INDIA in F1

Tag: Mercedes

  • A big congrats to Ferrari and Sebastian: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Mark Webber)

    Q: Sebastian, all those thousands and thousands of hours of work from the whole team over winter testing, you guys have shown the form early in the season, massive victory, how do you feel?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Unbelievable. Thank you everyone, it was a fantastic grand prix. It was quite, in a positive way, when I was coming back to the pits and there were people running on track going wild with Ferrari flags. It was unbelievable. Thanks for the support. Like you said, it was what we needed. The whole team has been working really, really hard. The guys didn’t get much sleep here and back in the factory. The car is really behaving well, incredible to drive, a beautiful day. Thank you.

    Q: We’ll move across to second place. Lewis Hamilton, who did everything right, he did everything right. Come on, Australia. Absolutely world class is Lewis. On pole position, phenomenal start, mate. And for me, I think the strategy didn’t quite work out for you today. Did you have to pit? Why was it so early? And obviously for you then to get the race victory back off Sebastian was going to be very difficult from then onwards.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, definitely. Firstly, a big congratulations to Ferrari and to Sebastian, they did an amazing job this weekend. It’s been a great weekend for us and the team, but just in the race, I struggled with the tyres at the end. I had to pit a lot earlier than these guys because I just ran out of grip. Pitted and I got stuck behind one of the Red Bulls and sometimes that’s just the way it goes. But overall, a great race and good points for the team and I mean look at this crowd. Thank you for coming out today and it’s always such a great place for us to be.

    Q: Well done Lewis and great sportsmanship there and I wouldn’t expect anything different from a world champion. Valtteri, first time up here with Mercedes, how does it feel? Big weekend for you, no errors, talk us through it.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, obviously first race with the team and really want to thank everyone. The team has been so welcoming. We worked really hard for this first race to be ready. Everything went nice and smoothly but it’s just that the red guys are a bit too quick, so that means we need to work harder. We are definitely ready for that. I am ready for that. This is just the start, starting with a podium, we can improve it from here, so I’ll look forward to the next few races.

    Well done mate, we’ll finish with Sebastian Vettel. Your 43rd victory. The last time I saw this kind of atmosphere was with both our hero, Michael Schumacher. So emotionally for you it must be massive for you to have all these Italian fans down here in Melbourne, in Italy and around the world, winning the first race of the season and taking the championship fight to this man.

    SV: Yeah, it’s a long, long way ahead. For now I think we’re just over the moon. I think it’s been a hard winter and an incredible race today. At the start I wasn’t entirely happy. I think I was a little bit too nervous.

    I was surprised. I thought you were going to do it.

    SV: I had a bit of wheel slip off the line. Lewis was a tiny bit better and then I had to take care of Valtteri in Turn One, but then I had a decent exit. But after that I was really trying to keep the pressure on to make sure that they get that message that we are here and we’re here to fight. Obviously got a bit lucky when Lewis came out in traffic but still we were hanging in there, the tyres were still good, the car was working, so excellent job. And as I said, the support around the track: I had a look with 20 laps to go left and right and especially last sector they were always on fire with the flags, so it was really great. Yeah, thank you.

    Q: And a quick word on the beast: what are the cars like now compared to last year?

    SV: Ah, you could push much harder. Usually the first couple of laps you were pushing last year and then the tyres were dropping off. Now the tyres are still dropping off a bit but you can keep pushing. You can keep braking at the same point. The car is screaming “more, more, more!” Also, at the end with the harder tyres there is hardly any degradation so it’s really good fun, especially in the fast corners. You could keep going forever, it was a great race, and I enjoyed it a lot.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Congratulations Sebastian, your second win here in Australia and the 43rd of your Formula One career. Great start to your year. Talk us through the conversation on the radio after Lewis made that early pit stop. What were deliberations in terms of the strategy? And when you came in and went out on the soft tyres, to try to warm that thing up, you had quite a bit of action behind you, tell us about how tense that got?

    SV: I think we realised early on that we had decent pace. I was able to follow Lewis and then I think after 10 or 12 laps he was really pushing, trying to open a gap, and he succeeded a bit. I was struggling to keep up, but still hanging in there. And I knew if there was anything to happen around the first stop then I need to be right behind him to either put them under pressure or have a chance to jump into the pits earlier to pass him through the stop. Once it was clear that he went in, there was no point to follow. We stayed out, the tyres were still holding on and the pace looked alright. I wasn’t aware of the traffic situation at that point and I just tried to calm down a bit because I was quite hot on the previous laps, but still keep the pace up and hope for an ‘overcut’ so to say. Then I was told he was facing some traffic, which I didn’t know who and how fast the traffic was and whether he would clear but I just tried to hang in there. And then obviously we saw the gap, went into the pits and it worked. It was very tight. I lost a lot of time on the in-lap because I had a lapped car, I think it was a Williams. I lost about a second so I was a bit angry but that’s how it goes sometimes and still it was just enough and I had Max right behind me and Lewis as well, so that was quite tight. Turn One was a bit slippery, but I managed to get a decent exit and a decent run down to Turn Three. I just held the inside. I knew that Max would probably try something but I just kept in front. That was obviously crucial for our race. I tried to push for as hard as I could for the one or two [laps] Max was still out because he was slower on the older tyres, to open a bit of a gap and control the race. The car was really good, working well and I could control the gap and the pace, going through traffic and just bringing it home. It was very pleasant. A different race to last year, where you had to manage a lot. Now I think it was a bit more raw, especially the beginning. Even if it wasn’t a wheel-to-wheel fight I could see Lewis was pushing really hard. There were some corners where he was on top of me and other corners where I was catching up. It was nice that we could just push and race to let’s say the first stop. Then obviously we got a bit lucky with him facing some traffic. But equally we pushed him to the pits and did well. Otherwise, if he had a big lead after 15 laps then he could stay out, control the race and pit into free air. We did a very good race. I’m very happy with the calls today. It worked brilliantly and as I said, big thanks to the team. We say this all the time but I think if you’re not part of the team I think it’s difficult to realise but what this team has done in the last six months has been really tough, rough as well, not easy to manage the whole team but I think the new car, in general… obviously today is fantastic, a big reward a big relief for everyone. It’s just the tip of the iceberg. The foundation has been laid a long time ago and really proud to see it coming together. This is just one race. I’m sure we’ll have a great night, we’ll create… we did already, but we will create some great memories tonight and we’ll take it from there. I think we enjoy what we do, the spirit is great in the team and that’s for us to keep it up.

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, a lot of pressure on you at the start but the getaway looked pretty flawless so talk us through that. Then Sebastian said he felt he pushed you into the pits and you came in relatively early, lap 18, did you have to come in?

    LH: We had a really good start, which is fantastic; it’s good to have a good getaway. After that, I was struggling with the grip from the get-go. Sebastian was able to always answer in terms of lap time and the majority of the time do faster lap times and then towards the end I got a bit in traffic and the car started to overheat the tyres and I was struggling with grip and it was to the point that I needed to come in. Plus, the gap was closing up and I was sliding around. So it was my call because otherwise he probably would have come by anyway. So then I came in and then I got obviously stuck in traffic, which is a little bit unfortunate but that’s motor racing. But a big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari. I know it’s been a long time coming for them to get a result like this. It shows we are going to have a race on our hands, which we are very happy to have, which is great for the fans. Unfortunately it’s harder than ever to get close to cars, which is a shame. We can’t even have a close battle but who knows, maybe in the future we will.

    Q: Valtteri, so we learned that Ferrari’s pace from testing is real. What did you learn this weekend about your new car, your new team and where you yourself can improve going forward?

