INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula 1

  • Team leaders talk on Friday: Austrian GP

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Graham WATSON (Toro Rosso), Beat ZEHNDER (Sauber), Luca FURBATTO (Manor), Rob SMEDLEY (Williams), Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing), Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Rob, if we could start with you, an unusual kind of day: a very fast morning session, record lap times, but then the early part of the afternoon affected by rain. How much do you feel you were able to learn today and what does the rest of the weekend have in store for us?
    Rob SMEDLEY: Well, you never learn as much as you want to, even in the dry. So when you’ve got the session interrupted by rain like we had, right in the middle of the session, then you learn even less. I think we got out of it what we could have done in the circumstances. There are quite a lot unknowns going into Sunday in particularly. In terms of qualifying learning, as long as it’s dry tomorrow morning then we’re fine in terms of what we need to know for that. In terms of the race there are going to be unknowns but it’s the same for everybody. It’s a case of tracking where the asphalt is going, the rubber/tarmac interaction that will be evolving over the weekend and ensuring that we’re on top of it.

    It’s been quite a turnaround; Williams have become Formula One’s pacesetters in terms of pit stops, recording the fastest stops of any team at the first few races of this season. That’s quite a big change from the last couple of years, how’s it been achieved?
    RS: Hard work. A lot of hard work. A really good collaborative effort I would say from everybody, right across the groups, from everybody who is involved with the pit stop performance, identifying where the weak areas were, then looking at detail design. We haven’t changed anything fundamentally but we have certainly been through a lot of subtle detail to get around the Achilles heel of last year and the year before. And then really good work within the race team itself, in terms of how we co-ordinate ourselves, how much practice we do, the type of practice we do, making that relevant to a Sunday afternoon.

    What was the Achilles heel – wheel nuts, front jack?
    RS: It’s fairly clear. It’s not a secret. You can watch the television and know why we were so slow. We couldn’t get the wheels off. We were taking one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half times longer than anybody else to get the wheels off in the stop. It’s been a really, really good effort in particular by the suspension design group to design our way out of that. I think it’s been absolutely fantastic and you’ve seen the results: it doesn’t hamper us anymore, it leaves us many more strategies, and a lot more tactics are open to us on Sunday afternoon, whereas they weren’t in 2014 and 2015. I think a lot of people don’t realise that it’s a one second loss in a pit stop but that has huge ramifications for your strategy and tactics.

    Thanks for that. Paul, coming to you, obviously Baku was a little bit of an outlier as far as you’re concerned with a lot of problems with the tyres and heavy degradation. Has that been sorted and have you got an explanation for us today?
    Paul MONAGHAN: We’ve developed some theories and they stand scrutiny within our own analysis. The proof of the pudding of course is that we don’t repeat it, and we have no intentions of doing so. As is often the case when something goes wrong, it’s a cascade of events that occur in sequence and each one actually happens. So a number of things went wrong. I think we triggered the degradation ourselves and if our theories hold tight we won’t do it again.

    Is that by running lower downforce?
    PM: No, not in isolation. It’s a whole number of things that come together, as I would expect anybody else would offer you. It’s not one thing that’s going to cause a tyre to do that. Don’t forget that we started with a pretty hot track; we finished the race with a cooler track. So many things changed through the race that weren’t even associated with the car, so I think we know what happened and we won’t do it again don’t worry.

    Now, yesterday here, Daniel Ricciardo confirmed he’s committing his future to the team, as has Max Verstappen. What difference does it make to you and the engineering group to know that you have got the same drivers for a period of years now in terms of development, design etc, and is Daniel right in saying that he feels your team is building for a challenge for next year’s world championship.
    PM: It’s great to have the two of them signed. I think the way Daniel has been driving this year is amazing. Obviously Max has arrived and caused quite a stir and he’s clearly going to be one to watch. In terms of setting the design of the car, clearly it means we know what we’re packaging around. We’ve got them both in this year’s car, so looking forward to 2017 it’s one less challenge to deal with. In terms of their feedback, they are both very good, so it’s not as if we lack anything in terms of driver feedback. They are both articulate, they’re both knowledgeable and their feedback is valid and relevant. It’s not as if they comment on subsets that have little effect on the car. We know that we have two that are good at it. It’s settling as opposed to facing an unknown, I’ll take that every day.

    Thanks for that Paul. Luca, Manor are still looking for the first point but you’ve had at least one Sauber behind you on the grid at the last three grands prix, so are you beginning to get to where you want to?
    Luca FURBATTO: Yes, I think the answer is yes. From memory we out-qualified both Renaults in Baku, both Saubers in Canada, very close to Q2 in the last two events. Everybody has been working very hard. We’ve got a development plan for the rest of the season. We have new parts here in Austria, we’ll have new parts in Silverstone and as I say, we’re pushing very hard. We want to convert the performance gain in qualifying also into race gains.

    You mention developing the car still. How much pressure does it put on a small team like yours to have to come up with a car to a completely new set of regulations such as for 2017 and what expectations do you have for next year?
    LF: I think the regulation change is a massive one for everyone and obviously it’s a tough one for a small team. Every team is dealing with pressure. Every team will have its own pressure. We had a lot of pressure in 2015. We had to rebuild the team; we had the late signing of a new power unit. I think last year we did an amazing job to turn up on time with a new car that was significantly quicker than the last year. We have pretty much doubled in size and I’m very optimistic that we can do a very good job for next year as well.

    Hasegawa-san, turning to you, the new turbo seems to have helped at the last couple of races. How far would you say you are off now being able to extract the maximum from the power unit and can you confirm that this current power unit design is the right one now and you won’t need to do a redesign for 2017?
    Yusuke HASEGAWA: Regarding the turbo, we introduced a new turbo in Canada. Of course we are never satisfied with the performance, there is always room to improve. Regarding an ERS system point of view, we have some limitations in the regulations, the maximum power is 120 Kw and also the energy is limited, so from that point of view I think we have achieved almost a decent, satisfying level from the turbine. Last year here the power was cut off in half of the straight, so it was a disaster last year. So from that point of view we are proud of that. But on the other hand, the internal combustion point of view still we need to improve the engine performance and we are currently trying the very hard job to redesign, not redesign but to improve the engine for next year, so that is ongoing.

    So it’s not a redesign for 2017?
    YH: Not completely redesigned. Of course there are a lot of places we need to redesign.

    So tell us what is the development plan for the next few months and the rest of the year?
    YH: We are hopeful that we can introduce some of the upgrades in a couple of races. I have already confirmed we see some good elements, so as soon as we are ready we will introduce it.

    Graham, coming to you, Toro Rosso retaining Carlos Sainz for another year, which will be his third year. It’s quite unusual for the team to do that with a young driver. What’s the thinking about holding on to him at this stage?
    Graham WATSON: Yeah, you’re right, generally over the last couple of years we’ve had a fairly fluid driver line-up, so to have Carlos at the team for a third year is fantastic for us. Obviously Red Bull are the people who hold the contracts for the drivers, so we pretty much live with what they like us to use. We are very happy to have Carlos, he’s a very quick driver, very focused. He’s got a strong desire to be a world champion in the future, so that’s his big drive. For a team, continuity breeds good results and to have him for a third year allows us to build on what we’ve been building on for the last season and this season and hopefully we can deliver some of the targets we’ve been setting ourselves with his experience backing him up.

    Picking up on what we discussed earlier on with Rob Smedley, pit stops are occasionally a problem for Toro Rosso. Are you looking to make a Williams-style improvement for next season?
    GW: Yeah, pit stops are a constant irritation. We’re probably somewhere where Williams were and listening to Rob we probably have got a very similar problem of getting the wheel off fast enough and back on generally. We are obviously looking at all areas of the car for 2017 with the new regulations but clearly we have a big focus on trying to improve the situation with pit stops, giving the guys the equipment they need to achieve what are now fairly phenomenal pit stops from Williams and Ferrari. We are on average about a second behind and as Rob says that has a massive impact on strategy and how you can call your race as you go.
    Q: Beat, coming to you, Felipe Nasr was here yesterday and said there is a much more positive atmosphere around the team, salaries have been paid, tell us what’s changed, and what the outlook is like.
    Beat ZEHNDER: Paying salaries definitely helps for the atmosphere in the team! Paying the salaries, the outstanding salaries, is part of a comprehensive solution we were still working on but for any details you have to ask Monisha. Obviously there is a change in atmosphere because now everyone believes again that there is a future. The crucial thing so far was not to give up and I think we can be very proud of our team here on the track and at home that kept on pushing in our very limited areas. There was always light at the end of the tunnel – but as you know Switzerland has just opened the longest railway tunnel in the world – the light was always there, the tunnel was just massively long. The tunnel is getting shorter now.

    Q: Obviously you do a whole bunch of different roles at the team. In such circumstances how difficult is it to keep the team all together, to hold on to your key people and just keep everybody moving forwards?
    BZ: It’s not always easy, it’s for sure easier on the track because everyone who is here loves to do what they are doing, they love racing and so the motivation part on the race track is a simpler one than back home in the office. For the technical department, for the design office, sometimes it is quite frustrating, knowing you have things in the pipeline but you cannot bring it to the track because of financial reasons. But, as I say, there should be a brighter future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) We understand there is a new protocol regarding tyre pressures from this weekend. What’s your view on that? Does it make any sense? Is it a step in the right direction? Will it change anything at all?
    PM: Accepting that I have some competitors in the room, it’s… I suppose if you’re presented with a set of regulations, it’s for the competitor to demonstrate compliance, so in this circumstance we’ll demonstrate compliance. It makes our life a little bit easier; it changes the challenge a small amount but at the end of the day we’re judged relative to our competitors, therefore we’ll observe the technical directive and it’s then up to us to extract the most out of the package for the rest of the weekend. In amongst everything else that can change on the car – and you saw in P2 a slight interruption from the weather – it’s something that we’ll take in our stride and deal with.

    Rob, from a Williams point of view, anything to add?
    RS: I think that I pretty much agree with what Paul said. It’s up to us to adhere to it. It’s a technical directive. I don’t think that it’s going to offer a great deal in terms of any great differences to what people are doing now. Possibly in practice it changes things a little bit but I really don’t see it as being particularly significant.

    BZ: If the result of the new procedures are lowering the starting pressure then we are very happy with it.

    GW: Same

    LF: Just a little bit easier operationally, particularly for the free practices but, as the others said, not a big difference.

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Question to all of you about Brexit. Can you talk about the implications for your team economically? Because there are different countries represented here. It would be interesting to get the opinions.

    BZ: I can give you some guidelines on working with customs papers if you are not belonging to the EU!

    What about the teams based in the UK first of all. Rob?
    RS: I don’t know. It’s too early to say, isn’t it. When you’ve got the two leading parties slightly in turmoil and we haven’t decided what to do yet, the people of Great Britain voted, they took a decision. If democracy stands then we’ve got to stand by that decision and it’s up to the politicians really. It’s not going to be something that will be solved in the short-term. I think it’s probably going to run on and there’s going to be lots of smaller, down to almost-insignificant elements that are still going to need sorting out and organizing still in years to come. As far as the impact on Formula One is concerned, I’m sure everybody here would join in by saying that hopefully it’s negligible. Whether it will be, whether it changes the way we travel or who we’re allowed to employ, I don’t know, let’s see. I’m sure in the short term there’s not going to be anything significant.

    How about you Luca, as an Italian working in England, any concern there?
    LF: I’m not an expert on the subject, I never cracked the Italian politics, let alone the British ones, so unfortunately I think it’s a bit too early to say.

    Paul, presumably all the staff that you employ, the ones who come from Europe, you can argue they’re highly specialized, I guess that would help in the future.
    PM: I don’t think we know at the moment. To answer the gentleman’s question, in the short term it’s had no impact on us. As Rob said, we await the long-term impact and I’m sure everybody will face the same guidelines and interpretations of it and we’ll comply as a company, obviously, and we’ll seek to strengthen and hold our position within the sport, whatever that incurs.

    Hasagawa-san, obviously Honda investing in the UK – any concerns there?
    YH: Actually I’m not in a position to actively join this conversation. I hope the UK people will manage this situation smartly. I respect every decision you made, I think.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) To Paul but also all of you: we saw what happened to Max with those Abu Dhabi kerbs. They have been installed at several corners. Are you comfortable with those or do you want to have a change?
    PM: Comfortable? No. Our car didn’t ride them terribly well and I personally think it would be a shame if other cars incurred similar problems so how that’s resolved I don’t know. That’s hopefully for later today. In terms of the integrity of the car, I have no concerns with the integrity of it. We’re quite happy to field it. Daniel continued to run. If they’re there, we will miss them.
    BZ: No thoughts, really. I’m waiting for five o’ clock, the drivers’ briefing. I’m pretty sure drivers will have something to say. Pretty sure drivers are not too happy but they’re… normally the kerbs are there for a reason so Charlie would normally say ‘just don’t go there.’
    Q: That’s what you expect the outcome to be, is it?
    BZ: Yeah. Maybe we’re going to remove one or two.
    GW: Same as Beat really. I’m sure at five o’ clock it will be a hot topic to be discussed so we will wait and see how the drivers and Charlie  get on about it.
    LF: Yeah, we went over a couple of them in FP1 and 2. We didn’t have any problems but I’m sure they will be discussed with Charlie and the drivers.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Regarding the radio rules, we always hear many complaints from the drivers that the cars are too complicated to operate but actually Felipe told us yesterday that it was the task of the engineers to make the cars as easy to operate as possible so the drivers don’t have a problem with it as Lewis did in Baku. Do you agree with that? Is it possible to make the cars easier to operate, so they don’t have to bother with the switches so much, and is it possible to implement a kind of audio guide into the car which tells them which switch is doing what? It seems to be logical from the outside.
    RS: Well, to answer the part about the audio guide then no, that’s not possible for various reasons. And to a certain extent he’s right, Felipe’s right when he says that it is up to the engineers to make the cars as simple as possible, not only to drive but to operate as well. That’s something that we’re always very keen on pushing, that ethic if you like, at Williams. I think there’s lots of times that we have an idea but the complexity of that idea when you turn it into reality far outweighs any benefit you can get from it, and I think trying to simplify… it’s the job of an engineer really to be able to chose systems or methods that keep you on the peak of simplicity and performance. So yeah, to a certain extent I definitely agree with him that it’s up to us. What happens in other teams, I can’t really tell you. The regulation as it stands at the minute we adhere to it, we comply with it. It makes our lives a little bit more difficult at times, especially when there’s more critical messages to pass but it’s the same for everybody. Again, it’s one of those things that people talk about a lot and apart from with Mercedes last Sunday afternoon, it doesn’t really make a big difference.
    Q: These power units are very complex, Hasegawa-san. Do you try and make it as simple as possible for the drivers to operate and manage?
    YH: Yeah. The issue is that the regulation is to ambiguous. I don’t know what is banned and what is OK so sometimes –  like in Baku –  we had the oil temperature was very hot so can we tell the driver that the temperature was very hot? Even that is… so we evade the issue. With some regulation we can tell that but some of the engineers say that it is not OK. It is very complex and I would like to understand; does it make the race really exciting or..?

