INDIA in F1

Tag: India

  • Achintya Mehrotra of Team India is champ in solo class: Asia Gymkhana

    Achintya Mehrotra of Team India is champ in solo class: Asia Gymkhana

    Achintya Mehrotra of India who won the Solo Gymkhana in AAGC on Sunday. Photos by Rahul Reghu

    Mumbai, 29 Sept 2018: Achintya Mehrotra won the Solo Championship in the Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition at the Raymond Drift Track in Thane here on Sunday.

    Team Indonesia of Adrian Septianto and Herdiko Setyaputra won the Doubles category and Team Gymkhana categories in Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 which concluded here.  

     Team Japan secured second place in both the Doubles and Team Gymkhana categories while Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra won the best driver award in the Solo Gymkhana category.

    Adrian Septianto and Herdiko Setyaputra who won the Team Gymkhana in AAGC Photo: Rahul Reghu

    An international motoring extravaganza held in India for the very first time, Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 witnessed an audience of over 2000 people and 26 top-class Gymkhana drivers from over 10 APAC countries, including Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India. 

    Driving prepared Volkswagen Polo track cars, all the participants were evenly pegged against each other with the ultimate goal of navigating through a short-timed loop, comprising of obstacles and choreographed manoeuvres such as 360 spins, J-Turns, Slalom and Figure-8 amongst others, while making the fewest errors. With 5 difference courses, the total run time of the heats were all under a minute, making it one of the most fast-paced motorsport events being held in India in recent times.

    The AAGC, an FIA event, was run under the aegis of  Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).  The event was sponsored by Kamasutra, Parx, Rustomjee Developers and MRF while VW Motorsport and Autocar India partnered with technical support. 

    Round 2 Provisional results:

     Solo Gymkhana competition: 1. Achintya Mehrotra, Team India; 2 Adrian Septianto; 3. Herdiko Setyaputra, both Team Indonesia.

     Doubles Gymkhana:  Team Indonesia (Adrian & Herdiko); 2. Team Japan (Tetsuya Yamano & Naoya Yamano); 3. Team India D (Arjun Rao & Ashad Pasha).

    Team Gymkhana: 1. Team Indonesia (Adrian Septianto & Herdiko Setyaputra); 2.  Team Japan (Tetsuya Yamano & Naoya Yamano); 3. Team India A (Achintya Mehrotra & Aabhishek Mishra).

     

     

  • Gymkhana is accessible, affordable and entertaining, says Gautam Hari Singhania

    Gymkhana is accessible, affordable and entertaining, says Gautam Hari Singhania

    Gautam Singhania, the Indian representative in the World Motorsports Council addressing a Press Conference in Mumbai to launch the Asian Auto Gymkhana on Friday. An INDIAinF1 image by Rahul Reghu

    Mumbai: Quotes from the Press Conference held ahead of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition to be held on Saturday and Sunday at the Raymond Drift Track in Thane here.

    Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, Raymond Ltd. and member of the FIA World Motorsports Council said “As an avid motorsports enthusiast I am thrilled to support and be part of this FIA recognised initiative held in India for the very first time. Through AAGC the idea is to popularise motorsports by making it more accessible, more affordable and an entertaining event. We also want to give participants the recognition that they deserve. The AAGC is a great beginning and in future, I hope to work with colleagues and representatives across the world and more so in India, to bring in many more such motorsports initiatives.”

    Dr. Kwong Yeung, President & CEO of AAGC said, “We are happy to host Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 here in India, a country with so many young, talented and ambitious motorsports aspirants. What makes the sport even more special is that Gymkhana competitions are affordable and that any car can be enrolled into the competition, with driver skills as the core criteria. For Round 2, we have some very promising drivers, including a very talented Indian driver line-up. I keenly look forward to this weekend event.”

    Mr. Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “We are happy to provide our Volkswagen Polo stunt cars to the drivers. They are some of the best gymkhana drivers from their respective countries and would be driving some of the best cars we have to offer. I am excited for the upcoming two days of the competition.” He further added, “We strive to raise the standard of Indian Motorsport, develop awareness of motorsports in India and bringing the sport to the maximum audience possible. We are always ready for any collaboration to popularize motorsports in the country. This form of partnership restores my faith in future of motorsports in India”.

    Gymkhana as a form of motorsport relies on the driver’s skill and technique – to navigate through a short timed loop, which is comprised of obstacles and choreographed manoeuvres such as 360 spins, J-Turns, Slalom, Box Parking and Figure-8 amongst others. The total run time of the heats are generally under a minute which makes this a fast paced, engaging and rewarding experience to watch.

    Run under the aegis of FIA in conjunction with FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India), the event acts as an entry point for budding young drivers to start a career in racing, in a safe, economical and practical way.

    Akbar Ibrahim, President FMSCI said “In India motorsports is still an extravagant affair. It is not as easy as it looks and at the same time not as popular as we’d like it to be. At FMSCI it is our endeavour to cultivate this form of sport and make people, corporates and the authorities more aware and supportive of the sport, starting from the grass-roots level. We are elated to host this event  ere in India and we thank our sponsors and partners for the support extended to us.”

    The FMSCI is a long-standing member of the FIA, a national motorsport federation recognised by the Government of India, for the promotion and control of motorsports in India, and is affiliated to the prestigious Indian Olympic Association.

    Dilip Joshi, Chairman of AAGC 2018 Round 2 said, “Round 2 of AAGC 2018 promises to be exciting, with a world-class motoring event never seen before in the city. Through this event, we hope to connect our passion for automobiles to the larger Indian audience, including a bunch of very excited school kids from the neighboring Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, who will be part of the audience on Race Day. As we move along, we hope to trigger greater aspiration for racing and look forward to a power-packed weekend.”

    The event is sponsored by Kamasutra, Parx, Rustomjee Developers & MRF and is supported by VW Motorsport & Autocar India.

  • I think the season started very slow, but we are making good progress: Sergio Perez of Force India

    19 July 2018: Ahead of the 11 round of the Formula One World Championship, the German GP began with the usual FIA press conference on Thursday.

    Q: Brendon, go back to two weeks ago at Silverstone. That was a horrible-looking crash. How are you now? No lasting effects, I hope.

    Brendon Hartley: Actually, waking up on Sunday, I was ready to go. Almost no knock-on effects, which was a surprise after watching the replay myself and seeing how spectacular that looked. In fact, the impact was smaller than what I had in both Canada and Barcelona. I think I’ve probably taken the top three crashes of the season all by myself! Hoping something like that doesn’t happen again. But no, I was physically ready already on Sunday and felt perfectly fine.

    Q: Let’s talk to you now about the relationship between Toro Rosso and Honda, if we can. How do you feel that has developed as the season has gone on? Do you feel the development rate has increased as the year has progressed?

    BH: It was a really positive start from the first laps in Barcelona testing where I think a lot of people had written us off before the season had even started. I think collecting nice laps on that first test was a really positive start and I think everyone at Toro Rosso saw it as a good opportunity having Honda on board. We’ve had an update already in Canada and yeah, the progress keeps moving forward every weekend. I think it’s only positive, I would say, the relationship between Toro Rosso and Honda.

    Q: Do you sense there’s pressure to introduce engine upgrades this year, to help prepare Honda for next year when they’re going to be with Red Bull Racing as well.

    BH: I think there were always updates planned, one of which has already come and I know there’s some other stuff in the pipeline – but at least from what I’ve seen. I haven’t seen any added pressure. Of course, we’ll welcome all the performance gains that we can – but honestly the way the team’s working together and systematically going through it, collectively as a team, Toro Rosso and Honda together. I mean, it’s all going in the right direction.

    Q: Brendon, this is your first time here since 2009 when you raced in Formula 3. What are your expectations of Hockenheim in a Formula One car?

    BH: Yeah, looking forward to it. It’s a proper track, it’s got history. Obviously not the same one that was raced many years ago through the forest. Yeah, I like it, I’m remaining optimistic. Surprisingly optimistic after the last few races I’ve had. Most of these bad results over the last few months have been out of my control, and I still feel strong and in good spirits and ready to take on this weekend. As we’ve all seen from P7, the last of the top three teams, to the very back, it’s an extremely tight battle. If we manage to eke two more tenths out of the car, from any area of development, that could mean securing quite a few points – or not securing. It’s extremely tight and we just have to bring our A game and get everything together over the next two days.

