the teams.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) We now have one official candidate for the FIA Presidency elections happening in December. I know that you guys don’t have any input on the vote but I would like your opinions on both the elections and the candidate himself.
Stefano?
SD: I heard today that there was a programme announced by the candidate for the presidency. Of course I haven’t had the chance to read it but I will do it in the next days. I think that in Formula One it’s important to proceed with stability and continuity – it’s one of the things that we are always missing. So, I believe that what is important to keep as a relation with the FIA is this kind of thing and so therefore I would like to see this happening – but of course it is not us that will decide that. That’s it really.
Martin?
MW: Well, I don’t know David Ward well enough and I haven’t had time to look at his manifesto so I really can’t comment on him. I think Jean – and clearly I don’t know Jean as well as some of the people here – but I have to say taking him as the President, I think he has not used this sport for his own ego, which I think is very tempting. I won’t go back into the past but I’ve seen and survived so far three presidents – only just, one of them – but I think Jean has acted in the interests of motorsport. I think for some people there hasn’t been enough commotion, action, controversy around him. Those are good in some people’s minds but I think for those of us that participate in the sport, having some consistency, someone who takes decisions that are in the interests of the sport quietly and efficiently is very beneficial. As you say, we don’t influence the outcome but I think Jean has done a good job so far and we’ll see if he’s successful at continuing to be the President.
Graeme?
GL: A general point is that democracy is a good thing, isn’t it? So you’ve got to welcome the process. I had a very quick look at the manifesto that came out from one of the candidates and there’s lots of topics that it’s good to have healthy debate on those topics and I’m sure that’s what the FIA members will do. In terms of the process, anything that’s democratic has got to be welcomed and if it provides transparency, provides the opportunity for debate, I think it’ll be an interesting process to watch from that point of view. I agree with a lot of the comments Martin said about what Jean has done. I haven’t been in the sport as long as Martin so I haven’t had the same number of presidents to live through but I think we’re looking forward to a healthy debate.
Monisha?
MK: Well, like Stefano said, most important is the stability and the continuity in the sport. I think we all know there are many challenging issues we are facing and in any case I hope that whoever comes up with the presidency will take up these issues and continue what has started and take it to the next level. Because we’re clearly reaching a point where certain decisions have to be taken ahead. And that’s what I hope will be done.
Ross?
RB: Obviously I know Jean very well, having worked together for ten years. I think stability and consistency are very important. I think Jean has taken a quiet line, particularly in terms of Formula One and that – as Martin said, those of us who have experienced the other end of the scale – is welcome. And I think the opportunity to do another period as a president of the FIA is important, that we have that continuity. I think Jean has stabilised the situation and now wants to move on to progress things and I know the huge commitment he makes to the sport overall. We are part of motorsport but there’s a huge amount of other things going on that he’s active in. And I think the continuity is very important.
Christian?
CH: I guess to have an election you’ve got to have more than one candidate. It now relies on Jean to become a candidate and declare that he’s prepared to continue as well. I think as the others have summarised, he’s done a very good job in his presidency so far. It really has very little to do with us, it really is an FIA issue and between the different ASNs – and who knows, there may even be another candidate. Maybe Martin’s going to throw his hat into the ring as well… No. As I say, I think Jean’s done a very good job and everything’s already been said.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Monisha, with the arrival of the Mexican Grand Prix next year, does that put any pressure on you to retain Esteban Gutierrez for next season, and if so, what does the future hold for Nico Hulkenberg, bearing in mind you’re seemingly committed to employing Sergey Sirotkin?
MK: Actually one thing really does not have anything to do with the idea to look at… We started our relationship with Esteban much before we actually got into contact with Telmex, because he came into the Formula BMW programme and from there he progressed with the team. So there are two different issues. As far as generally our driver line-up is concerned, we know that we would like to have Sergey next year as our driver but he still needs a super-licence and that’s something which you should take seriously. People shouldn’t think that we just feel that he’s just going to get it like that. We are convinced he can do it, we will do our best to prepare him and there still is a big step. If that all works out we will see what options we have and announce that in due course.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To all team principals and Graeme – I believe you’re sporting director, is that your official title?
GL: President and sporting director
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To all six, the resource restriction agreement (RRA) would have expired at the end of 2012. It was then extended by the so-called Singapore agreement which I believe extended it by another five years to the end of 2017. What are your individual views on this document? Is it legally enforceable, are you going to be providing all the documentation required at the end of the season to the correct authorities?
GL: Well, yes to all of the above. My understanding is that the Singapore agreement extended the RRA and modified some of the terms and extended it to 2017. I think that’s well documented and we’re certainly operating our business in accordance with that agreement. It was an agreement that everybody signed and we’ll report accordingly. Whether there is a different mechanism that all the teams agree prior to 2017, which has mutual agreement, then I guess that’s a different question but as far as we’re concerned we’re adhering to it and will continue to do so.
