INDIA in F1

Tag: FIA Press Conference

  • We managed a half-decent lap: Hamilton

    Monza 8 Sept 2012: Following drivers attended the FIA press conference Number 3 after qualification on Saturday for the Italian Grand Prix, the 13th round of the Formula One World Championship here on Saturday.

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren); 2 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren); 3 – Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, Ferrari were fastest with Fernando in Q1 and Q2 but you managed to save the best for last.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been a tough weekend but we’ve managed to work on the setup and the package the guys bought from the factory – and they’ve done a fantastic job. So, congratulations to the team and great for the lads. Yeah, managed to get a half-decent lap at the end of Q3, or at the beginning of Q3, and it’s great obviously for the team to have me and Jenson at the front.

    Jenson, it’s been very close all weekend. How do you see the race from where you’re starting?

    Jenson BUTTON: First of all I’ll just echo what Lewis said. For us both to be on the front row, it’s fantastic for the team. I think the last few races have really shown our strength and qualifying both of us on the front row is great – I don’t know if any other team has been able to do that this year. Tomorrow we’ll start thinking about in a little while but – I don’t know, even being on the front row is not going to be an easy race here but it’s the best place to be.

    Felipe, we saw you working with Fernando this morning in practice, and again in qualifying, doing slipstreams, helping each other out. It worked for you, but where’s Fernando?

    Felipe MASSA: I think he had a problem, to be honest. I mean he’s supposed to be in a good direction for the qualifying as well, so I don’t know which problem he had but he had a problem in Q3 and was not able to complete his lap. But anyway, I’m happy with the lap I did, so I was able to do a good lap. I was always caring about the tow, to find a good tow, but then on the last run when I did my best lap I was completely outside of the tow, so it was better for me, and I was able to do the best lap from the weekend in the last try in Q3, so happy to be here. It’s always a very important race for us, so looking forward for it.

    Back to you Lewis, you mentioned it’s a tough weekend, obviously a lot of distractions going on off the circuit. How easy has it been for you to put all of that out of your mind and focus on the race tomorrow?

    LH: I haven’t had any distractions this weekend so it’s been quite positive. The support from my family and friends, as always, has been incredible, so just been enjoying the weekend. It’s been pretty smooth so far.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, well done, it seems to have been a perfect weekend for you so far but just now you called that a half-decent lap – it’s good enough for pole…

    LH: I think practice was a lot better for me. I had much, much better laps in practice but I can’t complain. Generally I didn’t think that lap was anywhere near good enough and I was up, I think, a couple of tenths in my second lap but I was in a train of cars: Kimi and two Ferraris in front. So, I wasn’t really able to better my lap but none the less I’m happy and I’m really happy for the team because they’ve been doing a fantastic job. Obviously had great success in the last race with Jenson and to have us both up here is where they deserve.

    The stats say a lot of winner from pole position over the last ten years, something like nine out of ten have won from pole position. So that must be encouraging as well?

    LH: Not particularly – I think that one that wasn’t a winner was me! In 2009 maybe? When I was on pole.

    You seem to have hit the ground running from the start of the weekend, and just yesterday you said it was just fine-tuning. Is that what’s been going on?

    LH: Yeah, yeah, just getting used to the setup to try to find us a time everywhere. It’s a beautiful track, just such an incredible circuit, and I think, probably the more and more you drive it, the more you appreciate it. Of course you have to respect this circuit. It’s such high speed. And also the fans here are absolutely incredible. Such passionate people who love motor racing, pure motor racing, so it’s great to see.

    Of course it’s great to have an all-McLaren front row but is it better to have your team-mate alongside you or would you prefer somebody else?

    LH: It’s not bad or good. It’s good because it’s good for the team and we can score maximum points for the team tomorrow. And so that’s, for me, the way I think.

     

    Jenson, a winner last weekend as well, and here you are on the front. You’ve qualified second here before. Your feelings about being second on the grid? 

    JB: Relatively happy. I started the weekend pretty happy with the car. We tried a couple of things on Friday, which I don’t really think worked out for us, so we were struggling a little bit on Friday afternoon. Today the car has been much better. In qualifying because of the heat – it was much hotter than this morning – the car is moving around a lot more. This place, it really reminds me of karting, because it’s all about keeping the minimum speed up, especially through Ascari and Parabolica. So you’re always listening to the engine revs through the apex and you know if you’re quick or not. It’s a really interesting place to drive. In Q3 I realised how much a tow makes. In practice we were getting tows but it was difficult to work out if it was actually quicker or not. But in Q3 it was and I was able to get a reasonable off Vettel, which surprisingly made a good difference.

    Ferrari seem to have practiced the tow this morning and put it into effect, certainly for Felipe, this afternoon. Is that something McLaren considered?

    JB: No. That’s something that we… well, personally, I feel it’s very difficult to plan something like that. It’s difficult to get it right. You concentrate too much on it, you can do, and you can get your breaking point wrong or something. It’s a tricky one. The way that we did was much better, just finding traffic on the circuit, so it worked reasonably well.

    Felipe, how much of a difference do you think it did make, having that tow?

    FM: For me it was no different because I made my best lap without the tow. We were trying a lot to have a good direction for the two. It’s never very easy to make that in qualifying but I think we were able to do a little bit in Q1 and Q2. Fernando helped me on the first try on Q3 but he was supposed to do his lap on the second time, I was supposed to help him on the second lap. And then we came in at the same. And then I was behind Vettel, he braked completely, he almost stopped his car in the second chicane. I passed him so I said I’d try, just to see, as I never did one lap without the tow. I think it was nice to try even knowing that I had already my first timed lap in Q3. I tried and I improved, so I was pretty happy to do that. The car worked quite well in the corners, so maybe you lose a bit on the straight but we were able to gain more in braking and cornering. I think it was good; it was a nice qualifying. Unfortunately, Fernando is not here because he had a problem with his car but he was very quick as well. Let’s concentrate on the race tomorrow where I’m in this place, and I’m very happy to be here.

    Yes, it’s your best grid position of the year and here you are in front of the Italian fans, so very satisfied?

    FM: Yeah, very satisfied it’s in this place. But I’m happy and really looking forward to it. It’s a very important race for us, a very important race for me. And I’m looking forward to a good race in front of these fantastic people, as Lewis just said.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, did the pit wall tell you that Fernando had a problem and when you found that out, was it a big relief? It seems that qualifying was likely to be a fight between you and Fernando today.

    LH: I didn’t hear of any problem. I saw on the TVs, as I was doing my first lap, I saw that Fernando pulled in out of his first lap and then in the second I just assumed that he was up ahead, so I was just pushing and focusing on my laps.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Felipe, Monza is usually a very good race for you. Can we tell our readers that Massa has re-found his talent?

    FM: Yeah. I’m happy with the car. We were able to do a good lap so we are heading in a good direction, very happy with the performance and concentrated for the race. Unfortunately I never won here at Monza in Formula One but I’ve always done good races. Before Formula One I always won all the races I did at this track so I think it’s a very nice track which I enjoy a lot. I used to live close by when I was doing Formula Renault so I really enjoy this place and I hope we can have a fantastic race tomorrow.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) Lewis, how have you prepared yourself mentally since you arrived in the paddock this morning? Has something changed compared to the other races, due to the particular context? What are your rituals?

    LH: It’s been pretty much the same. I’ve qualified on the front row for quite a few races now so I just continue to do the same thing. I think it’s nine times or something that I’ve been on the front row this year, so it’s been pretty good qualifying for us.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Felipe, considering how you’ve gone on Friday and this morning, is it realistic to believe you can beat McLaren in the 53 laps of the race?

    FM: That’s always the direction we need to take. We go to the grid thinking about victory, thinking about doing the maximum you can to win the race and that’s what I’m going to do tomorrow. They are very strong, they are quick but we have 53 laps in the race, we know how different the race can be compared to qualifying so for sure I want to try everything I can.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Jenson, you will probably not be in the same team as Lewis next year. Tomorrow, does it give you more motivation to fight?

    JB: Where am I going? Sorry. That’s the first I’ve heard of it.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Does it give you extra motivation to fight Lewis?

    JB: Yes. I think we all love a good fight and we all love a challenge. Having a competitive teammate, sometimes you think ‘damn, sometimes I wish I didn’t have such a competitive teammate’ but a lot of the time it’s good because it pushes you and you can see where you are in terms of your performance in a race weekend. There are positives and negatives, but I think there are more positives than negatives.

    FM: Which are the negatives?

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) If I’m not mistaken, none of you three have won here in Formula One. Could you explain to us your feelings today that you have the best chance to win tomorrow? Felipe, I think that it’s also important to finish on the podium. I think you missed the podium since Germany 2010, I suppose or Korea?

    FM: Yeah. It’s important to everybody. None of us won here before so it’s very important for everybody, very important for me. I know how important it is for me. As I said before, I will try everything to win and to do a good race.

    Q: (Sylvia Arias – Parabrisas Argentina) Felipe, is this extra pressure for you? We all know how important it is for you and we expect the best of you, but do you feel this is extra pressure?

    FM: I think I know very well the pressure I have so it doesn’t change anything. We just need to do the best on the track. You always have a lot of pressure. We just need to concentrate on the race. It’s a very important race tomorrow for me but also for the team so let’s concentrate on that. When you race for Ferrari you always have a lot of pressure.

    Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Jenson, Lewis, Martin (Whitmarsh) said on TV that it will be an interesting first corner.  How much thought do you give to that between you? Do you discuss it or just race it?

    LH: Just race it.

    JB: It doesn’t matter who is next to you, it’s always an interesting first corner as you put it, especially here. It’s a reasonably long drag down to turn one. You can’t plan turn one.

    Ends

     

  • Hamilton fastest on Friday;

    Monza 7 Sept 2012: Lewis Hamilton topped the Friday afternoon timesheet in Monza and admitted he is relaxed about the pace of his rivals ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

    After the morning session was topped by Michael Schumacher, with a lap of 1:25.442, Hamilton took over in the afternoon, the McLaren driver touring the Autodromo di Monza in a time of 1:25.290. Afterwards Hamilton said he was comfortable with his car and the closeness of the competition at the Italian track where in FP2 the top five driver were separated by just 1500ths of a second.

    “Lots of people had some very good long runs but we just need to focus on our job. I’m relaxed about it,” he said of the day’s running. “It’s a beautiful circuit stunning to drive. Incredibly high speed and when you get the flow right, it’s just such a great feeling.”

    Hamilton added that there was more pace to find in his car but that it would be in terms of small improvements.

    “You can always improve, maybe a little bit of time in sector one but trying to find that with the balance… we’re really fine-tuning it at the moment.” He said. “It has been the better Friday out of the two we’ve had since the break! It definitely has been a lot smoother today and I hope that continues for the rest of the weekend. Today’s been quite productive. It’s been quite smooth in terms of the set-up direction we’ve been going in. There are still things we need to improve on the car but generally it’s been a good day.”

    Hamilton’s closest rival in the session was team-mate Jenson Button, who finished the session in second, just 0.038 adrift of the 2008 champion.

    “Today we had a lot of good running on both tyres on high fuel and lower fuel,” he said. “It’s not too bad. We tried a few things this afternoon, some of which were positive and then one of the things we did, which we had to keep on for the whole session, wasn’t fantastic but it’s something easy to go back on.”

    While Hamilton was unconcerned by the pace of the team’s rivals Button was more wary, particularly of Ferrari, who saw Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finish third and fourth respectively.

    “Ferrari’s pace is very good,” said Button. “They’re very good, both cars. They’re very competitive on both tyres, especially on the prime tyre. There are quite a few cars that are quick, the Mercedes, the Lotus cars. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. It won’t be straightforward for any of us.”

    FIA Press Conference 2 – Friday

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Pat FRY (Ferrari), Eric BOULLIER (Lotus), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber)

    Franz, a new technical director. One has departed and a new one has arrived. First of all, can you explain what happened with Giorgio?

    Franz TOST: First of all I want to thank Giorgio Ascanelli. He did a very good job over the last six years, when he was with us because we must not forget that he had to build up infrastructure at Toro Rosso. When he started there were around 20 engineers and today there are around five times the number. He did a really great job. We were quite successful. As you know in 2008 we won the first grand prix with Sebastian Vettel, therefore thank you very much for this. Now times have changed, we are looking forward to a new challenge and therefore James Key is on board with us.

    So, what can you hope for from James in the short term with this year’s car and in the longer term with next year’s car, which presumably has already been started?

    FT: First of all, this year’s car, we’ve arrived into September where we can’t expect so many changes. I think we will come up with some upgrades for the rest of the season, but there were planned and in project already before James joined us. But he is now very much involved in the design of the new car, which already started around two months. But nevertheless he will have hopefully a lot of influence over next year’s car.

    Presumably you’re very encouraged to see what’s happening with Sauber, which was James’ last car?

    FT: Sauber is doing very well. The car is very fast and hopefully he will do a similar good job, as he did at Sauber.

    And the same engine of course?

    FT: Exactly.

    Pat, first of all, tell us about Alonso’s problems today?

    Pat FRY: Well, this morning, obviously, he had an issue, which stopped us running a little bit early. This afternoon has been a bit of a messy afternoon for us. We had a problem with a brake system and finally a gearbox problem stopped us running right at the end. Fortunately, we managed to do all the long-run work with Felipe. We didn’t get the entire programme done with Fernando, but we answered the questions we needed to ask.

    Was that quite a high mileage engine? And what about the gearbox, do you get a penalty for that?

    PF: Gearboxes are free on Friday obviously and the engine was obviously a Friday engine at high mileage.

    In terms of the performance this year, you’ve turned round a car that was not particularly competitive at the beginning of the season, particularly around Barcelona and the Mugello test. What did you do then and what can you do now? Was it modifications or was it set-up changes.

    PF: Mainly modifications to the aero package. I think we made a reasonable step forward in Barcelona and we made another reasonable step forward in Canada. I mean, every race we bring new parts but I think those are the two steps that I suppose stand out when you look at the performance of all the teams. But I think we’ve still got a long way to go to be happy with our performance level.

    And the aero package here: how is that working?

    PF: Yeah, everything seems to be behaving sensibly. It’s a little bit of an extreme circuit here and I’m sure there will be different downforce level choices with people and it should make for an entertaining race anyway.

    Eric, we’ve seen Romain Grosjean here. Presumably you’ve had quite a chat with him. What has he said and what have you said to him since last weekend?

    EB: Nothing much to add to what had been said in the media here. Just to his clear understanding that is was a severe penalty he got and talking about the reason why and how we can change things to make his weekend a little bit easier to handle for him. Basically this kind of discussion.

    Last weekend, Kimi at one point was complaining about lack of power on the radio…

    EB: He was asking ‘can I have more’. During the race we have different strategies. We knew that Sebastian was too far in front of us to catch up and so we went into a fuel saving mode and obviously that’s changing a little bit the mapping and the performance of the engine. He was just hoping to be back to the normal fuel system.

    Jerome D’Ambrosio steps in having done a few laps earlier on this year at Mugello, but only that. In retrospect would you perhaps give a reserve driver more laps, or maybe even a Friday for example?

    EB: The plan was to give him a couple of Fridays and more over the whole season. But because of the performance we had to reconsider a little bit the strategy and ambition of the team maybe for this year. It’s always when something happens that you say ‘I should have done this differently’. Obviously I am happy with what he did bring. We gave him also a couple of runs with an old car, a three years old car in different demos and that helped him as well to keep a little bit some feeling with a Formula One. But yeah, if he would have a more mileage he would have fit a little bit better even if he did a good job today.

    Christian, last weekend there seemed to an issue again about power. I’d like you clarify what it was all about – was it set-up or gearing or what the problem was last weekend for the Red Bull team?

    Christian HORNER: The problem you’re referring to was?

    At the top of the hill.

    CH: Basically with the lack of running on Friday because it was obviously raining your gear ratio choice is made on Friday night and we elected to go quite aggressive with our top gear. With 20/20 hindsight we would not repeat that decision in a similar situation and we would go a bit longer. What was happening was once our drivers were getting in the DRS zone and opening their wing they were getting into the limiter and weren’t able to capitalise on the DRS. Therefore, with Sebastian, the progress that he made was coming back up the hill through Blanchimont into the chicane. He did a great job passing quite a lot of cars around the outside and inside in that last chicane.

    That must have been very satisfying to get the result you did get given the problem in the traditional overtaking area.

    CH: Yes, I think it was actually one of the best race I’ve seen Seb drive to be honest. His performance last week was very strong. It was great for the team to score points on a day when our main rivals weren’t on track because of the incident on the first corner from which everybody, thankfully, emerged unscathed.

    It was a strong race, particularly by Sebastian. Our pace on Saturday we didn’t quite understand in qualifying over a single lap because we looked quick in the morning and then that performance eluded us in the afternoon. Our race p[ace on the Sunday was actually very strong. We were flexible with our strategy, we managed to make a one-stop work well, particularly for Sebastian. Mark’s strategy was a little bit more conventional but overall it was positive points for the team.

    And you’ve got some good tracks coming up, some tracks where you’ve excelled in the past. What are your feelings about those?

    CH: I think the one thing we’ve seen in 2012 is that past form is irrelevant this year. It’s impossible to predict what your form is going to be like from circuit to circuit. Obviously we arrive at each grand prix and we try to maximise the car and the package we have. This weekend is no different to that. Singapore is another challenge in itself, a bumpy, twisty street circuit compared to the long straights and flowing corners here at Monza. That’s the big challenge of Formula One is to try to be consistent across all 20 venues, of which we’ve got eight to go.

    Monisha, last weekend you went from Heaven to Hell in a very short space of time. What sort of impact did it have on the team?

    Monisha KALTENBORN: Well, we are used to these kind of situations where you think it’s looking good and it doesn’t quite work out. Until the formation lap it was really looking good for the team. We had a fantastic race weekend until then. One of the best qualifying positions so far for the team, and it all looked really good. Then suddenly on the formation lap, we see how things are billowing out and it ends up really badly. So, what we did then is analyse what happened on Kamui’s car and see where we can still improve. Because that’s important for us. We see quite often that if qualifying works out well, we have good race pace and then we can really get a lot of points home. That’s what’s we did. We took a lot of positives home from that weekend, that the car is very competitive, and we need to make sure that we don’t make mistakes during the race weekend.

    Were you particularly looking at what happened on Kamui’s car? Sergio obviously got involved in the incident…

    MK: Sergio really couldn’t do anything, he was just terribly affected by that incident. On Kamui’s car we had to find out why there was that smoke and why the start was not that good.

    Any conclusion to that?

    MK: We know now what happened, we analysed that. And whatever the team can do, we’ll definitely do.

    In terms of your technical team, tell us how it’s working these days. It’s been like this since the start of the season, but you don’t actually have a technical director, do you?