    Q: Nico, Brendon’s just giving his thoughts on the German Grand Prix. There was no German Grand Prix last year – just how special is it for you to be racing on home soil this weekend?

    Nico HÜLKENBERG: Yeah, it’s definitely good to be back. Hockenheim, which is a place with a lot of memory for me. My first ever race in single-seater racing, Formula BMW in 2005 was here; lots of racing in Formula 3, so, I’ve always had good moments here, the circuits always been treating me well. Good results, even in Formula One, two times seventh. So, it’s good to be here, I like the place, like the area. I hear it’s pretty sold out for this weekend, which is great news so looking forward to starting the weekend here.

    Q: We’re pretty much at the halfway point of the season. Just wanted to get your assessment of yours and Renault’s progress in 2018.

    NH: I think it’s been OK. Of course, we missed out a few opportunities and results here and there. Sometimes technical issues, sometimes just with having a few difficult weekends. I feel the last two, three, four weekends have not been brilliant for us, we’ve always had a little hiccup somewhere and we’ve given away a little bit – but I think that’s just how it goes. Over 21 races it’s really hard to be perfect all the time. I think in the bigger picture, we’re fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, which is pretty decent. We have more developments in the pipeline over the next few weeks, which hopefully puts us in a good direction for the rest of the season. Obviously, we want to be more competitive and stay where we are.

    Q: Neither car was in Q3 at Silverstone. Did that track reveal the car’s shortcoming?

    NH: Not necessarily. I think it’s a little bit track dependent. We feel Silverstone wasn’t great for our car. It was just a little bit difficult. We were boxed in a bit, we felt. Before that we’ve been to Q3 many times. Not all the time. It’s not always the most important in the midfield battle. Sometimes it’s actually good to be outside and on a different strategy, to upset a little bit. Of course, we’re pushing at Renault, everybody, to make the car more competitive, faster, trying to keep a gap in the midfield battle. But it’s really tight and it is track-specific. So one tracksuits better Haas or Force India, the next weekend the Toro Rosso is faster. I think, on balance, us as Renault, we have been pretty consistent.

    Q: You say the team is working hard to put a performance on the car – so how much quicker is the car than it was in Melbourne?

    NH: It’s hard to quantify in terms of lap-time – but for sure we’ve developed the car since. There have been quite a few new parts since. Here and there, some little things. It’s hard to measure – but if you see the gap to the top three teams, then you still think ‘that’s too big’. We don’t like that, but they’re doing at the same time, an amazing job and it’s really hard to catch-up. Yeah, especially as race drivers you always feel you want more. You want it quicker, you’re impatient. This weekend we had some stuff which I’m excited to try tomorrow and see how it goes.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you. We’re doing a bit of a half-term report. So, tell us, what’s your assessment of yours and Force India’s season so far?

    Sergio PÉREZ: It’s been a bit up and down in the first half of the season. We were expecting more, up until now but we’re certainly improving; getting closer to the top of the midfield battle. I think we’re definitely getting closer and improving there. Still a long way to go and we should be in a good position. We’re certainly making good progress. I think the season has started quite slow for us but then we made some good progress and I think right now we are in a good position to start fighting for good points.

    Q: So, who do you feel you’re battling with at the minute. Can you go, on performance terms, toe-to-toe, with the guy on your left, for example?

    SP: I certainly think so. I think there is a good chance. Definitely, the midfield battle, as Nico described, is so much track dependent, track-to-track, small margins so everything down to the Sunday you know? To the Sunday afternoon. There’s a lot to gain, even if you don’t have a great qualifying, there are still plenty of points that are valuable there. So, I think we should be in a good position. I still think fourth place is possible for us in the Constructors’, so that’s the main target.

    Sebastian, first thoughts, concerning this new spec, 2017-spec cars really. It’s the first time we’ve used them here at Hockenheim. How much of a different experience will it be, compared to 2016 with the old-spec cars?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think it should be more fun. Cars are faster, faster mostly, or mainly in the corners, so I think it’s always great if the cars are faster. I think here you have some corners, high-speed corners – Turn One and also the entry to the stadium, which, yeah, they should be a lot more fun – but also the medium-speed sections around the track. I think generally the cars are better, more fun to drive, so it should be better, more enjoyable than two years ago. And hopefully we are more competitive – that’s also more enjoyable!

    Q: Pole position in 2016 was 1m14.3s. How much do you believe you might be able to shave off that this weekend?

    SV: We’ll see. I think it’s not always straightforward to compare. I think the cars are faster, as we mentioned, but we also obviously but a lot of downforce on, so we lose a bit of speed down the straights – but I think we should be faster. We also have the ultrasoft this weekend for qualifying, so yeah, how much I don’t know but by quite a bit. As I said, the faster you go, the more fun it is.

    Q: You’re leading the Drivers’ Championship; Ferrari leading the Constructors’ Championship. The development curve at Ferrari this year has been very impressive. Have you noticed a step up in that area compared to last year?

    SV: Well, the team is still improving, still growing. Obviously, the team has been around for a long time and I have been now part of the team for three and a half years – but I think we are getting stronger, we have a very, very good group of people, a good mix of people on board. Yeah, you’re trying all the time. Sometimes obviously, there’s also the element of the stuff working better than expected, sometimes it works less than expected but I think overall, I think you can say over the last two years maybe, since the last time we were here, that, yeah, I think by the end of 2016 we had a sort of lock opened, and since then I think there was a certain momentum starting to keep going and to develop. Since then I think we kept it going. Obviously the ’17 regs gave us the chance as a team to catch up, because before we were a bit behind – but since then, also last year, I think we had a great pace, a great car and we were able to develop it. Missed a little bit of performance at the end of the year. I think we learned from that and hopefully we can do it better – which still have to be seen but I think the car has potential.

    Q: You’ve won at the Nürburgring but not here. Would winning here on Sunday mean more to you than simply 25 points?

    SV: Yeah. Absolutely. I think the fact that racing in Germany, I’m afraid that probably this is the last time for a while, as far as I understand – which would be a shame to lose one of the classic races, and the fact that I’m literally from here – it’s just half an hour away were I was born and grew up – so yeah, the area means a lot to me and it would be great to have a good weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Sonja Kreye – Speed News) Question for Sebastian. As far as I remember, Nico Rosberg, when he became World Champion in 2016, he dedicated some of his success to some mental work that he does, like meditation and hypnosis – don’t know what he does – but do you also follow something like this? Do you have a mental routine? Do you do some mental work?

    SV: I think it’s a very broad subject: I don’t know what Nico was doing or not but I think we all have our routines. Some of it is conscious, some of it – a lot of it – is probably sub-conscious. I think everybody knows from their own experience that you have some things that you run through before the start, or before a test, or whenever it gets important, we all have some sort of routine that we follow. Something that we do differently to other people around us. It’s the same for us. Obviously, when it comes to qualifying on Saturday or preparing the race, I think yes, I have certain things that I try to go through, I try to visualise and go through the track and so on. I’m not practising meditation or doing some of things that people maybe think of when they talk about mental preparation. So, as I said, most of it I think is a certain routine. We have the qualifying, it’s always the same things happening, so you know what’s coming and it’s important to be there, to be sharp, to prepare – but yeah, I think we know what to do.

    Q: (Wolfgang Monsehr – Rennsportpresse-Agency ) Two questions for Brendon Hartley. Number one: is there a regular exchange of info or experience with your sister team, either you and your Red Bull driver colleagues or engineers. And question number two: you come from a relatively small country, New Zealand, but with a very rich motorsport background, starting a long time ago with Bruce McLaren, Mike Thackwell, Chris Amon etc. You’re representing Formula 1 as a New Zealander, over in America it’s your countryman Scott Dixon. Both are totally different championships but nevertheless do you have with him a regular contact and exchange of experience – Formula 1 to IndyCar and IndyCar to Formula 1?

