INDIA in F1

Tag: FIA Press Conference

  • Pure talent can also make one an F1 driver, not just money, feel top F1 drivers at Belgian GP press meet

    DRIVERS – Jules BIANCHI (Marussia), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Can I start with a question to all of you? We had news this week that next season there will be a 17-year-old driver on the grid. Can I have your reaction from a driver’s point of view? And maybe we’ll start with Felipe.

    Felipe MASSA: Definitely, he’s a very quick driver. He shows talent in a go-kart, in Formula 3, winning many races; I think he’s second in the championship. It’s his opportunity. First of all, I think it’s great that teams are still interested in the talent of the driver and not the money and I think that’s really positive, it’s good for the sport in general. I’m happy for that. Seventeen is a little bit young! For sure, we need to wait and see how he’s going to perform in his first year. I think the most important thing is that he has the talent; I mean he’s quick. I hope he can be clever as well, to learn everything from Formula One. There’s a lot that be will learn and I hope he’s quick enough to learn and to be consistent in Formula One and that he can stay, not just staying for one or two years and not doing what he’s supposed to do. Until now he shows great talent and I hope he can show the same in Formula One, so I’m happy.

    Nico, your thoughts?

    Nico ROSBERG: The same as Felipe said. All the journalists are always asking ‘is it only with money that you can get to the sport?’ and things like that. It’s great to see that if you have the talent and you really deserve it… there have been many examples recently that have made it into F1. That’s important, that’s good. Of course, it’s very young but I think we’ll be OK.

    Daniel, your thoughts on this?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Not much more to add. It makes me feel a bit old! Definitely the Red Bull Junior Team and the programme for me worked a treat; helped me get to where I am. Obviously it’s good they’re now helping out Max. Obviously the age is the question mark but the talent, as Felipe said, is there. It’s going to be interesting but, yeah, it’s good.

    Romain, what about you? Like the three guys before you, you all started in your 20s, what about starting so young in Formula One?

    Romain GROSJEAN: It’s a wonderful opportunity that he has and it’s something quite special to come to Formula One. As everyone says, he has shown great talent early in his career but he will have a lot of homework to do to learn everything about racing in higher categories – tyre deg, speed, a lot of things. But it’s good to see fresh blood, but a bit sad for JEV.

    Jules?

    Jules BIANCHI: Obviously as everyone says it’s a great opportunity for him and it’s great that some teams still invest in young drivers like that. I’m sure he will be doing well. He’s really quick; we saw that in Formula 3. He won everything in go-karts. I’m also sad for JEV, I hope he will find something else but this is how it is now.

    And Daniil, you’ll be driving alongside him next year, you started at 19 this year, what are your thoughts?

    Daniil KVYAT: Yeah well, I think we will see how it is going to be. I think we’re going to be team-mates. I think it’s not as complicated as it looks to all of you. For the rest you just come and see what you can achieve. For every driver it’s the same. It’s not my job to analyse all the things deeply and so we will just wait and see.

    What’s not as complicated as it looks?

    DK: I think any driver can come to Formula One, can adapt, can get up to speed. I think everybody is coming to Formula One for some reason – because he has talent, because he has been successful somewhere; there is always a reason why someone comes to Formula One but then there are many different things that make the difference, so it’s as simple as that.

    Jules coming to you. Two classic tracks coming up: Spa and Monza the next two races. One of your relatives is in a photograph over here, driving a Ferrari from the past. But what are your feelings on racing here and the prospects for you and the team and are they pushing hard do you feel?

    JB: It’s special for me to be in Belgium and here in Spa because of my family; my great uncle won here in GT cars and I feel a bit like being at home again, so I’m good here, I’m happy. We’re trying to push hard with the team, trying to stay ahead of Caterham. This is still our target, so we’ll try to achieve that. For sure, it won’t be easy because they are pushing hard as well. They are not giving up. That’s why we will keep fighting. We will have to see how it will be in Spa. Monza will be another challenge but at the moment I’m focused on this race.

    Romain, you said you’re reviewing you options for 2015. Obviously Lotus have secured Mercedes engines for next year. What are the next steps for you and the team? 

    RG: I think we still have to understand and analyse a bit more this difficult season. There were many reasons why we started on the back foot but I’m sure we can still learn a lot. The idea is to prepare the future as good as it can be for Lotus. They have been designing wonderful cars in the last two to four years and I don’t see reason that it’s not the case again in the future. Hopefully things get better but so far we still need to do our job, understand things and what we can learn from that difficult season.

    Daniil, coming to you. As this Daniel was saying, just picking up on his points from earlier on, you know with the Toro Rosso programme you’ve got around about two years to prove yourself and obviously in Jean-Eric’s he moves on. Tell us, when you’re in that situation, does it feel reassuring to know that you’ve got those two years, you’ve got that time to prove yourself or does it add to the pressure?

    DK: It all depends on how you take it. Obviously you can take it from two sides. Obviously you have to think that you’ve been given the chance and you just try to use it as good as you can. You cannot really be thinking too much about there is some limited time about it, but yeah, so I’ve been given a chance and I’m just doing my best all of the time, trying to make the best out of it. There’s no special trick.

    Felipe, on paper this race and the next one should be two of your strongest tracks this season. What are you and Williams hoping to take out of these two races, particularly coming off the back of the strong result you had last time out? What’s your minimum expectation?

    FM: Well, I hope it can be more than just on the paper. I hope we can show good performance on the track in this race and in Monza. But I would say maybe most of the races we can be competitive. Maybe Singapore will be the most difficult one but I would say that at most of the tracks we can be there, we can be competitive. I hope that we can show that and I hope that we can be… still growing, still improving, like we did from the first race until now. It would be great to have a very competitive car and very good race here and Monza but also in the second part of the season. We’re still fighting. We know how important is the points. We’re going to fight; we’re going to do everything we can to be competitive.

    Daniel coming to you. The first win obviously is always special. The second one, four races later, suggests it’s becoming something of a habit. Tell us about your confidence level at the moment and how you see the second half of the season for yourself and Red Bull in terms of opportunities and objectives?

    DR: Yeah, just keep building on the first half of the year we had. It was really nice to get a couple of wins in the first 11 races, so yeah, for confidence, for motivation, for myself and the team it’s obviously really high. Spa and Monza are circuits which on paper aren’t circuits that are going to suit us the most but we’re coming in with a bit of momentum so we’ll try to pull off a good result here and in Monza and then we’ve got a few tracks that will really come to us after that. So not much changes, just to keep building as always, keep learning and keep enjoying it. That’s important: that’s what I’m doing this year, I really am loving it, and just let that continue.

    Q: Nico, a number of talking points coming after the Hungary race, going into this one, one of them the team saying they’re not going to bother giving calls to either driver to let the other one through, even if there are strategy considerations. What were your own learnings from Hungary and what were you taking on from here?

    NR: I gather it was a bit of a mess afterwards, after Hungary, so it’s best I don’t add too much I think and I continue to not give too many details. In general of course we discussed it after the race – just because it’s important to review a situation like that and know how to move forward. Now we’re moving forward but of course, I have also learned various things from that race which I will try to adapt for the future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GPWeek) To follow up the first question you were asked today. All six of you were racing as teenagers – one of you actually in Formula One – but a couple of you had to take a holiday from Formula One for a while. My question is, to all six of you, do you think each of you would have been ready for Formula One at the age of 17?

    Nico – didn’t you test an F1 car at 17 or 18?

    NR: Yeah, I tested an F1 car at 17. Driving-wise I would have been ready, I feel, but the limitation at the time was physically. That was a big limitation because at the time it was still V10, big downforce – I’m not sure if more downforce than now but the tyre grip was higher, y’know? That was the big limitation at the time for me as, a 17-year-old. But nowadays it is a little bit easier physically, definitely, so that will help.

    Dan, I think you were 21 when you came in – would you have been ready at 17?

    DR: Let’s say… no. I think I was still racing karts at 16 and then, yeah, I hadn’t driven many formula cars when I was 17, I think it was maybe my first season, so then I didn’t feel ready, no. Obviously my path was probably a bit different as well. I grew up a bit later.

    Romain, similar story for you?

    RG: 17 I was competing in my first races in single-seater. It was a Formula Renault 1.6l and no, I wasn’t ready.

    Daniil?

    DK: It’s an interesting question. I think I was racing in [FR] 2.0 at 17 and, if I have to come back again and do some pole laps that I did that year, maybe I couldn’t even do them again. In terms of pure performance, pure driving it’s a very similar driver: me now and me back at 17. But, many factors, of course form mental side and physical side. But, like I said, everybody’s different, so we just have to wait and see.

    Jules, you have a similar kart background to Max but you put a few years in, in the junior categories. What do you think, where would you have been at 17?

    JB: I was not ready at 17. It was my first year in Formula Renault 2.0, so I cannot say I was ready, for sure. I was doing mistakes there. So, if you still do mistakes in the previous categories, you cannot be ready for Formula One.

    Felipe, you were 20, I think, when you made your Formula One debut.

    FM: Yeah, I think when I started, when I drove first time the race car, I was 15. It was a Formula Chevrolet in Brazil. I think it was never a problem to be quick, it was a problem to understand – especially in Formula One. I was 20, I think it was a little bit too early for me. I really agree with what Nico says. Physically, at that time, it was a lot more difficult than now. Now I would say the race if very easy from the physical point of view, which is easier for a young driver to learn and understand – but at that time it was a lot more difficult from the physical point of view.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Coming to what Felipe and Nico just said, also Lewis said in last few days that he feels this F1 is too easy for him, he would like to come out of the car exhausted, pushed to the limits. With these new cars it’s not the same any more. Would you also like it to be more difficult, more challenging, this Formula One?

    NR: In the first instance we’re here for the fans, yeah? So we need to do great racing. At the moment we’re seeing great racing, so that’s a big positive. That’s the first and most important thing – and then we need to work on the sound, which seems to be quite important to the fans, which I can understand. So those are the sort of things that are important. Then, from a driver’s point of view, yes, in an ideal world… I mean it’s great as it is, that’s a fact, but maybe it was a little bit better if I could do quali laps every lap with the tyres lasting forever, just proper qualifying every single lap in the race and harder physically. All of that would make it slightly better, yes, but I don’t really think about that because it is the way it is now, and that’s great, the way it is now.

    Daniel, do you agree with Lewis’ point of view?

    DR: Yeah, I think not much more to say. The racing is the first thing that needs to be good and it is. And maybe we should sweat a little bit more than we are. We’ll see.

    Felipe, you come from an era when you did sweat quite a lot. What are your thoughts?

    FM: I agree 100 per cent with what Nico said but the physical, to be harder or easier is related first of all to the refuelling. This is the first point. And on that time we had a lot more grip on the tyres as well. I think that’s the two things that make it more difficult to drive the car. To have more grip, and when we had the refuelling to have maximum 60kg in the car, 55kg all the time. It was a lot quicker, most of the laps. That’s why it was a lot more difficult from a physical point of view.

    Jules, this is the only F1 you’ve known. What are your thoughts? Would you like it to be a little bit more physically challenging?

    JB: Yeah, it would be good. I have no problem with that, for sure we are not like completely dead at the end of a race. We still have energy. So maybe it would be better for the people outside to see that when we get out of the car, we fall down, I don’t know what they like but, for sure, it’s not like this at the moment, so if we can improve this, yeah, let’s do it.

    Your perspective, Daniil?

    DK: Well, I testing last year’s car so I can rely on that a little bit. For me it wouldn’t be a problem, to be honest, to drive last year’s car in terms of the physical point and speed-wise as well. But in the end I don’t think the cars of this year are easier to drive than last year’s cars in terms of just driving because we lost some downforce, we have to fight. I’m pretty sure this Eau Rouge corner here is going to be quite interesting and challenging again. It’s been so easy flat the last few years. I don’t think it’s going to be so easy now. It’s always some negative and some positive sides everywhere. Everybody has a different opinion in the end, so it’s hard to make everyone happy.

    Romain, your view.

    RG: Yeah, well I think the first point is that the last few races have been really cool. I could watch, unfortunately, a bit of these grands prix. But on the other hand, don’t get us wrong, the cars are not easy to drive. They’re still performing very well. And yes, physically they are easy, but there are other challenges. I think it’s still a tough job. I remember my time in 2009, and already then the cars were physically harder to drive. I would like more: the quicker it goes the more we enjoy it. We are racing drivers. If you give us 200 more horsepower and more grip, we will take it – but what we want is to really have good races.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Nico, you mentioned earlier about the talks that followed the Hungarian Grand Prix regarding the team orders situation. First of all, were those talks resolved to your satisfaction? Secondly, you also mentioned about learning things but you didn’t really expand. Are you able to expand at all on what you did learn, going forward now for the rest of the season in your battle with Lewis?

    NR: Yeah, sorry, I don’t really want to go into much more detail than that. As I said, we sat down, discussed it all. That is important after such an occasion, such a situation, and then review, if we need to change something for the future and that’s what we’ve done.

    Q: (Thomas Bastin – La Derniere Heure) To the most experienced – probably Felipe and Nico – we are now in the second part of the season with the new cars. Do you think that for the fans they are more spectacular to see and are they also more difficult to drive?

    FM: Well, I think it is definitely very nice for the fans. They see a lot of overtaking but maybe it’s the noise. The noise is really something that makes it more spectacular, like we had in the past. But the fights, they can see. Every race there are always big fights between the cars. I think it’s really interesting for the people. The noise is definitely something that we’re missing.

    Q: And your thoughts, Nico, particularly picking up on the point that Daniil made a moment ago, that with much less rear end downforce this year, corners like Eau Rouge can be much more of a challenge, right?

    NR: No, it’s that we have a little bit less grip in some places, but it’s not really… It depends on which car, of course. I think to watch from the outside it’s still awesome to watch these cars. They’re still the fastest cars that there are in terms of corner speed and things like that and just the sound… I understand that we need to keep on working on that and hopefully we can find a solution. Maybe we just put some big loudspeakers on the car. That’s the direction of electric cars in the future anyways.

    Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, I’ve see that you’ve been pretty active the last few weeks, hunting for pizza in Napoli, having parties in Ischia or Capri. How badly did you need this break for you in such a hard and tense season, fighting every second weekend for victory?

    NR: Needed, not really. After Hungary I wanted the next race to be the next day and just continue like that so it’s not like I needed a holiday but of course it was there and it was great. We had a great time with friends and family. I find it quite good that there’s the two weeks where everything is shut down because otherwise, even on a day off, there’s still e-mails with the team and this and that coming through and like that there is nothing. In those two weeks there’s really nothing happening and it’s quite a good thing for everybody.

    Q: (Angelique Belokopytov  – AutoDigest) To all of you: you know every driver has his beliefs to have luck during a race, someone wears white shirts, another doesn’t shave, so what about you? What will you do or not do before a race?

    JB: Well, there’s one that I won’t tell you, there’s one that I can tell you: that I always get into the car from the right side. That’s it.

    DK: There’s no luck, I think.

    RG: I used to have superstitions when I was younger and once I forgot things that I used as superstitions and I won the race, so I thought that was useless but there are certainly routines: I always put on my suit the same way, I always jump in the car from the right hand side and with the seatbelts always the same way. It’s just the fact that you get ready to race.

    DR: It’s an excuse for something to go wrong! It’s nonsense.

    NR: I keep my underwear from qualifying if I’m on pole for the race! And they’re not allowed to be washed either.

    FM: Yeah, me too! Not to be on pole, you know, because otherwise I have just one this time. If I start the weekend in a good way and I use the same on Saturday and Sunday. I also go inside the car from the left side, to put my right foot first in the car. So many things that don’t change anything but you just feel well.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Daniil, your team will have the youngest line-up next season; could that be a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to developing the car?

    DK: To be honest, this season is still going on for me and there are eight races to go and I’m still not thinking about that. I think, as I said, getting up to speed is not such a big problem so then there are many many different details and factors that decide what’s going to happen for the future of the driver, whoever he is, so I think obviously it’s good, getting as young as possible to Formula One because then you have plenty of time but it’s all up to how you can develop. At the moment, I really don’t know how to say. I don’t think it’s going to be a big problem. We will develop OK.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Daily Telegraph) Nico, you said at the beginning, when James asked you, that there was a bit of a mess after the last race, given what happened with the team orders. Is that why you seem fairly reluctant to elaborate – which is fair enough – but is that why you’re reluctant to explain more about it?

    NR: No, sorry, let me make that more precise. I gathered that there was a bit of a mess in the media and so it wouldn’t be useful for me to give another extra bit to that at the moment, it’s better to let it all calm down. That’s what I meant.

    FM: You fight, after the race, with…?

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) For Jules Bianchi: there are a lot of people saying that you deserve a better car than the Marussia. What are your expectations for next year? Do you feel the same?

    JB: Well, I’m trying to do my best now while I’m with Marussia because it’s the same I’m with at the moment and I’m happy to be with Marussia, for sure. They gave me the chance to get a Formula One drive so I can’t complain. Obviously my manager and Ferrari has to work out what I will do next year, it’s still not sure yet so we’ll have to wait and see but for me, at the moment, I just want to finish the championship well. I will try to do as we started, stay in front of Caterham and then we will see.

    eom/FIA transcript

    FIA press conference on Thursday ahead of the Belgian GP on Sunday. An FIA image
    FIA press conference on Thursday ahead of the Belgian GP on Sunday. An FIA image

  • I’ve worked hard for this podium, so it feels better than a win, gliding from the lead: Hamilton

    DRIVERS Present at the FIA Post-race Press Conference at the Hungarian GP Formula One World Championship won by Red Bull Racing Daniel Ricciardo were:

    1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing); 2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari); 3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes).