    MK: No, we don’t have a technical director, that was my choice. We have three main areas which we consider to be critical for the development of the car – which is the aero, the design and what we call the vehicle performance. Their heads are in this committee. They sit together and decide on a technical direction. If there are any other issues then we four, with me in there, sit in there and try to find the best solution. It seems to be working and it’s a bit of a history at Sauber that we’ve always had very strong heads of department and the people under them. It’s always been the backbone of the team and it works well.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Franz, I would like to ask you to recall some memories of the 2008 Grand Prix – the whole emotion, the whole weekend. Was it a confirmation for you, and for Christian, that Seb is going to be a future champion?

    FT: Let me say it in this way. We started already on Friday, if I remember right, to prepare the cars for Sunday under wet conditions because the weather forecast was quite clear: it said there was a high risk of rain. And I remember that we said to the drivers, ‘stay out, do as many laps as possible’, because here in Monza under wet conditions it’s a little bit different than on other tracks because their are not so many possibilities that the water can runoff and therefore you have exactly to know where to drive. Sebastian Vettel and Bourdais did a lot of laps and we found a good setup in those days. And then I was quite happy on Saturday during the qualifying when the rain didn’t stop. And then, of course, on Sunday, when it rained when the race was started under the safety car. Once Sebastian was in front I was quite convinced that he could at least finish the race within the first five positions. I didn’t think that he could win the race but then he did a fantastic job. And then the team also during the pitstops made a good job and then at the end fortunately we won this race. But we must not forget there were very special circumstances. We clearly could see in those days that Sebastian Vettel’s learning curve and his performance improved from race to race. And I was convinced that he could do a really good job at Red Bull Racing. That he won then the championship already in 2010 you couldn’t know in 2008. But that he will have a good future, this was quite clear for me.

    (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Pat, looking ahead to Suzuka, what do you need to have a fast car there and how will your car go there?

    PF: Well, I suppose it’s dominated by efficiency and aerodynamics. It’s just that we need to keep up the constant drive we’ve been doing all year, as everyone is, just to improve the efficiency of the car.

    (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To the four team principal, 2014 obviously there’s a major change in engines. The four of you are customers of engines – in other words you don’t have teams producing your own – what sort of progress has been made on the costing issues and what are your expectations in this regard?

    CH: I think 2014 is going to be an interesting year. The engine is radically different. I think that it’s important that the engine doesn’t become the crucial, single performance differentiator – I think that would be particularly unhealthy for Formula One and for the engine manufacturers involved. I terms of cost of supply I think the difficulty with introducing new technology and advanced technology such as the 2014 engine, it comes at a price. And I think all of the independent teams are very eager to know what that price is and what the impact of that price will be. I don’t think it’s the right market for Formula One to see an increase in costs. I don’t think that’s ultimately sustainable. But hopefully it won’t have an impact on the fiscal side.

    MK: We have been very clear about our position. At the moment a lot of details are unclear on the technical side and also the price. We’ve also very clearly said that we don’t want to go down to those times many years ago where engines were so horrendously expensive. I think in the last year, in this whole movement with cost-cutting and the engine freeze which took place. Now costs have really gone down a lot and we don’t want to take three steps back again with this new engine and end up at a point which was there many years ago.

    FT: It’s quite clear that this new powertrain in 2014 will increase the costs. It’s not possible to make it cheaper, as we get it now, because there’s a new engine, we have the new ERS system, there’s the new batteries and everything will for sure increase the costs. And 2014 will become an expensive year. Now the question, how is the depreciation in the following years? Just maybe to level the costs, on an acceptable amount. This we will see and I hope that we can negotiate this with the manufacturers, I hope the manufacturers will be as fair as they were in the past. And then I’m convinced that we will find a solution.

    EB: I do share the same position. It’s a concern, the costs of the new powertrain. We expect either though the engine RRA or different discussions we can have with the engine manufacturers… you know it’s going to be reasonable… we don’t see new technologies is going to be difficult to bring the price down, cheaper than now – but if there is an increase we just expect a reasonable increase.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Pat, yesterday Michael Schumacher said that covered cockpits were necessary, they will be introduced in the future for sure. Do you agree with that or are there other options on the table from the Technical Working Group?

    PF: Looking back at the start of last weekend’s race, it was a lucky situation. It could have gone very badly, so I think the whole of Formula One was very lucky. A flying car or a large piece of car flying in the air is still the one thing that we struggle to protect the drivers against. There’s obviously been quite a lot of research by the FIA which is still continuing. They’ve looked at the covered cockpits and then different roll cages as well, so I think that research just needs to continue really, as quickly as it can.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) What is your opinion of the projected increase in fees paid to the FIA for next year?

    EB: Well, as you said, it’s a potential increase. We have not been officially informed yet about this change by the FIA. If that’s the case, we obviously will need to understand why and what will be the justification for such an increase, because there is a massive difference, as you can understand, between the current level (and the future one).

    CH: I think it’s important to understand what’s involved in the increase, what’s included within it, what we pay that’s external from the current entry, for example. There’s only been a brief discussion about it at the moment. I’m sure there’ll be further talks in the coming weeks.

    MK: As Eric said, we’ve only been learning about this from the media. The FIA has not really got in touch with us so we have to wait and see what they really propose and what their intentions are but apart from that, I think the FIA is fully aware that there are many teams out there which are already in a financially challenging situation and if you put further burden on them like this – depending on the package – you should be careful about the situation.

    FT: It doesn’t match so much with the cost reduction but we have to find out what is the reason behind this and we have to know more details and then we will sit together with the FIA  and then we will see where we end up.

    Q: (Naoise Holohan – Manipe F1) Given the successes of Fernando Alonso during the course of his career and how he’s driving this year, can I get the opinion of everybody on the question of him being the greatest driver of his generation?

    CH: I think it’s always very difficult to compare drivers across generations. You have to look at the equipment at their disposal, who their competitors were at that time. Fernando, for sure, is one of the all-time great drivers in Formula One but I personally find it very hard to judge where and how you compare different generations. There are generations which we didn’t even see which only people as old as Bob (Constanduros, moderator) would remember and I think it’s very difficult to judge drivers from different generations.

    EB: I do share what my colleague next to me has said. It’s clear that it’s difficult to judge and compare different generations. What we can say today is that in the career of a driver you have different phases and I would say that Fernando is at the top of his form today.

    PF: He’s obviously an outstanding driver, isn’t he? I had the pleasure of working with him in 2007 and again now. I think I would agree that it’s hard to actually compare even drivers in different cars. What is the actual performance of the car? The only driver you can really compare to is your teammate because you have like-for-like tools. He’s certainly at the top of his game this year

    FT: From the arithmetical point of view it’s Michael Schumacher because he won seven titles and then Fangio, Prost, Senna and because these drivers have done the best job or did the best job during their career and to compare drivers within different periods of time is simply not possible.

    MK: As it has been said, each time was so different that it is indeed so difficult to compare, but I think it’s highly impressive in a season that despite all the different winners and things like that, Fernando has been so consistent, always just bringing the car home and getting all those points. It’s extremely impressive, the way he’s doing it.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Going back to the 2014 engines, in addition to the actual spec change, we’re going to see a reduction in the number of engines available to each driver from eight down to five, that at a time with no real track testing. Are you concerned that the 2014 championship may be determined by engine reliability rather than driver skill?

    EB: Yeah. The concern is when you have a big change in the regulations is that you don’t want an engine reliability issue, especially when you are limited to five engines per driver. You don’t want to have an engine powertrain dominating compared with the others so there’s a lot of question marks which I think have been raised by the Technical Working Group and even different groups working with the FIA. We have to rely if possible on the regulator in the governing body to make sure that everything will be in place, to make sure that reliability of such issues are fixed for the beginning of the season, even if it’s not going to be easy to challenge for the engine manufacturers, but we have to believe everything has been planned at least.

    CH: I think Eric has summed it up very well. I think the other key thing to remember is that technology will be very new. Basically 50 percent of the power will come mechanically and fifty percent of the power will come electronically and I think the technology will be very immature and then you’re talking about homologation of engines as well at the beginning of the season and I think it would be very easy to freeze in an advantage or a disadvantage which would be unhealthy for the sport, I think, so hopefully there will be some constructive discussion in the coming weeks to ensure that a performance advantage or disadvantage for a manufacturer of which potentially there will only be three, will be able to be addressed if somebody undershoots, particularly in the early years. It will all converge over time but as the technology is particularly immature there could be quite large variances, certainly in the first year or two.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Is that a discussion that is currently ongoing?

    CH: I’m sure that in the Technical Working Group they are talking about it but it’s a challenging topic. It’s a difficult time to be introducing a new engine, obviously, under the financial climate that we currently have but that’s where we are and hopefully in the time between now and when the engine is introduced, measures can be made to ensure that not only costs but competitiveness of a power plant can be measured and controlled accordingly.

    MK: Well, the risk is absolutely there and maybe we then have to also… or the engine manufacturers allow them certain activities next year regarding the reliability and maybe that could also have cost implications, positive ones, for us, so I think we have to be open to discuss that and look into that.

    FT: The 2014 powertrain package will become a great great challenge from the technical side, because there are so many new factors which have to be taken into consideration. It’s not only the engine, it’s the air system, the batteries and it’s not only the reliability, it’s also the cooling. I personally fear that the field will not be as close as it is currently. I think that maybe one engine manufacturer will come up with a special solution and those cars will be far in front, as we saw in the turbo years. I just hope that the three manufacturers will come up with similar solutions and that the output of the powertrain will be at a similar level, that we also will see in 2014 a nice and interesting Formula One season as is currently the case.

    PF: I think the 2014 power unit is a very interesting technical challenge, lots of complication, and the drive to improve performance and efficiency is going to be massive. Dealing with reliability is certainly not an insignificant problem. There were certain teams which want to run an engine in an old Formula One car. That has been discussed at the TWG – I was keen to do that because I think it will help improve the reliability, running it in a proper car with all proper G-loading and everything. That was vetoed or voted out, whatever the right term is, so we’re left trying to answer the questions on the dyno. We will answer some of the questions but we certainly won’t answer all of them. There will be an element of risk when you go into the February testing, when you’re going to have three tests to sort it out. If you’ve got a major problem, you’re in a bit of trouble. Best we get our design right to start with, I suppose.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Eric, there have been a couple of stories about Robert Kubica getting back into a rally car and trying that out. Has there been any kind of contact with you over the last few months? If he were to get in touch with you, would you be at all interested in giving him a ride in one of your older cars for old times’ sake?

    EB: It’s a long time that we haven’t been talking about this. No, I did read in the press, like you, that he was doing some rally and actually he’s supposed to do a rally next weekend or something like this, but we don’t have much contact. I have contact with his management but nothing else. I’ve not been updated about his current state for a long time.

    Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Eric and maybe all of you; in this era of no end of season testing, how important is the simulator?

    EB: You know the simulator has now reached a very good level of detail, to get the drivers familiar, to bring out the real use of a simulator which is not related to the driver. It’s true that in the position today, where some drivers are stepping into Formula One in the last three or four years with thousands of kilometers of testing, to generally get used to the team with the process of Formula One, with the procedure of the car, with everything, it’s easy, obviously, to step into Formula One. With the current format, now, most of the drivers now have to step in with zero miles under their belts which is a bit tricky. But there is an economic reality as well. Testing costs a lot of money, a lot of resources as well, because not only money, we are already having a busy calendar during the season and we have set up – Lotus F1 are set up to have one crew for the whole season, so adding extra testing would obviously have consequences on the resources, so the question is up in the air, let’s say. Is the balance today good enough with simulator and with a few test days at the end of the year? I don’t know, I don’t have the answer. I know that the balance today is working but is it fair or not?

    FT:  Testing is very very expensive. If you want to go out for a test, you need your own test team. We cancelled the test team because of the costs three years ago. I think this was the correct decision. Regarding the young drivers, as Toro Rosso is a young drivers’ team, normally we do it in this way that young drivers which are coming into Formula One get the possibility to run on Fridays in the morning, and I think this is a good possibility to step into Formula One, to learn everything. And every team can do this. It’s not only restricted to young driver teams and therefore I think the current balance which we have from the regulation side is a good one.

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport-total.com) Christian, you mentioned before a potential freeze of an engine advantage when the engines come in in 2014. Is that one of the reasons why Red Bull is so keen for an engine RRA to be introduced with a chassis RRA, possibly in 2013?

    CH: Er, no. The reason that we said that there should be… if an RRA is to come in in full force and policed by the FIA it should encompass all aspects of the car of which the engine and power unit is a significant part, because some teams in Formula One belong to automotive or are automotive subsidiaries that produce both chassis and engines and obviously some resource will come between chassis and engine and it’s impossible with a chassis-orientated RRA to eliminate elements and treat, in our opinion, all parties transparently and fairly. Our view is that if you’re going to look at a resource restriction of any form, you’ve got to look at the formula in its entirety rather than cherry picking certain elements, and obviously the engine is a key cost driver and therefore should be included within any overall package rather than just, as I say, looking to cherry pick certain items and cost drivers.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Christian,  your colleague Helmut Marko, if he was reported correctly, stated that he felt that the Sauber was the fastest car out there. Given that it’s a James Key car, given that James is going across to Toro Rosso, are you concerned that possibly Toro Rosso will produce a faster car than you next year? And would you invoke drink orders in that case?

    CH: I think the Sauber has been a very good car this year. I think it’s been clear at different races that they’ve had very good pace, including less than a week ago in Belgium. The changes in the regulations this year were significant and it seems to have concertina-ed the field significantly and that also includes the likes of Williams, Lotus have made a big step as well this year, so you turn up to a Grand Prix not knowing who is actually going to be competitive, how competitive your own outfit is going to be. I think James Key has done a good job previously, not just at Sauber but the teams that he’s been at prior to that and I think it was an obvious choice for Toro Rosso when they were looking to restructure, to include James within their line-up. I think as far as the future is concerned, I’m sure he is going to be looking to make his mark there and the teams are open to race. Sebastian Vettel won his first race here in 2008 in a car that was designed in Milton Keynes and run by Toro Rosso, but the teams were free to race each other and that will continue to be the case.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Franz  when I visited you in May, you were speaking about your expansion plans and you were going to move into new factories etc during the shutdown. What sort of progress was made there?

    FT: Step one of our building is finished now and it’s mainly for the composite department and we moved the composite department into the new building during the shutdown and fabrication has already started.  You are invited to come there to see it. It looks good.

    Ends

    Hamilton on Friday. McLaren photo

  • I need to focus, I am prepared: Ambrosio

    Monza, 6 Sept 2012: Reserve Lotus driver Jérôme D’AMBROSIO, who got a sudden opportunity to drive in the Italian GP after a race ban on regular driver Frenchman Grosjean for causing the first lap accident that put four cars out in Spa attended the First FIA Press Conference of the Italian GP on Thursday along with Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari) and Felipe MASSA (Ferrari).

    The Belgian driver will partner Kimi Raikkonen this weekend following Romain Grosjean’s one-race suspension for causing a multi-car accident at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. D’Ambrosio, though, admitted he was not setting himself ambitious targets for Sunday’s race.

    “I don’t have much information to set myself a position target,” he said the former of his first F1 race since the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix of 2011. “I really want to stay focused on what I’ve got to do, with the job, with the engineers, in the car. Stay focused on that. Once that is done correctly we can hope for something good on Sunday – but only if I stay focused on my job, so this is what I will try to do.”

    D’Ambrosio made his grand prix debut with Virgin Marussia Racing last year and raced the full season for the British-Russian team but lost out on a 2012 seat to Charles Pic. He subsequently made the switch to a test driver role at Lotus and today said that the opportunity to race this season had come as a surprise.

    “Obviously it’s been short notice. On Monday really,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a hectic week for me, getting stuff done as much as I could before here to get really prepared as best as I can. As I say, I haven’t had time to think about anything really: just really getting things done and that’s it.”

    He is, however, fully prepared for 53 laps of the Autodromo di Monza.

    “As a third driver that’s part of the job: you have to keep fit and everything,” he said. “It’s not something easy, not a lot of mileage on, but I did everything in the drivers’ meetings, with the engineers and everything, trying to keep up to date as much as I could with every tool I had in my hand, to be as prepared as I can if something like this happened.”

     Here are the transcripts of the Press Conference provided by FIA where the Lotus reserve driver also attended:

    Reserve driver Jerome D Ambrosio will drive in place of banned Romain Grosjean for Lotus at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday 9 Sept 2012. Lotus F1 photo.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jérôme, welcome back. How prepared are you? Have you been able to prepare for your comeback?

    Jerome d’AMBROSIO: Well obviously it’s been short notice. On Monday really. It’s been a bit of a hectic week for me, getting stuff done as much as I could before here to get really prepared as best as I can. As I say, I haven’t had time to think about anything really: just really getting things done and that’s it.

    I guess you’ve been training though, keeping in shape, waiting for this moment?

    Jd’A: Yes, definitely. As a third driver that’s part of the job: you have to keep fit and everything. It’s not something easy, not a lot of mileage on, but I did everything in the drivers’ meetings, with the engineers and everything, trying to keep up to date as much as I could with every tool I had in my hand, to be as prepared as I can if something like this happened.

    So, what’s your aim in the race itself? What should we expect?

    Jd’A: It’s a difficult question to answer simply because I don’t have much information to set myself a position target – or anything. I really want to stay focussed on what I’ve got to do, with the job, with the engineers, in the car. Stay focussed on that. Once that is done correctly we can hope for something good on Sunday – but only if I stay focussed on my job, so this is what I will try to do.

    Nico, we keep looking at China and wondering what’s happened since then. Last weekend again seemed to be difficult.

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah definitely we’ve had some more difficult times now, lately and a little bit of a drop in performance relative to others – we know that. And we’ve been looking into it, we understand a lot of the reasons, and we’ve been pushing very, very hard to turn things around again and I’m sure the next few races are going to be a little bit better for us – how good is difficult to say.

    Is the car difficult to drive, does it just not suit you any longer? What’s the nature of the car now?

    NR: Amongst other things the balance is difficult, yes. Especially the last two races, due to the fact that both tracks had very long corners and especially in those long corners it has been difficult.

    So Parabolica could be difficult for you.

    NR: Parabolica would be a little bit more difficult for me, yes, but this track, with the low downforce and everything, I think is going to be less of a problem.

    Daniel, first of all, last weekend looked as though it was going to be good, and you did manage to get some points. What are your feelings about last weekend and looking at this weekend as well?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It was nice to get some more points on the board – unfortunately longer than I was hoping since Melbourne but good to get a few more. The first stint was looking all-right. Obviously we benefitted from the mayhem at the start and we got as high as fifth, I think. I was hoping to finish up there but unfortunately we dropped back a bit in the end to ninth. But still definitely good for myself and the team to get both cars in the points. Hopefully we can build on some of that momentum and Monza obviously is a nice place for us to come: the team’s home grand prix and I’ve got a little bit of heritage myself – so it’s nice to come in with the momentum of Spa and hopefully score some more.

