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I expect better performance in Singapore: Adrian Sutil
DRIVERS – Adrian SUTIL (Force India), Nico HULKENBERG (Sauber), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Sergio PEREZ (McLaren), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
I’ll start with Kimi if I may. Congratulations on the move for next season. First time we’ve seen you since the announcement. If we’d have said to you at the start of the season that you’d be a confirmed Ferrari driver by September, what would have said then: no chance, no way or is it something you always thought might be possible?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I just have to say things change in Formula One a lot. I never had a bad feeling with them really. But I mean I still have a lot friends and good memories from there. I knew that my contract will end at the end of this year so obviously I had to make some kind of decision what to do for next year and now it’s been done.
Was there anything that Lotus could have done to keep you with the team or was the attraction of a return to Ferrari just to strong for you?
KR: Yeah, there was a lot of things and for sure they know what it is. It’s hard to say which way it would have gone if that would have had happened but the deal’s done now and I’m very happy with the new deal.
What would you say is the biggest challenge for you then next season at Ferrari?
KR: I know the team and I know the people. Obviously there are some new people and some more have left since I was there but most are the same. I don’t think this will be too difficult to go there and do well. The car’s will be obviously different so I think that will be the most difficult thing, to get the cars right and get them running reliable and whoever makes the best car will probably make the best out of it.
Thank you Kimi. Let’s turn to Nico Hulkenberg, sitting behind you. There’s at least one seat going at Lotus and if you look at some of the headlines on the Internet you’re the man for the man for that team for next season. With due respect to your current team, is signing for Lotus a priority for you?
Nico HULKENBERG: It’s not a priority. The priority is to find a good deal and a good car, a competitive car, and a good package. Nothing is finalised. Nothing has been decided at this point. Trying to sort out all the options and then to come up with a good decision for the future.
Your name was of course linked to Ferrari. Did you think you got very close to a move there?
NH: I don’t know. I guess so. There was a chance there. There’s no point now to think about that too much. That’s history now. I have to look forward and move on.
You come here fresh with your performance at Monza in your mind. How much of a relief was that result for you given some of the difficulties on track this year?
NH: It was a fantastic weekend for us, a great effort by the team. I’m really happy for everybody there, for the hard work and that finally we could reward them a little bit, and for sure that’s given us a boost and some momentum for the final seven races. Monza, after a very challenging and disappointing year, has been very happy and good for us.
Sergio, I’m sure you’re really excited to be here in Singapore this weekend but I’m sure your thoughts aren’t very far away from your fellow countryman affected the tropical storm in Mexico?
Sergio PEREZ: Definitely. We’re not having a great time right now. A lot of people have lost their houses; other people have died. Things are getting a bit more complicated. That’s a bit sad for my country. I will dedicate my race weekend for all my country, all the people that is suffering, losing their houses, their families, so hopefully things can get better.
From a personal perspective, this time last year we were discussing your future and linking you to a move to McLaren, which eventually came off. Twelve months on people are talking about your future again. Have you signed a contract with McLaren yet?
SP: Yeah, it’s pretty much everything done, I think, But the right thing to do is to ask Martin about that but everything is done.
Have there been stumbling blocks along the way or have you been in unanimous agreement with McLaren?
SP: Yeah, we’ve been having some discussions about the contract. The contract is done but we are just finalising the final dots. Obviously I cannot give much details about them but everything is pretty much done.
Q: Valtteri, driving the Marina Bay circuit for the first time – what challenges lie ahead for you do you think this weekend?
Valtteri BOTTAS: I think it’s going to be a difficult race weekend, like Monaco was first time for me. And then this track, it’s a night race obviously but the lighting is very good and bright so that shouldn’t make a big difference but y’know, it’s a difficult circuit, a lot of corners, so there’s lots to learn on Friday.
Q: Realistically, what are your goals for this weekend?
VB: Still our goal is points. This track is a lot different from Monza. We were not really strong there but this is different and it means we can be stronger here. The team was very strong here last year actually, so really hope this track suits our car. We have some little updates and if they work I really think it is possible to fight for the points in the race.
Q: We’re talking about drivers’ futures. For yourself for next season is it safe to assume you’ll be staying with Williams?
VB: I think we still have to see. It’s always best to ask the team, they know the best what they are going to do but at the moment I’m very confident with Williams and comfortable and really would like to continue.
Q: We’ll stay on that theme. Adrian, your chances of staying with Force India for next season?
Adrian SUTIL: Yeah, I would be happy to do another year. I’m just back into Formula One, more than half a year only. It would be OK but I haven’t really lost too many thoughts about it yet. It’s quiet at the moment.
Q: You and the team haven’t sat down and started to look ahead just yet then?
AS: No, not yet.
Q: And this season, the form of the team, it was an upward curve and then the tyres changed. We had the construction from last year and the compounds from this year and the team’s form seemed to take a bit of a dip. Is it all tyre related?
AS: Yes, I think so. Since the new tyres came in it was clearly a step down for us. We used to be able to do one less stop in the race which was a big advantage compared to others and also the general balance of the car was much better and we lost it a little bit now, last few races. Spa was still OK but Monza was a big disappointment. Coming here of course we try to improve our performance again. I don’t think we get everything out of our package and we don’t develop the car any more – that’s clear – but it’s not different to other teams. So, we have to get back again where we used to be and I think even with this car what we have, we can show more in Singapore – here I expect a better performance.
Q: Is that very similar to yourself Nico Rosberg, that after the disappointment for the team in Spa and in Monza, Singapore, totally different track, Mercedes should improve? Or are you fearful of another disappointing weekend?
Nico ROSBERG: Spa wasn’t really a big disappointment. Of course it wasn’t a win – and we’re aiming quite high recently – but still it was a great points haul for the team with third and fourth. Monza, yes, didn’t go to plan. I think we had a very, very quick car so a lot more would have been possible. Unfortunately my weekend didn’t go perfectly. But that’s why I’m really looking forward to this race here. It’s back to high downforce package where Lewis won last with this package in Hungary, so I’m confident we can be very quick again this weekend.
Q: A track you quite enjoy as well, I’d have thought.
NR: Yeah, for sure. I’ve had great results here in the past and really enjoyed the track and that’s why I’m looking forward to it.
Q: Have you enjoyed this season? There have been two tremendous highs but some frustrating moments as well.
NR: In general I’ve really enjoyed it, yes, because it’s the first time in my career that I’ve really had a car that on numerous occasions I can win races with. That’s a great feeling. To come to a race track knowing I can put it on pole, I can win the race, it’s really nice.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, you said last year that when you left Ferrari you felt liberated. So what made you decide to go back and lose your – in brackets – freedom?
KR: I always had freedom there also. There are a lot of stories from my past, from different teams but it’s all from you guys and I don’t think that you guys work in the team so you don’t really know what’s happening and you write a lot of stuff which can sometimes be true and sometimes not. I had a good time, like I said, and I’m sure we will have a good time together again.
Q: (Jacob Polychronis – F1Plus.com) Kimi, some other drivers have been quite quick to already suggest that your partnership with Fernando Alonso may not work out, namely Jenson and Sebastian. Do you care to weigh in on the issue?
KR: I don’t see the reason why it wouldn’t work. We are all old enough to know what we are doing and for sure the team is working for the right things to make sure. If there is something, I’m sure we can talk it through. It’s not like we are 20-year old guys any more. I might be wrong, but time will tell, but I’m pretty sure everything will be good. For sure there will be hard fights on the race circuits but sometimes things go wrong… like I said, I’m pretty sure it will all be OK.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, Mr Montezemolo said in an interview in our newspaper that he expected victories and poles from you, but also that you can help Alonso to develop the car. Are you ready to spend more time in Maranello, like Fernando, to stay there even more than in the past?
KR: It’s a pretty similar answer to before. There are a lot of stories but I think we’ve done pretty well in this team when we started and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to produce a very good car for next year and keep improving it. Obviously there are new rules so it will be more challenging for all the teams but I have no worries about those things.
Q: (Luc Domenjoz – Le Matin) Kimi, it seems that Lotus owes you a lot of money, so the question is simple: why, if the team doesn’t fulfil its part of the contract, why do you respect yours and why don’t you simply stay at home?
KR: I like to race and then obviously that’s the only reason why I’m here; it doesn’t matter which team it is and obviously the reasons why they ask from the team but the reasons why I left from the team is purely on the money side, that they haven’t got my salary so it’s an unfortunate thing but like I said, I want to try and help the team as much as I can and I like to race.
Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) Kimi, referring to your next teammate, what do you think will be possible to learn from him next year and can he learn from you?
KR: For sure, you always learn from different teammates; everyone does different things. Maybe they do something better than you but often there are a lot of things that only suit one guy and it doesn’t work if you try to do the same thing for yourself, it’s not going to work. I know the team, I know the people. Like I said, I have no worries to go there and have something that wouldn’t work. I don’t really worry about it, I’ve never worked with Alonso. I obviously know him from racing but I’m sure it will be fine.
Q: (Chetan Narula – Planet F1) Adrian, how important is it for Force India to beat McLaren, considering there is just a five point gap and quite a few races to go, also considering that extra points means extra money in the Constructors’ standing, especially for a middle team going into 2014, which is a highly… the rule changes and everything for a middle team to go forward and to develop, so how important is it to beat McLaren?
AS: It would be a great success, of course. We are a few points behind now and it’s a very high target to complete but we showed, with a good car, it’s possible also to fight against McLaren and well, what can we do, we are professionals so we want to finally actually win races which is why we’re all here. That’s why we never give up so at the end of the season, who knows what’s going to happen? We only know that it’s a big challenge to beat McLaren but it’s not impossible and that’s why we’re pushing on. It would mean fifth position for us at the end of the year, that’s two better than last year and that means much better financial backing, of course, for the next year. So you can think about it by yourself, that definitely means a better chance for us next year to compete even better.
Q: On the flip side to that, Sergio, how important is it for you and everyone at McLaren to finish ahead of Force India this year? Is it a fight and a battle that you’re taking a lot of notice of?
SP: Yes, of course. It’s not a secret that we haven’t had the year that we were hoping for so we definitely have to try and finish as high as possible in the next seven races that we have ahead of us and maximise the full potential. Last weekend in Monza, we should have got more points than we did so I think we definitely have to make sure that we bring home all the points that we can. If at the end we beat Force India, it’s good for us.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Nico Rosberg, at the start of the season the momentum was on your side; then it switched to Lewis. For the latter part of the season, how do you get it back onto your side? Is it just a matter of letting things unfold?
NR: I’ve just had a few races now when it’s just not gone perfectly, a string of races and that gives a little bit of a dip but I’m really confident I can turn it around and get some good races again from now on.
Q: (Abhishek Tackle – Mid-Day) Nico Hulkenberg, last year you were linked to a Ferrari drive; this year there was actually a contract on the table before the deal with Kimi was agreed. Is there any sort of resentment that you feel towards Ferrari, especially the way that you found out that you hadn’t got the drive, I think it was an SMS or something?
NH: No, not at all to be honest. I think the relationship is as good and as positive as before. I think there has maybe been some understanding and that story has been blown up by the media. I read that too but no, I don’t feel that.
Q: Were you not contacted by text message then?
NH: No.
Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sports) Valtteri, at Singapore, traditionally, there is a high rate of attrition, lots of retirements, there’s been a safety car in every race here; is this your best chance to score points this season do you think?
VB: I think so, this should be the place to get the points. Like you said, a lot of things can happen in the race and safety cars etc. Like I said before, if some of the little updates work and we can get a little more speed and be a bit closer to the top ten in pure pace, then it’s always possible to get points and we need to keep pushing for that.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, in your choice of Ferrari, is there also a technical reason? I’m thinking about the turbo era; do you think that Ferrari building both engine and chassis could be a better chance of being a competitive car than Red Bull or Lotus next year?
KR: Obviously I hope so. They built very good cars and engines in the past, they’ve won a lot of championships as a team and then you have to look on the other side at teams like Red Bull or Lotus with Renault who have done very well. It’s very hard to say which way it’s going to go with the new rules and who’s going to have the best package. There are a lot of stories about certain engines that will be much stronger than others but there are so many different things that you have to look at and go through and make sure that it works that I have no idea which team will be strongest and which team will come out on top. We have to wait and see, really, for the first few tests.
Q: (Chetan Narula – PlanetF1) Nico Rosberg, it’s a continuation of the last question for you: for 2014, teams are looking to get the two strongest drivers to get them more points, considering it’s going to be an unpredictable season. Lewis and your partnership was considered to be a very strong one, especially when Red Bull went for Daniel Ricciardo instead of Kimi. But with Kimi pairing with Alonso now, what are your thoughts on that?
NR: I can just say that for us it’s working well. We push each other and also through a weekend, pushing each other, stepping up our game, learning from each other so it’s working really well and we get on well together. But that’s just for us. For other people, I don’t know, we need to wait and see.
Q: Is it vital to get on with your teammate? Do you have to or can you still compete well on the track if you don’t get on with your teammate?
NR: Well, get on, no, you don’t need to get on but you need to show a certain respect, I think, otherwise it can go a bit wrong.
Ends
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It was a bit of a strange feeling… a bit of a last-minute frustration: Ogier
Rally Australia Post-event FIA Press ConferenceSunday 15 Sept 2013Present:1st – Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport1st – Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Motorsport2nd – Thierry Neuville, Qatar World Rally Team2nd – Nicolas Gilsoul, Qatar World Rally Team3rd – Mikko Hirvonen, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team3rd – Jarmo Lehtinen, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally TeamJost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport DirectorQ:Sébastien, so close but yet so far! The title was within your grasp until the final stage dramas. You have still taken the win but not the Championship title – disappointed?SO:To be honest, it was a bit of a strange feeling at the end of the last stage when we heard on the radio: “Congrats guys, you won the rally… but you have to wait for the Championship.” Then we said: “Oh ****.” We knew before the start that this could happen, even if we score maximum and win the Power Stage, we knew that Thierry could finish second and do that. In this case we would not be champion. But regarding that, all the weekend we were the virtual champion – at the last minute it was a frustration.Q:It must have been very frustrating…SO:Of course I was a little bit frustrated. It was a special day for me. I was relaxed for quiet long, but on the last loop I was more nervous and thinking more about things. I just wanted to reset my brain and do my job for this afternoon. I had such a good feeling all weekend, my Polo was perfect and we won almost all the stages.Q:Did you have any moments?SO:Honestly, it’s been really perfect, no real moments. It was okay. In this kind of rally when you start well with good qualification, then you have a good starting order. It looks easy when you see we are winning all the stages, but this is because we did a good job with Julien and all of the team. Okay, this is a small frustration, because we cannot write that we are world champions, but it’s almost there – and we are doing a great job for the Manufacturers [Championship] and I am very happy for that. Volkswagen deserves it and it’s my objective [to win Manufacturers’] as well.Q:You are just one point shy of the title now and the Championship moves to France. How much are you looking forward to your home event and of course the battle with Sébastien Loeb?SO:It’s quite easy – we go for the victory in France, nothing other than that.Q:Jost says you are free to fight in France…SO:I’m happy with that, yeah, I expected that… Of course I am happy with that. It’s frustrating for me, but quite soon I will look for the next target and that’s France rally. The competition will be interesting with Dani [Sordo] and Thierry – they are both quick, and, of course, Seb [Loeb] will be coming back and we know he will be on the pace.Q:What a crazy final stage – how do you feel?JI:We came to the end of the stage and we shake hands in the car and then the radio message came from the team. We have been relaxed until the last moment… These things can happen. Today, when you ask me, at one moment I was unable to try to imagine [being world champion] and now I will have to discover this in France.Q:Does this bring more pressure in France?JI:No, to be honest, all the others will have more pressure – I am just happy to be here. We are calm. We could concentrate here, but on our home [rally], now there are more demands around us on that event. There will be a big song around us, it will be big for sure… but we wait a long time for the big story around Seb. There’s only one target and that is the victory.Q:Thierry, you were third going into the final stage but ended in second after Mikko lost time. It has been a strong weekend for you, especially on your debut event in Australia!TN:Yes. I came to this event and I wanted to increase the gap between myself and Jari-Matti [Latvala], I didn’t think about wanting to stop him [Ogier] being champion. On the first day I was out of the rhythm, but it got better and finally it was a good result for us. We have scored good points for us and this is another step forward. I must be happy – we had a great rally with the Qatar M-Sport team, there were no problems on the car. I must be happy with the whole season and I am looking forward to the next two rallies. In France, I hope to fight with the two Sebs and I am sure Mikko and Jari-Matti will be in the fight as well.Q:On the opening morning you were not comfortable – why was that?TN:Coming from Germany and driving the car on tarmac I didn’t feel anything on the gravel. I know from the past that when I switch cars, it takes me too much time – the notes were too optimistic. We had to change a lot. I know I have to work on this. We see that I always lose time on the first day of a rally and then get stronger – we have to work on this.