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

    Daniel, what brilliant drive, congratulations. How on earth does that feel?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It feels as good as the first, it really does. I don’t know, I mean the safety car at the beginning played to our advantage and then I thought when the second one came out it didn’t really help us but we managed to pull it off at the end, had to pass our way through and that was a lot of fun in the last few laps.

    You rehearsed that big outbraking move on Fernando last weekend in Germany didn’t you? That was from a long way back.

    DR: Yeah it was. I knew we had to make a move quick, the DRS was there and I know it could have been my only chance, so I took it and it paid off. Had to be done.

    Fernando, you hung onto the tyres, you took a risk and you pushed like crazy. It’s your birthday on Tuesday and you nearly had the perfect birthday present. But second place, is it painful or are you satisfied anyway?

    Fernando ALONSO: No, extremely satisfied. I think it has been a tough weekend – a tough season in general – so to get a podium is always a nice surprise let’s say. We took a gamble. We risked today just trying to get the victory. We went close but as I said, extremely proud of the team, extremely proud of the job we did today and very, very happy. 

    Rain for the start, safety cars, traffic, tyres degrading, you needed all your experience today. You needed everything.

    FA: Well, today we have a combination of things that made the race difficult to execute, difficult to understand and we took our opportunities, our experience… we need some crazy races to get some podiums and today we took the opportunity.

    Congratulations. Moving over to Lewis Hamilton: pit lane to podium! Lewis, that was also via the barriers of the second corner at the start. What a crazy afternoon you’ve had.

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a pretty crazy weekend. 

    When you got out of the car yesterday, you were disappointed you had that failure and you had mentally put yourself over 30 points behind Nico. You were convinced he would win and you would struggle to get into the top five and here you are on the podium.

    LH: Absolutely. Big thank you to the team, they did a great job with the pit stops and with the strategy and I just tried my best. The car’s been fantastic – when it’s going. Obviously a lot of points lost, because we could have had a much better weekend but we have a lot of strengths to look forward to in future races.

    You were really struggling in the beginning. You were talking about the diff, you were talking about a vibration, we heard you were getting very hot in your seat, you were clearly nursing a few issues as well?

    LH: Yeah, to be honesty at the beginning obviously a mistake by myself, but the brakes were very, very cold and locked up and I was gone. Fortunately I got going again, thank the Lord I didn’t damage the car and you know damage limitation again.

    One of your finest ever drives?

    LH: I don’t think so.

    Well, it look pretty damned good from where we were sitting and standing in the grandstands. So Daniel, we go into the summer break, although Spa will be with us soon enough, and you have a great victory. What are you going to do and what does it mean for you in the second half of the season?

    DR: Well, definitely going to celebrate tonight and party for a few days I think, enjoy a bit of time off. Then just keep building on what I’ve done in the first six months and then look forward to Spa. Just firstly I want to thank the team, they’ve really let me settle in so well the first six months of the year and to grab two victories it’s honestly phenomenal, so really pleased. Got a few mates here this weekend, so we’ll party hard tonight.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well done Daniel, that was an amazing victory, very exciting for all of us. You led early one and then obviously came back at the end. When did you think you had it won?

    DR: I wasn’t sure. I knew that the first safety car played into our hands, we inherited the lead there, pitting for slicks and then, yeah, we were looking alright. Then we got the second safety car and obviously we pitted again for another set of tyres but we obviously lost the lead. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. We were stayed out pretty long that stint and we were leading a fair chunk of the mid-race but then I knew we weren’t going to get to the end on that set of tyres. So we had to pit again and that put me back out of position. Then we knew we had to overtake to win the race. Obviously we had the fresher tyres at our disposal but I knew it was going to be an exciting finish. I honestly had a scare in the middle of the race, for a few laps we had some issues. Basically, we were down on power and had to get a bit crazy on the switches, so I thought the race could have potentially ended early but we got through that and yeah, very happy.

    What about overtaking these two, the overtaking manoeuvres in the last few laps?

    DR: Yeah, obviously there was only one way to win it and that was to get around them. Obviously I had the advantage of the fresher tyres, but I knew they wouldn’t make it easy. I attempted Lewis into Turn Two, I think the previous lap or maybe two before I eventually got him, but just locked up and went too wide. I had a second crack at it and I still locked up but I managed to just hang on and just had a bit more grip around the outside there, so that was that. And then, once I got close enough to Fernando, I knew I just had to go for it. Being in that sandwich there, Lewis was still I think in the DRS zone, basically I couldn’t waste too much time and that’s what I did and then once I got the lead I knew it was just a couple of laps to go. Yeah, it feels good. 

    Well done. Fernando, coming to you. What does this mean to you? What does it mean to Ferrari, coming just before the break?

    FA: It means a lot. Obviously we had some tough races recently and to see one Ferrari again on the podium is the best news. We took the opportunity after a difficult race, with a wet start and then some difficult decisions to make around the safety cars – if pitted or not. Unfortunately first safety car we went a little bit out of position, because the safety car went out and we were in the last corners so we missed the opportunity to stop. We stopped the lap afterwards and we lost a couple of places. We have to attack, we have to overtake a couple of people and just 10 laps to the end we were discussing if we stop and secure the fourth place that we really needed, those points, so just try to defend the position as much as you can and maybe finish in fourth, so at the end it’s the same result but at least you have the chance to fight for the podium positions. So we were in that position 10 laps to the end and at the end we chose the right thing – stay out, defend the position as best we could and secure this second place that, for sure, it tastes like a victory for us at the moment.

    Yes, it’s interesting what Ferrari will take from this. Presumably you’ll still be telling them to push on other types of circuit, this was a very tight circuit obviously?

    FA: We’ll see. This circuit didn’t change much our performance, our position but today we had a little bit of a chaotic race and we took every opportunity we had in front of us. I think cars from behind also had some issues, with Rosberg, with Hamilton yesterday, with the issues in qualifying, we get this position for free. We had Vettel, had a problem in the last corner today, the Force India. We had some cars out of the way let’s say and we took benefit from this and we secured some very strong points for the team.

    And Lewis… I think a lot of people may be extremely surprised to see you here but it was a fantastic race for you. Did you ever think it was possible? You had some great wheel-to-wheel racing as well out there.

    LH: I don’t know, I was just pushing as hard as I could to see if I could get as high as I could and yeah, I mean, a great result obviously.

    What does this third place mean to you or are you still regretting yesterday?

    LH: No, obviously this is damage limitation. On one hand I’m very grateful to have been able to get through with all the difficulties I’ve had this weekend, obviously yesterday and the first lap. I can’t believe how things have gone but to be able to come back through… the safety cars obviously helped quite a lot but naturally I look at the fact that I had the pace this weekend I lost quite a lot of opportunistic points. Still, we’re there in the fight, fortunately I stayed of my team-mate, which means I’m still there or thereabouts.

    Q: How hard did he come back at you?

    LH: Well, he was catching me at three seconds a lap, so it was very, very tough at the end. Fernando, and big congratulations to Daniel, drove fantastically well, both of them. It was very difficult to keep him behind, and also with Nico, and impossible to get past Fernando.

    Q: Quite tricky, the last few laps?

    LH: Yeah, definitely.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, we heard on the radio the messages from the team asking you to pull over and let Nico by, around about lap 50-51. We can now see why you didn’t do it, otherwise you wouldn’t be on the podium. Can you just explain your thoughts at that particular time: what was going through your head? Why you didn’t let him by? And secondly, how do you feel the dynamic of your relationship will again maybe now change, following the summer break, with Nico?

    LH: Well obviously I’m aware that when you’re… y’know I was in the same race as him. Just because he had one more stop than me doesn’t mean I wasn’t in the same race as him. And naturally if I’d have let him past, he would have had the opportunity to pull away and when he does pit, he’s going to come back and overtake me, so I was very, very shocked that the team would ask me to do that, to be able to better his position. But to be honest, he didn’t get close enough to overtake but I was never going to lift off and lost ground to Fernando or Daniel to enable him to have a better race. So that was a bit strange. But we’ve got a long way to go, moving forwards still and, as I said, thankfully I’m still in that battle, so, I hope we can come away stronger.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Crash.net) I’ve got a question for you Lewis. Going into the summer break, psychologically, what does it mean for you, the fact that you started in the pitlane, your team-mate started on pole, and you’re here and he isn’t?

    LH: Well that in itself is huge for me. I can’t express to you the pain that you feel when you have issues such as the issues that I’ve had in the last couple of races. It’s very, very difficult to swallow, and, to come back the next day and get the right balance between not attacking too much, and not making mistakes, all these different things. So many things that… obviously when you’re at the back you’re having to push way past the limit than perhaps you would off pole position or in the top five. So the fact that I’m managed to come back through obviously is a showing of just how great this car is and how great this team is – but ultimately we’ve worked, Third on the podiium feels better than a win for Hamilton in Hungary 27Jul2014 Merc pic It feels definitely much more satisfying when you come back through. And, as I said, to be ahead and to win the fight is really encouraging.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) Two questions, one for Daniel: how does this compare to Canada? And for the other two guys, you’ve battled wheel to wheel with Daniel. Has he now established himself as a front-runner?

    DR: It honestly does compare to Canada. Obviously the first victory is special but it definitely leaves you wanting more. I was just as hungry for this second one and it feels just as good – I won’t say better but you realise it a bit more so if feels like you can enjoy it a bit more. And when I crossed the line, everything felt a bit more real, so I guess I took in a bit more of this one today. So, yeah, it feels awesome. And I just want of obviously quickly thank the team as well. To have two victories in the first half of the season with them, obviously I owe a lot of that to them as well, for letting me just settle in, establish myself with them. They never put too much pressure on me, they let me roll into it as I liked – and I think that’s been the best balance for all of us. The results are showing and I’ll enjoy this one as much as Canada.

    Fernando, your thoughts about Daniel – has he established himself?

    FA: Yeah, definitely. I think he’s leading the champion team. That says all. He’s doing a fantastic job this year and now he had a few bottles. In Hockenheim I had a very fresh tyre which probably allowed me to pass with some advantage but even with that it was not easy. Today, I really didn’t have the tools to fight but I tried to do my best – but definitely, congratulations to him for today, for the whole championship and it’s going to be an interesting fight in the next couple of years.

    Lewis?

    LH: Yeah, as Fernando said, he’s been driving fantastically well from the beginning of the year. So, it’s not only now, it’s through the whole year he’s shown his capability and is going from strength to strength. Not only one of the nicest guys in the paddock but also one of the best drivers here, for sure.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Fernando, a couple of questions, first one: does this result show that something can still be taken from the car, and the second one, your birthday is approaching: we know what you wished last year – what about this year? What is the gift you would like for your birthday?

    FA: hmmm… I think from this year’s car there are obviously some positive things and some negative things. Now, together with the team try to analyse what to carry on and what to change. Philosophy of the car probably is not perfectly right because we are not as competitive as wish, so there are things that we need to change but also there are things that are probably working OK. Well last year it was a very big understanding of what was my wish. Especially in Italy. So, this year, I will not wish anything about the car and I will wish a happy day to everyone in Italy.

    Q: (Carlos Miquel Gomez – La Gaceta) Two questions for Fernando. Do you think that this race is one of the best races of your career? And the other thing, to hear the people cheering “Alonso, Alonso” is one of the reasons that you are following Formula One.

    FA: I don’t think that is one of the best in my career. It has been a good and a complex race, let’s say, to execute and perform – because there were some difficulties around the race that make the 70 laps not straight forward. You just need to make decisions during the race and all of them were, together with the team, and I think we did the best we could. And then in the podiums, the support from the people has been amazing. Especially this two or three last seasons – which is a little bit strange when you think that I won the World Championship the last time in 2006, I suppose that my career should be going down and it’s going up. So that’s definitely something that keeps my motivation very high. I would like to give them something back in terms of trophy and in terms of titles. It’s what we’re working on.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Daniel, when do you think your next victory will come? This year you are the only Mercedes destroyer. And do you still continue to develop this year’s car or will you focus on next year after Spa?

    DR: I think – answering your second question quickly – I think we’re definitely going to keep trying to push for this year. There’s still a lot to play for. In any case, what we learn this year we can still take forward for next year so the team will keep pushing and I’m sure that now this second victory will keep the motivation strong within the team so that’s good. Sorry, what was the first question?

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) This year you are the only Mercedes destroyer.

    DR: Good. Someone’s got to do it.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, during this crazy race, what was the main difficulty for you, trying to find your way on the wet track at the beginning or resisting your teammate at the end?

    LH: The beginning. The strange thing about starting from the pit lane is that you don’t get ready to go out. Your brakes are cold as you start, your tyres are brand new and obviously I experienced that into turn two. It was an interesting beginning to the race but I’m very very very grateful that I got through.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – UOL) To all of you: three different drivers, three different teams, three different power trains in the last race of this part of the season. Does it mean that in the second part of the season we will maybe see some more competition or did the circumstances of the race create this situation?

    DR: I think today obviously the mixed conditions and the safety cars maybe helped out this order in terms of having three different manufacturers up here but I would like to think that it can create something for the second half. I think that in pure dry conditions, Mercedes still have a pretty significant edge on everyone else. Spa, it’s a pretty good place to start the second half of the year. Maybe the weather and the changes they have there could create something exciting but forgetting all the stats, obviously this is a great thing to see today: three teams, three manufacturers all up here. It’s refreshing, for sure.

    FA: I agree with everything. Let’s hope so. I think the circumstances and the weather played a big factor today. The circuit characteristics also probably helped some of the power units that we are not on top of the game still, so let’s see at Spa. Monza is quite a tough challenge for us and that will give us some answers for the final part.

    LH: I think it’s great for the fans to see. I’m sure today – people say it was a great race – that’s really what the fans want to see so I hope that continues for the future.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Lewis, the last time that things didn’t go according to plan was at Silverstone – apart from Hockenheim but that was a technical issue – when something messed up your qualifying, you said that you spent the night or I heard you spend the night with your mother, with your father, with your family, with your loved ones. What helped you through this time, in this dip? What did you do yesterday to prepare yourself for the race day?

    LH: I had a pizza last night! I did, some pizza and some chocolate and watched a movie. Went to dinner with Niki yesterday and played a prank on him as it was his birthday and just tried to have some fun. We really have some of the greatest fans here and I think really some of my really close fans that I have here really got me through this weekend. I didn’t have my family here with me and it’s great to be able to turn to them and to be able to receive positive energy from them. I got a letter from one of my fans this morning and just the comments it had in it were really uplifting and really helped kick my mind into gear so I’m grateful for that.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you were quoted as saying that what happened starts to go beyond bad luck. Could you please explain what exactly you meant by that and are you maybe starting to lose confidence in the team, because of the technical problems and now they asked you to move over for Nico who was on a different strategy?

    LH: I don’t really remember… I mean yesterday after what was quite a difficult time, I came straight out and spoke to the media so I think fortunately I controlled myself quite well and I don’t really remember what kind of frame of mind I was in at that point but it’s the same as saying ‘it’s beyond a joke.’ Sometimes there’s one joke, there’s another joke and sometimes it gets a little bit past that and obviously with the faults that we’ve had on my car, it’s made it very difficult for this championship but as I said, fortunately I got some points today which means that I’m still there or thereabouts but the telling thing would be how my car performs through the rest of the year.

    Q: (Carlos Jalife – Fastmag) Daniel, who do you side with: Fernando said a few races ago that the championship was basically over? It was for one of the guys from Mercedes. And Sebastian said that mathematically it was still on, so what’s your opinion on that? Is it over or is it not?

    DR: I think there’s obviously a couple of opinions. When maybe some of us say it’s over, I think it’s just purely looking at the performance of Mercedes. On a normal weekend with normal conditions on pretty much all circuits, they’ve been dominant. I think days like today, with some changing conditions, some safety cars, it helps us keep our nose in the fight. I think Seb’s right in saying that until it’s mathematically over it isn’t. If you look at today, I closed in on the championship but realistically we’re still a long way off. It doesn’t really change the approach in any case. If we’re in it or not, we still race for the highest position possible and obviously as we saw today, the win was there for grabs and we took it. In any case, I don’t think it changes the approach for Sundays. I think with the Abu Dhabi system they’ve applied this year, it’s still going to be pretty open until late on in the season. We’ll just keep doing what we can.

    Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Fernando, how impressive or how surprising for you and for the team was having such an amazing pace with the soft tyres for such a long time with the degradation of the tyres. Was it really a surprise, a question of weather?

    FA: Yeah, it was definitely a surprise. We found ourselves leading the race when Ricciardo and Massa pitted so we thought OK, let’s give the maximum for three or four laps just to open up a gap and stop see whether we are in the final part and then we realised that it was not so many laps to the end and it was a difficult call: stopping and keep pushing and finishing fourth or keep going and risking the cliff with the tyres and finishing fourth or fifth or whatever. So it was surprisingly good, it was surprisingly fast, the car in the race. I think the weather helped us with cooler temperatures and the track a little bit damp in the first part. Obviously you don’t stress the tyres as much as a completely hot track. I felt the car was good and it was definitely a surprise.

    Q: (Oliver Barstow – Crash.net) Lewis, yourself and Nico have had the odd technical issue over the course of the year. Given the performance between you two is so close, how concerned are you that the title could be decided between you by who has the least technical issues?