    VB: Well, first of all I think it is a start. There are always things that could have gone better but it is a good starting point for the journey for me driving for Mercedes. I think the main things were obviously yesterday, the qualifying, I didn’t get everything perfect but it was the first qualifying with the team and this track really hasn’t been fantastic for me ever in qualifying. But there’s a long season ahead. Today, I think the race was good. As a team I think we did a good job with the car we have. I think Ferrari was quicker today, there’s no doubt about that. They have obviously done a great job and a better job for this race. From my side the main thing today was the first stint. I struggled quite a lot with the ultrasoft tyres. It felt like I was just sliding around, always missing front grip, rear grip, especially after like 10 laps of the first stint. That wasn’t easy. But once we put the soft tyres on it was quite a good feeling with the car and the car was behaving really nicely. It was really nice to drive. But it was a bit too late and still missing a bit of pace. Overall, I think not a disastrous first race weekend with the team but I do have my points I will take and I can do better next time and I look forward to that.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian. Can you tell us please which was the road map that the team had to follow to achieve this victory and how much is it a surprise to be on the top now?

    SV: I think for all of us it is a positive surprise. I think the road we followed is pretty simple: we didn’t look left; we didn’t look right; we didn’t look forward; we didn’t look back. I think we focussed on what we had to do at the time. Obviously there has been a lot of up and down, left and right the last 12 months but I think, especially the last couple of months, things calmed down and we just tried to do our job. Obviously there has been a big reshuffle but, as I said, people are happy, happy to work, working with each other. That’s the key. At the end there’s no shortcut, you need to get the job done and invest a lot of hours thinking. Passion, I think, is a great driver back in the factory, also here. I think up and down the pitlane the amount of hours the guys are covering is mad. You need to love what you’re doing but especially… I said it years ago joining Ferrari, there seems to be an extra passion just working for the Prancing Horse and, I think, just focussing on ourselves really has been the big difference. I think a key to deliver a great car, which we obviously have. The speeds look alright, both on the straights and in the corners we are competitive. As I said, I was able to stay with Lewis. They had a little bit the upper hand yesterday but I knew, y’know, we had much better balance yesterday than on Friday so I knew in the race anything can happen. It’s the first race of the season, I’m surprised we didn’t have a Safety Car but anything can happen. I wanted to stay in there and make it clear we had the pace. It was nice to see that we have and, as I say, to get the job done.

    Q: (Leon Alepidis – F1fan) Question to all of you, now that you have completed a decent sum of laps with 2017 cars around the Circuit de Catalunya and Albert Park, for which track and individual turn are you most looking forward to?

    SV: I don’t know if I can get all the races together! Probably Silverstone. I think with that amount of grip and downforce. Probably Suzuka as well later on in the year. Also I guess the cars will be even faster from what they are now. So, yeah, I think that would be quite nice. I’m looking forward to that.

    Lewis?

    LH: Yes, Silverstone, I agree.

    Valtteri?

    VB: Yeah, I think all the quick ones: Spa; Suzuka; Silverstone will be nice. But I think even street circuits will be a bit more challenging I think – not that it wasn’t challenging before, but with these cars it will be nice.

    Q: (Lennart Bernke – Bild) Seb, you are always talking about a different spirit inside the team and how you have changed from the last year. Can you tell us how exactly you have managed that or what happened inside the team that made the spirit different this year?

    SV: I didn’t manage anything, I’m not the team manager so you need to ask other people. In the end it was clear that when we started off two years ago, three years ago that there’s a lot to do, a lot to reshuffle. I think the team was at a low. The spirit was very good in the first year, in 2015. I think last year was a very good year. Obviously not for the results but in terms of growing the team. It’s good also to hit some lows and go through difficult periods – even though it pretty much sucks – but if you look race-by-race it’s not great but seeing what happens in the background is important. I think people always kept the belief and, as I said, the last six months have been very calm. We have done our work and it starts to slowly pay off. Now it peaks and we are at the top of this grand prix but that’s a small achievement. If you look at who we are up against, I think Mercedes has been phenomenal the last couple of years: incredible team effort, incredibly by both drivers. I think Valtteri just fitted in and kept doing a fantastic job for the team. No weak link from the outside, not that we can see. They will be the ones to beat but for sure today I’m just happy and we take it as a team. You saw the guys: they were smiling, singing, so I’m sure we’ll see more of that tonight.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) For all three. The first time with the new clutch rules at the start. None of you lost a position but how did your start go?

    Lewis you’ve already dealt with that. Sebastian?

    SV: I had a bit of wheel slip. It’s tough, obviously, it’s a very fine line. You try to guess where to go. If you get it right it feels fantastic; if not it’s… yeah, you’re not getting the maximum out of it. Hopefully a better start in China.

    Valtteri?

    VB: I think mine was quite average. Not the best possible for these conditions but not too bad. So yeah, pretty happy with that all obviously. Would have been nice to jump at least one car but yeah, it was good. Definitely been working hard on the starts and it seems to pay off but for sure we can improve on that.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, in the Championship, is this the most important podium for you so far and was that the most physical also?

    VB: Most important podium… I don’t know. For sure it is good to start with a podium this season with a new team. I think every position is important for the Championship itself. So it is too early to say if it is the most important. Most physical? I think one of the most physical. This is not one of the most physical tracks – but the new cars definitely make it harder. But yeah, based on what I felt today, some of the circuits will be quite a challenge but I was OK today. It’s nice to feel a bit more physical effect and a little bit more fatigue. I like it.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Lewis, just saw you stretching out your left shoulder there a bit. Any discomfort after that race? And also, was it as physical as you guys expected? More? Less? With these new cars over a race distance.

    LH: No, I’m just stretching. It was more physical but it was no problem for me and doesn’t look like it was for these guys either.

    SV: It’s not the most physical circuit in the year. I think later on it will be very interesting. Here is very technical. So, first couple of laps, at least for me, were very intense. Obviously it’s easy to have an error, get something wrong under braking, go a bit wide etcetera. Later on I had a bit of a gap and I could control it, and therefore it was a bit easier.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Seb, Ferrari won the first race of the season last time seven years ago. Is this the biggest chance for the team and are you going to refresh your song compilation for victory?

    SV: Was that in Bahrain? Yeah. What was the second part of your question? I was thinking about which race it was.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Are you going to refresh your victory song compilation?

    SV: Ah, no, no, no, no. I’m not a good singer otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I’m pretty sure I will think of something if we’re lucky enough to repeat what we did today but no plans. I think it came very spontaneously now two years ago. We’ll see. I think that’s a very nice problem to have, to worry about which song to sing but for now I think we’re very happy with how the race went today.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, in the second part of the race you seem to have struggled to close the gap to Sebastian even when you had a free track in front of you. At one point you were asking the team ‘is there damage to the floor?’ Has there been anything with your car or were you just struggling with the tyres?

    LH: Not that I know of. In the second part of the race… I had stopped about eight laps before these guys so I just didn’t know how long the tyres were going to go so I just took it easy and at the end, obviously, I got more pace but even if I did close the gap, you can’t overtake so… and I may not have made it to the end of the race having stopped so early.

    Q: (Paul Gover – News Ltd)  Sebastian, the last time Ferrari won here in Australia was Kimi and he went on to be World Champion. Do you have any feeling at all yet about how the championship might go for you this year?

    SV: No, not interested at this point to be honest. Obviously I was very fortunate so far in my racing career. I’ve had some good races and good years but definitely the first race is not the time to look at the table. As I’ve said before, you really have to go step by step. It’s good to know that we have a great car but it’s just the beginning: new regulations, new generations of cars so there will be a lot of progress. These guys have proved to be the ones to beat for the last couple of years, more and more so. We know that they have a great engine but also they had a great car the last couple of years and they made good steps forward so we are the ones who need to catch up but as I said, for today I am just very happy and for sure whatever happens this year, the race today doesn’t hurt.

    Q: (Phil Branagan – Auto Action) Lewis, we heard some of the radio communication after your tyre stop; there was a conversation about a switch to plan B and then a switch back to plan A. Did something happen in the car to prompt that change of strategy during the second half of the race?

    LH: Strategy A is a one-stop, strategy B was a two-stop and I was in second so they were looking at alternatives of other ways to get me back to first.

    Q: (Andre Leslie – DPA) Lewis has now suggested a couple of times that it’s very tough to overtake. Can I ask Sebastian and Valtteri if that is what you guys are feeling and can you explain to us why?