Sebastian Ogier and co-driver Ingrassia of Volkswagen who won Rally Australia pose for the media from the podium. A Volkswagen photo Q:
There are three rallies left; can we see a Neuville win?TN:Of course I’m going to try again, but it’s not easy – we give our best. There is another step for us to get on Seb’s pace, I know that but I know I have a little time to improve on this point. It’s also interesting for the Championship when there are a few more drivers fighting. But we do have another step [to take].Q:Nicolas, how tough a challenge has the recce for Australia been?NG:It was tough. There were a few stages when it took us time to switch from tarmac to gravel mode. It was also difficult to do the recce at 80 kph in the dust of the other cars. It was difficult. Okay we did it. Now we have learned new things and we are stronger for the future.Q:Your confidence must be growing?NG:Yes. We are even [spending] more time together than with our respective girlfriends, so the confidence improves on each stage.Q:Maybe the Wedding Bells stage was for you today..!TN:This was special for us…Q:Mikko, it has been a strong weekend and relatively drama free for you, until the final stage! What happened?MH:I don’t know. We don’t know what is the reason for the puncture. We were on a long straight then we have the big vibration and I knew we would lose the tyre sooner rather or later. It’s really disappointing. It was quite a good weekend until that – we were comfortable in second. These things happen, but this year it’s really often. It’s been a long year so far…Q:Were you happy with your pace across the weekend?MH:It’s been alright I think. It’s what we can do at the moment. Friday was good considering qualifying was bad and we did not have the ideal place on the road. The start of the rally was really good to get into second on the first day.Q:There are still three rallies left this year. What can you do?MH:Let’s see. Like Thierry said, it’s been a really nice season – there have been more drivers fighting and this makes it more exciting. I still have the chance to fight for second [in the Drivers’ Championship], but it’s going to be tough.Q:When did you realise you could not catch Seb?MH:It was probably on Saturday morning. I felt like he was playing with us – the splits were really close: I was ahead, then he was ahead. The pace was comfortable, but then if we pushed harder we could make mistakes. I knew by driving I couldn’t catch him on Saturday morning.Q:Jarmo, how frustrated are you?JL:We are not here for second place, but we have not lost second like this [before]. When you don’t know [what happened], it is frustrating. It’s so much easier when you hit the wall or something goes wrong with the car. But when you have this, it’s so frustrating. You know you start to fight with the tyre and then you have some moments. And then you see the split time and you can then say: “Okay, now we can stop fighting.”Q:When will we see you return to the pace we have seen before?JL:For me, the pace hasn’t been so far [away] all season. There have been some small mistakes and some issues with the car, it hasn’t been perfect this year. But this weekend everything was going like we planned but finally it didn’t work.Q:Jost, with all the drama on the final stage could the team quite believe what was happening?JC:It’s difficult to describe the feeling. Going into the final stage was very tense – everything can go wrong in the final stage. This happened with Jari-Matti and the same happened to Mikko, when they have the big vibration with no idea why. Seb was on the way to a very good time and that would have secured the title and then okay, these things happened. To start, this is not too bad, Mikko is still second, but then it changed. Okay, this increases our advantage in the Manufacturers’ by quite a margin. But I am not so happy for Seb and Julien. They have done an outstanding job and all of the company is very proud of them. But it is good for the Manufacturers’ and we are supporting them [Ogier and Ingrassia].Q:The Manufacturers’ Championship is getting close?JC:For Volkswagen, this is very important. At the start of the season we never thought we would be in a position to fight for one title, but now we are in this position and we want both. To get the lead with more than 40 points, this allows Seb to really fight in France. If the gap was smaller, we might have had some tough words [with Ogier], but now he can really go for it. I’m sure he’s happy for this.FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIPPresent:1st – Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari1st – Killian DuffyQ:Abdulaziz, congratulations on your third win this season! How do you feel?AA-K:This is a great feeling because it was not an easy rally to finish or win. The drivers here have been very fast drivers and I was not pushing to the max – especially on Friday, this was like a brain day where we have to use our brain. We were very cautious and looking to finish. Yesterday and today we pushed hard and won the rally. This was our third win and sixth podium. I am really happy also for Killian, who takes his first points in the World Rally Championship and this is his 25th event. Now we will be watching France on the laptop to see what Robert Kubica is doing. But we have to celebrate now.Q:Were there any dramas?AA-K:Of course driving in the World Championship is very difficult and there were some stages where we have some small moments, but nothing too big. We are driving very safe because we are coming to the event for the first time. We could trust the notes, but we had no big moments. I am happy to be on the safe side and to win the rally.Q:Are you surprised? Before the rally, you said you were coming here for experience…AA-K:Before the rally I said a top five result in the WRC 2 would mean that I would lead [the Championship], but that was not enough. This was what we needed, but it was unexpected, especially when Yazeed [Al-Rajhi] and other fast drivers were here with big experience of maybe seven or eight years. This is our first year. I am very happy.Q:When you got the big lead yesterday, could you relax?AA-K:No. We kept pushing until the last four or five kilometres of the last stage, when we could see the split times. Our times were improving on every stage. I’m really enjoying this WRC. Before my experience is only in the Middle East and really there is nothing to learn in the desert. Every rally I am learning more and more here. When I compare the times to Mexico, it is good. In Mexico, my time was five or six seconds to the WRC drivers and today I am only two seconds and that’s a big improvement for me in only five rallies.Q:Did you imagine you could be in the title fight?AA-K:No, not at all. Talking to my sponsor SeaShore and M-Sport and Mr Malcolm [Wilson] we say, if we can be in the top five with a lot of big names then that is good for us in the first year. We were not expecting to be leading – I hope we stay until GB.Q:Killian, congratulations – how tough has this been?KD:Very tough, the grip level changes all the time and it’s hard to read the road. I was here in 2011, but we superallied twice on that event. But this time there were no big dramas and we really enjoyed the event.Q:Could you relax?KD:Because we were making new notes and amending the notes on the first and second pass, it was difficult. On every event, the notes are improving and this is part of the process. We could go quicker on the first loop, but if we did that we probably wouldn’t be sitting here leading the Championship.Q:You’re getting quicker and quicker…KD:We are getting quicker for sure and every event we go to we feel these stages are the hardest in the world. When we get to Rally GB, I know this event, but I think he’ll find it very hard with the mud and the fog.Q:It could be a great fight in GB?KD:It could be and it’s only two hours on the ferry from Ireland, so I hope to get some great support.AA-K:I want say one more thing, I think we need to take more care of the WRC 2 drivers. We are not treated like WRC drivers and many of the stages are not safe for us. On Friday, on the last stage they [WRC crews] had four minutes and we had two. At the start, there were 10 WRC cars and we start with nine cars – it’s almost the same. We are a support championship, but everywhere we say the same thing, especially in Sardinia when we had one minute. You can’t imagine how not safe this is. We should have somebody to talk for us. In WRC 2, we say this all the time and nothing happens. I hope this stops. We should be treated like WRC drivers; we are all paying the money the same.ends -
No more pressure, says leader Sebastian Ogier of Volkswagen
Coffs Harbour (NSW, Australia),
Volkswagen’s Sebastian Ogier leads the Drivers’ Championship. Photo by Volkswagen Motorsports 12 Sept 2013: FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP pre-event press conference ahead of Rally Australia
Present:Kris Meeke, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally TeamSébastien Ogier, Volkswagen MotorsportThierry Neuville, Qatar World Rally TeamAndreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Motorsport IIQ:Kris, this is your second opportunity in a WRC car this year and this time you are with the manufacturer team. It has got off to a good start so far, quickest at Qualifying!KM:For me it was a nice morning and quite a nice stage actually, I think it was still probably a little bit slippery in places but a lot cleaner than we will expect tomorrow. It’s going to be a very difficult and technical rally but I knew road position was going to be quite important especially as it’s so slippery. It was nice to do the best time because the best choice is where we want to be.Q:And what is that choice going to be?KM:I think that maybe it will rain at some point over the weekend but we have to see this afternoon what develops, and also it’s quite important what decision the organisers make for the dust and I think it’s at a point, it’s not for competition, it’s for safety. We really need to put gaps out there, it’s not hurting anyone to have a larger gap but we need that.Q:Talk to me about that run this morning because you had your free practice runs and you were one of the last drivers to go into that Qualifying stage. You would have known what Ogier’s time was, did you think you could get a few seconds on that, or did you go in with an open mind?KM:I had a good run in the first pass. Free Practice 2 wasn’t so good. I knew I made some mistakes so there was more to come. I heard Seb’s time over the radio and thought that’s going to take some time to beat it.Q:And how are you feeling ahead of the weekend in terms of pressure?KM:I think it’s fair to say this is what you work for all your career, to try and get into a factory team. There will always be some pressure from some angles. If you’re performing at the top, you need to keep performing at the top and prove you’re good enough. I’m just happy to be part of the team, and to be part of a factory team for the first time is a nice opportunity.Q:It is your first time here, what have you done to prepare?KM:To be honest we’re limited to what homework you can do before the rally. I think there are only three stages the same as 2011, so in that respect, it’s quite new. It’s always better and this is only my eighth or ninth start in a world rally car so I don’t have so much experience but it always helps when it’s new stages for everyone. It’s more of a level playing field but it’s surprisingly tricky in places. Quite narrow and bad drops in places and in some places the forestry roads are not clearly defined. It’s a bit difficult sometimes to make the notes, and you have to drive around with feeling.Q:Sébastien, the possibility of taking the title is getting tantalisingly close for you. How are you feeling coming into Australia?SO:Good. I think it’s nice to be in this position, of course. Okay, I will approach this rally just like another one and I just want to get another good result if I can. It could be good for the Championship but also we need now the points for the Manufacturer’s title because it is getting close, and that’s so far also on target, so definitely I will try to do my best if I can.Q:When you were in Germany a couple of weeks ago it was mathematically possible for you to win at that event, but it really did depend on what Thierry (Neuville) and Jari-Matti (Latvala) did. This time around it’s closer, it’s more on your shoulders, on what you can do this weekend as well as what they do. Do you feel more pressure coming into Australia than you did going into Germany?SO:No more pressure, but like you mentioned, because we are close for the Championship this weekend, but in Germany it was not depending only on me, and of course I didn’t do a good rally and it was not possible. But this weekend it comes very close with Thierry.Q:I can imagine you are pretty motivated to have a better weekend?SO:Of course, it has been very good for us until Germany and then okay we did our first mistake of the season. It was not a huge one, but okay that’s finished and now I just want to restart this weekend and do a good result again for the rest of the season. As I mentioned, it is important for me but also for the team because that battle is raging all the season and to get the Manufacturers title I will do my best to win that; I have to.Q:You’ve been in Australia for two weeks now. Is your jet lag completely gone?SO:Yes, I had two weeks in Sydney, so it has completely gone for me.Q:Thierry, after a fantastic battle in Germany just two weeks ago you now head to an event that you have never contested. Do you feel you will be able to fight as close to the top as in Germany?TN:Obviously I don’t know because this rally is new for me, so Malcolm (Wilson) is telling me to be careful. Okay, everything is good in the Fiesta and I feel very comfortable, so maybe it is possible to be competitive this weekend. This is mostly a new event for everybody so the disadvantage is possibly not so big. We try to do our best, of course, and I hope to go to the finish because we need the experience.Q:What preparation have you done prior to the event?TN:Honestly I feel like I’m not really well prepared because there is really nothing to do here. Only two stages are the same as last time so at home we tried to watch some of the in-car footage and get some videos. At the end we all face the same conditions, but the most important thing is the recce, the notes must be good so we can be confident.Q:Did you have a good recce?TN:It was not an easy recce with the dust hanging in front of you, it was sometimes difficult to see but we’ve done very well I think. The pace notes are very good. I’m really looking forward to the start this evening and especially tomorrow.Q:I guess you’ll be aiming for the podium, I’m sure Sébastien Ogier will be keeping an eye on where you are in relation to himself of course – what’s your aim?TN:Like I said before, my aim is to keep my second position in the World Championship. I will definitely keep my eye on Jari-Matti because he is my closest competitor. If there are no problems for Sébastien and he does well, he will be World Champion anyway so for me it doesn’t matter. It’s important to stay second in the Championship. I will keep my eyes on Jari-Matti and be ready when we have to fight.Q:Your performance in Germany had many people talking, is there any news on where you will be next season yet?TN:I have a good position for next year of course. But at the end, it’s me who will make the decision.Q:Andreas, Paul Nagle is taking over for the injured Mikko Markkula here in Australia. You tested with Paul before the event. How is the relationship working so far?AM:Things with Paul are working really well. I didn’t have a doubt he was the man for the job. I’ve competed with him ever since I was 17-years-old and I started off my rallying in Ireland so I know him from some time before. The choice was quite natural that he could take Mikko’s place when he had his back injury. And things have been working really well. His calling is good, his speaking is nice and we did two days’ test as well and we adjusted ourselves together; so, yeah, I am confident that he will do a very good job.Q:How about Mikko’s recovery? Have you spoken to him?AM:Yeah, I have talked with Mikko. He is slowly recovering but it is one of those injuries that takes its time, eight or nine weeks, and at the same time it is better to wait a bit longer time than be too quick.Q:So what is your plan for this event?AM:I will take it as it comes. If I can help Seb (Ogier) in some way, or for the Manufacturer’s title, of course I will do it. But at the same time that means I need to finish, so we will take it stage by stage and I’m sure I will have a new goal for each day.Q:Is there any stage that particularly stands out as being incredibly difficult here or is it a tough three days?AM:It is three very different days. Obviously the first day is very technical; the second day is much more open, quite nice roads, and the last day is super-fast inside the forest. So, three very different days but I must say the really long stage has a small place inside of it which is about five or six kilometres long which is really narrow, over crests, where we go uphill and that is a really good section.FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIPPresent:Abdulaziz Al-KuwariHayden PaddonQ:Abdulaziz, it is a welcome back to the Championship for you. You missed Finland and we didn’t see you in Germany either. Is it good to be back on the WRC?AA-K:Yes, of course, it has been three months since Sardinia and it went very quick so we are back, but it was good that we did some testing at M-Sport two weeks ago to get back into the driving seat again, so I’m looking forward to this rally, to be in good competition. This is my first time competing against (Hayden) Paddon so it will be really good to see what the pace is against him. Yazeed (Al-Rajhi) is back in the Championship after his injury and two (Ford) R5s. It will be really good to see our RRCs against the R5s so it will be good competition, I think.Q:In the Championship itself you are in second position to Robert Kubica. He is not competing here this weekend, so do you see this now as a chance to reclaim the lead?AA-K:Yes of course we are keen to get the lead again and I think Kubica is using all his bad luck in Poland… I think surely he is the fastest in WRC 2, plus Paddon and some drivers like Lappi, but I think he should win the Championship.Q:Do you think this is a rally you could be successful on, from what you have seen of the stages from the recce?AA-K:Yes, I think you have to be careful with some stages. We have some notes where you have to be careful, and some stages are very fast, like one stage or two stages on Sunday. You have to drive very fast to be very close to the guys at the front and also you have to be very careful to finish because honestly I came here to take some points, not to just go flat-out on three days, so I really try hard to finish this rally.Q:You’ve made a great start in WRC, had some great results. What are your plans for next year?AA-K:I don’t know. I would like to come back to do WRC 2. Before I can drive a world rally car, I have to win all the stages in a WRC 2 car or at least to lead all the stages but I am not doing all that well at the moment, honestly. There are many faster drivers than me, so if I get the budget for next year from Seashore then I think everything will be the same, yes, WRC 2, I will do it again.Q:Hayden, this is as close as you are going to get to home this year on the WRC. You competed here in 2011 and sealed the Production Car Championship on this event. Does it bring back good memories being here?HP:Yeah, it’s always been very kind to us this rally. Even two years prior to that we won Group N in 2009 so we’ve certainly got a good track record here. Obviously we’ve got this weekend but it’s as close as we’ll get to home and you know, it feels like you’re at home. I know the Kiwi’s won’t like me saying that, but everything is very similar. You don’t feel so much culture shock as you do in some places in Europe. We’re feeling good, feeling comfortable and the car is great.Q:Are there similarities between the roads here and New Zealand?HP:Nothing compares to New Zealand’s roads! But there are some stages here that are very nice. Particularly the long stage; it’s one of the best stages in the Championship. It’s got a bit of everything, a lot of very fast flowing stuff, some technical stuff in the middle and opening up again at the end. Some of the other stages I’ve compared to Portugal, similar bedrock, so there’s a variety of stages which is going to keep the drivers honest. Even things like car set-up and stuff are going to vary as the weekend progresses.Q:You are the only WRC 2 driver in an S2000 here, up against RRC and R5 cars – how much of a difference will it make?HP:Here it won’t be as much of an advantage as it is in some other rallies. The Skoda has a very good chassis and what we’ve got is speed and momentum and our car is just as good, if not better, than some of the others. Where we’re missing out is engine power and torque, being able to get out of the tight corners hairpins, and Germany was a prime example of that. Here it’s not such a problem but it is interesting how Super 2000 cars have become quite obsolete over the space of two or three months which is not good for the sport, but hopefully there’s a few of them still sitting around in sheds and a few more will hopefully come out.Q:What is the objective for you this weekend in Australia?HP:Of course it is to try and win but that’s not going to be easy. We have some tough competition. We’re going to have to try and set a good pace from the word go and probably our biggest hurdle this weekend is with the car. It’s our own car that we’ve got and we’re using our own New Zealand team. But we’ve basically got no spare parts for the weekend so it is going to mean on the rougher sections we’re really going to have look after the car. And that’s down to budget, we don’t have the budget to be buying expensive parts so it’s going to be a fine balance trying to drive fast and trying to look after the car.Q:When you say no spare parts, none at all?HP:We’ve got little bits and pieces but no suspension arms, gearboxes or diffs or anything like that. So we’ve got to be very very careful.Q:So a definite element of caution over the weekend?HP:Oh definitely. But in saying that, in some of the stages which are smooth and fast, they’re not car breakers so you can push 100 per cent and as long as we keep in the middle of the road, it shouldn’t be a problem.Q:At present I believe the plan is not to return to Europe due to budget restrictions this season, could a win here help to secure extra budget?HP:It will certainly help. We’ve obviously out of France, we’ve missed the entry cut-off for France but we are still working on trying to do things for Spain and GB. We’re never giving up. Of course we would still like to do the full Championship, but that’s maybe not so possible now but we will be heading back to Europe where we have some testing and some things involved when we head back over there and hopefully we can keep working on a budget and maybe we’ll get to Spain.Q:Is there anything in the pipeline for next year, can you tell us anything about 2014?HP:It’s very early at the moment. We will have a lot more substantial program for next year and we simply haven’t been in the WRC enough this year. So there are several things that we’re working on which are proving positive and things are looking much better now than they did six months ago. -
A fantastic race and we beat the red guys: Sebastian Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by John Surtees and Jean Alesi)
Q: Sebastian, you won your first grand prix, here at Monza, in an Italian team. So, it’s very special coming back for you, isn’t it?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys. So we are very proud of that. Great job by the whole team today, very good job by Renault. Usually this is one of the toughest tracks we go to but this year the car’s been absolutely fantastic, the race has been incredible. I think for both of us towards the end we were struggling a little bit with the gearbox so we had to pace ourselves but obviously for me it was not that bad because I had a little bit of a cushion but very great to win here, to see all the fans coming, it’s the best podium of the season so very proud to be up here.