    The Ferrari engine seemed to be pretty good in a straight line – how’s that going to affect here as well:

    DR: Yeah, hopefully it helps us. Hopefully that remains. We’ll see, I guess, once we’re out on track tomorrow but as always, all teams bring a Monza downforce setting for this race and we’ll soon find out if ours is going to be competitive enough. Looking forward to it, to say the least.

    And what are the aims for rest of the season? What are your intentions?

    DR: Would love to get points more regularly. Would love to improve on my ninth position. I would love to get a top five – I think that would be a good achievement for myself and the team. But we’ll take it step by step for now: as I said, it’s a nice grand prix for us and obviously the team’s only victory came here so it would be nice to keep a story going for this grand prix.

    Lewis, I’m sure you’re aware the paddock is full of comment about the rumours that came out yesterday. Do you have a comment to make yourself?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Not really.

    So, do you know where you’re driving next year?

    LH: No.

    And in terms of this race, what about last weekend’s performance from Jenson Button. How does that affect your feelings about the upcoming Italian Grand Prix?

    LH: Jenson, he drove fantastically well in the last race and he showed that the car is very, very competitive – and we generally should have very similar performance here, hopefully. On our side of the garage we hope it’s a better weekend for us. It can’t really get worse.

    So, how do you approach this weekend? Just looking for victory, as ever?

    LH: ah no, just to pick up the pieces and get back to racing. It’ll be nice too… we’ve done a lot of work analysing and a lot of preparation for this weekend. It’ll be nice to get into the race, when you’re doing so much preparation and so much waiting the most important thing is to see your way to the race.

    Fernando, first of all, just to confirm, are you perfectly OK physically?

    Fernando ALONSO: Yes.

    Because you were complaining of some whiplash in your shoulder?

    FA: Yeah it was after the race, two hours after the Spa race there was still some pain in the back, but then on Monday morning I woke up absolutely fine, feeling 100%, so it was good news, because you never know, the day after the crash anything can happen. So it was good news on Monday morning to do a completely normal day.

    You’re a two-time winner here, what do you feel your chances are here in the race on Sunday?

    FA: Well, for sure it’s not going to easy. In terms of performance we’ve been not so quick in the last two or three grand prix. It was eight tenths from pole position in Hungary and eight tenths also in Spa. It’s five days from that qualifying so I don’t think we will recover eight tenths by magic button. But I think what we need to do is to maximise our performance, to extract from the car the maximum and hopefully that will give us some chance to be on the podium or if everything goes well, for sure a victory here is very special for all the Ferraritifosi that will support us here, so we will try to do our best.

    Felipe, were you pleased with the performance in Spa and how do you feel about this race?

    Felipe MASSA: Well, very pleased with the performance in the race (at Spa). I think our car was more competitive in the race than in qualifying. In qualifying we were struggling a lot, especially in sector two. In the race the car was better. The car was a little bit stronger. We were able to fight and able to overtake quick cars as well. Due to the problem on the first corner at the start… I did a very, very good start, I overtook three or four cars straight away but because of this problem in the first corner I had to go completely outside of the track and I lost the positions and even more so I had to start again, my race, after the safety car. So if I had been able to be in the same position I had got to at the start, it would have even been possible to maybe fight for the podium.

    Do you think the car is good in low downforce trim?

    FM: I think so. The problem is that Spa is much different than this track. In Spa you do need good downforce, especially in sector two and everything. Here it’s a different track and we’ll see how the car behaves on this different track. So we hope we can have a great weekend, both of us, for our incredible fans here.

    What about your own future? Is there any news on that? Do you have a deadline?

    FM: Not yet. Just concentrate on the races and on the results. I hope it will not take very long but let’s concentrate on the races, try to do the best, having a good result and that’s the most important thing.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, could you explain to us what happened with you and the team after you showed the telemetry on Twitter? How do you explain this fact?

    LH: Nothing happened. I had the head of the PR department ask me to take the picture off and I did.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Question for Fernando. Okay, it’s always 25 points but to win here, it’s Monza, it’s a Ferrari place and after last Sunday it looks like fate owes you one as you couldn’t build your lead and you lost points, you couldn’t match Schumacher on 24 races scoring, so what a sensation this would be winning here.

    FA: Well, I think Monza is a special win, because for any Ferrari driver it’s a lot of support that you feel from the tifosi from today until Sunday and you want to give something back to them and the best thing is obviously a race win, but from a championship point of view it doesn’t change too much. Even if you’re not fighting for the championship, winning in Monza will be special anyway, because the podium celebration with all the people on the main straight etc is nice for anyone, not only fighting for the championship. So we will try to do a good race and see how many points we can make and have clear in our minds what is the priority this weekend.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – R&B) A question to Nico. Do you have any idea who will be your team-mate next year?

    NR: No.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Good afternoon Lewis. Just in general terms from your personal perspective, what would be the attraction, the positives in joining a team like Mercedes?

    LH: I have no idea. I’ve not really thought about it.

    OK, could I turn it round to you Nico? From your perspective, what would be the attraction for Lewis to join a team like Mercedes?

    NR: I can say from my perspective. My perspective is that Mercedes and Ferrari are on one level in terms of the history in F1 and the standing. It’s very, very special to drive for the Silver Arrow, and especially to win with a Silver Arrow.

    Lewis, does that resonate with you?

    LH: (laughs)

    So, looking at it in general terms: McLaren have won the last two races and Mercedes have only won one race in the past three years, does that put it into perspective for you as to where your priorities might lie?

    LH: I don’t think I’m really looking for anything to be put into perspective. I drive for McLaren, we’ve won the last two races, we’ve got another great weekend, hopefully, ahead of us and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Jerome, in what way has Romain Grosjean helped you prepare if indeed he has done so?

    Jd’A: Honestly, we haven’t had much contact with Romain since then. We generally do have a good relationship at the track and normally at the track. We don’t keep in touch so much otherwise. So that hasn’t changed between Spa and here. I think it’s been only two or three days and the real hard work was with the engineers. I’ve been provided with a lot of information from both drivers from the engineers and then that’s it. If something happens during the weekend, I have a very good relationship with Romain. We’ve worked together in lower classes, so for sure he’s going to be there, and the same with Kimi. If I have something I want to ask then I will and I’m sure I will get an answer. This was not the time to speak with them, between the two races.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung ) Felipe, do you think you will be able to beat Fernando again before the end of the season?

    FM: Yes

    Q: ( Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung)Here in Monza?

    FM: Well, I’m trying everywhere.

    Q: So how important is qualifying for you on Saturday?

    FM: Very important. I think qualifying is definitely important for us, just to have an easier race. I think maybe qualifying was not so great for me this year but I always had good direction, good pace in the races, not counting the first few races but afterwards, yes. I think qualifying is very very important so we focus on that and try to have an easier direction in the race, especially from the beginning to the end.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you said you want to stay concentrated on this race, but in your eyes, when do you want to decide to have a clearer idea of next year?

    LH: I don’t have a deadline – obviously before next season I think would be useful. I’m in a great position, and I just need to focus on preparations for these races. We’ve got a long way to go before the end of the season and Jenson and I have showed in the previous race that there’s great potential in the car and in the team, so that’s really what I need to try and focus on most.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Lewis, in the last few races we’ve seen strong performances from McLaren amidst some pretty chaotic weather: hot, cold, wet, dry and so on. We’re now hitting the really really hot stretch of the season, from here on in. Are you concerned that with the tyres there might be a dip in form as we’re getting back into the hotter climes or have you guys cracked the rubber at last?

    LH: I don’t know if we’ve cracked it, but we definitely have been improving quite a lot. Jenson proved, at the last race… he did a one stop, one of the few people to do a one stop race so there’s something going well with the car. Here will be very tough, I think, but everyone’s in the same boat but we are definitely working very very hard to make sure that we’re on top of things when it comes to these hot circuits, because tyre degradation is going to be key, I think, particularly in some of these hotter climates. But we went pretty well in Hungary so it wasn’t a disaster there but it could have been better so we need to improve on that.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazetta delllo Sport) Fernando, your car was completely rebuilt after the crash. Are you worried about that or are you confident that you will have a Ferrari in perfect shape?

    FA: No, not worried. Obviously we make some changes and we went back to some parts of the car that we’ve been using three or four races ago and then for Monza, specially, there is a very unique aero package here so the car is a little bit different to any other track. Even with the Spa car it had changed. It was planned to change nearly completely for this race, so I don’t think it’s making a big difference.

    Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, when the championship is so close and the cars are so close, do you really think it could be possible to win the championship with no more victories, only podiums?

    FA: Who knows? I think that depends on your opponents and also what they do. If they keep sharing victories, it’s possible to win without any more wins but at the moment, we see McLaren very strong in Germany, nearly won the race there, won the race in Hungary, won the race in Spa so they can win three or four consecutive races and your gap disappears. As we said, already from the last six or seven Grands Prix, we need to focus on which one is second in the championship at the moment which, today, is Vettel so this weekend we try to finish in front of Vettel, like at the other weekends we try to finish in front of Webber.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Lewis, on the twitter subject, I know everyone is playing it down, but Jenson said after the race that he was disappointed that you had tweeted the details of the wings and everything else. Have you spoken to Jenson, have you cleared the air with him about it? It seemed to us that Jenson was seeing more in that tweet than maybe you did.

    LH: I haven’t spoken to him, don’t plan to, moved on from it. Obviously it wasn’t the best thing to do and it won’t happen again, so move forward and focus on this race.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Lewis, when you look at a contract or renegotiation or look to move, at your stage of your career, what is it you are looking at? Is it purely money or are there other factors?

    LH: I want to win.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Pure and simple you want to win.

    LH: Yes.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) And is that win 2013 or win 2014, which is a big season, things change quite drastically in 2014, don’t they?

    LH: Yeah, I always want to win, every year you compete, that’s why us drivers exist and that’s why the teams exist. It’s just making sure you’re in the right place to do so.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Being in the right place, does that mean that it might pay to be in a team that manufactures their own engine and their own energy recovery systems rather than being with a customer which McLaren will be?

    LH: It doesn’t mean anything.

    Q: (Patricia Sanchez – La Gaceta) Jerome, so you say you’ve got plenty of information from your team. Do you think there would be room for more testing days in the calendar from your experience?

    Jd’A: I have no idea yet.

    Q: (Patricia Sanchez – La Gaceta) Do you feel that you’ve had plenty of time in the car? 

    Jd’A: You mean so far?

    Q: (Patricia Sanchez – La Gaceta) Yes

    Jd’A: Obviously so far, I don’t feel like I’ve had plenty of time in the car. I had one time in Mugello on a fairly wet track. No, for sure I think it’s good to get more time in the car and I can get much time in the car but I’ve got other things… I was really involved with the team all season so far, back at the factory as well, so I will try to capitalise on that.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) Jerome, are you going to change your attitude of driving now you’re coming back, having already had some experience in Formula One?

    Jd’A: No, there’s no reason to change myself, change who I am and the driver that I am,  stepping in for the weekend, I think that’s the worse thing you can ever do. I will approach the weekend as I have approached all the racing weekends I have been to so far. Of course, it’s a special one, we are in Monza. I’m part Italian, it’s a bit of a home race for me so I’m really cheered up for that and really going to give – as you always do – 100 percent that I have, but I’m not going to change the way I am and the way I drive.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Felipe, Lewis is quite relaxed about not knowing where he’s racing next year, but I guess in your case you’re pretty frustrated. Could you just explain how frustrated you are, and also what percentage chance you think there is of you staying at Ferrari next year?

    FM: For sure, I expect to be in a different position in the championship to what I am but I’m just concentrated on my job which is driving the car, driving the quickest speed that I can. As I said, I am frustrated with my qualifying, not with my races and I’m sure that if I can improve the qualifying, I can be very strong in the races and completely change the results. As I said, I didn’t sign anything for next year yet but I think we have the possibility to sign and let’s wait and see. I don’t know when but I just need to concentrate on the results of the races. I think that’s the main important thing for my future as well.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazetta dello Sport) Fernando, was Monza also a special race for you before becoming a Ferrari driver and what is your special memory of this race? If you have one special memory.

    FA: It has always been special, because of the speed that you reach on this circuit, so for us drivers we love to drive fast cars, we love the speed so when you come here and especially with the V10 engines, we reached 370/375 kph so Monza has always been special. As I said, I think the podium ceremony here is a little bit more emotional than any other place. But obviously when I joined Ferrari it was a different level and the enthusiasm and support that you feel is probably the best race of the calendar for us in terms of emotions.

    Best memory here would be 2010 when we won here, so first time driving for Ferrari. It was a special weekend so hopefully we can repeat this moment soon, this year or the following years.

    Q: (Thierry Wilmotte – le Soir) Question to all of you, but not Jerome: do you have any concerns about the fact that there is a newcomer – of course, he’s not a rookie – but a newcomer coming into the field at the wheel of a good car? Do you have some concerns about that, especially for the start of the race?

    FM: For sure not.

    FA: No, I don’t think so.

    NR: No concern, because he’s had experience last year so he’s not a rookie.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, Felipe, in Barcelona and in Montreal, you had great changes to your car and Ferrari made a great step forward. You have regularly said you are now eight tenths slower than the fastest car. Is there room for a new package from Ferrari to make it similar to McLaren, for example?

    FA: I think so. I think there are still three months of competition. There are still eight races to go, so all the teams bring some  updates to every race. We just need to make ours work a little bit better than the others. In February or March we were more than a second behind the front runners, and then around Barcelona or Canada we were two or three tenths. In two or three months you can make a lot of progress. We just need to be clear on that and make some good steps which I’m sure and confident will arrive sooner or later.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Jerome, you just mentioned that this is your second home Grand Prix. Could you remind us if you have some relatives here in Italy; do you come to Italy sometimes, and which part of Italy do they come from?

    Jd’A: OK, so a bit of funny background here. I have grandparents from Naples in Italy, Monte Casino and one from Naples. Italy is a bit of a second home race for every racing driver in the sense that when you’re involved in go-karts you are involved in Italy most of the time, with Italian  teams  and for me, personally, I’ve grown up in the racing scene in junior formulae in Italy in Formula Renault, in F3000, Formula Masters, Italian teams and so on. I’ve spent a lot of my life and definitely, yeah, this is why I consider this personally as a second home race.

    Ends

  • I want enjoy this win a little while longer: Button

    Spa Francorchamps, 3 Sept 2012: The post race FIA press conference was attended by winner Jenson Button who expressed that he would like to enjoy the moment for “a little while longer” and along with the McLaren driver, Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing) and Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Lotus) who came second and third respectively were also present.

    PODIUM INTERVIEW (conducted by Jacky Ickx)

    Jenson, the last few races were not really easy for you. Today you have done the perfect race. You did the fastest time in practice, you did all the race winning it, you are the only one, I think, this year who has won from the start to the end. It has been wonderful. Just let us know your feeling winning this wonderful Belgian Grand Prix.

    Jenson BUTTON: Good afternoon everyone! Thank you very much. I still can’t get used to this: talking on the podium, it’s quite strange, isn’t it? What can I say? This circuit is such a special circuit to most drivers and, yeah, the way that it flows and the history here so to get a victory here from lights to flag is very special, especially as it’s not been the easiest year for me. So, yeah, a very special weekend. I’d like to thank everyone: the whole team and also all of you guys [the crowd] for being so supportive. And we’re going to enjoy this for a little while longer before we head to Monza and hopefully do the same.

    Well Sebastian, the weekend was probably not the one you would have loved to have; the fact you have missed your train yesterday is quite a handicap but you managed to finish second and you managed to come back in the Championship, reducing the score on Alonso. How do you feel?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, thank you Jacky. Obviously it was a crazy race. From where I started the start was not so good, and after the first corner where a lot of cars went off I was pretty crazy and fortunately we came back with a fantastic strategy, I think it was the right decision to stay out – obviously I was keen to come in because when you’re stuck in traffic it’s difficult – but yeah, I think it was the right call and the car was quite good in the race so we were able to pick up quite some pace. Let’s say after our poor start to the weekend, especially for you guys [the crowd] on Friday when it was raining like mad and you were on the grandstands, thanks for the support. Yeah it was good to come back and obviously a fantastic race, I had a lot of fun, racing a lot of people, racing Michael, so yeah, in the end obviously great to come second, great to be here on the podium and looking forward already to coming back here next year. This circuit is unbelievable. Thank You.

    Well Kimi, first of all the crowd is really showing their pleasure to have you back in grand prix  racing. You’re flirting with the victory, now you are quite often on the podium, you did an incredible battle for third place. We had feeling that maybe you had difficulty with your car, maybe sometimes, but the result is that you are finishing third. It’s a pure joy for us and we like to congratulate you for this great position.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Thanks a lot and I mean it’s nice to be back here. Always lots of fans and good racing. So I think we have seen very nice racing today. Of course not the easiest day for me and for the team but the car was not exactly like we are liking but I was fighting and try to get the best out of it and we managed to get some good points for myself and for the team, so that’s the main thing but for sure not the easiest race, one of the most difficult but that’s how it goes and we try next week better.

    Thanks to all of you, thanks for this great show.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jenson, we said the other day that Spa hasn’t necessarily been very kind to you – I guess that’s changed now?

    JB: Yeah, a little bit. All weekend, to be fair, the car has felt reasonably good. And this is the first circuit we come to that is lower downforce, we pretty much run full downforce everywhere else we go, so it’s a nice change to try something different. I just love Spa, I think we all do. Through Eau Rouge, I know it’s easy flat, but it’s still an experience, the g that we pull through there. And yeah, to lead from start to finish, it’s a very special victory. But I think you’re going to say that about every victory. But it’s really nice to win on a circuit like this. I remember watching Formula One back in the day here – it was a little bit different then – and there’s so much history. It’s really good to be a part of that.

    How important was it to get that first set of medium tyres to last all the way through to nearly half distance?

    JB: Yeah, well, we weren’t really sure what to do with the strategy: whether it was going to be a one [stop] or a two, and we thought some people might even be doing a three and really we were just playing it by ear. And I think when Nico [Hülkenberg] got into second it did help us a little bit because I could just feel the car and not push it too hard and at that point I still didn’t think we were going to do a one-stop, I still thought it was going to be a two. And then on lap 12 the tyres started working and the car felt very consistent, really good to drive and I could control the degradation of the tyres. It’s always easier when you’re leading a race, to do that. But it was a great feeling to be able to go so much further than pretty much everyone except for Seb.

    Were you a bit worried that the tyres might drop off at the end there?