MK: Well, we are working to that as well and as far as I know, everybody is. More important is to see that in all this time we could identify the flaws it had which was natural, because you just realise with the experience you have with this kind of agreement and we all know we should take steps into cost-cutting directions so more important for me is: what can we make of this experience and how can we improve that to maybe have something which is then really again supported by everyone and we end all these discussions about it?
RB: We’re operating to the RRA. I think we’re part of the group – as I think most of the teams are, if not all the teams – part of the group to see how we can go forward with an improved RRA, how we can operate more effectively in the future. This is a very competitive business, so interpretations are very important. We see it in all the sporting regs, we see it in all the technical regs and we need to have an improved system to make sure the interpretations of the RRA are also debated and discussed and we have a proper forum for resolving those issues, because that appears to be where some of the disagreements come between the teams. But we do need to have a system, we need to have a system in the future, that controls the costs, that controls the amount the teams can spend. We as Mercedes, are supportive of any correct initiatives to achieve that.
CH: What was the question again?
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The Singapore agreement, in your opinion, is it a legally enforceable document, will you be submitting all your documents at the end of the season?
CH: Is it legally enforceable? Probably not in reality. There are things in that agreement that committed things like KERS for one and a half million and so on that didn’t actually happen. Will we work to it, in accordance with it? Yes. Will we submit our figures? I would have thought so. Is it effective? Not really. Have there been other things introduced into sporting and technical regulations that will have a genuine effect on costs next year? Yes they have. I think the reduction in wind tunnel usage, in getting rid of aerodynamic testing and so on will again have a significant impact on costs for next year. Of course, it depends where your cost drivers are but I think we still have a responsibility as a group to not ignore costs and certainly 2014 looks to be a very very expensive year.
SD: As everyone has said, I would say we are sticking to these figures but I think that the most important thing is to look ahead because for sure this is an element of a lot of discussion, debate that we all had together in different ways, in a very competitive world. Everyone is trying to maximise his situation because it’s part of the game. It is true that we need to find a solution that has to be clear to avoid any strange interpretation but so far, that is in terms of numbers, in terms of presenting the data, nothing has changed.
MW: Yes to all the questions but I think that as someone has said, I think it’s very clear we will probably do more than we’ve already done. I think some of the things that have now gone into the technical regulations, sporting regulations have effectively migrated there from the original RRA and that’s positive, I think. As Christian’s observed, I think the control of aerodynamic resources – this is track testing, this is CFD, wind tunnel time – has been effective, I think and I think as Christian also mentioned, despite our best efforts, the costs next year are very stiff, I think, particularly for the smaller teams. I think those teams who have a strong association with an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have a good degree of financial stability but I think it’s very clear that we need to work hard to ensure… we should be fighting for all eleven teams that we’ve got on the grid now, we should be fighting for their survival and making sure that they’ve got sustainable business models because if we don’t, at some point there will be a crisis, there will be the domino effect and we’ve got to… we act sometimes better under crisis, but generally it’s better to avert the crisis and work together beforehand.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) We’ve seen the draft calendar for next year: 21 races. We all know you’ve got views on expanding the calendar. I just wondered if you could say how likely it will be that you think there will actually be 21 races next year and if you think there’s any chance of New Jersey making it even though it’s not on the draft calendar at the present?
MW: I think 21 is tough. I’ve got no personal knowledge of New Jersey so I can’t comment on that. Will those 21 all happen? There’s lots of rumours and speculation in the paddock about whether they’ll all make it. Ultimately I think Bernie’s job is to go out there and put the calendar together. I think he sometimes has to speculate as to the viability or how realistic some of them are. It’s easy for us to jump and complain about the calendar. I think he’s got to put it together and I think we should be grateful that in the last few years, from pretty difficult and challenging times, not only has he maintained a calendar but he’s been able to bring some new venues into the sport. New Jersey, of course, would be fantastic in my opinion, it would be great for the sport. If you then say who would you lose? We’ve all got our personal favourites and our personal least favourites, but I think it would be very disrespectful to use this platform to voice those personal opinions. I think Bernie’s just got to work hard to make sure we’ve got a good calendar. He generally succeeds one way or another and I suspect he will next year.
SD: I would wait. I would say that as you know there will be a discussion, the World Motor Sport Council at the end of the September, so I would wait for that date to see exactly what will be the situation because you are old enough in this world to know that things may change quickly, so let’s wait and see.
Q: Graeme, just a comment from you; do you welcome 21 races from a smaller team’s point of view?