Q: It’s important that they come and the emotion is all about Italy, isn’t it?
SV: Yeah, for sure.
…Fernando did a very good drive and kept you honourable, so that was fantastic.
SV: Yeah, definitely. Most people, you can see are dressed in red – but there’s a lot of blue caps as well and I’m sure those guys are very happy. Thank you.
Q: Fernando, you must explain how was the overtaking in the beginning of the race for you.
Fernando ALONSO: It was difficult obviously. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Hülkenberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe later on. And then with Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony that is the most spectacular podium of the year for sure and hopefully next one, next year, we come back here but in the top place.
Q: And Fernando, when you make the pass, the whole public jump on the grandstand, it was amazing. Inside the car, how it was? It was very close.
FA: It was close. Obviously we have to risk. There is nothing now to lose for us. We are second in the championship and we have to take some risk. We did it and that’s OK.
Q: You understand Ferrari love you? You have to love Ferrari, we are all behind you…
FA: Ah, of course. I always said the same thing, big thanks to the team for everything they do for me and huge support from all the fans from all Italy. Some people still try to create some tension between team and driver but here is the better symbol: zero tension and we fight for the championship always.
Q: Mark, you had to fight very hard to be on the podium. From the middle of the race you had… it looked like from outside you had better speed, compared to the beginning. Can you explain how it was at the beginning of the grand prix?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I felt a little bit better on the tyre at the end of the race. The hard tyre was not quite as comfortable for me but I felt very, very good at the end. So it was a good battle with Fernando. Great team result. Thank you to Monza, last time here in Formula One, so thank you very much. See you next time.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well done Sebastian, your third win here but tell us the problems you had with the gearbox – you said between fifteen and ten laps from the end. Was it getting worse or was it just one problem?
SV: In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster. I think yeah, the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pitwall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps. Obviously it was good to have these ten seconds on hand, so I didn’t have to push that much and also I didn’t have to squeeze it all out of the tyres even though I stopped a couple of laps earlier than Fernando. So that was positive. But yeah, we didn’t know how bad the problem is. We’ll probably know better once we strip the car next week and have a look inside the gearbox. We’ll probably know for both cars, I think, how close it was.
Q: Fernando, were you happy with that second place? Was that as much as you could have achieved today?
FA: Yes, very happy. I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car. Practice were OK and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so very, very long time, so we were very, very happy. Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, the four times that I was in the podium and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment. And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but y’know, when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend and we need to do hopefully a better job next time but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.
Q: Mark, you’ve had your best finishing position here and finally experienced a Monza podium – but at the same time, tell us about the start, tell us why you pulled off at the end.
MW: Yeah, very happy to be on the podium here at Monza. It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice. It was good to have a clean weekend from start to finish and then fight for top positions, which was certainly the case today. The start was pretty good but both Sebastian and I, I think, compared to the Ferraris were not as strong off the line. Felipe had a good one so he had to go to the other side. Seb gave me enough room up the inside. I thought he was going to go straight. He was very deep on the brakes but just managed to pull it up, so then we settled into the first part of the race. I was not super-happy on the hard tyre but anyway that’s the way it was. Fernando was into the rhythm a little bit quicker, we had a good little battle in the second chicane and then after that really just trying to managed the pace on the rear tyres to when we were going to stop to try to pass Felipe – which I was very, very happy with, the in-lap. And also the whole thing went well in terms of for the line, pitstop, exit, out-lap. We executed that as a team effort: driver, pitcrew, and got the job done against Felipe. And then actually it was a good battle with Fernando on the other tyre. Tried everything but yeah, as Seb touched on, we had to nurse the gearbox a little bit but in the end second was the maximum, we got third but we pushed Fernando all the way. It’s always a good battle racing Fernando, you have to be very accurate. We pushed as hard as we could and I’m satisfied with today’s result.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, is the only way for you to win this championship is for Sebastian to lose it?
FA: Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year. We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) And yesterday, there was so much talk and so much written as to whether you had said this or said that. Did you feel today that the fans spoke out for you? They cheered you; do you feel much better today than yesterday?
FA: Concerning yesterday, it’s the third or fourth consecutive race that some people have tried to create some tension between the team and the drivers. Then we come to the press conference, we explain everything but obviously this doesn’t sell so many newspapers – normality. Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere – here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team and we keep repeating this and we saw today on the podium maybe not many of them read the newspapers in the morning, luckily.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, can you explain the overtaking manoeuvre on Mark, maybe the most spectacular in the whole race?
FA: I tried a lap before but I was not close enough in turn four, in the second chicane, and then we were very close in the first chicane on that lap. Mark had a little slower exit in the first chicane so I used all the KERS on that straight hoping that with the KERS plus the slipstream it will be enough to pass, but it was not enough so that we arrived side by side. At one point, I thought ‘well, I will miss the second chicane and I will give the place back’ but at the last moment I get the grip, we were very close to touching each other but again we come back to the point that it’s not the same fighting with an experienced and respectful driver compared to some others with whom you would never try that move, with whom we’ve had some incidents already.
Q: (Cesare Manucci – Autosprint) Sebastian, in parc ferme you changed gears five, six and seven I think, because you already had a warning of the same problems with the transmission that you had during the race, or was it a completely different problem, or just to be more safe for the race?
SV: We already saw something on Friday, obviously something similar but Friday to Saturday we changed the gearbox and then I think in the race it was a surprise. We were obviously aware of the Friday problem but we didn’t see anything before that. There’s not much you can do; obviously once you start the car there’s nothing you can change so in the end, I think we were lucky or in a comfortable position to have a little bit of a gap especially towards the end. I don’t know what they saw on the pit wall in terms of data, if the problem got worse and worse and worse or stabilised, but obviously I tried to save the car, save the engine and gearbox as much as I can. In the end, I still have to go full power on the straights; basically try to short shift and save the car a little bit.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, does it hurt to see the people against you on the podium?
SV: About the general atmosphere, fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely when we won here in an Italian team with a Ferrari engine so the atmosphere was fantastic. When we won here in 2011 and this year… 2011 was a surprise, this year I think it was kind of expected. I said on the radio on the in lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal. I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special. Obviously Fernando is in a great position on the podium, whereas if you’re dressed in any other colour it’s not the same, but still, it’s a fantastic race, a fantastic podium here.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, I think the only hard moment was at the start when you locked up the front tyres a bit. How was it after that, please?
SV: Our start was difficult, as I mentioned. I didn’t get off the line that well, couldn’t see Mark so tried to give him enough room and then tried to brake late, probably a little bit too late, locked the front right and then had lots of vibrations after that because I had a flat spot on the front right tyre. Fortunately we weren’t front limited on this circuit, so the front tyre was not a big issue, so I tried to look after the rears after that and we still got far enough to make the one stop work.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, can you describe your side of when Alonso passed you and how badly did that damaged wing affect your race?
MW: I think that I braked pretty deep into there, so did Fernando. It was early in the race, we were still to get a feel for where everything is. Obviously as Fernando touched on, it’s very easy to go straight there and not make the entry to the chicane. I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted to make the entry to the chicane as well but when Fernando then got pretty much level on the outside of three, the chess match is over, basically, so you then obviously have to concede and look to take the fight to another part of the race. The wing, I think, wasn’t too bad. I think we’ve had quite a few little snags on the front wings this season but that seemed to be OK. It wouldn’t have helped; I don’t think we had the best balance in the first ten, 15 laps because of that. As the race went on towards the end, it might not have been too bad to help the stint but I couldn’t go anywhere against that with Felipe and at the end of the stop the guys might have tweaked it up a little bit, but in general, not a big difference. I was concerned that the wing might have been more damaged when I saw it go and also on the back straight on the way to the Parabolica I thought I saw Fernando’s left rear – just an illusion maybe – but I saw the tyre about to go down but it didn’t, it stayed up and in the end we both survived.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, Adrian Newey in Spa said that Monza wouldn’t be a positive track for Red Bull, but looking at the dominance here, maybe he was wrong. What happened, how were you able to change the situation?
SV: I think he was as surprised as we were. Just on the way up to the podium, he said ‘I thought that it was going to be damage limitation this weekend.’ I said to him ‘well, if damage limitation is like that, I want to have a lot of damage for the rest of the season.’ It was very unexpected. Already the pace on Friday surprised us. From a balance point of view, I was very happy with the car, similar to two years ago. So obviously we’ve been very competitive in Canada, very competitive in Spa on medium downforce tracks. This one was a little bit unknown. We haven’t been the fastest down the straights again, but fast enough, somewhere in the mid-field which is enough to use the strengths that we have through the corners, despite running as little wing as we can afford.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, what do you expect for Singapore, because in theory it is very good for your car. Do you believe Red Bull is now at the level of 2011?
FA: Yeah, we will see. Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before. We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check. If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.
The level of domination? Well, I think as Sebastian touched on before as well, already in Canada, Spa, Monza are very unique tracks in terms of level of downforce. They were quick in Spa so more or less… we saw it in Canada so Spa was not a surprise and here in Monza also they performed really well. I think it’s more tight this year than 2011 and also there are more teams in the battle. There is not only Red Bull who can be on pole position etc; there is Mercedes who have done many pole positions this year etc, so many races are coming with many interesting combinations of performance so what we have to do is try to be close to the top in all track characteristics.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you said some minutes ago that the car reminded you of the 2011 car here. It means a very dominant car as we already saw in Spa – Francorchamps, you have 53 points advantage over Alonso. What do you predict for the rest of the season? You are very close to being World Champion for the fourth consecutive time?
SV: I’m trying not to think about it too much. I think that when I spoke about the fact that it was similar to 2011 I was speaking about the experience here in Monza because usually… you know, 2009, 2010, 2012 it was very tricky for us here. Obviously this year was similar to 2011 when the car just seemed to be very well balanced in the corners, I felt very good through all the medium speed and the chicanes. It’s not as simple as you think. People say ‘at Monza, you just need horsepower, little wing on the car’ but in fact if the car doesn’t feel right and doesn’t allow you to play, you lose a lot of lap time, just because you are not comfortable. The cars are sliding more than the rest of the year because you run less downforce so you need to be happy with that and accept that. We have a car this year that was similar in 2011 in that regard and allowed myself to play and still to feel comfortable, even though the car was loose. Other than that, I think I tend to agree with Fernando. Obviously the last two races have been very good for us but overall this year, I think it’s been very close. Yesterday was the first pole position we got in real dry dry conditions, if you don’t consider Melbourne because it was a little bit damp and drying up in Q3. So on that front, we seem to have made progress and in the race it has stood out this year that we have had a very very strong race car. Together with Ferrari, I think on average we have been the fastest in the race.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, during the race we heard a little message radioed by you that you were complaining about the rear light on the Vettel car. I would like to know how disturbing, how annoying it was for you during the race?
SV: Me?
FA: Was the question for me? Well, it was…
SV: Will you listen now? You complained about the red light?
FA: Yeah, yeah. It was disturbing a little bit. Obviously it’s a very strong light with no rain.
SV: It’s worse in here.
FA: Sebastian is not used to having a car in front so he doesn’t know how it feels to have a red light on but when you are behind, a little bit close, it’s always flashing and sometimes you just have to touch one button because that’s the red light or something that you press by mistake, if he could switch, but he didn’t. So the whole race I had it flashing in my eyes.
SV: I was trying to get away so it wasn’t disturbing you so much.
FA: You didn’t…
Ends
From left: Alonso (2nd), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Vettel and Webber (3rd) on the the Podum at Monza on Sunday. An FIA photo -
I wish Nico stays third, for him and for Sauber… and it would do me no harm; But I have to be ahead of him: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Nico HULKENBERG (Sauber)
TV UNILATERAL
Sebastian, you’ve got a long history here, how much do you love this place?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s a special track for sure. It’s always nice to come back here. Obviously the memories of 2008 are great. I had another victory in 2011 but I think the first victory is always special. Today I think, or generally this weekend, the car was fantastic so far. I think better than what we could expect. We had a very strong pace yesterday and we were able to take that into the qualifying today. I had two good runs in the end. In the end I think it’s a bit of a surprise to have both cars on the front row at a place where historically we’ve had bad years. Yeah, this year it seems to work well and hopefully we’ll have a good race from where we start tomorrow.
You mentioned historically. How much has the team targeted the performance here?
SV: Well we do target to have the optimum every year. Obviously, some years we were closer and other years we were quite far away. It seems that this year we’re obviously in a very strong position. We’re able to match other cars down the straight and we know that in corners we have a strong car. It’s a nice place, a nice track, very challenging to get the lap right, because you have low downforce on the car, so the car is very light, sliding a little bit here and there. It doesn’t cost us as much probably as in other places but yeah obviously if you try too often to go over the limit there is a big penalty, so, yeah, I think it was a tough session but we managed to get through and get a great result.
Mark, your best qualifying position here and presumably you’re looking to follow it up with a good result as well, your best result here?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, exactly. I said to the boys before the session I was looking for a quali PB. It hasn’t been the best track for me, so as your say it’s a nice step towards a very, very good result tomorrow. I’m happy with qualifying, to be up there. It took the old boy a little bit of while to be ready for Q1 but I got there in end, in the sessions where it counted. Actually pretty happy with my laps. Jean-Eric [Vergne] went off in the Parabolica, in the last corner, so I didn’t know if he’d dropped a wheel or if he was continuing on the circuit, so I couldn’t really see with the dust. Obviously then when I got further round I could see he was in the gravel. So a little bit of a tricky finish to the lap but overall it wouldn’t have been enough to get Seb, he did a very good lap. We have a few different people up here as well with us, which is good. It was a bit of a mixed-up session and that can happen at Monza, it’s not an easy track to get right. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.
This is you last European Grand Prix. Is that an emotional moment for you?
MW: Not really. I think Brazil will probably be a little bit more emotional of course, but if I’ve got the tissues out then I’ve made the wrong decision. It’s good that I still enjoy my driving. I’m not too uncompetitive. Just look for a clean weekend and get some very good results in the future in the coming races and that’s got to be my goal. I’m not retiring. I’m stopping from Formula One but of course there’s a lot of people that can come and watch me in the Porsche next year at Le Mans and some other races.
Thanks very much. Nico, where did that come from?
Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know either. Really a nice surprise to ourselves. I didn’t expect it, especially after a very difficult Friday. Yesterday we struggled a lot with the car, we were trying some different bits and bobs, but the guys have done a fantastic job to turn the car around and give me such a competitive car today. It was just that Q1, Q2, Q3 the car just got better and better, I think with the track improvement and with the right decision just to go for one timed lap, fuelled for one timed lap, was the right call. Yeah a burning lap which made this nice surprise happen.
Of course it’s a good circuit for Sauber. They finished second here last year, so what are your hopes for tomorrow?
NH: Yeah, last year is a very different year. Obviously Sauber was very competitive very often last year in races. This year we have been struggling more, we’ve had a more difficult year, let’s put it this way. So I hope that the long run pace is good. From what I could see yesterday it should be all right. I don’t think we can challenge these guys but definitely points are now the target.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your third pole position here and 40th in your career. Tell us about the importance of pole position here. Is it an important pole?
SV: I think pole is always important. It’s the best place to start the race from on Sunday. Especially here, I think it’s important to manage to qualify in the top group, we know the first two chicanes are quite tricky. So, I’m looking forward to start the race from pole tomorrow, focus on the start and then we’ll see where we get. But it’s a long race, we’ve seen in the past that there’s a lot of things that can happen. A good example of how quickly things can change last year, I think Sergio [Pérez] had a fantastic race and coming through with an opposite strategy so yeah, race pace is very important but surely today we did our homework with qualifying, P1 and P2.
Q: Mark, yesterday we saw a margin of six-tenths of a second. We saw a margin of six-tenths again this morning. Do you feel that you’ve got some of that back?
MW: To Seb? Yeah, the lap time looks like it. It’s down to two. It’s not quite there but it was still a session which I was pretty happy with because to qualify in second position is good. Seb’s strong here, quick in Monza. He’s not slow here so it’s not… it’s a bit of an opposite circuit for me so certainly happy to have a PB in quali and I’ll do my best tomorrow. The car’s
[INAUDIBLE – MIXED IN RADIO CHATTER]but in general looking forward towards the race tomorrow. The big clutch behaving itself in a good fashion, hopefully it should be OK, then we’re going to get a good start to the race in terms of the first few laps and settle in for the afternoon.
Q: Nico, possibility of showers tomorrow. What would you like?
NH: I think I’d like it to stay dry to be honest. I think that would be the easier option but we’ll take it as it comes. We haven’t run in wet or inter conditions so it will be new to everyone. Obviously more challenging but I’m open-minded.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Complimenti Sebastian; are you happy to have the first Ferrari engine in Nico Hulkenberg’s car than one of the works cars? How important is it not to have the Ferrari there?
SV: I think today it was obviously all about preparing for the race, getting the best position. As I said, in this regard we got our job done but the main job comes up tomorrow so we will see. The races are long, a lot of things can happen so I don’t know. I think Felipe is P4 so I think Ferrari was strong in every race this year in terms of race pace so they will be strong tomorrow as well. I think their long run looked quite competitive; I don’t know what they have done exactly in terms of fuel loads but I’m sure they have the pace and the ability to come through. Equally, I wish that Nico stays there, first of all for him and for his team, to have a strong result and secondly, obviously, it would do me no harm in terms of the championship. But first of all, I have to finish in front of him.
Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) To both Red Bull drivers: what is your strategy tomorrow for the start, as Nico is quite close to you?
SV: I think the usual: accelerate as quick as we can, try to get a good start. Partly it’s in our hands, literally, with the clutch and then our feet, but also it depends on how well we set up the start, how accurate we are. I think we’ve worked a lot in the past, we’ve had some very good starts, we’ve had some not so good starts. You never know what you get, but we’re both, I think, hoping for the best launch.
Q: Mark, have you solved the problem with the clutch, do you feel you’re on top of it?
MW: (I’m) The wrong guy to ask. But anyway, there’s always a guy third on the grid, it’s Nico or whoever. We can’t start one and two and then have a fifty meter gap. He’s third because he did a good job. Nico or someone else, it doesn’t matter. We focus on ourselves really. That’s it.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Sebastian, there was a strange phrase by Fernando on the radio and it seemed to be against the team. Do you believe he’s getting nervous and nervous in the fight against you?
SV: Today? I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t what they… Maybe they had a problem. Obviously they were quite competitive this morning in the beginning of qualifying, I think it was very close at the end of qualifying to be fair. Obviously I fortunately had a bit of a gap but I think everyone behind Nico was quite close to each other. I don’t know, maybe they had some problem.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Nico, the drivers’ market is very sensitive at this moment, especially concerning the teammate of Alonso. You have put in a greater performance then Ferrari; do you think it can influence Ferrari’s decision to take you?
NH: I can only influence it by performing very well and obviously today’s result is not the worst. For me it’s just important to focus on my competitiveness and my performance and that will make the rest easier but probably the timing is not the worst at this moment.
Sebastian Vettel on his way to pole position at Monza. Photo by Pirelli Ends
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A race in Mexico is a Great Step Forward: Monica Kaltenborn, Sauber
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Graeme LOWDON (Marussia), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Ross BRAWN (Mercedes), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Stefano, as it’s your home race, I’ll start with you if I might. First of all, we’ve had two practice sessions today. Have we seen the same sort of upturn here as you had in Spa in terms of your performance and can you maintain that through the rest of the weekend?
Stefano DOMENICALI: From what we have seen today, for sure above all in the second session, Red Bull seems to be very strong. I have to say, we have seen them doing a lap time immediately, so normally this is a good sign. Therefore, I am expecting, for sure, them to be very strong, and I’m sure the other team surrounding me they were a little bit doing some other stuff. I think it will be a tough weekend, for everyone, because with this kind of temperature also the car will be under pressure. At the end of the day we need to understand all the data we have collected and make sure that we have selected the right configuration for the car for tomorrow and this is really the work that the engineers will do tonight. I really hope that we can do a good weekend because in front of our people it will be very important and of course, as we know, if you want to put the pressure on the guys who are in front of us we need to try to be faster and faster and it is not enough to try to be very close to them in case they have an issue and then be ready, otherwise we will; lose our opportunities.
Thanks very much, Stefano. Graeme, yesterday Max Chilton told us of his hopes of staying with the team. What chances are there of that? Where are you in terms of drivers for next year and how important is your position in the Constructors’ Championship – that 10th place?
Graeme LOWDON: Well, we’re all competitive people so every position is important and we want to maintain that 10th place and given half a chance move forward as well. So that’s really important. As far as drivers, it’s kind of this period onwards when we really start to make some key decisions. Typically it’s a lot later in the year that we make any announcements but both drivers have done an extremely good job and at times under quite difficult circumstances. There’s a very good harmony in the team and a good team spirit and it would be nice to maintain that but let’s wait and see.
Monisha, Sauber have had a very close relationship with Mexico for a few years now, so how important is the Mexican Grand Prix, which is on the draft calendar we have seen this weekend?
Monisha KALTENBORN: It’s very important, not only for us a team but for Formula One itself, because we know that Latin America, generally America, is a very important market, so it attracts new partners as well. As far as our partner is concerned, it just shows that the strategy they have with motorsport is being implemented step by step. It was about the drivers coming into Formula One and the next logical step is hosting a race there. So I think it’s a great step.
It’s important for the team?
MK: It’s important for the team because we could see already in Austin last year, we felt like it was a home grand prix there if you could just hear people chant Checo’s name. So I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere.
Ross, the team has emerged very much as title contenders, but still a big gap to Red Bull Racing. How long can you maintain your challenge before it starts impacting on next year?
Ross BRAWN: I think it depends on what work you’re talking about. Obviously work that is unique to the current car would be taking away from next year’s programme. If it’s work that is still relevant for next year of course we’re still keen to develop ideas and continue with developments that would be relevant for next year. Those sort of micro-decisions are going on all the time with what we should or shouldn’t do. I think I said we’ll have a clearer picture after Singapore about our emphasis going from Singapore until the end of the season. I think Spa, a medium-low downforce circuit, Monza, a very low drag circuit, and Singapore, a high downforce circuit, after that mix we’ll see where we are. There’s very little variability left now in terms of what we can move from ’13 to ’14 and vice versa, so our programme is pretty set and we think we’ve got a programme that is not compromising the ’14 car at all.
Christian, historically Monza has been quite difficult for you in the past, for Red Bull Racing. What are you expecting this weekend? How good has it been in FP1 and FP2, certainly FP2 looked amazing today, especially the long runs. How do you feel the team is making an impact here?
Christian HORNER: We’ve had a strong start to the weekend, particularly in free practice two. We’ve worked through a programme and obviously the drivers are tuning themselves into the circuit and fine-tuning set-ups as well for the rest of the weekend. Monza traditionally, bar 2011, has been a difficult hunting ground for us and has exposed some of our weaknesses in previous years, but we just have to do the best that we can. For sure we know that Ferrari will be quick here. We know that Mercedes will be certainly quick and McLaren aren’t too fare away either this weekend. I think it’s set to be a very competitive grand prix and we’ve seen so many times that Friday means very little, so hopefully we can be on the podium here. That would be a strong result for us here.
Martin, great celebrations for the 50th anniversary of McLaren. Where do see the current team standing in that heritage?
Martin WHITMARSH: I haven’t thought about it that way. I think this isn’t the way we want to celebrate the 50thyear of McLaren but I think we’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved over that time and it’s been quite incredible how we’ve been able to grow that business. We’d like to be being more competitive – it’s a very hero to zero business. So to come out this year, as tough as it’s been, we’ve been able to pull ourselves a little bit back but we’re not with the quicker cars, yet. I think over the last couple of months we’ve had an unusual situation. Certainly for many years, this time of year we’ve been fighting for wins or championships and we’ve been devoting probablytoo much resource to the here and now and not enough to the next year. We’re very clear [now] that we’re very concentrated on next year. That’s made it quite tough on the race team and the drivers. As we’re racers we can’t come to a race event without parts to try so Fridays have been experimental days, probably been difficult for the drivers then to do the set-up work they’d like to. But we gather data and we’ve been able to use the experimental day of Friday to make a little bit of progress and we’re probably going to keep doing that because we can’t afford to detract from next year’s programme in the principal development facilities – wind tunnel, CFD and the like. So I think the team has responded to a kick up the pants we’ve had for ourselves. The team has pulled together, although we don’t like going motor racing without the real prospect of winning. I think we are very close as a team. I think we are working well together under difficult circumstances and we’re determined to do a better job in the coming races. But really focused on making sure we come out next year very, very strong.
And would you like a brief word on Mexico as well?
MW: I think Monisha put it very well. It was amazing Texas last year that you felt you were actually in Mexico, not in Texas, although maybe other parts of Texas feel that occasionally as well. It’s clear that there’s a huge passion there. Some of us, I think Ross at least, remember going to Mexico quite a few years ago. We know it’s entertaining, different and certainly passionate, so it’s good for the sport. It’s a huge and exciting market for Formula One and for some of the teams.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) We now have one official candidate for the FIA Presidency elections happening in December. I know that you guys don’t have any input on the vote but I would like your opinions on both the elections and the candidate himself.
Stefano?
SD: I heard today that there was a programme announced by the candidate for the presidency. Of course I haven’t had the chance to read it but I will do it in the next days. I think that in Formula One it’s important to proceed with stability and continuity – it’s one of the things that we are always missing. So, I believe that what is important to keep as a relation with the FIA is this kind of thing and so therefore I would like to see this happening – but of course it is not us that will decide that. That’s it really.
Martin?
MW: Well, I don’t know David Ward well enough and I haven’t had time to look at his manifesto so I really can’t comment on him. I think Jean – and clearly I don’t know Jean as well as some of the people here – but I have to say taking him as the President, I think he has not used this sport for his own ego, which I think is very tempting. I won’t go back into the past but I’ve seen and survived so far three presidents – only just, one of them – but I think Jean has acted in the interests of motorsport. I think for some people there hasn’t been enough commotion, action, controversy around him. Those are good in some people’s minds but I think for those of us that participate in the sport, having some consistency, someone who takes decisions that are in the interests of the sport quietly and efficiently is very beneficial. As you say, we don’t influence the outcome but I think Jean has done a good job so far and we’ll see if he’s successful at continuing to be the President.
Graeme?
GL: A general point is that democracy is a good thing, isn’t it? So you’ve got to welcome the process. I had a very quick look at the manifesto that came out from one of the candidates and there’s lots of topics that it’s good to have healthy debate on those topics and I’m sure that’s what the FIA members will do. In terms of the process, anything that’s democratic has got to be welcomed and if it provides transparency, provides the opportunity for debate, I think it’ll be an interesting process to watch from that point of view. I agree with a lot of the comments Martin said about what Jean has done. I haven’t been in the sport as long as Martin so I haven’t had the same number of presidents to live through but I think we’re looking forward to a healthy debate.
Monisha?
MK: Well, like Stefano said, most important is the stability and the continuity in the sport. I think we all know there are many challenging issues we are facing and in any case I hope that whoever comes up with the presidency will take up these issues and continue what has started and take it to the next level. Because we’re clearly reaching a point where certain decisions have to be taken ahead. And that’s what I hope will be done.
Ross?
RB: Obviously I know Jean very well, having worked together for ten years. I think stability and consistency are very important. I think Jean has taken a quiet line, particularly in terms of Formula One and that – as Martin said, those of us who have experienced the other end of the scale – is welcome. And I think the opportunity to do another period as a president of the FIA is important, that we have that continuity. I think Jean has stabilised the situation and now wants to move on to progress things and I know the huge commitment he makes to the sport overall. We are part of motorsport but there’s a huge amount of other things going on that he’s active in. And I think the continuity is very important.
Christian?
CH: I guess to have an election you’ve got to have more than one candidate. It now relies on Jean to become a candidate and declare that he’s prepared to continue as well. I think as the others have summarised, he’s done a very good job in his presidency so far. It really has very little to do with us, it really is an FIA issue and between the different ASNs – and who knows, there may even be another candidate. Maybe Martin’s going to throw his hat into the ring as well… No. As I say, I think Jean’s done a very good job and everything’s already been said.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Monisha, with the arrival of the Mexican Grand Prix next year, does that put any pressure on you to retain Esteban Gutierrez for next season, and if so, what does the future hold for Nico Hulkenberg, bearing in mind you’re seemingly committed to employing Sergey Sirotkin?
MK: Actually one thing really does not have anything to do with the idea to look at… We started our relationship with Esteban much before we actually got into contact with Telmex, because he came into the Formula BMW programme and from there he progressed with the team. So there are two different issues. As far as generally our driver line-up is concerned, we know that we would like to have Sergey next year as our driver but he still needs a super-licence and that’s something which you should take seriously. People shouldn’t think that we just feel that he’s just going to get it like that. We are convinced he can do it, we will do our best to prepare him and there still is a big step. If that all works out we will see what options we have and announce that in due course.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To all team principals and Graeme – I believe you’re sporting director, is that your official title?
GL: President and sporting director
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To all six, the resource restriction agreement (RRA) would have expired at the end of 2012. It was then extended by the so-called Singapore agreement which I believe extended it by another five years to the end of 2017. What are your individual views on this document? Is it legally enforceable, are you going to be providing all the documentation required at the end of the season to the correct authorities?
GL: Well, yes to all of the above. My understanding is that the Singapore agreement extended the RRA and modified some of the terms and extended it to 2017. I think that’s well documented and we’re certainly operating our business in accordance with that agreement. It was an agreement that everybody signed and we’ll report accordingly. Whether there is a different mechanism that all the teams agree prior to 2017, which has mutual agreement, then I guess that’s a different question but as far as we’re concerned we’re adhering to it and will continue to do so.
MK: Well, we are working to that as well and as far as I know, everybody is. More important is to see that in all this time we could identify the flaws it had which was natural, because you just realise with the experience you have with this kind of agreement and we all know we should take steps into cost-cutting directions so more important for me is: what can we make of this experience and how can we improve that to maybe have something which is then really again supported by everyone and we end all these discussions about it?
RB: We’re operating to the RRA. I think we’re part of the group – as I think most of the teams are, if not all the teams – part of the group to see how we can go forward with an improved RRA, how we can operate more effectively in the future. This is a very competitive business, so interpretations are very important. We see it in all the sporting regs, we see it in all the technical regs and we need to have an improved system to make sure the interpretations of the RRA are also debated and discussed and we have a proper forum for resolving those issues, because that appears to be where some of the disagreements come between the teams. But we do need to have a system, we need to have a system in the future, that controls the costs, that controls the amount the teams can spend. We as Mercedes, are supportive of any correct initiatives to achieve that.
CH: What was the question again?
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) The Singapore agreement, in your opinion, is it a legally enforceable document, will you be submitting all your documents at the end of the season?
