INDIA in F1

Tag: Kimi Raikkonen

  • Raikkonen quickest in first Free Practice: Bahrain GP

    Sakh

    Kimi Raikkonen tops Free Practice 1 at Sakhir on Friday. An FIA image
    Kimi Raikkonen tops Free Practice 1 at Sakhir on Friday. An FIA image

    ir, 17 April 2015: Kimi Raikkonen went quickest in first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel second at a baking hot Sakhir Circuit. Mercedes, meanwhile, focused on long runs with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton down in 15th and 16th place respectively.

    With track temperatures exceeding 50 degree and the running conducted in blazing sunshine, the session was unrepresentative of the conditions that will hold sway during Sunday’s first night race of the season and as such the timesheet had a somewhat muddled look, with Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen in P1 and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in second place for a period midway through the 90 minutes.

    After using the free set of medium tyres on offer in the first half hour, many teams left it until late in the session to bolt on a second set, with the Ferrari drivers among that group.

    Vettel, who had earlier been restricted to the Ferrari garage for a long period following a power loss on his car, was sent back out in the final ten minutes of the session and with the temperatures falling, the German jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:38.029. That was swiftly eclipsed by Raikkonen who moments later crossed the line in a time of 1:37.827, to edge his team-mate by 0.202s.

    Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams with a lap of 1:38.390. That put marginally ahead of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz who had also waited for more representative track conditions before bolting on fresh tyres for a late run that netted him a fourth-best time of 1:38.447. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth quickest for Red Bull Racing, while Verstappen slipped to sixth with his best lap of 1:38.504.

    Alonso gave one side of the McLaren garage something to smile about, with his best time 1:38.598 remaining good enough for seventh place.

    There was less to celebrate on Jenson Button’s side of the McLaren pit.  The Briton stopped at Turn 2 just as he was starting his first flying lap. The team later reported an electric problem and he remained stuck in the garage for the remainder of the session.

    Eight place in the session went to another late improved, Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, who set a best time of 1m 38.628s. The top 10 order was completed by Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat and Williams’ Felipe Massa.

    Having taken on a second set of tyres early in the session, both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton concentrated on long runs, with Rosberg emerging the quicker of the two with a time of 1:39.293, just over two tenths of a second quicker than his team-mate.

    2015 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.827   13
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:38.029 0.202 12
    3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:38.390 0.563 23
    4 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:38.447 0.620 14
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.455 0.628 17
    6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.504 0.677 22
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:38.598 0.771 18
    8 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:38.628 0.801 17
    9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:38.661 0.834 17
    10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:38.790 0.963 21
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.793 0.966 15
    12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:38.842 1.015 23
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:39.187 1.360 20
    14 Jolyon Palmer Lotus 1:39.283 1.456 31
    15 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.293 1.466 23
    16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.532 1.705 22
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.534 1.707 21
    18 Will Stevens Marussia 1:42.973 5.146 12
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:44.265 6.438 15
    20 Jenson Button McLaren No time   2

    eom/FIA release

  • Raikkonen puts Ferrari back on top as Jerez test ends

    Jerez, 4 Feb 2015: Kimi Raikkonen put Ferrari back on top of the timsheets as Formula One’s first pre-season test of 2015 came to a close at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain.

    The Finn’s best time of 1:20.841 came late in the day, on a soft tyre run, after he had spent most of the day heading the field on medium and hard tyres. His late flourish was also the fastest time of the test, a tenth of a second quicker than that set by team-mate Sebastian Vettel on day two of the four-day outing.

    Yesterday, Sauber’s FelipTEST PRE-CAMPIONATO F1/2015e Nasr broke Ferrari’s grip on the top of the timesheets yesterday and today team-mate Marcus Ericsson kept the Swiss team at the top end of the order with a best time of 1:22.019, again set on soft tyres.

    Lewis Hamilton set the day’s third fastest time with a lap of 1:22.172, 1.3s down on Raikkonen’s best. Perhaps more importantly his 117 laps took Mercedes test total to an enormous 516. The defending champion’s total for the day was set despite a morning spin that left his W06 stranded at the chicane.

    An earlier stoppage was caused by Red Bull Racing Daniil Kvyat. Forty-five minutes into the session he stopped on track with the team later diagnosing an ERS problem that restricted the Russian to the garage for the rest of the morning.

    He eventually returned to the fray just before 1pm and ran faultlessly thereafter, racking up 64 laps for the team’s biggest single-day total of the test.

    “Once we’d sorted the issue the car ran perfectly all afternoon and we were able to get through the key elements of the programme we had mapped out,” said Head of race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin. “This week has all been about establishing reliability and while we’ve had a few niggles the car is pretty much where we want it to be. We focused on medium and long runs all week and Dany was able to do more of that work this afternoon. We did lose track time over the four days and that’s always frustrating, as you inevitably have to scratch some things off the ‘to do’ list, but the major items were covered so I would say we’re leaving Jerez in pretty decent shape.”

    Despite the positive spin, it’s been a tricky week for the Milton Keynes outfit, with their day two running being disrupted by a broken front wing and day three being compromised by the need to change a power unit.

    McLaren also had a difficult final day. The team made early progress with the MP4-30, with Jenson Button posting 35 laps, but its running was cut short by a fuel pump issue. Button’s morning running had also been disrupted by an oil system problem.

    “Unfortunately, we’ve had a few issues this week – all of which have been pretty small – but cumulatively they meant we were stuck in the garage for quite some time,” said the team’s Engineering Director Matt Morris. “Still, our prime objective coming away from this test was to ascertain that the main car architecture worked, and we’ve done that.

    “Today, we had a couple of stoppages, but we were still able to get on with our aero progamme – obtaining correlation data for the guys back at the factory, just so we can check that everything’s working as we expected.”

    Honda’s Yasuhisa Arai added: “Of course, we’d anticipated there would be issues – this is a test, after all – but the difficulties we faced here were more than we’d expected, so we weren’t able to get the running time we’d ideally wanted. Nonetheless, Fernando and Jenson’s feedback has been positive and comprehensive – they’ve given us some very good information.”

    Elsewhere, Max Verstappen had a busy final outing of the week, putting 97 laps on Toro Rosso’s STR10.

    “It was good to run STR10 in anger and after overcoming some niggling problems on the first two days, we managed to do some really high mileage on the final two,” said Toro Rosso Technical Director James Key. “That was useful, because it meant both our drivers managed to complete a full and comprehensive programme. Our focus has been entirely on reliability, while allowing the drivers to experience every aspect of the job. We haven’t done any work on performance so far and we will not do that until the end of the month, therefore we are not looking at our lap times for now. The important topics are reliability, consistency and driver work, to tune the car to their requirements and give them as much preparation time as possible.”

    Romain Grosjean got a first taste of Lotus E23 but his running was cut short after 53 laps with a power unit problem.

    Jerez Test – Day Four
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1: 20.841s 106
    2 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:22.019s 1.178s 112
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.172s 1.331s 117
    4 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:22.553s 1.712s 97
    5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:23.116s 2.275s 73
    6 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:23.802s 2.961s 53
    7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:23.975s 3.134s 64
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.660s 6.819s 35\

    eom/FIA press release/david

  • Ban on certain Radio calls is a dramatic change: Perez, it’s a part of the game, so its ok: Kimi Raikkonen

    Sergio Perez: Image courtesy Sahara Force India
    Sergio Perez: Image courtesy Sahara Force India

    Drivers – Marcus ERICSSON (Caterham), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus), Sergio PÉREZ (Force India), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari) Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: First of all, a question to all of you about the ban on large amounts of radio traffic between the team and the driver. What’s your reaction to this? Sergio, perhaps you could start.

    Sergio PÉREZ: Hi everyone. I don’t think it’s ideal that they, suddenly from one race to another, they change it dramatically that you cannot get certain calls. But it doesn’t influence it much. I don’t see it as a big deal, it’s something that we as drivers need to get more used to. We will have, definitely, more information and we’re going to be a bit more busy throughout the race to basically try to keep everything under control – fuel loads and engine modes, all that kind of stuff. I don’t see a problem to get used to, it’s just a dramatic change from the last race to this one.

    Kimi, you famously told the team “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing.” Does that mean you welcome this change?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Well, obviously we don’t speak a lot on the radio in my case usually, when there are no issues – but obviously it might get quite complicated if there are some problems with the car and you have to change certain things to try to finish the race. I don’t know how the rule goes at those times. Obviously it makes it more complicated for us but it’s part of the game so it’s OK.

    Pastor, your thoughts on it.

    Pastor MALDONADO: For sure it’s not a great thing, especially with all the complex systems we have at the moment – but it’s the same for everyone so it doesn’t matter.

    What about from a rookie perspective. Presumably there’s been quite a lot of coaching going on over the radio Marcus, so far this season. Are you going to miss it? Particularly on the approach to the start, getting everything prepared for a start, for example?

    Marcus ERICSSON: No, I think… I like the idea, to be honest. I think it’s good to get the drivers more in focus. I think it’s good. But for us as a small team I think it’s a bit more trickier because our steering wheel, we don’t have a big display. A lot of the other teams, I think they have a big display, so they can show a lot of stuff on this, whereas we have a very small one. So it’ll be a bit more tricky – but yeah, like I said, I like the idea and I think it’s good to make us drivers a bit more in focus.

    Jean-Eric, are you supportive as well?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: I don’t mind it. I think it will be more or less the same as before. I like to do things by my own and many times this year I changed the settings before my engineer told me, so yeah, I will be a bit more lonely on the radio – but it should be fine.

    Adrian?

    Adrian SUTIL: No problem really. I think all manageable. It’s a bit more work but we’ll handle it.

    Q: Kimi, coming back to you, obviously this season hasn’t been quite what you expected it to be – but did you expect to have your problems sorted out by now? And what’s your focus for the remaining six races or so?

    KR: Obviously to do as well as we can and have good results for the team and for myself. I expect it to be difficult. Probably the team didn’t expect to have such difficulties over all. We expected to be more stronger overall. It’s part of the game and we have to try to sort things out. I think we have done pretty good improvements – compared to where we started – as a team and obviously then I’m getting more happy with things but obviously still not where we want to be in the end. Still a lot of work to do.

    Q: Pastor, front row qualifier here two years ago with Williams, it’s always been a strong Lotus track – so is there some optimism there for a top ten result maybe this weekend?