    JB: No. I had a bit more oversteer in the car, which isn’t ideal, but yeah, the balance was reasonable, and it feels that the first ten laps were not perfect and then the tyres would come to you: you would lose a bit of front grip and you would get a balance – on both sets. So it was good. I knew that Sebastian stopped a couple of laps later than me, so he had a couple of laps’ fresher tyres but he had to pull back 15 seconds, so we were in a pretty good position. But you think about everything: you think about all the things that could go wrong and, y’know, today they didn’t. The team did a fantastic job and we really didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. So very  happy and very proud of all the guys. And great to get this victory here in Spa.

    Sebastian, you must be happy also, with second place from tenth on the grid.

    SV: Yeah, after the first corner I was probably the only one who was not improving because obviously a lot of cars crashed in front of us but my start was very poor and I lost quite a lot. I had a very poor initial launch and lost positions. Obviously I was starting around the Force Indias, and I think they were not far away from Jenson after the first corners – and I wasn’t – I was behind a Caterham even. So yeah, pretty poor start to the race but after that I think the pace was there. We were able to get through the field but it’s not that easy when everyone has DRS available: it’s like a big chain and you sit on the limiter like everyone else. It’s difficult to benefit from that but I think we made reasonable progress through the field. And then we were able to have a couple of good laps in clean air, which I think was the right way. And obviously allowed us to come back through the strategy and finish second, which I think after the first lap nobody expected. We didn’t expect the tyres to last that well, I think there was some talk before the race, there were some concerns the tyres wouldn’t last that long. As Jenson touched on, probably most people were thinking of two and three stops and one stop seemed out of reach. Same for us but after a couple of laps it was clear that the tyres were lasting pretty well and the pace wasn’t bad – that was the most important thing for us. Saturday morning went quite well, qualifying was shit and today was well again. Yeah, happy with second.

    You were battling through the field. So you were probably asking more of the softer tyres than Jenson was…

    SV: Surely in the first stint but even with that I think the pace was there. We had the fastest times on the first set of tyres even though I had a lot of battling going on with Felipe – well the Caterham first but Felipe and then Bruno, Mark, Michael – so yeah, it was fairly busy but as I said, the pace was there, which was the reason why we were able to gain so much and in the end come second.

    Kimi, two defining moments that we can remember from that race from you, particularly the start, tell us about that.

    KR: I had an OK start, I gained one place on Sauber and I think a very similar start to Jenson and I just saw it in the mirrors that there’s some accidents going to happen so I was pretty lucky to get out of it. I think they just missed me on the rear. But the Williams tried to get me – but he had a jump start, I could see it already, before the lights went that somebody was moving a lot so for me it was no problem.

    And then the overtaking manoeuvre on Michael down into Eau Rouge…

    KR: Yeah, my car wasn’t very nice to drive the whole race, even yesterday with new tyres in qualifying it was OK but even third or fourth we were quite far away from the guys in front of us – so I wasn’t expecting a very easy ride and it turned out to be very difficult. Not grip, the first few laps with new tyres were always good but then sliding: no front end, no rear end, just struggling with the grip and last we had to run a bit more downforce to get grip and we were really slow in a straight line, so with Michael I passed him once, he got me back and I knew my only chance was try to get the DRS and then to be ahead of him because even if I had the DRS I could not pass him on the straight with the limiter. So, I had to just take a chance to overtake him with the KERS into Eau Rouge And it kind of paid off – but he almost got me still back which shows us that we didn’t really have the speed today – but we had a third place so it’s OK. Not the easiest race but pretty OK.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, you overtook most people into the chicane. Why was it easier to overtake there than at the end of the straight, and how do you see the situation with Michael, who all of a sudden turned into the pit lane?

    SV: With Michael there was a bit of confusion, I think. He probably wasn’t that keen to defend his position because he was going into the pits anyway. I thought he would block the inside and then he came on the outside, it was very very close under braking. I nearly ran into the back of his car, and then I tried to get into a better position for the start/finish straight but he kept turning right and went into the pits. I think I was, within three seconds, twice very lucky not to lose my front wing. I think there was a bit of confusion. It doesn’t matter where you get Michael on the circuit, whether you’re fighting for P1 or P15, he will fight like hell which is great to see – he hasn’t lost it. It obviously makes it hard for you, but it’s always a great challenge. It’s very very close with him but always fair. I enjoyed that, but as I said, there was probably a bit of confusion.

    Regarding the chicane, to be honest I think we were quite racy in terms of ratios. At some stage – especially if you had people in front of the car you were trying to overtake – you know there was a kind of stream up the Kemmel straight so it was difficult to use the benefit you probably had because you were close to the car in front. For some reason, it seemed better on the way back, it was better to attack into the chicane. You also have more of a braking zone which I think allows you to be a little bit more flexible and try something which I did for most of the people, round the outside. I think that’s the reason.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you are now on 140 points while Alonso is still on 164, 24 points difference, less than one victory and we still have eight races to go. Can you comment on that situation regarding the championship?

    SV: Better than before. I had a look at the championship before I went on holiday. Right now I don’t really care in terms of scoring and points. Of course I care for the championship and it’s good to hear that it looks better. I don’t know what happened in the first corner but Fernando didn’t finish the race. These things happen. We have to look after ourselves. I’m not bothered in terms of points and gaps at the moment. There are a lot of races ahead and… bloody hell, if you saw the first corner, you can see how quickly things can change. That’s racing. Next week we go to Monza. It’s nice if you qualify on pole, I did that last year so you’re the first one to get into the chicane. If you’re a little bit further back it can be quite tight, so you always have that risk. The races are very long and even if you’re a little bit further back you can still come back  so we will see what happens.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Kimi, for the first time you failed to win a Belgian race that you have finished. How does that feel and do you think that double DRS would have helped you to gain a better position today?

    KR: Well, we couldn’t use it because Friday was such bad weather, but it’s better third than not to finish, so OK, we didn’t win but we didn’t have the speed today so we didn’t deserve to win either. In the last three races we had the speed in races where you cannot overtake and here we just didn’t have the speed. I will take third place, I’m pretty happy to finish on the podium given how difficult the car was handling and how tricky it was throughout the whole race.

    Q: (Sven Haidinger – Sport Woche) Sebastian, how did it feel to make almost all the overtaking moves into the chicane where you had the crash with Jenson some years ago? Was it good for your morale?

    SV: It was clear that it was Jenson’s fault a couple of years ago! I didn’t crash today, no matter who I passed. It was fun.

    JB: Don’t care, I won anyway.

    SV: I fucked up a couple of years ago when I pushed him out of the race which was not nice, so I learned my lesson. It was very tight but I knew I had to get past. I was somewhere, sitting in 12th, tenth position in the beginning of the race and obviously the target was to have a chat to you at the end of it, so I knew I had a bit on. I tried everything and most of the time it seemed to work so I was quite happy with that and it was good fun.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Jenson, next week we are in Monza. Do you think we’re going to see McLaren in similarly good shape? You’re coming back, you’re  still a long way behind but this was the win that you absolutely needed, with Fernando scoring no points.

    JB: Yeah, as I said before the race, it’s a massive long shot to win the title but today proves that you can claw back 25 points very very quickly. A great day for me, but still 63 points (behind). Anything is possible. Monza is a circuit like this in a way, so yeah, there’s a good possibility that we will have good pace there.  Whether we will be as competitive as we were here we still have to wait and see. The temperatures will be different – it is a little bit different in terms of downforce level so we will see. This is a great weekend for the team – for me anyway, our side of the garage so yeah, it’s a good 25 points and if we can keep fighting for victories like this there’s so many people in the championship that still have the possibility to win, there’s still a small chance that I can really fight for that championship but going to Monza I don’t think about the championship, I think – as we all will say – we go there to do the best job we can and to bring back home the most points that we can. It’s a tough race for anyone that’s not in a Ferrari but it’s a great atmosphere there and it’s one of the best races on the calendar.

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Jenson, speaking of that, do you think that this victory shows that McLaren has improved a lot after the five week break, or is it just a different, unique Grand Prix because you had the accident in the first turn and no activity on Friday because of the rain?

    JB: We’ve had a very up and down season. I’m not talking about me personally but as a team. We had such a strong start to the year and then a pretty weak part to the season. Then Hockenheim was a good race with second then with the win for Lewis in Hungary, and also the win in Canada. We’ve had some very very good races and it seems the last three have been very strong for us. It’s great to see, because here is very different to the last two races. We were running a different… well, I’m running a different wing package in the last two races and it’s good to see that they both work.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, the lack of power here, does it worry you just before going to Monza where you need even more power?

    KR: I don’t know if we were lacking any power. That’s what people always say but we don’t know what we have. We just didn’t have the speed today and hopefully with a bit more warm weather and layout of the circuit might make a difference. I don’t expect just to be suddenly in the front, be up there easily but we’ve been up there more or less at every circuit and giving ourselves a good chance and this was one of the most difficult races, for sure. Hopefully it will go back to what it’s been in previous races for Monza. We’ll just have to wait and see.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Sebastian, you used some very diplomatic words about the fight with Michael. The word you used was confusing. After 300 Grands Prix and about 20 of them here, you would have thought that there would be no room for confusion. Would you like to use some of your stronger language about that behaviour?

    SV: I think the confusion comes from the way that… it’s not anybody’s fault, it’s the way the track is designed with the pit entry… if you decide to pit then you have to go right, so you can’t blame him if that was always his idea. As I said, I probably misunderstood, initially, as in I thought he would cover the inside under braking. I went on the outside and there was hardly any room, so he probably didn’t expect me there or didn’t see me. I don’t know, I need to talk to him. As I touched on there, after turn 18, the first right hander, back to the left, I was probably in a better place to get good acceleration out of the last corner but he wanted to pit so what do you do?

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Regarding this moment, he’s going to speak to the stewards and probably you as well. Do you expect that there might be a punishment for his behaviour?

    SV: You asked whether Michael deserves a penalty? I don’t think so. I think I will talk to him. I don’t think we need penalties all the time. It’s probably easier for us to judge from the inside of the car than for the stewards. As I said, I think the problem, in a way, comes because the pit entry is on the right, the corner goes to the left… It’s nobody’s fault, it’s not Spa or the circuit to blame. As I said, it’s not Michael to blame. I will talk to him and that’s it. I think that’s the way we should handle this kind of situation and vice versa. We got away with it, nothing happened but even if we crashed, it would have meant the end for both our races. I think that’s the approach I would have. When I crashed into Jenson, fortunately he had already left for the airport but I gave him a call and apologised. I think that’s part of the sport. In the end, I think you should treat people the way you expect people to treat you.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) To all three of you, looking at the start with Grosjean who caused another accident, it’s not the first time that that has happened this year. Are you going to talk to him also or are you expecting the stewards to be harsh on him for the next race?

    JB: I will leave this one for Kimi. I didn’t see it.

    MR: I don’t want to talk about it because I didn’t see the whole thing. Somebody can say it’s this one guy’s fault and another guy may have a different opinion. Until I see the whole thing I have nothing to say. It’s not our work or job to tell somebody what to do and what not to do. That’s why we have stewards. We will see what happens.

    Q: (Sven Haidinger – Sport Woche) Jenson, how do you explain that you were struggling big time in the first half of the season and now suddenly there seems some kind of dominance, or this weekend you’re absolutely on top of your game? What happened?

    JB: Yeah, very good holiday. Maybe we should have five weeks between every race? I’m not looking forward to Monza! Many things. The start of the season was good for me – this could be long! – the start of the season was good for me, I obviously won the first race. In the first three or four races the pace was very good and then I had a period of about four races that weren’t so good but for different reasons. We did try something with the set-up to try and help the tyre temperature issues that we were having in our team. I tried it on my side and it took us a couple of races to realise that data wasn’t correct and we were probably damaging the tyres more than helping them. At certain times I’ve been unlucky, especially at Silverstone which was disappointing because it’s my home Grand Prix. In Valencia, again the pace was good but it didn’t go my way and from then on, I think the pace has been reasonably good. I’m much happier with the car in the last few races. I feel that I can work with it. Before, it was so inconsistent corner to corner, not just lap to lap. Corner to corner the car felt so different. I wouldn’t say it’s just our car, it’s probably everyone’s car, with the way the tyres are working but for me, that was more of a struggle than for Lewis and maybe some others. It’s definitely a weakness of mine, but something I definitely worked on. This weekend proves that I can get the best out of the car when I like the balance.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Sebastian, did you think you would be on the podium today after starting tenth?

    SV: It’s difficult to know before the race, but I was quite confident we have a strong pace. As I touched on, the car was very good on Friday and Saturday morning and not on Saturday afternoon, but I was reasonably confident and knew that everything is possible here, because you can overtake, probably better than Hungary. I was looking forward to finishing on the podium.

    Ends

  • Jenson Button says a `Big thank you’ to his engineers

    Spa Francorchamps, 1 Sept 2012: McLaren’s Jenson Button achieved his first pole in three years with his superb performance in the qualification and expressed confidence about the race at the FIA Press Conference for the top three drivers here on Saturday.

    While Jenson Button, Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and pastor Maldonado (Williams) attended the Press Conference after being the top three qualifiers, Maldonado lost grid position for blocking Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and is penalised by the stewards.

    TV UNILATERAL

    Jenson, your 50th race for your team and what a way to mark it, with your first pole position for them?

    Jenson BUTTON: It’s been quite a long time since I got my last pole position – that was back in 2009, Monaco I think. It was pretty emotional. Sunday’s have been good for the past few years, but Saturdays have not gone perfectly you could say. So, a great qualifying session and it’s so important to come back after the break, such a long break, with a good result on Saturday. I know the race is tomorrow but this is close to winning a race for me because it’s been so long.

    Kamui, your first front row in Formula One and also the first front row for a Japanese driver in Formula One, so yoku dekimashita to you.

    Kamui KOBAYASHI: Really? Thank you. It’s quite far from yesterday’s practice where we struggled quite a bit and we really had no idea what we were going to do. But this morning in that hour we changed the settings and we improved better, definitely. Quali? Of course we don’t know what is really a fact, how much there is an improvement of track condition. But we have good confidence at Spa and after the summer holiday everybody wants to have a really good potential in the car. In these three months there are going to be like nine races, it’s quite busy but very important for us so I’m very happy to have a great result here.

    Pastor, your holiday included a return trip back to Venezuela. The rest might have done you a bit of good as well, with another top three qualifying. Not the most straightforward qualifying for you but in the end it all came good.

    Pastor MALDONADO: Yeah, I think we’ve been quite consistent in qualifying all season, especially since Barcelona and now it seems to be a bit more strong, the car. We’ve been working so hard, even in the break, trying to analyse and understand all the problems we had in the past, to sort it out for the second part of the season and that means we are quite competitive. Especially this morning we were struggling a little it with the set-up but we understand and we knew where to work on the car. I’m very happy because the team reacted. The spirit is high in the team. We are working so compact now. I’m looking forward to the second part of the season. The races were up and down in the first part and looking forward to the second part to recover what we lost at the beginning of the season.

    Jenson, you mentioned an emotional day for you but there were three laps that were more than good enough for pole. What was the secret? Why was today such a good Saturday, when others have been such a struggle?

    JB: If I knew, it would make everything great! We just got the balance right this morning. The car’s been working really well all day. It’s limited running we’ve all had but every run we’ve done the balance has been reasonably good and we just tickled it, especially through qualifying. Yeah, the balance is to my liking. I obviously have a style where it’s quite difficult to find a car that works for me in qualifying but when it does we can get pole position. So, big thank you to the whole team, especially Dave and Tom, my two engineers, who on Saturdays, some of the time, have found it pretty tough. But today is a good day and it makes it a lot easier for us tomorrow being in this position but it’s still going to be hard day I think.

    Kamui, we saw the Saubers very impressive in the final practice session, the only dry session before qualifying. Was this a result you expected today or did it still come as a massive shock?

    KK: Of course we expect like really high for this weekend because Spa is one of our favourite circuits. I think our car should be good here as well. Of course I didn’t expect second in qualifying. We’re basically quite strong in the race, but not strong in quali with other tracks. I think we have a really great opportunity for tomorrow as well. I think this is a really good start for the rest of the season. We need to be really strong in quali. Definitely, I think in this summer break, the guys had a lot of work and they did a really great job. We had really a lot of chats with them and we’re happy to be here and confident and we showed that in quali. It’s really great and thanks to the guys.

    Pastor, Williams third on the grid. Did you expect that coming to Spa or is this just the team making good fortune out of others’ misfortune in the qualifying session?

    PM: We were optimistic for this race. Maybe this morning I was a little bit more worried because the car doesn’t look quite good. But during the qualifying I was adapting myself to the car and adapting myself to the different conditions and the track was changing and improving at the same time. After Q1 I saw the potential we had, a bit less in Q2, we were nearly out, P10. I was a bit worried about that because the lap wasn’t that good. In Q3 I pushed very much, at the maximum. I got a clean lap. We are not that fast, like Jenson, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. In the past we’ve had very good pace in the races so looking forward.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jenson, it hasn’t been a particularly kind circuit to you – does this make up for it?

    JB: Over the years in qualifying it hasn’t been particularly that kind to me but twelve years ago for my first race here I qualified third on the grid, back in 2000, so I have some good memories from qualifying here. And this definitely adds to that. It’s a very special circuit for all of us and to get a pole position here does mean a lot, especially because it’s been quite a long time for me.

    I think this was touched on [in the TV unilateral] have you basically found the secret to qualifying, your qualifying, or have you just hit the sweet spot?

    JB: I really don’t know. Maybe a five-week break between every race is what I need – getting old now so maybe that’s the case! But no, all day the car’s been reasonably good. We’ve been tweaking it all through P3 and in qualifying even. On both tyres the car’s felt good. It’s difficult to get a lap together this year with these tyres I think. And even a pole lap, it still doesn’t feel like the perfect lap. After the qualifying the adrenaline is running high and you look back on it and think it’s a great lap – but when you analyse it, it’s very, very difficult to do a perfect lap with these cars, and that’s something I’ve struggled with, with the way that I drive.

    How much satisfaction has it given you that you’ve beaten everybody else?

    JB: Yeah, definitely. Today we didn’t put a foot wrong all through qualifying. And I say ‘we’ meaning the team and myself. The engineers have really been on it today. It’s difficult when it’s just one hour of practice – and basically you get about twenty minutes on the circuit in a one-hour practice session – and yeah, they’ve really been on it. So, congratulations to them. Obviously this isn’t a win – the points are tomorrow – but this is very important to us.

    Kamui, Sauber and yourself seem to have been on top of it all weekend so far, is that the case?

    KK: Well from yesterday it was totally different conditions. But today, even in the morning we had quite good confidence with the car. I think Spa is one of our favourite tracks with our car, so we had quite [a lot of] confidence coming here but we didn’t expect to be in second. Front row is a really good finish in the quali and we usually struggle in the quali and in the race I think we are not really worried. But this is where we want to improve and in Spa of course this is a favourite circuit but we didn’t expect second. And I’m very happy of course. I think the team had a really great time during this holiday and they do really quite well and that’s why we are here. But I think very important for tomorrow to score much more points for us.