CH: Is it legally enforceable? Probably not in reality. There are things in that agreement that committed things like KERS for one and a half million and so on that didn’t actually happen. Will we work to it, in accordance with it? Yes. Will we submit our figures? I would have thought so. Is it effective? Not really. Have there been other things introduced into sporting and technical regulations that will have a genuine effect on costs next year? Yes they have. I think the reduction in wind tunnel usage, in getting rid of aerodynamic testing and so on will again have a significant impact on costs for next year. Of course, it depends where your cost drivers are but I think we still have a responsibility as a group to not ignore costs and certainly 2014 looks to be a very very expensive year.
SD: As everyone has said, I would say we are sticking to these figures but I think that the most important thing is to look ahead because for sure this is an element of a lot of discussion, debate that we all had together in different ways, in a very competitive world. Everyone is trying to maximise his situation because it’s part of the game. It is true that we need to find a solution that has to be clear to avoid any strange interpretation but so far, that is in terms of numbers, in terms of presenting the data, nothing has changed.
MW: Yes to all the questions but I think that as someone has said, I think it’s very clear we will probably do more than we’ve already done. I think some of the things that have now gone into the technical regulations, sporting regulations have effectively migrated there from the original RRA and that’s positive, I think. As Christian’s observed, I think the control of aerodynamic resources – this is track testing, this is CFD, wind tunnel time – has been effective, I think and I think as Christian also mentioned, despite our best efforts, the costs next year are very stiff, I think, particularly for the smaller teams. I think those teams who have a strong association with an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have a good degree of financial stability but I think it’s very clear that we need to work hard to ensure… we should be fighting for all eleven teams that we’ve got on the grid now, we should be fighting for their survival and making sure that they’ve got sustainable business models because if we don’t, at some point there will be a crisis, there will be the domino effect and we’ve got to… we act sometimes better under crisis, but generally it’s better to avert the crisis and work together beforehand.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) We’ve seen the draft calendar for next year: 21 races. We all know you’ve got views on expanding the calendar. I just wondered if you could say how likely it will be that you think there will actually be 21 races next year and if you think there’s any chance of New Jersey making it even though it’s not on the draft calendar at the present?
MW: I think 21 is tough. I’ve got no personal knowledge of New Jersey so I can’t comment on that. Will those 21 all happen? There’s lots of rumours and speculation in the paddock about whether they’ll all make it. Ultimately I think Bernie’s job is to go out there and put the calendar together. I think he sometimes has to speculate as to the viability or how realistic some of them are. It’s easy for us to jump and complain about the calendar. I think he’s got to put it together and I think we should be grateful that in the last few years, from pretty difficult and challenging times, not only has he maintained a calendar but he’s been able to bring some new venues into the sport. New Jersey, of course, would be fantastic in my opinion, it would be great for the sport. If you then say who would you lose? We’ve all got our personal favourites and our personal least favourites, but I think it would be very disrespectful to use this platform to voice those personal opinions. I think Bernie’s just got to work hard to make sure we’ve got a good calendar. He generally succeeds one way or another and I suspect he will next year.
SD: I would wait. I would say that as you know there will be a discussion, the World Motor Sport Council at the end of the September, so I would wait for that date to see exactly what will be the situation because you are old enough in this world to know that things may change quickly, so let’s wait and see.
Q: Graeme, just a comment from you; do you welcome 21 races from a smaller team’s point of view?
GL: We’ve always made it very very clear that we’re here, in Formula One, to compete and that means a level playing field, then that means that if there’s 21 races, then we race at 21 races. If it’s 20 then of course the cost goes down but that’s not really how we have to look at it. We can’t pick and chose what we would like about this sport. We can’t ask for a level playing field and then try and look at something like that. As Martin has quite rightly pointed out, Bernie puts the races on, the negotiations with the promoters from the outside seem to be tortuous, to say the least. In some cases, they are difficult to predict, some of the twists and turns, there are announcements that that race is happening and sometimes they don’t. Certain venues are more attractive. Sochi is a venue that is of particular interest to us because we obviously have a large following in the Russian market place, but I think in general it’s important for us to be consistent in what we ask for as a level playing field. If that’s 21 races, that’s 21 races.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Towards the end of Max Mosley’s reign (as FIA president), he was committed towards cutting costs at a time when the sport was imploding, manufacturers were leaving. Under Jean Todt, he has implemented a regulation change for next season which is costing every single team multi-millions of pounds and seemingly put a number in jeopardy. Do you genuinely believe Jean Todt has done a good job for Formula One?
CH: I think you’re referring to the engines, Ian, when you’re talking about the increase in costs and in fairness to Jean, the engine discussion was in place before his presidency. Where collectively we all made mistake was not to say no. Some of us did but at the end of the day there’s a process that these regulations have to go through and the teams, through the old Concorde Agreement, had the opportunity, through the Formula One Commission etc etc to stop it and we didn’t so we can only, in many respects, blame ourselves.
Q: (Sam Collins – RaceCar Engineering) We’ve been told earlier this weekend by Pirelli that the deadline for them to supply you guys with the tyre information that they need has been put back by a month, so I would like to ask all of you how that has affected your 2014 car development?
CH: Not at all, because we don’t know what to expect from Pirelli. So it seems to vary from weekend to weekend. I think they’re finalising their plans etc. It’s the same for everybody.
SD: One thing that I would say in all fairness I think that it will important also to give to them the possibility to test, when the new cars are there. For example, in wet conditions, we need to make sure that we will be able to do it before arriving to some weekend where we will find wet and suddenly we may discover something that was not expected, so I think we need to also consider that.
Q: (Silvia Renee Arias – Revista Parabrisas) Domenicali, talking about his future Felipe Massa said yesterday ‘ask Domenicali.’ I would like to ask you…
SD: I think that he did a good answer.
MW: He’s a very nice man.
SD: No, but I think that in that respect nothing has changed in our position. I know that everyone is waiting for information, waiting for news, as they have for all the summer, I have to say, because if you look back, all the summers were like that. Nothing to add on what we said a couple of weeks ago. We will take our time, there’s no rush to make a decision. We want to make sure that we make the right decision. We will support Felipe because this is absolutely clear: he’s a great guy, he’s very much a team player and this is something that we will discuss at the appropriate time and of course, I will tell you, not only to you but to everyone.
Q: (Craig Scarborough – ScarbsF1.com) Having looked at all your aero packages this weekend, you have obviously spent quite a lot of money developing packages just for Monza. Would you like to see a return of other high speed tracks – seeing as it’s the only track now that demands these packages – like Hockenheim or Paul Ricard?
RB: Yes. I would personally, yes, I think that when we had Hockenheim and Monza as the two low drag circuits it was always interesting to have some variety. I think the type of racing you get at these circuits is a little bit different and I would welcome more circuits of the type we have in Monza. Not sure how we achieve that, unfortunately. Monza is now an outsider in terms of the wings we have to make, it’s a special aero package for here, made for only one race but that’s the case for Spa as well. Spa’s in the middle; all the other circuits I can think of we race maximum downforce. May be different next year with the engines we have; may be different with some of the rule changes next year because the lower wing disappears and the rear wing is a little bit smaller, so there are some changes coming which may narrow the gaps between high downforce and low drag circuits. But I do enjoy racing in Monza; apart from the atmosphere which is always great, it’s a very interesting technical challenge for both the team and the drivers, so it’s a great race.
CH: I think that Spa and Monza now… Spa… the cars have improved and the circuit’s been changed slightly there. In many respects the Spa package is very very similar to here. We’re able to use an awful lot of elements here in Monza that we’ve used two weeks ago at Spa. It’s unique, it’s different, it’s got heritage, it’s obviously a very quick race. Strategically it’s a different race, the degradation tends to be pretty low here. The fuel effect is obviously one of the lowest of the year as well and I think it adds that variance to the calendar. That’s the great thing about Formula One. You go from Monaco to Monza, they’re two poles apart and it’s part of the technical challenge that is Formula One.
MW: I think it’s been said. Variety is good. I think this is a great circuit, the place is full of history, the fans are fantastic. I wouldn’t necessarily want to come to Monza twice but I think circuits like this are great but probably, as Ross reflected, we’re not likely to see new ones built like this.
GL: I think it’s probably fair to say we spent a little bit less on our Monza package than the other teams that are here, but as I mentioned before, from our point of view that’s not really the point, the challenge is the same for everybody. From a personal point of view, I think Monza has a special magic from the minute you come through the walls of the park, it’s just got an atmosphere that is really something special and provides the teams with an environment for racing that’s really quite unique so from that point of view it’s a great place, and as I say, in terms of the financial return and Craig, you’re quite right, this is a very very different circuit to others so it’s difficult to make a business case, if you like, around it when you’re keeping a very strong eye on the finances. But I think that’s really not the point when it comes to Monza.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Graeme, you’ve spoken about the level playing field and it’s the same for everyone and you spoke about the finances. Is the level playing for your team in particular really that level? Is it the same for you as for the others, given that you don’t have a commercial agreement with the commercial rights holder and you’re unique in that respect?
GL: You’re right, it’s not level at the moment, but it’s my job and the management team that I’m working with, it’s our job to get it level and I think we are making some progress there. We’ve been very consistent. I think we’ve got a very very good racing team. It’s not for me to judge, but I do believe we deserve our place in Formula One, this is not an easy sport and it’s not meant to be easy. I think the fact that it’s difficult is one of the good things about Formula One, but we are the only one of the new teams that gained an entry in June 2009 to still be here and I think that’s all credit to the people working in the team. I would love to take all the credit myself but I can’t. I think we’ll just continue and hopefully discussions with the commercial rights holder with a view to reaching a position where we are on a level playing field.
Ends -
I’m pleased and relieved; I look forward to racing with Red Bull: Ricciardo
5 Sept 2013:
An F1 Steering wheel. Photo from FIA photo gallery DRIVERS – Max CHILTON (Marussia), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Felipe MASSA (Ferrari), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Let’s start with the man of the moment, who I don’t expect has stopped smiling since the announcement was made a few days ago that he is going to be joining Red Bull Racing next year. A fantastic moment for you Daniel, but how easy is it going to be for you to concentrate for the remainder of the season? How will you keep that focus?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Good afternoon everyone, how’re you going? I think it’s a bit of a relief now that there’s no more speculation and no more dodging questions and all the rest of it. Everyone knows what’s happening, including me. It’s nice. It’s something to look forward to and obviously I’m very pleased with the news but I have eight more races this year and looking forward to giving Toro Rosso a nice farewell I hope and I’ll put all my energy into that. I think this weekend will of course be a bit hectic because the news is fresh but I think from this point on it should start to settle down and get back to normal stuff.
Mark, I guess you’re very pleased it’s gone to your compatriot, but also it must be quite difficult for you with these remaining races. This one for example hasn’t always been kind to you. Talk about your end of season in some ways.
Mark WEBBER: The writing was on the wall for me. I knew once I made the decision that the season was going to come to a close eventually. The clock doesn’t stop in Formula One and I’m actually happy about that, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the decision. Looking forward to getting as much silverware and the best results I can before the year’s out and Brazil Sunday night, the next chapter. Yeah, it’s all good.
Pleased for Dan?
MW: Of course, yeah. It’s very, very rare to have any Australians in Formula One but to have us I suppose handing the baton over in a very, very successful team… it’s great for Dan obviously, he thoroughly deserves it. The junior categories for him in Europe initially is a great test. Not easy for us to come from that part of the world, which he’s done brilliantly with. It’s the perfect scenario I think for the team, it all fits very, very well. After DC and myself they’ve finally got another driver from the junior programme, which is what it’s all about. So that fits in very, very well. Perfect age. It’s all in his corner. So he can do a tremendous job and yeah, it works out well for him.
Jenson, what’s your situation contract wise?
Jenson BUTTON: Good afternoon everyone. As all contracts are, confidential.
Have you signed?
JB: Not yet.
Are you happy to stay with McLaren?
JB: Yes, I’m very happy to stay where I am. I think it’s very easy, when times are difficult, to look elsewhere but when you’re in a team like McLaren that has been fighting at the front for so many years it’s definitely the wrong move to move elsewhere. I feel I have a very good family in the team and at the end of last year we had the quickest car on the grid. We don’t now but it could easily come our way again next season. I feel we are making good progress so this is the right place to be.
Max, similar question to you. You just had your best qualifying and best result as well, what’s your situation with the team at this stage?
Max CHILTON: Good afternoon everyone, I hope you’re having a good day. My situation is the same as it’s been all year. I’ve got a one-year contract. Obviously I’m a rookie and so is Jules and we’re here to learn as much as we can. You learn a lot before you get to Formula One but there’s an awful lot when you do get to Formula One as well. So the main thing I’m trying to do is focus on my skills, get the most out of the car and do the best job for the team. I think for the last couple of races it has been difficult for us but we still have got that 10th place in the championship, so it’s key for us to get the most out of the car when we have the opportunity to get a good race result and if we can get another 12th or 13th that would really help us in the overall championship.
And is there a deadline?
MC: For contract?
Yes.
MC: Not that I know. All I know is the team are happy to keep both of us and I’ll just keep trying to do the best job I can.
Felipe, I guess a similar question to you: what have you got to do to continue with Ferrari?
Felipe MASSA: Good results are always important, so I’ll just concentrate on that. There is a big opportunity to carry on with Ferrari, so I just need to concentrate, trying to do the best we can over the car and that’s what I’m looking for.
We’ll move on to Fernando. This is the next step in your fight-back for the championship. Is the car getting better? Are you optimistic? What’s the feeling as you come to this Italian Grand Prix? You’re a two-time winner here?
Fernando ALONSO: I’m optimistic. For sure I think in Spa we saw some step forward from us and we hope to continue that direction and keep improving here in Monza. The characteristics of the track should help our performance as well. We have everything in place to do a good weekend. We need to deliver when comes the time in Sunday in the race but we arrive with some good confidence and ready to fight. I think for us it will be a stronger test at the Singapore race when we come back to the maximum level of downforce etc and there we will see how much of a step forward we did but let’s concentrate on this weekend. Let’s try to do the maximum and let’s try to finish in front of our main rivals.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speed Sport News) A question for Daniel. At Spa the team told us they had not officially signed anybody. Between Spa and now when did you learn you had the seat?
DR: To be honest, in Spa, as I said, I still didn’t know – that was the truth. I found out, I think it was Wednesday that following week, so a few days before the announcement took place. I can confirm I still didn’t know at Spa, so no lies being told there. Yeah, that’s it.
Q: (Miguel Angel Sainz Bernardino – Marca) Question for Fernando. What result do you need here and in Singapore to avoid Ferrari stopping the development of the car this year? Two wins?
FA: I don’t think two wins is something that we can put up like a target, y’know? We’ve won two grand prix until now in the championship so we will be a little bit too optimistic if we really think that we can win the next two races. We will try to do so and we will hope for the best but more realistic targets are to finish in front of Sebastian. I think it is a target that we want to do in the last couple of grands prix, we didn’t arrive to a situation to close the gap, we only close the gap in Silverstone when he retired. So, we need to change this situation. We will be happy finishing in front of him, I think, here in Monza and in Singapore. Finishing in front of Sebastian means being on the podium. Minimum. Because we know how strong he is and how competitive Red Bull will be. So, two podiums and finishing in front of Sebastian is, I think, the target for these next two grands prix. If we cannot do so, if we keep losing points, obviously we need to start thinking about the 2014 project because we’ll be only six or seven races remaining with massive points [deficit] so important weeks coming for sure.
Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Fernando, you just bought a cycling team. Considering the amount of work you have to do as a racing driver, how can you imagine to commit yourself into this team?
FA: Well, it was one week with a lot of work, to be honest. Two or three batteries, telephone every day and it was some things to do. Now, more or less, that’s everything complete. All the decisions and all the work that we need to do for the cycling team will be passed to other people, some managers and some sportive directors that we need to find. We need to find sponsors, we need to do a lot of things in the next month, let’s say, because the first race is in the middle of January in Australia. It’s not something that we can delay much more. It’s a very ambitious project with a lot of hopes on it. I will not, as I said, put too much percentage of my days on the bicycle team, especially now that we are fighting for the championship. But when I arrive in wintertime, or something like that, hopefully we can create a solid project. Not so much for 2014 because I don’t think there are many riders now with possibilities to sign but for 2015 onwards we need to create something big. So we will work a little bit.
MW: I think Adrian will design the bikes…
FA: …he’s too busy
Q: (Pablo Grau – F1Aldia.com) Jenson, you did a good job in Spa, what do you expect in Monza, a very fast track?
JB: Yeah, Spa was alright. It’s quite difficult to get excited about sixth place but in terms of the pace of the car it was pretty good. Fourth after turn one and finishing sixth isn’t so bad. So yeah, we’re hoping for a bit more of an improvement. I think we’ve unlocked a little bit of performance with the car and we’re pretty close to challenging the cars in front. Whether we can do that here or not I don’t know. It’s a very low downforce circuit here and I think we have a pretty good low downforce package, so we will see. I think after three or four laps tomorrow we’ll know where we stand in terms of how the downforce is working and the efficiency of it.