    PM: I hope. For sure, the qualifying pace is always a bit tricky for us but during the race, for any reason we are able to recover the pace and sometimes we are much more competitive. So hopefully here we can be a bit more competitive than Monza for sure but it’s difficult to say something before we get in the car.

    Q: Sergio, you’ve scored points in all three of your appearances here at Singapore and you’ve come off the back of two strong results, so your thoughts on this race and also how close you are to committing to Force India for another season?

    SP: I think things are settling down and I think we should be very close to committing for next year with the team but you never know; I have experience from the past so you never know what’s going to happen. Yeah, we are really optimistic for this weekend. We have a good upgrade package and I believe we can be competitive and definitely our target is the McLarens which we are fighting with really closely and hopefully we can score more points than them this weekend with both cars and the upgrade package gives us some boost.

    Q: Adrian, like Sergio you’ve scored points in your last three races here in Singapore but there’s no getting away from the fact that Sauber is yet to get into Q3 this season, so what’s the rescue package and what lies ahead for the rest of the season?

    AS: We have a good package here, the last one, but it should give us a little bit more speed. We have to try it out on Friday. We’re not so far away – especially in qualifying – from the group in front and it’s just missing a little bit to the top ten normally but Monza was quite tricky, especially in the race. We were losing a bit too much time and our performance was a bit slower but this track is very special and very different so I hope it suits our car. There’s a lot of work, we need some points and this is the main target for the moment.

    Q: Marcus, since the last round, obviously the team principal has moved on so can you tell us a bit about the structure now at the team and the plan for upgrades and so on?

    ME: We’re still pushing hard like we’ve done the last couple of races and bringing some more updates for here, so not much has changed. Obviously Christijan left which is a shame, we got along very well, but still I think the team is pushing on quite a lot and it’s a positive atmosphere from everyone. We just have to wait and see this weekend, see how it suits our car but in general I have a good feeling. I had a really strong race last time out on a street track so I think hopefully we can try and repeat something similar to that.

    Q: Jean-Eric, still six races to go but you’ve already scored points more times this year than you did last year so what’s the plan now for you for the rest of this season and what about next season? Have you made any progress yet with your plans for 2015?

    J-EV: Yuh, talking about this weekend and the race and the season, I really want to end the season strongly. I think we should have had a lot more points with our team if we didn’t have so much bad luck but I think now that’s behind. I really want to make the best out of the last six races with Toro Rosso and then find a good option for next year.

    QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta –Turun Sanomat) Kimi, it’s two hours in very humid conditions; Nico Rosberg said that the last laps are always very painful here because it’s physically so demanding. How painful are they for you?

    KR: I don’t know. Everybody has their own feelings so I can’t know how they feel like but in the past it hasn’t been a problem. It doesn’t feel as hot or humid in the last years unless the course has slowed in the race, so I don’t see why it should suddenly be a problem.

    Ends

  • It was a really good day for Mercedes to get 1-2 finish: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Benedict Cumberbatch)

    Nico, congratulations, man – a home win for the home boy. How did it feel? You had Lewis very, very close to you all the race but you held on to your lead. How was it?

    Nico ROSBERG: A very, very special day for sure. Lewis drove really, really well and pushed me massively hard, so the pressure was on all the way. But I kept it cool and, yeah, was able to win, in the end pulling a bit of a gap because I had the fresher tyres. So, fantastic and I’m very, very happy for the whole team, it’s an amazing car they’ve built and given us this year.

    Congratulations, well done to the Monaco boy. Lewis, how are you? Tell us a little bit about what happened on the 56th lap? You got something in your eye?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, just through the visor… but anyway that’s not important. It was a good day and really good for the team to get a one-two.

    You had [Daniel Ricciardo] right close behind. How was it? You started second and finished second and how are things with your team-mate, I think people want to know?

    LH: I had great pace, you know, obviously I felt I was very strong today but it’s a very, very difficult circuit to overtake on…

    It’s incredibly thrilling to watch, you were all incredible out there, the closeness of the cars…

    LH: Thank you. Fortunately we didn’t make any mistakes, so….

    Daniel, well done, man. Nice to meet you; Benedict. Tell us a little bit about your race. You were in third for a while, then the pit stops, tell us a little about your strategy.

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Firstly, it’s really nice to be up here on the podium in Monaco.

    It’s your first podium here isn’t it? Congratulations.

    DR: Yeah, thank you. The start was not great, I dropped back to fifth actually. A bit of frustration but then we saw Vettel had a problem, so we were able to get fourth and then we saw Raikkonen had a puncture on one of the safety cars. So we sort of inherited third after a poor start…

    You got very close to Lewis. You were right on his gearbox at the end?

    DR: At the end we really closed in. I believe he had an issue. We tried to put some pressure on but in the end third was the best we could do.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Congratulations Nico – a two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner, only a handful of drivers have ever done that before. Fifth consecutive one-two finish for the Mercedes team and you are back on top of the Drivers’ standings. Can you sum up what this win means for you today in the context of tyhe4 battle with Lewis for the championship?

    NR: Yeah, it’s a special win, definitely, because Lewis has had the momentum with the results and everything and I really needed to try to break that momentum and somewhat I managed to do that this weekend. Of course taking the leading again in the world championship and winning here in Monaco, yeah, all in all really, really cool.

    Well done. Lewis, obviously the momentum is broken for the moment. We heard you on the radio quite a lot after the safety car and the pit stops, questioning and speaking about the strategy calls. Obviously you pitted together under the safety car. Had there been a thought that you might try to undercut Nico before that? Can you explain to us what the conversation was about?

    LH: I don’t remember to be honest. I don’t. I think they saw a crash and normally under the crash we could have come in and I really should have come in but the team didn’t call us in. We really should have pitted that lap.

    Fair enough. Daniel, your first Monaco podium. Can you describe your feelings about that and looking back across qualifying and the race is there any way you could have got a better result than the one you got today.

    DR: To describe the feeling, it’s really nice to be up here. Could we have done better? I don’t know. I felt yesterday that we left a little bit of lap time on there. Where that would have jumped on the grid, who knows. After that, the race itself – the start was not good, not what I wanted. I actually dropped back to fifth and then Seb had his problems, still not sure what, but pretty evident he had problems when he slowed on the straight. Then Raikkonen I saw got a puncture under the safety car, so I got third and then pretty much was just trying to maintain the gap behind me to Alonso. Then when I thought there was enough or the right amount of laps left before the end to push and not really save tyres anymore, I did and went for it. We got close to at least one of the Mercedes at the end but you know what it’s like around here, it’s quite hard to pass. Tried to put a bit of pressure on but third was the best we could do but not a bad day.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello sport) A question for Nico and Lewis. We have seen that there is a pretty tense situation between the two of you and we also heard comments from Lauda saying you did not want to talk and apologise. Are you going to have a pizza together, a dinner, to sort the problems, talk about it and try to get the situation back to normal.

    NR: It’s fine. We’ve had discussions and the benefit we have is that we’ve known each other for so long. We always sit down and discuss it and then move on and that’s what we’re doing this weekend also.

    Lewis?

    LH: I don’t really have an answer for you there.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) I have a question for Lewis. Niki Lauda said that in Barcelona you used an engine mode you were told not to and you had to apologise to Nico for that. Do you think that that mode would have helped you win the race today?

    LH: No… today we were using all the modes. In the last race it was a mode that didn’t really affect the outcome of the race. We were told that we had to stay in a certain mode. Nico did it in Bahrain and I did it in Barcelona. In this race we stuck to the strategies we had to stick.

    NR: I don’t know what Niki is referring to but it’s completely normal that we switch modes together you know, we always do that in the races. It’s nothing unusual.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Lewis, yesterday you told the BBC that you might handle the situation with Nico like Senna would. What did you mean by that?

    LH: I don’t know. I can’t really remember to be honest. I think it was just a joke. Obviously I didn’t.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) I think you said on the radio that you had a problem with your eye in the closing stages. What happened there?

    LH: I’ve never really had it before. I kept making sure my visor was as closed as possible but I had quite a bit of wind coming in. I got close to Nico at one stage and all of a sudden I got a bit of debris in my eye, or some dirt, so I was driving with one eye, which is virtually impossible to do and so through the low-speed corners I was trying to open up my visor to clear it up but it was just making it worse. Fortunately, I think with five laps to go it cleared up so I was able to stay ahead of Daniel.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) in the last days Nico was mentioning that the previous races were not one-to-one races. What do you think Lewis about this race or this race weekend. Was it a one-to-one races.

    LH: I don’t fully understand the question.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) last day Nico Rosberg was mentioning that the previous races were not one-to-one races, relating to the weather, because you were winning the races and this time he’s winning the race and I want to know if you think this weekend is a one-to-one race for you?

    LH: I’m still not fully understanding it, but all the races have been very, very close but this weekend I think I had very good pace. I drove with all my heart and gave it all I could, fairly, and I feel like I drove fairly all weekend. So I leave today quite happy and I can go into the next race with even more energy and determination.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, it seems pretty clear to us that you feel aggrieved with the events that occurred yesterday in qualifying. Is this it now for you? Is it gloves off in your battle with Nico? And secondly, do you feel that you are getting full and fair support from the team?

    LH: Generally, there is a fierce battle between me and Nico and it will continue that way to I’m sure quite late in the season. Nico’s not had a single hiccup through the season so far. Obviously I had a car that didn’t finish in Melbourne but otherwise it’s still quite close, so I’m just going to keep my head up, keep pushing. I know the team are working hard for the both of us. The team can sometimes be in awkward positions, which they were yesterday, and their job is really to protect us both and that’s what they did.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Nico: you were being told to back-off and coast with fuel. How critical was your fuel?

    NR: Yeah, the fuel was very critical and caught me off-guard a little bit because it was a major change that I had to make and especially with Lewis being so close behind, it was a tough moment because I had to change the driving style completely, use different gears, different lifting and coasting, everything different. But, again, the team managed that well and got me to do what I needed to do. And then, once I got into the groove again, it was OK and everything… it was no problem them. But it was still difficult.

    Q: (Jussi Jäkälä – YLE) Nico, 31 years ago Keke won here, today you are double Monaco winning. Which do you think is prouder at the moment: you or your Dad?

    NR: I don’t know. I hope… of course my father is proud today and that makes me very happy, that I’m able to make my parents proud. Hopefully even my friends, for example, who all were here also this weekend and that makes it all the more special to have family, friends, everybody I know lives here and is at the track watching the race and that’s even nicer.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) One question to Nico and one to Daniel. Nico, you said that you had to break the momentum, since Lewis is coming from four consecutive wins. Is this your most important victory so far? And to you Daniel, from what we have seen today from Red Bull, are you going to have the pace to challenge Mercedes in Montreal in two weeks?