    And this is your best qualifying position by two places as well…

    KK: Well, my best quali I think but I’m always focussing on Sunday and not on quali – so this is a good point but I want to focus on tomorrow. Second in quali we still cannot get any points, so just y’know, we see tomorrow, and if we can be on the podium that’s really something we need to do.

    Someone yesterday mentioned what a good overtaker you are – but you’ve only got one person to overtake…

    KK: Well yes, of course – but always in the top three or top five it’s always more difficult to battle. If we’re P15 or something it’s easy to do something. So, I think definitely tomorrow is a different story and of course we need to fight and we need to watch tyre management. But tyres are a little bit strange because we have different tyres from previous event, so we need a little bit to take care and we need to finish the race.

    Pastor, how important was this third place after the results recently.

    PM: It was important especially because we are here in Spa, which is a special track, I think, for all the drivers. We are expecting this race for all the year and yes, it’s something special to be in the top three here in Spa.

    And you and the engineers seem to have found the right setup straight away.

    PM: Yeah, I think this morning we were struggling a little bit with the setup, especially with the option tyres, and then we were analysing and trying to push very hard to see what was the problem – and we solved the problem. The qualifying looked quite consistent and strong. The only problem was Q2. We were at the limit,  P10, but yeah, the lap wasn’t that clean. But in Q3 I push, I see where I’m mistaking in Q2, where to improve the car, and we did pretty good I think. That means that the team is working so good, especially after the break, so we stay competitive. The spirit is so high at the moment, so looking forward for tomorrow and even for the rest of the season.

    We did see on the screen that you and Nico Hülkenberg have an incident being investigated by the stewards. Is that a concern as far as you’re concerned.

    PM: To be honest I don’t remember that.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Adrian Huber – EFE) Pastor, would you be happy repeating this position tomorrow and being on the podium or are you aiming for a win?

    PM: I think we need to go for the best we can do. For sure it’s going to be important to be on the podium, it’s going to be important to score some points tomorrow but if we can go for more, we will do so.

    Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Jenson, presumably it’s going to be quite difficult for you to be the sporting role for Lewis tomorrow, given your positions on the grid. How irritating has that talk been for you and just how easy has it been for you to focus on the rest of the season, just in terms of forgetting all the talk about where you are in the championship and making sure you’re in a position to win races?

    JB: Obviously not that difficult. It’s halfway point and maybe we haven’t had enough to talk about over the five week break so you get asked unusual questions and very unusual for this point in the season. It’s part of Formula One and I’ve experienced it before. The important thing is that within the team we’ve got a very good relationship and we’re working together to build the best car we possibly can and on the weekends trying to extract everything from it. Today is a very good day for us, and I’m sure Lewis is disappointed to be where he is but for me, a great day and hopefully this makes our life a little bit easier tomorrow but still, as I said, we really don’t know what’s going to happen in the race here. We missed Friday because of the weather and it’s going to be difficult to know what the consistency is of everyone here. A little bit unknown, but we’ll run through everything tonight, every scenario I’m sure and make sure we’re ready for tomorrow.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) How crucial is it for you to win this race tomorrow, trying to come back and catch up some of the guys who are ahead of you?

    JB: It’s very important. A lot of people have asked me if I can still fight for the championship. It is a long shot; I’m 80 points behind Fernando. I need to be on the podium and finishing in front of Fernando at every race for the rest of the season, which is not easy, given his consistency but this is a good start. Yeah, a win is very important tomorrow, to fight for the championship.

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Live) Jenson, how do you motivate yourself today before qualification?

    JB: Same as always. You know, I’m doing the best job in the world. I get to drive Formula One cars every other weekend. It’s something that we all dream about as kids, I think. It’s easy to motivate yourself, especially when you’re working with a team like McLaren, a team with such history and a team that really is behind its drivers and supporting them all the way. And also when you have your friends and family that come here to support you it makes a big difference. It was pretty easy to motivate myself and also it was such a long break for us to get back in the car is a really really good feeling. Nothing leaves you; you don’t forget how to drive but there’s a little bit more of a buzz there when you jump back in. We were unable to really use that yesterday because of the weather but today it was great to actually push a Formula One car to the limits. I enjoyed today very much.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Pastor, you were talking about ups and downs this season. What is the reason for your bad races? Do you think it was pushing or not pushing too hard?

    PM: I think we still need to push hard. Yes, I’ve been involved in many accidents and a lot of bad luck at the beginning of the season, but the most important thing is to be competitive, to be consistent from now to the end. I think we have everything to do that and concentrate on this second part of the season. The team is pushing hard as well so everything looks quite good for us so I’m looking forward to the end of the season.

    Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) Kamui and Pastor: do you think that the fact that you are not title contenders compared to your direct rivals tomorrow… can you take advantage of that, maybe taking more risks than others?

    KK: I’m not going to take any risks, of course. Races are something different. Starting second I think is not a risk, it’s quite important, it will be important to manage the race. I definitely have to say it’s not a risk race, we need to manage it well tomorrow.

    PM: I think it’s difficult for me to predict the races but starting from a very good position off the grid, for sure the points will be important for the team, it will be important for me as well, so I will always try to do my best against top teams and even Sauber and whichever team is fighting with us. But for sure, again I repeat it will be very important to be in the points tomorrow.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Jenson, you already mentioned there was restricted practice time. What do you think is the biggest question mark for tomorrow: the tyre degradation, the choice of tyres later on in the race or whether the choice of set-up with less or more downforce is the right one?

    JB: All of that. We’re not sure whether we’ve got the right downforce for tomorrow. Our straightline speeds seem pretty good which is important for the race, especially when you’ve got a lot of fuel on board but then the negative is,you spend a lot of time in the middle sector. Possibly you can damage the tyres more with less downforce but maybe that’s not the case. Maybe with more downforce you generate more heat so I don’t know, we have to wait and see. It’s all very unknown at the moment. I think the important thing is that I thought we expected the guys with higher downforce to maybe be quicker compared to us in qualifying. It’s a nice feeling being on pole by three tenths and these guys are obviously still pretty quick in a straight line compared to others but it’s nice to have that advantage.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty)  Jenson, for the last three years, your friend Sebastian Vettel was very often in the press conference on this day. Today he is missing. Do you like this situation and what would you like to say to comfort him today?

    JB: Nothing! I’m not the person to be comforting Sebastian Vettel. I think he’s eleventh on the grid, is that correct? I’ve started worse than that and finished on the podium so it doesn’t mean his weekend is over, it does mean that it’s a lot more difficult than maybe it was for him last year, starting on pole. He’ll still be quick. There are many places to overtake here. I think we’ll still see Sebastian fighting for some very good points.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Jenson, earlier on in Q1, we heard you complaining about understeer and then seconds later, top of the time sheets, you were really fast on it and stayed that way. What happens? Is this the tyres coming in or psychologically you just think sod it and you get on with it and do the business?

    JB: I wish it was that easy. Especially with these temperatures and limited running it’s been difficult to get the tyres in the working range. This morning it was the other way around, they were working very well and then later on in the run they weren’t working so well. In Q1 it was the other way around: lap one, I just had no front grip at all as you probably heard me say, and then it was better on lap three. It’s really difficult to understand how hard to push on an out lap and also if you’re doing a three lap run, on the second lap how hard to push, whether you should put more heat into the tyres, the bulk or the surface. It’s not just drive round as fast as you can any more. It was good to get the balance today and get it right.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kamui, you are one of the drivers that people love the most because you are always attacking everything. Lately there are a lot of rumours – even from the fans – that would like to have you in Ferrari next year. Is it something you are thinking of, considering?

    KK: It’s the first time I hear that. Nobody has told me, so I’m really surprised to hear that. At the moment, after the holiday, our results compared to our speed of the car, I’m not very happy with how many points we’ve scored, so I am focusing on the last nine races to score more and still, of course, nobody’s discussed about next year so it’s not a bit too late and of course there’s a good option to stay with Sauber as well, but we never know what’s a surprise. Definitely my target is focusing on my races for the last nine races.

    Jenson Button on Saturday 1Sept2012 after taking Pole at Spa for the Belgian GP. McLaren photo

    Ends

  • V6 mules, or not… debate at Spa

    Spa Francorchamps, 1 Sept 2012: As 2014’s hybrid engines get closer to completion, debate over how to test them has thrown up some interesting opinions.

    Paddy Lowe, McLaren Technical Director on Friday at Spa. McLaren photo.

    Speaking in Friday’s FIA press conference, McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn and Ferrari’s head of engine and KERS operation Mattia Binotto debated how they might prepare the untried V6 hybrid engines before the 2014 season. At the moment there is no provision beyond the standard short winter testing season for the new units to run in modern cars – which is a situation not before faced whenever F1 has introduced radically new powerplants.

    “There have been a lot of discussions about whether we might make what is called a mule car to run the new engine next year,” said Lowe. “It’s very expensive to make a mule car, especially when we have other programmes running as well. Not just expensive in money but in terms of the people you need to design it.

    “Most of the teams are agreeing that we will not have mule cars. The regulations wouldn’t currently make a mule car of any benefit anyway but we’re not agreeing to introduce any new test sessions that would use mule cars. So then the question is: can we enter a new season with a new power unit, without that track testing?”

    Lowe went on to point out that technology has considerably advanced since F1 last faced a similar issue. “I think compared to previous points in time when new power trains were introduced the technology in the lab is far more sophisticated now. I think generally the manufacturers and the teams are feeling that it is realistic to bring in these new power units without needing to introduce special cars to get that earlier learning.”

    That point of view stood in contrast to the one expressed by Binotto. “From an engine point of view we are very keen to run the new power unit earlier because what you can find on a car is never equal to what you can find on the dyno,” he said. “All the dynamics of the car, gearchanges, running on bumps, whatever, is quite different to the dyno itself so we are all afraid that by the start of the season you find out that you have a big issue with the engine and the power unit, and you have no time to sort it out.”

    Ross Brawn pointed out that the testing ban only relates to the current generation of cars, and suggested therein may lie a route to proving the new engines. “My understanding is that there’s nothing to stop a team testing an engine with an old car if they want to. Whether that is the most effective thing to do is a different matter, because it’s a huge resource to do that and, as Paddy said, there’s a lot of improved technologies there since we last introduced a new engine.  We have lots of ways of trying to understand the engine, the complete power train and [how] the systems will work together.”

    ends

     

  • We are not making any changes to the Tyres: Pirelli

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), David GREENWOOD (Marussia), Mattia Binotto (Ferrari), Ross BRAWN (Mercedes), Paddy LOWE (McLaren).

    Paul, are these ideal conditions and temperatures for you at Spa? Seriously, looking at temperatures though, this combination of dry tyres is the same as we had in Malaysia and Monza, which you can imagine would be similar temperatures to each other and this here is pretty cold.

    Paul HEMBERY: I think you have a situation here where the temperature can change very rapidly here. We can easily have 25-30 degrees and you can obviously have what we have today 11 degrees and full rain. We do have a limitation on the choices, we have four compounds to choose for the season and sometimes you’re maybe a little bit more compromised than you’d like to be. Having said that, the harder tyre will work reasonably well in cooler conditions. If it gets near 15 degrees that will be right at the lower end of the area we’d like to working at. Here the challenge is normally for integrity reasons – the loadings on the tyre, which are our real challenge.

    What about the rest of the season? People have talked a great deal about how unpredictable the championship has been. Has there been a policy change? Are you going to stay very much with the way the choice has been so far this year?

    PH: Yeah, pretty much so. We’re certainly not making any changes to the tyres. Last year we did make a few changes during the season. This year, because it’s so close with 10ths of a second between the teams, it would be wrong for us to have changed anything because if one team had started then maybe performing better we would have been accused of favouritism. So we’ve had to leave it. The choices probably going through to the end of the season are pretty logical now and I’m sure the teams will guess what’s used.

    Have you been happy with the way things have gone so far?

    PH: Yes, absolutely. It’s been an exciting season. I’m sure the headaches for the technical guys here have been quite big. But the racing’s been fun – very interesting. I think we’re seeing a pattern emerging now in terms of results.

    Dave, have you been happy with your season so far, from the Marussia point of view? 

    David GREENWOOD: Yeah I mean, obviously from the start of the season we knew we had a long way to improve. That’s mainly what we’ve working on with recent upgrades. I think it’s easy sometimes to look at the classification sheet and see the gaps and the positions at the end of the race and not think that there are improvements being made but that’s not the case. But if you look at the underlying pace that’s getting a lot better. We started the season around 4.5% off the leaders in the race and it’s somewhere around 2–2.5% now, so that’s a good improvement and going forward that will look even better when we have these upgrades and at the end of the year the gaps will be significantly less.

    Now, you’ve already announced Cosworth continuing for next, plus you’ll have KERS next year as well. Are you feeling that’s heading in the right direction?

    DG: Yeah, I mean one thing this year, obviously we haven’t had the KERS. Conscious decision to concentrate on aerodynamics. That’s all happening now and we’re much happier with progress on aero and correlation to the windtunnel etc. So logical step with 2014 in mind and the new powertrain that’s coming along is to take KERS for 2013, get operational and sort of start the next stage of our journey.

    Mattia, quick question about Felipe this morning: what was the problem there?

    Mattia BINOTTO: Obviously the engine failed. We’ll need to analyse it. I don’t think we have a clear answer at the moment. The engine was quite close to the end of its life, so it’s something that can normally happen on a Friday even if you never expect to have such a problem during a Friday practice session. We have been lucky due to the weather conditions so we have not compromised the programme of Felipe. The engine will be back in Maranello, we expect, next week.

    Now, Ferrari are very much developing the V6 already. How difficult is it to work with the current race engines and the new engine?

    MB: That is I think the real challenge of the new power unit. Designing it, developing it is quite difficult but having two types of project in parallel, overlapping is quite difficult. From the facilities point of view, at some stage to put the V6 engine means using that dyno for V6 and no more for the V8. It means that all the dynos need at some stage to be transformed from V8 to V6 and you need in terms of scheduling to choose the right moment to do it. We are running the V6, that’s correct and in some ways that means we have one less dyno for the V8s, and that will be more and more. So it’s really difficult. Moving on the facilities is a real job, in terms of investment, in terms of timing, in terms of schedule. To shorten up that timing is very challenging and very important because each day you gain in that respect will be one more day you can spend on the development of the V6. You need to push on the current season, on the next you can obviously not slow down on your development of the V8 but at some time you have to move to the V6.

    And you’re also having to manage the use of eight engines in 20 races. How does that work as well?

    MB: You need already to create your pool at the start of the season and then you need in some way to decide when to fit a brand new engine in the car and at which race. Normally you make your choice based on what is the power effect, circuit by circuit. So the circuits where the power is more important in terms of lap time you’ll fit a new engine. It is normally the case for Belgium and Monza. I’m expecting all the manufacturers will do as we do in some way. Looking at the current situation we have so far used four engines, five for our competitors, which we believe can in some way be an advantage at the end of the season. Fitting new engines in Belgium and Monza means that everybody else will be at seven engine already used and then you need in some way to manage the end of the season. Having a brand new engine compared to an engine having already done one race, it’s some horsepower, not a lot, but looking at the power effect it can up to one tenth per lap in qualifying. Knowing that the grid is very short, everything is quite important at the moment.

    Nico (Rosberg) was quite interesting recently in saying that both he and the team have learned from the barren patch that you’ve gone through. Tell us what was learned during that time?

    Ross BRAWN: I think our season has in many ways improved over previous years. We’ve won our first race this year. Michael was fastest in qualifying in Monaco. So, we’ve had some highlights but we’ve not been consistent enough. And I think the consistency has been amplified by the closeness of the cars. There’s been a few tenths between cars and often a few tenths have been extremely significant. So, I think we’re working towards better consistency, both of the car and how we use the tyres. Tyres have been a very interesting challenge this year: the same challenge for all the teams. But getting the most out of the tyres is where we want to improve. I think we still want to… as everyone does, we’re fighting hard to make progress with the team. So we strengthened the team considerably last year and the first half of this year and I think we’re going to see the benefits of those changes start to feed through into a stronger, competitive position for the future.

    Does that translate into a specific aim for the second half of the season?

    RB: Well we’re still very hard on this year’s car, given the rules haven’t changed very much for next season. Anything you do this year will be relevant for next year. We have started next year’s car, as I think most teams have, but we’re not so concerned about continuing the push this year because we know things we run this year can be carried over into next year’s car. There’s still a strong push this year and there probably will be until the end of the season.

    Paddy, I can ask you pretty much the same sort of thing: how do you manage next season and you’re still in contention for the championship as well? How much of a juggling act is that?

    Paddy LOWE: It’s very difficult actually, although in this particular season, as Ross said, it’s less difficult than it can be. If you have a big rule change then you’re faced with a dilemma as to how much resource you put into the current season relative to the following year. But as Ross says, in this season the rules are very similar in 2013, so most of what you develop now will carry across, so it is easier. We have quite a few teams who would still believe they’re in the running for a championship and I think we will see a lot of development carrying on right through for the next two or three months and that will make it tough, because inevitably you do have to put significant effort into next year’s car at some point, if only to get it out the door in March.

    And yet at the same time we’ve got four double-headers, just one standalone race, so everything has to be timed presumably for those double-headers and then you get, as you pointed out, three Fridays that have been complete washouts…

    PL: Yeah, I mean that doesn’t make life easy at all because now, with no in-season testing, what we’ve grown used to is using Fridays as effectively our tests for all the new parts – very difficult when they’re rained off. But it’s the same for everybody I guess.

    And what are the drivers saying now about the car? What are they looking for mainly?

    PL: I think it’s the same story we always have: they need balance through the corner and between the high and low speed – and to keep that consistent, that’s a matter of getting the best out of the tyres through the various stages of the race. It’s the same formula it’s always been but I think particularly with the tyres this year, that has proved to be very difficult.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Ross, I believe after the last race the FIA circulated a multiple-choice proposal about the RRA. With entries closing on the 30th September, with it being effectively a month away, what’s your prognosis of the situation?

    RB: We’ve always been strong supporters of RRA. We’re also strong supporters that there should be correct procedures and policies followed in Formula One, so on that basis, the existing Concorde Agreement, it’s difficult to see the FIA RRA being introduced next year unless there’s unanimous agreement. We believe you should still follow the policies and principles that have served Formula One very well for a number of years – but our feeling is also on that basis, because there was a strong majority, that it should be something which can come in for 2014, the FIA-policed RRA. Because we have an RRA at the moment but it’s an inter-team agreement and probably we’d like to see some more strength in terms of the application of the RRA, some more consistency between all the teams on how it’s interpreted and I think that’s the next step we have to make with the resource restriction.