    LH: Ultimately it is a concern because I’ve stopped more than him. But as I said, there’s still quite a few races to go and it will be telling, dependent on how… Obviously I’ve got the pace, got the ability, just really whether or not the car holds up.

    eom/FIA transcript

  • Never believe what the newspapers are writing, quips Nico Rosberg after taking pole at Hungarian GP

    Vettel, P2, Left, and Bottas, right, P3, flank Roseberg after he took pole at the Hungary GP qualifying on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Vettel, P2, Left, and Bottas, right, P3, flank Roseberg after he took pole at the Hungary GP qualifying on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

     

    TV UNILATERAL

    Congratulations Nico. It was a dramatic qualifying session wasn’t it, what with the rain, going off at the first corner etc. What was it like from the cockpit?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, quali three was really a big challenge, because the track was just changing all the time in the beginning and especially starting the lap with that first set of options, I was the first one to arrive in the first corner. It was just difficult to judge: how much risk can I take, how late can I brake? It was very, very wet, so I did take it a bit easy and managed to avoid crashing. For Kevin? I guess… It was just massively difficult down there and unpredictable. That can happen. From then on it was easier. It just started drying again and especially my last lap, I really managed to nail it.

    And a really big margin as well. Well done. Sebastian, at one point it looked as though you nearly had him, you looked as though you were nearly going to be on pole. Where has the speed come from this weekend?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think probably the nature of the track suits us a bit more – less straights. I think historically we’ve always had a competitive car around here. It seems that we are a little bit closer but obviously Nico’s final lap was very good so the gap was again quite big – bigger than we were hoping for, because as you mentioned if we get everything perfect and Nico maybe has a bit of a wobble, we can have a crack, but it didn’t happen. They did a god job. Obviously Q3 was a mixed bag, it could have been anything, so therefore with the more dry conditions at the end to get second was the optimum.

    Well done, thank you. Valtteri, once again in the top three. You weren’t expecting to be quite so quick at this circuit. Is this a bit of a surprise? Well done by the way.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you, yeah. I think maybe a little bit of a surprise. We knew that Red Bull are going to be really quick here and also Ferrari and obviously Mercedes like always. Like Seb said the nature of the track in theory is not the best for us, but we’ve been able to work well as a team to bring some updates, which really worked well. Obviously we’re still missing some grip compared to some other cars but today was, I think, a really good day from us. Third and sixth, we have a good chance also here to get some really good points.

    Now Nico, tomorrow in the race itself, there’s the possibility of rain again, your main championship rival and team-mate starts right at the back, what are your thoughts?

    NR: Yeah, that’s been a pity for the team. Not a good thing definitely and we need to keep on working on that. That’s reliability. Also, I would be prefer to be out there battling with Lewis. That would give me the maximum adrenalin rush. Like this… of course, I’m very, very happy but it wasn’t a gloves off battle with Lewis and that takes away a little bit of the ecstatic happiness. But anyway, tomorrow’s still going to be a long race and a challenging race, especially with the weather coming, so still all to play for.

    PRESS CONFERENCE 

    Q: Nico, yesterday you said you were a bit surprised you were so quick, and you needed to find the time. Did the track come to you or did you managed to find the time, basically, through adjustments, modifications to the car…

    NR: That was two opposing statements there… ‘you were quick but you needed to find the time…’

    That’s what you said… you were surprised you were so quick but you still needed to find the time. This is a quote!

    NR: Never believe what the newspapers are writing!

    This is from your own press release…

    NR: Oh, OK, never believe what the press officers are writing! No. I’ve been surprised that we’ve been able to be so quick this weekend. I think our engine is definitely very, very strong and here the engine doesn’t come into play so much, so maybe the gap would be a little bit smaller but in fact it’s as big as anywhere really here and that’s been great to see. Really cool. It just goes to show how good our car is also.

    Q: Did you change much overnight?

    NR: It’s been an ongoing process, yeah. I mean, with FRIC not being on the car it’s still finding my way and finding our way because it does impact the car a lot, especially on a track like here in Budapest. A lot of long corners and fast, flowing corners – but really got there and I’m pleased with where we are now.

    Q: Sebastian, tomorrow, can you take the fight to Mercedes? I guess that’s the question everyone wants to know.

    SV: It depends. I think we are here to fight, we want to do that. If it rains, I think we definitely have a better chance than in normal, standard dry conditions but even then, I think we were closer this weekend. Long run pace, yeah, looked a lot better on Friday compared to them. Obviously hard to judge how much they were sandbagging or running different modes on Friday. So, it should be closer than in the last couple of races, definitely. I think we can have a good fight with the Williams, which seems to be out of reach the last couple of races.

    Q: So the question is to Valtteri, can you be second? Can you even be first?

    VB: I think, y’know, if nothing special is going to happen, first is really difficult. Still Mercedes is ahead – but you never know. We need to aim for that, always, and aiming for that we can get good results. Obviously here, tomorrow, it’s going to be a really close fight, like Seb said, with Red Bull and us. So we need to see how the pace is. If it’s enough, keeping them behind, at least one of them, that would be good.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR 

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Sebastian, I think it’s fair to say that you looked convincingly quicker than Daniel throughout the weekend here. Is it because the track suits you or have you found something in the car or are you getting more comfortable with it?

    SV: I don’t think I was that much quicker, I think it was fairly close all qualifying and practice as well. Since yesterday afternoon the car seemed to be coming my way a little bit and naturally then you pick up some pace. We didn’t have anything new on the car compared to last week in Hockenheim – it’s only one week ago – so I think probably the conditions, tyres seemed to help me maybe a little bit to pick up some pace.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Valtteri, what do you think right now halfway through the season, you are fifth in the championship? Is there more, can you fight against Mr Vettel and Alonso?

    VB: Well, we’re always aiming for more. I think there’s still a long way to go and double points in the last race so a lot more is possible. I think personally, in the drivers’ points, I think it would be good to aim to be third. I think it is possible this year with the car we have and if we keep improving like we’ve done so far, so that should be the aim.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, is it a big help to you to have a cleaner side at the start?

    VB: Yeah, this season many times, I’ve been on the dirty side so it is always better to be on the clean side and we’ve normally had some really good race starts and hopefully we’ll have a good one tomorrow as well, so we will see. It’s quite a long run to the first corner, so the start will be very important.

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Sebastian, towards the end of Q3, to what extent was the rain that we’d had still making a difference? If it was making a difference, was it helping you get closer to Nico or further away?

    SV: I think the first run –  obviously we saw Kevin lost it into turn one – was affected by the track being damp, first couple of corners, but I think the last two runs, everyone had no problem, it was completely dry.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) Nico, the fact that your teammate is at the back of the grid, does that change anything for you in the race, start in a different way, maybe new goals because it will be harder for him?

    NR: Well, it makes it easier of course, because he’s my competitor number one, so I will play it even more safe and just really try and avoid any unnecessary things happening and make sure to get as many points as possible because it’s really a free opportunity tomorrow.

    Q: (Viktor Bodnar – Magyar Szo) Nico, can you imagine how you would feel yourself if you were in Lewis’s place with this series of bad luck?

    NR: Well, it’s massively disappointing when the car breaks down. I had it two races ago at Silverstone in the lead that the car broke down. It’s tough, it definitely is tough because it’s not something that you can control, you know, so that makes it really difficult..

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Nico, it’s been anticipated on this track the ban on FRIC would have a greater effect since the corners are a bit longer and the track is bumpier. Have you felt that that was the case, this is why Red Bull was a little bit closer?

    NR: For sure it had a big effect, yes, but I think it affected everybody, because everybody had the FRIC system in one way or another and so it seems that we’ve held on to our advantage and I’m very very happy to see that because it wasn’t sure how it was going to go, if some teams might benefit more than others. What was sure was that we had a good system so we were very confident ours was really good but it seems that we’ve held on which is great.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) To all drivers: next year, the Hungaroring will have its thirtieth Formula One race here. If you could change something on the track, corners, facilities, whatever, what would you do?

    NR: Well, it’s a fantastic race to come to here you know, the fans are so excited and also it’s very international, there’s a lot of Finnish fans, also a lot of German fans, so for me it’s great. Yeah, it’s always nice to come here. What would we..? I don’t know, it’s difficult to say what to change because it’s a great track, it’s very challenging, it’s like a little street circuit but as a real track. It’s very tough, so I wouldn’t change much, I’d keep it like it is.

    SV: Since there’s large interest I would probably put more grandstands next to the track so that some of the people don’t have to stand all the time. Other than that, I wouldn’t change anything.

    VB: Yeah, facilities and everything are really nice, lot of fans, lot of support so that is good but I have to say that as our car is quite slick in the straights, that this year I would change the track a bit, bit longer straight. Seb, do you agree, for next year?

    SV: No, I’d rather go free beer for your fellow countrymen!

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) I would like to know, Sebastian and Valtteri, do you feel as well this impact without FRIC that Nico was talking about?

    SV: Obviously I think some people were more advanced than others. For us, it didn’t make a big big difference. We had something but yeah, I think we’re more or less as competitive as we were before so it didn’t change much.

    VB: No big difference, no, and we’ve improved since last weekend for sure, with the current suspension, but I don’t think it’s the key point of the season.

    Q: It’s always said to be very difficult to overtake here; is it any easier with this generation of cars or is it still very difficult?

    SV: In a Williams, I guess it’s fantastic down the straights, you know, you’re so quick but it depends. I think it’s always been difficult and it will be difficult tomorrow.

  • I keep nagging Bernie and trying to persuade him that F1 must come back to India: Vijay Mallya

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Vijay MALLYA (Force India), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Marco MATTIACCI (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Claire, ladies first, if I can start with you. Phenomenal performances recently, everyone is asking can you take a win somewhere? Will it be on the fast circuits coming up after the break?

    Claire WILLIAMS: I hope so. That’s why we’re here, to win grands prix. The team has done a great job this year to turn everything around. We’re building towards that. I think we’ve still got a lot of work to do. The Mercedes are quite far ahead at the moment. I think we closed that gap a little bit in Germany, so it will be exciting to see what we can do here this weekend and then obviously moving to Spa and Monza.

    Do you think the faster circuits, the longer straights are going to be to your advantage? You’re quick in a straight line.

    CW: Yeah, I’d like to think so. Obviously the Mercedes power unit has helped to drive our competitiveness this year, so it’s absolutely a factor.

    Now, Susie Wolff made history history with, admittedly, a brief appearance at Silverstone. She did well at Hockenheim as well. Has that represented a step forward for women in motorsport do you think?

    CW: I’d like to think so. Obviously Susie’s appearance at Silverstone was short-lived but she was the first female to take to the cockpit on a grand prix weekend in 22 years. I think she has set the standard in Formula One. It would be great to see more women coming into the sport in a racing driver capacity and I think she does act as a role model in that sense. She did a great job for the team and at the end of the day, for us, that was the most important thing.

    Thank you. Vijay, welcome. The results keep coming for Sahara Force India but McLaren have made a little bit of progress, the gap is now just two points. Have you slipped a little bit, what’s happened there?

    Vijay MALLYA: I don’t think we’ve slipped. We continue to do our best, we’ve scored points in every race. Williams have done an outstanding job. I think that was pretty clear in pre-season testing. The results are showing. But I think between Williams, McLaren, Sahara Force India, Ferrari, the gap is small and can be closed even in one race. Of course, the double points in the last race may change the equation completely and one never knows in whose favour. We feel quite confident that we can fight to stay where we are or maybe even get a little ahead. I think it’s realistic to be optimistic as well. As long as you have confidence in what you’re doing and the car is performing, no hard luck stories, there’s a lot to look forward to and many races to go.

    Do you think you can keep up the development, stay ahead of let’s face it a bigger team, in many ways, McLaren?

    VM: I don’t want to only set the benchmark as McLaren – they are a world championship-winning team. We obviously are ahead on merit. They have the propensity to catch up but equally we have the propensity to improve even further. As I said, it’s quite competitive between three or four teams and I think the final race will be the final result.

    I’ll come to Eric on that question in a moment, but you must be very happy with your two drivers, they’re doing a great job. Do you want to keep them, can you keep them?

    VM: We have options on both. I’m very happy with both of them and I see no reason why we should be looking at any change.

    Eric, catching Force India, what’s made the difference?

    Eric BOULLIER: It’s obviously, first, hard work back in Woking. Everybody is working definitely hard to get to the way we want them to go and the work is paying off in the end and you can see on track we are bringing upgrades every race and we start to be able to work a little bit in a higher position.

    Will you carry on developing this car? When do you actually move over to working on next years, with particular reference to the challenge of a new power unit?

    EB: I think it’s all in one if you want. We will keep developing this year’s car as far as possible and as long as possible and as long as we can carry over all the development in the next year’s car. Obviously we are preparing already for the arrival of our new engine partner for next year, yes.

    Thank you. Christian, coming to you next. This time last year you made a massive step forward, through the summer break as it were, to win all the races after the remaining races thereafter. Can you compensate for the problem you perhaps have with your powertrain and make a big aero jump this year? 

    Christian HORNER: In all honesty it’s probably unlikely. If you look at the gap, it’s a significant gap. Last year was more of a level playing field on the power unit side. But obviously with the big regulation change it’s reshuffled things, Mercedes are doing a super job and they deserve to be in the position they are, they are in a position of real dominance, dominance we haven’t seen for a long, long time, where they keep scoring these one-two or one-three finishes and it’s a significant amount of performance to close down. But we’re keeping pushing, we’re keeping the hammer down and hopefully after the summer break we’ll have some circuits coming up that we will be able to get even closer to [them]. But I don’t think you’ll see a situation like we had last year.

    Q: We’ve heard some speculation about Sebastian Vettel’s future. Is there any substance to it or is it silly-season nonsense?

    CH: Well usually it’s the start of the silly season where he’s either going to Ferrari or Eric’s made him a big offer or maybe going to Mercedes. So, we just wait to see which team it’s going to be. But no, Sebastian’s absolutely committed to the team, there’s no doubt at all that he’ll be with Red Bull next year and he’s enjoyed so much success with the team, he’s happy in the team and the team are very happy with him. We know we’ve got a lot to do. None of us are comfortable or happy with the situation that we’re currently in – but, y’know, we’re in it together and we’ll work our way through it.

    Q: Monisha, similarly, you made big advances in the second half of the season last year and you must be hoping that you can do the same. What are the chances?

    Monisha KALTENBORN: Well you really can’t compare actually, last season to this one. We know the reasons why we are like this, this year. Of course it has to do with all the rule changes that came in. Last year we took a certain risk. We were well aware of it but if you allocate the resources you have more to last year’s car, this will have an effect on the new car. It’s good that we know the reasons but we clearly have to stop making the mistakes we have been making in the last races. So I do hope that we’ll make a step ahead but to be realistic I don’t expect we’ll take that kind of a jump.

    Q: Yesterday there was confirmation of a future Mexican Grand Prix. What does that mean to you – and also the fact that Azerbaijan seems to be coming onto the calendar in a couple of years’ time as well. The calendar is expanding: what does that mean to a team principal?

    MK: Well looking at Mexico, of course it’s very good news for us because we know that our partner Telmex and Carlos Slim particularly has had this long-term vision to establish motorsport in Mexico. He’s been pursuing this for many years and this has many elements to it, like the Escuderia Telmex, with the drivers, they then got their driver – Sergio – into Formula One and they’ve been working on this grand prix. And we also know how important that is for the other partners we have. So, such a race, which has so much heritage, returning now is fantastic for the sport and I’ll sure we’ll see how many fans we have. We were there a couple of years ago doing a show run and we couldn’t believe that 200,000 people came out to see that. That tells you what a strong fan base it is – and that’s a very positive sign.

    Now, if you’re taking the races beyond 20, I think we’ve had that discussion as well, that I think we should be careful of not saturating the year with too many races. We know what it means on our personnel. We might have to restructure things again, so I think we should be careful before we take these kinds of steps, and also where we go to – because we want to establish Formula One in these countries, not lose heritage races. So it’s a difficult.

    Q: Marco, we’ve seen Fernando Alonso drive some phenomenal races, the last couple of races. Real classic Formula One, wheel-to-wheel stuff. How does that reflect on the team? What’s the mood with the team when they see races like that?

    Marco MATTIACCI: It’s very motivating.

    Just motivating, or more than that?

    MM: I think when you see your driver that is driving like that, that is very motivating for the team.

    And do they want Kimi to be doing the same thing?

    MM: Indeed.

    Q: There’s been some harsh criticism of the car recently. What’s your response to that criticism?

    MM: Which one are you referring to? Internal criticism or outside?

    Outside.

    MM: Everybody is free to make comments. I’m happy that they have time to think about our cars because I don’t have enough time to think about other teams’ cars. I know what you are referring to. I think it’s a statement taken out of context. He has a big title and, as I said, I have the utmost respect for Niki Lauda. For me he is an iconic figure of my childhood and in particular for Ferrari. Today he came to our pit to apologise and honestly I feel very uncomfortable for Marco Mattiacci or Ferrari in this case receiving an excuse from such a champion that I think has been put in middle of something. But I think it’s clear he is a friend of Ferrari and I have utmost respect for Niki. So chapter closed.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó-Motor) Question to all of you. Obviously it is very surprising to learn that the FIA has allowed a change of brake material in parc ferme. Have you got a clear explanation from the FIA yet, why did they let them do it and, do you think it’s acceptable? And do you think there is a danger that things you start to ask to change brake materials and even something else in parc ferme before the race after that.

    CH: Look, from our perspective it was very interesting to see the way the FIA dealt with it. Theoretically it is a change in car specification and the interesting thing for us to observe was how the FIA dealt with it, the precedent it sets going forward. So should that circumstance occur again, the precedent is now extremely clear and I’m sure there will be further discussion on it and where does that stop? Obviously we’d like to change the engine in parc ferme but that’s not quite allowed. I’m sure there’ll be further discussion. It was intriguing to see the decisions that were made.