    NR: I don’t know about the most important. For sure it was very, very important, yes, today because Lewis had the result moment and I needed to try and bring that to an end and managed to do that today, so that’s great but, y’know, it’s still early days and for sure it’s going to continue to be a very, very tough battle.

    Daniel?

    DR: I think, yeah, we closed up a bit here in Monaco which we knew would be our best chance up until now. This circuit definitely suits our package a bit better than previous circuits – we still didn’t finish in front so, unfortunately, it’s still not where we want to be. Montreal is still a street circuit but unfortunately the straights go on a little bit longer there so we’re still down a little bit in that area, which I think everyone’s aware of and we’ve made progress. Whether it will be enough by then, honestly, probably not but we are closing the gap so, that’s all we can ask for, for now, and just keep chipping away at it and be patient. I’m sure a bit of perseverance as well and we’ll get there.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Daniel, for sure as a driver you must trust in yourself but in any moment did you believe you could beat Vettel in the way this season you are beating him in qualifying and the race?

    DR: I didn’t really have any visions exactly on how it would go, what the race results would be or what the qualifying score would be – but I knew that I have some talent and obviously got a bit of experience now in Formula One. So, every year, even every six month period I feel I’m still growing and getting better as a driver as well so, I knew coming into the season with the team behind me and sort of a new opportunity, that I would be able to challenge Seb. Did I think it would be going, let’s say, as well as it was now? I don’t know. But I knew if I had everything underneath me I’d be capable of getting the results. So, fortunately the team saw that as well, back in September, I think, last year. So, it’s coming good.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, after your victory in Barcelona, you said that Nico was faster than you in the race. Today he can even beat you. Is it a worry for you? And do you know where you should improve pace-wise.

    LH: erm… not really. I was pretty comfortable with my pace this weekend.

    Q: (Yassmin Abdel-Magied – RichardsF1.com) Daniel, you said yesterday that there was a little bit left on the table in terms of qualifying. Do you think that there was a little bit left on the table still in the race, and was there was there any point – you got pretty close to Lewis at the end there – when you were going to go for it and then maybe not – don’t want to risk it? What was the thinking in those last few laps?

    DR: Everyone was trying to do a one stop today; it’s a bit of a weird one, you don’t really push much of the race because, especially after the first pit stop, we still had a long way to go, so you’re in two minds: do I push or do I just try and hold the guy off and get to the end. By the time we’d got 15/20 laps to go I knew the tyres were going to last so then I could actually start my race, so to speak, and then start to set some quicker times. We caught Lewis, the team said I was going to catch him, the pace was good so I knew I was eventually going to get on to him. Knowing it’s hard to pass around here, I wasn’t… I don’t know. I was just waiting to see what happened but I wasn’t just going to settle for third. Obviously in the end I did but if there was a clean move to be taken then yeah, I would have taken it.

    Q: (Nicola Pohl – Bild) Lewis, what do you think was the reason why the team didn’t call you in immediately after the crash? You complained over the team radio about that.

    LH: I think it’s just what we have a rule that the guy in front gets the first opportunity to pit first so I think that would be why.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Lewis, how did the debrief of yesterday’s qualifying go because as we understand, you were not in the debrief room, while Rosberg was?

    LH: I was in there. I went to the toilet and Nico did his big debrief before I got there which is unusual. Usually we do it when we’re both in the same room but as I came up I did mine and fortunately the engineers had written down what Nico had said so I read it.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, have you been surprised that the team didn’t call you in right after the crash of Sutil?

    NR: No. Surprised? No, not really, because I don’t think about that too much. I know I can rely on them to make the right call at all times so it’s not something that I’m thinking too much about, the strategy and should I be boxing now or not, because I know that they’re going to make the right call.

    Q: (Christian Hoenicke – Der Tagesspiegel) Nico, do you think it was fair what Lewis said about you not being hungry as him because you were growing with boats and jets and all that stuff?

    NR: I didn’t hear Lewis say that and so I’m not going to comment because it’s easy for you to just invent something and so I’m not going to comment on that, and even if something like that was written – which I don’t know because I don’t read the media – then still, between what Lewis says and what’s written, so much can turn around so it’s better I don’t say anything and I know that Lewis wouldn’t say something like that, especially not to the press, maybe to me if he feels like it but not to the press.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Assocation) Nico, you may give the same answer to this question then, because there were some comments from yourself in one of the German newspapers or certainly a few of the German newspapers and you can correct me if I’m wrong, if the English translation was not correct but you remarked that when Lewis goes through a difficult period that he can crack. Do you think that that’s what happened this weekend, that maybe Lewis did crack under the press yesterday in qualifying, and Lewis, any comment on that yourself? Do feel you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t crack, that you can hold it together in these kind of circumstances?

    NR: Again, that is definitely very very far from anything that I’ve ever said and ever would say. Definitely not and I’ve known Lewis for many many years and he’s always been strong, among other things mentally, so I’m definitely not expecting him to crack any time soon, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a tough battle which is going to be ongoing, but I would never say something like that anyways.

    LH: Do I feel like I crack? No.

    Q: (Ralf Bach  – Sport Bild) Lewis, to clean the situation, did you tell the BBC in this interview where you said these things with the boat or didn’t you say that?

    LH: I was asked who was hungrier. I think if you ask every driver they will say that they’re the hungriest and I said that what gives me the hunger is where I grew up in comparison to where Nico grew up. You know I’ve always been striving to come and live here. I used to travel around with Nico in his Dad’s plane, I used to go to his boat, I used to go to his house, I used to have those experiences and that gave me those experiences and that gave me the desire to want that one day, which gave me the hunger. It was his Dad obviously who inspired me to be where I am today.

    Q: (Ralf Bach  – Sport Bild) So you did say it.

    LH: Yes, but – as Nico said – it was taken out of context a little bit.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) Lewis, do you believe with a normal pit stop – not under safety car conditions – you would have had any chance to overtake Nico and get the lead of the race?

    LH: It’s irrelevant now, but obviously with the start, we got exactly the same start… there’s only two opportunities in the race and the pit stop would have been the other one but the safety car came out at the perfect time for him so I didn’t have the chance there. Otherwise, that was it.

    Q: (Gloria Scola – El Mundo) The race has just finished; I was wondering what racing gives you, is it freedom of expression, a way to express yourself, adrenalin?

    NR: First of all, we’re here to entertain and hopefully give people a great time and a spectacle to watch, and especially in Monaco, it’s very obviously because everybody’s there on boats and houses and everything, and I just hope that we’re able to put on a great show, that our sport is seen as the best sport in the world, the most fun sport in the world, the most exciting sport in the world and so that’s a special feeling as such. And then of course driving my car through the streets of Monaco on the limit, battling everybody else, trying to win and then of course the win itself is the most special moment.

    LH: I’m living my dream so it gives good energy.

    DR: I get… honestly, freedom is definitely one thing. I remember when I first hopped in a go-kart as a kid, just being in control and not having anyone else in your space and then going at speed was a sense of freedom definitely. It’s nice as well, particularly with everything that happens around F1, all the media and everything else – when you hop in the car, it’s just you and the car and occasionally you have an engineer on the radio but it’s just you so definitely a sense of freedom along with a wicked adrenalin.

    eom/FIA press release of the transcript of Monaco Press Conference

    Rosberg flanked by Hamilton on right and Ricciardo after winning the Monaco GP to take the F1 Championship lead again. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Rosberg flanked by Hamilton on right and Ricciardo after winning the Monaco GP to take the F1 Championship lead again. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • It’s my home race and the most-challenging to win: Nico Rosberg

    Monaco, 21 May 2014: DRIVERS – Jules BIANCHI (Marussia), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jules, can I start with you? Obviously it’s been quite a tough start to the season for you. What do you put that down to? Is it adapting to the car, is it bad luck or a combination of those things?

    Jules BIANCHI: Yeah, obviously it’s been a very difficult start. The first few races have been pretty tough for me and the team but actually the last one especially was pretty good for me, so I am happy with that. So I will think about this only now and be focused for the next races coming now.

    Tell us about your experience and thoughts about this unique race track here in Monaco. You had a good result here back in Renault 3.5 a few years ago, does that junior experience help in the first few years in Formula One?

    JB: Yeah it helps a lot for sure to race in Monaco before your first year in Formula One. Last year has been really difficult for me. I had some issues in qualifying, I had engine failure and then in the race again some issue with the engine to start with and a brake failure to finish with, so it was not the best race I could have but I’m pretty confident now that I can do a good race this year.

    Coming to you Valtteri, you’re seventh now in the Drivers’ Championship and well ahead of your team-mate. You had another good result in Spain. Do you feel that you and the team have moved up a gear now?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, since the start of the season everything’s been positive if we compare it to the year before. All the time during this year we’ve been able to make progress, we’ve been bringing some updates, which always gave us a little bit. That’s what we aim for, for that to continue for the whole season. We are definitely keeping up at least with the development. We just need to keep pushing really, because everyone is going to improve so much.

    You said in the build-up to this race that you feel confident this year at Monaco. I wonder how much of a handicap it was last year for you that you’d never driven anything around this circuit? Can you tell us a bit what it’s like to drive this place with absolutely zero database when you’re driving a Formula One car.

    VB: Yeah, definitely it was really tough last year, first time, immediately with a Formula One car but, you know, you just need to adapt to it, you need to build the speed up step-by-step in the practice and definitely going for the race this season I know the track now well, so it’s much easier to approach the weekend and build from practice one onwards. I definitely feel very confident for this weekend and I really think we can fight as a team for some really good points.

    Nico, winner from pole here last year. Can you tell us what a win around this race track means to a Formula One drive, what it did for you personally and for your confidence?

    NIco ROSBERG: For me personally it was a very, very special experience, because it’s my home, it’s where I’ve grown up. My whole life has been centred around Monaco. So to win here, yeah it was great. And not only that but also it’s the race to win. It’s the most challenging race to win and the most prestigious race to win, so really that was awesome.

    With what happened in Spain, losing the initiative in the championship to your team-mate, how are you feeling at this point, going into this race? Do you feel the strain or do you feel an impatience to get that lead back again?