    (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Question for both Ross and Paul: what is the connection between the Mercedes engine and the degradation of the tyres? How does the characteristics of the engine influence that?

    RB: I think any engine, whether it’s Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes or Cosworth, can have an influence on the tyre’s behaviour and tyre degradation and every team in the pitlane is looking at their setting-up on the engine, the tuning of the engine that we’re allowed to do during a weekend to make the best of that. I don’t think there’s any evidence we’re in a more difficult or better position than anyone else. I think undoubtedly the more power you try to deliver, the more stress you put on the tyres, so it’s a balancing act at always. But I don’t think we have any unique issues – but it is a challenge for all the engine engineers – and Mattia can probably comment with more experience than I can – but you’re always seeking over the race weekend to find the best setup of the engine as well as the chassis. Hot track, high temperatures is where you can feel perhaps the most sensitivity to the engine characteristics.

    Mattia, would you like to comment on that?

    MB: It seems that Ross already commented. Mainly it’s very difficult to work on the engine in some way to improve the durability of the tyres. Setup-wise you can do a lot more [with] mechanical grip of the car itself. We can try to help: we do it by fine-tuning and calibrating the mapping but at the end, the things you can do from the mechanical parts of the car are a lot more important that what you can do with the engine.

    Paul, anything to add?

    PH: Not really anything to add to that.

    (Pierre Van Vliet – F1i) Question for Paul. A couple of months ago your test team came here to test the 2013 tyres, I believe. Do you plan any other tests this year and what about the future? Because I read somewhere that you consider the Renault you are using is becoming a bit obsolete now.

    PH: We have some more testing planned, yes. When we were here we had much better weather than we’ve got here now, so it was a very useful session. We were meant to have been at Monza at the beginning of August, but unfortunately for some reason we weren’t able to test – but we are going to Barcelona in a few days. So we do have a number of sessions still planned before the end of the season. The Renault car that we’re using has been extremely good, very reliable. Going forward it depends of course whether we’re going to be in the sport beyond the end of our contract – because anything we did next year would be related to cars for 2014, not 2013. And also, probably the Renault is the right level of car going forward, because the cars of last season were quite substantially different. So, at the moment we’re happy with what we’ve been doing with the test plan. Very reliable, good engineering support and we’ve been able to achieve what we want – so at the moment we’re happy.

    (Stephane Barbé – L’Equipe) Ross, 300 GPs for Michael [Schumacher]. You’ve been alongside for most of them – can we have your comments? And also, has Michael been still able to surprise you over the past two years, compared to the previous times?

    RB: I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of Michael’s racing career in Formula One. It’s been… there’s so many records that Michael has established that will be extremely difficult for anyone to match. It may happen one day, as with all records. But quite the exceptional performance, quite an iconic performance that, as I say, is going to be extremely difficult to match. I’ve been privileged to see most of those race wins. And I think Michael’s achieved it, not just from his raw ability – which of course is exceptional – but from his attitude and his approach. Being part of a team he’s always been very committed, and enjoys being part of a team. So, he understand that part of it. And that’s why I think he achieves such consistently good results because he was able to motivate and incentivise the whole team to achieve the results, not just for him but for the other car as well. So I think he’s been the most – in my view – the most complete racing driver of my generation. Does he still surprise us? Of course he does. In Monaco he was the fastest driver in qualifying. It’s a shame that because of the penalty he wasn’t on the front row. So he’s still producing exceptional performances and still a privilege to work with.

    (Sven Haidinger – Sport Woche) I have a question for Ross concerning your Ferrari era. It was a time you were very successful and that success was very much based on the testing and the tyres. At that time McLaren already focussed very much on simulation and that turned out to be weakness of Ferrari recently – was it on your agenda that Ferrari has to improve in that area at the end of your time at Ferrari – or wasn’t it a big topic at Ferrari?

    RB: I think Formula One does evolve in different directions to suit circumstances. It’s possibly correct that we had a very heavy commitment to testing when I was there. We had two test tracks of our own and of course we focussed on the most effective way of improving the performance of the car. Which for us during that period was intensive testing. Also, there were a lot of battles between the tyre companies and that needed track testing. If we had… all the stuff Paul’s finding out, it’s pretty challenging to develop the tyres without every car in the pitlane out there testing them. I think if we had a tyre war at the moment, that would be very, very difficult without track testing. But I think we also recognise, the period I was at Ferrari, the need for modelling, simulation – and the driver simulator is only a portion of all the simulation that’s going on within the team, it’s obviously an important part because it does involve the driver – but there’s a huge amount of simulation going on in aerodynamics, in the mechanical behaviour of the car. And all of those things I believe that my time there, Ferrari were pretty strong. And, the driver in the loop simulator was something we were starting to look at, and I think most teams are in a pretty good position now with that sort of technology.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Two questions to Mattia Binotto: first of all, at what stage is Ferrari in developing the new V6 engine, and how much can it influence the performance of the car aerodynamically in 2014?

    MB: So, at what stage are with the V6? We are on plan, our plans. We don’t know what that means to the others. In Formula One, it’s always a matter of being better than the others and not being good in absolute. We are on schedule in that respect. We are happy. Each day there is something new to be learned. 2014 is just around the corner, so in some ways it’s really difficult, very challenging and we cannot be happy at the stage that we are. We are pushing every day, trying to do more than what we are doing at the moment because we know that 2014 is nearly here. At this stage of development we are quite worried because you don’t really know what will be the latest stage of your engine. It’s really early days. You are mapping it, you are trying to know it better than what was on the paper at the very start but as well, in terms of reliability, I think it’s an entire work that needs, in some ways, to be understood. We are pushing, we are on time, we are on schedule but it’s never enough. In Formula One, you cannot be satisfied, you can never be satisfied. In terms of aero, I think it will in some ways modify the car. I think that my friends beside me are more expert than me, but the power unit is quite different to what we had so in terms of layout and architecture it’s quite different. It will have big implications for the gearbox as well and I think that even now, maybe we have not chosen what will be the final architecture of the new engines. As well, in that respect, we are still developing.

    Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson and Assocs) As a follow-up to the earlier question about Michael’s 300th Grand Prix, Ross, were you here in 1992 when Michael won his first race and if you were, what are your memories of that weekend?

    RB: Er, yes, I was here. I think it was a mixed weather race from memory. Again, it’s completeness that I think Michael has a racing driver, his ability to make the most out of those mixed conditions. I think his ability to work with the team, to come to the right decisions from the pitwall on what to do with strategy, what to do with tyres and giving you the information, giving you the pointers that you need to help come to a conclusion. Yeah, I think those first few race wins that Michael had were probably opportunist wins in the sense that we perhaps weren’t the fastest car on the day but he managed to put it all together in difficult circumstances. Then of course as the car improved and we were able to give him a better car then the wins became more consistent.

    Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson and Assocs) Could you just elaborate more about the B192, its strengths, weaknesses, what it was like to work on?

    RB: I’m getting old now. I think most of the people up here would know that you forget your car almost as soon as you stop racing it and get on with the next one so I can’t remember that well quite frankly, but obviously it was the start of my working with Michael, working with Rory Byrne and the start of that era that started at Benetton and then continued at Ferrari. Each year is an evolution when you stay together like that. When you stay together as engineers, when you stay together as drivers then you evolve well, I think, from year to year. I can’t remember the B192 specification but it obviously wasn’t a bad car but not as good as the cars we were able to do after that.

    Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson and Assocs) And the fact that Michael was so quick in that car and is still quick today, just talk us through the versatility of the man who’s been able to drive both?

    RB: I think it relates to what I said about variable conditions. Michael looks to get the most out of every situation. He’s extremely competitive and obviously hugely talented, so it’s not looking upon those situations as a problem, it’s looking upon those situations as an opportunity. When those situations get difficult, then how can you get the most out of them, how can you extract a result from that, get a race win? I think Michael stated this as one of if not his best favoured track and he’s had some sensational results here. I think it is that all-round ability and most importantly consistency. You can count on less than one hand or one hand the number of bad races that Michael has over a  season and there’s not many drivers who can say that.

    Q: (Michael Doodson – Honorary) Ross, you just spoke most eloquently about Michael’s ability to incentivise a team but only yesterday Michael himself told us, rather surprisingly, that the lack of reliability that he’s had this year, was no big deal for him. This suggests to me that perhaps he’s rather less ambitious now than he once was. I wonder if this is going to affect your decision about whether or not to re-employ him next year?

    RB: I think you need to separate the opinions Michael gives to the media and the opinions he gives to the team. They are sometimes quite different. Michael’s tough, Michael’s very demanding in terms of within the team, but he does that in a very positive way. He demands things of the team and he commits himself to the team in return, but that’s not something Michael shares outside of the team. As I say, he’s a good team member so when we do have a problem, Michael’s as disappointed as any of us, perhaps more so and will express that disappointment. But quite honestly he doesn’t express that to the media because that’s not part of being a team. It’s as simple as that really.

    Q: (Sven Haidinger – Sport Woche) Ross, you know this year’s Mercedes car very well; where do you see its biggest weakness and where do you have to improve the most to be fighting for the championship next year?

    RB: It is very close this year. A few tenths seem to make a huge difference. Sometimes we’ve had qualifying where there is a very small amount between the whole top ten so small differences are pretty significant this year. We’ve had some good races with the car and some more difficult races. I think the more difficult races – for instance the most recent one was Hungary, we struggled with the balance. Paddy mentioned about what you try to seek with a racing car and it’s balance, consistency of balance through a corner: entry, middle, exit. We’ve been struggling a little bit to find the right balance that also gives the consistency we need with the tyres so we can get consistency with the tyres, but then we don’t have the quickest balance, the quickest car. When we have perhaps the balance we need for the quickest time then we perhaps struggle with the consistency of the tyres so it’s just finding that… yeah, optimising the car around that has been difficult. We’ve got ideas, we’ve got our theories and views on what we need to do with the car and some of those will be implemented this year in order to understand what we need to do for next year’s car. But it is this question of finding consistency of balance against tyre consistency and tyre durability. I think at the beginning of the year we had a very quick car but we were damaging the tyres too much. As we’ve improved our usage of the tyres, we haven’t necessarily taken the performance forward and that is what we’re focusing on now. But these challenges, these aspects of the car are what all of us here faced, it’s what we’re fighting all the time. Sometimes your car becomes a reference point; with no changes, after a period, it’s not quick enough, because other people have improved, so it’s a constantly moving target.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) For all three at the front, it’s a question about the V6 engine. The V6 is on the dyno for everybody. With the current test situation, not being allowed to do any testing; what will happen? Are you discussing a new open session just for the V6 and is it a possibility to put the new engine in this year’s car or next year’s car for some testing?

    PL: There have been a lot of discussions about whether we might make what is called a mule car to run the new engine next year. It’s very expensive to make a mule car, especially when we have other programmes running as well, not just expensive in money but in terms of the people you need to design it. We talked earlier about the challenge between different seasons; then you’re adding a new challenge. Actually, most of the teams are agreeing that we will not have mule cars. The regulations wouldn’t currently make a mule car of any benefit anyway but we’re not agreeing to introduce any new test sessions that would use mule cars. So then the question is: can we enter a new season with a new power unit, without that track testing? That will place great reliance on the laboratory testing, using dynos, transient dynos. I think that compared to previous points in time when new power trains were introduced the technology is far more sophisticated now in the lab, so I think generally the manufacturers and the teams are feeling that it is realistic to bring in these new power units without needing to introduce special cars to get that earlier learning. But we will see. As we get closer to the time and the fear builds, maybe different agreements will be reached but at the moment, that seems to be the consensus. Ross, I don’t know if you have some comments on that.

    RB: I think Mattia should answer this one as well.

    MB: It’s clear that from an engine point of view we are very keen to run the new power unit earlier because what you can find on a car is never equal to what you can find on the dyno: all the dynamics of the car, gearchanges, running on bumps, whatever, is quite different to the dyno itself so we are all afraid that by the start of the season you find out that you have a big issue with the engine and the power unit, and you have no time to sort it out. On the other hand, I think it’s very equal for all the manufacturers so whatever will be the decision, and it will be the decision of the teams, we have to accept it and we will try to do our best from that.

    RB: I think the points have been expressed absolutely correctly. I think the only point I would add that rather like Paul is doing now with testing of the tyres, he’s using an old car to test the tyres and my understanding is that there’s nothing to stop a team testing an engine with an old car if they want to. Whether that is the most effective thing to do is a different matter, because it’s a huge resource to do that and as Paddy said, there’s a  lot of improved technologies there since we last introduced a new engine.  We have lots of ways of trying to understand the engine and the complete power train and the systems will work together, so I think there’s going to be a lot of laboratory work but I think a team can chose to use an old car and put the engine in it, but it’s a pretty massive programme.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – BBC Sport) Paul, some teams did have issues with blistering here last year. I just wondered if you could just run through what Pirelli have done to look at that and what the teams have been asked to do in terms of that as well?

    PH: Yeah, we’ve obviously got a similar issue to last year, in that we haven’t been doing any running today in the dry so replicating what happened last year there’s always that risk that the teams don’t have a chance to run at what is a very very difficult track for the tyres. Here we’ve made some slight changes. We’ve got a slightly thinner tread to reduce the material in the shoulder area which is subject to blistering, reduce the camber levels for the front tyres. We ran here earlier, as I said, in testing and that seemed to give us a positive result so if we get some dry weather we will see.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Ross, there are rumours of Mercedes thinking of quitting the team and AMG becoming the owner of the Formula One team. Can you say something about that?

    RB: We don’t comment on rumours as you know but we’re very committed to succeeding in Formula One and the level of commitment that’s being made in the team is indicative of what we want to achieve. As I say, we don’t comment on rumours but Mercedes has been in Formula One for a long time through good years, through bad years and we’re committed to succeeding.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) I’m not sure to what extent this follows on from what you were saying about mule cars, Paddy, but in light of the WEC (World Endurance Championship) rules, is anyone tempted to put some bodywork on an F1 car and try testing your engines at Le Mans?

    RB: I think it’s a good incentive because obviously it’s a huge investment in a new engine and I think the technologies on this new engine are exciting and much more relevant now than the engine we have. I think it’s great that the initiative is carrying through  into different forms of racing but I don’t think any of us would be ready to undertake such a programme plus obviously the needs for an endurance engine can be a little bit different to an F1 engine, although we do have to make the engines last longer again than at the present time so we are moving in that direction, but I think the idea of having a cross-usage of the engine in different categories is very good and could certainly help with the investment that’s needed in new powertrains.

    Q: Has that been mooted at all with either McLaren or Ferrari?

    PL: No, I haven’t come across that idea before, but as Ross says, I think the point of the new power unit in Formula One is that it’s supposed to introduce a technology which is relevant to the automotive manufacturers. It is a positive direction, so if that is the case, then it must also be true for any other form of motor sport so if we can find ways of using the same power unit in other formulae then that must be a great idea.

    Ends

  • We have an upgrade for Singapore: Pedro De La Rosa

    Francorchamps, 30 Aug 2012:  The following drivers were present for the first FIA Press Conference at Spa, the Belgian Grand Prix, the 12th round of the Formula One World Championship: 

    Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Charles PIC (Marussia), Vitaly PETROV (Caterham), Pedro de la Rosa (HRT), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jean-Eric, this is a new circuit for you in Formula One but I understand you’ve raced here before?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: Yeah, I think it’s my favourite track. I’m really happy to be here in F1, to learn this track in and F1 car. I found it amazing in Formula 3 and World Series. So I can’t wait to drive tomorrow in this car, it should be nice.

    So you’ve been here in Formula 3 and World Series by Renault?

    JEV: Yes. I won three races in F3 in the same weekend here and last year I won as well. I finished second and first. It’s generally a good track for me, so hopefully I make a good run here as well this weekend.

    A lot of people feel that with the problem with the technical director at Toros Rosso that development might have finished but I understand that’s not the case.

    JEV: So far everything is OK. The team is still pushing really hard. I don’t have much to say about it.

    You have some updates here though?

    JEV: Yeah we have some good updates. Well, I don’t know if they’re good, but we have some and also we’re testing some new things for next year’s car – front suspension. So, everything is still going on quite well in the team and we’re looking forward to this weekend.

    Charles, obviously you’ve raced the first half of the season – how do you feel it’s gone as far as you’re concerned?

    Charles PIC: Quite good. I am quite happy about my first half of the season. Everything was new for me. So, first races were not easy because everything was new and there were a lot of things to learn. But I am quite happy with my progress and quite happy with the team’s progress because the start of the year was not easy. We were not able to make the winter tests. They worked really hard and made a lot of improvements and even if you cannot always… it’s not easy to see because the position is not changing but we are trying to close the gap. So, really looking forward to the second part of the season and to updates coming from the summer, so we’ll see how it is and on my side I will be focused to keep pushing hard and improving myself.

    I guess you measure yourself on your team-mate obviously but also on the people either side of you and in front of you. Are you happy with the gap between yourselves and Caterham?

    CP: Yes, we are not in the position yet to fight with them but it was much closer for the last two races – Hockenheim and Budapest. It’s great and I hope that with the update it will be even closer this weekend.

    Vitaly, the one problem you’ve had so far is qualifying in relation to your team-mate, whereas in the races you seem to have beaten him. Is that something you intend to tackle in the second half of the season?

    Vitaly PETROV: Of course I will try my best. What is good is that I know the problem, so we will try to fix this problem in the second half of the season, so I will try to get close to my team-mate and then we will see.

    One of the things you did during the break was visit some cities in Russia. It seems that you’re going to all sorts of cities that most of us have never heard of. What’s the idea behind that programme?

    VP: First of all it was part of my private sponsor, called Russian helicopters, so I visited two big cities, the first one is Rostov and the second one is Ulan-Ude. Actually, it was a good visit because it’s the first time I’ve been there. You know, Ulan-Ude is very close to China. It’s like if you go across the river you will be in China. From Moscow it’s six or seven hours flying. I visited the biggest lake in the world, it’s called Baikal. Unfortunately I was just there for one day. This lake it’s line is for 365 kilometres and length, it’s quite… I don’t how much it is. Actually, it was a good experience and I hope that I will go back there maybe, one day.

    Pedro, the team has obviously made strides forward, what are your own ambitions for the second half of the season and what about your thoughts professionally for the second half of the season?

    Pedro DE LA ROSA: Professionally? You mean racing? Well, I think that we’ve made progress; we’ve managed in this first of the season to go in qualifying, from not qualifying in Australia outside the 107 per cent, to 103.4 per cent in Valencia, so I think that’s a very, very aggressive improvement. However the positions are similar. In fact we’re qualifying in more or less the last two positions and then it’s difficult for us. Although we’re closer to pole position we still haven’t made enough steps on the positions regarding the qualifying and the race finishes. So that’s where we are concentrating: we still have to make the car quicker in the second half of the season. We don’t have anything new for the next few races. We will have an upgrade for Singapore. That’s where we are – but we are definitely happy with what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved, although it may not look like it in the results. We’ve still can do a lot better in the second half.