    VB: I think it is definitely… you know even in the years before it’s been difficult to follow once you get within one and a half, one second just because of the turbulent air which messes up the aerodynamics of the car and that way we don’t have that much grip. Now, as more of the grip from the car is relying on the aero it’s a bigger effect and the cars are wider so I think there’s more turbulent air so now I think it’s more like two seconds or even two and a half because you actually feel quite a big effect from the car in front and that way in the corners it’s more difficult to follow. Obviously you have a bigger slipstream on the straight but if you can’t follow in the corners it’s tricky to get a slipstream. That’s the problem.

    SV: Nothing to add.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Lewis and Seb, the two of you have been the dominant drivers of the past decade in terms of World Championships but you’ve rarely had a year when you have been able to fight each other in fairly equal machinery. Sat here now, knowing that you’ve both got cars that are closely matched, is there a bit of anticipation between the two of you to go head to head?

    SV: Great respect for Lewis. I think he had an amazing debut here ten years ago. I still remember his move around the outside, when he made other people look a bit silly. I think since then, since day one, he’s proved that he’s very very quick, very talented but also working hard. I think it was a matter of time before he won the World Championship which I tried to stop him doing in Brazil, as hard as I could, in my Toro Rosso. Great memories – but I don’t remember the last ten years. Roughly we’ve been racing each other but if I have the same outcome as you had on that day…

    LH: I’m going to get you back.

    SV: Yeah, to cut it short, I have great respect. He’s proven to be one of the quickest drivers on the grid and for sure I would love to have a close battle. Obviously right now it looks like we have equal machinery. I hope it stays that way and then we will see how it turns out but it’s obviously a lot of fun to race for victories and a lot of fun to race against the best.

    LH: Yeah, I second that. Incredible amount of respect for Sebastian and what he’s achieved in his career. It’s been a privilege to be racing in an era with him and now finally at a period of time when we can actually have a real race. I wish we could race a lot closer in the cars that we have today but still I think the fact that we are similar pacewise, it’s going to be a very very hard slog this season I think. It’s going to be physically and mentally demanding but as Sebastian said, racing the best is what Formula One is all about and ultimately makes you work that much harder, having to raise the bar and I’m looking forward to that.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Team Principals at the FIA press conference at season opener in Australia

    Team Principals at the FIA press conference at season opener in Australia

    Melbourne, 24 March 2017:

    FIA Friday press conference in progress. An FIA image

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Paddy LOWE (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Opening question to all of you gentlemen: obviously it’s the opening day of a new season of Formula One. Lots of changes on the cars but sum up how your first day went? Eric why don’t you kick us off?

    Eric BOULLIER: Reasonably well. Obviously we didn’t add as many laps as we were expecting but if you compare with the testing it was a little bit better. Obviously the cars look more spectacular more aggressive, It was a good working day for us.

    Christian, obviously you had the incident with Max that lost you a lot of track time but Daniel’s long run looked pretty reasonable.

    Christian HORNER: Yes, not too bad. Certainly the first session today was encouraging. The few changes that we made the drivers didn’t like too much. Max did a little bit of grass mowing at Turn 12 and that compromised his session in the late afternoon but we got a lot of good information and we’re generally quite encouraged.

    And Paddy, how was your first day of action at Williams?

    Paddy LOWE: It was sort of a mixed day because we had a great first session, some encouraging pace. [It was] Lance’s first practice ever in Formula One, so he was taking it steady, step-by-step, making good progress. But into the afternoon we had an electrical problem on Felipe’s car, a short circuit, and that really ended his session very early. So we didn’t get the homework we would have liked on that car. But overall, quite encouraging for tomorrow.

    Maurizio, did today go as you thought it would?

    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: We were working mainly on car balance. This morning we were struggling a bit more than normal. But then in the afternoon we were still working on the car balance, but nothing different versus our Friday programme.

    Toto, Lewis looking very much the man to beat.

    Toto WOLFF: Yes, he had a very good day overall. For the team it was one of the better Fridays. Having had some question marks over testing in Barcelona it was encouraging to bounce back in that way, but it is a day that doesn’t matter.

    Q: Eric, coming back to you. We hear you are collecting quite a lot of air miles at the moment going forwards and backwards to Japan. How serious are your problems and what steps are you taking with Honda to resolve them?

    EB: Well, obviously we had a very bad winter testing, a lot of troubles, didn’t do many miles, no race simulations but like you said we are having many, many meetings with Honda. We both take it very seriously. All the options are open. Today we discussed how we can catch up and recover from that situation.

    Q: Toto, they say you should never change a winning team, but here you are after three dominant seasons with a new technical chief and a new driver, so how has the dynamic in the team changed?

    TW: It’s a very large organization, between Brixworth and Brackley it’s almost 1500 people and the dynamic is positive. Every year we are trying to reinvent ourselves without compromising performance and we are in good spirits.

    Q: Christian, a slightly quieter testing period than with Ferrari and Mercedes, but lots of new parts arriving on the car today. Tell us how the development race will impact this year’s championship. Is it going to be the deciding factor and are you going to come out on the right side of it?

    CH: Well, I think it’s going to be a big factor. These regulations are still very immature and there are going to be a lot of gains in a short space of time and it’s a matter of who can most efficiently develop their car and effectively get components on the car that drive performance forward. It wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect the cars to be 1.5s quicker by the time we get to Abu Dhabi than where we are here today. It will ebb and flow during the season but at the front of the grid hopefully we get a bit closer to Toto’s guys and have some closer races this year.

    Q: Paddy, you’ve gone back to the team you did some winning with back in the early 1990s, a dominant period with Mansell and Prost. Why is this move to Williams the right thing to do at this time of your career?

    PL: I had a great three years in my previous team, some great success there, but there was a great opportunity, a challenge at Williams. As you say, it’s going back to the team where I started my career in Formula One. It was quite emotional and special going back there a week ago, seeing people I literally hadn’t seen for 24 years, but fantastic team and we look forward to making substantial progress over the years to come.

    Q: Maurizio you have been downplaying expectations going into this season, but what I’d like to know is, inside the team, how hard it was to build what looks to be a very competitive car given all the technical changes and staff upheaval that you had in the second half of last year?

    MA: If you change something, it’s for the better, not to get worse. We have a change, the team is working very well together. Over the winter the guys were exchanging information; they have a common goal. Working all together, having a common goal and exchanging all the information they have, the car becomes not the car of one but the car of everybody and this is what has driven us until today and into the future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (John McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Maurizio. Liberty have arrived, and one of the things they have said they want to do early on is make everyone more available to the media, but after arriving here it seems you have gone in the other direction. One of your drivers was unavailable yesterday in advance of this big race at the beginning of the season, from an organization as big as Ferrari. I was wondering why that is, whether that will go on or whether that will be addressed?

    MA: Define media. What do you mean by media? Today, defining media is quite large in terms of communication media. It’s also social media. It’s not only what we are thinking about. Yesterday we had Sebastian who was talking and we were using social media and posting something related to Kimi. Liberty also said that in this business at the moment the digital platforms are used at only 1% of the potential. So, the good thing is to find the right balance. Instead of having two drivers on Thursday and talking and doing a copy and paste of one versus the other with the same questions we made sure that Sebastian was talking in one way and Kimi in the other. So we cover all the communication platform. Making happy also Generation Z.

    Q: (Seff Harding – Xero Xone News) – To follow up on that, a question for all of you, do you feel that there does need to be a change in accessibility to the press, to arrange interviews that may be on social media, Facebook Live, Instagram, to reach out to other audiences, in other markets and of course to other demographics?

    CH: I think the changes that have been put in place this year have been positive. I think that relaxing the rules regarding the digital platforms, allowing content to be generated… non-circuit content giving the ability for fans and followers to get a little bit beneath the covers and closer to seeing the personalities of the drivers in the build-up to a grand prix or pre-season is certainly positive. It’s a media business at the end of the day. Formula One is a media business. We have to engage with the media. It’s important that we give access to the drivers, access to the fans or how else are we going to promote the sport.

    Toto?