    NR: I’m not too focused on that. Of course I would prefer to be ahead than behind but it’s very, very close and there still a long way to go. So I’m just focused on this weekend here, looking forward to it, because I know that I have a fantastic car at the moment and I expect the car to be very, very quick also here in Monaco. The gap – they might be a lot closer to us this weekend and we need to wait and see if we are the fastest and the chances are we will be, so I look forward it and hope to have a fantastic weekend again.

    Jean-Eric, like Jules you’ve had a difficult start to the season. You got four points in the opening round but since then you’ve been in a position to score more points but then you’ve had non-finishes. What’s been going on?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: Yeah I think I’ve been pretty unlucky since the beginning of the season, started well in Melbourne and then always in a position to score some good points. But that’s how it is; it’s part of the sport. I’ll just keep on smiling and hopefully the bad luck will go away and get tired of me. I’m just hoping to finish the race and have a good car and that’s all I’m hoping for. So it will come.

    You won here in your junior career I believe and last year this race was the start of a real turnaround in your season. What are your thoughts on the venue, your prospects for the weekend, and also I noted that you said that a driver must arrive in a humble state of mind at the beginning of a weekend in Monaco. What do you mean by that and what happens from there?

    J-EV: Well, I think this track is really difficult for sure. You want to stay far away from the walls and at the beginning the walls always look really close, a lot close than in the end of the weekend. This is a particular track where even the first session, the first P1, is really important for the confidence over the whole weekend, so you really have to build up your weekend in a good way.

    Q: Romain, coming to you, first points of the season obviously in Spain and also fifth on the grid, followed up by what looked like a very encouraging test for Maldonado and Pic in Barcelona. Can you sum up where Lotus are now and what level of optimism there is for this next phase of the Championship?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Well, if you look at the trend from Melbourne, we’ve been improving every time, going to Q3 for the first time in China, going to Q3 and being fifth on the grid in Barcelona. I think we were looking good in the race to keep the Ferrari behind but I had a small problem. It’s good that all the work has been done, and the fact we understand more and more our car, it’s going in the right direction and, of course, if you are fifth on the grid in Monaco, the race is even kind of easier to defend your position. You never know what you are going to get when you come to Monaco. It’s such a specific track. But I do hope we get the same kind of car we had in Barcelona. Then we can be well placed in Q3 and score some more points.

    Q: Looking at your record here over the years, Monaco has not been a very happy hunting ground for you, has it? In Formula One or the junior categories. Why is that, do you think?

    RG: I think that’s not fair to say. I’ve been on pole position here in GP2, won the race in GP2  – but on the other side if you have a look at crashes, I have a good record and few corners I know too well. To be fair, last year I completely missed my weekend and wherever I would have been, it would have been the same story. So, just try to not do that again. You have to respect the track. Every mistake is more obvious than everywhere else – but I’ve always been quick so I’ll try to keep that in my pocket but stay away from the rails.

    Q: Kimi, another Monaco winner, do you consider a win here to be more important than other races? What did you feel when you ticked that Monaco win off your bucket list?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Obviously it’s been pretty OK many times for me the race but then it’s not always from your side that the things go wrong here. There’s so many things that can affect your result in the end. Previous years haven’t been the most best again but hopefully this year can be a bit better and hopefully we get some good points but obviously it’s too early to say how the car will be. Everything is different from last year so we have to just go open-minded and try to do the best that we can.

    Q: Was Spain something of a turning point for you in terms of being able to extract closer to the maximum potential from the Ferrari? What made the difference there for you? And also, can you say anything about your analysis of the strategy in that race afterwards?

    KR: We’ve been pretty good in other races also but obviously had some problems in the race or in practice and always messed up the complete big picture a bit. But obviously it was a bit better last time around. To be honest, if we finished where we finished, I think sixth and seventh, it’s not at all where we want to be as a team, so we still have an awful lot of work to do. We improve things little-by-little but the other teams are also going forward so it’s not a simple thing to fix and be in front suddenly. We know how it works and we know how much things have to improve but we keep working hard and for sure one day we will get there.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Aron Day – FormulaSpy.com) Kimi, you’ve driven the V10s, the V8s around Monaco. Do you think the new cars will be more difficult to drive?

    KR: It’s difficult to say before we drive. I think if your car is normally good, it doesn’t really matter where you go. You know how it behaves and it will be OK. Obviously a bit less grip this year and maybe some cars are a bit more hard to handle but we have to see how it goes on the first practice and see what it is. But I think we’ve improved a lot since the winter and it should be OK.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, Lewis says he should be dominating you more. Does it mean the time of smiles is getting over slowly? Are we going to see a harder battle between you and him?

    NR: I don’t know what he said so I’m not going to… I didn’t hear it myself so I’m not going to comment on such things. But, in general, it’s been a tough battle up until now and I expect it to continue like that. Of course now he’s had the result rhythm in a couple of races but it’s been very close. I just need a tiny bit to turn it around. I’ll start with trying to do that here in Monaco.

    Q: (Vladamir Rogovets – SB Belarus Segodnya) To all of you: what is your favourite braking zone in Monaco?

    JB: Well, I think after the tunnel, that’s good, I like that.

    J-EV: Last corner, there is nearly no braking. I don’t know.

    VB: Yeah, I think the tunnel as well, because that’s one of the places it could be possible to overtake, so let’s say that. Yeah.

    RG: Casino. It goes quickly up hill and when you get to the top you just have to brake. It’s quite a nice feeling.

    NR: Same, up the hill, it’s very very difficult because it’s a very very fast corner and you’re trying to carry the speed in and if you get it wrong and you’re going too fast, it’s very easy to lose the line.

    KR: No, I don’t really have one favourite one. Any of them. You can chose

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, are you going to carry on with the James Hunt-style design of your helmet here?

    KR: No.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) To all six of you: if there is one day race that we have now in this calendar that you would like to change into a night race, assuming there is no technical issue, which one would it be? There must be one.

    VB: This one would be cool, I think. It would look nice.

    J-EV: Yeah, I think this one as well under lights.

    JB: Same, same thing. It would be really nice to race in Monaco at night.

    RG: I don’t know; why not Melbourne?

    NR: Japan, so there’s no jetlag.

    KR: I cannot hear the question. I understood by their answers but I’m happy how they are, we can always dream about things but we don’t make the rules, so there’s no point.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Nico, last year you controlled the race all the way until the last few laps because of the fear of tyre degradation. This year’s tyres have more endurance, and also your car is quite good on tyre management. Are you going to be able to push more in the race, according to your simulation?

    NR: Well, last year, before Monaco, it was really really bad, our car with the tyres so in Monaco it was all about just trying to make the tyres last for the race but this year the tyres are more durable and also we have a better control on tyres, as a team, so it should be a faster race if I’m at the front.

    Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) Nico, four pole positions for Lewis so far; do you plan to change your approach to qualifying? Here, you know that you dominated him last year; what do you plan to maybe change something in qualifying?

    NR: No. Of course three of those qualifyings were in the wet; in the dry it’s 1-1 and it’s supposed to be dry on Saturday so I’m confident I can make it happen so I’m not changing my approach or anything.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – BBC) Nico and Kimi; we lost a legend of Formula One, Sir Jack Brabham,  this last week. Obviously his exploits were before you guys were born but can I just ask if you had any contact with Sir Jack Brabham, if you have any thoughts about his career and also if you’d been born in a different era, would you have ever considered going down that kind of route that he did, of building his own car? Kimi, you’ve set up teams; Nico you have an interest in engineering. If you’d been born in that era, could you have seen yourselves go down that route?

    KR: Obviously I read and I was so sad to hear that he had passed away. Obviously these days are different than the days that they used to race and they could do different categories, different races. It would be very nice if they would be able to do different things at the same time and different races and try different things more. But the problem is everything gets so much more expensive these days and obviously people are more scared that you get hurt that they try to limit everything that you do. It’s a shame because I think it would be more fun for everybody and all sports would also benefit from it, and F1. It would be nice to do stuff like they did.

    NR: It’s an amazing achievement that he did at the time, to win in another team but also in his own team, in his own car that he built. It’s extremely unlikely to ever happen again but you never know, but it’s a record that is definitely going to last a long time.

    eom/FIA release fo the transcripts

  • Rosberg tops FP2; Raikkonen 2nd, Vettel 3rd; Hamilton slips to fourth

    Sepang, 28 March 2014: Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg took over from team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the top of the practice timesheets in Malaysia, the German driver ending day one at Sepang with a lap of 1:39.909.

    “It was crazy conditions out there,” Rosberg said after the after FP2 session. “In the very, very warm temperatures, it’s a huge challenge to get everything right. The cars are on the edge and the tyre degradation was higher than expected today – we are sliding a bit more this year, perhaps because of the reduced downforce levels,” he added.

    Rosberg was just three hundredths of a second clear of second-placed Kimi Raikkonen, however, the Finn continuing the good work he’d put in during the morning session when he backed up Hamilton at the top of the timesheet. Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, improved from seventh in session one to third in the afternoon, the Red Bull Racing driver ending his day just six hundredths of a second behind Rosberg.

    Rosberg’s best time was set about half an hour into the session, his lap being good enough to dislodge Wiliams’ Felipe Massa’s Williams, who had been the first to top the timesheet on the medium tyres. Lewish Hamilton, in the second Mercedes then went second fastest but then Raikkonen arrived with a lap of 1:39.944 to split the Silver Arrows.

    It was then Vettel’s turn to move up the leaderboard. The Red Bull Racing driver set his fastest lap on his second lap on the medium tyre – suggesting that the RB10 may be kinder on its tyres on Sepang’s abrasive surface than some other cars.

    With Hamilton fourth, Fernando Alonso ended up fifth fastest, half a tenth slower than Hamilton and just eight thousandths of a second quicker than Massa, who slid to sixth. Daniel Ricciardo finished his day’s work in seventh spot, three tenths of a second down on team-mate Vettel.

    It was another troubled session for Lotus, however. After a turbo failure in the opening session Pastor Maldonad’s car required an engine change and that restricted the Venezuelan to the garage for the afternoon. Team-mate Romain Grosjean did make it out on track but his running was ended by a gearbox problem after 14 laps.

    Caterham too had a difficult time, with Kamui Kobayashi unable to run because of an energy store problem. Tea-mate Marcus Ericsson was able to complete a full programme, however.