    BH: OK, so the first question was regarding Toro Rosso and Red Bull. They are two very separate teams. Obviously we share the same catering, so there is some crossover and I’m also good friends with Max and Daniel, as I am with some other drivers in the paddock. The crossover in information is relatively small but probably not my area to discuss but I’m not well informed on exactly how much information is passed, but I should mention that they are two different teams and everything on the Toro Rosso is manufactured by Toro Rosso in Faenza and in Bicester, where the winds tunnel. The next question: I am very aware of the rich history and I knew Chris Amon very well. Especially when I travelled away from New Zealand I realised how rich the history is and you mentioned Scott Dixon and yeah we do keep in contact. I think that’s the nature of being from a small country and flying the flag and we’re all very proud of that. I think we’re not the only two. It’s fair to say there are many other New Zealand drivers representing on a very level and yeah, I’m proud to be one of many.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Seb, Lewis’ deal with Mercedes as a two-year extension was announced today. He’s locked in for two years, you’re at Ferrari for two years and Max is at Red Bull for two years. Your thoughts on how the future is lining up?

    SV: Well, congrats. I don’t know why it took so long. I think it was pretty clear. Yeah, no reactions. For me it’s clear, that’s what matters to me and what the others are doing doesn’t really matter. I have my place and my mission and what I want to achieve and in all honesty, that’s all that matters.

    Q: (Udo Döring – Darmstädter Echo) As you mentioned, Sebastian, it could be the last German GP maybe, so another question to both of you who are from Germany, what are you thinking about this and why do you think it’s so difficult to keep the grand prix in Germany in these times?

    NH: Yeah, of course it would be a big shame, Germany being the car nation that we are, and to not have a grand prix would be disappointing and sad. I guess it comes down to commercial questions, simple as that. Germany has a big history in racing and in Formula 1 in particular. Maybe the nation is a little bit full or tired or racing, I don’t know, but we’ve always been around for decades, with Michael, with Mercedes, with Seb, with Nico before. Germans are a bit spoiled when it comes to that, because we’ve always been successful, we’ve always been around and I don’t know if it’s an effect of that, but I think ultimately it’s the commercial aspects that play the biggest part.

    Sebastian, have you got anything to add?

    SV: I think it would be a shame to lose the German Grand Prix because it has so much history. As Nico said, for car manufacturers Germany is well known. We are a car nation. I think probably it’s to do with the fact that generally you have to pay money to get a grand prix. Other nations are prepared to pay money. Other countries are prepared to fund the grand prix and I think that’s where the main problem is; Germany is not ready to spend money on having the grand prix, to advertise Formula 1, to advertise racing, to advertise Germany, to attract people coming here. So I think the view on that is different to other countries and that’s where probably the problem is. I mean, I know the track well here, I know the people that work for it and they are working very hard for the event to get people coming here and it’s tough for them to actually make some money, because simply they have no funds backing them up from the county or state or I don’t know the country, supporting them financially.

    Q: (Jo van Burik – Autocar.nl) To follow up on Alan’s question regarding Lewis’ contract, a question to Seb. The battle between you and Lewis’ has seemed to bring a lot to Formula 1 over the past few years and this season most notably. Do you look forward to maybe continuing that for another two years?

    SV: Yeah, with the result the other way round, yeah, I look forward to that. I think any battle is good. Obviously it’s always great if it’s tight at the top, it’s always great if you have a lot of cars fighting for podiums, for wins. Now this year already we have six cars, which is already a lot better, also being part of it, than the previous years I think some years ago we had even more cars on the podium, fighting for race wins and so on, so that would be great to see the gap closing. Normally that’s something that happens naturally if you just let things be. I don’t know what… obviously for ’19 we have a small change and ’20 should be fairly stable and then we see what happens in ’21, but that’s quite far away. But in general it’s always exciting as a driver if you can fight for points and fight for podiums and then fight for wins and you want to fight the best and Lewis has been one of the best since he entered Formula 1, so it’s good to be there.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Seb, how different would it be for you if Charles would be your team-mate instead of Kimi?

    SV: I don’t know. I don’t know Charles much. I know him a little bit through the programme. Kimi is Finnish, Charles is French; I think they are quite different… or Monegasque. Sorry, sorry… sorry. I like Kimi. I think we get along. We have never any issue. Sometimes on track. I remember I drove into him, crashed into him. But I think the way we handle things is very similar, very straightforward, so I think it’s great to work with and great for the team, but it’s not my decision so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Seb, we saw after the last race some comments from Lewis and from Mercedes about the events that happened on the first lap. I know Lewis has since retracted those comments but do you think, in a way, that you and Ferrari are getting under Lewis’ and Mercedes’ skin this season?

    SV: I’m not a big fan of getting more out of it than there seems to be. I think it’s fine, you know. Obviously it was silly to say it but we are racing and we’ve all been there, it’s never great if you get hit without doing anything wrong, then it’s also fine to express your opinion, even it’s not right or reasonable, but it’s human. I think it’s fine, so we shouldn’t… it’s two weeks ago, we move on.

    Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) Seb, if you win on Sunday, do you think it could change the future of the German Grand Prix? And do you feel more pressure than usual?

    SV: No, more excitement. I hope since we had a bad World Cup that people didn’t put their flags away and they turn up at the weekend and wave them for Nico and myself. We get a lot of support. From what I hear it should be packed, so I’m looking forward to that. Obviously if there is a chance to win, I want to win and if that helps to keep the grand prix, that’s a bonus. As I say, it would be a shame to lose it. It would be great to come back next year, or the year after.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Sebastian, following up on Heikki’s question: do you have a strong preference for Ferrari to keep Kimi for next year or are you more open-minded than in previous years about your team-mate?

    SV: What do you mean ‘previous years’? Well, I like Kimi. As I said, I’d be happy to continue like that, but it’s not for me to mention, to decide. Charles, one way or the other, will have a great career. He’s a great guy, he’s fast, he’s got everything, so yeah, definitely, he has no rush. He’s young, but if you’re young you’re always in a rush with everything. I don’t know. I don’t know when, what and ultimately who but as I said it really doesn’t matter to me. For me it’s clear where I am next but I think both of them would suit into the team.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Seb, on paper, at least two of the three last races of the triple header we’ve had were a bit more in favour of the Mercedes. Mercedes said they had the strongest car the last three races. Do you have the feeling you survived the worst part of the season now?

    SV: No, generally I would agree. I think they had the fastest car in the last couple of races. I think in Silverstone we were a match. Obviously in quali we just missed out by a little bit. If it’s within the same tenths I don’t think you can say one is stronger than the other. I think in the race also we had good pace, which was great for us, because Silverstone has been a place where we were weak. The places before they were a bit stronger. We’ll see how things evolve here. We brought some stuff to Silverstone, which should also work here. I think it’s a constant chase to find the advantage and then one track suit you more than others but I think we have a great car and we still have great potential to make it better.

    Q: (Alvero Rodriguez-Martin – Momento GP) Nico, sometimes it seems Carlos and you struggle more than the other teams with degradation. How do you work on that and do you expect that to be a problem here?

    NH: Maybe at some races that’s true, not every race. Again, I think it depends a little bit on the track and temperatures. Yes, we had some problems, I think. It comes down to how your car is using the tyres and I think there are some cases where our car is quite hard on the tyres and then we pay a price with degradation. We know about it, we try to address it, we work on it, it’s a constant subject. I think this weekend here with the temperatures being very hot is going to be a good test for us to see if we’ve made some improvements there.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saabrucker Zeitung) Seb, during the last race at Silverstone your teammate Kimi asked for more power but his engineer refused his wish. Kimi answered indignantly ‘It’s not permitted for me to think for myself?’ To what extent can you make your own decisions on track and how much is decided remotely on your behalf by the team? I can tell you all that I know a lot of people who don’t watch Formula One because the technology is too complicated and they feel the races are manipulated. Formula One seems to be more removed from the fans than before. Do you agree with this, and please remember my first question?

