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Tag: McLaren
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Vettel on pole for season opener; A Pirelli view
Melbourne, March 17, 2013 – Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel claimed his 37th career pole position at the Australian Grand Prix using the P Zero Red supersoft, after an unusual qualifying that was split between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Q1 took place on Saturday as usual with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg going fastest on the Cinturato Green intermediate in the early stages. As the rain fell harder, Q2 and Q3 were postponed after multiple delays, with darkness drawing in and more rain expected.
Meanwhile, Sahara Force India delivered a strong showing as qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix resumed this morning. Paul Di Resta qualified in ninth, while Adrian Sutil ended the session in twelfth, according to an SFI release.Paul: “We came here with intentions of reaching Q3 so it’s a good way to start the year. I think we got most things right today, especially the timing of the switch to a fresh set of intermediates towards the end of Q2. Ninth position is a good place to be starting and it’s on the cleaner side of the track too. It’s difficult to predict much for the race, just as it’s hard to predict the weather, but we’re in a strong place to start the race. Our long runs on Friday looked competitive and consistent so we will go into the race with maximum attack and aiming for points.”Adrian Sutil: “The track conditions were much better this morning, but it was still tricky and I didn’t feel that comfortable on the damp track. The key to Q2 was the timing of your lap and we probably changed a bit too early to the new intermediates because there was only one quick lap in those tyres. I had time for another lap, but my tyres were going off and I could not improve. Even so, I’m quite happy with the session and it’s not bad to end up twelfth in my first qualifying session back with the team. I can feel there is more to come and I felt good in the dry conditions on Friday, so I hope we carry that into the race.”Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal“We’re feeling pretty positive with our qualifying showing this morning and our performance level is about where we expected. The conditions remained tricky with a damp and drying track, but we managed to get Paul through to Q3 and that was a clear objective. Adrian didn’t feel totally comfortable in the wet, but given that this was his first qualifying session for over a year, twelfth place is a good effort. The weather forecast for the rest of the day looks uncertain, but our strong showing on Friday gives us every reason to be optimistic this afternoon. Points should be in reach for both cars and will remain our objective.”
Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing began the season in style taking pole position in Melbourne on Sunday morning. A Pirelli photo All 16 eligible drivers started the second session at 11am on Sunday using the Cinturato Green intermediate tyre, with track temperatures of 13 degrees centigrade and ambient temperatures of 15 degrees. With five minutes to go, McLaren driver Sergio Perez was the first to move onto the Red supersofts. However, the track was still not ready for slicks, with Rosberg again going fastest in Q2 on the Green intermediates and the slick tyre runners eliminated.
The final qualifying session also started on intermediate tyres, with McLaren’s Jenson Button the first driver to go out on slicks. But with the track drying all the time, pole position was set in the closing seconds – with Vettel actually crossing the line for his lap with just one second to go.
The final free practice session on Saturday morning was also characterised by wet weather, with Lotus driver Romain Grosjean going quickest.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The pressure was on everybody with Q2 and Q3postponed until this morning, but safety always comes first. With the risk of drivers aquaplaning on standing water, or losing control over the many slippery painted white lines that are a particular feature of this street circuit, it was the right decision. Judging the crossover point proved to be the key to qualifying today. The rapid warm-up and peak performance of our supersoft tyres enabled the leading drivers to push with confidence during Q3 even when the track was not totally dry. With not so much information to go on from qualifying, it will be interesting to see how the different race strategies pan out. Due to the low temperatures we experienced some graining on the supersoft, but it was still the most effective tyre for the conditions in qualifying.”
The Pirelli mystery strategy predictor:
The strategy, as usual, will depend on the weather and the speed of each car. If it rains, then the strategy is much harder to predict – and the teams will just have to rely on any opportunities that come their way.
Likely winning strategies are as follows:
- The fastest strategy looks likely to be a two-stopper: Start on the Supersoft / 1ststop: change to Medium on lap 14 / 2nd stop: change to Medium on lap 36.
- The second fastest strategy is a three-stopper with a start on the Supersoft / 1ststop: change to Medium on lap 8 / 2nd stop: change to Medium on lap 23 / 3rd stop: change to Medium on lap 40.
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All teams should be represented in F1 Commission: Bob
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – James Key (Toro Rosso), Toto WOLFF (Williams), Bob Fearnley (Force India), Jean-Francois CAUBET (Renault Sport F1), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren) Tony FERNANDES (Caterham).
PRESS CONFERENCE
James, welcome back, new shirt, you’ve had your feet under the desk for a week or two now, what have found at Scuderia Toro Rosso? What are the strengths and weaknesses?
James KEY: Thanks for the welcome Bob, I think – it’s early days obviously – but I think one of the big strengths I noticed very quickly in the team is the enthusiasm everyone has and the ambition to make it succeed. Everyone is desperate for it to work, there’s a real passion there, as you can imagine, being Italian in the team’s origin. Primarily it’s a very good atmosphere to work in, something a little bit familiar to me in a way, there’s a bit of family atmosphere because it’s a small team that’s grown very rapidly. As a result of that with the rapid growth it means that it needs a little bit more gluing together in a way. There’s still separate departments doing a very good job but it needs to come together – and everyone recognises that. It’s just a case of going through that process. So, the strength, I think, is the will and the ambition of everyone. On the weakness side, I think it’s just still a team that’s growing. There’s no lack of effort from everyone, it just needs to be given direction. There’s certainly some work to do on the aero side, which is very clear and mechanical, for that matter, from a technical point of view. There’s some pretty clear steps. Some of it takes time, some of it’s fairly obvious for next year.
And what can you do for this year’s car? What can you do for next year’s car? Can you still put your stamp on next year’s car?
JK: I think for this year, obviously time is short, and this is a time of year when you’ve really got to prioritise and so we’re doing what we can with this year’s car. What we can do now is obviously carried over to next year too. I think for next year, the architecture and a lot of the suspension geometry was already defined before I arrived, so it’s a case of picking up what I can, together with the guys in Faenza and at our wind tunnel in Bicester from this point forward. I’d say there’s probably 40 per cent of the car still to go, so certainly we can work on that. But I have to say a lot of very sensible decisions have already been made for next year’s car, exactly what I would have done. Which is good. So, we’re all aligned in our direction and we’ll do everything we can in between now and Melbourne.
Toto, obviously a very competitive car this year: we’ve seen it in the top ten in qualifying quite a lot and of course it’s won a race as well. How easy is that to preserve and to keep on, and improve on for next year?
Toto WOLFF: I think that most of the teams are going to have a carry-on car for next year. It’s not going to be a massive development because everybody is looking forward to 2014, which is a big change. So, I hope we can carry the momentum and keep the good base of the car and then carry it over for next year.
And looking at your drivers but particularly one you have an interest in, what is Valtteri Bottas’ future?
TW: I think Valtteri Bottas’ future is Formula One. We have not decided yet where we are going to head to because we go on to give maximum support to the two current drivers. He has been with us for a couple of years now, so he is definitely part of our thoughts – but no decision has been made until now.
Bob, first of all, I think you’ve moved on already to next year’s but already you car looks very competitive here. Last year here we saw Paul Di Resta do a phenomenal run of 31 laps on the soft tyre. Is this looking like a good result for you here? What are your thoughts? It’s very early days I guess.
Bob FEARNLEY: It is early days. You don’t know what fuel levels everybody else has been running on today. But it is reasonably encouraging for the first two sessions.
Looking at Jules Bianchi, his performance in the Magny Cours test. What’s his future with the team?
BF: We’re looking for stability for 2013 with all drivers, that’s our first goal. But I think from the young driver test, it just goes to show how beneficial running the FP1 programme was, because Jules was very quick all three days, particularly in the Force India car. So I think it’s a testament to the team’s effort to having a reserve driver who is really up and running and competitive all the time.
Jean-Francois, I’m sure you’re expecting a question about alternators. What is it about Sebastian Vettel that it seems to happen to him and nobody else?
Jean-Francois CAUBET: First of all we started to have a problem in Valencia with two drivers Sebastian Vettel and Romain (Grosjean). It was not easy to detect or find because both alternators were completely melted and destroyed. So we were thinking it was an electric problem and probably the levels of power in the car, so we decided to change a bit the levels of power in each car. Spa was OK but again in Monza we have a problem with Sebastian two times and another driver also. We had a bit of fortune because we stopped the Lotus car just maybe some problem with the alternator and at the end it was not an electrical problem, it was a mechanical problem, a bearing probably. So, we are trying to change something. It is not easy because we detect that a few days but I think we are quite optimistic. The problem we have is that we are running the new solution in the dyno but only the race will give us an answer.
Do you think the heat is going to be a factor here?
J-FC: I don’t know. P1 was OK, P2 was OK. We cross our fingers for P3, qualifying and the race.
Recently, you lost Monsieur Arbiteboul to Tony over here. How important a loss is that and what can he expect from his new CEO?
J-FC: I think it is good news for Tony. I was working with Cyril for eight years. He was working with Flavio in the team. We sold the team. We built a new strategy on the engine side. I think after eight years at Renault I think this is a fantastic opportunity for him to do something probably more concrete, more challenging but why not he will be back one day in Renault no?
Q: Martin, there’s been a lot of speculation about the team, how much of a distraction has it been?
Martin WHITMARSH: No, I don’t think it has been. I think over the last three races we’ve got stronger and more focused. I assume that the distraction you refer to is Lewis but I think anyone who knows Lewis and witnessed Lewis last weekend (in Italy) and actually also this weekend would say he’s very very focused on doing the job. I think he realises that this year we have a strong opportunity to win a World Championship and I think we all realise that the right thing to do is focus and improve the car, don’t make mistakes and maximise the points you can get from each race. I think that’s what we’re very much focused on. I know that there are stories and speculation that swirl around and I guess that’s Formula One and I think we’re content to get on with the job quietly.
Q: Excellent performances in the last three races; you must be favourites to win a World Championship even though there is that huge gap, and there are seven races to go.