    2014 Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Result
    1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.909 30
    2 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.944 0.035 3

    Nico Rosberg tops time sheets in FP2 on Friday at Sepang. A Pirelli photo
    Nico Rosberg tops time sheets in FP2 on Friday at Sepang. A Pirelli photo

    0
    3 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:39.970 0.061 30
    4 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.051 0.142 32
    5 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.103 0.194 29
    6 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:40.112 0.203 34
    7 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:40.276 0.367 29
    8 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.628 0.719 28
    9 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:40.638 0.729 35
    10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:40.691 0.782 34
    11 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:40.777 0.868 33
    12 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.014 1.105 20
    13 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.257 1.348 28
    14 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:41.325 1.416 32
    15 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.407 1.498 34
    16 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:41.671 1.762 25
    17 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:42.531 2.622 14
    18 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:43.638 3.729 20

    eom

  • The new F1 is good because it changed the pecking order: Nico Rosberg

    DRIVERS – Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Valtteri, we’ll start with you. Quite a race in Australia, 15th to sixth, hit the wall, back down to 15th, back up to sixth again, very eventful. But what do you think was possible that day?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, really eventful. If we look at it as a whole race we need to be happy. With the result we have more points, double the points than last year. So it’s a good beginning for us but it could have been better. We could have definitely, without my mistake, been fighting for the podium.

    Tell us a little bit about what these cars are like to drive. Obviously less rear end stability, more of a handful into and out of the corners. How are you finding it so far?

    VB: Yeah, the cars have quite a bit less downforce than last year so you’re sliding a bit more, with more engine power also it makes it a bit more tricky, but I like it. I really think the cars are good fun to drive. I hope it looked good from outside I think we made an exciting race with the new cars, new engines, so I think it’s good.

    Coming to you Daniil. Obviously the youngest ever points scorer with that result in Australia at the age of 19. How do you feel about that and the start you’ve made?

    Daniil KVYAT: It was a good race, also eventful for us. It was everything new for me, so obviously many things to learn during the qualifying, the race, so it was good. P10 is an OK result but we always want some more. In the end, we would always like to get some more points in the future and the more we get the better it is.

    I wonder if you could talk about the step up [to Formula One]. Prior to this the longest race you’ve ever done is 35 or 40 minutes, before you raced in Australia and then of course, the challenge of this weekend in particular so soon [into your F1 career]?

    DK: Yeah, you’re right, it was a very long race but I found a good rhythm and it wasn’t looking so long anymore. Here it’s going to be a bit different because it’s much, much warmer. Let’s see how this challenge will be done. It’s hard for me to say now but for the moment it’s looking pretty hot but it shouldn’t be a big problem in the end.

    Coming to Kamui. Welcome back to Formula One. How does it feel to be back?

    Kamui KOBAYASHI: Hi, first of all I think I have to say it’s great to be back in Formula One. I think after one break doing like GT… I think definitely I enjoyed GT but Formula One is one of the top categories and I also think I was missing the development and of course racing with the top drivers, which I think is one of the most exciting times, so I’m very happy to be back.

    Obviously, quite a tough opening weekend for you in Australia. What has the team learned, first of all about what happened at the start and also about the general problems you suffered at the weekend, and how much have you been able to put right?

    KK: Well, first of all, unfortunately I think that in 2014 the first crash is myself is not really good! But it’s not really fault, it’s coming from the system. I do anything without the rear brake and that was the first proper braking. I mean, at this point I felt straight away, I felt panic, I was a little bit crazy because my car doesn’t stop and I can’t avoid… I feel very sorry for Felipe, just… I don’t want to crash of course like that and I don’t want to end up like that. That’s what happened, a racing accident, so I think we have to find what is really the problem, but we have to find out that it never happens the next time. I think through the week, I’d say it was a very difficult week for us because we missed the complete Friday and we went to FP3. Unfortunately we had not much time to change any settings between practice and qualifying. So, I think we went to Q2, which is very happy but I think we have to look at more potential from what we have. Still we didn’t bring any potential from the car. S I’m quite excited, looking forwards to this weekend. This week is our home race, so it’s very important to having a great result and of course I think a lot of Malaysian fans are excited about Formula One, so hopefully we can achieve something.

    Q: Pastor, obviously, like Kamui, it was a tough weekend for you in Australia. Not too many laps on the board. How much has the team been able to do in the time since then?

    Pastor MALDONADO: The pre-season, it was quite tough for us. We’ve been working very hard and trying to push to solve all of the problems. These kind of problems, when you get at the bottom of the problem, you see that they are not huge problems: easy to fix but it took so much time from the test. In the first race again. So I think we miss free practice, even on Saturday, quali, so we’ve not been able to do proper long runs and to see our real potential of the car because of this kind of issues we’ve had. And now I hope to have a better weekend. We’ve been working hard again to try to improve. We improve quite a lot for the race. We had never been able to run for more than 10 laps together and during the race we did more than 30 laps with both cars – which is a step forward. Now we are fully focussed on finishing the race and I think if we finish the race we will be in a good position to fight for good places.

    Q: From the running that you have done, what’s the car telling you? What does it feel like? Are you optimistic about the potential of this car?

    PM: It is very difficult to say, just because everything is new for us. We will need some more time in the car, especially to explore the potential of the car. It’s very difficult to say. The feeling is not bad but against the other teams we need some more time in the track and try to do our best to catch them. I think it’s going to be a very tough beginning of the season but again things are changing quickly in Formula One. We’ve been working very hard, the team is quite good on reacting and hopefully this race will be much better for us.

    Q: Kimi, seventh in Australia and a bulletin from the Ferrari team since then with some quotes from you saying that one of the problems was the brake-by-wire system in particular. Would you give us a bit more detail on that?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: ah, I don’t know where that came from. It’s not the issue. There is nothing wrong with the system. Somebody asked me after the race and I said ‘it’s not that’ – because they kind of said ‘is there some issue?’ It’s not true. But just mainly setup to get the car as I like it, as I wanted to have it and I’m sure once… we’re making some stuff for me, so hopefully once we get those it will get a bit more easy to get a bit more feeling in the front end. But it will take a little while. Obviously not the ideal start for the year, for the team, not what we obviously want to achieve. We want to do much better results but after all the difficulties over the weekend and how difficult it was, how many areas, just the small things. At least we got something out and it’s going to be a long year, so hopefully we can now build on it. We have plenty of good people and they’re working flat out as a group to improve things. So, we still have things to do but I’m sure we can keep progressing.

    Q: With the nature of this particular circuit, do you think that you and we will be able to see more of what this Ferrari car is capable of this weekend, perhaps than we did in Australia?

    KR: I don’t know. Every circuit is different. Obviously it is very hot, humid here, slightly different tyres here I think, so I have no idea. Even from the past years it was very difficult to say from race to race and especially with this new year with new rules. It will be hard but hopefully we get a bit better feeling and overall have a bit more experience and all the things run the weekend through a little bit more cleanly and hopefully get the better results.

    Q: Nico, obviously the winner in Australia, your fourth career win. What’s the reaction been like? What’s the feedback been like? How have you spent the last ten days or so? Has it been more special than the other wins?

    Nico ROSBERG: Well it’s been a fantastic start to the season, definitely, yes. I think the whole team has done a great job with these new regulations, with the car and engine and powertrain that they’ve built and yes, it’s been great to win the first race, for sure, fantastic. But now… went on holiday after that, so obviously the holiday was a little bit better, thanks to the win but now back to just fully focussed on getting the most out of this race.

    Q: Obviously it’s well-chronically that it was an eventful race for you here last year, particularly towards the end. Do you expect it to be another tight, close in-house battle this weekend?

    NR: That would be a great thing. The chances are… yes, that we will be right at the front because it seems that we have a bit of an advantage over the other people. Of course Melbourne is not a benchmark, as a race, so we need to be a bit cautious with that but I think we’re looking good, so for sure it will be possible to do a great result again here.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) For all of you: we’ve heard quite a lot of negative headlines, negative news reports about the new formula. I’d like to get some positive feedback from you on what these new cars are like to drive and how much fun they are to race.

    DK: Well, it’s quite popular to criticise Formula One nowadays, I think, and there is always some new technology coming and it has happened for me to debut in a new Formula One, let’s say.  It’s quite interesting, I would say. The standard, with the new technology, has to change at some point and I think it’s quite interesting. It’s still fast,

    Nico Rosberg (left) and Lewis Hamilton pose with Twin Towers as background in a promotional event of Petronas in KL on Wednesday. A Petronas Mercedes team photo
    Nico Rosberg (left) and Lewis Hamilton pose with Twin Towers as background in a promotional event of Petronas in KL on Wednesday. A Petronas Mercedes team photo

    it’s going to be faster all the time and we will see at the end of the year how much better it is or not, so it’s early days.

    KK: I think I definitely enjoy driving them because of course it’s definitely not easy at the beginning but I remember there were quite similar headlines before, but after a few years or a few months everybody forgot, so I don’t think it’s a big problem. But for us we’re still enjoying driving. It’s more challenging to drive in dry races, so I’m pretty happy.

    NR: I think it’s been all good for F1. It’s changed around the pecking order which is definitely good for everybody because the same guy winning last year… we needed a bit of a change to that, so that’s been good. The cars are great to drive, that’s fine, so I think it’s all good.

    KR: I don’t think it’s awfully different as a driver, to compare last year’s cars to this year’s. Obviously there are some small detailed issues but it’s the bigger issues that make a difference for me, just to be in a different team. Every team feels a bit different, different cars. It doesn’t really change an awful lot as a driver.

    PM: To be honest, I don’t have much to say, because I’ve not spent a lot of time in the car at the moment. It’s quite early, but it doesn’t feel a lot different to what we had in the past. For sure, it’s a more complicated car, especially for the technicians, for the engineers in the paddock. For us, it’s a bit easier on the steering wheel. It’s a bit more complicated but it’s what we have at the moment. It’s the same for everyone.

    Q: (Elmar Dreher – DPA) Nico, with a win here, you can equalise the five wins by your father. What does that mean for you, and how confident are you to win here?

    NR: I understand that it’s interesting to make comparisons and that, and even I find it interesting. After Australia, I read that he also won the first time… at the first Australian GP, 29 years ago. It’s fun to read those things but I really don’t think about that. I don’t compare. I’m proud of what my father achieved but I’m just focused on my job and getting the most out of it and definitely, yes, I’m optimistic for the weekend and there is a possibility to win.

    Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) Kimi, how has your relationship with Fernando Alonso developed  if it has, in any direction, since you guys have become teammates?

    KR: It’s good, it always been good. Now, obviously, it’s early days but there was a lot of talk in the media from you guys, different people saying different things, but it’s been good. But the team has been trying to improve things and get the team to where we want to be.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, did you have any temptation to go to drive the simulator to get better settings for you?