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, it’s certainly not match-point right now but how would you describe the situation? Could it be like a set-point? How do you feel yourself, psychologically? Are you worried, are you anxious, are you angry, are you optimistic, how are you?
FA: For what?
Q: The situation in the World Championship
FA: I’m relaxed. I think when you do the maximum and you maximise normally the potential of the car and of yourself, finding the limits every time you are behind the wheel, you feel relaxed yourself and happy with the work. Of course we want to fight for the championship like we did last year until the last race, and this year we see that slowly the gap in the championship is increasing every weekend, so we want to stop that. We need to change that situation and hopefully this weekend is the starting point. It’s still plenty of races, plenty of opportunities, plenty of points to play. We believe that we can do it. So let’s start from this weekend.
Q: (Silvia Renée Arias – Revista Parabrisas) Felipe, this is a very, very important race for you, you said before, that these two races were important for you, Spa and Monza. How do you feel in terms of the performance of your car? Is it important to have a car good enough to prove and do something well?
FM: I feel that the car was more competitive in Spa than in Hungary. I think it was important for us. I believe we can have a good car here. In the last years, even last year maybe, the car was not so competitive in the season but we had a good race in Monza. We find a good direction for this race, so I hope we can have a good car here so that we can fight and have a great race. Not just here but the second part of the season much better than the first part.
Q: (Michael Neudecker – Süddeutsche Zeitung) Fernando, again a cycling question, can you talk about your new team, if you have a name already? And can you talk about your passion for cycling and your relationship to Alberto Contador?
FA: Not name yet. As I said, we are waiting for sponsors – you want to write that – what we want is to have a team that can fight for the best things. My passion for cycling has been from a very young age and I do cycling as part of my training and also as part of my life. I’m always in front of the TV or checking the results. Very good friends in the cycling world. We talk of relationship with riders. Alberto is a good friend of mine. This project tried to best things of the two sports. I want to bring to Formula One the best things that cycling can teach me in terms of sacrifice, determination, discipline, training. And I want to bring to my cycling team the best things of Formula One. There are many and hopefully in the team next year, in the cycling, we can see some of the great things of Formula One, in terms of organization, image marketing, professionalism. Let’s try to put the best for the best.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Daniel, what can one realistically expect from you at the beginning of next year? Do you expect to start the season very close to Sebastian or do you have any plan to be there in the second part of the season?
DR: Obviously, I would love to be as competitive as I can as quickly as possible, so for me, I’ll obviously finish the season as strongly as possible with Toro Rosso, but as soon as it’s finished, switch my focus to 2014, try and put in a really good off-season, at least do as much as I can to prepare myself to be there for the first race. I know it’s obviously not going to be as easy as it seems but the best thing I can do is push myself as much as I can. I have one of the best teammates in the world now to measure myself against so no better man to have but him and push myself as hard as I can.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, next Saturday in Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Tokyo, Madrid fight for the Olympic Games in 2020. What are you feelings about Madrid, a city that you know very well and why do you think Madrid deserves the Olympic Games?
FA: Well, let’s hope so. I think Madrid deserves finally to host the Olympic Games. This is the third time that they try to host it and this time, hopefully, it will be the good one. I think the effort that the city and the country is making is quite good, there is a lot of success in Spanish sport in the last eight or ten years, that hopefully can convince the people. There is the enthusiasm from the whole country to host it, maximum support and we really want it. I know that it will be close. In Spain, we think that the Spanish possibilities are very high. I know that outside of Spain they are relatively less and maybe the favourite is Tokyo but we keep our fingers crossed until Saturday.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Felipe, last year you struggled in the first part of the season but you could identify what was wrong and after the summer break you were very competitive. This year you started very well, but after Monaco, your results haven’t been up to the same standard as before. Can you pinpoint what’s gone wrong in this second part of the season?
FM: I think that what is important to say is that this year the performance was good at every race. We couldn’t put together the results at the end of the race. I was not very lucky in so many things. I had two races where I had problems with the tyres. I spun at the Nurburgring, problem with the suspension in Monaco. For sure so many things happened that I couldn’t finish where I was supposed to but the performance was there. I think that’s important. I just need to put everything together and finish races where I’m supposed to and then I think the performance will be there and the results will be there as well.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, how long do you want to wait for Ferrari’s decision about your future?
FM: I think you need to ask this question of Stefano (Domenicali).
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, you’ve bought this ‘bike team; I would like to know if there is any possibility that you might take a year off, concentrate on the bicycle team and then maybe take the opportunity for the future when the turbo era builds up and we know how the situation is between teams? Is this crazy or is there a realistic chance of this?
FA: Never an option. I’m in the best moment of my career, I’m with the best experience and performing at the best time. I will not miss any opportunity now. I know that I’m still in very good shape for maybe four, five more years so for sure I will give 100 percent of my passion that is motor sport and my career. After these four or five years, I will see what condition I am in and if I’m performing well. If I’m not feeling good any more, maybe I will think but as I said, I will be 100 percent committed for the next four or five years.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Daniel, changing teams always involves a bit of transition and adjustment. Moving to a team like Red Bull involves that transition under an awful lot of pressure. Are there are any steps you can take this year to ease the transition, given the relationship between the two teams, working more with the engineers, learning more about how to operate inside the big Red Bull team?
DR: I think I’m pretty fortunate to spend some time with Red Bull Racing in the past as a reserve driver. At Toro Rosso, we still go to Milton Keynes to use the simulator so I see a fair chunk of the team, also away from race weekends. Obviously, now that the news is out I will try and if I get some extra time to start to mould a relationship with the crew for next year, yeah, so I’ll ease into it and by December when we really start, I will already try and establish a good relationship with the guys and understand the way they work. As I say, I’m quite fortunate, I already understand a little bit about it, so a little bit of a head start.
Q: (Mineoki Yoneya – La Vie Creative) Question to both of the Ferrari drivers: talking about Suzuka, how can you make the difference from the other drivers in terms of driving, and do you have any plans to visit somewhere in Japan?
FA: Well, Suzuka is probably the most enjoyable race track of the year so it’s always very special to go there but as I said, for the fantastic layout of the track, also for the fans, also for the passion that we always live when we are in Suzuka. We race after Korea so we will spend from Monday to Thursday probably in Tokyo, relaxing a little bit and preparing for the race and then in Suzuka, just concentrating on the weekend. No special plans to do crazy things but every thing there is a little bit special so we will try to enjoy it as always.
FM: Yeah, I think it’s the same. Suzuka is a fantastic place, fantastic track to race on, one of the best, so it’s very nice to be in Japan. I love to go to Japan. As Fernando said, we’re going to spend a few days during the week after the Korean race in Tokyo, a great place to be as well, so really looking forward to racing in Suzuka and having a great race there for the fans as they are some of the best fans in Formula One.
Q: (Giorgio Pasini – Tuttosport) Mark, do you have any suggestions for Daniel in order to manage the relationship with Sebastian; maybe the knife from Crocodile Dundee?
MW: Daniel will handle it fine. He knows how to handle himself so he’ll be OK.
DR: I think that’s obviously for me to figure out. As Mark said, I’ll be right.
Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, what do you think about teams with two top drivers? Also looking at the past, what is your opinion? What are the positive things and negative things in this kind of situation?
FA: I think it’s a good thing. There is always, in the top teams, the need to have two very good drivers because they fight for World Championships, they fight for Constructors points and they fight for winning every race they go to, so you cannot have only one driver. This has always been the case in the top teams, always the case in Ferrari, in McLaren, Red Bull now. At the end, or in the middle of the year, there is always one driver who has scored more points than the others and maybe a year later it’s the opposite, the other driver has scored more points. This is the way it is and you need to start or reset to zero every winter and start in the same conditions again and try to build up the points a little bit. So I think this is quite normal in our sport.
Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, what kind of result do you need here in Monza to hope to stay with Ferrari next season?
FM: Well, I think I definitely need a good race. That’s always important. I think it’s important to try to use the car in the maximum way it is possible. I think that’s what gives you pleasure, even if you don’t win the race but you did the best you could. I think that’s always the most important thing. The team can see that, race by race, all the time. You cannot forget that Ferrari knows me very well. It’s the team that knows me most. About experience, we know how important next year is as well. Everything starts from zero: different car, different rules, everything, so the driver’s experience is important as well. Sometimes you just look at the results of this race; that’s not what counts the most. I think it’s everything together. But anyway, it’s always important to do the maximum we can in this race and try to use the best of the car that we’re going to have this weekend.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Fernando, your name was mentioned a few times in the Red Bull situation. Were you at all interested in the Red Bull seat? Would you have gone up against Vettel or do you think you’ll finish at Ferrari? Would you be interested in going to Red Bull at any time in the future?
FA: It was only rumours, a lot of rumours. There were rumours about Red Bull, there were rumours in Italy about a sabbatical year, there were so many rumours. I still have three and a half more years with Ferrari which I intend to respect and hopefully to increase a little bit, and as I said, finish my career in the best team in the world which is Ferrari. We are not at the moment achieving the results that we want but we are working very hard and next year will be completely new rules which obviously open the door for many teams to stop the domination that Red Bull seems to have had in the last couple of years so we have high hopes also for next year’s challenge. About the news that now Red Bull have two drivers, it’s very good news that Daniel has signed, also for our country because it has opened up a good possibility for Carlos Sainz to join Toro Rosso, so that was the best news for us.
Q: (Sergio Lillio Martinez – Revista Scratch) Max, it’s a hard season for you because it’s your first in F1; where do you think you deserve to be in 2014 and how do you face the next races?
MC: The next few races are going to be pretty challenging. I think we’ve got seven after here and I think I’ve only driven one of them, and that was Singapore so it’s going to be a little bit challenging. Actually, sorry, we’ve got Abu Dhabi as well so there’s five I haven’t driven of the final seven so it will be challenging but it is my first year. As I said earlier, I’m still learning but I’ve done half a year in Formula One, you can’t expect much longer to up your pace and learn and for the last few races the pace has been a lot better, especially qualifying. We did a great team effort in Spa so my focus is just to keep doing what I’m doing and learning and I think for the second half of the year my speed will come through more and hopefully we can keep that tenth place (in the Constructors).
Ends
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We were afraid of rain, but it passed the circuit: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Sebastian, your 31st Grand Prix victory, you’re now just one behind the man who finished in second place. That looked pretty easy for you today.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was fantastic race for us. From start to finish really very good tactics. Obviously it helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying. Once I passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end. We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit. Great race. Thank you to the team, thanks to Renault. All the guys have been working very hard and… yeah, fantastic result, can’t be any better.
Q: You passed a milestone today if you’re into statistics. You seem to like to get the fastest lap towards the end of these grand prix but you’ve now led well over 2000 laps in your grand prix career. Were you aware of that one?
SV: Now I am. Thank You! Yeah, incredible. We are a bit confused down here because the crowd is booing and cheering and booing and we don’t understand why.
We’re not going to highlight why that is at the moment.
[note: the drivers were unable to see a protest taking place around and above the podium]
Q: Fernando, this must feel like a victory today. You’ve never won around the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, which is surprising given that you’ve got 32 victories in your career but that was typical attacking stuff from ninth place.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, we had to recover some places. We were not OK yesterday and everything went OK from the start and then the car has the speed to overtake some cars and it was a little bit boring. After we get the second place we are nowhere near Sebastian and not a big threat from behind.
Q: Looking ahead to Monza, you must feel pretty much buoyed for Ferrari, going to what is the home grand prix for the Ferrari team.
FA: Yeah, definitely it’s an important weekend for us, for the team. Last year we were very close to repeat the victory that we get also in 2010, so we arrive fully motivated again and in Monza we would like to give some smiles and some satisfaction to the tifosi and we will try our best.
Q: Lewis, that’s your 54th podium, that equals you with Niki Lauda who is one of the senior management at the Mercedes grand prix team. Does that statistic mean anything to you and what do these points mean for you this afternoon?
Lewis HAMILTON: We had a tough race, these guys were a little bit faster than us but the team did a great job throughout the weekend and I’m really happy with the results. Of course to be put in the same sentence as someone as legendary as Niki is a real privilege. I’m happy with the result we had, I’m glad to see so many great fans here this weekend. They made the weekend.
Q: Once again we heard you on the team radio saying you were taking absolutely everything out of the car and the tyres. You went off into the summer break as the victor, you’ve come on a roll of four pole positions. Looking ahead to the next grand prix, what do you think you’ve learnt from this Belgian race.
LH: I came in this weekend and when we started I felt that we perhaps didn’t have as good a package as these two here. I think we’ll go away after this weekend, we’ll try and see if we can improve for Monza. But definitely when we get to Singapore, I think we’ll have a much better chance there.
[Sebastian] I believe your points lead is extended to the largest ever margin you’ve had. You must feel good looking to the second half of this season.
SV: Yeah. Obviously winning helps. Just really controlled. The car was much better than I think we expected going into the race. So we had a bit of pace on hand to control the race. I really enjoyed that a lot. I think the guys on the pit wall as well, it was not as stressed as at other times. Fortunately there was no rain, so in terms of critical calls there were none to make. It was a very good afternoon for us and obviously looking forward to Monza where we don’t expect, maybe, to be that strong but let’s see.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your 31st career victory – two less than Fernando – and your fifth this season. Clearly the decisive moment was the opening lap of the race. Tell us about that and how it set you up for the rest of the afternoon.
SV: Yeah, obviously very difficult around here to plan your start because first of all you need to have a good launch off the line and then there’s a long straight coming. A bit like Korea. I tried my best to line up behind Lewis and basically benefit from a massive tow through Eau Rouge. I think especially in the opening lap when the tyres are not yet completely there and the fuel tank is full, Obviously the cars are quite heavy up the hill and produce a lot of drag and I was able, in the tow, to make up a lot of speed and when I got side by side I had a lot of advantage over Lewis and was able to get straight ahead. So, yeah, it worked very well, what I was trying to, let’s say, plan at the exit of turn two. And after that I just tried to settle into the rhythm. I tried to open a gap to be flexible at the first stop and yeah, until the end we had incredible pace. We didn’t expect that. We knew, probably, going in that, in the dry, we should be able to beat Mercedes on the track but we knew other cars – Lotus, Ferrari – they looked very competitive in the dry, so in that regard yeah, we had massive pace and could control the race until the end.
Q: You’ve increased your championship lead as well, now over Fernando, almost two race wins clear. How are you feeling about it at this stage?
SV: For sure a positive message today but I’m honestly more happy to win the race today: it’s a fantastic track and especially when the car works well, you don’t want the race to stop. The car is getting lighter and lighter and I was very comfortable at the end on the Primes. The car, as I said, was just a pleasure to drive. You don’t… I didn’t think about the championship or points. Obviously I know the higher up you finish the better it is: ideally ahead of everyone else, which worked today. But yeah, such a great circuit. We’ve had good races here in the past so it’s nice to have another one, another great memory today. So, that’s what honestly I was focussing on most. For sure, regarding the championship, it’s a bonus.
Q: Fernando, obviously for you also the start was pretty decisive. Ninth on the grid, up to fifth on the opening lap. You passed Rosberg, Webber, Button, Hamilton to come through to second place. That’s quite a recovery from what must have been a very disappointing qualifying performance yesterday.
FA: Yeah, I think the weekend was more or less good for us with recovering some feelings that we lost in July with the car especially. We were a little bit more competitive – or we felt a little bit more competitive this weekend. Not for sure maybe for pole position but to be in the first four or five positions on the grid, maybe that was possible but yesterday I think were extremely unlucky with the situation in Q3 with weather and the track: where we were, in the place we were, at the time we were was wrong. So, unfortunately some times in these changeable conditions you are lucky, sometimes unlucky. I remember Malaysia very well in Q3, we were in the right place in the right moment and we were second and third of the grid. Yesterday was a little bit the opposite. So we had to plan a perfect race from the start to the pace of the car, to the strategy and everything worked fine and we could recover some places and extremely important for the championship also to get some good points again after three races not so good.
Q: Lewis touched on it yesterday in the press conference here, that throughout the practice and qualifying as well the Ferrari looked quite quick and looked like it had taken a step forward. Do you feel that over the course of this weekend? Is that giving you encouragement? Obviously we’re going to some very different kinds of circuits in the next few weeks but are you taking encouragement from this weekend?
FA: I’m happy. I’m happy with the feeling that I had this weekend. I’m happy with the parts that we brought here, seems that they are working fine. We need to take things very carefully because, as you say, this is a very specific circuit and we are not first and second in any practice or any qualifying or any race. We are ninth and tenth in quali and now we are second and seventh in the race. At the moment it is still work to do.
Q: Lewis, great getaway from pole into the first corner but describe the remainder of that first part of that first lap from your perspective.
LH: It was not particularly exciting or anything. It was pretty straightforward. Half-decent start and I felt like I got a good exit out of turn one but these guys… Sebastian just caught me massively, particularly through Eau Rouge. There was no defending really. I could only move once, so I moved once and just had to watch him glide by. After that it was very, very difficult to hold onto him. And also when Fernando came by, particularly down the straights, he was just pulling away.
Q: At one point on the radio you were saying “I’m getting everything I can out of the car.” Obviously finishing around 27 seconds behind at the end of the race. Is that a concern for you, given the way you translated pole to victory before the summer break?
LH: Not really. I think every year you come here – here and Monza – you come with a new package, new front and particularly rear wing and sometimes you hit the nail on the head and sometimes you don’t. I think we’ve done a decent job but obviously these guys have done a slightly better job. Whether or not we can make an adjustment before the next race, we’ll wait and see but I think more importantly we’ll be back to being very competitive – or more competitive when we get to Singapore.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Fernando, definitely a good race for you, starting from P9 but is it also good for your championship, as Vettel finished ahead of you?
FA: I think it’s good; obviously we lost an extra seven points but when they are dominating the weekend, when they do everything better than us and they win the race, they deserve the win and we need to aim for maximum points. Weekends like this one we need to extract the maximum from the car. That is what we did this weekend, all we could in qualifying, all we could in the race. In the race, once we were second we were two to four tenths slower per lap. When you are the second fastest, you deserve to finish second. So we just need to congratulate Sebastian, Red Bull and try to get better for Monza, but in terms of the championship, as I said, we came from two fifth places in Hockenheim and Hungary, with a little bit of a not good feeling and not good performance from the car and today I think we recovered some of the optimism that we lost and I think it was a good weekend for the championship in terms of feeling and in terms of points as well.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi is now 63 points behind you. Do you think he’s out of this championship?
SV: No, there’s more than 63 points you can score before the end of the season. I don’t know what happened to him. It’s obviously a shame for him but these things can happen. I had a technical failure in Silverstone, we lost the race. It hurts but equally you have so many races that all of us we have these kind of things happening; surely the cars are – in terms of generation – at their end and it’s not a completely new car if you look at the previous years but still we are pushing. The cars are on the limit and you try to get everything out of them. Things that are built on the limit can also break.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, do you feel you are like in the situation of two years ago when you won the championship quite early in Japan? Do you think it’s going smoothly and you are relaxed with the situation around you?
SV: Well, I… maybe you have a different memory but what I remember from 2011 is that we had a fantastic season but we were working very hard, step by step, race by race and surely not working towards a certain race to seal the championship with a couple of races to go. I wasn’t relaxed at that time, I was as nervous as I am today, hopefully. Therefore, as I said, it’s really step by step and not trying to be too smart, too clever and think too far ahead.
Q: (Andy Young – Richland F1) Fernando, once again you were fast in the race but not so much in qualifying. Do you think this could affect your championship chances against Sebastian?
FA: Well, we need to improve the qualifying performance but to be honest, I’m doing what I can. I’m 8-3 against my teammate, I think. Yesterday was about qualifying but I was 0.6s quicker than my teammate, so in a way, it’s not that the races are good and the qualifyings are bad, it’s just the way it is and we are extracting the maximum from the car all the time. In the races there are more aspects, not pure performance of the car. There is the strategy, the management of the tyres, the characteristics of the cars and on that aspect, I think we are very strong. In the pure performance of the car, we are maybe lacking some performance compared to the others but as I said, I’m extremely happy with the performance we are achieving on Saturday and also on Sunday and the championship is open and we have the best example last year. I was leading with 41 points ahead of Sebastian after the Monza race and I arrived in Texas 15 points behind, so things can change very quickly. Our hopes are to keep developing, to keep improving performance and try to repeat what happened last year the other way around.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, after being on pole position, is this more of less what you expected in the race or did you expect to be closer to Red Bull?
LH: I think yesterday I said that I don’t think we generally have the same pace as these guys, or at least, not necessarily the Ferraris but more so the Red Bulls. But they were both too fast for us today. It’s the best we could have done. Yesterday, the weather helped us to get up to where we were. At the end of the day, we just need to work a little bit harder. I think we can do a better job, hopefully for Monza.
Q: (Jerome Pugmeister – Associated Press) Fernando, you said the team’s recovered some of its optimism. How far can that optimism take you; do you still believe you can mount a genuine title challenge with eight races left?
FA: Yeah, yeah. I think we cannot forget that in the first five races we were a very competitive team. We won two of the five races and we were in a position to fight for the podium all the time. At that point, we were a very few points behind the leader. Then there were some races in the championship where we went backwards in terms of a step in the car and we lost direction a little bit. We understood the problem, we analysed everything and all the things that we are now bringing to the races are delivering what we expected, finally, so this gives us the possibility to get our good form back but we still have to recover some of the gap, to fight for pole positions etc but the championship is very long, and as I said before, the example is what happened to us last year. If you have a competitive car and you win four or five consecutive races like Sebastian did last year in India, Japan, Singapore etc, you recover very quickly. If we are in the position to do that, we will find out very soon.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think unusually for Red Bull, your car was set up for quite a high top speed. Was it because you have taken into consideration that you expected to do some overtaking during the race, and how well does that look for Monza, with reasonably low downforce? You were very quick here.
SV: Well, ideally we try to set up our car to the optimum. I think we were maybe more competitive than we expected. Whether that’s us over-performing or the others under-performing, I’m not entirely sure to be honest. So in that regard, it’s always nice to have speed on the straights if you have to overtake, then it’s obviously easier to get yourself side-by-side with the other car and to lose something more under braking, whereas if you’re limited by straightline speed it’s very difficult to pass. We’ve had some bad experiences around here so maybe this year we were a little bit on the higher side in terms of speed. For Monza, I don’t know actually. It’s very difficult to predict. We had painful years in a way, where we just get hammered down the straights and we’ve had years where the loss down the straight was limited, so we could come back in the corners and for sure, if you look back the 2011 experience was great in that regard. How it turns out to be this year it’s difficult to say. I think we can be quite confident. We had a good race in Canada, we had a very good race here which are both medium downforce type of tracks, so I hope that our low downforce package goes in the same direction.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you attacked Lewis did you have some KERS left for it and then obviously to Lewis, did you have some KERS to defend yourself or was everything gone after the start?
SV: I had some left.
LH: I had some left but he was catching me so I didn’t use the rest of it, I saved it for the rest of the lap.
Ends
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I am able to find the limits when conditions are edgy: Hamilton
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)TV UNILATERAL
Lewis, it was all about timing today and your timing was absolutely perfect.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was. It was obviously a good job by the team. I was so surprised when I crossed the line. When I started the lap, it looked like, on the board… I saw on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I thought ‘Oh my God’, especially as it was raining more. I went wide in turn one and the dash display is usually telling you whether you’re up or down and it said I was three seconds down and then five seconds and six seconds, so I didn’t understand what was happening in the lap but I just kept pushing. I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end but what a blessing, I feel so fortunate to be up here.
Particularly the middle sector seemed to be strong. So clearly through the Mercedes and yourself are well hooked up. How do you explain that?
LH: I think generally I feel quite comfortable in changing conditions and I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge. And in the middle I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it. But, yeah, the car’s feeling good.
Sebastian, today was obviously also keeping your nerve. What were you thinking about the closing stages? Were you thinking that there is as much to lose here as there is to gain?
Sebastian VETTEL: No, there’s always something to gain. Yeah, it wasn’t clear that the first lap we did in Q3 wasthe lap, on intermediate tyres. Obviously we all went out for the start with slicks tyres. It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily. Then on intermediates, as I said, it wasn’t clear because in the beginning it looked like there was more and more rain coming, so we were all rushing to get a lap in. But then it stopped raining and the circuit came back very quickly ands the last lap turned out to be the fastest lap, with the circuit drying. It’s difficult to know how fast you can go. Obviously I saw Lewis catching up in the last lap and I thought I could have gone a bit quicker here or quicker there. In the end it was quite close I think across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. A shame to miss pole, once again. I’m quite happy today. The boys did a very good job changing tyres from slicks to intermediates and got us an extra lap. Unfortunately the circuit wasn’t ready but all in all I think a good day for the team, so let’s see what happens tomorrow. We expect similar conditions to today, rain, dry and a bit of everything, so we’ll see.
And Mark, your final qualifying session in a Formula One car at this Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it delivered its usual mixture of conditions. How was your session?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, difficult for all of us to make the right calls. But in the end I think we got most things right. It’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, from a team side, from a driver’s side, making the right calls. In the end, we got most things OK I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS on or off in the session, actually in Q3. It’s available in the first part of quali but not at the end, but it’s the same for everyone, so it’s a very, very difficult thing, as Lewis has touched on, to know where you are, how the track’s moving around so much. It was quite a ballsy thing for me to go slow in the middle lap know if the track’s going to be better on the last lap, to save the tyres, because they’re struggling quite a bit in those conditions, on the inters. In the end, it wasn’t too bad a lap and it was quite tight obviously. So, yeah, pretty happy to be right up there for tomorrow’s race.
Back to you Lewis. Obviously it’s not been the easiest weekend so far from the looks of things as far as practice has been concerned for you and the Mercedes team. Tell us about the race tomorrow. You’re obviously starting from where you want to be, but can you keep these two guys behind you?
LH: I think this weekend they’ve both shown that they have incredible pace this weekend. But I’m hoping that whatever the conditions are tomorrow we can try to fight it out with them. The guys have done a fantastic job in bringing a good package here. I generally feel we’re quite close. I still feel the Red Bull is generally a little bit ahead of us in performance and that’s why results like this today feel even better because it feels like we extracted more than what the car can actually do, so I’m really happy with it.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, second race in a row now that in the closing stages of a Saturday afternoon you’ve spoiled Sebastian’s day. It’s becoming a bit of a habit and you two are having quite a duel at the moment.
LH: I’m trying to catch him up. He’s obviously had incredible success over the last few years so I’m trying my best to battle with hum and I hope that we can do that in the race tomorrow whatever the conditions are. I just feel grateful for the way the year has turned out and that we can be so competitive and really try to challenge the Red Bulls. It’s a huge accomplishment by the team.
Tell us about communication on a day like this. You were saying just a moment ago that you weren’t really quite sure what was going in the first part of the lap, obviously the times were all over the place, but in terms of the way the team communicates. We saw people making mistakes in Q1 and Q2, very easy to make mistakes and communication clearly critical to that.
LH: Yeah, everyone is on edge and communication is key for all the teams. So they’re asking me what the track is like at certain points of the circuit and of course they need to be on it to make sure we get out at the right time. We nearly go pushed out of Q2, which I really wouldn’t have been happy with…
Two one hundredths of a second.
LH: Yeah, by the grace of God we got through. And then at the end, I didn’t know that I was going to be one of the last ones across the line. I just kept pushing and at the end of the day it was a good job by the team, particularly when the moment counted.
Sebastian, as we were saying, Lewis and Mercedes coming on strong at the moment.
SV: Yeah, surely. Obviously in qualifying they have been quite strong in the first part of the season and they keep doing it. I think today you have to look from a different point of view. In these conditions anything can happen. Lewis had quite and impressive middle sector. He was right behind me. Maybe it helped a little bit to know how fast he could go here and there. I checked in my mirrors and thought I could have gone quicker here, quicker there because he was closing up. But I’m very happy with the result. As I said, in these conditions anything is possible. Mark touched on it – it’s very easy to do the wrong calls and you’re out. So, overall, a good result and everything is possible tomorrow, condition-wise we expect the same as today.
You obviously looked very comfortable yesterday, apart from the puncture obviously in practice two and again this morning, the Red Bull looked well balanced, quick on the circuit. There was a sign in Q2 when you just waited and went out and did that one run that there seemed to be quite a lot of confidence as far as you were concerned about the session.
SV: Yeah, well confidence in the weather let’s say, mostly. It was supposed not to rain. I said OK there’s no point in going out, let’s wait, because the circuit will improve, which is what we did in the end. My first lap was not fantastic so I did another lap. I think we did the right thing there. Fortunately it didn’t rain. Obviously when it starts raining and you haven’t gone out you look really stupid. I think we trust the guys on the pit wall to judge the weather and the situation. Obviously, Q3 was different. The boys were quite in a hurry when we came back in to change tyres and go back out. But for Q2 I think it was the right call.
Mark, we mentioned before that this is your last run in F1 quali at Spa-Francorchamps. Tell us about your relationship with this circuit, what you feel today and what you feel about this place.
MW: It’s a sensational circuit. Compared to the ones that have been attempted to be designed of late obviously they’re nothing like this track. It’s a beautiful circuit to drive on, all the guys love coming here, the teams, the engineers. Even the cars I think in a bizarre way know they’re here in terms of Eau Rouge and Blanchimont. You know, La Source is very tight and then 10 seconds later you’re through Eau Rouge so it’s a great mixture. I won the Formulas Ford race here in 1996 so it’s a beautiful circuit to drive on in any category and yeah, looking forward to bringing the Porsche here next year.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Lewis, Toto Wolff said that Mercedes should start focusing on next year’s car. What are your thoughts about that, especially now when you are in front of Red Bull?
LH: I think there’s several different people that have different opinions about it but I feel quite relaxed and comfortable with the people who are at the top who are going to make that decision. I don’t feel that next year is compromised at all or this year just yet. I think it’s trying to find a real fine balance. Of course we want to have the best shot possible next year but of course all of a sudden we’re competing as well as we are now so it’s striking a fine balance, but I think they’ll do a good job of that.
Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Lewis, do you think if it hadn’t rained in qualifying that Mercedes had the pace to contend for pole position?
LH: I would be guessing but my guess would be maybe not. The Red Bull was looking particularly quick and also the Ferrari was looking quite quick in the dry conditions, so I’m not necessarily sure that we had the pace to be as fast everyone today. But who knows, it’s just a guess.
Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Lewis, you said coming into the second half of the season that you’ve never felt better. Is it fair to say that you’ve never been driving any better or certainly as well as you have been at the moment?
LH: It feels like I’m driving the best but I feel like I’ve been driving well for quite some time and just sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to really show that. But I really feel that I’m getting everything out of the car, I’m getting everything out of every opportunity that I have. I know there’s a lot of pressure for everyone but I feel in a good place. And yeah, absolutely, I can’t remember the last time I crossed the line and had such a good feeling, particularly as I was looking for the TV screens and I just couldn’t beli… I could see the team was cheering so I couldn’t believe that. It’s just crazy to think that this is my 31st pole and it still feels like it’s the first one. It’s just an incredible feeling and I’m very grateful to be here today, as I said.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you said on the radio that the car was all over the place and even today in the morning you had some problems, and now you are on pole position. I think Nico had quite a good long stint yesterday, how confident are you in the long stints of the Mercedes and the race pace, and would you prefer wet or dry in that respect?
LH: I feel that the long pace is not bad. I think we… again, over the evening, last night we made some decent changes, but going into qualifying we made some better ones. Qualifying was more about just being there at the right time and you never know when you’re going to be in the right position and I just happened to be one of the last ones coming across the line and that’s when the track would be at its best. But I think Nico proved that the long run was good and I think I had a few good laps as well but the Red Bulls are still pretty quick. I think it’s going to be close but I hear it’s going to rain pretty heavily tomorrow.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, it’s very easy for anybody to look silly out there, make a stupid mistake. How much more chancy is a session in the wet compared to a session in the dry when there are far fewer variables?
MW: Yeah, emotionally it is a bit more of a roller-coaster, particularly when you’ve got… really it’s the conditions changing so much. In our industry and in Formula One we like to control as much as we can, obviously, and the plan into a normal dry qualifying session is obviously very regimented, very organized and the fine tuning is incredibly precise. When it’s like that, obviously you have to make decisions on the bounce, the driver’s got to be very interactive with the pit wall, the pit wall has got to make the decisions with the boys so yeah, there is just, by circumstance, more emotion and the timing is a bit more – well, a lot more critical and that’s what makes people a bit more squeakier, let’s say, in terms of pressure. As I say, it’s easy to get it wrong.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, we saw today that it was very easy to make mistakes. Ferrari looked like they made mistakes at the end so they are quite far behind, while you and Mercedes did everything perfectly. How easy is it for you mentally to get in the car and know that you can trust completely what’s going to happen on the pit wall?
SV: I don’t think you are in any doubt – at least for myself – in doubt of what the team does. Obviously in terms of which tyres to use and when etc is largely depending on us inside the car, but I think, as Mark touched on, obviously in these conditions it’s a lot trickier to get it right, not just for the team, also for the driver because it’s so much easier to make a mistake. In the end, I think all three of us had very good laps at the end, on the lap where it mattered most. But for sure, compared to the dry, I think it’s much harder to nail that one where you don’t have room for error and it’s so much easier to make a mistake, go wide, lose the car, lose time so yeah, if I look back to the lap I had now, obviously, there’s room for improvement but many times I was quite close to lose the car. It doesn’t mean that I had to go off and crash the car but lose the car, lose time. That’s why, in the rain, in the wet, in these mixed conditions, there’s a chance for everybody to over-perform, but there’s also the chance to get it wrong. It doesn’t take much and you are somewhere at the back.