    TW: I think like Maurizio said, we have to cover three different generations. We have to cover the long-time followers, so-called middle ages, the Millennials and Generation Z. You kind of need to play the full span. For example, when we launched the car we put some time into the car launch, which is a risk on the engineering side, you’re compromising your time, and we did a Facebook Live launch, 360, and we had almost a million views in 24 hours and it was successful. We have to embrace all that, not forget any audiences within these groups but target all of them and Liberty’s approach has been right so far, in opening up.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Question for all of you: we’ve had the big regulation change this season, can you tell me whether you think we will actually see better racing and the reason why this is so or why if not?

    Eric, why don’t you start?

    EB: I think the car, obviously it’s a hot topic with everybody talking about overtaking numbers and manoeuvres and whatever. I think 90 per cent of the overtaking is thanks to DRS since this device has been introduced. So as far as we are concerned the DRS is still on so I don’t think there will be many changes on this: the number of overtaking. The car philosophy stays the same as the previous generation and, as long as it is dictated by this front wing, you will have this loss of downforce effect into the corners. On the positive side, I think the drivers were the ones lobbying us, all of us, to have a faster car, fastest cornering cars and clearly we have achieved this, I think, with bigger tyres, more downforce, fastest cars today and obviously that’s going to facilitate, or help the bravest drivers to try or attempt some manoeuvres to overtake. So, I don’t think there will be a big difference compared with before. I think, and the drivers as well, I can already feel – and I’m talking for McLaren only – Fernando clearly was the one who was complaining about the previous generation, and he’s clearly happier now with this kind of car. He enjoys driving the car and you can see the cars today, in some fast corners they are flat-out already on Friday afternoon – so I think it’s a good sign about what we wanted to achieve. I think all the drivers happier should make the show better.

    Paddy, any thoughts?

    PL: Yeah, I agree with what Eric said but on top of that I think the other element we will see with much higher loads now in the car, with higher cornering speeds, driver endurance is much more demanding, so we may see more mistakes in races, drivers more on their human limits. So, I think that could be another interesting factor.

    Anything to add Christian?

    CH: I think the guys have covered it pretty well. I think the cars are going to stretch the drivers. I think sitting here, and we don’t know whether the racing is going to be better over the year or not, but I think the drivers are going to be working harder, you’re going to get perhaps more differential between drivers and they’re going to have to work harder for overtakes when arguably some of them have been a little bit too easy over recent years.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Based on comments that Ross [Brawn] made earlier today and also previously, it appears that the Commercial Rights Holder could play a more active role in the regulatory process. Which means that possibly entertainment could take precedence over technology etc. How do you feel about this? About the commercial rights holder getting increasingly involved in the regulatory process?

    Toto?

    TW: This is an entertainment platform and it should be around the entertainment of the fans and I think with Ross in place it’s the right individual. He has seen it from the other side; he knows pretty much what matters to the teams and now trying to seek a good balance between keeping the DNA of Formula One, keeping it at the pinnacle for racing drivers and for engineering and equally making sure it’s the best possible show for our fans will be the main priority. I think we are definitely in an interesting place and it looks positive.

    Maurizio?

    MA: I think for the future cost and performance, they are two key factors. Reducing the cost and increasing the performance, they are the two key factors. Then, of course, it’s an entertainment, what we are doing here. It’s part of the entertainment business. Everybody, they’re open to discuss and talk about new ideas in the appropriate places. At the moment we have governance, so talking to everybody to help the sport to grow is fine until we are all aligned to the actual governance. Or, if we want to change it, we have to sit and discuss about this.

    Paddy?

    PL: yeah, we welcome a focus on entertainment. That is what this sport is all about. I think the really encouraging thing is that Ross is building a team behind him who are going to do proper research into proposals that are under consideration, so I think there’s every reason to feel positive about the future.

    CH: I personally think there is far too much emphasis on technology at the moment and we’re spectacularly bad at communicating that. I think the average fan and viewer understands very little about the technology that’s in a Formula One car which, as Maurizio alluded, is enormously expensive. So, I think the Commercial Rights Holder, it’s their business at the end of the day. They have to decide what they want the sport to be and, if the route is fan-attraction and creating a really exciting product, and at the end of the day they want to create great content on TV then it’s vital they come up with an outline of what their vision of Formula One is. And then, obviously, the FIA have a regulatory position and the teams need to be involved in that process. We have a process that that can be achieved in if two of the three parties agree.

    EB: All has been said I think

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Maurizio, given the results of the test and what happened today, do you have an accurate idea of the position of Ferrari?

    MA: Yes, we have it in Barcelona and in Barcelona we have our programme, we follow our programme since the last week and as well it’s what we are doing here on Friday. On Friday we are working on the balance of the car, as on Day One in Barcelona we were working on finding the best performance day after day without panicking, without being under pressure and being focussed on what we were doing.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Another one for Maurizio. Daniel Ricciardo recently told us in an interview that Sebastian Vettel becomes even quicker and more motivated when he has a winning car in his hands. Do you expect him to give an extra performance this season? And what do you need: Ferrari and Seb to go home together, to sign another contract for 2018?

    MA: I’ll start from the end of the question. Talking about contracts now is only distracting the attention of our drivers so I’m not ready to talk about any contracts. Then, I would like to see Sebastian happy during the season because if Sebastian’s is happy that means the car is very quick.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Maurizio, do you have as much belief that you can win this race now, as you did this morning. I hear what you’ve said and the work you’ve done during the day – but do you have as much belief that you can win it as you did at the start of the day?

    MA: We want to keep our feet on the ground. It’s Friday. We have to work this evening. Tomorrow we continue our job and then, until Sunday, we have a lot of things to do, still. So, I don’t want to do any prediction.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For Christian. It’s only Friday but can you imagine Daniel winning on Sunday or is the gap too big?

    CH: I think, being realistic, the performance we’ve seen today from Lewis, he’s the absolute favourite. He was the favourite coming here and all today has done is underline that. But then it’s motor racing and anything can happen. We’ve seen spurious results in opening grands prix in previous years and obviously to have a home winner would be an unbelievable result – but if you look at the pecking order at the moment that is a long shot.

    Q: (Andre Leslie – DPA) Question for Mr Wolff, to do with the makeup of your team this season, with Valtteri Bottas now replacing Nico Rosberg, obviously Nico leaves a big hole in the team but Valtteri is keeping pace brilliantly today – we’ve seen twice. How do you see his role going forwards this season?

    TW: It’s obviously very big shoes to fill. Nico is the reigning World Champion and Valtteri has to fill those shoes. He has a couple of days of testing behind him which were very positive and the work with the engineers went very well and today was the first proper day on a race weekend. I think that in terms of the mindset, he has settled in very well into the team and how he has to find his grip and benchmark himself against probably the best driver in Formula One at this time. I’m very confident he is going to find the pace and his place in the team.

    Q: (Heath McAlpine – Auto Action) For all of you: today’s first practice session saw minimal running from the teams worried about engine mileage. Would you support a change in the engine regulations to increase the Friday running for your teams?

    EB: Good question. I think if we don’t run it is because we may have some technical limitation or let’s say no interest to gather data at that stage so if we do between let’s say 18 and 30 laps per session it’s because it depends on the engine plan generally. I know you can have a different regulation to have more laps but we could do it simply by making sure there is an interest for the teams to run.

    PL: I don’t entirely agree with what you’re saying, really. I think the teams are running pretty much a full programme during both sessions. If anything they’re limited by tyres more than engine mileage.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) I would imagine that this is the first Grand Prix that any of you have attended without having Bernie Ecclestone in overall control and charge. Have you, today, thought about the fact that you can’t just pick up the phone and phone Bernie if there’s some sort of issue?

    CH: How do you know he’s not still in charge? What Bernie’s done for Formula One has been amazing. The sport is what it is today because of what he created. I think in the role that he has, he’s still going to be in a position to contribute, he still has a huge amount of historical knowledge, respect and relationships around the world and I think that harnessed and used in the right way is an asset to Formula One. I’m sure he’ll be at some forthcoming events and yeah, I think hopefully the new owners can use him constructively and beneficially to build on the good work that’s already been done.