    KR: No.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Kimi, can we say that Ferrari will be more able to attack Mercedes and the other teams here?

    KR: Like I said before, we don’t know how it’s going to be here. I would say it’s a different circuit, it will be very hard for the cars, the heat. We have to wait and see how we can do. Obviously we learned quite a bit on things from the last race but then it’s the same for every team. Hopefully we can be a bit more happy and see where we end up.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) To all of you: now that the first race is out of the way, do you have a fair idea of who stands where in the pecking order? Or given that Albert Park is a unique circuit, is it still very much a step into the unknown?

    VB: I think we have some kind of idea where every team is. Of course, like Nico said before, Melbourne is maybe not the best benchmark, a little bit different track than most of the others. We will see here, and of course, all the teams are going to improve so much race by race, especially when we get to Europe. Some kind of idea but it can change.

    Q: So where do you think you are? Second? Third fastest car?

    VB: Somewhere there, hopefully. It’s been a good start for us, hopefully we can maintain it because everyone is going to improve a lot, so I would definitely see no reason why we couldn’t find four top six positions.

    KR: I think we are more or less where we finished.

    NR: I think we look to be the quickest at the moment which is fantastic but we need to be careful with that and the opposition is not asleep, they’re pushing like crazy.

    Q: Daniil, Toro Rosso got two cars into the top ten in qualifying and the race in Australia which they didn’t do the whole of last year, so where does that put you in the pecking order at the moment?

    DK: Well, I hope in the points quite consistently. It would be good for us. If then we can use the conditions to our best, then hopefully we can go as high as possible, it’s always what we are fighting for and the higher the better.

    Q: Pastor, hard to say?

    PM: Yeah. No.

    KK: Same. Sorry.

  • It is possible to beat Mark and Seb and that’s what I am here to do: Rosberg

    DRIVERS – Giedo VAN DER GARDE (Caterham), Max CHILTON (Marussia), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    I’m going to start with a question for Nico, Mark and Kimi, as, with all due respect to our back row, I think you three gentlemen are best placed to challenge Sebastian Vettel for victory this weekend. He’s won the last five races, he’s won both Indian Grand Prix from pole position and he’s led every lap as well. Simple question Nico: how do you beat a man in such form?
    Nico ROSBERG: Well, I’m here to do that, that’s for sure and the last couple of races have not really gone to plan, a lot of bad luck also. But, I have a very good car at the moment. I think the Red Bull is a bit quicker than us but you never know, you know. If we really get everything right on a weekend like here in India then it’s possible to beat Mark and Sebastian in that car. That’s what I’m here to do, so I’ll give it everything and we’ll see.

    What about you Kimi? What have you got up your sleeve?
    Kimi RAIKKONEN: I think I have to do a bit better in qualifying. That would help a lot. That would give ourselves a good chance then to try to beat them. It’s not just only them though, so we’ll see what happens here.

    It’s tricky Mark, you were on pole in Japan, it didn’t quite work out in the race, but what’s the secret? Can Sebastian be beaten?
    Mark WEBBER: He’s on a phenomenal run obviously and as you said his stats here in the last few years he’s been pretty strong. It needs a perfect weekend – pole, perfect race, perfect strategy, perfect everything to obviously put him off the top step, so that’s got to be the plan.

    I wish you all perfection this weekend. Back to you in a few moments. Max, if I can turn to you next. Japan, your fastest qualifying lap there beat both Caterhams and your team-mate Jules Bianchi. Was that your lap of the season?
    Max CHILTON: It was one of them. Obviously, it was a bit of a standout performance because we managed to out-qualify both Caterhams and Jules, but I’ve had good laps in the year and I’ve been very happy with certain laps but in Japan we just managed to get things right. It was a bit of a manic last lap and I managed to just get enough space and just got the most out of the car and the car performed well. As Nico said earlier, if you get everything right then you get good performances.

    I’ll ask Giedo about the perspective from the Caterham side of things but Marussia are still hanging on to 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship with four races to go. It’s vitally important, financially, for a team to finish in that 10th spot not 11th, so how are things? Nervy, tense, determined, excited?
    MC: It’s definitely tense but I believe that when you’re passionate and working on the best result possible, you get the best out of yourself and the team. At the moment we’re doing that. It’s definitely going to be tight but we’ve got 10th at the moment and we’re hoping to keep it that way until the end of the season.

    What about from the Caterham side, Giedo? Anything can happen I’m sure in the last four races but is there extra pressure given that you’re not the team in 10th at the moment?
    Giedo VAN DER GARDE: Yeah, a little bit. Of course for us it’s very important to get the 10th place back. I think the last few races we’ve seen that we’ve always been in front in the race compared with Marussia, so the one thing we need is a little luck and the only thing we can do is maximise ourselves, maximise the car, maximise the team and the rest is luck.

    Well, good luck with the luck if it comes your way. Daniel, it’s been a few weeks since you were announced as a Red Bull driver for next year and you’ve had time to come to terms with that announcement. How has life changed? Has the attention grown race by race?
    Daniel RICCIARDO: No, not really. I think around the time of the announcement it was pretty hectic with the media and everything but it’s nicely calmed down now. It’s good. I’m sure once I hop in the car next year it will probably rise again but it’s been a quiet few weeks. I had a bit of time to myself, which is good.

    Q: Have you started to focus on what you need to do next year against a man who is likely to be a four-time world champion, or is the focus still on this season? How do you cope with that?
    DR: Definitely still my main focus is on this year. Obviously aware of the competition I’ll be up against next year and slowly employing a few things to help me out for January and to settle in with the team but yeah, still very much focussed on the rest of the year with Toro Rosso. I guess once the season’s over after Brazil I’ll make the conversion, start getting in the simulator and trying to figure out what makes Seb so quick and try to learn quickly.

    Q: Nico, this morning, tell us about your bus journey into the track. Kind of a special bus ride with some under-privileged children, stepping out of the Formula One bubble for a moment.
    NR: Yeah, it’s nice. I’m involved in the Laureas Sport for Good programme, so this morning I took a bus journey to the track with a whole bunch of children from the local community. In the end just trying to be a little bit of an inspiration to them, to show how good sport is for personal development really, to learn about discipline and to learn to be with people and respect other people and things like that. Also, to show them the importance of education. That was the aim – but they also had a great time. We had a good time, we played a bit of soccer together, and showed them the racing car. So, that’s good, yeah, a very nice programme.

    Q: Brings you down to Earth a little bit, I suppose?
    NR: Yeah.

    Q: Kimi, this is your second year coming to race in India. Do you notice the popularity that you have? Does it spur you on when you get to the track? Does it give you extra motivation?
    KR: I think it’s very nice to have it but I mean I’ve only really seen the hotel this morning, from the airport to the hotel, and the circuit. So, especially today there were not many people when we came here – so I feel it less than at many other places but I’m happy that there are fans here. This circuit is nice and hopefully we can have a good weekend for all of them.

    Q: When you come to what is still a relatively new venue, would you like to take more time out to see a bit of India?
    KR: Yeah – but I think it’d be a little nicer if you come when it’s not a race weekend, so when you have proper time and not during the weekend. But for sure I’m sure there’s a lot of nice places to go and see.

    Q: And for Mark, your last time in India in Formula One, four races to go now. Do you relax more as the final race approaches or does the desire to get that one more win – at least – intensify race by race?
    MW: My mentality hasn’t really changed, mate, from the start of the year. Still enjoying driving the car to a degree and no exception to that. The last grand prix, obviously the best racing track in the world in Suzuka – unfortunately they can’t design them like that any more – but it’s a beautiful circuit. This is not bad and yeah, some good tracks to look forward to. That’s the bit that I still enjoy – to a degree. And… yeah, I think the last four is not really changing how I go about it. It would be nice to get a top result before the year’s out but…yeah… it’ll be four weeks and that’s it.

    Q: Would it change your view of Formula One and how you remember the sport if you didn’t get one more win?
    MW: No, wouldn’t change it.

    Q: Still look back fondly?
    MW: yeah, of course. I would never have thought when I left Australia the results and the career that I’ve had. So, another win or so, of course it would be nice but it’s not going to change my retirement too much.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Richland F1) Mark, following the last race, you said you were surprised at the switch in strategy from a two stop to a three stopper. Having gone over all of the data, do you still feel the two stop was quicker, or are you satisfied with the strategy switch?
    MW: I haven’t gone over any data whatsoever from the last race. I still stand by what I said at the time but obviously a bit surprised that we elected to do that. Having a three stop, you’ve got to pass two cars to win the race instead of maybe sticking to a two where we just focused on trying to beat Romain. What I said at the time is still pretty accurate today.

    Q: (Sandeep Sikdar – IndoAsian News Service) Nico, Mark and Kimi, we’re quite uncertain about the future of Formula One here in India. I wanted to know what exactly is the feeling in the paddock regarding visiting India, coming to India for the Grand Prix?
    NR: The track is fantastic to drive, they’ve done a really good job with that. There’s a growing fan base and a lot of fans in India. It’s great to be here and it’s a pity that there’s no Indian Grand Prix next year and I hope that maybe some time in the future we can come back again.
    MW: Yeah, Nico’s right. Obviously the fan base is certainly growing very very fast. I know cricket is the number one sport here by a long way but they’ve certainly shown some incredible enthusiasm to try and understand and get some… attract some interest in the sport. They’re proud to have a very very high profile sport which Formula One is and the track layout is sensational. The enthusiasm.. they’re doing what they can to hold a very nice event here but it doesn’t seem to have been enough for next year. I hope that we can come back in the future.

    Q: (Bharat Sharma – IndoAsian News Service) For the front row, if you talk about the track, most drivers have praised the track, they like the layout but as far as overtaking is concerned, there’s only the first sector which has a real chance of overtaking, so how do you see the track in terms of overtaking opportunities?
    MW: That’s generally the case at a lot of circuits actually. There’s not any more than one or two chances these days. The second and third sector are quite quick, it’s not easy to get a move done there so yeah, most of the focus is on the first sector and the beginning of the sector. But that’s not against the circuit, that’s how a lot of tracks are and we like the rest of the rhythm and the layout because it’s quite challenging, it’s quite quick, a little bit of undulation so there’s a lot of good qualities inside this circuit. As you said, the racing maybe hasn’t been super exciting over the last few years, maybe it’s not going to be the same on Sunday but time will tell.