GL: We’ve always made it very very clear that we’re here, in Formula One, to compete and that means a level playing field, then that means that if there’s 21 races, then we race at 21 races. If it’s 20 then of course the cost goes down but that’s not really how we have to look at it. We can’t pick and chose what we would like about this sport. We can’t ask for a level playing field and then try and look at something like that. As Martin has quite rightly pointed out, Bernie puts the races on, the negotiations with the promoters from the outside seem to be tortuous, to say the least. In some cases, they are difficult to predict, some of the twists and turns, there are announcements that that race is happening and sometimes they don’t. Certain venues are more attractive. Sochi is a venue that is of particular interest to us because we obviously have a large following in the Russian market place, but I think in general it’s important for us to be consistent in what we ask for as a level playing field. If that’s 21 races, that’s 21 races.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Towards the end of Max Mosley’s reign (as FIA president), he was committed towards cutting costs at a time when the sport was imploding, manufacturers were leaving. Under Jean Todt, he has implemented a regulation change for next season which is costing every single team multi-millions of pounds and seemingly put a number in jeopardy. Do you genuinely believe Jean Todt has done a good job for Formula One?
CH: I think you’re referring to the engines, Ian, when you’re talking about the increase in costs and in fairness to Jean, the engine discussion was in place before his presidency. Where collectively we all made mistake was not to say no. Some of us did but at the end of the day there’s a process that these regulations have to go through and the teams, through the old Concorde Agreement, had the opportunity, through the Formula One Commission etc etc to stop it and we didn’t so we can only, in many respects, blame ourselves.
Q: (Sam Collins – RaceCar Engineering) We’ve been told earlier this weekend by Pirelli that the deadline for them to supply you guys with the tyre information that they need has been put back by a month, so I would like to ask all of you how that has affected your 2014 car development?
CH: Not at all, because we don’t know what to expect from Pirelli. So it seems to vary from weekend to weekend. I think they’re finalising their plans etc. It’s the same for everybody.
SD: One thing that I would say in all fairness I think that it will important also to give to them the possibility to test, when the new cars are there. For example, in wet conditions, we need to make sure that we will be able to do it before arriving to some weekend where we will find wet and suddenly we may discover something that was not expected, so I think we need to also consider that.
Q: (Silvia Renee Arias – Revista Parabrisas) Domenicali, talking about his future Felipe Massa said yesterday ‘ask Domenicali.’ I would like to ask you…
SD: I think that he did a good answer.
MW: He’s a very nice man.
SD: No, but I think that in that respect nothing has changed in our position. I know that everyone is waiting for information, waiting for news, as they have for all the summer, I have to say, because if you look back, all the summers were like that. Nothing to add on what we said a couple of weeks ago. We will take our time, there’s no rush to make a decision. We want to make sure that we make the right decision. We will support Felipe because this is absolutely clear: he’s a great guy, he’s very much a team player and this is something that we will discuss at the appropriate time and of course, I will tell you, not only to you but to everyone.
Q: (Craig Scarborough – ScarbsF1.com) Having looked at all your aero packages this weekend, you have obviously spent quite a lot of money developing packages just for Monza. Would you like to see a return of other high speed tracks – seeing as it’s the only track now that demands these packages – like Hockenheim or Paul Ricard?
RB: Yes. I would personally, yes, I think that when we had Hockenheim and Monza as the two low drag circuits it was always interesting to have some variety. I think the type of racing you get at these circuits is a little bit different and I would welcome more circuits of the type we have in Monza. Not sure how we achieve that, unfortunately. Monza is now an outsider in terms of the wings we have to make, it’s a special aero package for here, made for only one race but that’s the case for Spa as well. Spa’s in the middle; all the other circuits I can think of we race maximum downforce. May be different next year with the engines we have; may be different with some of the rule changes next year because the lower wing disappears and the rear wing is a little bit smaller, so there are some changes coming which may narrow the gaps between high downforce and low drag circuits. But I do enjoy racing in Monza; apart from the atmosphere which is always great, it’s a very interesting technical challenge for both the team and the drivers, so it’s a great race.
CH: I think that Spa and Monza now… Spa… the cars have improved and the circuit’s been changed slightly there. In many respects the Spa package is very very similar to here. We’re able to use an awful lot of elements here in Monza that we’ve used two weeks ago at Spa. It’s unique, it’s different, it’s got heritage, it’s obviously a very quick race. Strategically it’s a different race, the degradation tends to be pretty low here. The fuel effect is obviously one of the lowest of the year as well and I think it adds that variance to the calendar. That’s the great thing about Formula One. You go from Monaco to Monza, they’re two poles apart and it’s part of the technical challenge that is Formula One.
MW: I think it’s been said. Variety is good. I think this is a great circuit, the place is full of history, the fans are fantastic. I wouldn’t necessarily want to come to Monza twice but I think circuits like this are great but probably, as Ross reflected, we’re not likely to see new ones built like this.