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – MotorsportTotal.com) You have all approached a period where you are starting work on the 2017 cars and I’m sure most of you have progressed a lot already. Particularly for the smaller teams, there’s going to be a point in time very soon where you will have to stop working on the 2016 to manage your resources. Can you tell us what updates you have planned for the rest of the season and when is that point coming when you are going to completely stop working on the 2016 car?
    GW: We clearly see 2017 as a big challenge and 2016 is obviously still very important because we have our lofty height of trying to be fifth in the championship which is an aggressive target and probably quite tough to achieve but we don’t want to give up on that so I’m sure that there are some upgrades coming for the future over the next two or three events. But the focus in terms of 2017 has already moved towards that car and has been for a little while now so what we are going to bring to the track over the next few events is already being developed and designed and put in the pipeline. So in terms of your question, I suppose yes, 2016… we’re nearly there and 2017 is in full flight.
    BZ: Yeah, same for us. We have some bits and pieces coming for Silverstone and then Hockenheim possibly but then the concentration is fully on 2017. We still have the aim to be in front of the Manors and possibly beat the Renaults but realistically, we have to concentrate, as a small team, fully for 2017.
    LF: As I mentioned, we have upgrades here and we’re going to have one in Silverstone, Hungary and Belgium and Monza so we’re still pushing for the 2016 car, obviously, but most of the guys here, a small team that started a few months ago on the 2017 car and it’s just a progressive transition during the season, and more and more people will shift to the 2017 project. For a small team like us, obviously we can’t start to think about 2018. Some of the top teams have already started looking a year in advance, ahead of 2017 but we have started and that’s the important point.
    RS: Yeah, I probably touch more on what Luca just mentioned really. I think that the focus of the front-running teams now has already switched to ’17. There’s certainly updates coming for us. We’ve got updates coming for every race from now almost until Singapore but they were already programmed, they were all ready to come on line. It’s really a case of… the focus isn’t between ’16 and ’17, it’s between ’17 and ’18 because there’s certain things that we are already thinking about for… that we would put in towards the back end of ’17, the middle of ’17 let’s say, and even ’18. I think the focus is slightly different now. We were answering the ‘16/’17 question in Australia and Bahrain. We’ve possibly moved on a bit.
    PM: In essence, I would echo that. Part of our team is ’17, part of it will still look at ’16. I would imagine that every representative in the pit lane will have some sort of revision for some circuits. If you take Monza, for example, I bet everybody turns up with skinny wings so it’s not as though we can ignore ’16 and that’s true of everybody. The amount of effort we put in will be determined by our aims, progress, wishes, ultimately our own judgement.

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • We work as a team, one group as Ferrari: Kimi

    We work as a team, one group as Ferrari: Kimi

    Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image
    Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image

    DRIVERS – Esteban GUTIÉRREZ (Haas), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Renault), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)
    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Daniil, can we start with you. Good qualifying last time out in Baku but results are proving hard to come by at the moment. Are you now fully settled back in with the team and what are your goals for the rest of the season?
    Daniil KVYAT: Yeah, I think step by step it was coming better and better. We had a few competitive, in terms of pace, weekends and Baku was certainly one of them, starting from the third row. That was already a good achievement, even though of course the points are given on Sunday, that’s why we didn’t manage to finish let’s say. But I think there are plenty of races left, things are coming better and better and I’m feeling more settled in the team. They are giving me lots of support because obviously coming in like this wasn’t very simple but now things are more clear and I’m just enjoying racing. I’m enjoying myself and to be honest I’m having a really good time.

    This is another power circuit obviously. Are we starting to see the effects of your one-year old power unit versus all the current units?
    DK: Yeah, we do. To be honest, already Baku was one of those tracks where it wasn’t meant to be easy for us but nevertheless we found good compromises and managed to make a good Saturday. I think here is going to be another very difficult weekend for us. Obviously it is a power-limited track and most of the time on the straight it’s not the biggest friend of us. Still, you know, we have to keep fighting and play the best game with the cars we have in hand, so we will just do our best and then we will see where we are.

    Thank you for that. Felipe, coming to you, you won the GP2 feature race here back in 2014 and you made the most of the package in Baku, getting into Q2 and then racing up to P12. How satisfied were you with that result, which I think was your best of the season so far?
    Felipe NASR: Oh, it was pretty good, you know. I think it was one of the very first trouble-free weekends I had and I was able extract the maximum from the car, from the strategy. We actually had pretty good pace in the race, able to fight the McLarens and I was pretty close to the top 10. I mean, not enough but it was a decent weekend, you know. If we can have something similar here and if we c a n have a bit of fortune on our side then maybe we can score our points of the season.

    It’s your second year in Formula One. Looking at the rest of the field and prospects for your team, where do you go from here, do you think, looking forward?
    FN: Where do I go from here? [Laughs]. Well, we still have 13 races to go, there’s so much to go on yet, so many things to roll and happen. I’m still fully committed to the team I’m pretty sure. The situation seems to have got better from what I hear – getting all the employees and the salaries paid it juts gives a boost to everyone back at the factory, at the track. I’m sure we can soon start updating the car. All we want is the results on the track, which I think we can have pretty soon. So we just got to keep on doing what we can for now.

    Thanks for that. Esteban, Haas has fallen from fifth in the Constructors’ recently to eighth, but you personally have been on a bit of an upward curve, you out-qualified your team-mate in Monaco and Canada. What’s been making the difference for you?
    Esteban GUTIÉRREZ: Well, I’ve been pretty unfortunate in the first part of the season. It hasn’t been easy to have a lot of technical issues. It wasn’t very straightforward. Therefore, I believe it wouldn’t be fair to rate my season based on the points, because I’ve been in a lot of positions to score the points in many races and not been able to finish the race because of different reasons that were not in my control, so now it’s been improving a bit. It hasn’t been easy in the last three grands prix because of my health, but now I feel much better so now I’m looking forward to the next four grands prix, which are pretty close together.

    The F1 paddock is now starting to think and talk about next year, new contracts and such. Have you started that process yet with Haas?
    EG: Yeah. I know pretty much where I’m going, so…

    OK, sounds good. Kevin, coming to you, there have been some notes of optimism coming through from the team’s pre-race preview materials. What is it about your car that’s really not worked recently and that gives them some optimism about this race track?
    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I think we have tried some very different things to learn about the car, to get a better understanding of the car we have and basically we are going back now to something we know and that gives a little bit of optimism. I don’t think it’s going to a lot better than previous races but hopefully we will be able to know what we have and to get a better weekend.

    Looking at it from the outside it would make sense to stop developing this car and focus 100% on 2017, but what are you, as a driver, asking for and what’s on the horizon?
    KM: As a driver what you care about at the end of the day is winning and we are so far off that that in my mind I would be fine to switch focus completely, because we are clearly not going to win with this car. The sooner we can start winning the happier I am and that’s what I want to focus on, so shifting focus as quick as possible I think is the best thing. But I am not team principal and there is a reason for that. Maybe more qualified people take these decisions but I trust whatever the team is doing.
    Thanks for that. Kimi, coming to you, 99th race start for Ferrari this weekend, puts you fourth on the all-time list for the Ferrari team. There has been quite a lot of discussion externally, ie within the media and among other teams as well, about Ferrari’s strategy decision-making in the last few grands prix. I know you have been on the wrong side of it a couple of times. Have you reviewed it internally and will you be approaching it any differently as a team?
    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: No I think we did the best that we could. Obviously people outside the team can talk as much as they want. We cannot control them and it’s not our business. We work as a team, one group as Ferrari and obviously we always look at what we done over the weekends afterwards and we try to learn on everything, good and bad things. I think it hasn’t been easy weekends for us lately but I think we managed to turn them around quite well as a team. There are some decisions that have to be made over the races and we had no issues with them. We tried to make the best out of it as a team. Obviously certain situations have changed a few things in the last race, but it’s a normal thing.

    We’re now coming into that traditional part of the season where the Formula One paddock speculates about your seat at Ferrari for the following year. Do you have any clarity on whether you will carry on next year?
    KR: I don’t know. I know that I have a contract for this year and I don’t know what will happen next year. A lot of talk. A lot of talk every year I would say since I’ve been in F1. It’s nothing new. Same story really – people can say what they want and discuss but they have very, very little understanding of what’s happening and then this I’m not signing the contract. Well, if I was making the decisions then it would be very easy to tell what will happen, but I don’t. We’ll see. We’ll try to do our best and for sure the team knows my side of the story. That’s enough from me. The rest I have no interest to talk about it in here or anywhere else, apart from with the team.

    Thank you for that. Daniel, your 27th birthday tomorrow I believe, entering your prime I guess. Just a pair of seventh places in the last two grands prix though, whereas you had a chance to win the two before that. Is it all about the engine or have you personally lost a little bit of momentum?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: I haven’t lost anything. We had Canada, yeah, I think we could have done better than seventh. The second set of tyres flat-spotted and would have tried to maybe do a one-stop race if that wasn’t the case and that could have been a different story. Baku – I think it is a power circuit but also we knew we had gone a bit wrong after three laps in the race. We struggled a lot with tyres. We probably just haven’t executed the perfect weekend I’d say since… probably not for a while, but I think performance-wise there’s still more in there. We’re better than seventh, that’s probably what I’m getting at. This circuit will test us this weekend. Historically, the last couple of years it hasn’t been a strong one for us, but we’ll see. We’ll try to do what we can, hopefully better than seventh.

    There’s been quite a bit said recently about your contractual position over the next couple of seasons – discussions about Ferrari, but also discussions about options been taken up for the next couple of years. Can you confirm today that you are staying with Red Bull until at least the end of 2018?
    DR: Yeah. Yeah.

    A little more detail, a little more flesh on the bones.
    DR: Every word I say… one word turns into 10, and then 30 and 50. So, I’ll just leave it at that.

    But obviously a big part of that is it is your own decision to do that rather than take any other options or look at other options?
    DR: Absolutely. It goes both sides for sure. It’s a bit like what Kevin touched on. We want to win. This year is going to be tough for a world title but obviously where we are this year is where we are. You can’t do anything about that now. But looking ahead to next year and spending time with the team and seeing what’s ahead I think it’s the best place to be to try to challenge Mercedes, so that’s where it stems from.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Question to all of you. Obviously at the last race a couple of drivers, including Kimi, had some problems with the radio restrictions. We are now into the ninth race of the season and the new radio rules. What are your stances on this one? Lewis Hamilton said it’s impossible to memorise all the settings that you have on the steering wheel. Do you agree with that, or is it manageable? Is it fine like that?
    KR: I think it’s fine. Obviously always some certain situations you might have some issues that you want to talk but rules are rules and they’re the same for everybody. It wasn’t really any big issue. I kind of knew what it is but tried to get some confirmed things from it – but it didn’t change anything. It wasn’t anything that we had to know 100 per cent or we would have had some issues. I think it’s fine, y’know? It is what it is.

    Daniel, did you have any sympathy for Lewis?
    DR: um… not really. Obviously not directed at Lewis, I think anyone in that position… on race day you care about yourself, so certainly you don’t feel any sympathy for anyone else in those two hours on a Sunday. Yeah, I think Kimi touched on it: it is what it is; it’s the rules and, sure we can’t… I think everything we can do is in front of us, so some things, if there’s a failure during the race, the team’s allowed to tell us a certain procedure perhaps to fix the failure – for example an electronic thing or whatever it is – but in terms of engine modes and things like that, sure there’s a lot to do but we do know – or we should know at least where it all is. So, I think yeah, we’ve just had to adapt to it but it’s been OK.

    How about you Daniil? Are you good at this stuff? Are you quite techie? Do you enjoy it?
    DK: Yeah. It hasn’t been an issue for me. You might say the new generation… I haven’t played Playstation or anything like that, but it hasn’t been an issue for me so far. You have to prepare yourself for many scenarios. I try to predict these things and see what might happen. Of course it’s impossible to see everything – but it hasn’t’ been an issue for me.

    Felipe?
    FN: I think similar to the other guys. You either try to know the most you can on what you have to do in the race. There’s some things we can cover and some other things it depends on the team communication. Some of them, they’re not allowed to say – but I haven’t faced anything yet to be in such a situation. It is what it is.

    Esteban?
    EG: I have absolutely no problem. I like the idea because it will motivate engineers to get rid of a lot of buttons on the steering wheel. We just need two pedals and one steering wheel to drive.
    Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) To all drivers. We saw here the organizers amplify the run-off areas, increase the safety. And we come from one circuit where, most of the bends, you approach at 300kph, you didn’t have run-off areas. Which options you prefer? High risk or less risk?
    KM: I think it’s a difficult one because when you have do something to improve safety you do it. It has to be done. You can’t not do something for safety because it’s more exciting or whatever. If there is something that you can do to improve safety, you have to do it. But there’s no reason to deny that the more risky circuits are more fun. At least for myself I think so and I’m sure most of the drivers will say the same – but we can’t make the tracks more dangerous on purpose to make it more fun. But yeah, I guess that is a factor: for most drivers, it’s more fun when the track is more risky.

    DK: We’re coming from Baku and I got a lot of adrenaline, I was really on the edge all the time. I was always thinking ‘ this corner, if I make a mistake, it’s going to punish you’. I’m a bit old-fashioned on this question – but of course you cannot just put a concrete wall everywhere to make it exciting. You have to find a good compromise between paying the price for your mistake and not hurting yourself, obviously, because Formula One has been investing so much in safety and it is incredible what has been achieved. Let’s say here also, Turn Five, Turn Six, there are gravel escape roads so you pay a higher price if you go off, let’s say. I think this kind of track, they have a bit more value. In my view, personally.

    Esteban?
    EG: I have the same opinion as Kevin and Daniil.

    Felipe?
    FN: I would say so. I think Baku was something… you would pay the price for it if you did a mistake or something but we’ve been working so much on safety that we don’t need to give up all of it to just say we should risk more on tracks that is, more… if you want to call it dangerous. Like the other guys said as well. It’s also true to say that some tracks, you lock-up, you go off and you come back on the race… I feel for me it’s sometimes so easy to give up time there and you are back on the race. If it was like before you wouldn’t have been able… if you have a gravel trap or something, you would have lost a lot more time to come back. Drivers that do less mistakes, somehow they get benefited.

    How about you Kimi? Precision’s always been a big part of your game.
    KR: Well, comparing last race and this, they’re completely different because one is a street circuit so it will never have the run-off areas than in a normal circuit. In the end the FIA has the group that works on measurements of how much run-off area you need in each place and, y’know, it’s safe everywhere. They would never make the circuit where there is not enough run-off area in how they calculate the chances. It may look different but the end result, it can’t be an awful lot different. Obviously it will because it’s a street circuit and there’s no space like we have here at a normal circuit. I think it looks a lot of different but in the end it’s a different place. Every circuit is different. Some are a bit older circuits, obviously then there are different run-off areas. New ones usually are tarmac but what it good, what is not… you always try to stay on the circuit because that’s the fastest way around.