    MA: I think that Bernie deserves all our respect because if we are here and if the sport grows it is thanks to him. I think that the new group that is owning Formula One is here to make this sport grow even more so there is no future without the good historical base. If we have a good historical base then I think the new owners are looking forward to continue to grow and that’s thanks to Bernie for everything he’s done and now we need to look forward.

    Q: (Mat Coch – pitpass.com) Earlier there was a question about cars not running on the circuit; what can be done in the interests of entertainment to spice up the Friday action which is comparatively dry for those at the circuit, given that everyone’s involved in their own programmes, preparing for the weekend?

    PL: I don’t know. We used to have qualifying on Friday as well as Saturday back in the old days. Maybe that could be considered. I think the great thing now is that we have an evolving process to consider the rules properly and develop a sport that incorporates new ideas.

    TW: I think you need to differentiate because we had a very busy afternoon with lots of track action. We had a morning which is completely normal and a green track so there is not a lot of interest in testing cars on a track that’s going to develop a lot with the limitation on tyres, with the limitation on engine mileage and if you start to open that up it’s like Pandora’s box because we’re trying to limit costs. The question is that as much as you need an entertainment most of the time entertainment on track, I think we have a good compromise at the moment.

    Q: (Sam Tickell – Flagworld.com) We’ve had a lot of positive reaction to the change and the look and the appearance of the cars this year and it was mentioned previously that Liberty are looking to research for the future. How radical to the change in the appearance of the car would teams like to go to in the future, should the research suggest that a major change should be needed?

    MA: Radical change with the new rules, everybody already changed their car and I think these regulations are offering the possibility to the designers of the cars, to the aeros, to exploit even more in terms of creative approach is the first step and then in the future we can do something more. We need to make sure that the car it’s still looking like a car and not something that is a bit strange, that’s for sure.

    CH: I think the looks of the car… I think they currently look great. I think it’s all about evolution. I think that rather than focus on the looks I would prefer to focus on the sound. I think the best sounding car we have here this weekend is a 12-year old Minardi that 12 years ago had the worst sounding engine in it and was hopelessly uncompetitive and I think that when you hear the acoustics of a V10, you’ve only got to go and see the faces around the circuit to see what it embodies in fans of Formula One, so I would be far more focused on addressing that element than the aesthetics of the cars at the moment.

    TW: I think we’ve changed the aesthetics of the car. I think trying to figure out what we could do next is maybe too far. Like Christian says, if we can work on the sound of the car and if we look into a future generation of engines that is something that needs to be considered. There wasn’t enough emphasis on the sound in the past and if we can combine great technology, affordable technology with a lot of horsepower and a good sound, that would be really ticking a box.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Last year Ferrari lost the pace compared to Red Bull for example in the second part of the season. Are you confident you can have a quick and a more efficient development during the season this year?

    MA: What I can tell you is that we are putting all our effort to do all our work best to avoid the same result as last year. That’s it. What more can I say?

    Q: (Leon Alepidis – F1fan) Regarding the new commercial deal and the discussions that will be taking place soon, we have already heard from the new owners that they are planning to scrap the historical status for a team and the money that that brings. Would you agree that in order to have a more fair distribution of the prize money and a more competitive sport or not and why?

    MA: This kind of discussion you do it with the people who have the contract with you and not in public.

    EB: I guess if you ask the people for more money they will be against and you ask less money they will be in favour but this is a discussion behind the scenes, not to be done in public.

    CH: Well, there’s probably not a team principal in the paddock that would say they are happy to take less money. If they are, they’re mad so therefore I think it’s a question of bringing the bottom up rather than the top down and hopefully that may well be achievable.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Pit Stop Warriors – Mercedes men train all winter for the Battle of the Box

    It’s no secret that driver fitness is crucial in Formula One. The men behind the wheel are among the most-highly conditioned athletes in the world, their bodies honed for stamina and endurance. But what about the fitness of the race team they depend on?

    With sub 2.5 second stops now the expectation rather than the exception, the slightest fumble during a tyre change can mean the difference between victory and defeat on track. Speed and, above all, reliability are absolutely crucial – which is why the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport pit crew have been training hard all winter to prepare for the new season.

    It’s not just the usual skills and drills of the job that they’ve been honing over the long winter months, either – although there has been plenty of that too, of course. Since the New Year, the guys have been working with a new personal trainer dedicated to their health, conditioning and fitness.

    Working on ergonomics and body movement, each crew member now has a programme developed and tailored specifically to them and the role that they play in the pit stop – be that working the jacks or handling the chunky new Pirelli tyres introduced for 2017. So, it’s not just the drivers who have been bulking up to face the new challenges of this year’s F1 beasts…

    Naturally, the biggest challenge of the winter period has focused on how best to handle the bigger, heavier wheels and tyres. The rears, for example, are a whopping 80mm wider and weigh 1.8kg more each, while the fronts are 60mm wider and around 0.8kg heavier apiece.

    While the weight increase isn’t such a big deal on its own, combining that with a significant increase in size is far from straightforward – particularly when it comes to manoeuvring the tyres for pit stops. The tyre stacks themselves are now taller too, thanks to the increased depth of the wheels. Over the course of a race weekend, all that extra bulk and weight starts to add up.

    Through practice, physical conditioning (and then even more practice!), the crew will have it all down to an art by the time they hit the pit box in Melbourne. That’s what makes them the very best in the business. But reaching that level doesn’t come without some serious hard graft.

    In an all-new regime for this year, the guys now train up to five times a week – even coming into the factory during their days off – with three separate pit-stop practice sessions pencilled in during that same seven day period too. With almost 300 practice stops completed back at base alone so far this year, it’s been a gruelling winter for the crew.

    This training goes way beyond the focus of a pit stop alone, though. They each have a personal fitness programme available via an app on their phones, where they can log in, track their progress and compare their results with their team-mates. There’s nothing like a little competition to make things interesting!

    These guys have to be warriors to reach the pinnacle of their game – and they know how crucial fitness is to performance. Ultimately, it’s no different to the drivers. Each one of them has to be in peak condition if they want to deliver 100% for their team-mates every race weekend. Practice makes perfect – and it’ll take nothing less than perfection to win races in 2017.

    Next up, we’re off to Melbourne. If you’re coming along, watch out for the guys running along St. Kilda beach or the banks of the Yarra River. The focus never drops. The hard work never stops…

    Watch the crew in action and hear more about their winter training regime here:
    https://youtu.be/eC2ia4xz1u8
    eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport release

  • Dawn of a new era: Mercedes’ Toto Wolff on Melbourne

    Formula One enters a new age at the picturesque Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
    “It’s the dawn of a new era – in more ways than one. This is the first time that Formula One has changed the rules to make the cars faster. We have new management looking at how we take the sport forward. And, in our team, we have seen some significant changes of personnel over the winter. It’s been a busy few months, no doubt. But an extremely exciting time, too.

    “The target with these new regulations was to make this generation of F1 cars the quickest in the history of the sport. And looking at the results from testing, we’re well on the way to achieving that. It’s something that’s never been done before and that’s a radical change. We’ve even made them look more spectacular.

    “Having spoken to the drivers, these machines are violent – just like Formula One cars should be. I have been out on track watching them and, next to the previous generation of cars, these are properly spectacular cars. From a fan perspective – and a part of me will always be a fan – it really is something special. Any true motorsport lover simply has to see them in the flesh.

    “Lewis and Valtteri are in a great place. They have a respectful and friendly relationship from what we’ve seen in our team briefings so far. It’s an exciting time for them because these new cars are a real physical challenge. Both felt from testing that the G-Forces are enormous and they are embracing the new challenge of F1 2017.

    “We have tackled with determination the challenge of the new regulations. We have been very successful over the last three years through stable rules – but no team has ever maintained its success over such a big regulation change before. In a way, it’s just what the doctor ordered. To have such a challenge is good for the team.