    And how important will the break have been to the team? OK, you’re saying they won’t have brought anything for the immediate races – but for future races?

    PdlR: I think the break is nothing as we haven’t been able to work or gain any advantage from the break, so for us it doesn’t make any difference. Before the break we knew that the upgrade was coming in Singapore, if everything goes to plan – and after the break it’s still the same. Until Singapore I think we will be more or less in the positions that we’ve been so far, and then wait for Singapore for this next upgrade.

    Michael, another milestone here at Spa: 300th grand prix weekend. What does that mean to you? Does that mean a lot to you at this stage or will it in the future?

    Michael SCHUMACHER: It’s certainly an interesting, beautiful, nice number to be around. A number that I didn’t think about, that I would do that, at the time that I retired at the end of 2006. And now here we are and I’m counting the 300 – because at one point it was the talk about whether there would be somebody able to beat Riccardo Patrese’s record of 250-whatever. I said ‘forget that, it isn’t interesting for me’, and here we are. And suddenly… it isn’t anything that I’m challenging or looking for to have just a number on my board but being the 300, yeah it’s a beautiful side-effect.

    I think you’ve seen the poster down the road which says ‘Michael, make it 400’. What chances?

    MS: I guess I can say not. It’s obviously nice that the fans are still with me and encourage me to go on. This morning I had a beautiful welcome, becoming the honorary citizen of Spa, that is something very special to me. And that’s why the 300 becomes special – because it’s in Spa. It all happened to me here in Spa. First race, first victory, some beautiful victories and interesting races and 2004 the seventh title, last year the 20th anniversary and now number 300 and being honoured. So it’s a full package. Spa has always meant a lot to me. I always called it my living room – now I can officially call it my living room. It’s good.

    But should we never say never?

    MS: For the 400? We probably say no for that one.

    Jenson, during the break, not only an Iron Man but your own triathlon as well. But the triathlon didn’t end quite the way you wanted to – perhaps we should share that story?

    Jenson BUTTON: I think we should move on from that one!

    The whole of Britain knows about it, so how about the whole of the world.

    JB: I did a triathlon for [charity] Help for Heroes and it was quite cold in the water. People were wearing wetsuits, I’d left mine in the hotel so I decided to try to squeeze into my girlfriend’s… which felt OK until I got into the water and then it tightened up in… certain areas. So that was the end of my race. I had a panic attack in the water! So yeah, good and bad memories but it was a great event and I think everyone had fun and we raised a lot of money for Help for Heroes. In the end it was fun but the most important thing is what we raised.

    Your aims for the second half of the season? How do you see the second half of the season? People are talking about perhaps driver orders that you’ll help Lewis…

    JB: I’m I think 40 points behind Lewis, so you’d say that I’m going to give up on fighting for the Championship just because I’m 40 points behind my team-mate? Lewis is 40 points behind Fernando and I still think he thinks he’s got a very good chance of winning this Championship, so no, we go racing as always and try to do the best job we can. The last two races for us before the break were very good: I had a second in Hockenheim and obviously Lewis’s win in Hungary – so we come here positive we can get a very good result. So, no, that’s definitely not the situation and we want to get as many points for ourselves but also for the team. The team championship, the Constructors’ Championship is very, very important to McLaren and it’s something that we’re going to work on as much as we can.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Michael, congratulations on the 300. When you were with the red team, I think you set a record for reliability. I think it was something like more than 50 races without a single mechanical retirement. With the current team, things have been quite the contrary. I wonder if you have thought about trying to move elsewhere, which is what somebody, let’s say 20-years old would be doing at that stage of his career?

    MS: I haven’t thought about that. Maybe I should! First of all, you have those moments when things do run against you and I have mentioned that at any time I have full trust in the guys because they all do their utmost. Nobody wants to retire, everybody does their best job but then we have prototype cars and unfortunately things like this do happen. I don’t mind too much about this, because I was aware, reasonably early in the season, that we wouldn’t be fighting for the championship so to retire is not a big deal for me at that moment, not being in the championship anyway. Much more important is that if you would be in the championship, then it would obviously bother me much more. So, no, I look forward to the rest of the season. We still have a lot to go through and a lot to improve on, a lot to understand. The team is pushing hard to go forward in order to make our process a much more reasonable step forward compared to what we have been doing. Already we have achieved quite a bit more but I think it needs a bit more of that. And then reliability.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – EFE) Michael, congratulations again. You said just now, forget about the 400 but having all the records in Formula One, can we maybe think about 326/327? Can you remember all of your races? How many can you remember without looking at the stat sheets?

    MS: I don’t know how many I would remember; certainly not all of them, that is very clear. How many it will be in the end? We will have to find out. Don’t know yet. Certainly go to the end of the season.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) My question is similar: when does the point come when you decide if you’re going to continue or if Mercedes decides whether they want to stay with you? Do you already have a deadline, or are you already starting to talk about it?

    MS: I think we made a very clear statement some time ago that by October we will be able to give an indication and nothing has changed since then, so no news I’m afraid.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, just following on from the earlier question and your answer regarding not supporting Lewis at this stage, Martin Whitmarsh has today suggested that there could come a point at some time this season when you might be asked to support Lewis. Is that something you would consider further down the line if the situation dictated, or does your personal attitude just say no, I’m not going to do that at all?

    JB: Personally, I think it’s a pretty pointless conversation right now. If I was 40 points behind Lewis in the championship and he was leading, do you think they would turn round and say ‘you’ve got to support your teammate’? It’s not a big margin, it’s less than two wins. Half the grid is in front of their teammates. All their teammates are not going to turn round and say ‘yes, we’re going to help my teammate win the championship’ because you still think you’re going to have a good chance. And until that chance is gone you’re going to fight for it. I’m not here to just race around and just help my teammate win a championship because none of us are. We’re here to fight and we’re here to do the best job we can for ourselves first of all and also for the team. I think it would be a pretty boring championship if there’s only twelve of us actually fighting for a victory and the rest of us were there to help our teammates. It’s not the sort of formula that we should want. So yes, I’m going to be fighting all the way until I either win the championship or it’s not possible.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Znamya Ynosty) Michael, we know that all drivers are very very superstitious. Do you have a mascot without which you cannot sit down in the car? Maybe for Spa you have a very special mascot.

    MS: I’ve had one for more than 20 years. It’s my wife. She comes tomorrow.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Michael, do you remember the feeling you had on your first podium, and how was it different after that?

    MS: I think it was in Mexico, if I’m right? Is it right? ’92? Was it two? Yeah, ’92, OK, so there you go. Is it different? Probably a little bit but no matter what, up there it’s always special. It depends on the circumstances. If you are a regular podium contender and you have the package to win races then you end up being third, you have less joy up there obviously versus not expecting to be there at all and then being third. So it really depends on the circumstances. Remembering Valencia, yes, it was a beautiful feeling, for myself, for all the guys, the team for everybody, it was beautiful. It was that way in ’92.

    Q: (Gabor Joo – Indexonline) Michael, you have 299 races so far. Can you single out one which is your favourite?

    MS: I keep talking about Suzuka in 2000, both for the quality of the race, for the end of the race and for the whole meaning of that result obviously, so it was a total package of many circumstances, why that race turned out to be a very special one for myself and then for so many others.

    Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) To all of you: Spa is a very historical circuit where Grand Prix racing started back in 1925. Have you ever been on the old track having a look at the 14 kilometer layout like the fast Masta downhill between Malmedy and Stavelot?

    JEV: I was too young.

    MS: Even not me!

    PdelaR: Why me? Unfortunately not.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Michael and Jenson, why is Spa so particular for drivers, why do you like it so much?

    MS: There are many reasons, particularly for me because I started in the days when corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont were extremely challenging corners, because the cars were built in a certain way and the circuit made them absolutely on the edge. It’s one of the old character tracks with lots of history. It is going through the natural countryside that we are in, the up and down like a rollcoaster so there are so many variants that make it so particular and so special. We all, as race drivers, prefer high speed and if you have a challenging high speed corner it’s special, and if you go through Eau Rouge… even nowadays it’s probably a little bit too easy flat out except maybe in the race sometimes, but the sensation, the forces that go through you in a cornering sense and in a vertical sense, that is a combination that you don’t find everywhere.

    JB: I think there are many different things: the history of the place. When you used to watch Formula One, you would see the greats racing around here and the circuit has changed over the years, even since I’ve been racing in Formula One, but it still feels very special. This circuit is very very flowing and there are only two corners that are below third gear and that’s very unusual, especially when you have so many corners on a circuit and it is one of those circuits which you just love driving. Whatever car you’re in, it’s just such a great feeling driving around a circuit like this. I think there are only a couple of other circuits like it. One is Suzuka, one was Silverstone. I think it’s changed a little bit now. It’s lost a little bit of the flow but those three really stand out for me, to be a real fast flowing circuit, and a circuit where we just love driving out of the pits and knowing you’re going to tackle.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, you are here for your 300th Grand Prix. Do you still have the same passion as you had at the beginning for the first races, and are you able to deliver in the same way as you used to do when you started in Formula One?

    MS: I think that by saying yes I answer both of the questions. I have the same passion for what I am doing, yes, absolutely. Formula One is the ultimate racing and if you’re involved, you’re only involved because you want to do the best that you can do. Obviously we all depend on our machines, but nevertheless, within your machine you have a certain frame with which you can prove yourself and that’s the challenge and that challenge you like to outbrake that frame and you like to do anything on top of that. That’s the particular moment that you can have and the great thing in sport is that you have immediate feedback: whether you do achieve or you don’t achieve. There’s been plenty of satisfaction that I’ve had over more than 20 years now and I still enjoy it.

    I would probably think that my capacity to achieve is better, because I have a much better view and understanding, a lot more experience. If we have problems, it takes me less to come to the point with the team in explaining those problems and that’s helpful.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrucker Zeitung) Michael, for the second time, you are now an honorary citizen in Maranello and now here in Spa. What are the conditions which are necessary to fulfill this reputation and do you have special duties?  Please explain to us concerning this subject?

    MS: The only thing I can say is that both moments, the idea and invitation from those citizens that they offered me this honour and I was definitely pleased to achieve it, but I have no obligations and I’m just happen to have received such an award.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri- La Gazzetta dello Sport) Next week, after Spa, we have Monza, another special for you, Michael. Is there any particular souvenir of the Italian Grand Prix that you remember? Which has been your best race?

    MS: We obviously had a very beautiful ending in 2006 at the time. In both ways, I do remember it being special, because we were behind in the championship and in that race we put ourselves back into the championship fight. Then came the beautiful celebration, obviously my message to retire after the race so it was a very particular weekend.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, it was only a year ago that you did your 200th Grand Prix but given the number of races in the calendar, do you see yourself emulating Michael and hitting 300?

    JB: Yeah, there’s no reason why not. It’s four and a half years of racing. Yeah, it’s possible. I really don’t know how I’m going to feel in a couple of years’ time. Now, of course, the hunger is there. If I lose that, that’s when I’ll stop. If I’m in a position where I get the choice to retire it’s the best position to be in, but it’s a long time before I need to start thinking of that.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.net) Jenson, you never won at Spa and you’ve had a bit of misfortune here. Do you think that’s maybe a little jinx?

    JB: Not really, because that was really only one year. I think you mean 2010, with Sebastian. I love racing here. It’s a great circuit to race on because to qualify here when you get everything out of the car is such a nice feeling because this place is really unforgiving, so you’re always living on the seat of your pants. It’s a great place to race. There are a lot of possibilities for overtaking, in wet and dry. I’ve had quite a few podiums here but never on the top step. Hopefully that opportunity will arise very soon.

    Q: (Patricia Sanchez – La Gaceta) We’ve been hearing about F1 with electric cars. What would you think about that sort of competition, and how would you like to drive a noiseless car? Is that safe for you?

    MS: Looks like none of us has heard anything about that. We have partially electric cars already. We have KERS!

    Q: (Patricia  Sanchez – La Gaceta) My question is basically about having a Formula One race with no noise. Would that be the same feeling for you? If it happens.

    JB: If. I’m sure we could try and make some sort of noise that we like. It would save our hearing, because these things are pretty loud. We wouldn’t need earplugs, which is quite a good thing. I don’t know. I don’t know what the possibility is of having a completely electrical car, how many manufacturers would be involved.

    PdelaR: I must say I’ve heard about it, it’s Formula E, and it’s obviously a new era, and we should be open-minded to the fact that we’re used to racing with noise, but I remember a few years ago, going to indoor karting in Finland and racing with electrical cars for the first time which was an incredible experience because you were racing, you were braking for turn one, or accelerating on the straight and then you had a kart next to you and you didn’t hear it, which was shocking, because we are basically from the noise era, but we should be open-minded. Let’s wait and see how it develops, because it could be extremely interesting…

    JB: Can you hear a Formula One car coming?

    PdelaR: Absolutely, yeah. You can feel… yeah, especially when I’m shown blue flags, I can hear you guys!

    JB: You get out of the way straightaway. I’ve seen you Pedro!

    PdelaR: I mean karting, karting, karting, indoor karting. I don’t know how it will feel with single-seaters, but for sure you can still hear something. Maybe when you get very old you won’t but…

    JB: You tell me, Pedro!

    PdelaR: Anyway, my bottom line is it’s a new era, it’s an interesting avenue, we should be open-minded and let’s wait and see how it looks like, because we’ve never seen a fully electrical single-seater and I’m really looking forward to that.

    JEV: I have no idea. Maybe it will come. To be honest, I haven’t heard about it, so I don’t know how it is, I don’t know how it’s going to be. I know I did a kart race last year in Bercy with electric karts. It was quite a fun race. We could hear other noise as well. The funny thing is that we could hear the whole crowd around the stadium. But I have no idea how it would be in F1 or single-seaters.

    MS: That’s actually a good point. It would be the first time that we could hear the crowd and not the crowd us.

    JB: I think you’ve got to ask the fans more than us. It would be a big difference for the fans. I know there are the obvious reasons for doing it which are very important, but for the fans, they would miss something, with the buzz of the sound of an F1 car, because that’s the first thing you notice when you come and watch an F1 car, it’s the sound.

    Ends

    Pedro de la Rosa (left) with Schumacher and Karthikeyan (right). A HRT file picture.

  • The team did not flinch, neither did I: Hamilton

    Hungary GP – FIA Press Conference 4

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus)

    3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, a fantastic race for you, absolutely fantastic, under pressure all the time it seemed.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, these are the kind of grands prix, the races you win like this, where you’re under intense pressure from great drivers like Romain and Kimi – for me it’s a great reminder of the old days with Kimi – and this is the kind of day when you have to have your mind 100 per cent and I feel great because the team didn’t flinch and neither did I.

    Great pitstops as well.

    LH: The first one wasn’t spectacular but the last one was very, very quick. We had a problem in the first pit stop, I think with the left rear, but otherwise we didn’t lose too much time there. But the second pit stop was fantastic.

    Was there any temptation to go for a third stop?

    LH: The team were talking about it. The plan was to do a two-stop but, you know, I had my target laps and the team weren’t confident that I was going to make it to those laps but I knew I would. In my second stint I could have gone longer but they wanted to cover the guys behind which was probably the right thing to do. So, as we did that, then it was just trying to make those tyres last a long time while keeping this guy [Räikkönen] behind. Which as you know, they are absolutely rapid, these guys. So, you know, if we were on another track where overtaking was much easier I think perhaps the result would have been different.

    They seemed to catch and then drop back. How close was anyone ever coming to overtaking?

    LH: He was never really close enough. I purposely allowed him to close up in certain corners, so that he may have problems with his tyres eventually – but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But I had to make sure I saved my speed for the last sector and made sure I drew a big enough gap in the last three corners and I did that every lap. I could see it was very difficult for them to follow, particularly through those areas, so it was important to make sure you maximise, especially with the DRS.

    Did you have a chance Kimi, with the DRS?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Ah, no. It was not so bad to follow through the last corner but you’re, I don’t know, one second later on the power every time so they just pull too far away and the straight is not long enough and the others are too fast. So it didn’t really give you any chance. My only chance was that they would run out of the tyres and then you will have a chance – but that never happened, so we probably should have had 20 more laps – and then it would have happened.

    So, are you happy with second place or did you feel you could have won it?

    KR: I didn’t, so there’s no point to worry about it. I had an OK start but then we had an issue with the KERS and I only could use 50 per cent and I lost one position to Fernando, so the first few laps were not really good because we were trying to get the KERS working. After that it was OK but the same situation with Alonso, I was stuck behind him and just tried to save my tyres and push once we got the clear circuit. It seemed to work both times and we gained a lot of time on those few laps.

    And what about the time you came out of the pits and found yourself alongside Romain?

    KR: Yeah. The team told me it’s going to be very close and I made a mistake with the pit lane speed limiter so it meant maybe five metres after the line I was still on it, so I thought that I really didn’t do a very good job out of there – but luckily it was enough gap and we were side-by-side in the first corner, but I could keep my position quite easily at that point. But it was one of those things: we had a lot of speed but just couldn’t use it in all the race.

    How was that moment for you Romain?

    Romain GROSJEAN: It just happens. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind another car, which had been [blue] flagged but didn’t let me past in this lap. I lost 1.5 seconds. I wasn’t very happy at that stage to be honest because I had been fighting for the win the whole race with Lewis and suddenly you get stopped by something you cannot really manage. Basically it was close with Kimi. He did what he had to do to not let me pass. I went a little bit on the outside and got the marbles on the tyres and then I struggled to recover. It is what it is.

    And it was pretty close with Sebastian in the first corner of the first lap as well?

    RG: Yeah, it was the same story as with Kimi. Kimi was inside of my [car] and I was inside of Sebastian. So it was all right.

    How close were you? The gap seemed to go out and come back when you were behind Lewis.

    RG: It’s really difficult to follow another car here, to be close and not do any mistakes. When I was following Lewis sometimes I was losing a little bit the grip of my tyres. Then I had to recover a little bit. Our first pit stop was a disaster. The second one was OK. We didn’t get the chance to jump in on the pit stop strategy. I think that was the only key today because overtaking is really too difficult. You can feel that you’re sliding tyres, losing the grip, sliding more and it gets worse and worse. So it’s very difficult to follow,

    So a little bit disappointed with third place?

    RG: Yeah a little bit today I think. We were really close to fighting for the win. But as I said I got stuck behind another car under blue flags that didn’t really respect it.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have been second three times when Lewis has won here. Have you ever been close to overtake him?

    KR: I don’t know. It was a long time ago to remember the past. Today it wasn’t – it was many years. It makes no difference if you don’t get past. We were second best today and third. I think it was good for the team but of course we will keep trying to win and hopefully it will come soon.