    How about you Daniel, how do you feel about paying a high price for mistakes on those sorts of tracks and this sort of track?
    DR: Yeah, I think we’ve all got a similar view. It’s a hard one. You obviously want to balance the safety always but Baku, I can obviously speak because I had a… it wasn’t a big accident but it was at least an accident and, yeah, I thought it, in a way, had a good balance because it destroyed my car, so if that was the race it was clear I was out – but the impact didn’t feel like anything. So I thought all the… you paid a price but looking at the track you were going to pay it in a safe way. Sure the walls, sometimes don’t tickle, but wherever there was the high speed there was generally a SAFER barrier or something. So, I think that’s the main one. As Felipe touched on, if you do make a mistake, at least pay a bit of a price for it. Whether it puts you completely out of the race or not, at least lose time – because sometimes it is too easy to just run wide, come back on and lose a second as opposed to losing ten or whatever. Yeah, tough one. I’ve always liked street circuits. It does give you the biggest rush, and I think now they’ve got a good balance. All the street circuits we go to are pretty good. Sure, you crash but I think you can crash safely.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, there are 100 points to gain in July. How many of those hundred would you need to still be in the fight for the championship in the second part of the season?
    KR: Obviously we try to get as many as we can. I don’t think one month will decide the whole story. It’s still a long way to go and the end of season a lot of things can happen. The point is always, when we come racing is to do the best and try to score as many points as we can. No need to make any plans. We go to every race like normal and hopefully get out the good result.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Daniel, your team-mate Max Verstappen has also been confirmed through 2018. How do you see that relationship evolving or is it too early to tell?
    DR: It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen in the long run. I can obviously speak for the first few races and it’s been good. Max came in and set a bit of a tone in Barcelona. That was obviously a pretty crazy weekend and I think since then it’s been good. Obviously Monaco didn’t work as well for him and he openly admitted it and took it on the chin. In a way we’ve thrived off the new challenge, the new rivalry, so hopefully it can keep pushing the team in the right direction. Hopefully there is some rivalry. A rivalry would probably mean we’re fighting for victories more often. Sure you can still have a healthy one. I think if you’re mature about it and if you can basically just admit if one guys better on the day and be open about it, then you’ll have good respect for each other. It’s probably when you start making excuses out of nothing, is when it doesn’t work out so well. Keep going hard and, so far, so good.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Bernie had the idea, fifteen or maybe 20 years ago, that there should be a race at the Olympic Games, every four years – a non-championship race? Basically, what do you think about this idea and of course, Felipe, will you be at the Olympic Games in Rio this year?
    FN: You want me to go to Rio? You want me to race? We have our break so if I’m in town, I probably will be, so a flight to Rio is not far away, give a bit of support to my Brazilian athletes wouldn’t be a bad idea. Yeah, but you said, to have a race every four years then I don’t know. I don’t know. I think we have got enough races going on already.
    EG: Yeah, it would not be a bad idea actually, why not?
    KM: Yeah, I wouldn’t mind another race.
    DK: We would maybe build a same car, probably, for the Olympic sport and all 22 drivers, same car, same tyres everything the same. Maybe it could be interesting, like a world final, if you like.
    DR: I was about to say, I like medals so yeah.
    KR: What can I say? There’s always ideas, let’s see what happens in the future but it’s hard to see that it’s going to happen so…
    DR: No points, but a lot of prize-money, I guess. Yeah?
    Q: A quick question: apart from Felipe, is anybody here planning to go to any of the Olympic Games, just as a spectator or is anyone hanging out there? No? No.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) Danny, as your 27th birthday is approaching, how do you look back at your career so far and are you where you expected to be, 10 or 15 years ago?
    DR: Getting deep, getting deep. Let me bring out my notebook and see what notes I made when I was ten. I don’t know. I didn’t really look back on it, so far, to be honest. I think it all happened so quickly that you just sort of get into a bit of a… you sort of roll with it and just keep going but sure, as a kid, I dreamed to be racing Formula One, it’s one of those things, you know. In 2011 I got my chance and it was like a dream come true but then you do a few races and then it’s like, OK, now I want to be with a better team and I want points and then I want podiums, I want wins. Fortunately I’ve been able to get some wins now which is a big box ticked for me but now it’s like, OK, I want the next best thing which is the World Championship. In a way, you’re never satisfied but I think obviously that’s good because I’m obviously still very young and hungry so I think that fuels my hunger but sure, I’m happy and I’m obviously very grateful to be in this position. I think of all us appreciate the… it’s 22 of us that are here. It is awesome but you can’t help but want more, you know? I think Seb at my age, already his 24… not 24, his four titles so I go look at Seb and I go aaahhh. Obviously I would love to achieve more at this age but fortunately I’ve got some time on my side, I think.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Esteban and to Felipe: Mr Ecclestone said that at the end of the new Concorde Agreement, he will fight to share the money in Formula One in a more equal way. You from Sauber, you from Haas, what’s your point of view about it?
    EG: Well, luckily I’m a racing driver, I don’t have to think about… Yeah, exactly. Well, it’s not happening now, not necessarily going to affect me. There are many propositions which are probably going around, many ideas but I’m sure they are going to chose the most convenient for Formula One. We have to think in all other sports and try to bring the sport higher and higher and if that is the right way then for sure everybody will be happy with that.
    FN: Well, I think it would for sure balance out things better for teams that are dependent on other resources. For example, Sauber is a private team, it just gives you a better chance to start the year developing the car, developing things. Sometimes you’re just so spread apart that we cannot even get close to other teams, just on how much we can do with Sauber, financially or resources. It wouldn’t be  a bad idea. For sure, it’s something to consider but it has to balance out for everyone as well, not only thinking about us so let’s see.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Coming back to the danger topic; obviously many fans and even some drivers say that danger is part of the attraction but if we look at the race in Baku, it was actually quite dull and every one of you seemed to be quite cautious, maybe because of what happened in the GP2 race, and we always moan about these big run-off areas and the tracks being not dangerous enough, or some people do anyway. But can you argue that actually a risky track doesn’t produce really good racing? If you look at Monaco or Baku, because you are obviously being more cautious and these tracks that are more safe and have these big run-offs actually are able to produce better racing, because you take more risks?
    DK: Well, it’s a good point because we saw in GP2 that it was quite a big mess, there was a lot going on so obviously everyone knew that on this track a lot might happen but actually didn’t happen, but these kind of races just happen and it was just a one-off. I think the track, when you look it, could provide a lot of entertainment and I think in the future that will happen, a lot of races on the track which I think will enter history because I think this kind of track, in my opinion, will provide some great racing. I think everyone was good because in the end we are professional drivers, no one hit the wall during the race. There was no safety car to reshuffle the strategies so everyone more or less knew what they were doing. The faster cars just went ahead, the slower cars just settled there in the middle so there was no big action going on, I think. I still think that this kind of track should be… of course not every track should be a street circuit. It didn’t affect me at least.
    Q: How about you, Kevin. As you came through the field, were you holding anything in reserve or were you giving it everything?
    KM: No, I think we were giving it everything but for sure, after watching the GP2 race I thought this is going to be a good one to finish because I thought there would be quite a few crashes and safety cars and stuff. For sure, I took a little bit more care not to crash but not a huge amount. I think it was just coincidence that no one did.
    KR: That’s probably why it’s GP2 and F1 is a different story. We’ve seen many other weekends when we watch their race…
    EG: I thought Baku was pretty exciting.
    DR: I was going to go more towards the open circuits, like the modern ones and that. I think some have done it well and some not as well. Yeah, that’s the thing. If you have a modern circuit then sure there’s some risk which is taken away because of the safer run-offs but if they shape the circuit well, then it can produce good racing. For me, Austin is a great example. Austin’s a pretty safe track, there is a lot of run-off but I think the way they’ve tried to design it… like turn one, it’s such a wide apex. You can take so many different lines into that corner, that creates great passing and you’ve got other corners on that track which are a bit unique. I think a lot of the time with our sport, a lot of it is one line. There’s an ideal racing line. I follow… also this guy next to me… we follow motocross a lot and there’s so many different lines in motocross and I think there’s some room in F1 to create something like that. Obviously not extreme but you’ve got some… you know the ideal line is perhaps… like in motocross you go the long way round because the corner’s like a bowl, it’s banked, you carry momentum but then if you’re close you sort of do a block pass. I don’t know, so maybe there’s some room for these modern circuits to be more exciting. So they’d be safe, sure, but the racing could be more exciting. I think there’s still some things which circuit designers can implement and maybe we can learn from other motorsports.
    KR: Obviously you always want to see more overtaking but it’s not easy, there has been a lot of different rules and stuff been done in F1 to create overtaking but has it really changed a lot? Over the years, not really in my view but you know you’re going to blame the circuits that they built, they will not spend I don’t know how many millions of dollars or euros, money, to make a new circuit like in US and expect them to make it without run-off areas. In MotoGP, they have to have run-off areas for when they fall down. They’re being used for a lot more than just F1, they are not building circuits just for us so they have to make everybody happy.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Kimi, I would like to know how difficult it is for Ferrari to get the right temperature in the tyres and what do you expect in this race?
    KR: For sure, it’s not been easiest job in the last few years but it varies a lot depending on how the circuit is, conditions, weather, all those things, what tyres we will have over the weekend and I think in the last few races it’s been quite difficult but we managed to find something and turn it around for qualifying, for the race. It depends how the weather will be here, obviously. It’s a bit unknown. There’s a new surface on the circuit so how will that affect things we will have to see but I think it should be OK.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) There are some rumours that the old Osterreichring will be restored, the big layout for endurance racing. As Formula One drivers, what do you think? Would it be better to use that one or is it OK right now?
    Q: Double thumbs up from Dan Ricciardo, you’re obviously aware of the history, Dan.
    DR: A little bit.
    Q: Seen the old vids on YouTube?
    DR: Ah, no, but I’m aware of it. For a few reasons. I think it would be cool to have a bit more distance on the track. I think next year, as well, if the cars are going to be as quick as they say they are then the lap times are going to be close to a minute which is a very short lap and I think it would create a bit more to the circuit. I think that there is the space so yeah, I’ve heard a few people talk about it and I think it could be pretty interesting for us.
    DK: I tried to open a video last night but wifi was slow so I had to give up. But I agree with Daniel…
    DR: He was too busy looking at other things!
    DK: No, sorry Dan!
    DR: Don’t be sorry!
    DK: So I agree with Dan, yeah, on track.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference
  • Sahara Force India fan zone at the British GP

    Sahara Force India fan zone at the British GP

    Silverstone, 28 June 2016: Sahara Force India is inviting fans to get even closer to the team with the launch of its Fan Zone at Silverstone Woodlands Campsite during the upcoming British Grand Prix.
    Fans will be able to meet senior members of the team, ask questions to the drivers, and get a close-up look at one of the team’s F1 cars.

    The Fan Zone stage will be the centrepiece for the team’s activation at its local race. Daily interviews with prominent team members will give fans valuable insights into the sp

    Sahara Force India fan zone. Image by Sahara Force India
    Sahara Force India fan zone. Image by Sahara Force India

    ort and the team’s progress over the weekend.

    On Saturday, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will headline the stage taking questions from fans in the campsite and around the world through Facebook Live in collaboration with Sky Sports F1. British racing legends, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert, will join them on stage from 6pm.
    The Fan Zone will allow Woodlands’ campers to connect with the team’s partners: the Kingfisher Beer truck shall be serving ice cold pints of India’s finest, while audio brand, Skullcandy, will provide the soundtrack with their mobile beast hosting DJ sets.
    Fans can get competitive in the Kingfisher Scalextric challenge, while budding racing drivers can show their skills on an F1 simulator provided by Codemasters. Aspiring F1 mechanics can indulge their fantasy by taking part in a wheel change challenge and keep energised with Hype Energy drinks.
    Visitors to the Fan Zone can also fuel their shopping habits by exploring Memento Exclusives range of F1 memorabilia.
    Anybody who participates in the Fan Zone will be entered into a competition to win tickets to Sahara Force India’s British Grand Prix party, held at the team’s HQ in Silverstone on Sunday. Other prizes include a year’s supply of Kingfisher beer, a karting experience and free energy drinks from Hype Energy, Skullcandy merchandise, team clothing, and a wheel rim coffee table from Memento.
    Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director of Sahara Force India: “The British fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world and they’ve always shown great support for Sahara Force India. That’s why we wanted to give something back to bring them closer to the team. I’ve visited the Woodlands Campsite a few times before and I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere. There’s a true festival spirit and you can see how much the fans love our sport. I’m delighted we have created the Fan Zone and I look forward to meeting all the fans once again this year.” 

  • Rosberg takes pole to flag victory at Baku; Perez gets another podium for Force India

    Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg cruised to a comprehensive Grand Prix of Europe win, finishing more than 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, while Sergio Perez recovered from a grid penalty to take a deserved third place.

    With plenty of incidents enlivening the support races at the inaugural race in Baku, similar unpredictability had been expected from the grand prix, but when Rosberg went through the first corner in the lead and quickly built up a solid gap to fellow front-row starter Daniel Ricciardo, the identity of the winner, at least, was never in doubt.

    Racing in clear air, Rosberg set a blistering pace and by the mid point of the race, jst after his one and only stop to shed supersoft tyres in favour of a set of softs, he was more than 18 seconds clear of then second-placed man Kimi Raikkonen.

    From there it was a simply a case of managing his pace, staying clear of the walls and bringing his car home. And after 51 laps, Rosberg did just that, taking his fifth of the season and his first career ‘grand chelem’ for pole position, victory, fastest lap and for leading every lap of the race.

    “It’s been an amazing day really, an amazing weekend,” he said afterwards. It’s been spectacular; great track, really exciting racing. Of course, for me the weekend went perfectly: qualifying, race, everything to plan, so it was really awesome.”

    The potential stumbling block in Rosberg’s path came from a technical glitch that affected both he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Briton was badly affected by issue, which his race engineer explained was a problem with mode he was in. Rosberg, though, was able to solve the problem.

    “I think I had the same [as Hamilton] but I’m not sure,” Rosberg said. “It was just a matter of getting out of it with the right combination of switches.”

    Hamilton began the race in 10th position after a Q3 race but recovered well to rise to fifth before the technical problems began to affect him. He was unable to close on Perez and Raikkonen ahead and had to settle for salvaging 10 points from a troubled weekend.

    Ahead, Perez had used his Force India’s Mercedes power unit and a one-stop strategy to great effect and in the closing laps he found himself chasing down Raikkonen.

    The Finn has risen as high as second in the race, passing team-mate Vettel with an undercut, but he later ceded the position back to the quicker German and then found himself fending off Perez.

    Raikkonen was also hit with a five-second penalty due to crossing the white line at the pit entry and while Perez was safe in the knowledge that with a 0.5s gap to Raikkonen he would take P3 in the classification, the Mexican was determined to take the position on the track. He managed it on the final lap to score his

    “I knew that the podium was secure but when I saw the opportunity, that it was safe enough to do it and no risk at all, I went for it, because it obviously feel a lot nicer to finish the race P3,” said a delighted Perez who rose from seventh on the grid to take third place, after a gearbox change following an FP3 crash yesterday dropped him from P2 in qualifying.