    “There is an art to managing expectations. You must not set them too low – but you must also keep them under control. With new regulations, everyone starts with zero points. It provides opportunities as well as risks for every team on the grid. You only need to look back to 2009 to see how unpredictable Formula One can be, with Brawn winning the Championship after being on the brink of extinction.

    “We enter 2017 with that mindset. We take every one of our rivals seriously and respect every team’s ability to find that magic bullet. They are all full of very clever people – the best in the world in their fields. We have done the best job we possibly could over the winter and, if we are not the fastest in Melbourne, then it’s about finding out why and what needs to be done to get us back to that top spot. It’s a challenge we will take on with great motivation and energy. Setbacks can provide a long-term opportunity because you constantly need to improve yourself.

    “What we’ve seen from Barcelona is that the margins at the front of the field have shrunk. We’ll see how that pans out in Melbourne, because we still don’t know about the fuel loads, weights or power settings of the other cars. As the old saying goes, it is when the flag drops that the bullshit really stops.”

    – Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
    eom/

  • Bottas joins Mercedes, to race along with Hamilton in 2017

    It’s now official: Valtteri Bottas will drive for the Silver Arrows alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2017. Valtteri met his new colleagues this Monday at the team factory in Brackley, a Mercedes AMG Petronas release said.

    Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will race for the Silver Arrows in 2017

    • Valtteri Bottas becomes the 11th driver to compete in Formula One with the Silver Arrows
    • Nico Rosberg accepts ambassadorial role with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport
    • Toto Wolff: “It’s time to see how Valtteri can step up to challenge for wins and Championships”
    • Valtteri Bottas: “I’m grateful to Mercedes for trusting my skills and giving me this opportunity”

    It’s been 45 days since Nico Rosberg dropped the bombshell of his immediate retirement from Formula One. And it left the team with a conundrum: how to best fill the vacant seat alongside three-time champion Lewis Hamilton in order to defend the Constructors’ Championship?

    Following six weeks of detailed evaluation, deliberation and negotiation, the answer can now be confirmed officially: we signed Valtteri Bottas this morning. The 27-year-old native of Nastola, Finland has completed four seasons in Formula One with Williams, making 77 starts and scoring 9 career podiums so far.

    “Sometimes in life, unexpected circumstances provide interesting opportunities. Nico’s decision in December was a big surprise – certainly a challenging situation for the team to handle. But weathering the storm makes you more resilient and we see this as another opportunity for the team to grow,” explained Toto Wolff as he introduced the fourth driver to race for the Silver Arrows in the modern era.

    “Valtteri is a no-nonsense guy: down to earth, straightforward and very focused. Pretty Finnish, to be honest, and a great fit for us. He has an impressive track record in the junior categories and nine podiums in F1. But now it’s time for the next level, to see how he can step up to challenge for race wins and for Championships. We know that we are already behind the curve in terms of preparations for the new season, so we’ve got a busy programme to get him integrated into the team. One thing is for sure: as I know Valtteri, he will give it everything.”

    Valtteri was cautiously optimistic when he met his new team-mates in the factory today. “It’s very exciting times for me,” he grinned. “I think it’s going to take a while to understand that this is really happening. It’s definitely another dream come true, to race in another team with such great history – especially in the recent years, which have been so impressive. I’m really proud to become a part of that and grateful to everyone at Mercedes for trusting my skills and giving me this opportunity.

    “I’ve had a really warm welcome so far. Of course, I have a lot more people to meet and new faces to remember. But initially everything has felt very good. I’m really impressed with the facilities and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better. My first experience with Mercedes power was in F3 back in 2009 and, of course, I know the Power Unit well from the last three years with Williams. But there are a lot of new things to learn with the car and also with how the team operates at the factory, in testing and at the races.”

    The scale of the challenge ahead cannot be underestimated. New aerodynamic regulations mean a reset for the entire field and there is genuine uncertainty about which team will emerge on top; Valtteri is paired with probably the most ferociously fast team-mate in the sport, Lewis Hamilton; and there are just 70 days until the red lights go out at the start of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

    “We have confidence in Valtteri’s ability and it’s one of the reasons that he is the driver we set our sights on this winter,” continued Toto. “The next weeks will be busy as we work to build relationships so Valtteri understands the team and the car. But that’s an exciting challenge that will bring us fresh energy and a new dynamic between the drivers. And, of course, we’re working hard to give Lewis and Valtteri the car they need to do the job.”

    Valtteri is under no illusions about the task ahead: “I’m ready to work hard, to prove myself to the team and to prove my skills. It’s going to be a challenging season and joining a new team makes it more work than normal. But I’m 100% ready for that. I’m training hard to be at my physical best because it will be much tougher with these new cars. I always set the bar really high, so my target is to perform from the first race. I’m full of energy and ready to get to work for this year and hopefully many more to come with Mercedes.”

    The agreement for Valtteri to join Mercedes has not happened in isolation. With today’s announcements that Pascal Wehrlein will join Sauber for 2017, and that Felipe Massa will return to Williams, the final pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place for this year. And that has only been possible thanks to positive working relationships between all the teams involved in a complex chain of negotiations.

    “On behalf of Mercedes, I must thank Williams for their cooperation in allowing Valtteri to make this move – and also Monisha and Sauber for their patience during the past weeks,” concluded Toto. “It’s been a busy day in the driver market and I am pleased to know that Pascal will be racing at Sauber to continue his development in F1. He had a good first season with Manor and we feel this is the right path for him in the sport. It’s satisfying to have both of our Young Drivers taking on new challenges in F1 this year, with Esteban also racing at Force India. We’ll be following their progress closely; I’m sure we’ve got an exciting season ahead of us.”

    From Valtteri, too, there were warm words for his friends and colleagues at Williams: “I had a great seven years there, starting as a test driver in 2010. I’m very proud of what we achieved together and I leave with some very good memories. My debut in F1, my first points and nine podiums all came with the guys and girls at Grove, so I must say a big thanks to everyone and I wish them all the very best for the future.”

    As Valtteri now begins a busy week of technical and physical preparations for the new season, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport is pleased to confirm that Nico has accepted an ambassadorial role with the team for 2017.

    His first commitment will be tomorrow, in Geneva, alongside former team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) on behalf of team partner IWC Schaffhausen.

    ends

  • Nico’s Formula Won

    Abu Dhabi: With the season poised to end in a grand finale at the Desert destination, Autotrack was present to witness history as Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg just managed to not only thwart the tough tactics of teammate Lewis Hamilton but also got a well-deserved second place with some astute, error-less driving which was enough for him to take his maiden World Driver’s Championship despite Hamilton winning here in the last GP of the season.

    In full-blown donuts, he soaked in smoke and joy, and as it turned out a week later, it was his last F1 race, as the German champion decided to quit the sport. Winning the championship was his life-time goal and that achieved, he retired. The last two years, despite Mercedes’ domination Rosberg could not win the championship as his teammate Hamilton beat him on both occasions and it was Formula None for the German. Now it’s Formula Won as the German was on the top of the world.

    He also became the first father-son duo to have both won the F1 Drivers’ Championship. The year was completely dominated by the German manufacturer who comfortably won the Constructors’ championship. The two drivers won 19 of the 21 races held in 2016 between them.

    The other big news for India is the 4th place in the Constructor’s Championship for Sahara Force India. The driver duo of German Nico Hulkenberg and Mexican Sergio Perez performed consistently and upped the ante in the second half after the upgrades in Barcelona to seal the important 4th place. Perez finished 7th scoring 101 points while Hulkenberg was 9th with 72 points in his last season with Force India. Perez got two third places at Monaco and Baku but Hulkenberg was unlucky to miss podium finishes, especially at Spa, Belgium, and his points do not justify his vast contribution to the team. Frenchman Esteban Ocon moves to Force India from Manor for 2017 to replace Hulkenberg.

    “The team’s performance is worth 10 times the achievement as we operate with a fraction of the budgets that the top-three teams have at their disposal,’’ said Vijay Mallya, the team Principal, in a chat with Autotrack a couple of seasons back when the team finished fifth. This year he could not attend the races except the one near the team’s base in Silverstone due to his travel restrictions. “His vision and his ability to make the resources available to the team was the reason for this success. The entire team is motivated and worked hard and its a true team achievement and we will continue to fight and lead the midfield,’’ told deputy team boss Robert `Bob’ Fernley to this magazine. Three cheers to the team as it keeps the Indian flag flying at F1.