MW: I think you’ve got to be cautious. I think we were firm favourites going into the season, we were firm favourites coming out of Australia and it can change. I think we’re very pleased that the last three events have been on very different circuits and we’ve been competitive at all of them. I think we’re cautious here. Hopefully we can be competitive. What we haven’t done is just pile in the points that we should have done, given the competitiveness of our car. I think after 12 or 13 races, I think we’ve been on the front row eleven times. We’ve clearly got a strong package and therefore we should be disappointed in the number of points that we don’t have rather than the points that we do have. But you don’t look back, you look forward. I think we’ve got quite a good development momentum so we’re making the car quicker. I think we’ve got two great racing drivers who are very much focused on trying to win races and other things, so we’re hopeful that we can get a result here and keep the pressure on. You’ve got to say that Fernando’s done a great job to be where he is and that’s going to take some effort to overhaul but it’s certainly do-able and we’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can.
Q: Tony, you’ve got a new CEO in Cyril Abiteboul, what was the thinking behind hiring a CEO when you seem to have a lot of chiefs already?
Tony FERNANDES: Well, I think we’re evolving into a little bit of an auto group with the cars division and technology division that we’ve put together which Riad (Asmet) is looking at, and I am not as involved so the team needs leadershi. Cyril has been someone that I’ve courted for a while and we’ve finally persuaded him – with Renault’s blessing – to come over to Caterham. It provides us with a (inaudible) for the F1 team going forward.
Q: So will he be the team principal?
TF: Not at the moment, no. I will still remain in that job for a while. Eventually, maybe.
Q: And your thoughts on your drivers for next year; is Heikki staying? What’s the situation with Vitaly?
TF: Well, it’s… I don’t know. We will have to have a discussion at some point and we also have options on that front. I would like Heikki to stay, very much. He’s been great for us over the last three and a half years. We’ll have to sit down and decide where we go from here.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paul Weaver – The Guardian) Martin, you described as fantasy reports that Lewis might be joining Mercedes. Do you still describe that as fantasy or did you seriously under-estimate the situation?
MW: I don’t remember that but…
Q: (Paul Weaver – The Guardian) I do.
MW: …good! I think if you told me that he had signed the deal as you said that was fantasy so in answer to the same question I would give the same response to that.
Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Martin, do you accept that Lewis has had an offer from Mercedes?
MW: I suspect that Tony here has made him an offer as well, he’s a very good racing driver.
TF: I haven’t!
MW: He’s not ambitious enough, you see.
Q: (Benjamin Hunt – The Sun) Martin, you risk losing a driver, potentially; have you started even thinking about a replacement yet?
MW: No, as I said earlier, I think we’re very focused on trying to do a good job here.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) To Bob and to Tony: there’s a possibility that the regulations from next year onwards will be decided by the six top teams as opposed to the Formula One Commission. How do you people, as team principals of teams that don’t fall within those six, feel about that possibility?
BF: I think that we would like the stability to stay where it is, with all teams being represented at the F1 Commission, Dieter, so I don’t think there’s any doubt about where we would like to be. Tony will have to speak for himself, but I think it’s a much better balance when the teams are fully represented.
TF: I share the same v
Fie photo of Bob Fernley, A Sahara Force India photo. iew obviously. The one thing is though… the key is that all of us have to find a way of standardising regulations and having less changes and less irregularities but I think there is a danger that the six teams are hyper-competitive and sometimes things go on and on and on, so I do think that there could be an imbalance here but the key to me is not whether there are six teams or twelve teams or two teams, the key is to have simple regulations that won’t have a tremendous amount of debate and we just will go racing.
Q: (Byron Young – Daily Mirror) Martin, why has it taken so long to solve Lewis’s situation? Even by Formula One standards it seems to have taken an age.
MW: I think it seems a long time because of the speculation that people have made, but when you sit down and seriously put your mind to entering into a new contract it doesn’t take too long. I think it’s a question of priorities and other things we’ve been doing.
Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Martin, are you actually trying to pay him less money for his new contract?
MW: I’m sure he will want more money and I’m sure we will want to pay less – that’s how business normally works.
Q: (Matt Coch – pitpass.com) Tony, you’ve moved into the new Leafield facility, an immense complex. It’s much bigger than what Caterham as a Formula One team is. What’s the long term plan with the spare capacity there?
TF: I think over the next few months details will evolve as to what we’re planning. It’s not a hidden secret that I got into Formula One to manufacture cars and Lotus was my initial objective which went spectacularly wrong in many ways, shape or forms but the ambition and the vision is still the same and Leafield will play a part in that vision. The brand may have changed but the vision and the idea of what we’re trying to put together still exists. I think we are putting all the infrastructure in place to have a reasonable Formula One team. We have a reasonable car now, we just have to optimise it as much as possible. I think we’ve got some good people together, we’re in a facility in a location which attracts other people into it, plus with our other two divisions it will all come together. I think in the next few months you will see some clarity as to what we’re trying to achieve.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Jean-Francois, certain people continue talking about retaining the current V8s for an additional year or two after 2014. In addition to that, you’d said that you people wanted to possibly supply six teams with your 2014 technology. Where do you stand on these two points please?
J-FC: I think the V6 will be on the track for all the teams in two years. I think Mercedes, Ferrari and us are all changing our dynos from V8s to V6s so now it’s impossible to make a change. For the teams, the strategy is to keep four teams and I don’t know if it’s possible to do more. I think that if you want to have good reliability, good performance you need to keep four teams, but if there will be a need for more, we don’t want to close the door.
Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Martin, I can understand why you would want to laugh through some of the questions facing Lewis and put on a bit of a brave face but is part of you seriously appreciating the fact that there could be life without Lewis from 2013 onwards?
MW: As I said earlier, it’s not a question of putting on a brave face, it’s a question of focusing on doing our job, and we’re concentrating on this year’s championship. I think speculation on next year is something that we don’t need to entertain or respond to so we’re focusing on the here and now.
Q: (Bryon Young – Daily Mirror) So does that mean there won’t be an announcement until after the end of the season, because you’ve got to focus on all the races haven’t you?
MW: We might wait until then, you never know.
Ends
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Australian GP: FIA Thursday press conference
DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing), Daniel RICCIARDO (Toro Rosso), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Gentlemen, welcome. Let’s start with you Mark. There have been a couple of retirements from the sport, so you’re the oldest man on the grid this year – don’t worry, you don’t look it just yet.
Home race to start the season. Pretty much everyone here apart from Kimi has a home race. Is it good to get one out of the way first of all, all the pressure and extra attention that goes with it?Mark WEBBER: I think it’s just great to come to Australia at any stage let alone for a race, so we’re all looking forward to finally getting racing. There’s a lot of testing that goes on in Spain and we can all get down to what we all enjoy doing and that’s racing the cars. So, yeah, all the teams, drivers come here with a little bit more anxiety let’s say just because it’s the first grand prix of the year, whether it’s pit stops or whatever department you’re in, it’s a fresh challenge for the new year. For sure around round six, round seven everyone is more comfortable with their jobs but it’s the same for everyone. It’s a great event and looking forward to getting into the car.
Daniel, I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting into the car as well for what is your home grand prix. It’s your second full season at Toro Rosso – extra pressure that goes with that? You against Jean-Eric Vergne. Is it a shootout between the pair of you? How do you see your season coming?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Just hanging out for it to start, actually. Obviously I’ll try and take the experience I learned from last year and bring it into this season; a bit of extra confidence and whatnot and then just try to get some better results and start to creep up the order a bit. That’s really the plan. You always want to try to beat the team-mate. That’s always there, but I’m definitely focused on myself and just do than usual, not doing any dramatic changes.
I’m not sure there’s anything that’s pretty much usual for you Lewis. New team. Melbourne might be familiar but Mercedes still not quite the familiar team that McLaren would be. How much different is your life at the moment with your new outfit?
Lewis HAMILTON: It’s not that much different. It’s put me in a better place. Just settling into the team pretty well. It’s still a Formula One team and they still exist to win. The guys are doing a fantastic job and I’m really excited about the season and excited to get back in the car.
More excited after Barcelona? It went well that final weekend for you and for Nico.
LH: Not particularly any more excited I think. You can’t really take too much from the tests.
With that in mind Kimi, let’s reflect on yours and Lotus’ chances for this season. A slight touch of unreliability in the tests but a lot of people are saying you, the team are genuine contenders for the title this year. Is that accurate?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: It’s difficult to say but we will see after maybe two or three races where we are. We had a few small issues and unfortunately the issues just took a long time to fix. That happens. I think we should be OK. There are always things that can go wrong but I think we are more or less, speedwise, similar to where we were last year when we started and like I said it’s difficult to say exactly where we will be. We’ll see a bit tomorrow.
Do you believe, going into you second full season since your comeback, that you’re a better driver this year – that the rustiness you had maybe at the start of last year is gone?
KR: I don’t think it’s going to really change. I know the team so it should be a bit easier to start the year but there is no promise that this will give you better results. It’s another year and we’ll try to do as well as we can.
For you Fernando, another year but a much better car than this time last year – 200 times better I think you said, the Ferrari in 2013. Is this your best chance to become a world champion at Ferrari?
Fernando ALONSO: We’ll see. I think it was not difficult to start better than last year because it was difficult to start any worse. We were a little bit too far behind and the winter has been much better than the last year, understanding the car and working with the car and getting the results we more or less expect. That will give us much more confidence and optimism to start the season, but who knows. I think it will be a very interesting championship, very challenging first part of the championship with Australia, Malaysia. Difficult circuits, difficult weather as well – changeable. So we need to start on the right foot and hopefully scoring some good points for the championship.
And Sebastian, three consecutive titles. How much difficult is a fourth title in a row now that you’ve got those three in the bag or does it make no difference whatsoever?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think it makes a difference. I think every year we start again from zero. I think everyone has the same chance. As we said, testing obviously this year was probably not as conclusive as previous years, so we arrive here not knowing what is going to happen. But I think it is very exciting so as every year, excited to start.
Not knowing what’s going to happen, does that make it even better for you – that the challenge could be tougher ahead?
SV: I think it’s going to be a long year. Obviously we’re looking forward to this weekend and this is the first of many. But I think we’ve seen in the last couple of years, last year in particular, that it’s a long season and every race is very important. So this is the place we start but then there are many other places coming.
Nineteen races ahead and lots of questions to answer. Bob, I’m sure we’ve got a few hands raised among our media delegates here with some questions for the drivers.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all drivers: during the winter tests tyre temperatures didn’t go over 60 maximum Celsius and the temperatures here approach the temperatures indicated by Pirelli. Are you afraid that the handling of the car can be completely different to what you got in the winter tests?