    With Hamilton fifth, Valtteri Bottas took a lonely sixth for Williams, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

    Ricciardo started the race from P2 but while he held the position in the early stages he quickly went backwards following an early stop for soft tyres and then again when he took on medium tyres in a second stop.

    Verstappen was on a similar strategy and while he dropped to as low as P18 after starting in P9, both Red Bull drivers eventually began to climb back through the pack as their more durable tyres gave them an advantage of those on soft tyres at the end of a two-stop race.

    Nico Hulkenberg took ninth place for Force India, while Felipe Massa took a solitary point for Williams with tenth position.

    Rosberg’s victory extends his championship lead over Hamilton to 24 points, while Vettel closes the gap to second place to 21 points. Raikkonen is 15 points further back in fourth.

    2016 Grand Prix of Europe – Race
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 51 laps – 1h32m52.366s
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +16.696
    3 Sergio Pérez Force India +25.241
    4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +33.102
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +56.335
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams +60.886
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +69.229
    8 Max Verstappen Red Bull +70.696
    9 Nico Hülkenberg Force India +77.708
    10 Felipe Massa Williams +85.375
    11 Jenson Button McLaren +104.817
    12 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1 lap
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas +1 lap
    14 Kevin Magnussen Renault +1 lap
    15 Jolyon Palmer Renault +1 lap
    16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +1 lap
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1 lap
    18 Rio Haryanto Manor +2 laps
    19 Fernando Alonso McLaren DNF
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor DNF

    21.  Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso DNF
    22 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso DNF

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton takes fifth Canadian GP win; moves 9 points from championship lead

    Hamilton takes fifth Canadian GP win; moves 9 points from championship lead

    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Canadian GP for the fifth time in Montreal on Sunday. An FIA image
    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Canadian GP for the fifth time in Montreal on Sunday. An FIA image

    Montreal, 12 June 2016: Lewis Hamilton took his fifth career Canadian Grand Prix win to close the gap to championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to just nine points as the German finished fifth.

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel managed to take the lead at the start but could not make a two-stop strategy work and he finished second ahead of a hard-charging Valtteri Bottas who scored Williams’ first podium finish of the season.

    Hamilton began the race from pole position but when the lights went out he bogged down slightly, as did fellow front-row starter Rosberg, and Vettel shot past around the outside to take the lead into Turn One.

    The Mercedes drivers then tussled on the way into Turn One as they attempted to recover and as they banged wheels Rosberg was forced to cut the corner and he dropped to tenth.

    Rosberg’s return to track forced Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to brake and that allowed his team-mate Max Verstappen to sneak through to grab third.

    In P1, Vettel controlled the race until lap 11 when McLaren’s Jenson Button pulled over at the side of the track with a blown power unit. That brought out the Virtual Safety Car and Ferrari took the opportunity to pit Vettel for a set of supersoft tyres.

    Hamilton, though, stayed out on his starting ultrasofts and the battle between his one-stop gambit and Vettel’s two-stop plan began.

    The German had the pace to close Hamilton down but the Mercedes driver’s final stint on the soft tyres was such that there was no drop off in his pace and Vettel could not find the extra performance to beat the Mercedes’ man power and the low tyre wear he was encountering.

    Hamilton eventually took his fifth Canadian Grand Prix win and his second race win in a row with five seconds in hand over the Ferrari driver.

    “I had another really bad start, I’m not quite sure why, I think probably I overheated my clutch,” said Hamilton. “Sebastian and Nico got quite a good run down to Turn One, tyres are cold, big understeer, and I feel very grateful that me and Nico didn’t damage anything on our cars. And otherwise it was just trying to chase this guy down. He was so quick out there. The car felt fantastic and it was set up just right with great work from the engineers and mechanics.”

    Bottas, meanwhile, enjoyed a superb run to third, with the Williams driver also making a one-stop strategy work. The Finn made the most of a difficult race for Red Bull and early in the race he passed Daniel Ricciardo to rise up the order and then cleared Max Verstappen to seize third. Bottas then sat in clear air for the remainder of the race to finish some 46 seconds behind Hamilton.

    “As a team, it was really a strong one for us, really good strategy, really good pit stop; the time was perfect, the car felt really good today. I felt I was pretty on it today. So it’s great to be here,” he said.

    Verstappen managed to hold onto fourth and late in the race the teenager showed great determination and skill in fending off sustained attacks from a hard-charging Nico Rosberg, who was recovering for a mid-race puncture.

    After expertly placing his car in just the right spot to frustrate Rosberg’s assaults, the Mercedes man looked to have found a way past ujnder DRS on the run to the final chicane a few laps from home.

    But Rosberg’s brakes let him down and he spun, leaving Verstappen to sail past and take fourth place. Rosberg managed to keep going and took fifth place.

    Ricciardo was seventh having been held up by team-mate Verstappen early on and then he dropped back during the pit stops.

    Eighth place went to Nico Hulkenberg, while Carlos Sainz took an excellent ninth place from 20th on the grid and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.

    2016 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 laps – 1h31m05.296s 1
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +5.011 2
    3 Valtteri Bottas Williams +46.422 1
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +53.020 2
    5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +62.093 2
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +63.017 2
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +63.634 2
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +1 lap 2
    9 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +1 lap 2
    10 Sergio Perez Force India +1 lap 2
    11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1 lap 2
    12 Fernando Alonso McLaren +1 lap 1
    13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +2 laps 2
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas +2 laps 3
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +2 laps 2
    16 Kevin Magnussen Renault +2 laps 1
    17 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +2 laps 2
    18 Felipe Nasr Sauber +2 laps 2
    19 Rio Haryanto Manor +2 laps 2
    20 Felipe Massa Williams DNF 2
    21 Jolyon Palmer Renault DNF 1
    22 Jenson Button McLaren DNF O

     

    eom/FIA press release

     

  • Hamilton dedicates win to Muhammad Ali

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Michael Douglas)

    Bonjour Montreal. It’s a pleasure for me to be here and an honour to be able to introduce our podium winners. Lewis, incredible. We have to talk about the first turn. You had Sebastian coming in on your left, you had Nico touching wheels on the right. Tell us about that.
    Lewis HAMILTON: It was horrible. Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to everybody who came out here today and made the atmosphere the way it is. Thank you everyone here. We come here every year and we have the best week. The city, they just put on such a great event. The ambiance, the atmosphere is better than ever. Today, I had another really bad start, I’m not quite sure why, I think probably I overheated my clutch. Sebastian and Nico got quite a good run down to Turn One, tyres are cold, big understeer, and I feel very grateful that me and Nico didn’t damage anything on our cars. And otherwise it was just trying to chase this guy down. He was so quick out there. The car felt fantastic and it was set up just right with great work from the engineers and mechanic. Hey man, I won my first grand prix here in 2007, so this just feels like such a blessing.

    Congratulations Lewis, well done, fourth time?
    LH: I think fifth time!

    Yes, fifth time! Sebastian, nice to see you, wonderful, wonderful race. You had a phenomenal run earlier in the race, what were the issues later on?
    Sebastian VETTEL: Lewis was a bit too quick! That was the issue. No, I think we had a great weekend. Obviously a fantastic start and then, yeah, lap one was a bit hairy, I just struggled to stop the car in the last corner. It was very windy today and maybe I struggled a bit with the wind from behind but I was pushing all race. I think we committed fairly early to a different strategy, which we were planning to come back. Obviously then Lewis had the chance to stay out and see what the tyres were doing and I think probably the tyres lasted a bit better than what we expected, so that made it quite tricky to refresh the tyres and close the gap but overall a great weekend for us. We struggled a little bit in the last couple of races and the beginning of the season and now to see that the car has performance and to unleash it, it was a really fun race, I really enjoyed it. I can only add on what Lewis said: thanks to the crowd, it’s great to come here. Friday, free practice, to have you guys here at the hairpin, all around the track, waving at us is making our job just much more pleasant, so this is a place we’ll have to come to forever I guess, so thank you very much.

    Fantastic, a really, really wonderful run, congratulations. Mr Bottas, really nice to see you up here on the podium again. I think it was Mexico last see [the last time]. The season started a little slow but you’re coming on strong. How was the race for you today?
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, I’m really pleased with today. As a team, it was really a strong one for us, really good strategy, really good pit stop; the time was perfect, the car felt really good today. I felt I was pretty on it today. So it’s great to be here. I really want to thank Williams, thank you guys; everybody made an amazing job. Thank you Montreal, you’ve been really good to me.

    Congratulations. Lewis, that’s two wins in a row, so how does the rest of the year look to you, what do you think?
    LH: We’re going to just take it one race at a time. There’s still work to do. We’re going to continue to improve this car. There’s a lot of race so we’re really just trying to stay… we need to try to keep on a roll if possible. There’s a long, long way to go. These guys are getting faster and faster at Ferrari and Red Bull, so collectively as a team we’re just going to keep our heads down and keep pushing. Honestly I’m just overwhelmed with today. I remember, what was it, ten years, nine years ago here, and it feels just as great [as it did] back then.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, 45th career victory and your fifth in Canada, as you were quick to point out on the podium. You obviously lost the start to Sebastian, but you got this win I guess, in a way again, because for the second race in a row you were able to do a very, very long final stint on the tyres. How much of that was data about what the tyres would do and how much was pure feel?
    LH: Well, firstly, if I may, I want to… I never really dedicate wins to anyone but someone who really inspired me so much throughout my life, Muhammad Ali, and obviously he passed just recently, so I’d love to be able to dedicate this to him and his family. The last 15 laps, for some reason all I could think of was him and Rumble in the Jungle, it was really, really weird. I was driving and I was just thinking of him, and thinking maybe he would be watching the race, I don’t know. So, that’s to him and his family. Rest in peace.
    In terms of the tyres: It was really feel. The team obviously told us what the tyres could do, how far they would go. I wasn’t really sure how far the ultrasoft would go. I had already seen graining earlier when I was behind Sebastian. So I was a little bit nervous about it, but it seemed to last, which was great. I could have kept going on the ultrasoft, which was interesting; I had a good pace. Then we swapped. It was a long stint on the information we got before that that tyre could last quite a long time and it was just a beauty. I didn’t have to push too much on the tyre at the beginning, just looking after them, but very conscious that this guy behind was pushing. I was really enjoying the race with him, you know, just battling times here and there. He was so quick and it’s great to see how quick they are and they are really giving us a run for our money, and I just happened to be on a one stop. But fantastic job by the team. I’m really overwhelmed to think just how difficult this season was before these last two races and I feel incredibly grateful and very blessed to have had these two great weekends. I’m just going to keep working hard, as you can see I’m super-focused. For me I felt that today was one of my best races for a while, maybe not as good as the last one, but still really happy with it. Onwards and upwards hopefully.

    Very well done. Turning to you Sebastian, got the feeling before the race that Ferrari might be able to win this, had that amazing start, and then obviously you committed to that two-stopper with the pit stop on lap 17 under the VSC. Was that because the team thought you wouldn’t be able to do what Lewis did and do that one-stopper and in the final part of the race did you think that a 13-lap tyre offset to Lewis would be enough to challenge?
    SV: Yeah, I think that was the plan, so obviously we committed fairly early. We were in the lead. As the second car in the row, which was Lewis in that case, obviously you have the chance to choose – if the car in front pits you might pit, if the car front stays out you might pit. We committed fairly early to that strategy and I think I was probably the right thing to do in terms of getting to the chequered flag the quickest way. But obviously we lost track position and we didn’t expect that the soft tyre that Lewis put on… first of all the ultrasoft and then the soft would last as long. Myself, I was also surprised to see how long the supersoft lasted and then the soft tyre lasted until the end. As Lewis said, we could have kept going. The degradation wasn’t maybe as high as we expected. That’s maybe where we lost the race. But I want to make one thing clear: I’m not a big fan of blaming anyone or anything. I think it was a great weekend for Ferrari. We’ve had a difficult start to the season because we were never really able to show the true performance of the car and this was maybe the first clean weekend if you look at Saturday and Sunday. And actually I enjoyed the race a lot. Didn’t get the result I was hoping for, especially after the start, but I was enjoying it a lot. The last 30 laps I was just flat out – maybe pushing a little bit too hard at times. It just felt great. That’s what racing should be about. The tyres were fairly consistent. I really enjoyed chasing him down but a couple of laps to go I realised that he was just a bit too quick or the tyres didn’t drop enough.

    Q: Valterri,, podium here for the second year in a row in Montreal. Same strategy as Lewis that got you ahead of the two–stopping Red Bulls and Kimi Raikkonen; tell us about your drive today and also those strategy calls?
    VB: Thank-you, yes. It feels really good to be here again. Montreal has been pretty to me and pretty good to us as a team. For sure it was always going to be one of the good tracks for our car but really pleased with what we have done. Of course, today didn’t come easily. I really needed to thank the team for the decisions they made to commit to the one stop and also the stop lap, it was perfect. This stop was again, massively quick as we’ve seen all season so really thankful for Williams, for today and for the whole weekend. We need more of these kind of results. We just need to keep trying but just very happy at the moment.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, what happened at the start, more of the same?
    LH: Yeah, the start was… I don’t understand it. This time I really don’t understand because practices have been good, the formation lap was amazing, dropped the clutch and the thing pulled away perfectly. Yeah, I stopped, did the normal procedure, let the clutch out and it just didn’t go anywhere. I’m really lost as to know what… Obviously I had really good pace today and that really got in the way. Had it been a longer straight, I would have been a sitting duck. I don’t really know what to say about it. And into turn one, these tyres, these ultrasofts, he(Sebastian)  was lightning on the first lap but me, I had no grip. I got to turn one and I had this understeer and I thought that it was going to continue for the rest of the lap. I think the guys behind me were also tiptoeing but very close, obviously, between me and Nico which wasn’t intentional. But fortunately none of our cars were damaged.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) And second question is – as Sebastian has said, the cars are pretty good as you’ve said as well, you had a good view of them in the early laps. What’s the power like on the straight, how quick were they on the straight compared with you now?
    SV: Quite quick. I think we’re quite quick.
    LH: These guys were pretty quick on the straight. I didn’t get quite close enough to really gauge just how quick they are but I think it looked pretty close, I have to say. I was so excited with wheel-to-wheel racing but then he pitted after the VSC  and I’m like shoot, I was a bit annoyed. Still it was a good battle at the time.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport Magazine) Valterri, as you say, a good track for you and the team. However does it give you confidence that you can now start to challenge Red Bull or was it just track and strategy specific today?
    VB: It definitely keeps confidence for us that we can do good things. For sure, it is one of the good ones, as a track for us but I think as a team we did such a good job with the strategy but the car was also good today at the beginning and end of the race when everyone was on the same tyres, I did feel that I could put pressure on Kimi in front and even the Red Bulls, so that was a good feeling and even though some of them were on two stop and we were still on one stop and we put pressure, so that was good. I think the next few races should be good. Lot of confidence now and this really makes a lot of good for the team, a result like this, a motivation boost for the next ones.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Seb, my impression is that we already saw the race from today in Melbourne, didn’t we?
    SV: I don’t think that’s true. I think Australia, you can argue with hindsight, we would do a different strategy. If it’s that straightforward and easy to know what it’s like, then everyone is doing the right thing. As it turned out, we committed fairly early, maybe we were also hoping that the virtual safety car gives us a bit of an advantage and makes the two stop favourable but I will always defend our strategies, what we committed to as a team. I think there were other people as well, favouring the two stop. With hindsight maybe they would do a different job but as I said, that’s a decision we take as a team. Kept in hindsight it’s always easy. Put yourselves in the shoes of those on the pit wall, to make that call is quite tricky and you have to be really quick. Strategy-wise I think we have a very very strong team. I wouldn’t favour anywhere near to criticise them because the guys are really on the money and very strong, reacting very well and if here and there we maybe don’t do the optimum, that’s part of the job but overall I think we end up doing better choices than other people.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, was the tyre management here more difficult than in Monte Carlo because at a certain stage we saw one big, black stripe on one of your front tyres. Was that graining?
    LH: Honestly, as Sebastian said, the tyres were really good today, I have to say. I guess with the cooler temperatures graining wasn’t really an issue. I think if it was hot like it was in P2, I think, maybe a one-stop wouldn’t have been possible but yeah, there was a small bit of… on the Ultrasoft there was a little bit more graining but on the soft there was hardly any graining at all. It was like a small band on the front left tyre but otherwise they stayed very, very consistent. Being so cool I think you just had to try to keep the temperature in them more than anything. I was really actually, for once, happy with the performance of the tyre, to be honest. They did a good job.