    Q: Is that right, Kimi, there’s really only  the first sector where you can get past?
    KR: In a normal situation, yes, but on some of the circuits there’s not even one place. You might get a chance in some other places – it depends – but it’s a good race circuit. Last year I got stuck behind (another car) but that can happen anywhere.

    Q: It rather drives the set-up, Nico, doesn’t it? It’s a compromise track anyway, but you need to give yourself that chance of getting some overtaking done?
    NR: Yeah, but it’s OK, the track has what it needs to be able to overtake well and for there to be exciting races. They’ve extended the DRS zone a bit to try and make it easier to overtake  – see how that goes, should be in the right direction.

    Q: (Ajay Devadason – Sify.com) Mark, is it a cause for concern that the series that you’re moving to recently had a fatality in their event?
    MW: At Le Mans? Look, we know motor racing can be dangerous. It was very very tragic, obviously, that they had a fatality this year and they’ve certainly learned from that accident, I believe. Every time we step into a racing car there’s obviously risk; I accept those risks as we all do and they are always going to try and find ways to improve motor sport to a degree which is finding the levels of safety and risk-taking to the right levels. I’m certainly very comfortable with my decision, what I’m doing in the future and looking forward to it.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, in the last few races, Lotus seem to have been the second team after Red Bull. Do you think that you have the chance to try to grab second place in the Constructors’ championship in the last four races and that this could be a place to win?
    KR: That’s the aim for us but it’s hard to say if it’s going to happen. It seems that the last races have been strong for our team but I have to qualify better, to put myself up there and maybe try to win some races but it will not be easy.

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Max and Giedo, you are the only two men here whose futures aren’t yet set for next year, or not so that we know about. Could you both please rate your chances of staying both within Formula One next year and with wearing the same uniforms?
    GvdG: Of course I hope to stay in (F1) next year but the management is very busy, talking to some teams, also Caterham. At the moment, they told me to be focused for the last four races and I’m doing that, but hopefully we will have some news soon, but it’s still far away.
    MC: Yeah, I think my chances are looking good. Nothing’s set in stone yet. I’ve learned in GP2 how much continuity can help. I’d love to stay with Marussia again because you always get more out of yourself when you know the team, it’s a natural progression. We have been contacted by other teams but at the moment we know where we want to be and we’re not far away from it now.

    Q: Do you two both feel you’ve met your targets and your goals for this year?
    GvdG: Yeah, I think so. At the beginning, I struggled a little bit, then in the middle of the season everything fell into place and since then I’ve good speed, still have to improve the qualifying a little bit but race pace has been very good.
    MC: Yeah, I think to be honest it took me a little bit longer than I was expecting to kind of get up to speed. I think it’s hard without the testing, but from the August break, when you have a bit of time to go through everything with the team, we had a really good sit down and picked on key areas where you can really enhance your performance and since then, I think I’ve proved why I deserve to be here and I’m  hoping to keep that on until the end of the year.

    Q: (Vinayak Pande – AutoX) Kimi, given the way Lotus is performing towards the end of this season and how Fernando has been struggling recently, how do you feel about your decision going to Ferrari next year?
    KR: Good, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the decision if I didn’t think it was right for myself. It’s so competitive… and the rules, nobody really knows how it’s going to work out next year.

    Q: (Sandeep Sikdar – IndoAsian News Service) Nico and Mark, Pirelli have brought different tyre compounds this year unlike the last two years, how do you think they will affect the lap times?
    NR: I’m not sure. The cars are also so much quicker this year. It’s been very variable throughout the season. You’ve never been able to predict how we’re going to go, in terms of lap times from  one track to another. Sometimes we’re faster, sometimes the same, so it changes all the time and I don’t know yet for this weekend.
    MW: Yeah, very difficult to predict how the tyres will behave. We know how sensitive they are. Even when we had the slight change of construction during the year we see some teams coming forward, some teams going back, some drivers being happy, some drivers less happy. The tyres are super super sensitive. I think we will find out here whether it’s… last year was quite easy on the tyres, we had a pretty comfortable one stop. Whether that’s possible again, I’m not sure. We will find out on Friday with the long runs, maybe.

    Q: (Chetan Narula – Planet F1) Mark, your teammate is going to be a consecutive four time World Champion and obviously you’ve had your differences with him, you’re not the best of friends but as his teammate, and somebody who’s worked with him closely for quite a few years now, can you shed some light on Sebastian Vettel, the racer and the four time World Cham… or soon to be four time World Champion?
    MW: Yeah,  obviously he’s had an incredible run. Some of the championships have been tight, some less tight. Obviously ’11 and this year have been pretty much a non-event but 2010 and 2012 were up to the last race. I think he’s certainly done an incredible job. I think he’s been very strong on the Pirellis; obviously (on) the Bridgestones was probably a little bit tighter but on Pirellis he’s certainly been very strong and no real weaknesses on those tyres so it’s been strong for him. Just super consistent and that’s what’s made him strong, obviously, and also getting the most out of the package. Obviously the car’s been quick and he’s capitalised on a lot of venues. He’s won with a dominant car but also he’s won with a car which some races is probably not… certainly over those four years to win races he probably shouldn’t have won races. That’s also been a quality of his.

    Q: (Unnatee Gidithuri – Auto India Magazine) To you all, what are all of your opinions on the Indian Formula One fans?
    DR: I think that as the boys touched on earlier, it’s growing each year we come here, there seems to be getting more and more interest. It’s good, there are a lot of seats to fill here. Unfortunately they are not always full but they are filling up each year so that’s good. I don’t think a sport can grow overnight and it does take time. It’s definitely gone in the right direction.
    MC: It’s obviously got huge possibilities. I think there’s over a billion that live in India and that, from my calculations, is a seventh of the world, so it’s probably got one of the biggest potential markets anywhere in the world, so it’s a shame we’re not back here next year but there’s a lot of other countries that want a Grand Prix as well. It is a bit of a shame.
    GVDG: I think it’s good to be back here. It is a special place, especially when you see cows on the street, dogs! It’s different to Europe and I have to say I quite like it. It’s good to see different environments, the track is very nice. Of course, it’s my second time here. Last year I saw some friends in the grandstand and hopefully this year there are going to be more.

    Q: I think you tweeted a photo of a cow in the road, Nico.
    NR: We had a bit of a close call yesterday because the cow decided it was going to cross the motorway just in front of us but we managed to keep out of its way, let it cross over nicely and then we could continue.

    Q: Mark, Kimi’s touched on his love of India, what about yourself?
    MW: Yeah, you can see the enthusiasm. Again, I don’t want to talk about the cricket too much but you see how much they love their sport with the cricket, they are super passionate about it and the same here, they want to understand, they’re very willing to understand the sport as quick as they can. It’s been a very quick snapshot for them, in terms of coming to the circuit and seeing the cars and maybe having the drivers as heroes for them. What’s also been interesting for me in such a short period of time is also the journalists here and the people are making such a good effort. Their questions, even away from the track, and different things… they’re quite knowledgeable on our  sport, they want to understand which is a big advancement on some of the other fresh countries that we go to which are super super naive. A lot of good positives about it, so it’s a shame it’s not here again.

    Q: Did you watch the one day yesterday?
    MW: It was washed out, wasn’t it? Not lucky for us: 296 or 293.

    Q: (Rachit Thukral – RachF1) Daniel Ricciardo, two years ago you were racing for HRT. At that time, could you imagine that you could be racing for Red Bull one day?
    DR: Seemed like a fair way away at the time but I think that going back years before that, since I got Red Bull supporting me and knowing what opportunities I had with them, then I think anything was possible. A lot of it was up to me. With HRT, I knew there was a bit of a road to travel on, but yeah, it’s come along quite quickly, obviously to my delight and as I’ve said, I can’t wait but if you would have said, back in 2011, that I would be in a Red Bull seat in 2014 then I would have smiled and said ‘beauty.’ One other thing I found out, just touching on the cricket, apparently myself and Mark don’t come from Australia. We come from Ricky Ponting country! That’s what they all say. Nice.

    Q: (Vinayak Pande – AutoX) Mark, it’s your last season in F1. Do you think the sport is in good shape going into the future with the new regulations? Do you think that’s a good direction for F1 to be taking, or are you going to a technologically more sound series, in terms of sports car racing?
    MW: Again, pretty good question. To be fair, I think Formula One needed a bit of a facelift in terms of technology, which they’re going to get next year. Maybe it’s not what we all want in terms of all the electric stuff and those type of things but that’s the way all the manufacturing and all those types of things are going in terms of car production, so Formula One should be the benchmark in terms of rolling that stuff out. How it’s going to go in terms of a spectacle only time will tell. I’m sure it’s going to be good. The main thing with Formula One is the drivers, the drivers are the important thing. You can have what cars you want but if you’ve still got the best drivers out there then that’s the most important thing. But in terms of sports cars and Formula One, obviously the technology is going to be very similar. Sports cars now are super technical as well as Formula One will be next year. As long as the smaller teams can have a chance, I think that whenever you make a big regulation change  like we are going to do next year, the midfield and the smaller teams are really going to be stretched, so I think that the gap between Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren maybe is probably going to be bigger.

     

    Ends

  • Kimi will keep pushing while Romain is on a roll…

    Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus F1 team heads to India looking forward to the cuisine and hoping for a stronger qualifying position than of late… as the Indian GP, the 16th round of the 19-round FIA Formula One W

    File photo of Indian fans at the Indian GP. Photo by Lotus F1 team
    File photo of Indian fans at the Indian GP. Photo by Lotus F1 team

    orld Championship unfolds this week-end:

    What do you think of the Buddh International Circuit?

    It’s quite an interesting track; one of the better ones from the modern circuits. It’s quite similar to Korea; long straights, not terribly challenging corners and hard braking. It’s not as technical as Korea which was another new track for me last year, but it’s good. It’s always nice to go to a new place like India. It’s certainly a good track to go fast with a strong car in front of all the others!

    How was your first – and only – race at the track so far?

    It was okay but it could have been better. We struggled for grip over the weekend last year and we made life difficult with the change of setup before qualifying. After that there was nothing really to do on Sunday. In the race itself we had enough speed to challenge for the top positions, but we got stuck behind slower cars and overtaking was impossible. I can remember spending a lot of the race trying to get past Felipe [Massa] so that wasn’t ideal.

    Did you get to see much of India?

    No, it was my first visit and I spent my time in the paddock and the hotel. We only come to race and India is a very big country! The thing I like is eating Indian food, which I really enjoy.