    SV: I don’t remember the question! Yeah, I do remember the question. What was the question now? I think that what happened in Kimi’s race as far as I remember was more about strategy, not about engine power or energy so it was more about strategy. In that situation I think it’s fairly simple, you drive your car and you have a feeling about your tyres, of where you are in the race. You’re racing the others around you but you can’t see everything that’s going on around you which obviously the team on the pit wall can see, all the cars, all the lap times and if you were going to pit, then they know where you’re going to come out, which is something which we can’t see because we can’t see 20 seconds behind us. So I think that was the argument or misunderstanding at the time. I think yes, I agree with your view that people get the impression from outside that a lot of it is remotely controlled but that’s not fair. The cars are very complex, the technology inside the cars is very complex and it needs more than one or two, three mechanics which maybe Formula One had 40/50 years ago to run a car. You need a lot of people. Obviously in terms of technology it’s also very impressive but my view is also that from outside the engine… most of the car is covered anyway so you can’t see. Some people… if you’re a tech nerd it’s great but not everybody is and from the outside you want to see cars fighting, you want to see cars race and are driven by us to the limit and that’s what matters. I think there’s always been an interaction between technology and racecraft, driving the cars, in the past. I think the driver is the key element to driving the car, even though the technology behind it is complicated to run but equally it’s not our fault and for the future, I would love to simplify things so that people get a better impression. But I can understand why they get the impression. Do I think it’s fair? No it’s not, because I know I’m driving the car and I know these guys are driving the cars.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) To all of you: if you owned a Formula One team, would you spend £40m a year on a driver?

    SP: Yeah, I would hire myself!

    NH: I agree with you, it’s a good way out! I think an individual driver can make the difference and be worth that. It’s possible, yeah.

    Q: Brendon, how important is the driver these days?

    BH: I guess the question was is if you’d pay 40 million but I guess it depends on the budget and which currency. Total budget and currency It’s a good answer by Sergio, look after ourselves if we’re still driving.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volksrant) Sebastian, you’re the World Championship leader driving a Ferrari, still the future of German Grands Prix is unclear. Getting back to the remark of Nico, I’m curious: are the Germans too spoilt regarding F1 wins, especially during the Schumacher era? What is your opinion on that?

    SV: Well, by the sounds of it you’re Dutch so… I think Nico has a very valid point, I think it’s normal that if something happens for the first time there’s a lot of excitement and I think in Germany Michael was the one that kicked off Formula One and made Formula One popular. Now it’s different in different countries. I think in the UK for example, for some reason… they invented racing maybe, they always had great racing drivers, no matter what era. Now in the Netherlands, if you look, obviously Max… there’s a certain boom is created for us, all of us, all the drivers because there’s a lot of fans coming. Obviously for him it’s fantastic but also for all of us and also for Formula One, we all benefit from it because people are very excited about Formula One. We can see that in a lot of places in Europe mostly but yeah, in Spa but also Austria it was great to see. For Germany, I think it’s true that Michael was the one that probably had that boom initially and since then, obviously, it’s great for Germany to have German drivers. We had a time, I think, when we had five or six Germans. Eight? A lot of German drivers on the grid, now it’s only Nico and myself. I think that’s something that’s going up and down but yeah, it’s probably true. Then in general, Germans are a little bit difficult to get excited. I think other nations are a bit easier to trigger in that regard so maybe that’s also one of the things but as a I said, I hope that because of the fact that we failed in football this year that people saved a little bit of money on barbecues and so on and they can come here and go camping this weekend. Weather’s supposed to be great.

    Q: (Jo Klausmann – Racingline.hu) Nico, you surely followed the record runs of Porsche with the 919 Evolution car in Spa and the Nordschleife. Question: would you have liked to have driven that car and would you like to do something similar with an evolution Formula One Renault?

    NH: Yeah, I would have liked to drive that car but I would have been way off the record or the pace, you know. You really need an expert for the Norschleife there. Timo was perfectly qualified for that, I’m not. I’ve done a few laps there but it’s a crazy circuit and you probably watched the on-board and you see how bumpy it is, how dynamic. It’s a hell of thing and the speed he goes, it’s pretty insane, positively insane and a cool thing to do by Porsche to go and crack a few track records and do some funky stuff. Yeah, very tempting. I know that car, obviously, but in that conversion it must be so much fun and cool. The thing with a Formula One, we would be struggling with ride heights and damper travel and stuff.

    SV: We can resurface the track. It’s the fashion these days, so re-surface the Nordschleife. Let’s go there.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.nl) For all drivers: if you would change something in Formula One or you could say let’s keep it more or less the same, what would you do? Would you be open to reverse grids? Two races in one weekend for instance?

    SP: I think we have a great sport. My main target would be to make it more competitive. At the moment we seem to have got used to talking about two groups in Formula One, whether they are a midfield group and the front runners. I would like to make it a lot closer so that everyone can have the chance to fight for victories or podiums and I think that would make the sport a lot bigger.

    BH: The reverse grid would have helped me the last few races. I think it’s a good point from Sergio that the top three teams are obviously out of reach but actually the midfield battle is really really good but if we could be a bit closer that would be a way. I don’t know about the technology point that was raised before. I personally like the fact that Formula One has always pushed the limits of technology and I like being involved in that but I guess just making it in a way where the fans can understand it a bit more. I know, for example, the engine regulations are very tricky to understand, even for the team members sometimes so maybe a bit more simplicity in certain areas.

    NH: I think we want to have more racing, more wheel-to-wheel action, guys battling all over the field for corners and I think the aero has become very dominant; it always has been but especially now maybe more and that obviously doesn’t create the best racing so if there is a way to desensitize, keep the performance but lose that characteristic of the cars to allow a car to be close. Make a move now, it’s really frustrating sometimes, you make an effort you know you can get behind the car but as soon as you get there it’s like somebody’s pulling the plug and you’re left with not much then, your tyres overheat and it’s a downward spiral. So anything to fight that would help to make a better show, more racing and it would close the field like Checo says.

    SV: I think they’re all valid points. Probably the first action: double the cylinders, take the batteries out, maybe we need one to start the car, that’s enough usually.

    Q: Sebastian, your reaction to two races in a weekend?

    SV: No, no, I think the format is fine. I think it’s wrong to look at changing the format. It’s not my decision so it’s a bit pointless to talk about it but I wouldn’t be a fan. I think it has been like that for a long time for a reason. I think the 300 kilometer Grand Prix is a Grand Prix. If you should make it half, then maybe for some people then a boring race is only half as boring but that’s not the way I look it. I think it’s a challenge, it’s a Grand Prix distance and it’s something that… you do your first race and you’re surprised by how long the race can be and that’s a physical and mental challenge for that duration and I think it would be… yeah, if it becomes a sprint race, I think it would be a different sport in a way and I wouldn’t mess with the format. I think we need to find other ways to get excited and get the grid together and whatever but not the format.

    eom/db

     

  • Sahara Force India looks forward to home race at Silverstone

    Sahara Force India looks forward to home race at Silverstone

    Image courtesy Sahara Force India

    Silverstone, 5 July 2018th: As the Formula One World Championship moves to Silverstone for the 10th round, Sahara Force India look forward to the home race with the factory just across the road near the track. After a double DNF in France, the Indian outfit managed a Double-Points finish in Austria but still languish at the 7th place with 42 points in the Constructors’ Championship, behind Haas (5th) and McLaren. Sergio Perez has garnered 23 points till now while Esteban Ocon has 19. After the 14 points in France, Force India remain within 20 points to the Fourth-placed team.

    The Team Principal Vijay Mallya, who is unable to travel to races outside England due to his legal restrictions, is likely to be present in the paddock. He says: “After celebrating 200 races in Austria, we arrive at Silverstone for our home race feeling pretty upbeat. Scoring 14 points was important after the disappointment of France and it means we are only 20 points away from fourth place in the championship. Silverstone is a hugely busy week for the team and one we all enjoy. We have some aero parts to introduce to the cars on Friday, which will hopefully take us another step forward as well.”

    Drivers’ quotes:

    Sergio Perez: “Silverstone is a very special weekend for our team. It’s the only race in which we get to see all the team members, their families and so many guests: a lot of people that sometimes we only see once a year. For us, this brings so much extra motivation. It’s a race where we want to do especially well and I hope we get a result to celebrate properly across the road, at HQ.