SV: I think in winter testing we all suffered the same problem: the tyres didn’t last. It was extremely difficult for us to do a lot of laps on the same set of tyres, to test certain things. We hope it gets better here. Otherwise it could be quite funny.
FA: Nothing to add. Let’s hope it’s different than the tests, with the temperature.
The guys at the front, Daniel, probably have a touch more downforce on their car than the Toro Rosso. Do you feel the effect of the tyres that much extra in the midfield?
DR: I don’t know. We’re probably not afraid of what the weekend is going to be. We’re probably more excited. It was a little bit frustrating at times, so I think we’re excited about what it’s going to bring here, so I’m sure it’s going to better. Looking forward to it more than anything else. There are still some answers that need to be found. We’re all in the same boat, so I think that’s going to make it exciting.
(Gabriel Polychronis– F1plus.com) This one is for you Mark. Do you feel that the recent criticism from Helmut Marko on your performances acts as a motivator for you to prove yourself throughout the season.
MW: I’ve answered this question a few times in the last six weeks and as I said, he has his agenda and I’m not part of it, so that’s fine. Everyone can have their opinions. I’m always pretty good for motivations.
It doesn’t make your motivation any less though?
MW: Of course not.
(Ian Parkes – PA) Sebastian, after winning three titles in a row now, coming into this season, how do you approach it? Is your motivation any different to the past three seasons when you’ve gone on to win the title? And if it isn’t, how do you build yourself up, keep yourself going, keep yourself focussed.
SV: Well if there is a secret I think it’s not to think about what happened the last three years. I think the first title was very, very special. After that I don’t think you have that pressure any more. You’ve proved to yourself more than to anyone else that you can do so. After that obviously we had two fantastic years again. Very different to each other. But as I said, you probably don’t think about what happened last year or the last three years. We are here, we have zero points on our side at the moment, the same as everyone else. So everyone has the same opportunities. The cars didn’t really change. Last year we saw it was very close so I don’t expect it to be any different that last year. If anything maybe a little bit tighter. So it will be crucial to make the most out of every single race – but in terms of motivation… it was a long flight but I’m happy to be here now and very pleased to start again.
(Trent Price – Richland F1) Question for Lewis. Obviously we can’t take a lot from testing but obviously Mercedes did quite well towards the end of the times. Are you pushing quite hard to get time out of the car or are you feeling comfortable with it? Are you feeling quite snug?
LH: I feel comfortable in the car. I feel we’ve definitely made some really good steps forward. We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Obviously, normally when you go to a new team it takes a while to get settled in but I’m still working as hard as I can to make sure that feels as comfortable as possible. I think it just takes time and as time goes on I think I’ll get even more and more comfortable in the team.
What’s been the one thing that you’ve appreciated more than anything since you’ve moved to Mercedes? What have the team done or allowed you to do that’s made you feel more comfortable?
LH: Just a little bit more time at home. Training and to spend with family and friends. It’s been good.
(Manuel Franco – Diario AS) Question for Fernando. Ferrari can win this race?
FA: I think difficult to know. No-one knows who can win this race at this moment. We have to wait and see for answers to some questions that winter testing doesn’t answer. I think there are top teams with a little bit of advantage. Maybe it’s not the same as last year where we saw seven different winners in the seven first races. It was a little bit mixed on the grid. I think this year with the consistency in the rules I expect the five top teams to have a little advantage and not to have many, many surprises in the first races. But from these five top teams I think it’s very difficult to see really after winter testing who has this extra two- or three-tenths that can make you win. At the moment I think it’s very close and very difficult to choose one favourite.
So, would you say ten drivers go into this race with a realistic chance of winning on Sunday?
FA: I think so. I think Mercedes, McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull show up some potential in different days in testing and different parts of races last year. I think difficult to choose.
(Carlos Miguel Gomez – La Gaceta) Question for Fernando. After Barcelona, we see in Barcelona you have the best time in the last sector. With these conditions could this track be very good for the Ferrari?
FA: I don’t know. I think winter test, as we’ve said many times, very difficult and dangerous to make any conclusions. I think in terms of sector times and things like that, a lot of different tyres for every team, a lot of different fuel loads etcetera and different moments of the race. We are happy with the job we have done in the winter. We more or less did the programme that we planned – even though we had some weather changeable on some days – and we arrived here with our hundred per cent of the potential at the moment in the car. We don’t really miss anything, that was a problem before. So, hopefully it’s enough to be competitive and this circuit in particular I like a lot. I have been always very comfortable here and with good performance, the same in Malaysia, these first two races can be a good opportunity for us to score some good points. But I don’t know how quick we can be.
(Richard Fowler – motorsportretro.com) Mark, it’s the 60th anniversary of the race here at Albert Park. What would it mean for you to win at home and join the likes of Jack Brabham and Alan Jones as a winner of the Australian Grand Prix?
MW: Any grand prix victory is special. I’m lucky to have had that feeling a few times now, which is great: Monaco, the British Grand Prix, those are very prestigious races. This is for sure up there in the top three of events a driver wants to win: your home grand prix is for sure very special. It would be a sensation feeling to be able to do it. But as you say, all that, anniversaries and the nice, fuzzy stuff, is not really going to make it easier for me. I realise I’ve got to put together a clean weekend and pull it all together and make all of the right decisions. We’re capable of it but we’re also mindful that it’s a very tricky weekend to execute – especially with it being the first event and things like that. But looking forward to it.
(Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Question to any of you who want to answer it. We’ve heard a lot about the new tyre compounds that Pirelli have provided but the new tyres also have different weights, which has affected the front-rear balance of the car. To what extent has that affected your handling on track, downforce, things like that please?
KR: I think everybody has similar issues with the tyres. All winter, conditions, they wore out very quickly but I thought they had better grip on one lap than last year but then they go off more quickly. But it’s difficult to say with the conditions we’ve been running over the winter testing, so it might be a completely different story here. Balance-wise they are quite similar to last year.
Lewis?
LH: I don’t really have much more to say about it. The tyres are a little bit different, it’s not a big drama, everyone’s in the same boat so it’ll be interesting to see how long the supersoft tyre lasts, if there’s a little more graining than there was last year. But again, everyone’s got the same tyre. I haven’t seen any discrepancies between each tyre.
On the subject of supersofts, do you enjoy the challenge Seb, of having to go with a tyre that has never been used here before?
SV: We didn’t use it in winter testing either; we haven’t used that tyre. I think generally, as Kimi said, it will be interesting to see whether the temperatures make a difference or not at all. We are keen to find out and then we’ll know a little bit more.
(Ian Parkes – PA) Fernando, you’ve agonisingly missed out on the title twice in the last three years. Do you carry the pain of those near-misses into this season? Does it serve as motivation for you to drive you on this season?
FA: Well, I think I feel privileged to fight for the world championship two times in the last three years. Not many people have the opportunity to be on the podium and to enjoy the podium ceremony in Formula One and even less people have the opportunity to win races and very few people have the opportunity to fight for a world championship. So I feel lucky and privileged to have those opportunities. Sure, we lost two times in the last three years, in the last race and we want to have again the possibility once again to fight for the world championship, hopefully this year and hopefully this year change the final result. But this is just a normal thing for the sport and this is maybe some extra motivation for me and from the team, to really have one happy result at the end.
Q: (Michael Wittershagen– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) Question to Sebastian and Fernando: could you please tell us what you think of each other as a person and as a driver?
FA: Well, I think as a driver, really not much to say: three times World Champion beating all the records in terms of wins and fastest laps and pole positions etc. 2011 was nearly a record championship and this is not only about the car or about the package. You need to perform, even when you have the car that is available. Seb has won everything perfectly in the past years and for that he is World Champion and he’s a tough rival and contender for the next couple of years. As a person, we obviously don’t spend much time together. We are of a different generation. We didn’t race together in go-karts or anything like that. He’s a normal – or looks like a normal guy – and nothing more so all good.
SV: Thank you very much. I think, as a driver, I don’t have to introduce Fernando. I think he’s one of the most respected and most accepted drivers in the world. I think in all circumstances he has the ability to be on the limit. I think he’s a very intelligent driver and I think that’s the reason why he was always fighting for the championship until the end, in many years of his career. Fortunately we had the upper hand in the last couple of years but surely he’s trying his best to give everyone a hard time again this year, and as a person, as he said, we don’t spend that much time together, hardly with any of the drivers. It’s probably what people think or expect from the outside but there’s obviously not a lot of time during the weekend but in private – I don’t drink coffee so I’m not inviting you for a coffee but I can invite you for a Red Bull if you want to talk.
Q: At least you’re on one each other’s Christmas card list now for the future.
Q: (Alex Popov – Russian TV) There is strong opinion about the new qualifying, in Q2 especially, because there are fewer cars and the tyres are very soft, so maybe it’s better to preserve the tyres than get into Q3? Do you agree?
MW: In Barcelona we were still qualifying all together. Just start the race. The tyres at the back of the grid… don’t worry about Q3, we don’t worry about Q1 or Q2 either. You need the tyres to finish the race.
Q: Can any of you see an advantage there in missing out on Q3, potentially in the first few races?
SV: I don’t think so. I think you always want to start from the front. There’s the odd example here or there where people maybe had a bit of a benefit putting on that extra set at the end of the race but on average I think if you can chose, you go for the front (of the grid).
Q: Same for you Daniel?
DR: Yeah, I’d like to! I’d like to. Obviously if I was in the position to do that as well I would definitely go for starting at the front. Starting in the mid-pack and taking that risk to save tyres is obviously putting yourself in a bit more of a tight situation potentially on the first lap with more cars around. The thing is, if you’re able to fight for the front row you go for it, that’s the logical one for me.
Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Is there such a thing as an ideal size of field; we’ve lost a team, obviously, over the break? Are we now the ideal size, should it be higher, less?
MW:I think that’s a nice number; twenty is probably getting a bit low so between 26 and 20 is a nice little number. More than 26 is probably too much on some tracks – Monte Carlo, whatever – in qualifying. I think that’s a good number, certainly in a nice window but that level of numbers – I think what’s important is the level of the teams, that’s the thing we’ve got to keep an eye on, keep the level of the teams at a high level in Formula One, not to have cars on the grid that are properly not at the level, so we just need to keep an eye on that in the future.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Start with me, finish with me: Sebastian and Mark, the new test for the front wing and forbidden to use DRS on many parts of the circuit; how do these changes affect your team particularly?