    With new regulations, the season begins in Australia on March 26, 2017.

    Text: David Bodapati, Photos: Srinivasa Krishnan

    Note: This story first appeared in Autotrack magazine in the Jan-Feb 2017 issue.

    ends

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • A dream fulfilled: Nico Rosberg retires

    A dream fulfilled: Nico Rosberg retires

    File photo of Nico Rosberg at the Abu Dhabi GP. Rosberg announced his retirement on Friday. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan V
    File photo of Nico Rosberg at the Abu Dhabi GP. Rosberg announced his retirement on Friday. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan V

    Vienna (Austria), 2 Dec 2016: 

    • Nico Rosberg to stop racing in Formula One with immediate effect;
    • The first reigning World Champion to end his career since Alain Prost in 1993;
    • Nico Rosberg: “My proudest achievement to be World Champion with the Silver Arrows”;
    • Toto Wolff: “A brave decision which proves Nico’s strength of character.”

    2016 FIA Formula One World Champion elect Nico Rosberg today announced that he will stop racing in Formula One with immediate effect.

    In an emotional address prior to the 2016 FIA Prize Giving in Vienna, Austria, Nico revealed the reasons behind his decision, which was reached following his crowning achievement in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.

    Nico has competed in a total of 206 Grands Prix and won 23 of them, placing him joint 12th on the all-time list alongside Nelson Piquet. He has scored 30 pole positions (8th all time) and 20 fastest laps.

    Last Sunday in Abu Dhabi, he became the first German driver to win a Formula One World Championship at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow.

    Nico Rosberg:

    “Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion. Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target. And now I’ve made it. I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right. My strongest emotion right now is deep gratitude to everybody who supported me to make that dream happen.

    “This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough. I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation to levels I had never experienced before. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too – it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target. I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting our championship first.

    “When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became World Champion. On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time… and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life. I took my decision on Monday evening. After reflecting for a day, the first people I told were Vivian and Georg (Nolte, from Nico’s management team), followed by Toto.

    “The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a tough situation. But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people, the Silver Arrows.

    “Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment. There is time to savour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me…”

    Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff:

    “This is a brave decision by Nico and testament to the strength of his character. He has chosen to leave at the pinnacle of his career, as World Champion, having achieved his childhood dream. The clarity of his judgement meant I accepted his decision straight away when he told me.

    “It’s impossible to capture the essence of a person in a few short words. But Nico has a special combination of natural talent and fighting spirit that have brought him to where he is today. Throughout his career, people have thought he was on a golden path to success just because his father was a World Champion; in fact, I think in some ways that made the challenge greater – and meant he had to fight even harder with the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

    “With Mercedes, Nico has been a relentless competitor, bouncing back from tough times in an inspirational way, and he earned the respect of the sport with his tenacity, his fighting spirit and his grace under pressure. Since 2010, he has poured competitive energy into our team and we have grown stronger because of it. We simply say ‘thank you’ for the incredible contribution he has made to our success, alongside two of the all-time great drivers, Michael and Lewis.

    “For the team, this is an unexpected situation but also an exciting one. We are going into a new era of technical regulations and there is a free Mercedes cockpit for the seasons ahead. We will take the necessary time to evaluate our options and then find the right path for our future.”

  • Rosberg wins 2016 F1 Drivers Championship

    Rosberg wins 2016 F1 Drivers Championship

    From Amol S Gokhale

    Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), 27 Nov 2016: Nico Rosberg was crowned 2016 Formula One World Champion as he finished second behind team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari.

    Nico Rosberg after winning the 2016 drivers world title at Yas Marina on Sunday. An FIA image
    Nico Rosberg after winning the 2016 drivers world title at Yas Marina on Sunday. An FIA image

    Hamilton took the win he needed in the race but despite a hugely tense finish in which the leading Mercedes drivers were hunted down Sebastian Vettel, Rosberg clung on to second to win the title by just five points.

    Both Hamilton and Rosberg got away well at the start and the pair slotted into first and second respectively. Behind them Daniel Ricciardo bogged down at the start and was quickly passed for third place by Kimi Raikkonen.

    There was trouble too for the other Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman collided with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in Turn One and the Red Bull was pitched into a spin. Verstappen dropped to P22 but quickly began to fight back, rising to P15 by the end of lap four.

    As the first round of pit stop began, triggered by leader Hamilton who took on soft tyres, Verstappen flew up the order and by the time Rosberg made his stop for soft tyres the Dutchman was in P2 behind Hamilton.

    Lapping around half a second off the pace of the race leading Mercedes, Verstappen began to hold up Rosberg, resulting in the German starting lap 17 2.8s adrift of his team-mate. Behind the top three Raikkonen now held fourth ahead of Ricciardo, Vettel, the Force Indias of Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, Williams’ Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    Earlier, on lap 14, Jenson Button, in the second McLaren, had the 305th and, according to him, final race of his F1 career ended by a steering fault.

    On lap 20 Mercedes informed Rosberg that he needed to pass Verstappen to keep his race under control and the German responded immediately ROS diving down the inside of Verstappen’s car in Turn 8. The Dutchman resisted the attack but ultimately Rosberg, carrying a bit more speed, got the job done as they head for Turn 11.

    Verstappen promptly made his first stop, for soft tyres. That resulted in Mercedes then informing Rosberg that they believed Verstappen would attempt to run to the end of the race on the set and that to guarantee P2 Rosberg would need to up his pace over the following three laps. Again the German obliged, immediately setting the fastest tour of the race to that point.

    By lap 28, as leader Hamilton made his final stop, for more soft tyres, Rosberg has 25s in hand over Verstappen. That was deemed enough to call the German in for his final stop and after taking on more soft tyres on lap 30 he emerged behind Hamilton, but crucially was 3.9s ahead of Verstappen.

    With only one pit stop made, Vettel led the race, and the German decided to go long on his second set of tyres. He nursed the soft compound set until lap 37 and then took on supersofts in the hope of catching strugglers in the final part of the race. He emerged in P6 and set off after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

    In the meantime Hamilton’s pace began to flag. The Mercedes pit wall questioned his lap times and the defending champion briefly ran quicker but a few laps later he again began to slow, with the result that Rosberg was slowly being pushed back towards Verstappen. On lap 38 the gap between the Red Bull driver and the Mercedes man was 3.4s.

    It wasn’t Verstappen who was the threat though. On new supersofts Vettel’s began to surge forward. He quickly claimed the scalp of Raikkonen and lapping up to two seconds quicker than those ahead he swiftly caught up to the front four.

    On lap 46 he was inside DRS range of fourth placed Ricciardo and Mercedes were on the radio telling Hamilton to increase his pace due to the “imminent threat”.

    The messaging became more insistent as Vettel’s loomed, with Hamilton being told: “Ok Lewis, this is an instruction: we need a 45.1 for the win.” The terse response was “suggest you let us race”, but Rosberg was now on the other channel asking why the pace was so slow and requesting that he be allowed to pass Hamilton.

    The situation became even more critical when Vettel blasted past Verstappen and with four laps remained edged inside half a second of Rosberg.

    Hamilton was told by Mercedes engineering chief Paddy Lowe that he needed to up the pace. Hamilton responded that he was leading and quite comfortable. The final laps became ever more tense.

    Vettel attacked on the penultimate lap, trying to overtake Rosberg into Turn 11. The German resisted though and that was it. Vettel stood off on the final lap and a little under two minutes later Hamilton took his 10thwin of the year but the bigger prize – the FIA Formula World Championship title – went to the man in second place, Nico Rosberg.

    Vettel finished the season with his seventh podium of the season, while Verstappen finished fourth ahead of Ricciardo. Sixth place went to Raikkonen, while Hulkenberg signed off on his time with Force India with seventh place ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Ninth place went the retiring Felipe Massa and the final point went to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton wins dramatic race but Rosberg finishes a safe second

    Lewis Hamilton won a dramatic, rain-lashed and incident-packed Brazilian Grand Prix to take the battle for the Drivers’ Championship title to the final round in Abu Dhabi in two weeks’ time.