    “I lived in the UK for four years in the early part of my career, when I was racing in F3. I liked it and I still have a lot of close friends around Silverstone. Going back for the race is always a good chance to catch up with everyone. I know lots of good local restaurants as well.

    “The track itself is great and I love racing at Silverstone. It’s such a fluid and fast layout and you really enjoy a Formula One car at its best on this track. It’s a wonderful feeling. Overtaking is difficult, but it’s possible. There are a few places where you can make a move: a few big braking zones, such as turn five.”
     Esteban Ocon: “It’s fantastic to be racing in Britain. Our base is just across the road from the track and I spend a lot of time there during the year, so it really feels like home. You can feel how important it is for the team: there is a different atmosphere and I really enjoy it.

    “I always get to see all our staff who work at the factory when I go back, but this week I will spend a bit more time with everybody because I’m there for much longer. I will be in Silverstone all week and it’s a good chance to put in a lot of work.

    “The track itself is legendary. It’s a quick circuit with a lot of high-speed corners and it is a very challenging place where the driver can make the difference. I really enjoy driving there. This year the track has been resurfaced so this will be a new element with which everyone will need to deal.

    “Overtaking at Silverstone is not easy. Turns five and six are probably the best opportunities. Maggots and Becketts are also great to drive and the straight immediately afterwards means you can get an overtaking chance if you’re quick through those corners. You also have to keep an eye on the weather, but this week it looks like it’s going to be very hot. I was actually hoping for some rain to mix things up a little!

    “Silverstone is also the time we go to the Woodlands Campsite. There are always a lot of fans supporting Force India: we see them with their caps and shirts and it’s always good fun going there and meeting them. There is a special atmosphere and I am looking forward to it.”
  • Audi India’s Aditya Patel aims to fight back in Thailand at 2018 Blancpain GT Series

    Audi India’s Aditya Patel aims to fight back in Thailand at 2018 Blancpain GT Series

    Aditya Patel (left) and Mitch Gilbert set for Thai challenge.

    Buriram (Thailand), 10 May 2018: Audi India’s race talent, Aditya Patel along with Malaysian Audi Sport driver Mitch Gilbert aim to fight back this weekend in Buriram, Thailand, after their 2018 Blancpain GT Series campaign got off to a rough start in Sepang last month.

    The outcome was not what the team was hoping for. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 had the pace but a mechanical issue cost the team what could have been a podium finish in Race 1. Higher temperatures in Race 2 proved too harsh, causing both Aditya Patel and Mitch Gilbert to drive more cautiously to stay in the race.

    Piloting their Audi R8 LMS GT3, the duo had a less than the ideal weekend at Round 1 in Sepang where a broken radiator hose while running in a fine 3rd place in the first race cost them a podium and some valuable points. The second race also proved to be tough for the team as they found it hard to extract the potential from the car in the blistering heat of Sepang, scoring only a single point from the weekend.

    Buriram is known for its extremely hot conditions during this time of year and with 30 cars on the grid, it is expected to provide some intense racing. Once again, the grid is represented by automotive brands including Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, McLaren etc.

    “Sepang was quite a mixed weekend for us. Qualifying didn’t exactly go our way, but the car felt really good in the cooler conditions in the race 1. Unfortunately, I had to retire from 3rd place due to a mechanical failure. The race 2 proved to be an extremely tough as the track temperatures went up by nearly 30 degrees compared to race 1 which made it tough to fight.

    “This weekend, we aim to bounce back and hopefully bring our championship fight back on track,” said Aditya who is also sponsored by 2go activewear and Jubilant Motorworks.

    With a few changes to the car, the team is confident of a good fight back and aims to get back on the podium and back in championship contention this weekend. Race 1 will be at 1pm IST on Saturday and Race 2 will be at 11.30 am on Sunday.

  • Drugovich dominated Day 1: MRF Challenge 2017

    Drugovich dominated Day 1: MRF Challenge 2017

    Abu Dhabi, 14 Dec 2017: Championship leader Felipe Drugovich dominated day 1 of the MRF Challenge 2017 at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi after topping both practice sessions and qualifying on pole position. His closes competitor was French driver Julien Falchero, who finished 2nd in all sessions. Alex Karkosik will start in 3rd place, ahead of Presley Martono and Louis Gachot.

    The opening practice session of the weekend started with all cars going out in unison on the mighty Yas Marina circuit. With none of the drivers having even sampled the circuit, the session was spent gathering useful data. Drugovich wasted no time and immediately went fast with a 2:13.683. Van Kalmthout and Falchero then took turns exchanging times at the top. Drugovich set a time of 2:10.173 to go one second faster than the rest of the pack to end the session. Falchero came closest, albeit half a second off the top spot. Van Kalmthout was 3rd ahead of Martono and Sweden’s Henning Enqvist.

    Free practice 2 saw the drivers concentrating on their race runs with the result being no different. Drugovich was still fastest, ahead of Falchero and van Kalmthout, with all drivers a second slower than the pace they set in the morning. Martono was once again in 4th place, ahead of Danial Frost and Alex Karkosik.

    In qualifying, Karkosik set a 2:11.974 to move to the top of the standings only for Drugovich to beat him with a 2:11.509. The session was red-flagged with 12 minutes to go as championship contender van Kalmthout crashed. He will start from 12th place, dealing his championship hopes a big blow.

    When the session resumed it was a straight fight between Drugovich and Falchero, who traded fastest laps till the last lap. Finally it was Drugovich who put in a 2:10.637 to claim pole position. Falchero will start beside him with Karkosik and Martono on row 2. Louis Gachot will start in 5th place after another impressive qualifying session.

    Championship leader Felipe Drugovich, commented, “It was really hard out there as we were struggling with grip and some parts of the car. Julien (Falchero) was quick and it was fun to see us trading fastest laps. Starting on pole is always important so look forward to the race and hope to do my best.”

    Julien Falchero, who was the only one close enough to challenge Falchero, commented, “Congrats to Felipe as he was too quick. I tried to stay close to him in qualifying but was having too much understeer. I am happy with 2nd and think we can challenge for the win tomorrow.”

    Live Timing: http:// http://livetiming.getraceresults.com/abudhabi#screen-results

    For more information please visit: www.mrfracing.in

     

    MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Free Practice 1:

    S.No. Driver Name Time
    1. Felipe DRUGOVICH 2:10.173
    2. Julien FALCHERO 2:10.628
    3. Rinus VAN KALMTHOUT 2:10.929
    4. Presley MARTONO 2:11.518
    5. Henning ENQVIST 2:11.604

     

    MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Free Practice 2:

     

    S.No. Driver Name Time
    1. Felipe DRUGOVICH 2:11.000
    2. Julien FALCHERO 2:11.258
    3. Rinus VAN KALMTHOUT 2:11.520
    4. Presley MARTONO 2:11.758
    5. Danial FROST 2:12.063

     

    MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Qualifying:

    S.No. Driver Name Time
    1. Felipe DRUGOVICH 2:10.637
    2. Julien FALCHERO 2:11.128
    3. Alex KARKOSIK 2:11.182
    4. Presley MARTONO 2:11.330
    5. Louis GACHOT 2:11.645

    Felipe Drugovich. MRF image by Aditya Bedra

     

  • Presley Martono fastest in FP2 even as top-7 are tightly bunched: MRF Challenge 2017

    Presley Martono fastest in FP2 even as top-7 are tightly bunched: MRF Challenge 2017

    Presley Martono tops FP2 in Dubai MRF Challenge on Thursday. An MRF image

    Dubai, 7 Dec 2017: Indonesian driver Presley Martono continued his impressive start to the Round 2 of the MRF Challenge 2017 by going fastest in practice at the Dubai Autodrome here on Thursday.

    This weekend’s FIA inscribed MRF Challenge race promises to be a thriller with the top severn drivers all closely bunched together. Martono’s time of 1:56.996 was just enough to beat Rinus van Kalmthout’s morning practice time of 1:57.046.

    The drivers wasted no time going out in the opening practice session as most of them were experiencing the circuit for the first time as they pushed the MRF F2000 to the limit. Last year’s race winner, Felipe Drugovich, set the tone with a 2-min lap time as the times began to tumble quickly thereafter.