MW: Look, we’ve had a lot of different front wing regulations in the last few years. It’s normal in Formula One that we have to adjust technically around new rule changes, sometimes within the season itself, not just at the start of the season: January, February. We obviously make the car fit within those regulations and we will have to adjust the car around the findings of how that front wing will form in those new regulations, so that’s fine. In terms of the DRS, it’s not a big thing for us. I think that we have been OK in qualifying in the past, also quite strong in races so the effect of the DRS, the delta of the DRS, all those type of things which is not something that we’re having a huge eye on, we’re not disappointed that the DRS is less in qualifying. For example, Sebastian and I are very happy; we pushed quite hard to have DRS dropped down in terms of volume on Saturday afternoon so we’re quite relaxed with that one.
SV: I think most of the changes to the front wing came in trying to stop us so something that we maybe did better or that the others couldn’t do and then there’s just one more thing, so it’s not a new situation.
An Aussie GP file picture from Pirelli. Ends
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Jerez testing Day 2: Grosjean on top; Good run by Paul
Lotus
Romain Grosjean ended the second day of testing at Jerez as comfortably the fastest man on track as the team continued its evaluation programme with the E21.
Under blue skies with occasional cloud coverage, Romain completed 95 laps; many of which dipped into the 1min 18s. He ended the day with the best time set thus far this week – a 1min 18.218secs – with no other car running under 1min 19.000secs.
Fast Facts:
- Chassis: E21-01
- Weather: Sunny, ambient 5-22°C, track 7-28°C
- Programme: Systems checks, temperature monitoring, data correlation, evaluation of the performance of the car with its initial aerodynamic package, tyre performance assessment.
- Laps Completed: 95.
- Classification: P1, 1:18.218.
- Interruptions: Stopped out on track on lap 96 (fuel).
What’s Next?
Kimi Räikkönen will take to the wheel of the E21 for the first time tomorrow, before wrapping up the opening test on Friday.
Romain Grosjean: “It was good today; the programme went to plan and we showed we have good reliability. For me, the whole test has gone well which bodes well for the year ahead. My feeling in the car is good and it was great to be at the top of the times. Even if it doesn’t mean anything during testing, it’s still good to be at the front. We used the soft, medium and hard compounds and whilst we’re not 100% yet on the differences between each we have a good idea. Kimi will be working on this area for the next two days so we’ll have a better understanding when we head to Barcelona. It’s not easy to understand everything about the car and tyres yet, but I think we’re working quite well and it’s up to us to find the best solutions.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “I’m very happy with today’s performance. The pace looks good and we haven’t had any issues with reliability meaning we could complete all of our programme without interruption. We focused on learning more about the 2013 Pirelli tyres and ran with the soft, medium and hard compounds with a variety of different set-ups, both mechanical and aerodynamic, to understand how they react. This combined with a good mileage today to give us some very good data to work through ahead of Kimi getting in the car tomorrow.”
Sahara Force India
Sahara Force India enjoyed another productive day in Jerez as Paul Di Resta and James Rossiter split driving duties in the VJM06
Day Two Statistics:
Chassis: VJM06-02
Laps: Paul = 95 laps / James = 19 laps
Mileage: Paul = 421 km / James = 84 km
Fastest lap: Paul = 1:19.003 / James = 1:21.273
Classification: Paul = P2 / James = P10
Paul Di Resta: “I managed to do 95 laps today, which was a good effort, and we got through the programme without any issues. We did some more good aero work this morning and then tried some set-up changes on the car. Testing is a good chance to make bigger changes than you would make during a race weekend and that’s allowed us to really see how they affect the car and has given us valuable data on tyre performance. The handling of the car so far is good and I’m feeling comfortable after two days in the car.”
James Rossiter: “It felt great to be back in a Formula One car and I was impressed with the performance straight away. It’s only the second day of running, yet the car already feels quite nicely balanced with a lot of potential. Having already done work on the team’s simulator, it’s good to get a feel for the real car and get acclimatised today so that I can really make the most of my running tomorrow morning.”
Jakob Andreasen, Chief Race Engineer: “Another very productive day of work as we completed a similar technical programme to yesterday with aero passes, balance work and longer runs after lunch. Paul’s feedback and consistency have given us lots of direction for improving the set-up and with 114 laps completed we are gathering lots of data to continue understanding the tyres. We put James in the car late this afternoon to give him time to acclimatise ahead of tomorrow. He’s doing a lot of simulator work for us back at the factory so it’s important that he has a good understanding of the real car to be able to make a valid comparison.”
Ferrari
Driver: Felipe Massa; Car: Ferrari F138
At the wheel of the F138, Felipe Massa continued the work of acquiring data on the car’s behaviour which began yesterday. Also on the day’s programme was an assessment of various configurations of exhaust and some long runs.
Felipe completed a total of 78 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.19.914.
Felipe Massa: “Today, we concentrated 100% on the aerodynamic side and on the exhausts.
In the morning, I didn’t even do a flying lap because we used the time available to do constant
speed runs and to analyse various aerodynamic solutions. All the changes to the car took longer than planned, but in the afternoon, I managed to do three long runs which were very important in order to understand which direction we need to follow in the coming days.” Testing continues at this circuit tomorrow, again with the Brazilian driver on track.Mercedes AMG Petronas
Lewis Hamilton’s first day of testing for Mercedes AMG Petronas was brought to an early conclusion today by a technical problem on the F1 W04.
- Lewis completed 15 laps this morning before suffering a loss of rear brake pressure
- The front brakes enabled him to slow the car however he could not avoid hitting the barrier
- The problem was traced to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear calliper
- The team did not go out for the remainder of the day as work continued to complete the required repairs
Nico Rosberg will be back at the wheel of the F1 W04 tomorrow for the third day of the test.
Lewis Hamilton: We had a good start but then unfortunately we had a failure which brought our day to an early end. These things happen and it’s all part of testing. Of course, it’s better that we get these small issues out of the way sooner rather than later, and the guys are working really hard to overcome them. From the few short laps that I completed this morning, my general feeling was very positive. I got a good understanding of where the base of the car is and, whilst we need to do work in certain areas, it was good to have some laps to get a feel for what those areas are. I’ve told the guys that we just need to keep pushing and I know that we all will be doing that.
Caterham
Driver: Giedo van der Garde, car #21
Chassis: CT03-05
Total laps: 88
Best lap: 1.21.311Giedo van der Garde, car #21, chassis CT03-05: “Giedo van der Garde, car #21, chassis CT03-05: “Another solid day on track and with 88 laps completed we can be pleased with what we’ve achieved today. For the second day running we didn’t have any real issues and we’re working through the program so the team on track and back in Leafield have a lot of data to work on.
“In the morning session we ran through a number of aero programs and then switched to comparing setup options on a variety of the tyre compounds. I think we found a good direction in the last run in the afternoon so now the team can keep making progress in the next two days. The other important thing for me is that I’m getting more and more comfortable in the car. The time I spent on track last year with the team was obviously a big help and it’s meant I’ve come into this test knowing my way around the team, and to have completed over 150 laps in my first two days of testing is very positive.”
Sauber
Jerez de la Frontera, 6th February 2013 – The Sauber F1 Team had a productive second day of testing. In the morning, when the track’s temperature was still cold, the team concentrated mainly on aerodynamic tests. Later in the morning and in the afternoon – in better track conditions – the engineers and Nico started with some basic set-up work, and then made some runs on heaviear fuel loads. The car ran without any technical problems all day. At the end the team did a fuel system check, and Nico ran out of fuel.
Driver: Nico Hülkenberg
Weather: Sunny all day, air 7-20°C, track 7-28 °C
Chassis/engine: C32-2/Ferrari 056
Laps today: 99 laps
Fastest lap : 1 :19.502 min
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering : “It was a very good day with Nico achieving all our goals. Nico is building up a good working relationship with the engineers, which is important. We continued our work on understanding the Pirelli tyres. Without doubt the temperatures will be different once we go racing, but we still got to understand them well. The car was, again, very reliable, which gives us a solid basis.
Nico Hülkenberg : “For the second day in a row it was pretty successful. We went through a lot of test items and did a comparison of the compounds – soft, medium and hard – which was quite interesting. Otherwise I was able to continue my familiarisation with the car and I did some long runs. Like yesterday, it was a positive day.“
What comes next: This was the final day of testing for Nico in Jerez. Tomorrow and on Friday, Esteban Gutiérrez will take over.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Driver Sergio Perez
Location Circuito de Jerez
Track length 4.428km
Laps 81
Km covered 359
Best laptime 1m19.572s
Programme After yesterday’s encouraging start, today’s focus switched to preparing Sergio for his first run behind the wheel of a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
The morning kicked off with a continuation of yesterday’s aero calibration work, carried out across a number of shorter runs. Attention then turned towards acclimatising Sergio to his new office, running through a prescribed programme of mechanical and aerodynamic adjustments with MP4-28 to give him a greater understanding of the inherent feel of the car and the way it reacts to set-up changes.
The acclimatisation session continued throughout the afternoon, concluding in a number of longer runs. Sergio racked up 81 laps – a positive start to his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes career.
What’s next Jenson returns for his second and final day of Jerez testing, continuing the aero and mechanical work that has been established over the past two days.
Pos Driver Constructor Best time Laps
1 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m 18.218s 95
2 Paul di Resta Force India 1m 19.003s 95
oss Brawn with Hamilton on 2nd day of pre-season F1 testing at Jerez track on Wednesday. A Mercedes photo. 3 Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rossa 1m 19.134s 83
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m 19.338s 101
5 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1m 19.502s 99
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1m 19.519s 15
7 Sergio Perez Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m 19.572s 81
8 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m 19.914s 78
9 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m 20.693s 71
10 James Rossiter Force India 1m 21.273s 19
11 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m 21.311s 88
12 Luiz Razia Marussia 1m 23.537s 31
ends
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Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ spectacular parade for MP4-28
Jenson Button (left) and Sergio Perez at the launch of MP4-28 at Woking on 31 Jan 2013. A Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team photo. Woking, 31 Jan 2013: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launched its 2013 Formula 1 challenger and kicked off a year of 50th anniversary celebrations with a spectacular parade of classic racing cars at the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday.