    In a three-hour race repeatedly neutralised by safety cars, crashes and red flags, Hamilton led from start to finish to win ahead of title rival Nico Rosberg. But it was Max Verstappen who provided thrilling entertainment, with the Red Bull driver rising from 14th place in the closing stages to take the final podium place. Force India’s Sergio Perez was fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

    There was drama even before the start as Romain Grosjean crashed out on his lap to grid. The Haas driver lost control on the standing water at the final corner and spun backwards into the wall damaging the rear and front of his car.

    With the conditions treacherous the race start was delayed and then it got underway under the safety car. The course car stayed on track for seven laps and when racing began anger Max Verstappen was the first to advance. As Hamilton held the lead from Rosberg, the Dutch teenager passed Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen through the Senna S and stole P3.

    Elsewhere a number of drivers pitted for intermediate tyres but the switch soon looked premature as first Sebastian Vettel spun dramatically while on full wets and then Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, on inters, lost control at the final turn and crashed heavily.

    His car came to rest at the pit entry, just as Verstappen elected to pit. The Red Bull man had to take evasive action to avoid the stricken Sauber but he made his pit stop for intermediate tyres cleanly. His team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was following and by the time the Australian committed to turning towards the pit entry, race control had closed the pit lane. The Red Bull driver was caught out and after stopping for intermediates he was put under investigation.

    As a result of Ericsson’s smash the Safety Car was deployed and the field again bunched up behind the course car until lap 20. But as soon as it pulled off track there was more drama. Raikkonen lost control on the main straight and the Finn hit the wall on both sides of track before coming to a halt by the pit wall, facing the wrong way. As the field avoided him in the spray, the SC was deployed again before the red flags quickly came out.

    The field pulled into the pit lane and it then became a waiting game as the conditions continued to make racing impossible. Eventually Race Control signalled that the race would re-start at 15:21 local time.

    Track action, all conducted under the safety car lasted just eight laps, however, and  as the conditions deteriorated again the decision was  once again taken to suspend the race on lap 29. During the short spell on track, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg picked up a puncture due to debris on the track and pitted for a new set of wet tyres. That dropped him from P4 to P15.

    The red flag period lasted just over 25 minutes but at 16:02 local time the race resumed once more, again under the safety car. When it left the track at the end of lap 31, Verstappen was once again the man on the move, passing Rosberg for P2 with a superb move around the outside at Turn 3.

    Behind him team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was also striding forward and he passed Carlos Sainz for P5 through the Senna S.

    Verstappen was pushing to catch Hamilton, but his race almost ended on lap 39 when he spun on the main straight. The Dutch driver saved the moment expertly and even managed to resume and defend against the hard-charging Rosberg.

    As the race developed both Red Bulls opted to move to intermediate tyres. The stops dropped Verstappen to P5 and Ricciardo to P10. Further back Vettel was making good progress and by lap 45 he was up to sixth position behind Verstappen. At the front, though, Hamilton was looking comfortable ahead of Rosberg, Force India’s Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

    However, the race changed again on lap 47 when Felipe Massa, racing the final Brazilian Grand Prix of his career, crashed out at the final corner.

    He came to a halt at the pit entry and began a long walk back to the Williams garage, applauded all the way by his home fans and then, as he walked down the pit lane, by the Mercedes and Ferrari pit crews.

    During this SC phase Ricciardo, with one eye to the weather, pitted for full wet tyres. Verstappen though stayed out, even though he was increasingly concerned that he could not make any headway on the inter. The Dutchman pitted for full wets then with the hope of fighting his way back through the field from P14.

    The safety car left the track at the end of lap 55 with Hamilton leading from Rosberg, Perez, Sainz and Vettel. Fernando Alonso spun just as the safety car departed and that meant that behind Vettel, Nasr held sixth ahead of Hulkenberg, Ocon, Kvyat and Ricciardo.

    On fresher wet tyres the Red Bulls began to scythe through the pack, with Verstappen climbing to P6 by lap 65, behind Vettel. Ricciardo meanwhile was up to P8.

    The Dutchman tried a move on Vettel on the run to Turn 4 on lap 56 but the Ferrari driver defended superbly. However, the German could not resist when Verstappen used his greater pace to pass at Turn 12. He then made short work of Sainz, who had enjoyed an excellent race to this point, to take P4.

    Verstappen’s final jaw-dropping move was to pass Sergio Perez around the outside at Turn 10 to reclaim a podium finish just two laps from home.

    Ahead, Hamilton held on to his lead until the flag, winning the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time with 12 seconds in hand over Rosberg. Verstappen took an incredible third place ahead of Perez, Vettel, Sainz and Hulkenberg. Ricciardo was eighth ahead of Nasr, who scored two crucial points for Sauber, and Alonso took the final point.

    With Hamilton winning, Rosberg now leads the title fight by just 12 points and the championship battle goes to the wire in Abut Dhabi in two weeks’ time.

    2016 Brazilian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes, 71 laps  3h01m01.335s 2
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +11.455 2
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +21.481 5
    4 Sergio Perez Force India +25.346 2
    5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +26.334 3
    6 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +29.160 2
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +29.827 3
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +30.486 5
    9 Felipe Nasr Sauber +42.620 2
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren +44.432 3
    11 Valtteri Bottas Williams +45.292 4
    12 Esteban Ocon Manor +45.809 2
    13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +51.192 4
    14 Kevin Magnussen Renault +51.555 4
    15 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +60.498 3
    16 Jenson Button McLaren +81.994 5
    17 Esteban Gutierrez Haas DNF 5
    18 Felipe Massa Williams DNF 4
    19 Jolyon Palmer Renault DNF 3
    20 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF 0
    21 Marcus Ericsson Sauber DNF 1
    22 Romain Grosjean Haas DNS 0
    eom/FIA press release

  • Red Bull takes the fight to Mercedes in Mexico

    Mexico City, 29 Oct 2016: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of final practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, finishing nine hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull.

    In a messy final 10 minutes of the session traffic disrupted the qualifying simulations of a number of drivers but Verstappen found space enough to set a supersoft tyre time of 1:19.137 with eight minutes left on the clock.

    Ricciardo might have eclipsed that but the Australian hit heavy traffic in the final two turns and his lap was compromised. It was still good enough to send him into P2 and he then improved again to sit 0.238 behind his team-mate.

    However, after complaining that he had been hampered by heavy traffic, Hamilton then found enough space to jump ahead of Ricciardo with a time of 1:19.231. The defending champion had a slow first sector but then found time in the middle part of the track before setting a session-best S3 time close to 0.094 behind Verstappen.

    Although Hamilton might have had the upper hand on a clear track, Red Bull’s performance in the session was a significant improvement from yesterday when both the team’s drivers struggled to find a direction on set-up and during which Verstappen was sidelined in FP1 with brake issues.

    In final practice Verstappen finished 0.8s ahead of the quickest Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, though the sixth-placed German too struggled with traffic in the closing stages of the session and did not get in a clean lap. Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was seventh fastest, just shy of six hundredths of a second behind his team-mate.

    Championship leader Nico Rosberg was fourth for Mercedes, though the German looked out of sorts for much of the session. On soft tyres in the earlier part of the session he was fifth quickest behind Hamilton, the Red Bulls and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. In the final part of the session Rosberg finished 0.481 behind Verstappen but perhaps more importantly he was 0.387 adrift of title rival Hamilton.

    Fifth place in the session went to Valterri Bottas. In the first two practice sessions Williams had again be outpaced by Force India, the team’s close rival for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. However, in final practice Bottas finished 0.444s clear of the highest-placed Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who finished ninth. Felipe Massa in the second Williams was eighth quickest. With Hulkenberg ninth, the final top 10 place went to Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, with local hero Sergio Perez in P11, two tenths off the pace of Force India team-mate Hulkenberg.

     

    eom/FIA press release