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Lewis, what were you feeling in your last qualifying lap?
LH: This one just now? Again, it didn’t feel spectacular. As I said, I went wide in turn one and my dashboard was really confusing me in terms of whether I was up or down on my previous lap, but I just kept pushing and particularly the first corner and the last two corners were terrible. I thought that the lap wasn’t that great but…
SV: You thought I was on a cool-down lap which is why…
LH: I was catching him…
SV: …so much that I will just take it easy.
Ends
Hamilton (centre) takes the pole at Spa on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo -
We will fight every race, but our focus is also on next year’s car: Andrew Green
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andrew GREEN (Force India), Nick CHESTER (Lotus), Jean-Michel JALINIER (Renault Sport), Tom McCULLOUGH (Sauber), Pat SYMONDS (Williams), James Key (Toro Rosso)
PRESS CONFERENCE
James, if I could start with you. I want to talk about the engineering challenges today, of developing new technologies, such as we have for 2014, but in a resource-restricted environment in Formula One, as we have at the moment. What are the key points in your mind?
James KEY: That’s the secret to it in many ways, isn’t it, because we have a lot of new technologies and new things we have to do for next year. Fundamentally, it’s a case of getting the priorities right and understanding how best to pitch what technologies are going to be important and which aren’t, or which are going to be less important let’s say. Certainly when you have a limited budget as a team, you can’t iterate through everything. It’s very easy to spend a lot of money very quickly, so you have to circumvent certain things by kind of iterating and then take your best guess and move on from there. So to certain extent there’s a bit of knowledge you have to go on and in other respects it’s a case of setting priorities.
Obviously you’re switching from Ferrari to the Renault for next year. Do you get the gearbox from Red Bull, presumably as part of all that package. Can you talk a little bit about how big a boost that is in terms of your efforts to move yourselves forward up the grid.
JK: I think certainly it makes a huge amount of sense for us to have a few more synergies where possible with Red Bull – we fundamentally have the same ownership. I think that’s good for both teams. We will take the same engine as well. We’re working extremely well with our engine partners at Renault, who are doing a good job of supporting us. It’s a new experience for us, we haven’t worked with them in the past. In that respect it’s good. We’ll have to see for next year, there are so many unknowns still right now. But to move towards similar powertrain solutions to Red Bull Racing is a very obvious thing to do and can only be of benefit to both sides I think.
Jean-Michel, at this stage, with just a few months to go before the end of this season and with testing starting in January, do you have any sense of where Renault is in terms of power and efficiency compared with your rivals Ferrari and Mercedes?
Jean-Michel JALINIER: I cannot compare ourselves to our competitors but what I can say is that we have set very aggressive targets for all the parameters of the new engine and that we are achieving the targets one after one because today according to our plans we have some engines on benches, the results are now coming and they are in line with our targets.
What is the first order of priority? Is it power? Is it efficiency? What do you see as the key for next year?
JMJ: I think that for next year the two keys are going to be reliability, because it’s a brand new engine with high tech engine inside – internal combustion engine but also the two electrical engines, all the energy recovery systems – so reliability for this new technology will be key. The second key will be energy management for the race.
Just finally, the latest on a deal with Lotus? Is there any more business to be done in terms of the teams you will supply next year?
JMJ: We’re going to supply four teams. We have already a deal with Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing obviously and the two other teams it’s just a matter of time to finish the contracts.
Pat, great to see you back, welcome, in your new colour scheme. Mid-1990s, I remember you and Michael Schumacher at Benetton racing against Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at Williams, they then were the arch enemies in many, many ways. How does it feel to walk to walk through the doors [of Williams] nowadays and be part of that team?
Pat SYMONDS: Oh, realty great actually. Williams does have that incredible heritage and it’s a heritage I respect a lot. But we can’t live in the past. They were great times, of course they were, but my job now is to make the team today as successful as it was then. It’s quite a challenge but it’s a very enjoyable challenge. The fundamentals of the team are there. It’s a very well equipped team, it has some very good people in it. An analogy I often use is it’s like being the conductor of an orchestra. I think we have some very good instrumentalists in our orchestra. And now we just really need to get them timed together, playing the same tune and bring the success back.
You said that the technical changes for 2014 are the biggest you’ve encountered in your long career. On the theme of technical developments in a resource-restricted environment, you’ve obviously worked for top teams, recently you worked for Marussia, a small team. Can you give us an overview of the impact of dealing with this change for the field in Formula One?
PS: It is huge and I think James summed it up very well, because you’ve got to decide where to put your priorities. When we have reasonably stable regulations you iterate to those priorities. Arguably if you have very stable regulations, everyone iterates towards a very similar design. You also iterate to similar processes. Now when the rule book is ripped up and you start again, you really have to think about what processes are important – what’s going to bring you performance. And of course while everyone is focused on the powertrain and there are a lot of things to do there – cooling’s a huge challenger, energy management is a huge challenge – but of course we must not forget that it’s a reasonably significant aerodynamic change we’re making to the cars. It may not sound much – moving the front wing in a little bit, losing the beam wing at the rear and small changes like that – but in actual fact the aerodynamics of the cars are so inter-related now that it really is something you need to think about a lot. And, of course, we never ‘un-invent’ anything, we never forget what we’ve already done. So we’re not dropping any of our technologies in order to bring the new ones in, we’re just adding to the job.
Thanks for that. Moving to Nick Chester from Lotus. Welcome, Nick. There’s a lot going on at Lotus at the moment. You’ve got the double DRS running this weekend. You’ve got a long wheelbase car, apparently, for Monza. Can you shed a bit of light on your thinking for this final part of 2013 and what kind of statement that makes?
Nick CHESTER: Well, we’re still trying to develop very hard to give ourselves a very competitive run until the end of the year. The passive drag reduction system we’ve been working on for a while. We targeted it for Spa and we’ve run it through P1 and we’ve learned some more with it. I don’t think we’ll carry on through this weekend with it as we didn’t get enough dry running to get where we wanted in P1. We are targeting this strong development until the end of the year and the long wheelbase for Monza is part of that. So we are going to keep bringing developments through Monza and then the following races as well. There are certainly developments also planned for Singapore and Korea.
Like everyone else here, you’re obviously juggling the requirements of 2014. Do you have what you need to build a winning car in 2014?
NC: Yeah, we do. We started the design very early, we’ve been designing for over 18 months on the 2014 car. So that’s given us a good head start and in a way that’s meant that we could develop our 2013 car for longer through the year because we’re in such good shape with next year’s car. As Pat said it’s going to be a very interesting year in 2014. It’s the biggest rule change I’ve seen while I’ve been in the sport. Trying to optimise a car around what’s a very different power plant with very different cooling, it’s quite a big challenge. It is going to be interesting.
Andrew, coming to you now. You’re in a tight battle in the Constructors’ Championship with McLaren. Fifty-nine points to you at the moment, 57 for them, battling for fifth. What’s the strategy then? Are you going to try to hold on to that fifth place, even if it costs you some performance in 2014?
Andrew GREEN: Obviously we’re going to battle as hard as we can. The strategy at the moment is to extract as much as we can out of this car and take each race as it comes and try not to makes mistakes. That’s one of the things we have been guilty of in a few races this season. We haven’t really harvested the points we should have, we should be much further up. Now is the time to get our heads down and just not make mistakes, extract what we can, and not make mistakes and see where we end up. McLaren is… it’s going to be very difficult top keep McLaren behind us, they’re a huge team with huge resources and can carry on developing two cars simultaneously. We’re a much smaller outfit; it’s not something we can do. Our focus really has to be on next year, otherwise we won’t have a car next year, it’s as simple as that.
On the subject of balancing the technological development with budgets, how are you existing arrangements in terms of powertrain? How are you existing arrangements in terms of powertrain for next year and how will that go forward?
AG: Well, it’s nice to obviously keep the same engine partners. That does help. It is a massive change next year, there’s no doubt about it. Reiterating what the other guys have said, it’s the biggest change I’ve ever seen. And it is a challenge. We’re a small team, so it’s an even bigger challenge. There are lots of things we’d like to do. Lots of experiments we’d like to do, lots of information we’d like to take before we make some key decisions and we can’t do them all. It’s as simple as that. We have to make some best guesses and we don’t really want to be [doing that]. It’s a difficult place to be in and it can be very frustrating but it’s a challenge and we’ll see where we end up.
Q: Tom, the same theme really. It’s no secret that Sauber has had some issues on the financial side. You’ve obviously got some new investment coming in – so where are you as a technical group in terms of how you plotted out your development of 2014 and how it’s actually unfolding as we go forward?
Tom McCULLOUGH: Like the rest of the guys said, we started work on our car pretty early for 2014, mainly aerodynamically and then more and more during the year, working closely with our powertrain partner, developing that car. So, the two cars are simultaneously being developed still, at the moment. The current car is coming to an end at the factory. At the track we’ll still get bits later on this year. But it’s just a matter of splitting resources really.
Q: Obviously the 2013 car hasn’t worked out the way you would have hoped. Does that push you towards an earlier switchover to 2014? Considering where you are in the constructors’, some way behind Toro Rosso, does that push you towards thinking you’re not going to catch them and focussing your attention on next year?
TMcC: The start of this year wasn’t as competitive as we wanted. Understanding that is key to making a good car next year, so a lot of the work we’ve been doing on the car is in conjunction with next year’s car. So we couldn’t just stop designing this year’s car. We’ve worked very hard and we have made some good improvements. The update package we bought to Budapest, we were very happy with. We feel we’re understanding the car a lot better now. The wind tunnel programmes and the CFD programmes between the two cars help each other – and that process is still ongoing, especially with CFD. Overall that should give us a more competitive car next year.
Q: So you have grounds for optimism?
TMcC: Yeah! For sure. This year’s car, even though from a points point of view we were not scoring points and saw some of our direct competitors taking those points, in lap time we often weren’t far away. A small difference in lap time, different competitiveness from track to track, bringing improvements to the car… all of a sudden the points can come your way. I wish we’d started the year as we are now but we feel confident for the second half of this season.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Pat, as we are already halfway through the season, how will the team benefit from your work at this stage?
PS: Well, I think with a lot of what I’m trying to do with Williams is still a bit of a process rather than the detail and that process can have an effect, reasonably quickly. Now, we are engaged in a battle this year as well, and there are still updates to come to the car: there’s a new front wing, there’s new bodywork, there’s quite a few major upgrades but of course they are things that are already well in the pipeline and not things that I will be influencing. So really my job is to try and look at the process of determining how we get the performance out of the car and I hope that that will have some influence this year but of course it’s not a five minute job and I think we will see a lot more in 2014.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Andy Green, I wanted to go back to what James said earlier about balancing the development of the 2013 car versus 2014. Obviously you don’t want to sacrifice next year’s performance. Do you have a plan… I mean if McLaren pull ahead in the Constructors’ championship is that the point at which you switch more of your focus over? How much of your workforce is currently on 2014 versus 2013, because you’re the team in the middle with the hardest decision to make, it seems?
AG: It is a difficult balance. I would say the point at which they have more points – they are further ahead than us there are points to score – then that’s obviously over. Like I said, we’ll keep pushing as hard as we can with what we’ve got, but we have to keep an eye on next year, there’s no two ways about it. It’s too big a challenge not for us to have one eye over there. McLaren are a huge, huge team, a championship-winning team and I don’t expect they thought they’d be racing with us at the start of the season, and I’m pretty sure they probably didn’t set themselves the target of fifth in the championship when they started the year. So we’ll do what we can. We know it’s going to be difficult, we’ll take each race as it comes. There will be no step.
Q: Who will make that decision? Will it be the major shareholders or the technical people?
AG: It is a joint decision.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) I guess my question is for Jean-Michel. Part of the success of the current V8 Formula One has been that the engine performance has been equalized between manufacturers. I’m wondering whether the FIA has informed you of when it intends to start imposing that same process, introducing controls to equalize the performance of the V6s and when that process does start, I wonder if you, as a highly competitive group, will try to resist it?
J-MJ: There will be a process for convergence after – I don’t know – the first two or three years, definitely there will be a process of convergence. Regarding the V8, one of our strengths is to work with the team to make the quickest car. We have never claimed to have the most powerful engine, we claim to work with the team to make the quickest car and that’s the kind of methodology we are developing for the 2014 car with our partners.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) And the FIA controls?
J-MJ: I think there will be some kind of convergence because we cannot sustain – in terms of cost – free competition with open technology, open choices and open engineering. We need to have some limitation in order to reduce and control the development costs per season, so we need it.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Nick, the long wheelbase car, what’s the reasoning behind introducing that and how will you be doing it? Do you need to make some monocoque changes or can you do it a slightly easier way?
NC: Well, we’ve wanted to do it because we’ve seen there’s a performance gain associated with it. The way we’re going to do it is with a front suspension change.
Q: But there’s homologation to be done?
NC: Yeah, that’s already been done.
Q: (Panos Diamantis – Car and Driver) Mr Symonds, you said that 2014 will see the biggest technical change you’ve ever seen in Formula One, and obviously Williams provides this energy recovery systems to other means of transport in London. Do you think that this will be a turning point in the history of Formula One to launch more ecological technologies?
PS: Yes, I do. It really is a bit of a double-edged sword, the 2014 power train regulations. On one hand, I’m very very pleased that the FIA have had the foresight to really look at engine efficiency or powertrain efficiency and use F1 to push those technologies. I guess the downside for us is that it’s been a long process to introduce it and of course, from the time of starting to talk about it until introducing it we’ve been through a major worldwide recession which has made it difficult for all the Formula One teams to embark on such a big project. But we’ve managed to do it and I think what we need to do now is make sure that we capitalize on it. Formula One, I think, is guilty of far too often hiding its light under a bushel and a lot of the very great things we do as engineers in Formula One we like to keep to ourselves and I think it’s time for that to change. I think it’s time for the world to know what we are doing with Formula One powertrains in 2014 is really quite advanced. It really is something new, it really is the way of the future and therefore I think we can stop before it happens those who may wish to criticize Formula One and motor sport in general for carbon emissions, for use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are here to stay, let’s use them efficiently and I think Formula One is doing that, and I think we should be very proud of what we’re doing and we should tell the world what we’re doing.
Q: (Marc Priestley – F1 Times) Question for Nick and Tom: firstly, Tom, both you guys have used this passive DRS-type system on the car today. Tom, do you expect to use it any more this weekend. Nick, you’ve already clarified that you won’t, but is it something that you will continue working on? Do the 2014 rules mean that it’s a viable concept to continue developing?
TMcC: So, today we performed a lot of tests on some new parts and the system actually performed better than we were expecting. It’s still not at the stage where we think we’re going to race it, even though we are pretty tempted at the moment, so there’s plenty of engineers looking at a lot of data. We’ll make that decision later on tonight. With regards to next year, any system that you can use to help reduce drag will always help you, so yes, it is part of the consideration for next year’s car.
NC: And the same for Lotus; obviously anything that drops drag is a useful thing to have, so it’s an interesting direction to pursue.
Q: Just for clarity, the reason not to continue with it for the weekend, is that because the downside of it, not switching properly, outweighs the possible gains of having it?
NC: Partly, and also because we didn’t have a full dry session, we couldn’t get the normal feedback we would like on it and all the measurements we would like, so it just left us a little nervous after P1 that we didn’t want to go into the rest of the weekend with something that may give us a problem, particularly when the car’s already competitive and we didn’t want to risk having a problem in P3 or qualifying with it.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Pat, you talked about the need for getting more out of the potential of Williams with better technical leadership. Do you, based on your preliminary examinations of the team, think that you need further recruitment in senior technical positions to work just under you to achieve that?
PS: Well, the first thing to remember is that I’ve been there four days, so it’s very much first impressions, but those first impressions are that it’s a team with fabulous facilities, it’s a great factory, there’s most of the equipment that we need there and a lot of very good people. And of course, while I may have been there only four days, a lot of those people I have known for many years and worked with many of them, so there is a lot of quality and I think I would re-iterate what I said earlier, that I think that what we need to do at Williams is that we need to look at process and that’s really where my focus will be.
Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Nick, the wheelbase change, any concerns that will have a detrimental effect on the good tyre management you’ve seen from your car? Obviously it will slightly change the way you’re loading up the tyres.
NC: Yeah, we don’t expect so. If anything, it should make the car a little bit more stable, a little bit easier to drive, it could even give us a small tyre management advantage so we think it’s the right thing to do and we’re looking forward to bringing it to Monza.
Ends
Sahara Force India file photo of Andrew Green