    Van Kalmthout set a 1:59.453 to set off a chain of fastest laps from Martono, Drugovich and newcomer Louis Gachot. After several changes at the top it was van Kalmthout who set the fastest time with a 1:57.046. Martono, Drugovich, Julien Falchero and Alex Karkosik completed the top 5, with less than a second covering them.

    Free practice 2 saw Drugovich once again setting the early pace as he immediately went fast with a 1:58.451. The session was as competitive as the first one with drivers taking turns to set the fastest lap. With two minutes remaining, Martono became the first driver to dip under the 1:57 mark and went fastest with a time of 1:56.996. Van Kalmthout finished in 2nd place ahead of Karkosik, Falchero and Danial Prost. Championship leader focused on longer race runs and finished in 7th place.

    Friday’s qualifying will be important with more than seven drivers in with a chance of pole position. Presley Martono said: “It sure feels good to top the practice session here in Dubai but being on top tomorrow is more important for me. We have made great progress since Bahrain and I will have to be on top of my game to beat these guys tomorrow.”

    Rinus van Kalmthout, who took his first race win in the MRF Challenge in Round 1, felt the car was good. “The car feels really good and I am confident for tomorrow. The track was a little cooler in the evening, so have had a good understanding of what we have to do for tomorrow,” he quipped, ready to mount the challenge.

    Qualifying will take place tomorrow along with Race 1 and 2.

    Free Practice 1 (FP1): 1. Rinus van Kalmthout 1 min 57.046 secs; 2. Presley Martono 1:57.101; 3. Felipe Drugovich 1:57.290; 4. Julien Falchero 1:57.406; 5. Alex Karkosik 1:57.481.

    Free Practice 2 (FP2): 1. Presley Martono 1:56.996; 2. Rinus van Kalmthout 1:57.202; 3. Alex Karkosik 1:57.245; 4. Julien Falchero 1:57.257; 5. Danial Frost 1:57.464.

    Live Timing: http:// http://liveresults.mylaps.com/dubaiautodrome/

    For more information please visit: www.mrfracing.in

    eom/MRF press relese

  • TVS Racing’s Harith Noah wins National Supercross title beating Jinnan

    TVS Racing’s Harith Noah wins National Supercross title beating Jinnan

    Pune, 4 Dec 2017: Harith Noah made a fairytale ending to his comeback year by winning both Motos hands down to claim SX1 national title at the season-finale race of the MRF MoGrip FMSCI National Supercross Championship at Mundhwa ground here on Saturday night.

    TVS Racing rider Noah had an enviable task of finishing at No. 5 position in both Motos to confirm his championship and prevent privateer CD Jinan from overhauling his points, but Noah raced impeccably to win on the 700-metre-long unique track that saw participants taking elevated start for the first time in India.

    Noah had made a comeback to supercross racing early this season after having taken sabbatical for a few years and from the first round in Goa to the following rounds in Coimbatore, Jaipur, Nashik, Indore and now in Pune, the TVS Racing rider always stayed ahead of the competition with clean racing all through.

    eom/God Speed Racing, the organisers’ release

    Harith Noah in action for a superb win that got him the National Supercross title in his come-back year at Pune on 4 Dec, 2017. Image by God Speed Racing

  • Nikita Mazepin completes 90 laps for Force India: Testing

    2017 ABU DHABI TEST
    DAY ONE

    Sahara Force India completed a busy day of testing in Abu Dhabi with development driver, Nikita Mazepin, working through an extensive tyre programme.

    NIKITA MAZEPIN – VJM10-04

    Laps: 90 laps
    Best time: 1:39.959
    Position: P8 of 12

    Nikita Mazepin: “I am quite satisfied with the work we have done today. Testing the new Pirelli tyres for 2018 was interesting and it gave us the first idea of how the various compounds will work next year. I would have liked to improve my times a bit towards the end of the day, but I was blocked on my last new tyre run. At the end of the day, however, it’s a test and we can be happy with what we achieved. I built up my speed during the morning because it was my first time driving here, but in the afternoon I was pushing more and more. Compared to the last time I was in the car, in Budapest, the balance felt much more consistent in the medium to high-speed corners, so I could feel how much the car has improved over the last few months.”

    TOM McCULLOUGH, CHIEF RACE ENGINEER

    “Nikita was back in the car today for the first time since the Budapest test last August. He did a very mature job and didn’t put a wheel out of place all day, which helped us complete an ambitious run plan. This was the first opportunity to try the 2018 Pirelli compounds and it’s very important that we maximise our understanding of them to help steer our direction during the winter. The red flags in the afternoon curtailed some of our long runs, but 90 laps represent a good day’s work. We will aim for more of the same tomorrow when Esteban and Sergio share driving duties with half a day each.”

    eom/release

  • Our target for next year too is to stay 4th: Otmar Szafnauer of Force India

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India).

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Christian, let’s begin with you and the announcement of the Aston Martin deal. Tell us the scope of that, the ambition and whether there is an engine dimension to it going forward?

    Christian HORNER: Well, it’s great news for our team. We have been working with Aston over the last 18 months now on a project, starting with the Valkyrie road car, and out of the upturn there has been within the Aston business over the last couple of years, they have decided that Formula 1 is the right platform to invest in and have taken up the title sponsorship of our team for the next three years. That collaboration will not only see an on-track, with the team being named Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, it also sees behind the scenes a collaboration on future products that Aston are working on and then producing some of those cars in Milton Keynes, producing more jobs in Milton Keynes – over 100 new positions are going to be created in the future – to hopefully produce some great looking cars.

    And the engine dimension?

    CH: There is no engine dimension at this point in time but what we await with interest is what will the regulations be, what are Liberty’s plans regarding engines and chassis from 2021 onwards. So in an ideal world it would allow an independent manufacturer such as an Ilmor or a Cosworth to be able to compete with the big guns. But until we can see what the scope of those regulations are, it’s difficult to make any assumptions.

    And on the subject of engines, your sister team Toro Rosso has the Honda engines next season and you collaborate technically with that team, so how closely will you be monitoring the progress of Honda?

    CH: I think it’s a really exciting development for Toro Rosso. It’s an opportunity for them to move forward. It keeps Honda in Formula One, which I think is also a positive and we’ll certainly be keeping an interested eye on how things are developing in Italy.

    Otmar, you’ve kept the same two drivers for next season – a very exciting pairing – how are things working out between them since you had a talking to them in Spa and do you feel you have got on top of their issues without blunting their competitiveness?

    Otmar SZAFNAUER: Yeah, they’ve always gotten on. They have their on-track incidents, like you mentioned in Spa. That event kind of focused both their minds and now they have a good understanding that if they come together you never know who the winner or loser is, but for certain the team loses. We all work for a team, we all pull together, we’re all team members. They understand that and they’ll be working for the team going forward.

    You’re a clear fourth in the Constructors’ Championship now, and likely to stay there. Obviously next year with Renault likely to move forward, with McLaren pairing up with Renault and all the other moves going on, will it be an achievement to just stand still in fourth next year, or are you pushing the team to get third?

    OS: Well, it will be difficult next year. Like you say, Renault have shown great steps forward this year from where they started to where they are now. I think it’s no secret that McLaren have a lot of resources and are also capable. It will be difficult for us to remain fourth, but we always set our sights on achievable goals and we will push hard next year to at least stay fourth and someone makes a mistake ahead of us, you never know what can happen.

    Frédéric, you ran Charles Leclerc in FP1. How did he do? And how do you rate him, given that you’ve had so many great young drivers pass through your hands – the Hamiltons, the Hulkenbergs, the Rosbergs – how do you rate Charles against them?

    Frédéric VASSEUR: I won’t rate Charles, only on the FP1 this morning, and it was a tricky session. He did very well this morning. He had not so many laps to do but he was at a good pace from the start and he did a very good session, even on the technical feedback everything went well. If you look on the global picture, he did very well in the junior series, he is doing very well in Formula 2. So far I think he had to be focused on the last part of the championship, to win the title and then you will see for next year.

    It looks like Sauber could be more closely linked to Ferrari next season. You’re obviously an expert in bringing young drivers on, as we’ve just discussed. Is that the best direction, you believe, for Sauber to take?