    Eric?

    EB: Well our position is quite similar to Christian’s one. It was a little bit of a surprise to see they could change their brakes obviously. And even if some specs were similar, the rule on parc ferme are very strict. So, as Christian says, it is a serious precedent and we’ll see how it develops in the future.

    Marco?

    MM: From me it’s a different perspective from my colleagues – even though I understand where they’re coming from. I think in Formula One where everybody is debating about the show, to see a driver from the 20 spot arrive to the podium, for me is a great thing to sell to people and honestly, to pull the trigger, because changing the brakes that are the same spec, probably they don’t have a great impact on the performance, honestly to go to ruin the day for Hamilton was not my principle about racing, so I don’t see the need. It is clear we need consistency in the approach of the FIA but I think we have seen a great race from a guy and we didn’t feel it was the case to ruin that show.

    Claire?

    CW: I don’t think I have anything to add to that.

    Vijay?

    VM: My concern is the precedent that it sets. The FIA rules basically say that if a component is similar in mass, inertia and function, I guess that’s the definition under which the change of brakes was allowed. Going forward, under parc ferme conditions, one could also argue that the rear wing settings could be changed because the same mass, inertia and function are retained. So long as this is not used as an unhealthy precedent going forward for changes under parc ferme conditions, that is the way I would look at it.

    Monisha?

    MK: Well, the FIA took probably a surprising decision here but I think more important is to see that they realise that they need to clarify the matter. I’m a bit less concerned about the precedent being set here because if you look at the cases that have gone through the FIA, different courts or tribunals, you very rarely see a certain consistency there because you can’t bring up cases from the past but every case is looked at individually, so I’m not that concerned. I tend to agree with Marco, that it just shows you no matter what would have happened, have you also given a penalty, still a driver can come up,  right in front, and I think that’s the remarkable part about it and shows the dominance of the team.

    Q: (Pablo Gorondi – AP) Two parts, the first part is concerning the upcoming race in Russia. Do you have concerns about it considering the fact that the conflict in Ukraine seems to be growing every day. My second question is about… we just heard about the new races in Mexico and Azerbaijan and the one thing that’s common to them is that they will both be street races, not on permanent circuits – does this pose a special kind of challenge to you?

    Dealing with the first one first, Russia: does anyone want to comment on that? Claire?

    CW: Obviously what’s going on in Russia and that part of the world at the moment is of huge concern to everybody – but we’ve always said as a support we try to disengage from taking a political angle on these things. Here the FIA is the governing body of our sport, they issue a calendar and we have to take our direction from them and at the moment, the race is still on the calendar.

    Vijay?

    VM: Well something similar occurred in Bahrain and we followed the FIA’s directive, or recommendation. I think I agree with Claire. It’s up to the FIA to guide us and we all follow what the FIA guidance is.

    Monisha?

    MK: I absolutely agree with that. We have to rely on the governing body and commercial rights holder. They’re the ones who have the responsibility and we will do as they say, like we’ve done in the past.

    If we come to the business of… I think Mexico is going to be a permanent circuit, but Azerbaijan could well be a street circuit – what are the thoughts on those two new races? Marco, would you start?

    MM: I think it is a great opportunity, first of all Mexico is one of the countries with the greatest tradition about racing. We have had amazing drivers in the history of Formula One. Is one of the upcoming economies in the Americas, probably the third largest economy after Canada, but it’s good that we keep promoting the brand. It is clear that, as Monisha was saying this week, there are big effort to be done to establish the culture of racing, particularly in upcoming country. So, but it’s good. Definitely a big effort but Formula One needs to reach new audiences so is going to be a another big effort. Let’s see what is the profile of the race we are going to have – but I think I would see this in a positive way. It is clear that stretching the championship to many races, it means more investment on our side so it opens another discussion – but I’m positive.

    Christian?

    CH: It’s great to be going back to Mexico. Certainly my memories of Mexico were Nigel Mansell’s move on the outside of Gerhard Berger into the last turn. I just hope that corner is left intact. I think it’s fantastic for Formula One to be going back to Mexico. Azerbaijan is an exciting new venue, new country to be visiting. Of course there’s only so many races that we can accommodate in a year and I think it’s very healthy for Formula One to have such competition for these places on the calendar. For new markets coming along like this, I think it’s great news for the teams, for the sport and will be of great interest.

    Does it make a big difference Eric that it is potentially a street circuit?

    EB: Yes it does in one way obviously but GT went to race in Baku already so they have a little bit of experience, at least how to judge the foundation of a track in the city. I know Tilke is in charge so we know he will do a very good job of it. I think it can be very exciting. Street racing obviously we know is a great show, there is more risk of a car breaking, crashing, anything like this, but today the safety is good enough and obviously we rely on everybody involved today to make a very, very good racing show there.

    Vijay, your thoughts on that.

    VM: We need to race under all conditions and on all surfaces and on all tracks. That’s part of the fun of Formula One, I guess, and part of the competitive spirit. Street races have their own unique character, as we’ve seen in Monaco and Singapore and other places and I’m sure none of us would object to a street race. As far as new countries are concerned, like Mexico and Azerbaijan, fantastic news. The more the Formula One canvas expands across the world, the better it is for the sport and the teams and the sponsors. And that’s why I keep nagging Bernie and trying to persuade him that India must come back.

    Claire?

    CW: I think everyone’s said it all. I think to have two new races on the calendar is really exciting for everybody.

    Monisha, any more to add?

    MK: I think just the aspect of the street race is probably a better approach to take in a country where there is not that much history of motorsport. You can probably attract more people, can be supported even by tourism activities as we’ve seen in Singapore, the Government backing. I think it’s a good idea.

    Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) I’ve got a question for Vijay. Looking ahead to 2015 it seems almost certain now that you’re going to inherit Lotus’ place on the Strategy Group. Now I was wondering, first, you’ve had a year’s experience of being out in the cold, and to what extent is that going to inform your input on the Strategy Group, and secondly, to what extent is your role in the WMSC going to inform your contributions to the Strategy Group?

    VM: First of all, we’ve been out in the cold for more than one year. As part of the Strategy Group, if all goes well, yes, we have a best chance to be there, I think the fundamentals of our views will not change. We will represent our views and concerns within the Strategy Group but then the Strategy Group ultimately decides by majority the direction in which we all go. So, I will rest my case there and not speculate more about the Strategy Group or our potential role in it.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Mattiacci. Considering the gap from Mercedes at this point of the season and the big changes, technical changes, going on in your team, it will be possible to see a Ferrari fighting for a title in 2015 – or it is more realistic to consider 2016 as a goal?

    MM: I think the more realistic thing is don’t take such kind of commitment at the moment. We need to work every race, definitely we are working for a medium/long-term plan to come back and be at the top, to be extremely competitive but at this stage I really don’t have any element to make commitment on when we’ll be back at the top.

    Q: (Fredrik af Petersens – Honorary) You talked about Azerbaijan, fantastic to go to a new place, a new venue. Is it worth going to a new place with no tradition whatsoever of motorsport and lose, for example, a classical race like the Italian Grand Prix at Monza?

    CH: I think it’s all about balance. It’s about keeping the historical events and also bringing new events. Of course, Monza is a very popular race on the calendar – hopefully it’ll be there for many years to come – but it’s finding that balance. I think Formula One has done a good job of that over the past few years. If there isn’t any interest in Formula One, like we saw last weekend, then why not go to a new market that is crying out for Formula One.

    Vijay?

    VM: I’ve always said that expansion of the canvas is good. If there’s no history of motorsport in Azerbaijan, well, one can always hope to create interest in Formula One with its attendant benefits but I would agree it would be sad if it were at the cost of a long-established historic race. But, yeah, the wider the canvas, the better for all of us.

    Marco, anything on that?

    MM: I agree with Christian and Vijay, we need to find the right balance. Formula One has a DNA and a race like Monza, I guess they’re extremely important. At the same time, we need to move forward, to look at the future, to bring the culture of racing and Formula One where it’s possible to do it. So, we need to have the right balance but definitely we need to move forward.

    Q: (Dominik Scharef – Motorsport-Total.com) Last week in Hockenheim, only 50,000 fans came to the race track. Today we saw relatively empty grandstands again. How concerned are you about that?

    EB: Good question. We can’t draw any conclusions obviously or be scared about what’s happening in a couple of venues. You also need to remember Silverstone, for example, was very crowded, having, the same weekend, three major sporting events in the world. There were some other venues – Austria was obviously a great success. I thought that Germany was maybe not as big as before. There are many reasons and to be honest, I’m not an expert, a specialist on that, so I will not comment on this. You were right. As we mentioned before about the new venues, it’s true that we need to make a balance so we need maybe more venues because there is a shift of interest on sport, about F1 in particular, in that case, to some other countries. I don’t have the answer and I don’t think it’s a concern now when you see some other venues getting crowds and being successful.

    MK: It is, of course a concern because Germany has a strong history in motor sport and we have and have had some great drivers from there, so it’s an important market by all means and I think that that just shows that we really need to look at our product, our sport – which is a fantastic product, comparable to any big, global platform, comparable even to football or the Olympic Games – and see how we can connect better to the people outside. It’s not about the product itself. We’ve had some fantastic races and we’ve had some bad races and that you have in every sport. You can have a fantastic tennis match or a bad tennis match, but it’s how you connect to the fans out there or to the consumers and I think that’s where we need to improve.

    VM: I don’t know whether one should be judgemental enough to say that just because attendance was a little lower than before, that it’s cause for alarm. As Eric rightly pointed out, Silverstone was a major success despite Wimbledon being on. To the English, these are really two very significant events but so long as the overall viewership and the interest in the sport and the sponsors are happy, we should preserve, as I said before, those races that have more than just a spectator value. Monisha referred to the fact that Germany has produced top class World Champion drivers. We have excellent German drivers in Formula One as I speak so I’m sure that the interest level in Germany hasn’t fallen to the extent of any alarm.

    CW: I would agree with everything that’s been said and that maybe Germany was a slight anomaly but I do think that as a sport we need to look at what we are doing, look at our product and to make sure that it is the best that we can offer our fans. I think we have a great fan base and we have a significant fan base globally but I think we need to look at what we can do to engage a new generation of fans to watch our sport, a younger generation. This is a wonderful sport, it’s a great sport, people do want to come and watch us but I think that what we could potentially offer the people who pay a lot of money to come and watch us race every weekend, I think that if we could provide a better show and work together as a group of teams to do that, I think that it would stand us in really good stead for the future.

    MM: This is the most frequently-asked question so I think that we still believe that Formula One is one of the most phenomenal platforms of sport. Definitely there are warning signs. I think now after that – I think I have been asked this question probably several times – what we are trying to do in a positive way, to bring all the stakeholders to converge within the right institution and at the right table, to discuss, to make concrete steps in order to have a clear view of where we want to go. I don’t think it’s positive that every time we have a press conference, we discuss about the issues of Formula One. We are all here to promote the sport. I think we need to do it in a smart way. Definitely, as I said, there are warning signs but I think that we need to move to the next step: that is to discuss, debate and find solutions.

    CH: I think it’s obvious: that the Germans were obviously so hung over from the result they’d had the previous weekend that none of them could make it down to Hockenheim. If you look at the previous three races, they were all sell-outs: Montreal, sell-out; Austria, sell-out; Silverstone, sell-out. Massive crowds, great racing. So something’s got be wrong at Hockenheim for only 50-odd thousand people to turn up. But if you look at the ticket price, if you look at the way it was promoted or wasn’t promoted – that race. If we take a car to Sebastian’s home town which is 45 kilometers up the road and get 150,000 turn out for it, then it’s rather surprising that only half a crowd is in Hockenheim at a race that is Mercedes’ home race, Mercedes winning the World Championship – you would have expected a capacity crowd. So then you’ve got to ask the question ‘what’s wrong?’ Sebastian has been highlighted as one of the reasons to blame that people aren’t going there by the promoter of that race, which is rubbish. When the ticket price that they’re demanding is so high, you’ve got to get realistic and there are obviously issues around that race that need to be addressed and it’s worrying for all us to see so few people in Hockenheim when there’s so much German success in the sport at the moment.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) At exactly the same time as you’re lamenting empty grandstand seats in Hockenheim, it became public knowledge that CVC, the owners of Formula One’s commercial rights, are planning to load the sport with a billion dollars’ worth of debt. Is this not concerning to all of you, collectively, as team owners and businessmen, particularly as it affects hosting fees, revenues etc going forward?

    VM: CVC and other shareholders of Formula One, currently, have every reason to be delighted with the profits that they’re making and the returns that their investment is providing and of course, as a relatively small team, we have been representing to the commercial rights holder and to CVC that the distribution of income should be more equitable so that all teams are financially able to survive. But that is notwithstanding that they make huge profits. If those huge profits can service huge debt, it’s CVC’s business, not our business. I don’t think we as participants in Formula One should really be concerned about the financials of the commercial rights holder because it’s not going to get us anywhere. The fact that the commercial rights holder are now extremely well off doesn’t get us anywhere. That fact that debt may be loaded on, so long as it’s serviced, does not get us anywhere either. So it’s nice to know that somebody’s willing to provide a billion dollars of debt to Formula One. It only reinforces the financial success of the sport.

    CW: I agree with Vijay. I don’t want to be dragged into comment around CVC and its business operations necessarily. Williams are here to go racing and love going racing and I would much rather sit here talking about that.

    MM: I already answered before, so I don’t think this is the venue to discuss and I’m not going to answer about CVC issues of investment strategy.

    CH: I fully support Williams’s position.

    EB: Nothing to add.

    MK: Nothing to say.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) So we learn now that we are going to Azerbaijan. We drove in Bahrain, everybody knows that Bahrain is killing their own people. We go to Russia and no comment. We drove in China, China is not very famous for democracy I heard. So my question is: all you guys say that you have a Formula One and drivers and everybody has to make a good example for young people. Do you think it’s a good example to follow Mr Ecclestone everywhere he wants? Next question is when he would go to North Korea, would you follow him?

    VM: I think we’re racing people, more popularly known as petrolheads. We come here to race and to win and to enjoy it. The governance is an international organisation called the FIA. It is up to the FIA to decide where the sport is conducted. I don’t think that the teams, individual participants in the sport, should be holding their individual positions to determine social political issues that you have raised. The FIA is perfectly competent to determine where Formula One should be staged and not be staged.

    Q: Anything more to add? Do you all agree with that? No more to add? So the question is you would follow Ecclestone to North Korea or you wouldn’t?

    VM: You know, it’s a not question of following Bernie. I think the question has been wrongly framed. It’s the commercial rights holder, it’s the FIA. We race where they stage the events. It’s as simple as that.

    Q: (Christoph Becker – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) Let’s put the question in a different way: do you think that as you’re talking about promoting the best possible product, do you think it does your product a lot of good going to Baku, given their human rights record, given the fact that they rank – I think – 160th on the list of Reporters Without Borders?

    CH: This is becoming a very depressing press conference as we’re only focusing on the negativities. Look, there’s a calendar that comes out in October or November. We all have a choice whether we enter the World Championship or not. All the people sitting here are racers and they’re here because they’re passionate about the sport and they want to compete. When we sign up for that championship, we put our faith and trust in the promoter and the FIA and we will attend those races unless they deem it unnecessary for us to be there. All of you will be at those races, or the vast majority of you will be at those races and why, because you’re either passionate about the sport or because you earn a living out of covering the sport and I think it’s wrong to make Formula One a political statement or subject when we are a sport. We should be talking about the drivers in these conferences, we should be talking about the spectacular racing that happened between our drivers and his (MM’s)  driver at the last Grand Prix. We should be talking about what a great race it was for Lewis Hamilton to come through the grid, yet all we do is focus on the negatives and it has to be said, it gets pretty boring for us to sit up here and field these questions. So how about asking some questions about what’s going to happen in the race on Sunday, what’s going to happen in qualifying tomorrow, because if you’ve got these questions, please point them at Mr Todt or Mr Ecclestone rather than the teams.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Talking about tomorrow’s race; Pirelli are very optimistic about the tyres, they’re not degrading, is it going to be one stop or two stops?

    CH: I think it’s going to be a challenge, it’s going to be interesting whether it’s going to be a two stop or even a three stop and I think that was the interesting thing about last weekend’s race. The tyres were on the edge, some people ran two stops, some people ran three in it. It created some interested racing. I think the tyres that Pirelli are actually bringing to the races are producing good events, like we’ve seen at the last few Grands Prix.

    EB: Well, the question is a bit early in the weekend, because I don’t know if it’s going to be one, two or three stops, even though here, obviously, it’s very difficult to overtake. So I don’t know, I don’t yet, to be honest.

    Q: And the possibility of rain, Monisha, what about that?

    MK: Well, we certainly wouldn’t mind that but we cannot rely on that. It is indeed a bit early so we will wait and see.

    VM: Well, Monisha has the rain specialist in Sutil but no, it’s really too early to comment on tyre strategy on race day. It depends on so many things. I think we were caught out with the temperatures on Sunday in Hockenheim. You really cannot plan in advance. It’s a split second decision you have to take on the day.

    CW: Yeah, I agree. We don’t know yet what strategy we’ll go for but our strategy this year has always been verging on the conservative in order to score the maximum amount of Constructors’ points and we took Ferrari’s very nice P3 in the championship in Germany and we want to just strengthen our position and go into the summer break in a strong position to finish the season off.