    Japan was quite a straightforward race for you?

    It was a pretty normal race I would say and it’s good that we got some points. I had a very poor start where I left the line with a lot of wheelspin and lost a few places. This wasn’t ideal and it meant I got stuck in traffic, but I managed to gain some places back later on.

    You spoke over the weekend of the car feeling more to your liking, which much be a positive looking to the remaining races of the season?

    The car felt pretty strong all weekend and we’ve made good progress with it recently. It’s still not exactly as I want it and we’re trying to get rid of some understeer which is something I don’t like. In Japan it was hard to show our real pace at the beginning of the race as I was stuck behind slower cars for quite a long time. After the final pit stop when I got a bit of free air the car was working much better. It ran well in the last half of the race and I was very happy with it.

    We saw some more great overtaking moves from you…

    Unfortunately when you don’t have an ideal qualifying it makes life a bit harder on Sunday. It’s not easy to overtake at Suzuka and we weren’t so fast in a straight line which made it more tricky, but I got past a few people which was important after the slow start. With Nico [Hulkenberg] I managed to get a good run on him leading up to the chicane which is what made the difference. We did what we could.

    What’s the target for India?

    Hopefully we finally get it right in qualifying as the last five qualifying sessions have not been that great for me. If we don’t, it’s going to be a difficult Sunday afternoon, although of course we’ll keep pushing. If we do get it right, then we can really go for it!

    Romain Grosjean: “I’m on a roll right now…”

    After a Japanese Grand Prix where he led for almost half of the race, Romain Grosjean heads into the remaining four rounds of the season determined to let the good times roll…

    Your performance in Japan was pretty fantastic; how are you feeling heading into the remaining four races of the season?

    I’m feeling really good with the car, my confidence is getting higher with every race and I’m very happy with the team, so I’ll keep working hard to improve the areas that need improving and we’ll keep pushing for top results right to the end of the season.

    How good was that race start in Japan?

    The start was fantastic; the clutch kicked in, I put my foot down and whoosh! It was superb to go past both the Red Bulls like that and it’ll be one of my best memories of the year. I saw Mark [Webber] in my mirrors and started to pull away which was a big surprise in itself, so I was screaming “come on baby, let’s go!” in the cockpit. After the first lap I honestly thought it was going to be my day, but that first win will come soon…

    How wide were you driving your car to try to keep the Red Bulls behind you?

    You never want to concede a place, but when you’re leading the race or fighting for a podium position you can find ways to make your car very wide! Sebastian [Vettel] had a lot more pace than me but we were able to fight a bit more in the battle with Mark [Webber]. It’s a shame we caught the back markers when we did as I think we’d have had an even stronger fight if it wasn’t for them.

    What are your thoughts on the Buddh International Circuit?

    I like it. I first visited the track as third driver for the team during the inaugural race weekend in 2011 and was really impressed by the facility, then of course I drove it for the first time last year. The layout includes a nice mix of corners with a bit of gradient change which is always a good thing. There are some decent straights with wide corners at the end of them to help with overtaking, although it’s still not the easiest place in the world to pass somebody. Then there’s the linked Turn 10 / 11 combination, which is a bit like Turn 8 in Turkey in that it seems to go on forever. It’s quite a fun track to drive.

    What are your expectations for the Indian Grand Prix?

    Our car is really performing well at the moment so I think we could be strong again. It’s fair to say we struggled there a little last year with finding grip and getting the right setup for the cars, so hopefully we can perform better this time. The tyre allocation was quite hard for the track in 2012, but this year it’s softer which should help us and make for better racing.

    What do you think of India as a country?

    It’s certainly a different experience from a lot of the places we visit and it’s great to see a different culture.

    Aside from racing what will you be interested in?

    I have a great love for cuisine so I’m always interested in local food, and there are so many interesting dishes, spices and ingredients in India.

    How much are you looking ahead to 2014?

    Right now I’m working on doing the very best I can at each remaining race in 2013 and I think that’s the best approach for now. As soon as the season’s over I’ll get a little rest and recharge my batteries, then we’re back to see the new cars launched and to start testing them. It will be a very interesting challenge with all the new rules that are coming in for next season. A new area is coming for the sport and that’s always very exciting.

    ends

  • Vettel takes 8th victory of the year, moves closer to 4th driver’s title

    Yeongam, 6 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel marched to his eighth victory of the year with a controlled drive at a Korean Grand Prix, the 14th round of the Formula One World Championship, in which all the action happened behind the Red Bull Racing driver. The F1 circus will now move to Japan for the back-to-back race on Sunday while the next stop would be India on October 27. Then to Abu Dhabi, United States and Brazil on Nov 4, 17 and 24 respectively to end the 19-round F1 World Championship.

    2013 Korean Grand Prix start shot by Pirelli
    2013 Korean Grand Prix start shot by Pirelli

    Starting from pole, Vettel made a good start to hold his advantage through the first few corners, as behind him Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean tussled for second position, the Lotus driver eventually winning out.

    While the championship leader did not build the sort of gap to his rivals he has enjoyed at other circuits, Vettel was able to forge a three-second gap to Grosjean in the first stint and even when two rapid-fire safety car periods occurred in the middle of the race, the Red Bull driver controlled matters expertly at the front to eventually finish 4.2 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and third-placed Grosjean.

    “I’m extremely happy with the result, great job by the team, we had two very good stops,” said Vettel. “I think it was quite good to have the safety car coming out the first time, we were just a couple of corners before the pit entry.

    “Then, fortunately, we had enough pace to always open up a little bit of a gap, even though I think Kimi and Romain were pretty competitive the longer the stint was. So I think they did maybe a better job with their tyres, looking after their tyres. But all in all, fantastic.”

    It was behind the race leader that all the drama took place. After a first stint in which Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, the only man to start on the medium tyres, had climbed into the top 10 and during which Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber also worked his way into the points positions, the order began to settle somewhat. Vettel led Grosjean, Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, while behind them a train was forming behind Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Webber all waiting to pounce.

    That began to change in the run-up to the second pit stops. First, Hamilton began to lose pace, complaining that his front right tyre was “destroyed”. That allowed Rosberg to narrow a 12-second gap to less than two. But moments after passing his team-mate the German’s front wing failed and trailing sparks he was forced back to the pits for a nosecone change.

    His slow stop kept Hamilton out on track and when the Mercedes man finally was brought in by his team, Webber vaulted to third, the Australian having passed Alonso, when the Spaniard made a mistake on lap 28.

    Any joy the Red Bull driver was feeling at being in a position to battle for a high points finish was eradicated just after his second stop however.

    Webber dived into the pit lane on lap 30 and made a clean stop for a second set of medium tyres. But when he rejoined it was behind McLaren’s Sergio Perez, who was struggling with a damaged front right tyre. The Pirelli tyre blew, taking bits of the McLaren with it and Webber was forced to take evasive action. The Safety Car was deployed.

    That was the cue for Vettel and Grosjean to pit and both got away cleanly. Behind them was Kimi Raikkonen who had, almost unnoticed, climbed through the order from ninth on the grid.

    Webber, meanwhile, was brought in again by Red Bull Racing, taking on a set of supersoft tyres. He was sent back out in P11 but when the safety car left the circuit, the Australian was broadsided by the Force India of Adrian Sutil on the re-start. Webber’s car was pitched off track where it burst into flames. The Safety Car was back out almost immediately.

    Ahead of the incident, Hulkenberg passed Hamilton for fourth place, while in the podium positions, Raikkonen forced an error out of team-mate Grosjean and stole second.

    “I got a good run, he made a mistake in I think the second-last corner and I got the good run,” said Raikkonen of the move. “I had heard that there will be yellow flags at the end of the straight, so I knew he’s not going to pass me back with the DRS because it’s not open with the yellow flags. So I thought I would try to overtake and it was not too difficult.”

    The Finn admitted, however, that his race to his eighth podium finish of the year had not been easy.

    “The car was just understeering too much, the whole weekend, even today, so I had to try to look after the front tyre and that was really the limitation on how much I could push,” he said. “We were stuck behind the traffic after the pit stops. We decided to stop earlier and it was a good move and obviously the safety car helped a little bit but we had the speed and we could run until the end. So even without the safety car we could have maybe run until the end and still have a podium position. So it was good – but not ideal.”

    In the final stages after the second safety car, the race was all about Hulkenberg. While the front three maintained position, the Sauber driver in fourth, fought a mesmerising rearguard action as Hamilton, Alonso and eventually Button and Rosberg queued up behind to attack.

    The German, though was faultless, delivering a superb drive to claim his best finish of the season.

    The order behind the Sauber man remained Hamilton, Alonso, but Rosberg eventually muscled past Button to take seventh place. The McLaren driver held eighth place, while Felipe Massa, whose race was compromised by a Turn 3 collision with Alonso just after the start, recovered to finish ninth, ahead of Perez.

    Vettel’s win means he extends his Drivers’ Championship lead over Alonso to 77 points, with five rounds left. The championship now moves on to the Japanese Grand Prix, a race the German says he is looking forward to.

    “I think it’s the best track in the world,” he said. “The fans are crazy – completely crazy in a positive way so really looking forward to Japan.”

    It could be for more than the fan worship. It is possible for Vettel to win the title at Suzuka should he win and Alonso not finish above ninth place. A long shot perhaps but it certainly brings into focus how close the 26-year-old is to a fourth consecutive crown.

    2013 Korean Grand Prix – Race Result

    1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 55 25
    2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 55 +4.2 secs 18
    3. Romain Grosjean Lotus  55 +4.9 secs 15
    4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 55 +24.1 secs 12
    5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 55 +25.2 secs 10
    6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 55 +26.1 secs 8
    7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 55 +26.6 secs 6
    8. Jenson Button McLaren 55 +32.2 secs 4
    9. Felipe Massa 55 +34.3 secs 2
    10. Sergio Perez McLaren 55 +35.1 secs 1
    11. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 55 +35.9 secs
    12. Valtteri Bottas Williams  55 +47.0 secs
    13. Pastor Maldonado Williams 55 +50.0 secs
    14. Charles Pic Caterham 55 +63.5 secs
    15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 55 +64.5 secs
    16. Jules Bianchi Marussia 55 +67.9 secs
    17. Max Chilton Marussia 55 +72.8 secs
    18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 53 Mechanical
    19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 52 Mechanical
    20. Adrian Sutil Force India 50 +5 Laps
    Ret 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 36 +19 Laps
    Ret 14 Paul di Resta Force India 24 Accident

    ends