GL: I think it’s probably fair to say we spent a little bit less on our Monza package than the other teams that are here, but as I mentioned before, from our point of view that’s not really the point, the challenge is the same for everybody. From a personal point of view, I think Monza has a special magic from the minute you come through the walls of the park, it’s just got an atmosphere that is really something special and provides the teams with an environment for racing that’s really quite unique so from that point of view it’s a great place, and as I say, in terms of the financial return and Craig, you’re quite right, this is a very very different circuit to others so it’s difficult to make a business case, if you like, around it when you’re keeping a very strong eye on the finances. But I think that’s really not the point when it comes to Monza.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Graeme, you’ve spoken about the level playing field and it’s the same for everyone and you spoke about the finances. Is the level playing for your team in particular really that level? Is it the same for you as for the others, given that you don’t have a commercial agreement with the commercial rights holder and you’re unique in that respect?
GL: You’re right, it’s not level at the moment, but it’s my job and the management team that I’m working with, it’s our job to get it level and I think we are making some progress there. We’ve been very consistent. I think we’ve got a very very good racing team. It’s not for me to judge, but I do believe we deserve our place in Formula One, this is not an easy sport and it’s not meant to be easy. I think the fact that it’s difficult is one of the good things about Formula One, but we are the only one of the new teams that gained an entry in June 2009 to still be here and I think that’s all credit to the people working in the team. I would love to take all the credit myself but I can’t. I think we’ll just continue and hopefully discussions with the commercial rights holder with a view to reaching a position where we are on a level playing field.
Ends -
I’m pleased and relieved; I look forward to racing with Red Bull: Ricciardo
5 Sept 2013:
An F1 Steering wheel. Photo from FIA photo gallery DRIVERS – Max CHILTON (Marussia), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Let’s start with the man of the moment, who I don’t expect has stopped smiling since the announcement was made a few days ago that he is going to be joining Red Bull Racing next year. A fantastic moment for you Daniel, but how easy is it going to be for you to concentrate for the remainder of the season? How will you keep that focus?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Good afternoon everyone, how’re you going? I think it’s a bit of a relief now that there’s no more speculation and no more dodging questions and all the rest of it. Everyone knows what’s happening, including me. It’s nice. It’s something to look forward to and obviously I’m very pleased with the news but I have eight more races this year and looking forward to giving Toro Rosso a nice farewell I hope and I’ll put all my energy into that. I think this weekend will of course be a bit hectic because the news is fresh but I think from this point on it should start to settle down and get back to normal stuff.
Mark, I guess you’re very pleased it’s gone to your compatriot, but also it must be quite difficult for you with these remaining races. This one for example hasn’t always been kind to you. Talk about your end of season in some ways.
Mark WEBBER: The writing was on the wall for me. I knew once I made the decision that the season was going to come to a close eventually. The clock doesn’t stop in Formula One and I’m actually happy about that, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the decision. Looking forward to getting as much silverware and the best results I can before the year’s out and Brazil Sunday night, the next chapter. Yeah, it’s all good.
Pleased for Dan?
MW: Of course, yeah. It’s very, very rare to have any Australians in Formula One but to have us I suppose handing the baton over in a very, very successful team… it’s great for Dan obviously, he thoroughly deserves it. The junior categories for him in Europe initially is a great test. Not easy for us to come from that part of the world, which he’s done brilliantly with. It’s the perfect scenario I think for the team, it all fits very, very well. After DC and myself they’ve finally got another driver from the junior programme, which is what it’s all about. So that fits in very, very well. Perfect age. It’s all in his corner. So he can do a tremendous job and yeah, it works out well for him.
Jenson, what’s your situation contract wise?
Jenson BUTTON: Good afternoon everyone. As all contracts are, confidential.
Have you signed?
JB: Not yet.
Are you happy to stay with McLaren?
JB: Yes, I’m very happy to stay where I am. I think it’s very easy, when times are difficult, to look elsewhere but when you’re in a team like McLaren that has been fighting at the front for so many years it’s definitely the wrong move to move elsewhere. I feel I have a very good family in the team and at the end of last year we had the quickest car on the grid. We don’t now but it could easily come our way again next season. I feel we are making good progress so this is the right place to be.
Max, similar question to you. You just had your best qualifying and best result as well, what’s your situation with the team at this stage?
Max CHILTON: Good afternoon everyone, I hope you’re having a good day. My situation is the same as it’s been all year. I’ve got a one-year contract. Obviously I’m a rookie and so is Jules and we’re here to learn as much as we can. You learn a lot before you get to Formula One but there’s an awful lot when you do get to Formula One as well. So the main thing I’m trying to do is focus on my skills, get the most out of the car and do the best job for the team. I think for the last couple of races it has been difficult for us but we still have got that 10th place in the championship, so it’s key for us to get the most out of the car when we have the opportunity to get a good race result and if we can get another 12th or 13th that would really help us in the overall championship.
And is there a deadline?
MC: For contract?
Yes.
MC: Not that I know. All I know is the team are happy to keep both of us and I’ll just keep trying to do the best job I can.
Felipe, I guess a similar question to you: what have you got to do to continue with Ferrari?
Felipe MASSA: Good results are always important, so I’ll just concentrate on that. There is a big opportunity to carry on with Ferrari, so I just need to concentrate, trying to do the best we can over the car and that’s what I’m looking for.
We’ll move on to Fernando. This is the next step in your fight-back for the championship. Is the car getting better? Are you optimistic? What’s the feeling as you come to this Italian Grand Prix? You’re a two-time winner here?
Fernando ALONSO: I’m optimistic. For sure I think in Spa we saw some step forward from us and we hope to continue that direction and keep improving here in Monza. The characteristics of the track should help our performance as well. We have everything in place to do a good weekend. We need to deliver when comes the time in Sunday in the race but we arrive with some good confidence and ready to fight. I think for us it will be a stronger test at the Singapore race when we come back to the maximum level of downforce etc and there we will see how much of a step forward we did but let’s concentrate on this weekend. Let’s try to do the maximum and let’s try to finish in front of our main rivals.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speed Sport News) A question for Daniel. At Spa the team told us they had not officially signed anybody. Between Spa and now when did you learn you had the seat?
DR: To be honest, in Spa, as I said, I still didn’t know – that was the truth. I found out, I think it was Wednesday that following week, so a few days before the announcement took place. I can confirm I still didn’t know at Spa, so no lies being told there. Yeah, that’s it.
Q: (Miguel Angel Sainz Bernardino – Marca) Question for Fernando. What result do you need here and in Singapore to avoid Ferrari stopping the development of the car this year? Two wins?
FA: I don’t think two wins is something that we can put up like a target, y’know? We’ve won two grand prix until now in the championship so we will be a little bit too optimistic if we really think that we can win the next two races. We will try to do so and we will hope for the best but more realistic targets are to finish in front of Sebastian. I think it is a target that we want to do in the last couple of grands prix, we didn’t arrive to a situation to close the gap, we only close the gap in Silverstone when he retired. So, we need to change this situation. We will be happy finishing in front of him, I think, here in Monza and in Singapore. Finishing in front of Sebastian means being on the podium. Minimum. Because we know how strong he is and how competitive Red Bull will be. So, two podiums and finishing in front of Sebastian is, I think, the target for these next two grands prix. If we cannot do so, if we keep losing points, obviously we need to start thinking about the 2014 project because we’ll be only six or seven races remaining with massive points [deficit] so important weeks coming for sure.
Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Fernando, you just bought a cycling team. Considering the amount of work you have to do as a racing driver, how can you imagine to commit yourself into this team?
FA: Well, it was one week with a lot of work, to be honest. Two or three batteries, telephone every day and it was some things to do. Now, more or less, that’s everything complete. All the decisions and all the work that we need to do for the cycling team will be passed to other people, some managers and some sportive directors that we need to find. We need to find sponsors, we need to do a lot of things in the next month, let’s say, because the first race is in the middle of January in Australia. It’s not something that we can delay much more. It’s a very ambitious project with a lot of hopes on it. I will not, as I said, put too much percentage of my days on the bicycle team, especially now that we are fighting for the championship. But when I arrive in wintertime, or something like that, hopefully we can create a solid project. Not so much for 2014 because I don’t think there are many riders now with possibilities to sign but for 2015 onwards we need to create something big. So we will work a little bit.
MW: I think Adrian will design the bikes…
FA: …he’s too busy
Q: (Pablo Grau – F1Aldia.com) Jenson, you did a good job in Spa, what do you expect in Monza, a very fast track?
JB: Yeah, Spa was alright. It’s quite difficult to get excited about sixth place but in terms of the pace of the car it was pretty good. Fourth after turn one and finishing sixth isn’t so bad. So yeah, we’re hoping for a bit more of an improvement. I think we’ve unlocked a little bit of performance with the car and we’re pretty close to challenging the cars in front. Whether we can do that here or not I don’t know. It’s a very low downforce circuit here and I think we have a pretty good low downforce package, so we will see. I think after three or four laps tomorrow we’ll know where we stand in terms of how the downforce is working and the efficiency of it.
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, it’s certainly not match-point right now but how would you describe the situation? Could it be like a set-point? How do you feel yourself, psychologically? Are you worried, are you anxious, are you angry, are you optimistic, how are you?
FA: For what?
Q: The situation in the World Championship
FA: I’m relaxed. I think when you do the maximum and you maximise normally the potential of the car and of yourself, finding the limits every time you are behind the wheel, you feel relaxed yourself and happy with the work. Of course we want to fight for the championship like we did last year until the last race, and this year we see that slowly the gap in the championship is increasing every weekend, so we want to stop that. We need to change that situation and hopefully this weekend is the starting point. It’s still plenty of races, plenty of opportunities, plenty of points to play. We believe that we can do it. So let’s start from this weekend.
Q: (Silvia Renée Arias – Revista Parabrisas) Felipe, this is a very, very important race for you, you said before, that these two races were important for you, Spa and Monza. How do you feel in terms of the performance of your car? Is it important to have a car good enough to prove and do something well?
FM: I feel that the car was more competitive in Spa than in Hungary. I think it was important for us. I believe we can have a good car here. In the last years, even last year maybe, the car was not so competitive in the season but we had a good race in Monza. We find a good direction for this race, so I hope we can have a good car here so that we can fight and have a great race. Not just here but the second part of the season much better than the first part.
Q: (Michael Neudecker – Süddeutsche Zeitung) Fernando, again a cycling question, can you talk about your new team, if you have a name already? And can you talk about your passion for cycling and your relationship to Alberto Contador?
FA: Not name yet. As I said, we are waiting for sponsors – you want to write that – what we want is to have a team that can fight for the best things. My passion for cycling has been from a very young age and I do cycling as part of my training and also as part of my life. I’m always in front of the TV or checking the results. Very good friends in the cycling world. We talk of relationship with riders. Alberto is a good friend of mine. This project tried to best things of the two sports. I want to bring to Formula One the best things that cycling can teach me in terms of sacrifice, determination, discipline, training. And I want to bring to my cycling team the best things of Formula One. There are many and hopefully in the team next year, in the cycling, we can see some of the great things of Formula One, in terms of organization, image marketing, professionalism. Let’s try to put the best for the best.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Daniel, what can one realistically expect from you at the beginning of next year? Do you expect to start the season very close to Sebastian or do you have any plan to be there in the second part of the season?
DR: Obviously, I would love to be as competitive as I can as quickly as possible, so for me, I’ll obviously finish the season as strongly as possible with Toro Rosso, but as soon as it’s finished, switch my focus to 2014, try and put in a really good off-season, at least do as much as I can to prepare myself to be there for the first race. I know it’s obviously not going to be as easy as it seems but the best thing I can do is push myself as much as I can. I have one of the best teammates in the world now to measure myself against so no better man to have but him and push myself as hard as I can.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, next Saturday in Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Tokyo, Madrid fight for the Olympic Games in 2020. What are you feelings about Madrid, a city that you know very well and why do you think Madrid deserves the Olympic Games?
FA: Well, let’s hope so. I think Madrid deserves finally to host the Olympic Games. This is the third time that they try to host it and this time, hopefully, it will be the good one. I think the effort that the city and the country is making is quite good, there is a lot of success in Spanish sport in the last eight or ten years, that hopefully can convince the people. There is the enthusiasm from the whole country to host it, maximum support and we really want it. I know that it will be close. In Spain, we think that the Spanish possibilities are very high. I know that outside of Spain they are relatively less and maybe the favourite is Tokyo but we keep our fingers crossed until Saturday.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Felipe, last year you struggled in the first part of the season but you could identify what was wrong and after the summer break you were very competitive. This year you started very well, but after Monaco, your results haven’t been up to the same standard as before. Can you pinpoint what’s gone wrong in this second part of the season?
FM: I think that what is important to say is that this year the performance was good at every race. We couldn’t put together the results at the end of the race. I was not very lucky in so many things. I had two races where I had problems with the tyres. I spun at the Nurburgring, problem with the suspension in Monaco. For sure so many things happened that I couldn’t finish where I was supposed to but the performance was there. I think that’s important. I just need to put everything together and finish races where I’m supposed to and then I think the performance will be there and the results will be there as well.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, how long do you want to wait for Ferrari’s decision about your future?
FM: I think you need to ask this question of Stefano (Domenicali).
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, you’ve bought this ‘bike team; I would like to know if there is any possibility that you might take a year off, concentrate on the bicycle team and then maybe take the opportunity for the future when the turbo era builds up and we know how the situation is between teams? Is this crazy or is there a realistic chance of this?
FA: Never an option. I’m in the best moment of my career, I’m with the best experience and performing at the best time. I will not miss any opportunity now. I know that I’m still in very good shape for maybe four, five more years so for sure I will give 100 percent of my passion that is motor sport and my career. After these four or five years, I will see what condition I am in and if I’m performing well. If I’m not feeling good any more, maybe I will think but as I said, I will be 100 percent committed for the next four or five years.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Daniel, changing teams always involves a bit of transition and adjustment. Moving to a team like Red Bull involves that transition under an awful lot of pressure. Are there are any steps you can take this year to ease the transition, given the relationship between the two teams, working more with the engineers, learning more about how to operate inside the big Red Bull team?
DR: I think I’m pretty fortunate to spend some time with Red Bull Racing in the past as a reserve driver. At Toro Rosso, we still go to Milton Keynes to use the simulator so I see a fair chunk of the team, also away from race weekends. Obviously, now that the news is out I will try and if I get some extra time to start to mould a relationship with the crew for next year, yeah, so I’ll ease into it and by December when we really start, I will already try and establish a good relationship with the guys and understand the way they work. As I say, I’m quite fortunate, I already understand a little bit about it, so a little bit of a head start.
Q: (Mineoki Yoneya – La Vie Creative) Question to both of the Ferrari drivers: talking about Suzuka, how can you make the difference from the other drivers in terms of driving, and do you have any plans to visit somewhere in Japan?
FA: Well, Suzuka is probably the most enjoyable race track of the year so it’s always very special to go there but as I said, for the fantastic layout of the track, also for the fans, also for the passion that we always live when we are in Suzuka. We race after Korea so we will spend from Monday to Thursday probably in Tokyo, relaxing a little bit and preparing for the race and then in Suzuka, just concentrating on the weekend. No special plans to do crazy things but every thing there is a little bit special so we will try to enjoy it as always.
FM: Yeah, I think it’s the same. Suzuka is a fantastic place, fantastic track to race on, one of the best, so it’s very nice to be in Japan. I love to go to Japan. As Fernando said, we’re going to spend a few days during the week after the Korean race in Tokyo, a great place to be as well, so really looking forward to racing in Suzuka and having a great race there for the fans as they are some of the best fans in Formula One.
Q: (Giorgio Pasini – Tuttosport) Mark, do you have any suggestions for Daniel in order to manage the relationship with Sebastian; maybe the knife from Crocodile Dundee?
MW: Daniel will handle it fine. He knows how to handle himself so he’ll be OK.
DR: I think that’s obviously for me to figure out. As Mark said, I’ll be right.
Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, what do you think about teams with two top drivers? Also looking at the past, what is your opinion? What are the positive things and negative things in this kind of situation?
FA: I think it’s a good thing. There is always, in the top teams, the need to have two very good drivers because they fight for World Championships, they fight for Constructors points and they fight for winning every race they go to, so you cannot have only one driver. This has always been the case in the top teams, always the case in Ferrari, in McLaren, Red Bull now. At the end, or in the middle of the year, there is always one driver who has scored more points than the others and maybe a year later it’s the opposite, the other driver has scored more points. This is the way it is and you need to start or reset to zero every winter and start in the same conditions again and try to build up the points a little bit. So I think this is quite normal in our sport.
Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, what kind of result do you need here in Monza to hope to stay with Ferrari next season?
FM: Well, I think I definitely need a good race. That’s always important. I think it’s important to try to use the car in the maximum way it is possible. I think that’s what gives you pleasure, even if you don’t win the race but you did the best you could. I think that’s always the most important thing. The team can see that, race by race, all the time. You cannot forget that Ferrari knows me very well. It’s the team that knows me most. About experience, we know how important next year is as well. Everything starts from zero: different car, different rules, everything, so the driver’s experience is important as well. Sometimes you just look at the results of this race; that’s not what counts the most. I think it’s everything together. But anyway, it’s always important to do the maximum we can in this race and try to use the best of the car that we’re going to have this weekend.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Fernando, your name was mentioned a few times in the Red Bull situation. Were you at all interested in the Red Bull seat? Would you have gone up against Vettel or do you think you’ll finish at Ferrari? Would you be interested in going to Red Bull at any time in the future?
FA: It was only rumours, a lot of rumours. There were rumours about Red Bull, there were rumours in Italy about a sabbatical year, there were so many rumours. I still have three and a half more years with Ferrari which I intend to respect and hopefully to increase a little bit, and as I said, finish my career in the best team in the world which is Ferrari. We are not at the moment achieving the results that we want but we are working very hard and next year will be completely new rules which obviously open the door for many teams to stop the domination that Red Bull seems to have had in the last couple of years so we have high hopes also for next year’s challenge. About the news that now Red Bull have two drivers, it’s very good news that Daniel has signed, also for our country because it has opened up a good possibility for Carlos Sainz to join Toro Rosso, so that was the best news for us.
Q: (Sergio Lillio Martinez – Revista Scratch) Max, it’s a hard season for you because it’s your first in F1; where do you think you deserve to be in 2014 and how do you face the next races?