    Q: (Jimmy Gordon – AP) Lewis, we heard you talk about Ali. Can you tell us what it was about his life or his career that made such an impact on you?
    LH: I think it’s the same for everyone really. I think he was just a unique, iconic individual who had a character unlike anyone else’s and everyone aspired to be like him. I wish I could have spoken with the charisma that he would have, or the comedic side that he would have, that confidence that he could carry into a fight and outwit and outsmart his opponents. And then for the things that he stood for. Even more importantly politically, I think believing in who you are and not letting anyone dictate who you have to be. I think as a kid, when I saw that, I think I was like: ‘this is the guy I want to be like’. In terms of an athlete I hope one day I can be like him. Coming from a family of similar background in a sense of ethnicity, it was someone to look up to. Obviously in Formula One there was no one of the same colour as us as a family, so it was another athlete for me to look up.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Seb. Seb, during this weekend we’ve seen one of the closest gaps between Ferrari and Mercedes. Are you confident you feel you can be even closer to a win in the next race?
    SV: First of all, I hope that you write exactly that tomorrow: that we were closer than ever. So, I think sometimes it’s a bit surreal. We are an Italian team. I think Ferrari stands for great passion and a lot of values in Italy and sometimes it seems like the Italian press is our biggest opponent. So, maybe you can write something nice, which would be a nice message for all the people in Maranello that are really working their arse off  day in, day out to make a strong Ferrari car. I’ve never had a doubt. I know this car is a big step up and I think we had a mixed-up start to the season which was difficult because we were never really in the position to show what the car can deliver. Especially because Saturdays here and there weren’t great. So, I think this weekend was just normal. We had a great Saturday and great pace today. Just look at the opening laps of the race. I was pulling away, pulling a gap to… maybe not so much to Lewis but to all the cars behind. So, it felt great and the car felt great all weekend. So, really happy and happy with the progress the team is making. Again, I ask you to be a bit patient, a bit more patient. The team is on a great path, things are improving and I think we’re seeing results quicker than anyone else so far in the history of F1. So, I think we’re on the right track, it’s a great team and I’m enjoying it a lot.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – The Canadian Press) For Sebastian. Can you go over for us what you did off the start? Where you planning that ahead of time? And what exactly did you do to slip by everybody and get first place?
    SV: I know it sounds silly saying it now but I sort-of had the gut feel that I will have a good start. Obviously it depends on what the other people are doing but I had the feel that, when the lights went on… [to Lewis] I didn’t know what you were doing but I knew there would be a good start. I had a good feeling the formation lap and I think I reacted well, as well – without giving myself too much credit. I just… I don’t know… I felt it would be a good start. It was, so I was very happy with that and just went for it. Had a big lead in the first lap which, nearly all of it I gave away in the last corner and then it was obviously it was a bit more tricky to keep Lewis out of the DRS until a couple of laps in – until just before the Virtual Safety Car actually. I was a bit distracted, we chatted about it, I have to mention it, I don’t know why but I have to, there were two seagulls. I think it was a couple that wanted to commit suicide. They were at the apex of Turn One. Lewis obviously didn’t care, so he made up quite a bit of time, about half a second, but I didn’t do that couple that favour to say goodbye for good, so by the time Lewis came around they just flew off. Wasn’t fair! I brake for animals, Lewis doesn’t but… yeah. Then the Virtual Safety Car came and freezes the gap at that point.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Following on from that Sebastian, I wonder what you felt about the grip level on the in-field of the chicane there? You went through it three or four times just to get it right. What was the racing line like through there? You were very quick the first time you went straight on.
    SV: Very quick on the first lap. Braking very late. I think I was a bit caught out by the wind, to be honest. I shouldn’t have – I had all the information but I was struggling a bit. It was very gusty and, here and there, got caught out. So, I was trying everything all around the whole lap. I was getting close to the wall: exit of Four; exit of the last corner, exit of Nine as well. So really trying everything. Eventually in there too much, which obviously loses you more than a second. And then yeah, I think I was around four and a half seconds to Lewis and then back to five and a half. Didn’t do myself a favour but I had to try. For some reason yesterday I was very good friends with the last corner and today not so much. So, yeah, not great from my side obviously to miss the braking. Quite tricky with a bit of bottoming. Just locked it three times in total and didn’t make it.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

     

  • I hope we can carry on the form from Monaco, says Perez of Force India

    I hope we can carry on the form from Monaco, says Perez of Force India

    Sergio Perez (bottom row centre) at the FIA press conference on Thursday. An FIA image
    Sergio Perez (bottom row centre) at the FIA press conference on Thursday. An FIA image

    DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Daniel, let’s start with you, our 2014 Canadian Grand Prix winner of course. You didn’t want to hear what the team had to say after the last race in Monaco, so how have the conversations gone since, around strategy decisions, the pit stop issue and how have you personally got over the disappointment?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I gave it a few days to cool off. I definitely felt after the race that I wasn’t in a place, probably no one was in a place to try to resolve what happened. For me it just get away for a few days and then address what happened once we’d cooled and settled. So I spoke to various people in the team and they basically explained what happened at the time and the situation. It was obviously important to hear the explanation but I think more important how to move on from it and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. They’d done a lot of things since then back at the factory and they have set up some new parameters and things that will happen during pit stops and before pit stops to make sure that these things don’t happen again and to make sure that tyres are ready and that various compounds are ready at once. So, yeah, obviously from my said now I’ve moved on. It’s obviously good that they’ve… I knew they were going to take it seriously because it was obviously a big disappointment for all of us, but I’ve been assured that if we’re in that position again then it won’t happen, so that was obviously what I needed and what I wanted to hear.

    With the Renault engine upgrade, which seems to be pretty valid there, as well as the nature of the Red Bull chassis and of this circuit layout here in Montreal, is there a realistic expectation that you can bounce back with this weekend with a win?
    DR: In my mind there is. That would obviously be a lovely way to bounce back. Let’s see, I think realistically Mercedes are still going to be, as expected, the ones to beat. I expect that we can be the next best, or I hope we can be the next best. But it’s hard, you know, Ferrari have been there and surprised us sometime and then been less surprising on other occasions. You never know, but I do believe we’ll be the next ones in line behind Mercedes and how far we’re behind Mercedes I’m not sure but hopefully close enough to again put some pressure on them and grab a win.

    Marcus, coming to you, a little bit of ice hockey this week with Valtteri Bottas. Who’s the more aggressive on the ice, you or him?
    Marcus ERICSSON: Most aggressive? I don’t know, but obviously Sweden and Finland have a big rivalry in ice hockey and it was a fun event and he was very good on the ice I have to say.

    Speaking of aggression, there was a self-destructive situation between you two Sauber drivers in Monaco. Do you and the team just have to accept that as Sauber isn’t really racing any other team you’re going to be racing each other like this week in week out?
    ME: No, it shouldn’t be like that of course. Now it happened in Monaco and we all spoke about it and discussed it and we cleared the air about it. We had different opinions but it’s all done and settled now and we are looking forward to Montreal together as a team.

    Thanks. Felipe coming to you, you’re scored points in four of the last five Canadian Grands Prix, you’re the only driver this season to have scored points in every round and you’ve been ahead of your team-mate 60% of the time. How satisfied can you be with that?
    Felipe MASSA: Well, satisfied, when you score one point, is not really the right answer. I really hope we can score more than what we’re doing. You always want more. It’s on the consistent side in terms of scoring points but we need to work to get a little bit more than one point like we did in Monaco and getting closer to the top five at every race, that’s what we want to do, that’s what we’re working for and I really hope that we can carry on scoring a good amount of points at every race.

    Williams has owned third place for the past few seasons but that looks to have slipped to fourth this season, and Force India in the last month or so have been coming for you as well. What’s holding you back?
    FM: Well, I think that Red Bull is definitely the team that has grown most and as everybody could see, they even won races this year and they were fighting to win even the last race, so I think with the other teams we are fighting a good way. Definitely Monaco was not the best track for us but I’m really looking forward to being competitive back here and even in the next races and be back on this important fight to maybe even fight for the third, which would be not so easy, but to keep our fourth position also I think we can do and we’re fighting for that.

    Thank you for that. Kimi, coming to you, three podiums from the opening six rounds is your best start to the season since 2013, but do you and the team feel that you have fallen behind Red Bull rather than closed on Mercedes?
    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I wouldn’t say it like that. We know what we’ve done, we’re definitely more strong in the car and other areas than we were last year. Maybe the results haven’t showed it exactly, but it’s not been the easiest start for us as a team, but we know that as long as we do our stuff and keep working it will pay off. As I say, it’s not been what we’re looking for exactly, but the package has improved and we’re working on that all the time. We know our weaknesses and where we have to improve. Obviously you always look for better results and wins, putting the two cars up there, but so far it’s been a bit tricky this start of the year, but we are more or less there, so we keep doing the same things.

    A significant update to the car is a pretty traditional thing for Ferrari in Montreal, so the turbo update you have this weekend has been long awaited. Will this now allow you to fully exploit the power unit?
    KR: We fully exploit it all the time. This is a step forward. How much, time will tell. It’s a new part and we would never put any new parts on the car if we didn’t think it improves, but is it going to be what kind of step? I don’t expect any miracles suddenly but it’s the right direction and it’s something that’s been for a while that we’ve been waiting to have it. It’s more like any other new parts we bring, it’s not suddenly something magic, so it’s a very normal work in progress for us as a team, as Ferrari, and it’s going in the right direction all the time.

    Thank you for that. Jenson, coming to you, a former winner of this race, the epic wet race of 2011, two other podiums here in Montreal in 15 appearances at this track. Tell us what makes this place special for you, and what’s the best way to drive it?
    Jenson BUTTON: Wow, what makes it special? I think it’s always your history that makes a place special, isn’t it. First time to every circuit, it’s nice, but it’s the history and your experiences there that makes a place special. 2011 was very special. You know me, I’m a trouper, and it’s about fighting through and never giving up. So, it’s always those special experiences that make an event for me.

    And the best way to drive it? The best way to be quick here?
    JB: To be fair, you need a car that is efficient. You need a car that’s good on braking. I suppose every circuit is the same, but those are specifically important areas/. It’s having confidence to use the kerbs here, carry speed and when the weather is like this, making the right calls.

    A bit like Felipe, it’s not been big points, but you have scored in the last three races, from a fairly consistent P12, P13 on the grid. Where is the step coming from to get into Q3 and challenge for he bigger points?
    JB: For big points, I think it’s going to be a while before we’re actually going competitive enough to fight for big points, but we are making good progress. People would think that this isn’t a circuit that would suit our car, but it’s going to be alright. We’ve come here with some upgrades, which should help us. It’s not big but it should help us. We are very efficient in terms of our car. I know that Exxon Mobil had been working very hard with Honda with fuel. We have an upgrade here, which should help in that areas, so, yeah, we’re positive.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, fantastic podium last time out in Monaco. Your sixth in Formula One. You scored one here back in 2012. Is there a sense of optimism that you can continue this strong run?
    Sergio PÉREZ: Well, Monaco was a very special race under certain conditions and to get into the points , everything worked perfectly for us: with the strategy; with all the calls that we did in Monaco. So it was a race under very special conditions. We are expecting something similar here for Sunday but you never know. I really hope we can carry the form, y’know? Probably podiums is not the realistic word for us at the moment but certainly continue the progress and keep scoring points and aim to beat Williams, which is the team ahead of us, which is going to be difficult but I think we are making good progress and we are getting better and better every race.

    Q: With 100 grands prix on the board in what’s been essentially a career of two parts, where do you go from here? Do you sense that there is a chance to move back to a top team?
    SP: You never know. To be honest I’m not really obsessed with that. If that happened that would be a great opportunity to me and I really hope in the near future I can have the opportunity to be in a car that can give me the opportunity to win. But right now all I can do is to focus on this weekend, do my best for this one and then after this one think about Baku and whatever. The most important thing for me is to focus on the present and try to keep doing the job that I’ve been doing so far.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, I’m interested to know in the debrief whether or not, in the context of other dramas we’ve had at Monaco over the years, drivers missing the red light for scrutineering, Lewis’ obvious problem last year with the call, whether or not Monaco itself is a function of the issue that happened, because of the tightness of the garage, the general confusion of Monte Carlo, or if it was something that could have happened anywhere?
    DR: I think… yeah, the nature of the pits and everything in Monaco, it does make it harder to move around. The garage is small. Whether it would have been a different story at another track, I’m not sure. I think it came down to a late call, a late change of heart. Basically after the team saw what tyres Lewis had put on, they decided to change their decision. Let’s say we were always intending on using one compound and once they saw Lewis change, or go to the UltraSoft – I think the team probably expected him to use a SuperSoft – then it got them thinking and then it was all a bit last-minute. So, whether a last-minute call, say at Barcelona, would have allowed that to happen a bit more fluently, I’m not sure. Yeah, I think the call was just a bit rushed and with Monaco being what it is, it was probably just a bit chaotic for the circumstances. I think it all probably added up: small garage; the intensity of the whole weekend and that track and what it does probably didn’t help. Yeah.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonese – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Daniel and one for Kimi. For Daniel, is about the ambition of this season. After the win of your team-mate in Barcelona, the pole position and nearly victory in Monaco, if you wish that the car is going well here, you can think even to fight for the Championship this year? And for Kimi, we would like to know about your future, if you have a deadline with Ferrari to decide what happens next year?
    DR: Yeah, coming into the season, didn’t expect to be… probably didn’t expect to be third in the Championship but after so many races in, and yeah, we’ve seen no points in Russia and could have got more in China without the puncture, and the last two races, we could be very close to probably… yeah… we’d be very close to the front of the Championship right now. So, you know, I’m still not looking at that yet. I would love to be in a position in a few races time and say yeah, we can fight for a title this year. I think that would be a pretty nice, unexpected fight and story for F1. I think this race will be pretty telling. If we can be competitive here, you never know. It’s still a long-shot, for sure, but if we can be competitive then sure I believe in myself that I can fight and do what I’ve got to do to put myself in a position come the end of the year. So, fingers crossed we can… Barcelona and Monaco isn’t… wasn’t a one-off. I hope we can fight again for the rest of the season. And I believe we can: whether it’s a win or a podium… to be continued.