    MM: I think that the Pirelli tyres have been better than expected today. We have some interesting elements but it’s too premature to define what is going to be the strategy but it’s going to be an interesting race again.

    File photo of Vijay Mallya courtesy Sahara Force India F1 team.
    File photo of Vijay Mallya courtesy Sahara Force India F1 team.

  • FIA Thursday Press Conference: Hungarian GP

    DRIVERS – Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Sauber), Marcus ERICSSON (Caterham), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Marcus can I start with you? Ten races into your first Formula One season, what have you learned about yourself and about your own racing, your own capabilities over these first 10 races?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Obviously coming into Formula One there’s a lot to learn. I think this year it’s been a bit special as well with the new power units. For sure, the management of tyres, of energy during the races is something you’ve got to learn quickly, I think it’s not only for me but for everyone else as well. To be consistent over a race weekend; important steps during a whole race weekend and you need to be always be consistent in both the driving and the feedback to the engineers. So it’s quite a lot of things but I feel like I’m taking steps all the time and learning so that’s the main thing.

    So it’s a work in progress, there’s more to come?

    ME: Yeah, definitely.

    Now, there’s been quite a lot of speculation at Caterham. How do you feel about your own position? Do you feel comfortable for next year as well?

    ME: I feel good. I think the new owners are pushing really hard. Obviously they want to update the car during the season and keep doing that and that’s really positive for all of us. Hopefully now, in the second half, we can have a stronger car and we can be a bit more competitive and fight with the guys in front of us.

    Esteban, you’ve been on the cusp of points, very close to points a few times, 12th in Australia. How close are you to getting into the points, or have you gone as far as you can with this car, is it not possible to go any further?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: At the moment we are doing our best, all the team are pushing really. Without bringing updates we don’t see it very different to what we had in Hockenheim. But it seems that step by step, every race we’ve been closing the gap a little bit and that is putting a lot of hope and also motivation into everyone in the team. From my side I’m trying to do things as consistent as possible and trying to get the most of the car that I have at the moment.

    So the expectations for the second half of the season?

    EG: Expectations are… I would put them really high! I really want to make a step and that’s what the team is looking for, because finishing a season on a high is really important and I think it’s a good chance now that we are starting the second half of the season.

    Thanks very much, I’ll come back to you in a moment with something else but we’ll move on to Kamui. Kamui, a change of ownership at the Caterham and some uncertainty about what’s going to happen there I guess. What can you do to strengthen your position and at the same time strengthen the team as well, because you’ve been around a bit, you know exactly what’s required or a driver and you can gather the team yourself and be a bit of a team leader.

    Kamui KOBAYASHI: Yeah, hello everyone. First of all, I was quite having these changes during the season with a new owner, but I think this is what we need, otherwise I think we couldn’t finish the season. It was the right move and straightaway I think… I mean, team, does it affect them a lot? As you see it in the news I think people left, quite a lot, straightaway, but I think we need to keep motivated because I think if we want to survive we need to change something. I think this is the right thing. I need really hope. Of course, it’s the same from my side. I think I need to always drive 100 per cent. This just gives motivation. The biggest things… if we want to change something, we need to change the biggest things not the small things. We have new guys coming and many people left, but I think we have responsible in each part and this is going to help everybody and let’s see what happens.

    You’re known for your attacking style of driving. Does this car allow you to attack as much as you’d like?

    KK: Not really! It’s not really happy but I need to hope that one day I’m going to make something, a really exciting race. Like a ‘train’ race is not really exciting for the spectators. I’m pretty happy last race, for example, at the German Grand Prix, we had a couple of pit stops and we saw some excitement during the race. But if it once again came back to one stop, for me it’s not really nice to watch the race, I’m pretty happy. Pirelli had a nice tyre decision and think this makes more fun. Even my car… I think Pastor was like Prime and I was supersoft and I could overtake him. It was a little surprising but it’s good it happens like that and it’s good for spectators.

    Jean-Eric, we know that the car is capable of getting into the points, and the qualifying is there as well. But you’ve had problems in various; well, what seems like different areas, I don’t know if you would agree. Id it just one fix that is needed? What’s basically the problem?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: I don’t think we really have any problems at the moment. The only problem we have is to get the points at the end of the race. Obviously the first part of the season has been quite competitive, but unfortunately I couldn’t finish all the races – I think I had five DNFs, so that’s quite a few, all the time when we were in a position to score points. So, I will take only the positive and the positive is that we have great people working in the team, working really hard to improve the reliability, and we’ve got a good car. It’s not like if every time we had a problem we were not in the position to score the points. Now I think we just need to keep on working in the same way and the points should be there.

    So what are the expectations for the second half of the season then?

    J-EV: Ah, the expectation is to finish as many times in the points obviously. This is definitely possible. We have a quick, we still have some new updates to come. So I really believe in the team. I believe they can bring us a better car again and just to finish the races… in the points!

    So you are confident that things will improve reliability-wise?

    J-EV: Yeah, definitely. That’s not really my big concern… I’m not concerned about it. I’m more concerned about the speed that we need to have every race weekend. And then from there all I have to do is drive this car as quick as possible and do the best job possible. Not thinking there will be a problem happening or not. It’s not really in my mind.

    Sergio, we heard a somewhat frustrated engineer talking to you in Germany, saying ‘fuel saving, fuel saving, fuel saving’. We won’t go into the details of the whole conversation but is it a problem for a driver that you don’t have some sort of fuel indicator or your own that you can manage, that you have to rely on hearing a message from the engineers. Would you prefer something in the car?

    Sergio PEREZ: We have the capability as drivers to see how we are doing with the fuel. We get some target numbers and we have to give them back. Of course, Hockenheim was really tough on fuel for us, especially due to the race I was having. It was very difficult to keep temperatures in the tyres and by saving fuel of course you lose more temperature, so it was really a difficult race for myself, which I was not really expecting after the pace we had shown on Friday.

    So you would prefer to have some kind of indicator or are you happy with what you’ve got?

    SP: I’m happy with what I’ve got. We’re all clear on that. Obviously we get the message; we always get prepared of hour much fuel we have save and during the race we see how we’re doing with the engineer and they can tell us.

    Now, a Mexican Grand Prix looks like a real reality for next year, I hope you agree. What are your feelings about it, and I’ll come back to Esteban about that as well?

    SP: It’s great, I’m so happy. Since I left my home at 13, 14 years I never raced in Mexico. I never raced in my home country. Now to go back after so many years and race actually in Formula One is great. They’ve been really pushing for so many years, since I came to Formula One four years ago. The spirit of the fans is massive back home. It’s great for my country, for all the fans back home and I’m sure you all will be surprised at how good the event will be. I’m just very proud and excited. It’s great that we can confirm that we will have a Mexican GP next year.

    I think there’s quite a lot to be done though isn’t there?

    SP: Yeah, there are a lot of things to be changed. The circuit is quite old. I mean, the last time you raced there was 22 years ago. They already started to build a new circuit. It will be fantastic once again; you are all going to be surprised. I’m sure it will become a very popular grand very soon.

    Esteban, your feelings about it?

    EG: I have good feelings about it, because all these years that Mexico has been involved in Formula One with obviously first Checo getting to Formula One and now myself, we are two in Formula One and I think this is a great step to have a grand prix. It’s really a dream come true for many of us. I had the chance to race once in Mexico City, back in 2008, when we did the world finals of Formula BMW. It was a great experience. I think it was an introduction to what it can be, obviously very, very small by comparison but now we will be able to going into the biggest thing in Mexico and to really share with our fans, with our supporters, to share with them physically the sport.

    Pastor, sorry to keep you waiting. First of all, of course, the inevitable question about your contract for next year. Where are you in terms of thoughts for next year?

    Pastor MALDONADO: We’ve been confirmed from mid-season, which is good. It’s always good to know the future. It’s a great team; I always mention that. There are fantastic people working at the team and pushing very hard to improve the performance. We’ve been suffering a lot since the beginning of the season. Most of the problems have been down to reliability. We’ve been nearly… most of the races stopped and not finishing, which is not the best when you are looking for performance. We didn’t have the chance to test and explore 100 per cent of our package. But it’s looking quite good. It’s always been a great team in the past and for sure will be one of the good ones for the future.

    Q: A lot of changes have been made – maybe just for reliabity’s sake but also from competition’s sake – are you feeling those changes, do you actually notice those changes, and also, do you feel that the car is a bit too track specific, that it only works on one type of track?

    PM: It’s difficult to say because even in the last race, Romain, my teammate had a problem with his car and he needed to stop and to finish the race earlier than me. Unfortunately, we still have some problems. Most of the problems are due to the power unit but we’ve been working very hard with Renault to try to help them and to help each other to have a more stable car and at the same time, better reliability for the races and to approach the weekend in a different way. Sometimes we need to jump on the track just thinking about finishing the race and not thinking about exploring the full performance of the car which is not a great approach, but sometimes you need to maybe do one step back to recover the things in the team and  it seems to be that now we have more the entire control of the car it’s getting better and better, so hopefully this weekend will be good for us and both cars in the points would be fantastic before the break.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Sergio, on the Mexican Grand Prix again, it was on the calendar before but it didn’t happen this year. Are you sure that it will now happen next year, that the problems of getting the track ready and everything else will be overcome and it will be done in time?

    SP: Yeah, hundred percent sure that we will go to Mexico next year, no doubt about it. Everything s confirmed. Last year was a difficult situation due to the time that we had to build the circuit, but now there is no doubt and I think we can all think that we’re going there. Already they’re building the circuit, they’ve already started on the circuit, so yes, we’re definitely going there.

    Q: (Graham Killoh – F1 Plus) Esteban, it looks to outsiders that the Sauber benefitted in Germany from the removal of FRIC up and down the field. Is that your feeling and the feeling within the team?

    EG: Yes, it is the feeling and we tried to get that opportunity, to take advantage of this position. Maybe it was not a big thing but it gives us a few tenths per lap, probably, which may benefit a lot in the race, so that’s what we’re looking to and that’s our main focus, to extract that.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Pastor, there are some rumours that John Player Special will be on board again with Lotus. Has this a special meaning for you?

    PM: It’s difficult to say because I’m not getting involved in marketing and this part of the team. But for sure, it’s always welcome, a sponsor is always welcome and whoever can join the team, it’s always welcome. From my point of view, it’s a good team in terms of image, marketing, one of the best in Formula One, for sure.

    Q: (Heinz Pruller – Honorary) Can I ask the Mexican gentlemen about the Mexican Grand Prix? I have been there in ’68 in the Magdalena Mixhuca park. I guess this will be a new circuit, they will change this circuit. How much will they change the circuit and how far advanced is the work on it and what is the date for the Grand Prix next year?

    SP: We don’t have a date confirmed yet. I think once the calendar is released, I suspect that it might be towards the end of the year because that’s when we go back to America  and also it gives more time to the circuit to rebuild, to make all the changes necessary for Formula One to host a Grand Prix. It will be totally different. I was so unlucky not to be in a Formula One race back in Mexico but I think it will be quite different, and as I said before, I’m really enthusiastic and I’m sure you’re all going to be surprised as to how well we can do this kind of event.

    Q: (Heinz Pruller – Honorary) Will it be in the Magdalena Mixhuca park; will they keep Peraltada corner?

    SP: I don’t know if they’re going to keep Peraltada. I suspect that they’re going to make some changes. It’s a very historic corner. Everybody I have been talking to in the park, they all tell me ‘how are we going to have the Peraltada?’ Everyone is really excited about Peraltada but we don’t really know if we’re going to have it because I think we’re also going to change the layout of the circuit.

    Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Esteban, Checo and Pastor, all of you come from Hispanic countries and now Mexico is going to be on the calendar next year which is very good news for your fans too, that they will have you closer than ever, but don’t you miss more Hispanic people in the paddock – mechanics, engineers and other professionals that maybe can help to really establish motor sport in your countries? And are you thinking about doing something about it from your experience, which has been tough, coming to Europe and growing into Formula One?

    PM: Yes, I know that at Lotus they have a plan – especially for Venezuelan people – to join in various different areas in the team. That will be good. I know that there are some Venezuelans working in the factory. We have this plan and year after year I hope this will increase, but for sure, it will be very good to compensate the programme, not only with the drivers but even with the people who want to work with us and want to join the teams.

    Q: Sergio, how do you think Mexicans would get on in Northamptonshire?

    SP: Yeah, it’s a long way to travel and for us to come over to Europe is not so easy but for me, for example, I had to leave home when I was only 15 so I think that kind of thing, that kind of culture has to change so I’m sure getting back onto the calendar with the Mexican Grand Prix, that will definitely help. There is a lot of excitement about Formula One back in Mexico so I’m sure that the younger generation are all interested in Formula One and I will be really happy if this can open doors to have engineers, mechanics, drivers, people working in the media, more and more Mexican and more Hispanic overall. That would be great for Formula One and for the sport.

    EG: I think the platform will start growing. Obviously when you have Mexican drivers, now we have a Grand Prix, it will even produce 3000 jobs back in Mexico related to that. When you build a platform in Mexico, then that platform starts to transfer to other areas, to Europe, to Asia and obviously into the top level. So I think it’s the way to go and it will be very pleasing to help and also to be part of opening the doors and all of these things, opportunities for more Hispanic people here.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) To you all, Felipe Massa just said in the paddock that Magnussen was to blame for the crash at Hockenheim and that the FIA made a mistake by not penalising him. What do you think about the FIA’s stance?

    KK: It’s very difficult to say. For me, Magnussen looks very difficult to avoid. He’s keeping his line. For me, it looks as though Felipe is a bit too tight on his line, because I think if he gave a bit more space, I think he would not have had the accident, because it looks as though… Difficult to explain what Felipe’s going to do. It kind of looks like he suddenly dived into the corner. I think Magnussen could have avoided it by braking or whatever but it’s just after the start. He braked in that corner, I think he would lose a lot of positions so it’s a very difficult part. In the end, I don’t think we can see the mirrors. The mirrors are quite small and I think that at that angle it’s very difficult to see. I think that’s the biggest problem.

    SP: I think it was really really close at the start of the race. Turn one at Hockenheim is… that kind of accident can happen. Kevin did everything to avoid Felipe. In the end, they touched and it was a really really bad accident for Felipe. Who to blame is difficult. I think they both collided but it’s difficult to blame someone from that accident.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Just on the subject of accidents – obviously we have Esteban and Pastor who have both been involved in a couple of incidents with each other this year – when you do have a crash, do you, as drivers, do you look to blame somebody? Do you look to find somebody at fault? Or is it easy to accept when you’re to blame? Do you ever talk to each other and in the case of Esteban and Pastor, have you had words since the last race? Just your personal thoughts on what you do after you’ve been involved after a crash.

    PM: When you make a  mistake for sure, it’s easy to accept. Before, you need to accept and learn from the mistake. We are not perfect sometimes. When we are racing each other, you can make some mistakes. We are racing, we are doing our best to take a position or to defend a position and sometimes, when it’s very tight, the contact happens.

    EG: Well, I think it’s very simple, it comes down to having respect between all of us and as Pastor says, when you make a mistake, you just have to accept it and really the strong position to do it in public and as well to find the right compromise, because at the end, it’s not beneficial for any of us. If we both crash, we both end our races. It’s obviously not beneficial, so it doesn’t matter what happens afterwards. Already the effect and the problem is already done. We just need to look into more… It’s fun racing, this is what we enjoy, this is what we like and between Pastor and myself, for example, yes, we’ve been involved, but we’ve also spoken to each other and we find the right compromise and we keep a good relationship. It’s not a problem. In the end, we are here, we enjoy it and it’s our passion to race.

    eom

  • Getting married, pole and now the win, have made the last few days special and enjoyable: Rosberg

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Nico, how sweet is the taste of the home victory champagne?

    Nico ROSBERG: It’s fantastic. It’s an amazing feeling for me to win here at home. A very, special day for me. Thank you for all your support here this weekend.

    Valtteri, three time on the podium now but how hot was the breath of this guy [Hamilton] on your neck?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I feel really happy again being third time in a row on the podium. These guys were too quick today but really happy that we at least managed to keep one of them behind. It was not easy, it required all the info from the engineers, what to do with the engine modes, and from my side pushing hard but I really want to say thanks to all the fans. I also see many Finnish flags here so, thanks Finland.

    Lewis, lots of

    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image.
    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image.

    fans in for you here. King of overtaking, 17 places, fastest lap, damaged front wing, so how much racing fun was that for you as a racer?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I had great fun. It was great to see how many fans we had here today, thank you so much for the support. I did as good as I could today. It was very hard to get through the pack safely. I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson. I honestly thought he was opening the door to let me past, he’s been a bit like that in the past race for example, so my bad on judgment there. It’s very hard to overtake at the end, they were so fast on the straights but I’m very happy I got some points today.

    Thanks Lewis. Coming back to you Nico. Lots of points for you but not much time to  celebrate as the next race is coming up next week already.

    NR: Yeah, well definitely we’ll be celebrating a little bit tonight, I hope you [the fans] will as well, it would be great to continue the soccer world championship spirit today a little bit. I look forward to the next race in Hungary. With the car that we have at the moment… I’m very, very thankful to Mercedes for the car that they’ve built us, it’s really a pleasure at the moment. Hungary will be good.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: So Nico, your fourth win this year, I think your first on home soil – and which of the great things that have happened to you this week has given you the best feeling?

    NR: That’s getting married. That’s definitely the case. That was the best feeling. But of course everything has been special. Really fortunate, just had a great… many positive things happening in the two weeks, or week and a half. Been really enjoyable, and also this weekend with pole and the win. Just awesome. Very, very special day today.