The parade brought to life a string of race- and championship-winning McLarens from across the decades, included 1970’s M8D CanAm sportscar, Emerson Fittipaldi’s iconic 1974 M23, Ayrton Senna’s dominant 1988 MP4/4, our 1995 Le Mans-winning F1 GTR, Mika Hakkinen’s MP4-13 car from 1998 and Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 MP4-23.
The display culminated in the arrival of our 2013 race drivers, Jenson Button and Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez – who arrived driving a development model of our new McLaren P1TM sportscar and a 12C Spider, respectively.
Evolution through history
The display of classic McLarens was a timely reminder of the weight of history that constantly hangs over a team with such high expectations each and every season. Following such a winning pedigree is the aim and intention of each and every man and woman who comes to work at McLaren every day.
And, for everyone involved in its inception, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-28 is the logical culmination of everything we’ve ever done: it’s the sum of 50 years’ experience, expertise and passion.
The MP4-28 isn’t merely a refinement of last year’s seven-race-winning car, it’s a deep and sweeping re-design of an already successful chassis in several key areas – most notably around the nose and front suspension, the sidepod profiles and the rear bodywork.
Jenson and Checo – a perfect blend
Jenson and Checo continue the trend of evolution through history.
Jenson begins his fourth season at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes as the team’s most experienced driver. Indeed, during his time here, he has won more races (eight) and scored more points (672) than during the rest of his 10-year Formula 1 career.
For 2013, he is keenly anticipating the opportunity to maximise all his skill and depth of experience to spearhead the development of the car across the championship season.
By contrast, Checo is starting only his third season in Formula 1, aged 23. Young, eager to learn, and already impressing the team with his ability to absorb information, he is perfectly poised to benefit from the team’s professionalism and experience as he develops and gathers pace during his important first season as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.
Our driver pairing is the perfect blend of youth and experience.
We will once again be targeting both the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships. The ongoing strength in depth of the organisation, plus the exciting addition of Sergio to the proven package of Jenson gives the whole team strong encouragement and motivation for the year ahead.
Powering the market with 50 years of expertise
Our unrivalled experience as a British F1 team has enabled us to develop cutting-edge technologies. We’re proud that the technology and expertise pioneered at the racetrack and developed by McLaren Applied Technologies, working in partnership with Vodafone, were used byBritish canoeists, rowers, cyclists and sailors, helping to bring home 15 gold medals last summer.
In partnership with Vodafone and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, we have begun a successful pilot utilising Formula 1 data management expertise to improve the monitoring of children in intensive care – a project we hope to continue and expand in 2013.
We will also be supplying motors, transmissions and data systems for teams entering the new Formula E series, which is set to hit city streets in 2014.
The depth of trust and respect we enjoy with our partners has allowed us to extend record-breaking relationships with the likes of Hugo Boss (32 years), TAG Heuer (28 years), Kenwood (23 years), ExxonMobil and Mercedes-Benz (19 years) and SAP (15 years).
In addition, our longstanding partnerships with Johnnie Walker and Hilton (nine years), Vodafone and Santander (seven years) are globally successful. Our recent strategic partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, which has seen GSK scientists develop a successful drinks formula to hydrate the drivers, will see the launch of the McLaren GSK Centre for Applied Performance at the end of the year.
Last year, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes also became the first motorsport company to retain the challenging Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of our continued efforts to reduce the impact we have on the environment.
2013: the most exciting year yet for McLaren Automotive
On the road, McLaren Automotive’s high performance cars have been setting new standards. Last year we launched the 12C Spider, the open-roofed version of the groundbreaking 12C, and also unveiled the McLaren P1TM, which launches this year with the aim of being the best drivers’s car in the world, on both the road and track.
Evolution through history – or history through evolution? In 2013, we are set to do both.
Jenson will begin track testing of the MP4-28 at Spain’s Circuito de Jerez on Tuesday February 5.
JENSON & CHECO: A PERFECT BLEND
JENSON BUTTON (GBR)
Date of birth January 19 1980 (33)
Titles 2009 world champion
GPs 228
Wins 15 (eight for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)
Poles 8
FLs 8
Points 999
Websites www.jensonbutton.com
Twitter @jensonbutton “I’m going into my fourth season as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver and, more than ever, I know and understand the strengths and abilities of this team. This year is really about continuity and consolidation.
“Obviously, the biggest change for 2013 is my new team-mate, Checo. It’s always interesting and inspiring to begin working with a new face, and it already feels like a very positive working relationship.
“I know from personal experience that it can feel initially daunting when you walk into the McLaren Technology Centre for the very first time, but I also remember how quickly I was made to feel at home and how welcoming I found the whole McLaren family. I’m sure Checo already feels very much at ease here.
“We were extremely strong throughout the whole of the 2012 season, but, for one reason or another, we couldn’t quite pull it all together to challenge for the championships. That’s something we want to address for 2013. I’ve seen just how closely everybody has been working together on this car, and I think we’ve got the basis for a very strong season.
“We’ll be working extremely hard during the pre-season to ensure we go to the first race with bulletproof reliability. Operationally, too, I think we’ve learned and developed from last year, and that will help us run a much smoother and stronger campaign.
“I also want to say that today’s demonstration of some classic McLarens makes me feel incredibly proud to be a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver. I don’t think anybody with a love for motorsport could fail to be moved by sound and fury of the cars we saw here today – they’ll always make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
“This year’s car is the best we’ve ever made – I know the engineers have left absolutely no stone unturned in wringing every ounce of performance from every available area. I cannot wait to get behind the wheel and attempt to carry forward the incredible legacy that lives beneath the skin of every single man and woman who works at McLaren.”
SERGIO PEREZ (MEX)
Date of birth January 26 1990 (23)
Titles –
GPs 37
Wins –
Poles –
FLs 1
Points 80
Websites www.sergioperezf1.com
Twitter @schecoperez “For me, this is a great day. In fact, every day this year has been great: I’ve been working hard with my new team to get everything ready for the start of the 2013 season – and it’s been an incredible journey to get to know this incredible organisation.
“I’m incredibly proud to be a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver. Seeing such famous cars brought to life today, and knowing that I’m driving for the team on it’s 50th anniversary – that’s such a special feeling.
“Of course, I am fully aware of the steep slope ahead of me: it has already been an intense couple of weeks, getting to grips with a new team, meeting my engineers and mechanics, learning new ways of working and, of course, learning all about a brand new car – something I’ll need to do with just six days of on-track testing. It’s a big challenge.
“But it’s definitely going to be an exciting few weeks: although I’ve been racing in Formula 1 for the past two seasons, every racing car is different and it always takes a little time to adjust. Firstly, I’ll need to understand the different characteristics of the car; secondly, I’ll learn how to best work with my engineers to make the car suit my personal driving style. It’s going to be an interesting and exciting journey.
“But I’m more prepared than I’ve ever been for the start of a new season. I feel extremely fit, focused and refreshed – there’s still a lot to do, but my aims are to feel confident, comfortable and ready to race by the time I land in Australia in just a few weeks’ time.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“The launch of a new Formula 1 car is always an exciting and slightly nerve-wracking occasion. Today’s parade of some of our greatest and most significant cars was a thrilling way to kick off our 50th anniversary celebrations and also our 2013 campaign – but it’s a reminder of the tremendous responsibility everyone within the McLaren Technology Centre shares to uphold the legacy began by Bruce McLaren and taken on by Teddy Mayer and Ron Dennis.
“It’s fully appropriate that the echoes of the past should be made to reverberate around the glass walls of a thoroughly modern building like the McLaren Technology Centre. Equally, however, we’ve never lost sight of the fact that we’ll always be linked to that fearless band of enterprising pioneers who came together to form Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd in the autumn of 1963. Like Bruce and his closest friends, we still have the belief that we can go out into the world, risk everything and emerge victorious. That, ultimately, is the spirit that drives this organisation.
“For 2013, of course, we go racing to win. With Jenson and Checo, and this fantastic-looking new car, I believe we’re extremely well prepared for another competitive season. Jenson is driving better than ever – he’s the most experienced driver in Formula 1, but he makes every ounce of that experience count: he’s peerless in his ability to read a race and one of the very fastest drivers out there. He’s a consummate professional, too, and will revel in working hard to drive this team through the year.
“Checo joins us after a sensational 2012 season and he’s immediately proved that he’s intelligent, modest, hard-working and, make no mistake; very, very quick. Of course, there’ll be a learning curve to overcome as he gets used to our organisation, particularly during the hustle and bustle of the early-season race weekends, but he understands that we are placing no pressure on him.
“This is an exciting time for the whole team. In our 50th anniversary season, I want Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to underline why we are the finest grand prix team in the world.”
Vodafone & Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Vodafone, one of world’s largest mobile communications companies, became title partner of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team in 2007, extending the relationship in 2010 to become the Official Total Communications Provider.
Dominant title sponsorship branding can be seen on the MP4-28 cars and the drivers’ and pit crews’ overalls and helmets. In addition, the partnership delivers an innovative, powerful and integrated marketing platform enabling Vodafone customers to get closer to the action through unique experiences, innovative content, experiential events, advertising, offers and promotions.
As well as providing a wide range of services to support the on-track success of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, including fixed, mobile and broadband networks, content and communication services and associated devices, Vodafone works with McLaren Group away from the track.
Vodafone & McLaren Applied Technologies
Using its F1-derived science and cutting edge telecommunications technology, McLaren Applied Technologies and Vodafone have partnered on numerous ground-breaking projects. In this past year alone they have worked with Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They also assisted Great Britain’s cyclists, rowers, sailors and canoeists with their preparations last summer.
Vodafone and McLaren Applied Technologies have developed advanced systems for several sports and healthcare scenarios, making use of Vodafone’s expertise in enabling large amounts of critically important data to be transferred securely and reliably.