    Kimi, second question was to you, is there is a deadline in terms of your future with Ferrari?
    KR: I don’t know anything more. You guys seem to be knowing a lot every week, this and that. It’s not in my decision in the end. I always said I’m happy to be here, I hope I will be here for helping Ferrari get where we want to get as a team. What happens in the future, we will see.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Daniel, first Spain then Monaco. How much have these two events damaged your relationship with the team – have you forgiven the team absolutely and totally for these two incidents?
    DR: Yeah, obviously, as I said after Monaco I was happy to keep some distance for a few days. For myself as well, it probably wasn’t healthy to just address it straight away. But yeah, for sure, for a few days I was upset I guess, and obviously ruing some missed opportunities – but it’s one of those things: it happens; it’s unfortunate it happened back-to-back. That, how do I say, expanded the feelings and the emotion a lot more. But yeah, I’ve moved on. I’ve still obviously got a lot of faith in the team and I don’t doubt things with them moving forwards. For me it’s obviously really important this weekend to execute a perfect weekend from my side and from the team’s side and get back on track. Because obviously we’ve shown we have a good car, we’ve got good material. It’s just trying really to maximize it. The last four weekends I’ve left Sunday feeling I should have got more. So yeah, this weekend it’s just to try leaving on Sunday knowing that we’ve maximized everything from both sides.

    Q: (Jérôme Bourret – L’Equipe) Braking is of course something crucial here. Could you please tell us something about how difficult it is to find the right braking lap after lap during the race – and how demanding it is from a physical point of view?
    JB: I think the race is fine in terms of braking. I think with the way that the cars are these days it does make it a little bit trickier with the deployment that we have that is obviously different to qualifying – well it is for us, I don’t know if it is for everybody else – and also there will be fuel saving here so – and again I don’t know if it is for everyone else – but that does change your braking. It changes the brake temperatures, obviously. So you have to be very careful of that and it’s studied throughout the race. But for me the more difficult time to get your braking right is qualifying. Because you’re right on the edge: it’s bumpy; easy to lock wheels – but you’ve got to have that confidence in the car to brake as late as you can because there’s a lot of lap-time there.

    Felipe, what’s your perspective on this? You’re obviously running a Mercedes engine, will you be fuel-saving on Sunday? And your thoughts on the braking.
    FM: For sure it’s a track that you need to have a good… brakes need to work well so it’s easy to get… we saw in the past many teams struggling with overheating problems in the braking. We need to be careful, try to use everything in the proper way to have no problems. Actually in all these two and a half years that I’m here with Williams, we never had a problem on the brakes so I don’t really see we can have any problem during the race. I think the fuel consumption can be an issue for everybody here, so we need to wait and see how it’s going to be tomorrow and the numbers and prepare the race in the proper way.

    Sergio, anything to add?
    SP: Yeah, I think Montréal is very hard on braking, especially in the race if you are in the traffic and it’s hot on Sunday – which doesn’t look like. It can be really demanding on the brakes with the brakes overheating. And, as Jenson said, we’re going to be fuel-saving, all of us, on Sunday if it’s a straightforward race. That makes it a bit easier in a way, on the brakes, but it can always be quite tricky. I think the most challenging day for the brakes is Saturday. Saturday in qualifying you really have to be on the edge and there’s a lot of time to be gained under braking. So you have to have the confidence to approach it well.

    Q: (Alexander Govorov – Championnat.com) Felipe, the last couple of years in Montreal Williams was very strong, but you’re struggling on slow tracks. Do you see the race in Montreal as an opportunity to be back in the top six and maybe fight for the podium?
    FM: Yeah, definitely. I really hope we can be competitive on this track, not just this track but maybe Baku can be a positive track for us, Austria, so I’m really looking forward that this next race can be a circuit that we can be strong on, maybe fighting for the top five, maybe a podium because that’s what we want and we will try.

    Q: (Leigh Diffey – NBC Sports) Jenson, there’s an abundance of information for us all to look at to see how things have improved, whether that’s lap time or your qualifying spots or race results, but what are the immeasurable things that have changed within the team? Has there been a shift in morale or a change of tone in conversation? Just take us inside the team.
    JB: Yeah, from the outside, you always ask the questions: where is it, when are you going to be competitive? And then you get… every time I speak to the press it’s how about now? How about now? How about now? How about now? It’s unbelievable, the pressure from the outside but from the inside we know where we are, we know we’re improving and I think the atmosphere in the team is very good. Fernando and myself are both very experienced, I think we bring a lot to the team in terms of our experience and direction and there is a lot in the pipeline. It’s always very difficult because we’re in a season where we want to get the result we can, as everyone does, and I think it’s the same for everyone. With a regulation change next year, it changes everything, in terms of how much effort is put into that single season. But I’m happy with the progress that’s being made there is a good feeling. We feel that a lot of the time we are getting the maximum out of the car which is the main thing right now and yeah, we’re still quite a way off the pace but it will come, it is just a matter of time but it always takes a lot longer than you want.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Daniel, sorry to harp on about this but how did the reconciliation come about? Did you make the ‘phone call, did they call you, did you just arrive at the factory or how did that happen?
    DR: It was all over the ‘phone. I let it cool a couple of days and then I spoke to Christian, I spoke to my engineer and obviously Christian just explained… obviously apologised on everyone’s behalf and just explained what went down and the reasons why there was confusion and why obviously the tyres weren’t ready and this and that. So that was really the ‘phone call with Christian and then I spoke to Simon, my engineer, that was later in the week, after they’d got a chance to spend some days in the factory and basically just to hear what they’d put in place. And also I questioned… because everyone highlighted the second pit stop which was where effectively we lost the race but I questioned the first pit stop as well because that was the one… already when I came out behind Lewis, I was like ‘well, we’ve put ourselves in a race now with Lewis which we didn’t have to be in so…’ I just wanted to make sure that the first pit stop was being addressed as heavily as the second one and then Simon obviously explained that they were not looking into that but acknowledging that that was also, I would say, a mistake. So yeah, it was just to get some clarity on everything. Yes, there’s going to be some new software they’ve now put in for strategy and some live stuff during the race that can obviously make us more prepared, and if there are some late calls again, to make sure that everything’s put in place. Yes, obviously I had plenty of questions to ask but they answered them with confidence and that’s all I needed to hear.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Sergio, it wasn’t that long ago that you were certainly heading for a podium if not a win here. Big shunt with Felipe but I noticed you and Felipe are now big mates at the back there, chatting away, having a laugh. I wonder when you come back here whether you think about that and how that incident in your mind has been resolved, whether you think it was 50-50 now?
    SP: I still think it was his fault. But I got the penalty though. Well, it was a long story after that.
    FM: Very long.
    SP: But yeah, that day I was so close to win the race, actually. I remember Rosberg had an issue in the last laps and I was getting really close to him but then I had an issue as well with the brakes actually, my brakes were quite overheated, I had a problem with the BBW(brake by wire) so that was hurting my brake balance a lot, I was losing a lot of lap time with the brakes and I lost the place to Daniel and he went on and won the race. But in general that day was an extremely good race for me and we found ourselves in a position that we were not expecting to. Unfortunately, on the last lap, it all went to bad with a crash but it was a really good race and we were close to win that day.
    FM: My thoughts? So we crashed, it was really bad for both of us and I hope this thing doesn’t happen any more. But I was not penalised!

    Q: (Robby Pacicco – Popular Hispanics) Felipe, last year you had a little intruder on the track while you were racing. Did you adjust your race strategy for another groundhog this year?
    FM: Here is a place that you can maybe see that. I hope they stay safe in their place. It can maybe happen but it must be really dangerous what happens to us or to the race. It was fun actually.

    Q: (Leigh Diffey – NBC Sports) Kimi, there’s been a lot of discussion about braking today. For the last two years in a row, going up into the hairpin, exiting the hairpin, you’ve spun in exactly the same manner and you even said on the radio to the team last year ‘that was the same as last year.’ Have you guys got to the bottom of what that was and how that happened two years in a row at the same corner?
    KR: I’m pretty sure we have but hopefully I’m not wrong on Sunday but it’s quite frustrating in a way the last couple of years but we knew the issues and we took care of it in our mind but actually it never happened in any other thing. The first year it happened in practice but last year, because we knew what the problems( were) then kind of tried to even force it in practice and nothing happened but then in the race (it happened) again. I will make sure this year it’s not going to happen hopefully. I think we’ve learned now since that.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Ricciardo takes hes first F1 pole with a stunning lap

    Monaco, 28 May 2016: Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed the maiden pole of his Formula One career with a superb lap of the Circuit de Monaco that left him over a tenth of a second clear of Mercedes Nico Rosberg and three tenths ahead of third-placed Lewis Hamilton, who once again had a troubled qualifying session.

    Ricciardo had made his way through the first two sessions with ease, finishing both segments in fourth place, even setting his fastest lap of Q2 on the supersoft tyre.

    In those segments, however, it was Ferrari and Mercedes making the headlines, with Sebastian Vettel fastest in Q1 with a time of 1:14.610 for the Italian squad and Rosberg fastest in Q2 with a lap of 1:14.043.

    As has become his trademark, however, Ricciardo was keeping his powder dry ahead of showing his real pace in the final segment. On past occasions, with a less than competitive Red Bull Racing car at his disposal, the benefit has often been masked, a couple of tenths perhaps gaining him a position in the middle of the top 10.

    However, aided today by Renault’s upgraded power unit, and with clearly the best-balanced chassis on track, Ricciardo delivered a stunning first lap in Q1, power through to a time of 1:13.622 that would remain unbeaten.

    “The plan was to go out on the ultrasoft in the first run in Q2 and at least try and do a good enough lap with that and then we had the time on our side and we thought ‘let’s try and see what a supersoft can do’,” said Riccirado afterwards. “We just feel maybe it opens up a few more options for the race tomorrow.

    “Ee did a good lap on that, and then yeah it sort of set us up well for Q3, knowing that I had the ultrasoft and that step in grip and I think I was able to maximise that and do that lap, so let’s see. I think today were sitting pretty and hopefully it turns in our favour tomorrow.”

    Rosberg got close with his second run in Q3, improving to a 1:13.791, but the German admitted that he had simply been outclassed by Ricciardo on the day.

    “I don’t think it really went away from me; it never was with me, because Daniel was just quick today,” said the championship leader. “They got a well deserved pole and that’s it. I just wasn’t quick enough.”

    Hamilton, too, might have threatened but as he left the Mercedes garage for his first run in Q3 his car’s power unit behaved strangely and he was left stranded at the end of the pit lane.

    His mechanics quickly pushed him back to the team’s garage where the problem was solved but though Hamilton was on target to challenge Ricciardo’s times on his sole run, a ragged third sector meant he finished third.

    “It was a difficult qualifying,” he said. “The good thing is that I did get out to do a lap at least. It wasn’t as bad as some of the races have been in that respect, with the engine problems. I’m grateful to be up in third. Obviously pole was there for the taking I think, but nonetheless I will do what I can in the race tomorrow to salvage what I can from today’s result.”

    While Ricciardo’s efforts gave Red Bull Racing their first pole since the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2013, the day was less successful for the team’s most recent race winner, Max Verstappen.

    The 18-year-old was an early casualty of the session, getting too close to the barriers on the entry to the Swimming Pool section. He clipped the barrier on the right and with his suspension broken he went straight into the barrier on the exit of following corner.

    The red flags brought out for his crash weren’t the first of the session. Four minutes into Q1, the power unit in Felipe Nasr’s Sauber’s let go in spectacular style and with the Brazilian’s car parked on the track near Tabac the flags had to be shown.

    With those two removed from the session only four more would be eliminated at the end of the session and there was a predictable shape to that order when the chequered flag fell. Out went Marcus Ericsson in P17, ahead of Jolyon Palmer, Rio Haryanto and Pascal Wehrlein.

    Q2 was less predictable and at the end of that segment, the major casualties were Williams, with both its driver being eliminated. Valtteri Bottas finished in 11th place ahead of Haas’s Esteban Gutierrez and McLaren’s Jenson Button, while Felipe Massa was 14th ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen.

    At the head of the field Rosberg pipped Hamilton for Q2 honours, but the final segment would be all about Ricciardo blistering first flying lap.

    Behind the Red Bull man and the Mercedes drivers, Sebastian Vettel was fourth and complaining of a poor car. Nico Hulkenberg took a good fifth place for Force India ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, while Carlos Sainz gave Toro Rosso hope of good points with seventh place, two ahead of team-mate Daniil Kvyat who was beaten by the Force India of Sergio Perez. The final top 10 place was taken by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    2016 Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:14.912 1:14.357 1:13.622
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.873 1:14.043 1:13.791
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:14.826 1:14.056 1:13.942
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:14.610 1:14.318 1:14.552
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:15.333 1:14.989 1:14.726
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.499 1:14.789 1:14.732
    7 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:15.467 1:14.805 1:14.749
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:15.328 1:14.937 1:14.902
    9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:15.384 1:14.794 1:15.273
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:15.504 1:15.107 1:15.363
    11 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:15.521 1:15.273 
    12 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team 1:15.592 1:15.293 
    13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:15.554 1:15.352 
    14 Felipe Massa Williams 1:15.710 1:15.385 
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1:15.465 1:15.571 
    16 Kevin Magnussen Renault F1 Team 1:16.253 1:16.058 
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:16.299  
    18 Jolyon Palmer Renault F1 Team 1:16.586  
    19 Rio Haryanto Manor Racing 1:17.295  
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Racing 1:17.452  
    21 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:22.467  
    22 Felipe Nasr Sauber

    eom/FIA release

  • Lot of confidence behind the `big Australian smile’!

    DRIVERS

    1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Daniel, your first Formula One pole and what a place to do it.

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, definitely a special place. I knew coming into the weekend we’d have a shot at it and it looked good from Thursday. Yeah, I sort of had it in my mind the whole time coming into the weekend. I think also, after Barcelona I felt like… the last few races I feel like I’ve been driving well but haven’t go maximum reward, so I came into this weekend with a lot of a confidence and a lot of belief that I could be in this position now and yeah, I’m very happy to have fulfilled that. It feels good, I’ve always enjoyed this place, obviously the car is good, we’ve got a good package behind us now and it’s nice to be able to make the most out of it.