    Q: Valtteri, something of a defensive master class at the end, defending from Lewis in the final laps. Tell us a little bit about what was going through your mind, the way you positioned the car in those final laps, particularly given the state of the tyres after a very long stint.

    VB: Yes, big enough the last stint. I was already close with Lewis but he stopped and at that point there was still twenty or so laps to go. I knew it was going to be really close in the end. With a new set of tyres, 20 laps to go, he can make up the pit loss, and he did and he was riding my tail the last few laps. For me it was just really, really important to always get a good exit for the DRS straights, so out of Turn One and out of Turns Two-Three, to get as good an exit as possible and brake always as late as possible for the hairpin at the end. Also from the team, we were communicating and I got all the support from the engineers to get the right engine modes for defending – so thanks for that.

    Q: Lewis, from 20th on the grid to third at the end and so much to deal with, so many changes as well, you were on a change of strategy at the end there where you were going to do two very attacking stints on the super-soft of 13 laps. They obviously changed that after the Sutil spin, brought you in a bit earlier, so you had to do a bit longer final stint. I wonder though how much the damage of the front wing in the Jenson Button incident hurt your chances of doing more than third today.

    LH: I couldn’t tell you. The car was a little bit different but nonetheless to still get some points today, I’m grateful and very happy with the car today that Mercedes provided us with and congratulations to Nico. It’s fantastic for him on his home soil and also for Mercedes-Benz. So I’m glad I could add some points today.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life) Valtteri, is second place today the maximum for you, is second place the maximum for your team or can you do more?

    VB: We always aim for more but for now we need to be happy with these points. Of course we were unlucky with Felipe again, we didn’t get both cars in a good position but I think today was the maximum result. We did everything perfectly and managed to keep Lewis behind in the  end which got us an extra few points but in the future, we are definitely aiming for more and this is not the maximum.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, your target for this year was a podium; now you’ve got a hat-trick of them. How surprised are you with this success, because it’s not so usual for Finnish drivers to get three podiums in a row?

    VB: OK…

    NR: I got three in a row.

    VB: Yeah, of course I feel really lucky also to be part of this. Last year we could not have expected to be three times in a row on the podium but we now… This is the package we have and it’s all down to hard work and we need to always keep aiming for more, like I said before. Of course, it feels really good to be (on the podium) for a third time in a row but I think we’re aiming for more than that now. We know Budapest might be a bit difficult for us but hopefully we get some updates.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you see the glass of your race more half full or half empty?

    LH: Well, I don’t really know how to answer that really. I came from last, so to get on the podium is quite an achievement, so perhaps half full.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, you’ve got an incredible record in Hungary – seven races, four wins. What is your secret there and what are your feelings in general about next week’s race?

    LH: I don’t really have any secrets there, just been very… If I’ve ever had any… Just been fortunate in that race, great support there as usual with the fans and a circuit I really enjoy. It’s a circuit where you can really attack, it works for an attacking driver like myself so perhaps it suits my driving style a little bit more than some others, maybe.

    Q: (Udo Doering – Darmstaedter Echo) Nico, are you a little bit surprised to win so clearly and when you saw the car of Sutil standing on the track, did you fear another safety car?

    NR: Yeah, definitely I’m a bit surprised because in qualifying the Williams were quite close so didn’t really expect to have such a big advantage in the race. And yes, I definitely got a bit worried when I saw Sutil’s car out there because I was sure there was going to be a safety car and that would have obviously made it a lot more difficult.

    eom/FIA pess release of the transcript

  • Hamilton crashes out in qualies; Roseberg rules the roost, again

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, congratulations. Pole for your home grand prix and what a week it’s been for you: Germany win the World Cup, you get a new contract, and you get married, and now you’ve got pole for you home grand prix?

    Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much, yes. For now it’s been going really, really well. It’s great, home race here and to be on pole is fantastic. Of course I would have preferred if it was an open fight with Lewis. A little bit less happy as a result because Lewis didn’t have a shot at it in the end. But all in all, still a fantastic day up to now, but no points for today. [The} important [part] is just tomorrow, still a long way to go but it’s still a good start.

    Very well done. Valtteri, it looked like quite a calm session; you worked your way through Q1 to Q2 to Q3 in a very methodical way. You looked fairly untroubled but do you think you could have got a bit closer to Nico or even challenged him?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I must say we must again be really happy with the result we got today as a team, second and third, so well done to everyone, but I think Mercedes is still ahead. The lap I had in the end was no mistakes and a really nice, so I really I felt I got everything out of the car today.

    Very well done. Felipe, Williams once again up towards the front in qualifying. What do you put this performance down to and where do you feel you lost out to Valtteri today?

    Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure I think I was struggling to put the lap together, so I had some movement from the tyres and I was not able to have a perfect car – just to put all the sectors together. I was able to do one sector better in one way, the other sector better in the other way. The car was not 100 per cent perfect in terms of set-up to put the perfect lap and Valtteri did really a very good lap. But anyway I’m still quite happy with the result and I’m quite happy with our car and for sure in the race the conditions are completely different, the feeling of the car as well is different, so let’s try to a very good job tomorrow as well.

    Coming back to you Nico. What have you heard from the team about Lewis’ situation and also what are your thoughts about the race tomorrow, particularly with these incredibly high temperatures we’re experiencing here in Hockenheim?

    NR: I don’t any details about the other car. I just knew it didn’t apply to my car, so from that point of view I was comfortable that I could keep on pushing. For tomorrow, it’s supposed to be a bit colder, which will make it easier on the tyres, because the tyres are very, very soft so degradation is high. And of course the weather could play a role, so just need to take it as it comes.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Nico, firstly in Q1, a bit of a scare at the start. You seemed to go off the road a couple of times and with about five minutes to go after the red flag stoppage you went out on a set of super-softs, which is very unusual for you. Obviously you were feeling the pressure at that point. And also could you clear up, you mentioned before Lewis’ situation didn’t apply to you – that’s because I understand you run two different types of brakes between you. Maybe you could explain a little bit about that.

    NR: Yeah, so quali one, I had problem with my brakes to start off in qualifying because we changed them for qualifying. It didn’t feel good, the whole of qualifying really I was struggling with that. Sort of found my way then – but it was especially difficult in the beginning in quali one, really difficult. And then, yeah, brakes, we run two different brakes between us. So, the problem that he had didn’t apply to my car as a result.

    Q: It was a disc failure?

    NR: I’m not sure of the details.

    Q: Valtteri, a general question – just to sum up your feelings how it feels at this early stage of your career to be running at the front all of the time.

    VB: I feel really happy to be part of this team as we are really on the right way and again, a strong result from us as a team and from me and Felipe. So, it’s good to be part of this. We are really focussing to get better and better. The race is tomorrow, there’s no points for today. We need to focus on that, again trying to do the perfect job if we can and get the maximum points available.

    Q: Felipe, Nico was saying earlier he thinks it’s going to be a little cooler tomorrow – which is obviously good news from the car and tyre point of view – but maybe you could put into words for us how you think these tyres are going to perform here tomorrow, what the challenges you think will be in tomorrow’s grand prix given the relative temperatures.

    FM: I think it will be a big challenge for everybody. So, we’re running super-soft and soft, definitely is not 100 per cent easy to keep the tyres in the good shape all the time, every lap, so the consistency… it’s not very easy to be there every lap, so maybe we will see more stops than at other races – I don’t know. Definitely having a little bit less temperature in the track will help a little bit, especially our cars so I hope this can be a good help for us tomorrow to make these tyres a little bit more consistent and trying to make the strategy the best way as well. But it’s always a big challenge tomorrow in the race.

    Q: Nico, you’re looking at the replay there of Lewis’ accident. Your thoughts?

    NR: I hadn’t seen it yet – but it looks pretty bad but I hear he’s OK and just a little bit bruised on the knees.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Nico, can you talk us through when you knew that Lewis was out of qualifying; do you then subsequently still push as much as you would have done if Lewis had been there or do you reign it back in to make sure you are getting laps in for the rest of the qualifying session?

    NR: No, it doesn’t change, it doesn’t change the way I approach it. I’m still flat out and pushing all the way through, definitely.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On-Line) To both Williams drivers: yesterday you were struggling a lot with the car and suddenly today you appear almost fighting for pole position. What’s the magic you did in the car from one day to the next?

    FM: Well, I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Yesterday we were P6 in the session, so normally, even in the race, when we are starting at the front, we were top five, top six, so I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Maybe in the first session everything was new for everybody, because there was a little change on the suspension for everybody but it was just something that you needed to get used to with the set-up but we were not struggling yesterday.

    VB: Yeah, I agree. We knew that after Friday there was nothing really to worry about it. We knew that we had work to do to improve the car which we managed to do, improve the balance, but I think maybe sometimes some other teams are more focusing on qualifying laps in practice rather than just testing.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, I would love to say that this is the first time in F1  history that there is an all-Finnish front row. Do you agree?

    NR: Yes, I agree!

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, in the last two races, Lewis has always been starting quite behind you but he’s always managed to catch up pretty quickly. This time he’s starting 15th. Is this a track where you think he can catch up as quickly as he could in Zeltweg and Silverstone or could you have more advantage here, looking at how far he is behind or maybe allow you to drive another kind of race, not so full attack all the time?

    NR: For sure, I still expect him to come through the field quickly. I don’t know. It’s difficult to predict. I need to do my own race, I need to push anyways from the front, I need to go for it and try and pull a gap and then see where I am with strategy and everything.

    eom

    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • We are working hard to improve mechanical reliability: Toto Wolff

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – John BOOTH (Marussia), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Federico GASTALDI (Lotus), Christijan ALBERS (Caterham), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Cyril, if we could start with you. Perhaps you could tell us why the job change to Renault, was this unexpected and what have you seen so far?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, what can I say about this to answer your question. Obviously there is an element of confidentiality, so I will not disclose everything. Let’s put it this way: I have been doing 10 years with Renault before joining Caterham. Before joining Caterham I left on very good terms with Renault, we are, I hope, long-time friends and I hope this will remain the case. Obviously the situation with Caterham was not working – the whole structure, from shareholder to the structure in place was just not delivering, so something had to change. Lots of things are changing. I think that’s good. From my perspective also I had to change. There was some appetite at Renault to turn around what is happening on the track, not just the engine situation, it’s wider than that, so there was an opportunity there and that’s it.

    Tell me, how much of the effort that’s going on is around trying to fix the problems that you’ve got in 2014 and how much is looking forward, because obviously 2015 offers you an opportunity to try to get a bit closer to the Mercedes engine for example with the new homologation that comes in in February.

    CAb: Anyway the engine world is not exactly the same as the chassis world, in the sense that with the homologation you are not free to develop the engine and therefore what we can do this year is fairly limited. What we need to focus on right now is to get reliability sorted out, because clearly what we are delivering on track is not acceptable for some of our customers. We need to fix that, clearly; this is for this season and see what can be done from a performance perspective. Next year, we are quite well advanced actually, there was already the first fire up of next year’s engine on the dyno this week, so there is a programme, it’s going well, we need to improve performance but it’s already interesting to see this weekend with all the changes chassis-wise and engine-wise that there is some progress so hopefully it will be confirmed tomorrow.

    Replacing Cyril as team principal at Caterham and joining us for his first press conference since 2007 when he was a grand prix driver is Christijan Albers. Christijan, you’re now in your second race in charge, what’s your verdict so far of the set-up, what’s been going and what are the first areas on your priority list?

    Christijan ALBERS: First I would to start [by saying] that the thoughts of myself and the team are with the tragedy of the Malaysian Airlines. I feel sorry for their loss. I think that’s the most important thing today. Team-wise… yeah, it’s not easy. You see people in a team fighting for four years to get a good car that delivers performance and it did not work so it’s very important to motivate the people again and to get the right structure in place. I think we are a little bit in that direction. I have a lot of faith in the new technical director John Iley, also the chief designer Keith Barclay and also the new team manager Miodrag Kotur. So, you know, we are pushing. The only thing I can say about the team is that we need progress and stability.

    Can you tell us anything about your drive line-up? Do you plan on retaining the same two drivers for the remainder of the season?

    CAl: I want to see results; that’s very important for every Formula One team. To be honest today I think they did a good job. We had some bad luck in the second practice, but they are sharp and we know we need performance and also of course with a team as Caterham F1 we also always need a little bit of budget.

    John coming to you, on the face of it you’re in quite a strong position. You’ve got two points on the board; you’re ahead of Sauber and Caterham of course. How does it feel inside the team and what’s the short and medium term plan?

    John BOOTH: Well, we’re obviously very comfortable with where we are at the moment. We were very happy to get the two points in Monaco but there are nine races still to go and obviously anything can happen. We’ve got to keep pushing and keep focused and try to defend as hard as we can from Caterham and Sauber.

    After the Barcelona you took a noticeable step forward in performance. Was the Silverstone test equally positive and do you feel you’re closing in on Sauber now? How far behind do you think you are?

    JB: One of our test days in Silverstone was a Pirelli test day which was very helpful for 2015 and the second day we spent a lot of time thinking about running without any sort of linked suspension, so we got a useful work done on the second day.

    Q: Toto, obviously 326 points on the board in the Constructors’ Championship with your nearest rivals on 168 but still a few alarm bells – Nico Rosberg’s gearbox problem in Silverstone wasn’t the first time you’ve had a problem with a gearbox. How’s that being tackled?

    TW: First of all it must be tackled. We are looking very solid in terms of pace. The guys are quick and the car was very reliable at the beginning of the season, if you look besides Melbourne. And since then we had a couple of issues and we must get on top of it. We are working hard and trying to understand how to improve mechanical reliability. This is one of our most important topics, obviously, because in order to win you need to finish first.

    Q: Obviously we’re at the halfway stage in this championship and Lewis Hamilton is just four points away from Nico Rosberg. He calls this a reset moment. How do you see the battle between the two of them and how has your management of that evolved over the half-season so far?

    TW: You see how quick it can go. The discussions we had before Silverstone were ‘will it ever be possible for Lewis to catch up 29 points’ and here we go, you have a DNF and your team-mate wins the race and it’s all on reset. It doesn’t need a lot of management actually. I think it’s about clarity and transparency between the drivers and within the company. It needs communication. This is what we do and until now, knock on wood, we haven’t had any issues. Also, both of the guys are so professional and on top of their game and know it’s important to finish the races. So, until now, I’m really happy with how it goes.

    Q: Federico, Lotus has been a little up and down on performance: strong in places like China and Austria but then fell back a little bit perhaps at Silverstone. What’s behind that? Is it power-unit related or chassis related…?

    FG: Well, I think we’re still having problems understanding the engine – but we’re also having problems in Enstone, matching chassis, aerodynamics and the engine so we’re now trying new setups and also today we’re testing a new front wing. So, we’re trying to improve but it is a very, very slow process this year.

    Q: You carried out the tyre test in Silverstone with Pirelli on the 18-inch rims. What did you think of that exercise?

    FG: Paul? What do you think?

    We’ll ask Paul in a minute!

    FG: Obviously for us it was a good experience. We’re very proud to be doing this work with Pirelli so it was positive.

    Q: Paul, let’s throw it to you. What was the verdict after that test at Silverstone? When do you think you could introduce that tyre technology if it was requested – and what are the technical limitations?

    PH: Yeah, I spent a week talking about 18-inches and it’s been quite an interesting time. It was an exercise that was born out of a discussion we had in the F1 Commission meetings when there was a discussion of, particularly in this case, tyres and what should happen with them in the future. We felt rather than discuss it, we ought to put some on a current car and people can actually decide and the F1 Commission can see real images of the car with that sort of tyre on them. These are 18, maybe 19 is probably more interesting going forward. Have to say that the feedback we’ve had generally has been very good. People have been forwarding us all sorts of surveys and fan surveys that they’ve had on their individual websites. Between 70 and 80 per cent, depending on the survey, have been very favourable. On a personal level, it looked quite good. I wasn’t really sure if I was going to like it, if I’m honest, but I thought it looked very good and quite natural. If it’s a route the sport wants to follow, we’d be keen to do. We, technically, could probably be ready in 2016 but the sport is talking about 2017 at the moment.

    Q: Obviously this weekend you’ve come with the soft and supersoft tyres – some interesting results from FP2 here this afternoon – there’s been a feeling perhaps sometimes at a few races, you’ve been a little bit conservative with the tyre choice. Are you becoming more aggressive again now?

    PH: Well, it’s one of those things. Today, we’ve got over 50°C on the track which you wouldn’t normally expect here. I’m quite sure that that the local population will tell you that. That means something like the supersoft tyre in these conditions is pushing a bit. Equally if we’d come here with the other choice, which would have been a medium tyre and it had been 20°C, we’d have been talking about a one-stop race and your question would be conservative again. So, it’s always a balance and I think you’ll see that we’ll still be looking – if we have a dry race – at a two- to three-stop race. Which is what we’re asked to deliver for the sport. The supersoft being used primarily in qualifying and the soft tyre – which is the main race tyre – looks like it’s working well, even in these conditions. So, overall, a good balance.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sport) Paul, with these new tyres, if they do come in, it could obviously make the sport far more road relevant. If that opened up the possibility of another tyre supplier coming into the sport, is a tyre war something Pirelli would be interested in or up for doing or is it purely ‘we’re the only supplier or we’re out.’

    PH: It’s obviously a question for the sport. Ultimately the sport should primarily be about drivers and then you have engines. If you throw in tyres as well, you can tend to lose your way. We’d be interested if the rules were in the right direction but there hasn’t seemed to be much of an appetite for doing that. It’s another element that’s out of the control of the teams. We have enough controversy even when we’re the sole supplier, so if you add in another supplier you could have another question mark. I don’t know. It’s one that you can only really answer when you know the context of what would be the conditions of competition.

    Q: (Silvia Renee Arias – Parabrisas) Mr Albers, I would love to know if you can tell us if Carlos Sainz Jnr has any possibility this year to race for you?

    CAl: I have seen a lot of rumours in the press as usual in Formula One. At this moment, of course, we have seen Carlos Junior and we have spoken to him also but at this moment there is nothing done.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, when we drive in here, we can’t miss the massive Mercedes grandstand. We are approximately 100 kilometers from Stuttgart, your team is leading the championship, your drivers are first and second yet on Sunday there are probably going to be less than 50,000 spectators, which is half of what they had in the Schumacher heydays. Is Germany switching off from Formula One, or what is this situation?

    TW: Let’s start with a positive question. It’s not satisfying. If you compare Hockenheim Friday to Friday at Silverstone and Friday in Austria it’s a different world and we have to understand why that is. I’m not sure whether we have an exact number for Sunday already – you know, there are lots of people probably deciding at short notice, depending on the weekend – and we have to analyse the phenomenon. If the weekend continues like it does now, we need to think about it.

    Q: (Dominic Sharaf – motorsport-total.com) Christijan, you said you’ve spoken to Carlos Sainz Jnr for a race seat; what about other drivers? Did you talk to any other drivers?

    CAl:  I did not say that I spoke with him about a race seat. I said we spoke with each other, yes. But the drivers are performing now, I was happy today, that’s the situation.

    Q: (Craig Scarborough – ScarbsF1) Question to the technical directors: Lotus, Mercedes and Marussia are probably the first of the teams to adopt interconnected suspension in the sport. How have you found the first free practice sessions without the set-up and do you think it’s going to have any impact on your pace over the rest of the season?

    FG: We haven’t used it today, so we cannot say anything about it.

    TW: It’s a decision of the FIA, no need to moan about it. You need to get on top of things and run the car quicker than before. We’ve run the car at Silverstone without the linked suspension and it ran pretty well today so I don’t think it’s going to make any difference in competitivity.

    JB: We developed – over the last two years – a very simple but very effective pitch control system and it took us a few sessions at Silverstone to start getting our heads round living without it but I think we’re pretty much there in replacing the system performance.

    Q: Paul, have you noticed any difference today?

    PH: Yeah, the server went  down so we don’t have all the data. We’ve had problems all day! We’ll be working very late tonight to try and analyse all the information so as yet we haven’t got all the info and I can’t really comment but I don’t foresee… You saw the running order today, it didn’t seem too different from previous races so I guess from that point of view, absolute performance isn’t likely to be changed. Maybe over the duration of a long run there might be some impact.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christijan, I read that Colin Kolles had made the approach to you suggesting that you became a team principal. As a former Formula One driver, what do you think… what qualities do you believe that you have as an individual, as a person, to lead a team from the very bottom of the championship forward? What made you accept the challenge?

    CAl:  First of all, a lot of people don’t know that I was always a little bit of an entrepreneur and so beside racing, I was also starting businesses and it went very well to the moment it turned around in 2007 that I was making more money with my normal business than as a racing driver. So I hope I can combine both of them, you know, the technical side and also the business side and combine them and be successful to bring this team forward. It’s all about performance. We’re working very hard to get an upgrade for Spa-Francorchamps which of course is a race against the clock because we have a two week shut-down in the factory and we’re looking for more steps. We’re also working for the 2015 car which I started last week immediately and we are running now in the wind tunnel. So we are very much pushing forward and what I’ve said already is that the most important thing is to get the team to be a team again and that’s not so easy. A lot of people are very motivated, but also some people of course, after four years with no performance, they were a little bit disappointed so we need to get everybody in the game again.

    eom

  • Midway through, Force India’s aim is to get 4th place: Hulkenberg

    DRIVERS – Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren), Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico Hulkenberg, if we could start with you. Points in every race so far this season, only you and [Fernando] Alonso have managed that so far and you’re seven to two against your team-mate in qualifying. How positive is that for you and how do you think that is perceived within the Formula One paddock?

    Nico HULKENBERG: I think it’s very positive in general. I think it’s a very good achievement to have scored points in every race – probably Nico and Lewis would have been the same without the technical failures. I think it has been a very positive start to the season, first half, many, many points, much better than we expected going into the season and I think that is also the perception of the paddock. However, we’re only in the middle of the season and there’s still a long way to go before the end and our aim is to get the fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship. We have a big challenge on our hands there against Williams, McLaren and many others. I look forward to that.

    You’ve largely been fighting for fifth and sixth places in races this season but just recently, the last couple of races, it was more like eight and ninth. What brought about that change and where do you think you’ll be fighting this weekend?

    NH: I think Silverstone was overall a bit difficult for us. The track didn’t suit us so well, plus the conditions made it even more difficult. Therefore, it was still a very good achievement to get points on the board there. In Austria we were a bit compromised by a few issues, which we found out after the race, otherwise that could have been better. So hopefully here we’ll be back to bigger points but it’s difficult to know. Obviously it’s very hot this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how the tyres behave and who will manage it the best.

    Kevin, coming to you, points in the last four grands prix for you, six points finishes in total this season with one podium but McLaren still seem to be quite up and down dependent on circuit, why is that?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: It’s difficult… it’s a good question. It’s something we don’t really quite understand 100 per cent, but surely it has a lot to do with tyres, they behave quite differently race to race. I think we are improving, the car is improving, we’re putting downforce on the car at nearly every race so I think we’re moving in a positive direction.

    We’re coming up to the summer break and there’s a lot of talk about the driver market – as there always is at this point. Where do you think you stand with regard to staying at McLaren next season.

    KM: I can only do my best and hope that is good enough. Anyone at McLaren should feel that you have to deliver to your best to deserve to be there and that goes for me and Jenson as well.

    Kimi, the first question has to be how are you feeling after your accident at Silverstone, any after-effects and what happened?

    Kimi RAIKKONEN: Well, I crashed, I guess you saw it. No, I had some pain but it’s all fine.

    Just in your leg?

    KR: No actually it was in my ribs the most, that’s why I didn’t do the test, but it’s all gone away now.

    You’re 100 per cent now?

    KR: Yeah.

    Many things have not gone the way you expected them to this season in your rejoining Ferrari, but can you tell us what has gone the way you’ve expected it and what positives you’ve drawn so far?

    KR: We’ve been in every race at least. That’s what you expect at least. It’s been a difficult year, hopefully it will turn around at some point – it must, it cannot go much longer like this, it’s not fun. But this kind of thing has happened to me before and we always managed to turn it around, so I have a strong belief it will turn around. We have to just fix issues and get things as I want and I’m sure we can be back where we should be.

    Nico, coming to you: a new contract extension with Mercedes, congratulations on that, you also got married since we last saw you, but you’ve never been on the podium in Germany, I see from your record, so I guess that’s this weekend’s first objective. You’re still on top of the championship, just four points clear, but your team-mate Lewis Hamilton said that this is a ‘reset moment’ in the title race and that he’s been on the back foot all season. How do you see it?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s been a very exciting week for sure. We also became world champions, which was awesome. In terms of the championship, how do I see it? I just see it as the next race, which is Hockenheim. It’s our home race. I really look forward to driving here. I’m here to win, of course. I’m here to try to extend the championship leads. That’s where it ends for me. I’m really just looking at the moment, taking it race by race.

    As you say it’s been a great week for Germany on the sporting front. As a keen follower and friend of the national team is there a way you can harness some of that positivity into your challenge this weekend?

    NR: The effort of the team as a whole, how they all played together and everything was really great to see and that’s what won them the tournament I think, not any individual strength or anything. That’s what we’re trying to do as well, to really work well, everybody together, to really make the most of it. I think we’re also on the right track with that, in that respect, because to dominate the sport as we are doing at the moment, I think that indicates we work pretty well together as a team and of course there’s room for improvement but we’re going in the right direction.

    Adrian, you qualified 13th at the first race in Australia at the start of the year and 13that Silverstone. There seems to be some continuity there. If you look at the ultimate pace of all the cars, Sauber doesn’t seem to be progressing. Is that the way it’s seen internally and what’s the plan?

    Adrian SUTIL: Yes, more or less a consistent season but also a few changes and progress of course. I think the car is a better car compared to the first races but you can’t really see it in results. Nevertheless Silverstone was a bit better. You could see already in the free practice the car was a bit more competitive and also I think in qualifying in the rain we were closer to the top 10, which was good. We are still struggling sometimes with the tyres, especially with the hard compound, in the race, which slowed us down a lot. I can’t really say more. Of course we want to try to improve the situation. It’s not where we want to be but everyone in the factory is trying the maximum to improve that. It’s not an easy situation but we’re going to get out of it pretty soon.

    You’ve said several times that stability is the problem, that the car lacks stability. Can you elaborate on that and what plans are in place to fix that?

    AS: Well, the window is very small where the car operates and also the window when you are close to the limit, whether it stays on the line or is completely off – it’s easy to make a mistake with this car. So you need to have a lot of confidence in the car, you need to drive and learn as much as possible about the car behaviour to feel well. It’s getting better very race. But yeah, it’s a little diva to control. It’s just a situation like that so we try to make it more easy to drive. The stability is sometimes there, [then] you have a bit too much understeer in the other areas, so you are shifting the problem from one end to the other but it’s very difficult to get rid of the problem completely so this is where we are struggling most at the moment.

    Sebastian, obviously winner of the German Grand Prix last year, your first F1 win on home soil. Tell us about the feeling of racing here at home, especially with the country on such a sporting high at the moment?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, obviously last year was very special – I had been trying many times before, so it was definitely a good feeling to succeed. I think this year should be a very good weekend. Mostly good weather forecast and obviously the whole of Germany still has the German flags from the World Cup around, so it would be nice to see a lot of those on the track and get a little bit of that support as well here on the circuit.

    Obviously the battle with Fernando Alonso in Silverstone was one of the highlights of this season so far. There were quite a lot of radio messages from the pair of you at the time but looking back and thinking about it now, how much did you enjoy it?

    SV: Yeah, I probably enjoyed it more than I probably said after the race. I still think it took a little bit too long because obviously I lost quite a lot of time fighting him and couldn’t progress to probably finish higher up. But it was definitely very tight, it’s always very tight when you fight with Fernando, he’s very tough to overtake, he doesn’t give you a lot of room, but eventually I squeezed past, so for sure I was happy to finally overtake him on the track.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Question to Nico. First of all, congratulations on becoming a married man. Secondly, you’ve obviously had to change your helmet design this week. You showed it off on Twitter with the World Cup on top of the helmet. I’ve spoken to FIFA and they’ve expressed their reason why you’re not allowed to have the World Cup: intellectual commercial property rights and all that. You’re obviously disappointed I guess, but can you understand their reasoning behind it?

    NR: All the things you have to think about, it’s amazing that even a trophy has its trademark or whatever, just sticking it on a helmet you know. That was a surprise but of course I fully understand. It was a pity as it looked really cool, with the trophy on top. Anyways, replaced it now with a big star and no-one can take that away. The star is ours.

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1Plus.com) A question for all the drivers. We all recall the incident at last year’s German Grand Prix with Mark Webber where a wheel fell off after a pit stop. In recent days there have been moves afoot for there to be a little bit of rowing back on the tough sanctions that were put in place following the Webber incident. I just want to know what each driver feels about more leniency for unsafe releases that may be coming in?

    NH: To be honest I didn’t really understand the question. I’ll pass it on to Kevin.

    KM: It’s good if us drivers don’t get points or penalties [that are] that harsh , as it’s not really our fault. Of course we are a team and we should be penalised somehow together but I think it’s good if it doesn’t just go to the drivers.

    Adrian, anything to add?

    AS: No.

    Kimi?

    KR: No.

    Sebastian, do you have a view?

    SV: I think it’s like going to prison for stealing a chocolate bar. I think it’s too harsh for the drivers, it’s more for the team. There’s not much you can do as a driver, but it is what it is.

    Nico?

    NR: Obviously it is one of the most dangerous situations for all of the people working in the pitlane you know. So definitely it should be harsh to try to avoid people doing that or things like that happening. We need to find the best way, what sort of penalties to do.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi there has been a lot of criticism around you in the past few months. Do you feel that your position in Ferrari could be threatened next year or do you feel confident that you will sort your problems and that everything is going to be OK for the future?

    KR: Like I said, I’m sure we can fix them. How fast? I hope quickly but it depends on many things. I have a contract so I’m not worried about that for the future.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) A question for Sebastian. Hockenheim obviously hold some special memories for you because this is where you watched your first Friday practice session. You won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. What would it mean for you to win here at Hockenheim, at some point in your career?

    SV: Well, I hope I can turn things around and that we can have a good race on Sunday and a good weekend in general. But of course we are not the favourites going into the weekend but there’s always a chance of winning. For sure, this circuit is very special to me because my home town is only 30 minutes from here, it’s where I grew up. I also started go-karting not far from here, just around the corner, so a lot of memories. I know a lot of people that work here, so it always feels like a second home. In that regard it would be nice. So definitely a very special place for me, special memories. The first car race I did was here in 2003, so yeah, it’s definitely one of the tracks I want to win at.

    Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) A question for all drivers. Many teams will race without the FRIC system. Is there a feeling that this might change the gap between the teams significantly or not; that it will stay more or less the same, like it was before?

    NR: Everybody has it to some extent. It’s impossible to predict. For sure it can have some influence but we just need to wait and see what happens.

    Sebastian?

    SV: Well I said it is one of the things that obviously got banned now. I hope it brings the field closer to Mercedes but it’s difficult to say. All of the teams have been playing with it to some extent. How much it has an impact? I think it has to be seen this weekend and also probably next week in Hungary. After those two races I think you can have another judgement.

    Kimi, your thoughts on the FRIC suspension?

    KR: Yeah, I mean it’s the rule and obviously that decides if we can use it or not. It’s not in our car, I don’t expect it’s going to be a completely different world but until we run it, the cars, and see what the other teams do, it’s hard to say. I guess we’ll know a bit more after this weekend.

    Adrian?

    AS: I think… we hope… it will be better for us, that we are closer – but very hard to say, for sure. Some, they rely more on it, some less. Let’s see. After the weekend we’ll be wiser.

    Kevin, your thoughts.

    KM: Not much to say really. We ‘ll try to get the best out of the car without it.

    Nico?

    NH: It’s pretty much how Nico said, it’s really hard to predict if and how much people will lose due to it. It’s just a case of wait and see how much it impacts on different cars.

    Q: (Koen Verhelst – Media Group Limburg) A question for all the German drivers: where did you watch the World Cup soccer finals last Sunday and, in relation to that, how to you explain the success of Germany  both in Formula One at the moment and football and perhaps also in the economy?

    SV: I watched in on TV at home. I wasn’t there! Thank God they showed it. At home, with a couple of friends. I think the reason, it has been 24 years since we last won the World Cup. I hope that the next one doesn’t take 24 years again. I think we had a very strong team for the last World Cups as well and were very close to win. It’s good that we succeeded now. For the Formula One drivers, I don’t think there’s a particular reason. Obviously, for us, to some extent we’re the generation after Michael and Michael was a big inspiration, so for sure, when Michael made Formula One really a sport in Germany and made it big a lot of fathers with their sons went to the go-kart tracks and wanted to do like him. I think it’s chances, in the end, if you have a thousand kids trying rather than ten, the chances that one or two end up in Formula One are obviously a lot greater. The economy… I’m not a specialist – but I think we like to work.

    Adrian?

    AS: The same, I watched on TV at home. Very quiet. It was a great game, I think. Very exciting and both played very well. One minute the Germans were a bit better than the other ones and scored a goal. I think something to be very proud of. It’s great to see Germany being very happy about it. So many festivals and parties after it, so really, really good. Good mood in the air, so, great also for this weekend here, for the German Grand Prix. The drivers? I think it all started back in the 90s, probably. When Michael went into Formula One there was a big boom of racing in Germany – but also  a lot of car manufacturers are based in Germany, it’s a very strong country for cars, for technology in general – and they’re supporting young drivers from the early ages, especially BMW was involved for many years with the Formula BMW. That’s where I started the racing, I think also Sebastian as well and Nico. Most of the drivers took the step and went into Formula 3. So there are clear categories where you can go. Still, I think it’s very hard to say it’s a really good support because it’s so expensive. When I see the number for young kids coming up into racing, in go-karts you have to spend so much money, not having a real… let’s say you can’t be sure that you’re going to make it. So, even there. Football has a better structure behind. We could still improve it but Germany, for sure, it one of the leading countries and that’s great. They’re pushing it really hard.

    Nico Hülkenberg, anything to add.

    NH: I also watched it at home with some friends. I think we won because we had the strongest team and a great team spirit, a very clever coach. I think I agree with what Sebastian says about the drivers and why we have it strong now and the economy, I think is just German mentality and appetite to be strong in the economy.

    Nico Rosberg, your thoughts.

    NR: I watched it at my parents place, as is tradition in our family because my Mum is the biggest soccer fanatic in our family, so I watched it there with friends and went absolutely crazy when they scored. It was a great time. I agree with the others on the other parts.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, last week Lewis was putting in doubt your true nationality about being German, real German supporter – and your helmet problem proves the opposite. How big is this… the pressure that Lewis is putting on you? Are you feeling it? Is it also big the pressure to have a championship that is open now completely, and to race at home and try to win this race?

    NR: On the media, I generally don’t read the media, so most of the time I don’t know what’s going on – but this I did know about it. I really don’t get into such things. Everybody’s free to have his opinions, and I was there anyway and it was more or less a joke discussion, so for me it’s not really relevant to discuss it in any way. Other than that, yeah, it’s a great battle between us. Every race it’s been us two fighting it out for the win. It’s fantastic – a tough battle also – but good. I’m sure it’s going to continue for a long time and it will be very close – and I look forward to the race here now in front of… it’s my second home race, I have Monaco and here. I’m very fortunate in that sense, I have two home races, and look forward to all the support and I really hope to do a fantastic job. It would be a great end to already the great times I’ve been having recently if I could win here at the German Grand Prix.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, do you remember having any heavier shunt than you had in Silverstone?

    KR: Yeah, probably I have had. Hopefully not too many more but it’s just part of the thing. It hurt a little bit but quite often you can have a quite slow accident and get badly hurt, so it’s not about that really, it was just an unfortunate thing. Nothing serious happened. It’s part of the sport.

    ends

  • We’ve got the greatest fans here; It’s you guys that spurred me on: Hami

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Lewis, congratulations. Your adoring fans. Your emotions must be running high right now. Your fifth win of the season. That equals your 2008 World Championship year. Now 27 grand prix victories, equalling Jackie Stewart. There’s only other Englishman in front of you with more wins – Nigel Mansell. So tell us about the emotions of today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s very mixed at the moment, but just to see the support we have here… I could see everyone cheering us on through the whole race. We’ve got the greatest fans here. And today, just arriving today, it’s you guys that really spurred me on so thanks very much.

    Well it was a fantastic drive. You never want a competitor to drop out, but of course the battle is very hot between you and your team-mate Nico, so what was the emotion when you saw him have the issue?

    LH: At the beginning… he got quite a good gap at the beginning and I really just tried to look after the tyres. After that I utilised the tyres, was catching and we came out on the harder tyres and I was catching him at a second a lap at the time. I couldn’t believe I had that kind of pace. You never want to see a team-mate fall behind, we wanted to really work and get those one-twos, but at the end of the day I really needed this result so I’m very grateful for it.

    It was a great result. If I can move along to another man who has had a fantastic result. Third in Austria, second here at the British Grand Prix – you must be looking forward to Germany?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, we are on the right way. Like I said on the team radio: one step more to go. The team has done such a good job. You see how quick the car is. It was behaving really well, it was really a pleasure to drive it. Still Mercedes is in front, but we are on the right way.

    Any scares out there this afternoon or was it running like clockwork? You did some great passes.

    VB: Yeah, there was some good stuff going on. I really enjoyed it. The plan was to come as high as possible, as high as the pace of the car is giving the possibility. I think as a team we made the most out of it. I have to say I feel sorry for Felipe, his 200th grand prix, a shame it ended like this.

    If I can just come across to Daniel Ricciardo. Congratulations on your third place. Australians have a good record around here?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, they do! Obviously Mark enjoyed this track a lot, so it’s nice to be up here on the podium. It’s been a good circuit to me in the past, so really, really happy. We just held on at the end. I think one more lap would have been tough, Jenson was coming, but really happy with the podium.

    If I can just come back across to Lewis…

    LH: Where’s the gold trophy, man? This thing’s falling to pieces, look!

    You might want to speak to the sponsor. Lewis, do you know the points situation now at the end of race nine?

    LH: I assume we’re four points behind now. I think this weekend really just showed that, for one, you never give up. Yesterday wasn’t a case of giving up, I didn’t think I could do the lap, I was really shocked that the last sector was so fast. But coming here today I had my family with, just focused, the support from the fans, as I said, just spurred me on, and I really couldn’t have done it without them.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, many, many congratulations. Over the radio at the end of the race you said to the crew “I’m sorry about yesterday”. I guess your spirits were so down yesterday; they must be soaring now. But the race really was about the offset you had to Nico Rosberg and you were catching him in the middle stint of the race. Do you believe that without his problem you would have been able to pass him and how do you feel right now?

    LH: Yesterday was a really difficult day. Obviously you never think situations like that would come up the way they did and I really felt… I went away feeling terrible for the fans. They all turned up and there’s so much support here, I felt that I had let them down, not only them but the team and myself. Coming back today, trying to turn that serious emptiness and negativity into a positive today was really my priority. The support has been incredible this weekend. Just thinking of the history of this circuit, the great drivers that have won in the past… leading last year and not being able to see it through. It’s been since… 2008 since I had the win and I just feel very, very grateful for the opportunity. I honestly feel that I had the pace today. I was catching Nico in the first stint. I was able to extend my first stint longer than ever before. I was feeling pretty comfortable. Of course, you never want a team-mate to fall away, to win like that. I was looking forward to a wheel-to-wheel battle but I’m sure we’ll get many in the future.

    Well done. Coming to you Valtteri. From 14th on the grid to second at the finish, which is your best ever result in Formula One and your second consecutive podium, so brilliant effort. You did a one-stop strategy, which is a talking point, but surely the overtakes in the opening stint, there were so many of them – around the outside, around the inside – just tell us about your race?

    VB: Yeah we knew that this race could be good fun. We knew that we had a quick car. Maybe it was a bit surprisingly quick today, but since the first stint the pace was good, since the first lap. I was able to go through the field quite well. Of course, sometimes it needed a bit of risk, because it’s really important to get through quickly and not get stuck behind people, but I really managed to get well in position, where the pace of the car was. I’m just really, really happy with what we’ve been doing as a team. Again, the race pace shows we are really doing the right things and I’m very happy to be part of this.

    Well done. Completing a very happy podium is Daniel Ricciardo, in third place. For you strategy was the key as well. Like Valtteri you did one stop, you did something different, both you and your team-mate taking the hard tyre early on. Was the tyre deg much lighter than you expected today, was it a race where expectations were changing as the race went on?

    DR: Pretty much. We chose to restart on the prime. It didn’t seem like the best thing to do at first because we were really slow at the restart. Valtteri and Fernando got past me pretty easily and pulled away and I was coming on the radio basically saying “let’s see if we can try something a little bit different” as we didn’t really have the pace as we hoped, as we expected today. Once we came in for the option, we just ran and pushed pretty much for the whole stint. I didn’t intend on doing a one-stop when I started on that tyre but laps ticked off and we were still able to keep the pace. The team said “do you think you could do another 15-20 laps” and I was like “at the moment, yeah, I think we can”, so we stayed out and just held on at the end. It was awesome. I think all three of us had a bit of redemption on our plate today. It was a pretty dismal Saturday for us. I think we’re all pretty happy. This is definitely one of my best podiums this year.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, not very often this season you’ve had family with you: you’ve pretty much kept yourself to yourself at various races but this weekend you’ve had your brother, your Dad, they were here today supporting you. They’ve said on TV how down in the dumps you were last night. How much help did they give you last night after what happened yesterday?

    LH: My family have been incredible. Last night, my Mum, my Dad, spent a lot of time with my Dad last night just talking it out. And my brother. And today I just said I needed them here today. Y’know? I just really wanted that support. I do come to the races on my own and I do generally do it on my own. I have my trainer with me. But I thought this weekend it would be nice to have them. At least today, as yesterday was such a difficult day.

    Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA magazine) Lewis, would you consider this one of your great, greatest, great wins and how does it compare to 2008?)

    LH: It doesn’t compare to 2008. It’s a different time, it’s a different experience. It’s still as special. Obviously 2008 was a much trickier race in a sense of being a completely wet track, everyone aquaplaning. Everyone being in the rain, everyone being soaking wet, it’s a different kind of experience that one. Today, I felt I earned it today. From the start some good manoeuvres and I really felt that I had the pace on Nico, I really was hunting him down like never before. I really was happy with the balance that I managed to get, even though I didn’t do the long run in P2. To say this is up there with all the greats… it’s my home grand prix, it’s my second win here and I’m very privileged to have even just had one, so I feel very humble to be up here today.

    Q: (Julian Harris – City AM) Lewis, do you think this can be a turning point for you? Nico was up here yesterday saying that he thought he had the momentum at the moment – but he also said momentum comes and goes. Can this give you the confidence and maybe even the peace of mind to push on and get the momentum back in your favour.

    LH: I came into this weekend saying it would great to really have that. I thought maybe the fans could be the wind in my sails to really change the direction and get the momentum. Obviously I’ve got the win today. I’ve got the points back. I’ve been chasing all year really, since I lost the points at the first race, and then I was chasing again after the previous DNF. It’s been very, very difficult. I was speaking last night, just comparing it to how difficult it is psychologically, it’s got to be something similar to the tennis players when they’re two sets down. It’s so hard to get your mind in gear, to get yourself back and not lose points from then on. And so the pressure is high but I really feel that now we’re back, kind of close and with the pace that I had today, I really feel that I can… just got to refocus for the next part of the season.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) Daniel, what was your mindset last night and this morning, knowing that you’re so far back and, often in races, when you start that that far back, like these two guys, you’re not going to finish in the top three?

    DR: Mindset was just… yeah… like it always is I guess when you’re out of position, just go for it, try and do something a bit different. Not much to lose. I knew we were a better car than eighth on the grid, so… yeah… I was a bit surprised during the first stint, even though we were on a different tyre, I was surprised not to be as quick.  We didn’t have much pace, so then it was ‘let’s try something different and make something work.’ Yeah, I was very hungry today. I like to think I always am but today I was pretty jacked up. So it’s nice to be up here.

    Q: (Nick Skeens – The Independent) Lewis, today Niki Lauda said he thought in some ways yesterday was a good thing because it gave you a motivation and a hunger that perhaps you would not have had. Would you agree with that?

    LH: No. I feel like I like I’ve… we’ve had four wins, now five wins, but I’ve had the four wins and I think my hunger is on a par with any other year that I’ve ever raced in – but yesterday was a real kick in the balls. I really had to pick up, pull up my socks and get on it if I want to win this world championship, and I can’t have situations like yesterday. The last two races I’ve easily had the pace to be pole position and I’ve not put it there. I’ve put it much further back, made it much harder for myself but now I’m going to try to rectify that for the future.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GPweek) Lewis, you’re obviously very happy with the gold trophy [present on the platform]– but you seem to have been a bit unhappy with the sponsor’s trophy. Did I hear you say it fell to bits on the podium? And how did you come to get this one between the podium and here?

    LH: Well, yeah! This one’s a lot nicer. I mean, growing up watching Formula One, you see trophies like this. Real trophies, y’know? And the trophies that we have nowadays, whilst it’s a real privilege being on top of the podium, my one fell to pieces! The bottom fell off the one we just had. It’s plastic, it must cost ten pounds! It’s so bad. I might just get the plaque, which is probably the most expensive part of the trophy I think. Back in the day they really, really made the trophies. And this is the special thing about being on the podium and winning. These trophies mean – for me, I don’t know how it is for the other drivers – but this is what we have to show for our lifetime achievements. I hope we can get some better ones moving forwards.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Valtteri, Friday morning you didn’t went to the track. Saturday morning also, only qualifying. You didn’t have miles in the track. Where you surprised at the beginning of the race when you started overtaking everyone with the performance of the car?

    VB: Yeah, definitely. Our prediction was Mercedes is going to be strong and also Red Bull, we thought, would be here a bit quicker than us in the race and Ferrari to be really close to our pace. So, we definitely knew that the position we were starting wasn’t going to be that easy to get into good points and we were not really thinking about the podium, we were just thinking about getting in the points and, yeah, definitely it was a positive surprise in the beginning of the race. The tyre life wasn’t really a limitation so we could do the strategy. Well, I have to say the strategy guys did a really good job today. We actually switched the strategy during the running as we saw the tyre wear was so low. Positive surprise. Really happy.

    Q: (Jussi Jäkälä – YLE) Valtteri, two podiums in a row. Does this show you and the team have learnt your lesson, how to score podiums. And is this maybe the start of a catch-up battle?

    VB: Well, we are definitely a stronger team than we were in, let’s say Melbourne, or the first few races. Difficult to compare even to last year or two years before. I think we are really getting stronger all the time. It’s not going to be easy to be on the podium in every race as I think this season is going to be quite a bit race-by-race but we are definitely on the right way and really happy to be part of this. Myself, I have been improving also all the time. Every race I aim to be a better driver and as a team we aim to be a stronger team every single race – and that’s what we’ve been doing.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – F1 Express) Lewis, obviously the celebration after the race has been extraordinary. You managed to do a doughnut despite the strict restrictions on the engine and gearbox and you were singing – I’m not sure if you were singing or not but you obviously were feeling on top of the world. Can you share your emotions on the slowing down lap with us?

    LH: Yeah, it’s so difficult to really explain the feelings. When you feel like the world is crumbling beneath you, somehow with your family and friends, they help pull you through and also the fans. Yesterday, after qualifying, it looked so hard to… I really was almost speechless when I spoke to them, and it was no one else’s fault but mine. I was just so disappointed in myself. And then to get that result today, to really climb through… the team have just done an incredible job. Even coming into this weekend, the developments and improvements to our car, the balance. My engineers, who work so close to me, regardless of how well we do, they’re so supportive and having that good team of people round you really makes a difference. I did the doughnuts… yeah, I hope it doesn’t do anything to our gearbox but I know how much the fans love it here and so it was really important to try and do at least one but fingers crossed, it should be OK.

    Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Lewis, as media, we like to speculate on upcoming races as to who might win and who won’t win. Are you looking ahead, thinking next race Nico is going to have the home advantage, obviously Hungary was good for you last year? Do you look ahead through the season like that, blocking it out and perhaps where you might be stronger and work out the points?

    LH: I don’t. You look at the schedule and you see what tracks you know that suit you. Just going into Germany, to Hockenheim, I know whilst it’s Nico’s home Grand Prix, he doesn’t have even one eighth of the support us Brits get here. The fans are unlike anywhere else so I’m not worried in that sense. It’s a track where I won before, in 2008 I think it was. It’s a good track for me, so I think… I’m gonna use the pace that I have, because I have the pace. I’ve just got to put the damn laps together and when I do, then I think the opportunities will come in front of me.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Daniel, you’ve obviously become one of the most likeable guys in F1 I think it’s fair to say, but in denying – there’s that big beaming smile, thank you – but in denying JB’s (Button’s) long overdue podium here, do you perhaps feel like a bit of a villain for once?

    DR: It did cross my mind a little bit. I was thinking… especially in the last few laps, he was catching me pretty quickly at the end. I had sort of stabilised the gap a bit and then with four laps to go, I think my options were really suffering and he was coming, so I was thinking, yeah, probably for once I’ve got a lot of people booing me  and cheering on the local lad but obviously for me it was good. I think for him as well; they haven’t had a great season so a fourth is – yeah, it’s not a podium, but he’d still be fairly pleased with that result so hopefully we’re all happy.

    Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) For all three of you, and it goes along the lines of momentum but not championship momentum. Obviously we had a fairly long delay after all you guys all made mega starts on the first lap. When you’ve got that one hour delay, what are you thinking? Are you worried that you’re going to lose the momentum that you picked up? What’s going on in your heads?

    LH: Yeah, I think it’s… We work very hard, I’m sure everyone is working so hard in preparation. You get in the car, do the start, you really gain the momentum and then the race stops and we had quite a long break. I went back to my room just relaxing, drinking, making sure I was having plenty of fluids and trying not to think of anything else. Yeah, it wasn’t alcohol. It isn’t easy but I managed to get back and start where I finished.

    VB: Yeah, it’s not easy, you know. There’s a break and you need to keep your focus in the race. You can’t really start to think about other things than the race so you just need to keep thinking about… forward: the restart, how to get your tyres warm, brakes warm, everything. You can always speak with the engineer. You just really wait, let the time go and all the time keep focused for the next moment.

    DR: It’s tricky when you don’t know how long the break’s going to be. The race was at one today, so you do all your preparation to sort of peak at one o’clock in terms of your energy and your focus so you get the race started and you feel your adrenalin and everything is where it needs to be and then it comes back down and I think the limbo of not really knowing when we were going to start again, it’s like do I still keep a high level of intensity or do I go and relax? When do I start to then warm up again? It’s a little bit tricky but at the same time it’s the same for everyone. It does break a little bit of momentum, I guess, but then it’s up to us and our trainers how we get it back and make sure we’re switched on for the restart.

    Q: (Paul Turner – South Wales Evening Post) Lewis, this victory, is this going to help you mentally for the next race or is it back to square one at the next race, you have to start again and plan all over again?

    LH: I think this is now, kind of… we’ll draw a line under that last nine races and now it’s attack mode, start again and now, utilising that pace and utilising the car’s pace. There are still some things we need to improve on. I wasn’t too worried about the time lost in the pit stop today as I knew the next one would be better. I’d been working on my position so I didn’t lose time in that but qualifying really – just getting myself back to my normal qualifying mode and that, I think, will be good.

    Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Daniel, we were talking about what you do before the restart; can you explain what you do with your trainer and the tennis balls?

    DR: We sort of change it a lot but it’s more to get the hand-eye co-ordination going. I guess everyone does something a bit different. Sometimes we use tennis balls just to get my hand-eye co-ordination switched on and make sure my reactions are there. We do some different drills with that. It depends as well on what… I don’t have a ritual routine as such but it depends on what I feel like doing before the race, but that’s something.

    Mercedes AMG Petronas team for Hamilton that is dishing out winners this season. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Mercedes AMG Petronas team for Hamilton that is dishing out winners this season. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image