MP4-28 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Chassis
Monocoque
McLaren-moulded carbonfibre composite incorporating front and side impact structures, and survival cell Front suspension Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pullrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement
Rear suspension
Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pullrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement Electronics
McLaren Electronic Systems. Including chassis control, engine control, data acquisition, dashboard, alternator, sensors, data analysis and telemetry. Bodywork
Carbon-fibre composite. Including engine cover, sidepods, floor, nose, front wing and rear wing. Driver-operated drag reduction system
Lubricants & Fluids Mobilith SHC™ 1500 Grease – lubricates the four tripod joints on the drive-shafts resisting the high temperatures generated by the exhaust and braking systems
Mobilith SHC™ 220 Grease – minimises rolling resistance in the car’s ceramic wheel bearings to help maximise speed
Mobil SHC™ Hydraulic Oil – running at over 200 bar and 100° C this fluid is an essential part of the hydraulic system which controls gear shift, the throttles and operation of DRS and steering systems
Tyres
Radio
Race wheels
Brake calipers
Master cylinders
Akebono Batteries
Steering
Instruments
Paint solutions
Engine
Type
Capacity
Cylinders
Maximum rpm 18,000
Bank angle
Piston bore maximum 98mm
Number of valves 32
Fuel
Spark plugs
Lubricants
Weight
KERS Hybrid
Type
Mercedes-Benz e-Motor
Engine-mounted electrical motor/generator ESS
Integrated energy storage cells and power electronics Power
60 kW Transmission
Gearbox
Integral rear impact structure
Gears
Seven forward and one reverse Gear selection
Clutch
Lubricants
Mobil 1 SHC™ Gear Oil – provides reduced fluid traction losses improving gearbox efficiency and delivering more power to the rear wheels ends
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To end on a high is fantastic, thanks to the team: Button
DRIVERS
1 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Nelson Piquet)
First of all, a question for the winner. For sure, you’ve done a fantastic job all year round? But the best race was the most exciting race I ever saw in Formula One. The question for you is, I’m sure you’re very happy in this race, but are you happy also that you get Hamilton out of the way?
Jenson BUTTON: First of all, I want to congratulate the whole team. This is the perfect way for us to end the season. We started on a high and we’ve had ups and downs, and to end on a high is fantastic. It bodes very well for 2013. Congratulations guys. We fought for second in the Constructors’ today but these boys were a little bit too strong. Thank you very much.
Alonso, I’m sorry. You did a fantastic job all year round. Massa can say, you have some accidents that were not your fault. I’m sorry about you because I have also… I lost two championships at the last race, I know how it feels. Actually, I’m asking about your feelings now.
Fernando ALONSO: Well, first of all I feel very proud of my team, very proud of the season we did. Obviously we lost the championship now, but I don’t think, as you said, that we lost here in Brazil, we lost in some races where we were a little bit unlucky. But this is a sport, but when you do something with your heart, when you do something with 100 per cent, you have to be proud of your team, happy for them, and we will try next year.
And my friend Massa: you started the year not very good but you have been improving all the time. What about next year? Are you going to start in the right way?
Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure. I think the second part of the year was the preparation for next year. It’s such an emotion to race here. I think the race was really fantastic. For sure, it could have been a better position than what I finished but anyway I didn’t know what to say. Just crying and I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to feel, it was so amazing.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Jenson, congratulations, what an amazing race for you. First of all, that tyre strategy, staying out, it really worked well for you.
JB: Yeah it did. It was one of the toughest races I’ve had. It was very tricky. It was on that point many times when you think Inters is the right tyre. I kept asking the team “what’s going to happen with the weather: it’s supposed to be light showers?” Well OK, we’ll see how we go but it was so, so difficult. You’re locking up tyres here and there but you’ve just got to push to the limit. You have to wait for the team to give you the information about all the other people on Inters so it’s not just about driving the car at that point. Y’know, you need every single piece of information that’s out there to know that you’re doing the right thing. But it was a really good race. Obviously things were made more difficult with the first safety car. Lost 40 seconds, the race was between me and Nico then. It was made a lot more difficult. And then when the safety car came in I grained the front-right tyre. I really struggled but when that went away it was good. The two guys in front obviously had a coming together, which helped things but in that sort of race you never really know what the outcome is going to be. We still had a lot more rain coming. We still had to make the right call on the pitstop again, which I think we did, and then we just tried to hold the gap really to the Ferraris, which was about 20 seconds, which was difficult in itself, because there was so much water out there for Inters. But really happy with the end result. We started the year so strong and we’ve ended it so strong. Just a few areas that we need to improve in the middle of the season. It’s sad that Lewis isn’t here to enjoy his last race with the team but it’s racing and these things happen. I’d like to bid him farewell. We’ve had a good time together over the last three years and I think we’ve proved that on the first ten laps of the race with how close our fighting was. I hope he has a good career in his next team. Lastly, I’d like to congratulation Sebastian on his third title in a row. He’s very, very impressive so congratulations to him and also Red Bull for clinching the Constructors’ at the previous race.
Fernando, you wanted unusual circumstances but it seems they weren’t either the right ones or not enough. But it was just an incredible race for all of you.
FA: Yes, it was good I think. It was more or less what we wanted. Mixed conditions and very, very difficult race. It was one of the most difficult races we ever drove, I think with the conditions out there and you feel that you are with the wrong tyre every lap but you ask the team and everyone is in the same position so you need to keep fighting. There was a lot of risk every lap to crash and have an accident and finish the race there. So we could not afford this for sure because we needed a podium finish to have any chance, so it was a very delicate situation but we managed very well and again we starting in eighth or seven or something like that and we finished in the podium one more time. As usual in the last couple of races. So this can only be achieved with perfection from the team, with good strategies, with good start, with good pace in the car. And today we mixed all again and it was very fine. Obviously you are not in control of what your rivals do. And I think we need a second place and Sebastian eighth or something like that, which we know that is a very strange combination of results because to be out of the first eight positions for Red Bull in this race is not so easy, so we were hoping a little miracle, as we were hoping for all through the year, I think from the start to the end it was a dream and we had this little present to fight for the championship until the last race. So we enjoyed the race, we did our job and the dream continued until today. And this was… thank you for the team to have a perfect season.
Felipe, on the podium at home, you were also the perfect team-mate, and also an emotional podium for you.
FM: Yeah, I think it was so emotional. Not just the podium, I mean what’s happened all through the year, y’know? I think everything came together in the same moment. And I didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to think, I mean I just couldn’t even breathe. It was very emotional. The race was good, we made some mistakes on the strategy but you never know. It was raining, stopping, raining, stopping and you never know what to expect. And I choose also together, to try that strategy but then after we saw, I saw myself again in 11th and just was quite aggressive overtaking cars and I think from there on the race was incredible. It was very good. And for sure with… together with this problem on the strategy, I mean the race I suppose should be different. Suppose even to fight for the victory maybe, y’know? Under normal circumstance. I think all together the first part of the season, which was a disaster and then after that was completely different; doing what I like, doing what I know, the performance I know and I think when we put everything together it just collapsed.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
(Adam Hay-Nicholls – Metro) Fernando, when Seb had his first lap spin, did the team get on the radio and tell you what had happened, or did they just let you get on with it?
FA: Yes, yes, they told me that they had a spin and he was last. But nothing because the conditions were so difficult that being last, 11th or 12th was not a big drama at that time but obviously it was one more time to be cool and to calm down. The race was on and it was very strange situations and very strange conditions on the track and obviously when Sebastian was quite far down after the spin it was obviously a message to calm down and stay cool because we need to keep it in the track. That was sometimes the most difficult thing. It was not about lap time, it was not about one-tenth it was just to survive every lap. So it was the most difficult thing in the race.
(Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Question for Fernando, where and when do you think you lost this championship?
FA: Many, many places. Obviously I have two retirements in the year, over 20 races and the two retirements was not engine problem, not gear problem, not driver error. It was nothing. It was one car puncturing your rear tyre and one car passing over you. Nothing really you could do in these two starts. So for sure there you lose a couple of points. There were also some races that we have some strange decisions let’s say, and some penalties, so maybe we lost also there.
(Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Fernando, before you did your last pitstop, Sebastian went in for another set of dry tyres and then took Inters. You stayed out, how difficult was it for you to find the balance? I mean you stayed out on probably very used old tyres. And who did the decision to stay out?
FA: It was a shared decision, obviously. It was getting quite wet and the pace was starting to be six seconds slower, then eight, and then the last two laps were 14 seconds slower than the normal dry pace. They call me to put the new tyres, dry tyres, two laps before and I said “guys, it’s raining quite a lot, so let’s wait one more lap. Give me one more lap because I don’t think it is ready for new dry tyres or for intermediate.” And then we wait one more lap and it was very clear that it was intermediate conditions, so we were lucky in that lap.
(Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Question to all drivers: this season was usual or unusual for you – and why?
JB: I think it’s pretty obvious it was quite an unusual season, especially at the start of the year, having seven different winners from so many different teams. We don’t see that in Formula One so often. Well, ever. I think a lot of it was down to the way we were getting the tyres working or not getting the tyres working. But also I think a lot of the teams, the teams that aren’t normally at the front, I think they’ve done a very good job over the winter. But through the year when the bigger teams work out how to use the tyres and also, you know, the development race, suddenly you see a difference towards the end of the season. Not as big as some might have thought. I don’t think we would have expected a Force India to be leading the race today. So, I think it shows Formula One is a lot closer than it used to be; in terms of regulations it’s a lot tighter and also with not many regulation changes, it brings the field very close – and I think we’ll see that also next year.
FM: I think he said everything.
(Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, did the team inform you every single lap what was going on, behind and in front of you, considering the championship fight? And if you can make some comments about Felipe because he has been helping you a lot in the last few races.
FA: Of course, I was constantly updated with the positions of our rivals. At the beginning of the race for the Constructors’ Championship and also for the Drivers’ Championship. After Hamilton retired the Constructors’ Championship was a little easier for us so we were concentrating the Drivers’ Championship. Nothing really to say, it’s good to have some information because sometimes you don’t know if you’re fast enough or you are too slow and when you see that the pace is OK and your rivals are fighting at the back, there is some extra motivation. And about Felipe for sure it was a very, very good second part of the year with some podiums and some very good performance. If I found myself fighting for the World Championship at the last race it’s also thanks to the teamwork, and when we say teamwork it’s engineers, we say people in Maranello, we say sponsors and we say the drivers. There are a lot of tests that have been done in the simulator with our test drivers. There is a lot of test that Felipe was doing in the simulator also in the summer and there is the Friday practice that without a team-mate… you can share the programme and you can trust the results… it’s impossible sometimes to work. Maximum trust, maximum confidence in Felipe’s work every time in the races, in the practice, in the simulator, we are a team. We are united. And in the last two races, three races, there was also some help in the race itself in terms of positions gained etcetera. So this is also due to the position in the championship that Felipe had no more options and the team decide this. As I said, fantastic team and thanks to everybody, we were in this situation.
(Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, two questions, do you know something about Vettel overtaking Kobayashi with yellow flag and the second question is about the future: in what aspects must improve Ferrari to win the championship.
FA: The yellow flag, not any news, only Jenson was in front of me when we arrive in the podium. There was some kind of hope when he told me there is some yellow flag problem but then I think it was not true. I don’t know, I came from the podium here, so maybe you have more information. For future, I think we need to improve the car. I think we have the best team in terms of approaching the races, preparing the races. Zero mechanical problems, zero problems for the year. Good pitstops, good starts, good strategy. But we were too slow. We were behind the Red Bulls, behind the McLarens, and now in the last couple of grands prix, behind Williams, Force India. We were clearly slower than them in pace. So this is something we must improve next year because we cannot fight for a World Championship if we are too slow. We can be a little bit slower but not that much. And this year it was something strange, combinations that allowed us to fight until the end but I’m not sure we’ll be this lucky in the future.
(Claudio Nogueira – O Globo) Alonso, please, do you feel more frustrated for not being champion or satisfied having been to the end of the championship?
FA: I’m very satisfied. I think it’s very good feeling what I have now. It was very frustrating maybe in Abu Dhabi, feeling, two years ago because we have in our hands and we lost it. It was some kind of frustration there. Here is completely the opposite. I’m so proud and I’m so happy to fight until the last lap with the package we have in hands. That is the best thing for me, to feel proud of myself, it was by far the best season of my career and I will remember this 2012 like some dream season. Obviously we didn’t achieve the points to win the title but I won so many things this year: so much respect from everybody.
(Alberto Antonini – Autosprint) Fernando, last year in Brazil you called 2012 as your best season ever. Do you think this one was even better?
FA: Yes, yes definitely. I think last year was very good, I was very proud of the season, how we approach races, how we improve mistakes we done in 2010 and this 2012, as I said, apart from the competitiveness of the car, if I repeat the 20 races, it would be difficult to do anything different of what we did because everything was so good for me.
(Rodrigo Gini – O Estado de Minas) Question for Felipe. The last time you entered through that door four years ago was maybe the most bitter moment on your career. You did whatever you could to try to fight to the championship and lost it to Lewis. Four years later you come through the same door and it’s even emotional, can you tell us what changed and what happened through that time and how to you feel about returning to the podium in Brazil?
FM: Well, I think it happen so many things in this time, from the last time I came from that door after the race and now. It was actually not a great timing on my career, and before was just great times. I had a difficult time but I think I learnt a lot. It was a life experience, y’know? Which is always important for you to learn, to understand so many things. I think the most important thing is to understand, and to turn around and go back to the good direction. To do all you know. Which I always believe I am able to do – and I think I’m showing now. So, coming back through that door is always a great feeling. And not just through that door, but in this place and being competitive. I think I was competitive the whole weekend. Even in the race, with the problems I had in the race but anyway I was always competitive. And I think that’s really what makes me proud. To be here, to enjoy, to do the best you can and to do all you know, without any bullshit. Just to know and enjoy.
Ends
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Hamilton pips Button to take pole at Brazilian GP
Sao Paulo, 24 Nov 2012: McLaren lock-out the Interlagos front row ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 Formula Once championship but the title battle continues with Sebastian Vettel qualifying four places higher than Fernando Alonso. Vettel will be on 4th and behind him is Felipe Massa on 5th. Ferrari might once again chose to change the gear box on Massa’s car to help championship contender Alonso move up a place. Alonso is 13 points behind Vettel.
Ferrari might not be breaking any rules but it is certainly not a sporting decision when they changed the gear box on Massa in the last race to help Alonso get on to the right side of the track. They were also known for their team orders over the years.
Having been quickest in every session so far it wasn’t unexpected that a McLaren would take pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix. The only question was which one. In the end Lewis Hamilton beat Jenson Button by less than a tenth of a second. Mark Webber will line up third on the track where he’s won twice in the past three years and Sebastian Vettel was fourth – but all that really matters for tomorrow is that he’s got a gap between himself and Fernando Alonso who lines up eighth. After the session messrs Hamilton, Button and Webber faced the shortest press conference in living memory: they’ll be fighting for victory tomorrow but they’re still the support act.
Rain was expected to play a part today and it did – though mostly by its absence: a shower briefly hit the track half an hour before the session beg but the circuit dried before the session began. Nico Hülkenberg tried a lap with the Inters but aborted that run – it wasn’t wet enough. In fact the track was drying quickly in the warm São Paulo air. When the session began the times were around six seconds off those set in morning practice, the gap narrowed minute by minute.
Confident more rain would not fall, the big guns all held their fire until the second half of the session, going out with around seven minutes remaining. Interlagos is a short lap: they had plenty of time for a four or five lap stint, and they took advantage of that. With the track picking up speed everyone ran to the flag. That created it’s own problems: Interlagos is narrow and Romain Grosjean was caught out, losing a front wing trying to pass Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT. The Lotus driver had time to come in for a new nose and return to the action, but he could do no better than 18th. Eliminated with him were Petrov, Kovalainen, Glock, Pic, Karthikeyan and de la Rosa. Hamilton was the pick of the bunch, finishing the session in P1 with a time of 1:15.015, roughly a second off a hard tyre time from free practice.
If rain was on the way there would have been a mad dash to the end of the pitlane before the start of Q2. Obviously it wasn’t threatening because the both McLarens and Red Bulls elected to sit tight and watch their peers. At the halfway mark Alonso was fastest with 1:14.288 but at that point Hamilton, Button, Vettel and Alonso were just pulling on their gloves and preparing to run. They went out and duly slotted into the first four positions. This time Vettel gained the upper hand, eight-hundredths quicker than Hamilton. Game on. Eliminated were Di Resta, Senna, Pérez, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Ricciardo and Vergne. Felipe Massa looked like he was heading for the exit but just squeaked through on his last lap by a couple of hundredths.
Q3 began with only Nico Rosberg interested in lapping but soon afterward the bulk of the fielded rolled out though Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Hülkenberg elected to keep their powder dry, Pastor Maldonado did an outlap but returned to the garage, and of the remaining seven, Hamilton was quickest of all, followed by Button, Webber, Massa, Alonso, Vettel and Rosberg. But this was only the hors d’oeuvre: after a brief visit to the pitlane the field reassembled with two minutes left on the clock. With the chequered flag flying, times came thick and fast. Webber took provision pole, then was knocked off by Hamilton, then Button grabbed P2 pushing the Australian down to third. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso had come through more than half a second off the pace. All eyes were on Vettel, he was setting his personal best sector times but crucially not challenging the leaders for ultimate pace. The last to cross the line he could do no better than fourth. That is his worst performance in qualifying since Monza – but crucially it was better than Alonso who could do no better than eighth – though that improved to seventh when Pastor Maldonado was penalized for this third reprimand of the season – the latest for missing a visit to the weighbridge – and demoted ten places.
It’s McLaren’s first front-row lock-out since Monza and given both drivers have looked the quicker at various times in practice, both will be confident of a first Brazilian Grand Prix victory. “We both want to win the race tomorrow, that’s the aim for both of us,” said Button afterwards in the FIA press conference. “ The car seems to be working very well in the dry, our long-run pace is pretty good, but there’s a massive chance of rain tomorrow and that just throws it up in the air for us, it’s quite exciting for two people, their stress levels are going to be through the roof.”
“We need to keep our eyes open tomorrow and be ready for everything because that’s what can happen around here,” added Webber. “It’s going to be a good final grand prix of the year.”
The final order on the grid has Hamilton and Button on row one, followed by Vettel and Webber on two. Felipe Massa was fifth, continuing his fine end of season form, and alongside him will be Pastor Maldonado. Nico Hülkenberg is ahead of Alonso on row four, while Kimi Räikkönen and Rosberg complete the top ten.
The talk of rain always brings with it questions of setup but a delighted Hamilton dismissed those: “Generally nowadays you don’t even really have much of a wet set-up. We’ve just set the car to attack the qualifying and we don’t know what the hell is going to happen tomorrow.”
ends
From left: Webber, Hamilton (pole) and Button after qualification at the Interlagos on Saturday. A Vodafone McLaren F1 team photo. -
Brazilian GP: FIA Saturday press conference
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)
2 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
TV UNILATERAL
Q: Lewis, a fantastic pole position, it must give you great satisfaction, particularly in your final Grand Prix with McLaren.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, absolutely. It’s been a good weekend so far. Grateful to be able to put the car on the front row and to have the last one-two in qualifying with Jenson in the same team. Just a fantastic job by the team – so grateful for all the opportunities they’ve given me. I hope that we can turn it into something really positive tomorrow.
Q: Jenson, you’ve obviously been very quick all weekend and starting on the front row of the grid, now. Well done.
Jenson BUTTON: Thank you, yeah, it was a pretty good lap. I’m not going to point at areas where you lose or gain time. It was a good time but Lewis’s was half a tenth quicker. Very happy to be on the front row as the last couple of races have been a bit tricky in qualifying. So yeah, good, as Lewis said, it’s great to both be on the front row for his last Grand Prix for the team. The team’s in great shape at the moment and it’s a pity things have got to change, but things do change.
Q: Mark, third on the grid, obviously you have your teammate and championship contender Sebastian Vettel alongside you; question is how can you/will you help for the championship tomorrow?
Mark WEBBER: Well, I think we focus on ourselves tomorrow, do the cleanest race I can. We know there may be some tricky weather tomorrow. It’s a long Grand Prix and I’ll be focused 100 percent on my efforts in my cockpit and get to the finish line as quick as possible.
Q: Back to Lewis; obviously you won the last Grand Prix last weekend, fantastic pace last weekend, what are the chances tomorrow?
LH: Well, I think the weather is going to be tricky tomorrow so it’s definitely going to make it more of a lottery but I think, as Jenson said, we’ve put ourselves in a really good position and we are just going to do the best job we can from there and work together as a team, the best we have been for quite some time, so we will make sure we will do absolutely everything to get the top result.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, first time on pole here. You mentioned the weather just now. Have you made any allowances for that? Is there anything in the set-up for that? Or is it too much of a gamble to go for a wet set-up with high downforce?
LH: Generally nowadays you don’t even really have much of a wet set-up. It’s not like in karting when you soften everything off. The set-up in the dry and the wet is very, very similar – apart from ride heights maybe. We’ve just set the car to attack the qualifying and we don’t know what the hell… what’s going to happen tomorrow. We just have to wait and see, make sure we get our tyre pressures right, make sure we get the tyre temperatures right and the brake temperatures and try to steer clear of any big puddles.
Starting in front is obviously the best thing if it is wet. Do you want it to be wet?
LH: I don’t mind. I love driving in the rain. Here in Brazil it’s quite a special race for the rain… [it’s special] even in the dry. But I’m massively happy to be… every year I’ve generally qualified fourth since 2007, I think one year I was 18th, so I’m really happy not to be on that fourth spot. Who’s there? I don’t know, I guess Sebastian will be there, so he’ll experience what I’ve experienced in the past.
Jenson, your best grid position here as well in 12 grands prix so that must be good for you. What sort of race is it tomorrow for you? Is it try and beat Lewis, is it a team race, what do you think?
JB: We’re there to win the grand prix as I think every driver it, unless it’s team-mates fighting for the world championship. So, we both want to win the race tomorrow, that’s the aim for both of us. So we’ll see what we can do. The car seems to be working very well in the dry, our long-run pace is pretty good, but as you said, there’s a massive chance of rain tomorrow and that just throws it up in the air for us, it’s quite exciting for two people, their stress levels are gong to be through the roof. But for us starting near the front it’s hopefully going to be a very exciting race. We just have to hope that the rain level is OK for us to actually race. That’s always the worry here in Interlagos.
Mark, what are you looking forward to in terms of conditions?
MW: Well, we know Interlagos can be very hit and miss, the little showers can just generate from anywhere and surprise you pretty quickly, the guys on the pit wall. We could have a little bit of both tomorrow, we could even run all three sets of tyres, in terms of wets, inters and slicks at some stage. So, obviously I think it will be pretty humid tomorrow as well. I think the ambient is going to be quite cool but the humidity will help dry the circuit out in some cases. We need to keep our eyes open tomorrow and be ready for everything because that’s what can happen around here. So looking forward to whatever it is. It’s going to be a good final grand prix of the year, looking forward to getting a really good result.
Ends
File picture of Lewis Hamilton courtesy McLaren F1 Team. -
Hamilton tops in Free Practice
Free Practice 2
Sao Paulo, 23 Nov 2012: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton topped the order in FP2, again leading from Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton carried on where he left off in the morning, fastest of anyone, though by an increased margin, 0.274 up on Vettel. Mark Webber was again third quickest, followed by Felipa Massa and Fernando Alonso in the Ferraris. Michael Schumacher was sixth for Mercedes ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton, a McLaren photo Jenson Button was eighth ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, with Paul di Resta rounding out the top ten for Force India.
With track temperatures at Interlagos reaching 49°C, the cars hit the track immediately the pit lane light turned green. Fastest in the initial stages was Webber with a time of 1:16.000. While most runners were working with the hard tyre, Vitaly Petrov and Daniel Ricciardo continued to gather data with the experimental 2013 compound.
Hamilton briefly took top spot before Vettel took over with 1:15.226 but then the migration to the medium tyre began. Romain Grosjean was the first man under 1m15s with 1:14.994 before Lewis Hamilton set 1:14.026 with 39 minutes of the session remaining. That time would stay top until the end of the session, though others would close the gap.
Outside the top ten Nico Hülkenberg was 11th, ahead of Räikkönen, Bruno Senna, Sergio Pérez, Kamui Kobayashi and Daniel Ricciardo. Pastor Maldonado was 17th, though in the high-mileage session managed a colossal 47 laps. Behind him came Jean-Eric Vergne, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen, Pedro de la Rosa, Timo Glock, Charles Pic and once again Narain Karthikeyan brought up the rear. Pic was the only casualty of the session, an alternator problem ending his session 20 minutes early.
“It’s been a positive first day – I hope we can maintain our form or even progress it tomorrow,” said Hamilton afterwards. “We’re certainly looking strong, but this place can be so tough on tyres that it’s hard to make any accurate predictions at this stage.”
Free Practice 1
Earlier, Lewis Hamilton did just enough to finish on top of FP1, nine-thousandths of a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
FP1 was busier than usual with teams taking advantage of Pirelli’s 2013 prototype tyres, which were available today in addition to the 2012 specifications. Hamilton set his fastest lap of 1:14.131, 20 minutes into the session with the experimental rubber on his McLaren. Vettel got to within three-tenths of a second early in his run on the same 2013 tyres, and closed to within 0.009s after putting the 2012 hard tyre on the Red Bull.
Mark Webber would complete the top three in the second Red Bull and Jenson Button finished P4 in the other McLaren. All four men were within a tenth of a second. There was then a gap of two-tenths back to the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso is P5 who was three-tenths up on his team-mate Felipe Massa. Massa was the only spinner of the session, rotating his car at Pinheirinho as the session drew to its conclusion. Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Pastor Maldonado and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top ten.
Valtteri Bottas was the first man to set a time, the Williams tester did an extended installation at the start of the session and recored a time of 1:21.218. Sergio Pérez opted to go out early for his first run and soon knocked the benchmark down to 1:15.869 before Hamilton appeared and set about taking large chunks out of that time. One name absent from the early running was that of Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn reported engine issues on his installation lap and returned to the garage. Lotus got him running towards the end of the session but the 2007 World Champion only managed 16 laps, whereas most runners got into the thirties. Also frugal with their time on track were the HRTs. Pedro de la Rosa managed 15 laps and Narain Karthikeyan 13.
Michael Schumacher in his final race finished FP1 in 11th, just ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, Pérez and Bottas. Daniel Ricciardo with fifteenth ahead of Räikkönen and Ricciardo’s Red Bull team-mate Jean-Eric Verge was 17th. Nico Rosberg could only managed 18th and behind him came Caterham tester Giedo van der Garde. He was followed by the Marussia of Timo Glock, Vitaly Petrov’s Caterham, Charles Pic for Marussia and then de la Rosa and Karthikeyan bringing up the rear.
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Hamilton wins in Austin
Austin, 18 Nov 2012: Lewis Hamilton won a tense rather than spectacular US Grand Prix as Red Bull Racing picked up the Constructors’ Championship.
While Hamilton was the star of the show, Sebastian Vettel took second and Fernando Alonso third, ensuring their battle for the Drivers’ Championship goes down to the wire in Brazil. Vettel, who had been fastest in every session up until today, controlled proceedings at the front after the start
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren team on the podium after winning the US GP on Sunday 18 Nov 2012. A Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team Photo. . However, as he got tangled up in traffic on lap 42, he fell back towards Hamilton and the McLaren driver, who had been stalking the Red Bull man for most of the race, cruised past to take the lead.
A clearly angry Vettel was straight on his radio to complain about the backmarkers who had held him up, but the lead was gone. “I wasn’t too happy to send a nice big invitation to Lewis when I obviously had to go through [Narain] Karthikeyan and he [Lewis] was basically right behind at the DRS zone,” said Vettel. “I tried to defend, I moved to the inside but I knew that he would have so much more speed that he can pick either side, so it didn’t really matter what I was doing and after that, I was obviously not too happy.”
Just as the German had controlled the pace for the first two thirds of the grand prix, so Hamilton managed the pace until the chequered flag. While Vettel often closed the gap, he was never able to challenge for the position.
“It’s been a great weekend,” said Hamilton of his second US GP victory, the previous one coming in F1’s final visit to Indianapolis in 2007. “To be able to beat Red Bull and Sebastian is definitely a tough challenge but we managed to do it today.
“We pitted maybe two laps before Sebastian, so then he came out quite far ahead but traffic really worked out quite well for once. Traffic usually catches me out, so I was glad that it worked slightly in my favour at some points. But what a great feeling to win the first grand prix here, back in the States.”
Almost 30 seconds behind the leading duo Fernando Alonso crossed the line in third. Prior to the race start Alonso was moved up a place from eighth on the grid when Ferrari broke the seal on team-mate Felipe Massa’s gearbox, leading to a five-place penalty for the Brazilian. That put Alonso seventh at the start and even more crucially on the clean side of a track where there was a lot more grip.
Given a chance to take the fight to Vettel in the Drivers’ Championship, Alonso didn’t fluff the opportunity. At the start he passed both Nico Hulkenberg and Michael Schumacher to take fourth. And when Mark Webber retired from third with yet another alternator problem, Alonso stole into third, where he held station until the chequered flag.
“We keep our championship alive thanks to the first laps,” said Alonso. “We always qualify around seventh or eighth and we finish the first lap in the first three or four positions and then after that the race becomes a little easier when you are in the leading group, and today we knew that was a good chance: try to overtake people at the first corner, and then our pace on Sunday normally improves, so we knew that if we are in the leading group we can more or less keep the pace.
“I think this podium, after all the difficulties we went through this weekend, is like a victory for us,” he added. “Losing three points maybe was in no-one’s thoughts last night or Friday after the practice [sessions] we had, so we are really happy again to have a very good Sunday and again score good points.”
Alonso’s 12th podium finish of the season means that the battle for the Drivers’ title heads to the final round next week in Brazil, to which Vettel will now take a 13-point lead. That gap means Alonso must finish third or better at Interlagos even if Vettel finishes outside the points. The Red Bull driver acknowledged that he is now in the box seat.
“I’m excited [about Brazil] because the car seems to work very well, good enough to fight for a win,” he said. “We’ve been very quick in Brazil the last couple of years so plenty to look forward to. On top of that, we increased our lead in the championship today so I think we are in the best possible position.”
While the destination of the Drivers’ title remains unclear for another seven days, the manufacturers’ crown went to Red Bull Racing for the third time in three seasons. Vettel’s second place leaves the Milton Keynes team with 440 points, 73 clear of Ferrari and with a maximum of 43 on the table in Brazil.
“It has been a fantastic job for the team today to seal the Constructors’ Championship against Ferrari who are now in second,” said Vettel. “I’m very happy with that and the guys can be, for sure, very proud of themselves.”
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