    Q: (Niklas Jakobbson – Budapest Times) Lewis how frustrating is it for you, going into the long summer break now that it seems that your car has picked up pace and both you and Jenson seem to be fighting for the win again?

    LH: It’s not frustrating at all. It’s quite nice to go into the break knowing that we had a win. Every year that we’ve done that it’s been a great feeling. I think it’s very very very important how we manage the summer break, mentally and physically, but we’ve clearly still got a lot of work to do. We should obviously take from this a pat on the back for a great job from everyone but we must know that we still have a lot of work to do. These guys were absolutely rapid in the race. If we’re going to stay ahead of these… if they were to have qualified at the front, it would have been impossible to have got past them.  So we need to remain focused and of course enjoy the break. This will carry on and the guys will carry this for the next week or so, I’m sure, back at the factory. Guys were wearing their team tops and hopefully we still have good pace and hopefully even more when we come back.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) Kimi, it is your fourth second place this year, I think. Aren’t you getting a bit annoyed about this? Spa is coming up, are you confident that you can break it?

    KR: I think I’ve only been second twice, not three times, I don’t know. Anyhow, we always try to win; some days you get close to it and it’s a bit disappointing that we cannot and we know the reason: we have not been so strong in qualifying and we keep making it very hard for ourselves on Sundays but it’s not annoying. We still keep putting ourselves in a good position to at least have a chance to win and get good results, good points for the team. Yeah, you would rather win than come second or third but it’s a long season and I think we’re improving all the time. If it comes it’s great, if not, we keep trying. I’ve been in the business long enough that I don’t really worry about things too much. We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team. Maybe we are one place behind right now but we are closer to the front. As long as we keep doing that and hopefully the wins will come, then we will give myself and the team a good chance.

    Q: (Sylvia Arias – Parabrisas) Lewis, each win is important of course, but is this more important after all this stuff about your private life, when you said I’m in the best moment so let’s party to enjoy this?

    LH: I definitely think it’s always good when you come away with a win. There always seems to be a lot of talk about me and my private life. Hopefully this will answer lots of the things that have been said. I am 100 percent focused this year, regardless of what people think. I’ve been on it all year, I’ve never been so committed but of course, I’m still in  my twenties, I do want to enjoy my last bit of my twenties, because I’ve heard it’s downhill from then on. I’ve got to strike a nice balance and I think I am.

    Q: (Dorel Tant – MSport1.com) Kimi, on the podium, did you hear the tremendous following you have here in Hungary, a lot of fans. Does that give you some kind of moral boost for the next races, let’s say?

    KR: Yes, it was great to hear all the people shouting and cheering. It’s good for us, but unfortunately it doesn’t make us any faster. I was pushing as hard as I could in this race so we keep trying to do the same in the next race again, but it’s always been great here with a lot of Finnish flags and a lot of fans here so it’s a great place to come.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) It’s Alonso’s birthday today, what are your messages to him?

    RG: Happy Birthday. Fernando is a good friend so I wish him all the best for this year and hopefully we can keep fighting with him in the championship.

    LH: I’ve already tweeted happy birthday to him.

    KR: We spoke before already.

    LH: Romain says he wants to sing it.

    RG: No, no. I don’t want it to rain straight away!

    Q: (Marco Del’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Kimi, there have been some rumours today in the press about a possible comeback to Ferrari for you. Rumours apart, would you consider coming back to Ferrari?

    KR: I always said that I didn’t have bad feelings against them. I had a good time with the team. I won my championship there but things probably could have gone a nicer way in the end. Life goes on and you never know what happens in the future but I’m happy where I am now and things are going pretty nicely. Like I said, you never know what can happen in the future but I’m happy where I am. I don’t come up with the rumours, so perhaps you have to ask the people who write them.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, as an Englishman, how does it feel to win this so-called Grand Prix of Finland every year from Kimi?

    LH: Grand Prix of Finland?

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) There are so many Finns.

    LH: There are a lot of Finns here but you know what? For me it’s great to see Kimi up here with me. I think he’s done… you know I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. I remember racing… I remember watching him on TV before I even got to Formula One and you know, when I used to play the computer games I would always play as him. It wasn’t Juan Pablo, unfortunately, and to think that we’ve had some great races in the past together and now another great race. Hopefully in the future we will have lots more races but Hungary has been good to me, really has been good to me. I really really love the fans here, I love the city. We always have such a great turn-out here but the track is awesome. I don’t know how the other drivers feel but it’s such a classic, so I really can’t wait to come back here again next year and hope to repeat it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, you took good points from Alonso. You are both to the lead of the championship. What does this victory mean in terms of fighting for the title?

    LH: This weekend shows that it’s all to play for still, not enough points taken from Fernando as he still got ten points but bit by bit, if we can continue with this kind of performance then we can slowly catch him but we know we need consistency and we need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I’m sure, we will do. The team is doing a fantastic job. We’ve now got the quickest pit stops or usually the quickest pit stops. Today I got the best start I’ve had all year, I was really surprised by it. This is a really good stepping stone for us, especially after the difficult races we’ve had over the last three tough races, it’s great to come and end the summer on this high.

    Q: (Garry Meenaghan – The National) Lewis, it’s been a momentous weekend back home with the Olympic Games starting. I was just wondering if, as a British driver with a British team, winning here must feel extra special? I saw you had the circles on your helmet.

    LH: Yeah, it does feel extra special because obviously with the Olympic ceremony and the Olympics starting and obviously wishing all the teams the best, I can’t wait to at least watch it on TV, but to be able to have it back in the UK I think is great for Great Britain. Yeah, I carried the flag on top of the helmet today. I hope that it was visible. I feel that I’ve done my part, even though we’re not in the Olympics. I feel like I’ve done my little bit today, this weekend, as has the team for the Olympics.

    Ends

     

  • Its an incredible job by the Team: Hamilton

    Hungarian GP – FIA Press conference 3

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis you looked like that was fully under control at all times, apart maybe from that first run in Q3?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been a really positive weekend so far. The guys have done an incredible job this weekend as always, preparing the car. To finally see the upgrades working this weekend, I’ve been able to put the car in places that I previously wasn’t able to do. So, generally every lap has been quite good throughout practice and qualifying, apart from the first run in Q3.

    Romain, obviously this is what you and the team needed, a strong qualifying performance, because you’ve shown in recent races that you’ve got a very good race car under you?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, we normally have a good race pace, it’s good to be back at the front. We had a difficult German Grand Prix and a difficult start here in Hungary. But the guys did a fantastic job trying to help me set up the car, trying to find out what was wrong and [we’re] back to the top and it’s good. I think the race tomorrow will be interesting.

    Sebastian, you only did the one run in Q3 because you used up tyres before that. Tell us how difficult it was to get the tyres working today?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think for us it more a difficulty of getting everything to work properly. I think the speed is there but yeah it seems extremely difficult once you lose the balance a little bit. So I think we were struggling a little bit with that in qualifying. Throughout qualifying I think it got better. We shot through all the tyres, more or less. I knew I only had one set in Q3. I’m not entirely happy with the lap I had. I think Grosjean, sorry, Romain, was in reach. I think Lewis was probably a bit too far away today. But I think with the progress we made this morning and through qualifying we should be in a good position tomorrow for the race.

    Lewis if you look at the points you’ve scored in the past few races and the points scored by Fernando Alonso, the championship leader, there’s obviously a massive difference. How important is a win tomorrow for you and for your championship hope?

    LH: Well, thanks for reminding me! This is motor racing, you know. We’re not saying we’re relaxed about it but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re trying to make sure that we start that work from this weekend

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, you seem to have hit the ground running from the road here almost – you were fastest in both sessions yesterday; fastest in all the qualifying sessions as well and you love the circuit, you must be so pleased with pole position now as well?

    LH: I am, absolutely. I’m really happy with the work the guys have done. Obviously Jenson showed the pace of the car in the last race but to be able to put that to work through qualifying feels fantastic. This is a good boost to the team. Still we have a very long race tomorrow. Lots can happen and we just need to keep our cool. The weather’s fantastic here, the city’s beautiful and the fans, well what a great turn out for a Saturday.

    Well, you’ve been on pole here before and you’ve won here twice as well, so you know how to win here. Is there a secret to tomorrow?

    LH: There’s no real secret, no. It’s the same as everyone when they win races. You just have to keep your head cool and look after your tyres. Tyre strategy will be important tomorrow. Degradation will be interesting. I just hope for once we have a good start. That’s what I hope for the beginning.

    How were the long runs this morning. Obviously you weren’t able to do long runs yesterday and everybody crammed in their long runs this morning.

    LH: I didn’t do any long runs this morning. I did mine yesterday. It was pretty good.

    So you were happy with that?

    LH: Yeah, I mean, the track was a little bit greener yesterday so it’s difficult to compare it to today, but for us it was not such a problem. I think we know the Lotus is very, very strong on long runs and so is the Red Bull, so we just need to focus on us and really hope we can improve this weekend with those upgrade. Jenson showed in the last race that it is an improvement so hopefully I can show the same thing tomorrow.

    Romain, on the front row for the first time – how much satisfaction does that give you?

    RG: Pretty high, I have to say. We started the weekend coming back from the German Grand Prix which was a bit of a disaster for ourselves, and it didn’t start in the best way. But then we worked hard, tried to analyse what was wrong on the car and why I couldn’t get the feeling that I had at the start of the year. P3 was getting better and then the start of qualifying was very difficult, with the first one getting a nightmare. But then we found back the speed, improved the car, tried to understand what was wrong with it, and being here on the front row is something special – especially here at the Hungarian Grand Prix where we know overtaking is very difficult. We need to start from the front, we said that since a long time – so first job done. Hopefully tomorrow we keep our race pace from usually, we able to save our tyres as much as we want and be able to get some good battles with the guy at the front.

    The performance of the car you’ve improved – do you think that’s going to be OK for the race itself on full fuel tanks etc?

    RG: Normally it’s better on high fuel than on low fuel, so it’s pretty good to be on the front row. We have been maybe working a bit more this week on qualifying because we know it’s a big key for the race. So, hopefully tomorrow the car will feel pretty well with the tank fuelled and the setup we normally run for the race. Hopefully that’s the case. Hopefully we manage to save our tyres as much as we want, as much as we can, and then we have good pace.

    We’ve seen quite a few people going off the circuit at many, many corners, to turn this into a podium tomorrow, how are you going to do that?

    RG: Well, the key is to stay on track, that’s for sure. Let’s have a good start, let’s see where we are at the beginning of the race and how the car feels. Hopefully it’s going to feel alright, as it did in Bahrain or Canada, and if we have this, then I think we have everything in our pocket to fight for a good result.

    Sebastian, we’ve seen the performance, or seem to have seen the performance up and down the whole weekend – not just from you but from your team-mate as well.

    SV: Yeah, a bit difficult for us this weekend to really get the balance right. I think the car is quick – and sometimes really quick – but it’s a bit difficult to get it out of the car all the time. So, I think yesterday afternoon we were quite happy, this morning we weren’t that happy and in qualifying it seemed to get better again. So, we’ll see. I think it should be a good race tomorrow. I think the pace with fuel in the car is probably a little bit better than without fuel, so we’ll see what we can do.

    You said ‘room for improvement’ after yesterday – but that didn’t come this morning then?

    SV: No, not really. I think it wasn’t that bad yesterday but this morning initially it wasn’t as good as it was yesterday – so we seem to have lost that little bit. But, I think just before qualifying we managed to come back and I think in qualifying I think we were able to improve session by session. Obviously we had to use a couple of sets that… or one more set than as per plan, which was not great. That’s why we had only one run in Q3. But in the end we used as many tyres as everyone else. We’ll see what we can do in the race. I think Lewis was out of reach today, they always seemed to be very quick. It’s probably not too bad to start third here, it’s on the clean side and it’s a long way to Turn One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life, Russia) Lewis, are you surprised? This is your 23rd pole position.

    LH: Privet. (Hello in Russian). I learned that in Moscow! Surprised? I think every time I remember my first pole position and I pretty much remember every pole position that I’ve ever had. I’m always striving for perfection and that lap and the pressure that we’re all under to get that perfect lap is intense, yet exciting. If you get it right, it’s incredibly empowering. This weekend we’ve obviously had the pace so I knew that it was possible, it was just a case of doing it and if I didn’t, I would be quite disappointed considering I’ve had the pace all weekend but fortunately I did it.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Romain, if you can manage to win the race tomorrow, you will be the next driver after Ayrton Senna in the history of Lotus heritage. How do you feel about this, have you got extra pressure because of that?

    RG: Well, I don’t think it’s an extra pressure. I think Formula One is already full of pressure. If I win the race tomorrow then it would be fantastic for the guys in the team, at the factory, for everything we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year and what we’ve achieved. And if I’m the next driver after Ayrton Senna to win a race with Lotus, it would be something to add to all the processes and all the happiness that we can get in these circumstances. It would be an extra pleasure.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Two questions for Romain: your position on the grid today, what does it mean to you? Do you fully understand what was wrong with the car since Germany? And the second question is: if you had the possibility to switch positions with Sebastian, would you accept?

    RG: What is wrong? I think it’s a lot of things together. We have seen that this year working with the tyres can be good, can be difficult. I think we were just, in the last two races, where we had to be. We had some signs on the car that things were not going as we wanted. the car was not handling as it should and we were not working the tyres properly, so we have been working in that direction, trying to get back to a normal set-up, to try to avoid every other aspect that could influence this. I think being second today is a bit of a surprise after we struggled but we improved lap after lap and that’s good and the track rubbered in and I think that helped us.

    And if I had to change position: no, because I was already third once in qualifying and now I’m second, and hopefully one day I can get pole position. The more ahead you are, the better it is. We know there is dirt and dust on the side, but if you look at Barcelona where there’s supposed to be a good side and a bad side, the drivers in second and fourth positions happened to be first and third at the first corner and the first and third finished second and fourth so hopefully I can do the same.

    Q: (Geza Suranyi – Heves Megyei Hirlap) Romain, you told us on Thursday that you need to be on the front row in order to fight for a win. Now you’re second, do you feel that the time has come to score your first win?

    RG: Good question. I think the time has come since you’re racing for winning. As we say, qualifying is a good exercise as you’re looking for the perfect lap, and if you just manage your car to do whatever you want with it, it’s quite a good feeling when you manage that and then in the race, the idea is to win a race. If one of us told you that he arrives on a race weekend not thinking about a win he wouldn’t be saying the truth, so for sure tomorrow we will think about it but before winning the race we need to get everything in order so qualifying is job done, now we need to have a good start as we are now doing it, take off our tyres, have good pit stops and a good pace in the race.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Romain, considering the bad experiences you have had in previous races on the first lap, will you use this experience to avoid anything different again?

    RG: I use all the experience I get in Formula One to improve myself, lap after lap, race after race.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) A question to all three of you: the last corner has been re-surfaced for this year. How do you feel about it, is it a clear improvement compared to before and where is the track now worse regarding the track surface at the moment?

    LH: The track is fantastic in the last corner. It’s much, much better. They did a really great job and now the track, altogether, is just very consistent, grip-wise.

    RG: The last corner is easier than in GP2.

    Q: (Dorel Sant – MSSport1.com) Romain, did you have a perfect lap in qualifying, because Sebastian Vettel said that his lap could have been better and maybe he could have attacked your position, so what do you say?

    RG: To be 100 percent honest, it was not the perfect lap. You have few times in your career when you just finish the lap and say how was it from the car? I think we could have improved in a few small areas. I think it’s quite hard here to get the perfect lap and to get the car all together for the lap, so it was not the best ever. I think if I compared to Kimi, then I’m sure I lost a bit of time into turn one but then the rest was pretty OK.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – National SpeedSport News) Seb, to get the move out of the tyres, not only here but over the whole season, is it more a question of bringing upgrades to the car or maybe just adjusting your driving style?

    SV: To get the best out of the tyres? Well, I think we’ve seen… it’s a complicated question. At least I could give you a complicated answer but I think we’ve seen this year that everyone seems to struggle more than in the past to not bring updates but to improve the car through the upgrades. That’s for Lotus; I think in China they had an upgrade which they then decided to go back. McLaren, I think had upgrades and decided to go back. For us, we had some stuff and decided to go back. Why is that? Because you realise that it’s not quicker. I think it’s quite complex this year to understand the cars. Obviously in combination with the tyres, I think one thing you need to know is that everyone has less downforce this year. Generally if you have more downforce it also helps to switch on the tyres, to work with the tyres more consistently but as everyone has less downforce this year, I think the window is extremely narrow and it’s very difficult to get it right every time, so that’s why I think we probably see a little bit more inconsistency this year.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) For all three of you: we’re about to head into the summer shutdown in what is the longest season in F1 history. Is it a welcome opportunity for you to relax and re-charge your batteries or are you concerned that you will lose momentum going into Spa?

    RG: Personally I think it’s time for a honeymoon.

    SV: Yes, that’s not the case for us. It’s a long season. If you compare it to a lot of other sports, it’s one of the longest seasons we have. I think it’s important, even if sometimes you would like to carry on, I think you need the break, so it’s important to make use of it.

    LH: It’s most important for the team. The team is travelling non-stop and they work incredibly long hours so the guys back in the factory… Time with your family is most important and they are away from their families all that time so it’s an important time for them to go away and relax and refresh and get ready for the second half of the season which is going to be the most intense.

    Q: (Marco degl’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Sebastian, maybe this question could be boring for you again, but again, I would like to know if this lack of performance from your car could be because of this famous change of engine mapping?

    SV: No, I don’t think it really affected us as much as people think. As I said, we were struggling a little bit generally to find a balance throughout the weekend and qualifying but it has nothing to do with the mapping.

    Q: (Jool Gabor – Index) Romain, simple question: do you believe in second chances?

    RG: I think yes, to have the chance to have this second chance. As I say, I’m happy to be in Formula One again, even if it’s more difficult. When you lose something that you really like, you realise how much it counts to you and today I’m proud to be back, proud to be part of the Lotus F1 team. I think we are growing up together, so far having a very good season so I’m very happy to be here and fitting in well to the Formula One world.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) As far as I understand, there could be some rain tomorrow. Did you take that into consideration in terms of set-up?

    SV: No. I think the impact in terms of set-up that we see these days is way less than compared to the past, so something like a real rain set-up doesn’t exist any more these days.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Considering the difficulty of overtaking here, the number of laps you are able to do with these supersoft tyres in the first stint will maybe be the key to victory or a good finishing position?

    RG: We haven’t got supersofts so you may mean with the soft. I think the key is part of the strategy. I think if you they can go longer than the others then you may stop earlier, if you think that you may be in difficulty at the end of the race as we have seen some cars then you don’t have them. It will be a good question for the guys doing the strategy and then we try to make the target happening as good as we can.

    Ends