MC: The next few races are going to be pretty challenging. I think we’ve got seven after here and I think I’ve only driven one of them, and that was Singapore so it’s going to be a little bit challenging. Actually, sorry, we’ve got Abu Dhabi as well so there’s five I haven’t driven of the final seven so it will be challenging but it is my first year. As I said earlier, I’m still learning but I’ve done half a year in Formula One, you can’t expect much longer to up your pace and learn and for the last few races the pace has been a lot better, especially qualifying. We did a great team effort in Spa so my focus is just to keep doing what I’m doing and learning and I think for the second half of the year my speed will come through more and hopefully we can keep that tenth place (in the Constructors).
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Adamski & Mancinelli win in Germany
Hockenheim, 31 Aug 2013: It was a clear cut victory for local man Dirk Adamski in the first race of the Coppa Shell championship at the Hockenheim circuit. Young Italian driver, and title contender, Daniel Mancinelli took the win in a controversial first race for Trofeo Pirelli.
It was overcast and cooler in Hockenheim when 25 Ferrari Challenge cars lined up for the first Coppa Shell race of the day. Adamski had secured pole, after a disappointing day yesterday where the team achieved practically no running. The Autohaus Saggio team worked through the night to finally identify one small wire that was causing all the problems. Vincenzo Sauto, Eric Prinoth and Oliver Mayer completed the front two rows.
Adamski showed the chasing pack nothing but his rear bumper for the entire race, followed by Sauto, Thomas Kukucka and Andrii Lebed. Lebed eventually snatched third position from Kukucka and the leading trio began to pull away from the pack. In the closing stages of the race third place was contested between Kukucka, Sauto who eventually came together at the second to last turn, handing the third place to Massimiliano Bianchi.
“I am really really happy,” Said Adamski on the Podium. “To win so close to home and with all my friends and family here to see it is great, especially after all the hard work my team put in to fix my car.”
Adamski extends his lead in the championship with 131 points over nearest rival David Gostner with 108 points after finishing eighth today. Sauto is third with 102 points.
The Trofeo Pirelli race would prove to be controversial from the very start. As Dario Caso lead the field away Giacomo Stratta was missing from his 5th place on the grid due to a gear box problem. Philip Baron used the start to his advantage and appeared in second position from eighth on the grid after just one lap and his pace was clear when he passed Caso for the lead just two laps later. Despite pulling out a clear lead Baron’s place at the front was soon under threat as the stewards investigated him for a false start – the subsequent drive through penalty pushed him down to fourth.
Meanwhile Daniel Mancinelli had taken third position, followed by Sergey Chukanov who had started ninth. In the closing stages of the race Caso and second placed Mancinelli touched, allowing Mancinelli through to take the lead. Chukanov suddenly spun into the gravel, after he had limped home to the pits a broken front right suspension was his undoing. Mancinelli pulled out a clear lead to take the win, followed by a disgruntled Baron (protesting his drive through penalty) and Caso taking third.
This action means that Chukanov retains his lead in the championship with 109 points, but now by only 3 points from Mancinelli. Caso has certainly not ruled himself out from the title currently standing on 96 points.
Race two for Coppa Shell is flagged off at 13:30 local time tomorrow with Trofeo Pirelli following at 15:25.
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Ferrari Challenge race photo by Ferrari -
Ferrari Racing Days, the Festival of Ferrari arrives in Germany
Hockenheim, 30 Aug 2013: The Festival of Ferrari that is the Ferrari Racing Days has arrived in Europe for the event at Hockenheim Circuit. Crowds can expect three days of stunning Ferrari action with races for Ferrari Challenge Europe, test sessions for the XX programme and for the F1 Clienti cars. There will also be the F1 show, a Press Release from Ferrari said.
Ferrari Challenge will take part in the fifth race of an exciting season in both the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell categories. The man to watch in Coppa Shell is current points leader and local man Dirk Adamski, after a disappointing last round in Portugal he leads the championship by just 5 points.
David Gostner will be determined not to let him use his home advantage as he aims to take home valuable championship points to boost his second position in the championship.
In Trofeo Pirelli, it is fast charging Ukrainian Sergey Chukanov who leads the charge with 107 points over Italy’s Daniel Mancinelli on 85 points after missing out on vital championship points after a qualifying crash ruled him out of the Le Mans event.
Joining the Ferrari Challenge on the circuit for test sessions will be eleven 599xx and three FXX cars. The crowds can also expect an exciting show from the six F1 cars taking part in the F1 Clienti programme – the cars range from 1998 to 2008.
The Ferrari Racing Days starts on track at 9am on today (August 30th) with a test session for Ferrari Challenge and the action continues throughout the weekend.
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