    FV: For sure there is a huge gap today between Sauber and the top teams and we need to find a way of collaborating with a top team fi we want to improve and if we want to improve quickly. Because the most important thing is to bring the team back into the field and then to be able to compete. OK, with the Ferrari deal we will improve and we will improve a lot and then we have to build up our own project to be able to fight with the guy in front of us.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all three of you: there has been a resignation this week from a senior member of the FIA’s technical team. He has three months’ ‘gardening leave’, which would then allow him to go to another team in a technical capacity. Does it concern you that he could be taking some secrets from teams with him?

    CH: Well, we take major issue with that if he does end up with another team. Obviously in these individuals you place an enormous amount of trust. In the role that Marcin has been responsible for he has been in an extremely privileged position and extremely recently he has been in people’s wind tunnels and looking at intimate details of knowledge of next year’s cars and I think three months’ notice period for him to then turn up in a competitor team in Formula One is entirely inappropriate. I certainly hope that isn’t the case and I’m sure it will get discussed quite seriously at the next strategy group meeting. It’s an important and vital role and it’s vital that the teams have trust and faith in the governing body that they can discuss their technical know-how, their technical secrets in many respects, which cost millions and millions of pounds, in confidence that that information doesn’t have the ability to end up in a rival team.

    FV: First, we need to know where Marcin will go but I agree with Christian, it is a big issue, because the FIA is fully aware of all the teams’ project and at the end of the day if we can’t be open with the FIA it’s a tricky situation. But first we need to know where Marcin will go.

    OS: I do agree and it would have been nice to know the notice period. Three months I don’t think is long enough and had we known it was three months earlier, perhaps we would have hired him. But I think three months is nowhere near long enough.

    What is?

    OS: I think a year. I mean, it has to be long enough such that the technology that he is aware of becomes, if not obsolete, then not leading edge. There are some sporting regulations as well that prohibit us from selling current-year cars for exactly the same reason. The cars have to be at least one year before we can dispose of them and it’s for that reason and I think notice periods should follow along the same lines.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) For the other two gentlemen: what do you think would be an appropriate time, one year or more?

    FV: For sure, one year would fit with the spirit of the regulations but three months is really too short.

    CH: I think industry standard for the type of role that Marcin has been performing would be anywhere between 12 and 18 months. We would look to place senior personnel within our team on at least 12 months.

    Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) To all three of you: How can concerning was what we saw at the end of the session, with Romain Grosjean going off?

    FV: For sure it was a huge crash. I am not an expert on the drain cover but I think we have to find a solution for tomorrow because it will be very, very risky, but I think that the FIA is focused on this point and I hope that we will be able to find a solution for tomorrow morning.

    Christian you have experienced this before.

    CH: Yeah, we had an incident quite a while back similar to that. The good thing is that nobody was hurt. Obviously the session was stopped and I’m sure all the covers here will be inspected rigorously before tomorrow’s running. I’m pretty confident and hopefully we won’t see a repeat issue.

    Otmar?

    OS: I think it just teaches that in future we should do it before it happens, have good inspection before something like this happens.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This question’s for Christian, since your announcement with Aston Martin for 2018, social media has been very creative coming up with some liveries for next year – would you be considering taking some of those ideas from social media, maybe getting the fans involved – because Red Bull’s very good at fan engagement.

    CH: We enjoy the work we do on social media, we have great interaction with the fans and followers of the teams. The livery is pretty much decided for next year but it’s great to see people’s interpretations and ideas and they should keep putting them out there.

    Have you seen anything that’s on the right track?

    CH: No!

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christian, your team has recently published its financial results – or rather submitted them, filed them with Companies House. When I look at them, first of all, there’s about a £40million contribution from the parent company, but apart from that your budget’s about two and a half times the size of Otmar’s. Do you actually get 250 per cent the value compared to theirs or is this not really proof that there should be some form of budget cap in place?

    CH: Well, I think what you have to look at is what are the cost-drivers in Formula One, and they are absolutely the sporting and technical regulations. We see costs spiralling out of control. We’re not by any means the biggest spender in Formula One as you’re well aware. And I think what’s going to be fascinating to see, hopefully over the next month or so, is what are Liberty’s and FIA’s plans regarding the future – because a budget cap becomes far less emotive if it goes hand-in-hand with sporting and technical regulations that absolutely deal with the costs, because they are the cost drivers. So I think, if the sporting and technical side are dealt with, some form of cap will be easier to bring in but if you put all of the pressure on the cap, then it becomes an accounting world championship and I think that some of the issues we have today with disparity of performance, with the amount of spend that’s going on, with the situation that’s regarding… Red Bull Racing is the only British registered team to be registering a profit, albeit a moderate one, and that shouldn’t be right in this level of sport.

    Otmar?

    OS: We welcome a budget cap or some cost controls within the sport. I mean, even with a cap I don’t think we’ll have the resources to spend up to it but I think it will help reduce some of the disparity in performance and that can only be good for the fans.

    Fred?

    FV: Yeah, we spoke about this in Monza, as I told you, I think the cap won’t be an issue for me.

    CH: Just coming back on Dieter’s point, I think one of the key things within Red Bull’s cost is how much goes into promotion, and promotion of the sport as well, that are contained within that budget. I think Red Bull does more than any other team on the grid with its running show car activities around the world, with the way that we try to promote not just the team and the brand but obviously the sport in general as well.

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Mario ISOLA (Pirelli), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Guenther STEINER (Haas).

    Q: Mario, let’s start with you. We’re three-quarters of the way through the 2017 season on these new, wider tyres. We can all see what the lap time improvements have been but can you give us an idea of the increase in things like the cornering speeds and any other things you’ve noticed – apart from ‘don’t’ run over drain covers’.

    Mario ISOLA: Yeah, we have seen on the corners that are grip-limited, we had an increasing speed that is 30km/h – 40km/h. We made an analysis on the quickest and most famous turn in Barcelona, in Spa, at Silverstone and it was impressive to see that Copse is now 290km/h and it is 30km/h quicker than last year, or we have Pouhon in Spa that is 40km/h quicker, so it is, in terms of performance, I believe we reached the target. Lap times, as you said, are visible for everybody. We are also analysing the data because this additional grip is generated not only by the wider tyres but also by the increase in downforce and, as an average, we have 100kg of downforce more on each tyre, as an average obviously, it depends on the circuit and layout, type of configuration and setup – but it’s quite a lot.

    Q: What can you share with us about the plans for 2018? What are you going to do with the range? Are you going to go a bit softer? What’s the plan?

    MI: We have defined the construction and we released the data to the teams on the First of September. We have a new construction front and rear, we will give some additional information soon. Obviously we are now working on our compounds – because the target is still to go one step softer compared to this year. We know that this year we have been quite conservative – but last year it was not easy to develop the new sizes with the mule cars so we decided to be on the conservative side. So the current Soft will be the new Medium next year, and we also intend to increase the number of compounds. It is still not defined but we have probably next year more compounds to give us more freedom in the selection during one event, because there are no modifications in the sporting regulations, so it still three compounds per event and the target is to have more flexibility.

    Q: And just a comment from you on the Grosjean incident. We all saw what happened but from your point of view.

    MI: Well, the tyres are not made to resist such a big impact so I cannot add anything else other than what we have seen on the television.

    Q: Guenther, coming to you, talking about Romain’s accident, we all saw what happened, what can you tell us from his point of view, and also the state of the car.

    GS: I think from his point of view, he is OK. Thank God he didn’t get hurt or anything. The car is damaged, in my opinion, things like this in 2017 shouldn’t happen on a permanent circuit, they shouldn’t happen on any circuit. This is, in my opinion, not acceptable. This is not up to the standards. So, I haven’t spoken with anybody. The next thing we need to make sure is how we can prove that it doesn’t happen in the race? Because in the race this would have been a little bit of a bigger disaster. If a few cars go over it, then the cover comes up. I’m still not through… to think completely through what happened to end up in this situation. In a few hours hopefully we know more. The damage is very big on the car. I don’t know exactly what it is because the car just came back five minutes before I had to get here, so they hadn’t taken the parts off to see if the chassis is damaged as well – but once we know that we see what we can do for tomorrow. We need to be sure that all the drain covers stay in place tomorrow.

    Q: You dropped down to eighth in the Constructors’ after the race in Singapore – big result for Renault there, of course, but it’s so tight in the midfield, it’s still possible for you to finish fifth in the Constructors’ this year – even though you’re pulling a face – are you throwing development resource at finishing 2017 as strongly as you possibly can, given the battle you find yourself in?

    GS: No. I think fifth is a little bit ambitious from your side. I think we can not finish fifth but we try to finish seventh. I think at this moment in time we would be happen with that. We stopped developing the ’17 car quite a while ago to concentrate on next year’s car. We have limited resources. We need to focus that we stay stable year-to-year, not just one year up and down because then you create a wave-effect and you never get a grip of what you’re doing. We try to do our best. We will bring a few more developments but they are small. The last one comes in Austin. We hopefully can score some points. I hope also that our worst circuits are behind us, like the slow speed, high downforce ones. Our car doesn’t like them. It’s tough, as you said, in the midfield. We just need to try to do always a perfect job – and not hit drain covers.

    Q: And a final thought. We asked Fred Vasseur in part one about the idea of a closer collaboration with Ferrari on his side, particularly on the driver aspect. Would that have any bearing on your team? How does your Ferrari collaboration develop from here?

    GS: I think our one is stable. We are doing it since now, it’s our third year since we started, and we do what we do. I have no influence what they do with somebody else and I don’t want to have one. We are happy with our contracts and our collaboration. So, if Sauber wants to work with them, I have no opinion and I’m OK with it. I can’t do anything about it any way – so why worry? We get what we want, and we are happy and we continue this.

    Q: Toto, you’re defending a 28 point lead rather than chasing down a deficit but today things looked a little bit difficult for your cars. Is that truly representative of where you were and is there that much work to do?

    Toto WOLFF: The lap time is reality, the stopwatch always tells the truth. The lap time today showed that we are not quick enough. The car seems to be unbalanced and that triggers an awful lot of consequences and it was certainly one of the worst Fridays I can remember.

    Q: Now you renewed Valtteri Bottas’s contract but only for one year rather than longer term; what does he have to do next season to stay on, or is it more about what happens with other teams’ drivers and whether they look to move?

    TW: It’s all in his hands, he just needs to drive fast and score good results. The dynamics between the drivers and the drivers and the engineer team is great so that is positive and it’s about competing on track and being fast.

    Q: It’s the final Malaysian Grand Prix, obviously, but F1 has announced the contract with China has been extended for another three years. Your thoughts on both?

    TW: It’s sad that we’re leaving Malaysia because of our partnership with Petronas it has become like a second home Grand Prix. We spend five or six or seven times a year in Kuala Lumpur and therefore I will be missing the race. On China, China is an important market for us with huge potential and insofar as extending their race there is good, good for Formula One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you, certainly the two team principals: a senior member of the FIA’s technical department has recently resigned. He’s got three months’ gardening leave, he’s obviously worked pretty closely with the teams during his tenure. How do you feel about the fact that he could possibly be joining an opposition team within the next… certainly by the start of next year?

    TW: Do you want an undiplomatic answer or the diplomatic answer?

    GS: They were sandbagging today just to promote comment but anyway… I was not involved in the strategy group meeting this morning but I know that a senior member has left or is leaving the FIA but I’m not sure where he’s going in the end, so I cannot accuse him of something, that he’s going somewhere if I don’t know. I guess somebody’s taking him so it’s as much as who is taking him’s fault as the guy who is going. I think a little bit in between. But first of all, we need to know if he’s going to a team and then where he’s going but I don’t know that yet, Dieter.

    TW: I don’t think it’s correct because he’s had access to a lot of information, especially from Mercedes so he will tell everybody else, so I think for sure they are not happy. It’s like Guenther said, we don’t know where Martin is going. It’s just a rumour. We’ve received an e-mail from Charlie saying that he will be leaving the FIA and he will be on gardening leave for three months. I personally get on well with Martin and we wish him success for his career, that is clear, but we need to look at the timings, we need to be transparent with the FIA and give them access and therefore, in order to have the full trust of the teams, it’s important to have a certain stability and understanding how quick somebody can leave the FIA and join another competitive team.

    MI: I don’t think I’m involved in that. For me, I was working very very well with Martin, we were co-operating on a number of things on tyres, future regulations and so on so it’s a pity that he’s leaving the FIA. I agree with Guenther on the fact that Martin obviously has a lot of knowledge and going to another team creates an issue for them but we don’t know where he is going so…

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, if we put aside the fact that your son was obviously a member of one of the F1 in Schools winning teams on Wednesday night, you were there, very enthusiastic about it. Could you tell us from a pure Formula One team principal perspective what you think of the project, the initiative and how you think it can help Formula One overall?

    TW: I didn’t know anything about Formula in Schools before I was actually surprised to hear that my son was joining it two years ago and it was his own initiative. I find it a really nice competition because young teenagers are creating a mini Formula One team. They have to raise sponsorship, they have to make a garage, create a marketing proposition, develop a little car. They are using tools such as CFD and mini-wind tunnels and then they put it on track and it’s very competitive and the best 52 teams made it to the world final last Wednesday and out of every corner of the world. And seeing them, how capable they are, and how enthusiastic they are for the sport, it’s really nice to see, so I will be cheering for Formula One in Schools, independently of whether my son is involved or not.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, it would be fair to say that it would be one of the worst Fridays in your career. I would like to know if it’s just a question of lacking of grip, it’s just a question of heat or there is some other reason? And Ferrari put a lot of effort with new aerodynamic parts here. It seems that Mercedes is not at the same level at this event. Is that because you are thinking of bringing something more in Japan or in America?

    TW: As I said before, it feels like one of the worst Fridays. We have brought some new parts to the cars as well and now we need to chase back why it didn’t go today, independent whether it was in the wet or in the dry, on the long runs or on a single lap, we just lacked pace today and we have twelve hours to understand and then hopefully have a car tomorrow that is more stable.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) There will be a triple header next year; Formula One has this tendency that if they get away with it once, they will do it again, so how keen are you to see triple headers and know that if it happens, everything works out once, it will happen again?

    GS: OK, I think it is… if you plan it well, I think the crew for sure are the most stressed out but the triple header is in Europe so at least we have got that advantage. We don’t have to fly from continent to continent. I think let’s see how it is but again, we need to get organised for this stuff and if it doesn’t work or if it is too stressful or if you can change something – you have to learn from it and change something for the year after because… I’m with you there, if we do it once, we will do it again. If we get spectators in front of the TV or some factor out of this, it will happen again. It’s just one of those things that you need to do and then come out and analyse and see if it is worthwhile to do again and how to deal best with it.

    TW: I think Guenther summarised it pretty well. There will be other factors such as important events in other sports or outside of sport that need to be considered and I think making a calendar is not easy so we need to wait and see how we can cope with the three races and then learn the lesson.

    MI: Yeah, we are like a small team so we have the same problems so we are organising our people and we need additional people of course to cover all this because also if it is in Europe, we have trucks moving with the new tyres or bringing back the used tyres. For overseas it will be more complicated and if it happens, we need to make a proper plan in advance. Everything is possible if it is an advantage for the sport obviously we will be ready to do that but it will have an increase in logistics and people we are obliged to use.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, today we saw an Instagram movie – if I can say – something about Trump that was posted by Lewis. Are you worried that there can be some effect coming to the USA Grand Prix for him?

    TW: This is a very controversial and polarising story. I wouldn’t want to get involved in politics. We all have our opinion. Lewis’s feelings about human rights are very strong and I think he wanted to show that and probably Instagram as the communication channel is something that he needs to rethink but I can relate to his feelings.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Are you worried for the United States Grand Prix?

    TW: No, I think one of the most important things in the US is that you have the right to express your opinion and I would want to leave it there and not comment any more. I think we are here as sport teams and sports should unite and I’m not sure it is happening everywhere in the world so I would rather lead by example and not comment on politics.

    End