    Very well done. Nico, first time since 2012 no Mercedes on pole position here in Monaco. Red Bull and Daniel clearly pushed you very hard today, you brushed a barrier during Q2, but where did it get away from you today when it really counted at the end?

    Nico ROSBERG: I don’t think it really went away from me; it never was with me, because Daniel was just quick today and yeah, so they got a well-deserved pole and that’s it. I just wasn’t quick enough.

    Thanks very much. Lewis, there’s obviously a story behind your qualifying today: the engine problem at the beginning of Q3 and dramatically being wheeled back into your garage. How much did that upset your rhythm? On your final run there you were on target for pole but the final sector was just no quite there.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was a difficult qualifying; I don’t really know what to say at the moment. The good thing is that I did get out to do a lap at least. It wasn’t as bad as some of the races have been in that respect, with the engine problems. I’m grateful to be up in third. Obviously pole was there for the taking I think, but nonetheless I will do what I can in the race tomorrow to salvage what I can from today’s result.

    Thanks you for that. Coming back to our polesitter, Daniel Ricciardo. You did your Q2 run on the supersoft tyre, so tactically and strategically Red Bull are trying something here, it means you’ll be able to run a longer first stint in the grand prix tomorrow than either of the gentlemen either side of you. Your thoughts on that; the part you played in that decision and what it will do for you.

    DR: Yeah, we’ll see tomorrow if it works. The plan was to go out on the ultrasoft in the first run in Q2 and at least try and do a good enough lap with that and then we had the time on our side and we thought ‘let’s try and see what a supersoft can do’. We just feel maybe it opens up a few more options for the race tomorrow. Yeah, we did a good lap on that, and then yeah it sort of set us up well for Q3, knowing that I had the ultrasoft and that step in grip and I think I was able to maximise that and do that lap, so let’s see. I think today were sitting pretty and hopefully it turns in our favour tomorrow.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE 

    We’ll start with our polesitter Daniel Ricciardo, just to say it once again. Do you think you’ll be able to sleep tonight and how much would a win mean to you, particularly after what happened two weeks ago in Spain?

    DR: Yeah, I’ll certainly be able to sleep tonight, I think. I’ll probably sleep easier knowing that I achieved what I set out to do. The whole week has been a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement, so obviously the race now is hopefully the more controlled part, but anyways it’s cool to get my first pole. Monaco has always been a good track for me in previous categories. I’ve always loved it here. It’s a good day. I’m going to enjoy it while I can and 24 hours from now I’ll hopefully be back here.

    Okay, very well done. Nico, famously you’ve won here for the last three years running. You didn’t know that Daniel had done that Q2 time on the supersoft until you sat down next to him before the press conference. Now that you’ve had a few minutes to think about that, how do you see tomorrow’s grand prix unfolding and what do you think he’s got up his sleeve.

    NR: Yeah, I was very surprised by his time in the first part of Q3. I though I was looking good with my time but then I looked on the board and he was three tenths up the road, so I knew that was going to be difficult to reach. I gave it everything anyways but it wasn’t quite enough. For tomorrow? I don’t know. I have more grip at the start, maybe that can help me hopefully. Because I experienced that in China, starting with stiffer tyres, or harder tyres than everybody else – that was not good. Who knows, maybe that can play in my favour. And if not; strategy-wise no idea. Let’s see, we’re fine with our strategy for sure.

    Thanks a lot. Coming back to you Lewis, you mentioned briefly in the unilateral about your engine situation. Do you know the problem was? Is there still in your mind a lingering question about it for the race or did they get across to you that they think it’s going to be fine, that they fixed it?

    LH: I don’t know what the problem was, so I honestly can’t comment.

    Be that as it may, what do you think you can achieve tomorrow?

    LH: If the car keeps going I will be fighting as hard as I can with these guys. You can’t overtake here so… Daniel’s on a potentially better strategy than we will be on but, you know, hopefully it rains! That would be pretty amazing.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Daniel, considering that the last race has been won by your team-mate, a new guy who has just been promoted to Red Bull just before that, how important was it for you personally to make you mark now and get your first pole position exactly in that moment.

    DR: I think every race I’m treating as as-important as the other. I think from the start of the season, obviously I started off with Dany as my team-mate and wanted to make my mark. I think the whole season I’ve been qualifying really well and I feel I’ve been maximising everything. The race, let’s say didn’t turn into my favour in Spain but obviously I wanted to bounce-back – not that I feel it’s anything I did – but bounce back and have a good weekend here. I’ve always said it: this is a real circuit; it’s a drivers’ circuit and, like any in Formula One, sure, you need a car to help you out – and I’ve got that, I’ve definitely got that here – but that extra bit of confidence and commitment I think goes a long way. From Thursday I’ve felt good in the car. Little tweaks throughout the weekend and I think it’s brought us to this pole position. So it’s definitely a nice feeling.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) To Lewis. It’s not very clear, when you came to the pits your time has any relation with the problem you had? The time you registered, it has some limiation or not?

    LH: In Q3? No, I had one lap to do it. Makes a big difference when you have a banker lap and work on it. I only had one lap so it was inevitable that I’d get P3.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild) A question to Daniel. What was the main reason for the pole: the engine update, the chassis itself or the big Australian balls?

    DR: Big Australian balls!

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just continuing that theme Daniel – kind of – you’ve been saying for a while now that you felt very confident of Monaco – dare I say the ‘W’ word? – and that was the package you had then. You have a package now, Renault have brought forward this upgrade for Monaco, how different, how much better is the package, compared with, say, two races ago? And b) What is the most enjoyable part of the circuit on that lap from your point of view?

    DR: Enjoyable part of the circuit, I’ll start with that. I’ve always loved Turn 12, 13, 14. Tabac and the Swimming Pool. It’s fun. It’s got really really nice flow, skip across the kerbs. It’s cool. Even the second part now, 15 and 16, it’s a little bit more open and I think probably it’s grown on me over the weekend, it’s quite fun, you can carry a lot of speed through there. So, yeah , the last sector is what I enjoy the most. As for… yeah, I think the car has been working well from the start of the season. I think it’s getting better and better, which is really nice. Had the update here from the power unit. That was working well, I think. You can just feel it pulls a little bit more, so in some practice sessions we didn’t run, let’s say, full power, so it was more like the older spec and you can feel it pull a bit more, up the hill for example out of Turn One. So it’ll be interesting when we get to longer straights, Canada the next one, and Max will have it in there as well, so it’ll be interesting to see where we stand there.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sports) To the Mercedes drivers, after the winter testing you expected Ferrari will be your main rival. It is a surprise or a shock that Red Bull is so fast now?

    NR: They’ve done a very good job in recent races. They’ve progressed very quickly and now another big step with the engine. We always expected them to be a tough competitor but we did see Ferrari as our closest competitors and now we need to question that. Of course Monaco is a very unique track, so let’s not come to any conclusions here – but for sure it’s them, Ferrari and us. We all seem to be very close here and hopefully the next race we’ll be a bit further ahead again.

    Any thoughts Lewis?

    LH: Same as Nico.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Lewis, obviously a very frustrating day today. Tomorrow very crucial race for you in terms of the season. How will you balance control and aggression considering you need to score lots of points?

    LH: Today was the crucial day so… tomorrow’s just another day. What will be, will be. I will do whatever I can. There’s many races still ahead. I don’t really expect too much from tomorrow. I’m going in with the goal, of course, of trying to overtake the two cars in front – but we shall see.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Daniel, you had the speed on whatever tyre anyway, so this Q2 on the supersoft, do you see it as a risk or a joker? Why did you go offset to somebody you could have beaten anyway?

    DR: I think we feel it’s not going to change too much off the start and then it just opens up… as we saw Q2, my lap was quicker on the supersoft than on the ultrasoft, so I don’t think there’s that much difference in the tyre. The pure performance. I mean sure, there’s a few tenths, but I don’t think as much as what we thought coming into the weekend. And then I think obviously it should have a little bit better tyre life. It just opens up maybe a few more windows in the race, and here it’s so important obviously to come out and be in clean air and not come out in traffic, so it could just open up a bigger window for us tomorrow and give us a bit more freedom when to pit.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you said before that you needed to try to overtake the two cars in front of you. After what happened in Spain, do you think that that can affect your approach at the start tomorrow or not?

    LH: I don’t think so but there’s very little room into turn one anyway so I doubt that there’s going to be much room there. I think it’s more the long-term game, it’s a long race, so I’ll try and do the best I can with the time that I have.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Lewis and Nico, what is the meaning of another team fighting with Mercedes, considering that for the last two years and a half we didn’t have it, if Red Bull confirms (it is competitive) from the next races ahead?

    LH: What does it mean? Means we have a race. I think it’s great for the sport.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) For you, in terms of the two Mercedes?

    LH: It’s even better, because obviously that could enable the gap between the two of us. I look at it as a positive.

    NR: Same, good battle, that’s it.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, just to draw a line under your problems today, the car was presumably was perfect in Q2, sitting in the garage, and then you drove out and the car just stopped? What actually happened?

    LH: Yeah, I was just accelerating and then I had a loss of power all the way down the pit lane and I didn’t know if it would come back. They asked me to make an adjustment on the switches, which I did, but it was just not idling. Once I stopped, it wouldn’t idle very well, it was hiccupping all the time so I had to switch off, I obviously lost my first run. I’d already done three warm-up laps to get in sync with everyone else, so by the time I pushed, my tyres perhaps weren’t as good as the fresh tyres that they had had  and then as I say, the banker lap is always super helpful in Q3, I did the best I could on that lap. Obviously I will go back and see if I could have done any better but anyways, it is what it is, as I said.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, obviously a career objective achieved today, highly emotion, highly elated, tomorrow how are you going to manage your emotions during this race?

    DR: No different. I think winning a race is a bit more than getting a pole. I’ve experienced that a few times a few years ago. I feel it’s been a long time coming, this, so it’s just more…I feel it should have come sooner but obviously I’m happy that I’ve done it but yeah, no other feelings or anything. Coming into the race, it’s just carry the confidence from the weekend into tomorrow and execute a good start and then pick a good window to pit in.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) We saw wonderful laps, incredible laps today and in these days but I would like to ask Nico, we saw you so aggressively and nearly flying. Do you have time to enjoy these laps or under pressure you don’t have any time to feel what you are doing?

    NR: Well, for sure, this is probably the most enjoyable qualifying in the whole season because the track is just thrilling, and to be on the edge with the most grip you have in the weekend with the most power, the most fuel, it’s really exciting.

    DR: I can’t speak highly enough about driving an F1 car around here. The faster the better in a way. Sure, it can be a bit of a blur but we’re in control and yeah, it’s like the closer you get to the barriers, the more you want to keep pushing the limits then every time you think you’re going to touch but you don’t the next time you go now, I’m going to get closer, a bit closer so it’s fun. For sure the reason why we do it I think is to have this adrenalin that we have around here.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Max displayed a great level of maturity: Paul Monaghan, Red Bull engineer

    Monaco, 26 May 2016: Thursday:

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – James KEY (Toro Rosso), Nick CHESTER (Renault), Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing), Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Paddy LOWE (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Eric, let’s kick it off with you: some very bullish words from your boss Ron Dennis recently, that you will be the team to end Mercedes domination of Formula One. What justifies that claim?

    Eric BOULLIER: Well, first of all, you know what the ambition of McLaren is and this is what we are targeting anyway. We had to take some strong decisions in the past, first of all to change the PU supplier to go to works team status, because really this is the only way to go back to the front, and I think this is a statement from Ron… you know Ron has a great career, he is a legend in Formula One and I think it’s also an extra motivation for all of us to achieve what we want to do.

    Now, going into this weekend, both of your drivers have been saying that they think Q3 and points are possible for both cars. Based on what you’ve seen today are you feeling that that’s on?

    EB: Yes, it’s possible. Obviously we don’t have any flexibility, we are still missing here and there on the performance, also we have to deliver a perfect lap and obviously expect no traffic or nothing wrong on the track, so yes, it’s possible today, after P1 and P2.

    Thanks for that. Nick, coming to you, obviously an update engine and a new aero package in Spain look to have given you a few tenths of a second. Tell us about this engine upgrade first and the areas where it’s improved?

    Nick CHESTER: Well, the new B-Spec engine we have here, it’s an improvement on driveability and an improvement on power and it performed faultlessly through the test and through FP1 and FP2.

    And on the chassis side: resource-wise are you able to do much more this year than you were able to last year or in fact are you keeping your powder dry looking at the 2017 regulations?

    NC: Well, I’m sure you’ll come to it a bit later, but it’s a difficult split how much you put into 2016 and how much you put into 2017. There’s a bit more we can do in ’16 but we’re also at point in the year when you need your resources to move to ’17, so that sort of split is being carefully judged at the moment.

    Thank you. Monisha, it’s been a while. We’ve heard a lot about the challenges facing your team in the last few months, what can you tell us?

    Monisha KALTENBORN: Well, nothing more than yes, we have certain challenges and we are working very hard to overcome the situation and I’m confident that we’ll resolve it shortly.

    So do you have the feeling you’ve got a solution on the pipeline for long-term sustainability?

    MK: Yes, we are working on that since a while now and we also know that we need that. If you look at today’s Formula One environment to be strong as an independent team you need to have a strong partners. So we have always been open to that and now we are pursuing our chances and we hope to resolve that soon.

    Thank you for that. James, engine manufacturers have committed to the teams they will supply next season. How happy are you with the process and the engine that you’ll be racing with next year?

    James KEY: I think the process is OK, to be honest with you, because if you are in a spot of bother with engine supply at least there is a process there to help you out in sensible time. As far as what we have for next year, I think that we’re happy. We’ve suffered a bit over the past three years with not quite being where we’d like to be. Not that there’s anything wrong with our current supply but it’s not developing, it’s a year old unit. Ferrari are doing a great job to support us with it, but it would be nice to be current with PU and have a developing unit.

    OK, thank you. You seem to be in demand personally on the engineering marketplace. Do you see your long-term future being at Toro Rosso?

    JK: I’ve got a contract with Toro Rosso for some time to come, and there’s a lot of work to do still. So I’m not thinking about anything else at the moment. I want to stick with where I am. It’s a great group of people to work with and there’s still plenty to do, so for now I’ll be a Toro Rosso.

    OK. Paddy, turning to you, we have to start of course with the fallout from the collision of your two drivers in Spain. Very unusual to have two front-running team-mates that take each other out and neither of them score any points –very rare in Formula One. How different from the aftermath of the 2014 Spa collision was the discussion that took place internally within the team and were there any learnings from what happened in Spa and the aftermath that you brought into that discussion with the drivers?

    Paddy LOWE: I think going back to Spa in 2014, we found what really bad looked like. That was a bad moment in the team, but actually a good one, because we built from there a much, much stronger partnership between the drivers and the rest of the team. So there was an understanding and I think we’re in a lot better place now and we saw that pan out with the accident in Spain where it was dealt with very maturely, across between the drivers. We had a good hearing with the stewards. We saw it very much the same way they did: it was a racing accident as a function of two guys really pushing each other to the limits. It was exacerbated by the power difference between the two cars, which really made things happen very, very quickly – so a split second. And they both saw it, in the end, as a racing accident, so we moved on.

    One of the notable features of that incident in Spain and the previous times that Hamilton has started on pole this season, with Rosberg alongside, is that he lost the lead to Rosberg on that opening lap. What’s causing that problem for Hamilton in his starts and how are you addressing it with him?

    PL: Well, in the particular case of Spain, actually Lewis had a better start than Nico, but it’s a function of that race that there is a very long drag to the first corner where you can get an advantage in the two, so Lewis’ start was better than Nico’s. Nico did a great job through Turn One, as we saw, which I think caught Lewis by surprise. It wasn’t a feature of that particular event. Race starts are very variable, even more so nowadays because of the regulations, which have restricted the input of the team to the process. So by intent they’re more variable. I think we’ve had three of best starts of the five races so far, but then we’ve had some very mediocre ones as well. Lewis, for example, had the best start on the grid in China, exactly where he didn’t need it, putting him straight into an accident. So, that’s the luck that sometimes comes your way. In general, we keep trying to make the starts more consistent, as well as better, but that’s a challenge shared with all of our competitors, we’re all in that same game. It’s very difficult.

    Thanks for that. Paul, coming to you, Max Verstappen, he comes to the team, qualifies on row two, wins the race in a car he doesn’t know. You’re an experienced engineer, you’ve worked with a lot of top drivers, can you put that into some kind of context for us?

    Paul MONAGHAN: I was impressive was it not? I think Max displayed a great level of maturity, he was very calm in the car, nothing fazed him, he settled in very quickly. I think we’re blessed with a very good chassis this year, which makes it easier, I think, to learn than perhaps a more difficult one and Max did a very assureds job. So, it was fantastic.

    Let’s talk about the Renault engine. Remi Taffin is quoted as saying he believes it’s worth half a second a lap. What are your impressions and where do you expect this new engine to put you relative to Mercedes and Ferrari when we move on to the power circuits in, for example, Canada and Austria coming up?

    PM: I’ll take your question in stages: Remi is correct – at the more sensitive circuits it should be up there. Onto the next part of your question, where will it put us, we’re only ever measured relative to our opposition, so if they all stand still there’s a chance we’ll be very close if not ahead of Ferrari. Given that they won’t stand still, it’s hard to say that we can be ahead of them, but I think it’s fair to say we’ll be more competitive, we’ll be challenging them and if the opportunity comes we’ll challenge the Mercedes as well. What’s within our control is to maximise the performance of our car and if we do that then the resulting position is just a consequence of our relative pace to our opposition.

    Just for clarity, when you say ‘the more sensitive circuits’ what do you mean? Can you give us some examples?

    PM: Some circuits are more sensitive to engine performance than others. My view of Remi’s statement is that it’s correct at circuits that are more sensitive to engine power – Canada, Spa, Monza – and less so at circuits which are less sensitive to engine performance, which would be here.

     

    QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Agris Lauzinieks – Kapitals) Question to all panel. Given significant exposure to Britain at Formula One business and expected referendum on European Union on 23rd June, do you think in case of Brexit there might be impact on teams and sponsorship money, which is already affected by low oil prices and do you think Britain should stay in European Union?

    PL: We have actually analyzed it. One of our directors has looked at the issue because some of our staff members asked which way they should vote. He concluded that it didn’t really make a lot of difference, either to the company or to Formula One in general in terms of how we run the business. So we’ve left it to our employees to vote how they wish personally.

    Eric, have you done a similar process?

    EB: Similar position. We don’t believe there will be a significant impact on the Formula One business. As a team and the industry is mainly based in the UK but we have managed always to use some suppliers abroad and I don’t think it’s going to change much.

    Anybody else? Monisha?

    MK: Well, as you know we’re in Switzerland so in the first instance haven’t taken the step into the EU – may be good or bad. I think Switzerland is doing quite well, so it’s not for me to tell somebody to get out or not.

    And of the people who are going to vote, are you prepared to share what you’re thinking? Paddy?

    PL: I haven’t decided yet. Honestly.

    Nick?

    NC: No, I haven’t decided yet.

    Paul?

    PM: I join the club of undecided.

    James?

    JK: I agree with these guys, I haven’t decided either.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto X) A question about the 2017 cars. Can you tell us about how much work you’re doing on the 2016 cars now and how much of your effort is already going into 2017?

    JK: I think, to be honest, the birth of the ’17 regs, if you like, was always a little bit long-winded and so we had a pretty good idea what the chassis direction was likely to be from a tyre and suspension viewpoint, at least dimensionally but we took a little while to try to define the aero regs and the bodywork regs. So, in that respect, everyone’s had a start-point, which is maybe a little later than you’d want for a very fresh set of regulations. But there was still plenty you could do on the principals of a ’17 car beforehand, so we’ve been working on it for several months, as I’m sure everyone else here has. The split’s difficult to define at the moment because it depends of which department… engineering disciple, let’s say, you look at. But certainly on the aero side there’s a pretty massive impact from all of this, so there’s a big emphasis from us on the aero side. The same with simulation. The design office is yet to really pick up the big bits but certainly by after the August break they’ll be pretty much 100 per cent on next year’s car.

    Eric, McLaren were heavily involved, obviously, in the 2017 plans…

    EB: Well obviously we had to wait for the final decision of the regulations so there was obviously a push-back. When you switch your resources. So today I could say we are 50/50 looking at and still working on the current car.

    Monisha?

    MK: Like it’s been said. Work has been ongoing on it. So you’re working in parallel basically on both cars. We’ll all be very soon in the window where you then decide you totally switch over to the new one.

    Paul?

    PM: It was a small group that initially looked at it when the rules were still in gestation. I think as James said, the aero group is now starting to get its teeth into it – yet we’re not dismissing our 2016 car. So it’s a difficult split and I think it’s one that will become clearer as we go through the 2016 season. You move towards ’17. Design office is looking more and more at it, and as the concept evolves then I think they’ll pick up more and more of it and on we go…

    And Paddy, you weren’t too keen on the development, were you?

    PL: Well, the rules are set, we’re on it. It’s always a gradual migration but with such a big rule change, we’re inevitably migrating earlier than normal. But having said that, in the early phase of a project you can’t put hundreds of people on a programme where you haven’t fixed the major parameters, so its inevitably a gradual process.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to the team executives: Eric and Monisha. Basically a follow-on to Joe’s question about the 2017 regulations. On the engines, Eric, I wonder if you could expand on McLaren’s position regarding the engine agreement that was struck recently, whether you’re 100 per cent happy with it, whether it ticks all the boxes. The same to you Monisha – but I also believe you sent a letter or similar communication to the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder outlining your objections on the engine agreement. If you could expand upon that as well please.

    EB: Well, we have still actually… we are currently still discussing with the FIA about the outcome of this regulation, or, let’s say, this agreement between the FIA and the engine manufacturers. Most of it, we agree with it. There are still a few, let’s say, clauses where we may still have discussion on-going. We don’t want, obviously, to make it public. We have our opinion, our position. We are obviously investing with Honda a lot in the sport, making sure there is a competitive fourth power unit manufacturer soon. That’s why we discuss and may, at some times, have some opinions that are a little bit different.

    Monisha?

    MK: I’ll probably refer to the part with the letter. Yes, it’s correct that Force India and we have written a letter to the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder in which we have stated our concerns about these changes but I guess it’s not up to us now to really elaborate on it or comment more on it. I guess it up to those who have the letter. And I’m sure neither Force India nor Sauber would have any objections if they discussed that with you.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) This is a question for the technical guys basically. Today we are again seeing some spectacular lap times. I think we are 1.1s away from the lap record or something. I find it quite surprised that, even if you take into consideration that this year we are using softer tyres than last year at most circuits, the cars seem to have taken a bigger step forwards technically than between 2014-15, even though this is the third year of the same regulations. Could you please explain why is that? Why has technical evolution been sped-up so much this year from last year?

    NC: I think it is mainly a function of the tyres. We expect all teams to have a pretty good gain rate each year – but I think by the time you add that and you add the tyre delta, you do end up with a big difference to last year.

    Paddy?

    PL: Yeah, I understand what you’re saying. I’m not sure it’s such a clear picture. I think the tyres are certainly causing that impression – but I think in general the teams have made the same amount of progress between the two years.

    Do you agree with that Paul?

    PM: I can only speak for what I know we’ve achieved. The chassis step was good, if not spectacular. It’s not an unusual step to make year-to-year. The majority of the increase, certainly at this track and thinking about it, the ones we’ve visited thus far, have come from the tyres. We are two steps softer than we were last year here? You’re going to see some improvement from that as well.

    James, anything to add?

    JK: I tend to agree the tyres are a big player in this – but equally I think we’re still in a period where power units are developing quite quickly. And this is, y’know, if you look at the beginning of the process, take 2014, everyone’s new to the power units and new to the aero and there’s various discrepancies in performance levels and strengths and weaknesses and so on, they’re beginning to equal out, and by doing so I think it’s bringing teams a little bit closer together but still maintaining maybe a bigger development rate than we expected. And the guys at the front of that race are maybe having to pull out the stops a little more than they expected. For me, although I agree that the tyres and the typical steps we’re making aren’t surprising, I think there are slightly more parameters now to play with, to take one year to the next.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saabruecker Zeitung) Ms Kaltenborn, how do you see the Sauber situation today and formerly at the time of Peter Sauber as team principal. What are the reasons that you have today a harder time than him? Is it depending only on your results and what are the reasons for financial difficulties to pay your mechanics on time?

    MK: OK, so to maybe sum it up, I think Formula One has changed a lot. If you look at the times when Peter Sauber was team principal and I wouldn’t take the time when he returned as team principal in 2010 to the sport, but if I look at the time before, it was a very different sport and a very different kind of business with a very different financial set-up and sporting set-up. So I don’t think you can really compare the times. Challenges for private teams like ours have become bigger, year-by-year, particularly also due to the rule changes which have made things in the last few years far more expensive, if you look at the power train itself but also with regard to the distribution of income. There was a time when teams were not getting 50 percent but even less  but yet the economic environment was much better, where you could get far more sponsors, so I don’t think it’s really that easy to compare the times, it doesn’t  just have to do with people or the situation within the team, but the overall surroundings we were in.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Paul, a question about the new engine today. We saw fantastic laps for Ricciardo. I would like to know when you’re going to be able to give this new engine to Max?

    PM: All being well, Montreal.

    Q: What does all being well mean?

    PM: The engine surviving here, that’s in the car, and the supply of a new one for Max in Montreal.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) The four technical representatives; from this race onwards, the drivers need to keep their tear-off visors inside the car somehow. I know it looks like a trivial question but what have you done to accommodate this stipulation?

    PL: Well, for this race, we’ve been permitted to two tear-offs during the race itself so I think that will be sufficient so I think there’s a constant dialogue with the FIA to find a practical way forward with this.

    Q: How do you mean, that you’ve been permitted to two during the race?

    PL: They’re allowed to use two tear-offs during the race, the drivers, but none in practice.

    NC: There’s just two you can tear off during the race and that’s it really.

    Q: (Sam Collins – RaceCar Engineering) I know there’s a lot of discussion going on at this race meeting about cockpit protection systems. Can you, the four engineers, update us on where you are and what you’re testing in the wind tunnel and cfd at the moment and what you expect to see in 2017 if anything at all?

    PM: It’s a tricky question to answer, that one, because it involves the FIA who are not represented here to discuss that one and I think it would be… It’s fair to say there are two systems available: halo and aero screen. Both have merits, both have downsides to them and whilst the assessment of that is still going on, I think we should let that process continue. There’s a TR meeting tomorrow at which we  can discuss it further, hopefully from there there will be some conclusions and that, I think, is the state of play for all of us at the present time.

    JK: I reflect what Paul says, really. I think there’s a deadline later in the year to go through the final decisions as to how this is going to pan out. I think it’s fair to say there aren’t  any opinions yet because it’s still very much a work in progress and it’s a good thing to be looking at. It’s important that we always look at these new ideas for safety, but I think that mid-year is when we will begin to know exactly where it’s going to go so Paul is right, we need to wait and see what further discussions hold.

    NC: There are the two options on the table, the halo and the aero screen. I think the halo solution may be a little bit more mature, people have done a little bit more work with it, but there’s a lot more to talk about tomorrow in the tech regs meeting.

    PL: Just to say it’s a good example as to how the teams are constantly working together, very constructively, they do a lot of the R&D for new regulations and this is a great example. The work is not yet done. There will be a big discussion tomorrow to decide on what are the next steps.

    Q: (Joe Saward – AutoX) The sport is under attack, legally, as a result of the accident of Jules Bianchi. I don’t suppose you’re going to say an awful lot but is there any reaction from anybody as to whether this is right or wrong?

    Q: Monisha, you have a legal qualification, why don’t you start

    MK: No, I prefer not to react because I have a legal qualification.

    PL: I only saw the  headline, I haven’t read it so I can’t really comment.

    EB: Same.

    JK: Same.

    PL: I can’t quote on the legal side, James, but I think it just shows we need to keep pushing on everything we do to make the cars safer which is what we will be pursuing tomorrow in the tech regs meeting.

    Q: (Peter Varkas – AutoMotor) I am risking another no comment here, I’m afraid. We like to talk a lot about the technology transfer between Formula One and road cars and the amazing thermal efficiency of these power units. There’s been a lot of stories lately about almost all engine manufacturers using pre chamber ignition technology. I think it is now quite common knowledge that the manufacturers know much more about each other’s engines than we do. Why do you still keep secret if the technology basically is in use or not in Formula One? It could be a good story, it would be good to communicate it and I don’t think you could risk giving out any secrets to your rivals. Can you confirm if it is in use in fact and if you can’t comment on that, why not?

    PL: Well. We are always using new technologies in Formula One. It’s one of the great attractions of the sport but at the end of the day, you’re also trying to be a competition, so I think you’ve always got to find that balance between what you say, what you talk about and what you keep to yourself. Inevitably these things do migrate around the paddock because apart from anything else, people move teams or move manufacturers, so information does spread around and so at some point people will talk openly about things they believe to be no longer a differentiator. That’s a general answer rather than a no comment.

    NC: Similar to Paddy’s comment really. Teams work on things, they want to keep them secret. We’re all looking for competitive advantage. There may be some things we do that are useful for manufacturers we work with but we’re not going to transfer knowledge outside that.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Monisha, we haven’t seen an awful lot of you recently. However, in Bahrain, the Grand Prix that you weren’t at, I believe, the commercial rights holder said that there have been conversations between FOM and the EU, as a result of the complaint that you registered with the EU. Have you got any more to add to this? Have there been conversations between yourselves and Force India at the EU at all or has there been no progress?

    MK: No, I’ve got nothing more to add to it but that doesn’t mean there’s been no progress. As you know, there has been a certain restructuring which is commonly known within the EU regarding sport cases so it’s a very good move, generally, for sport and these kind of complaints and Force India, we are absolutely confident that it’s going to be looked at and is being looked at very seriously.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference