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Haze A Concern Ahead of Singapore Grand Prx

A cloud of smog has covered the City of Singapore ahead of this weekends Singapore Grand Prix blown in by the prevailing winds from Sumatra.

The haze is a result of the farmers in neighboring Sumatra burning parts of the forest to make way for their agricultural activities.

Organizers of the Singapore Grand Prix are monitoring the situation very closely and are working with the relevant agencies before any decision is taken.

“The possibility of haze is just one of the many potential issues that are covered in the overall 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix Contingency Plan,” said a spokesperson for the Singapore GP.

“In the event that the haze causes visibility, public health or operational issues, Singapore GP will work closely with the relevant agencies before making any collective decisions regarding the event.”

The National Environment Agency (NEA) in Singapore says that the situation may worsen. An update at 19:00 Singapore time says that the “Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was between 127-146, in the low to mid sections of the Unhealthy range”. The unhealthy range is 101-200.

In it’s update the NEA goes on to state that “the haze situation could deteriorate as the current unfavourable winds may blow in denser haze from Sumatra.”

“Thundery showers forecasted for Singapore in the late morning and early afternoon tomorrow may only bring a short temporary respite.

“The 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to be in the mid to high sections of Unhealthy range, and may enter the low section of Very Unhealthy range if the unfavourable winds bring in denser haze from Sumatra.”

September 14, 2015
Pirelli announces tyre choices for Singapore, Japan and Russia

Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli has announced its tyre compound choices for the Singapore, Japanese and Russian grands prix, with with Italian manufacturer opting to bring softer tyres to Russia compared to its 2014 choices.

As usual, we’ll see the Super Soft and Soft tyres in Singapore, in order to cope with the high demand for maximum mechanical grip at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The Medium and Hard compounds will be brought to the Japanese Grand Prix due to the high-energy demands and fast corners which are a prominent feature of Suzuka’s fast circuit.

Both of these tyre nominations correlate with the choices from 2014, but Pirelli has opted to go one step softer with its compounds for the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi.

The Super Soft and Soft tyres will be used in the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom as “the asphalt has not changed significantly since its debut last year, and looking at the data from 2014, a softer step is possible.”

Last year’s Russian Grand Prix featured a one-stop strategy for almost all teams, with tyre wear not an issue at all during the race.

Photo Credits:

Photos courtesy of Pirelli

September 9, 2015
Red Bull and Renault to split – where to from here?

According to Autosport, the Red Bull Formula One team will not run Renault engines next season despite their contract which only ends at the end of the 2016 F1 season. It is reported that Red Bull will reportedly part ways with Renault after this season, having requested an early end to their partnership.

Formula 1’s decision to swap to 1.6-litre V6 Turbo engines pretty much put the nail in the Red Bull Renault coffin with the engine manufacturer unable to produce an engine capable of mounting a challenge against its rivals.

This has led to both parties publicly criticising one another and voicing the on-going frustration. The severe breakdown in the Red Bull Renault relationship has been no secret for some time already.

Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were forced to take their seventh engines of the season for this past weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, resulting in major grid penalties.

According to Autosport, Red Bull have “issued a document requesting a termination” of their engine deal a year before its scheduled conclusion. It is also reported that Renault will accept this request.

Seven races remain this season and Red Bull are currently fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on 113 points, 338 behind Mercedes.

Red Bull is left with Mercedes and Ferrari as the only realistic options for power units next season but Mercedes has already ruled out the possibility of supplying Red Bull with engines in the future. According to Autosport, Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche has decided to bring discussions to an end following his visit to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.

It would appear to leave Red Bull with the sole option of getting Ferrari engines.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has said that supplying engines to Red Bull would not be an issue for Ferrari. Red Bull has used Ferrari engines in the past – for the 2006 F1 season.

Over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton expressed doubt at the prospect of Mercedes supplying Red Bull with engines.

“I think if we’re serious about winning world championships, probably not,” he replied, when asked if such a move would be a good idea.

“Red Bull is a great team and it’s like giving Ferrari our engine,” he told reporters. “We’re here to win so we don’t really need it. There’s no financial benefit really in it, so I think we’re good where we are.”

However, at Ferrari, Arrivabene seems to have no such concerns.

“It is very difficult to talk about other people,” Arrivabene said. “In theory they have big names, with Newey as chief designer and it is easy to think that if you give them the engine they will build a scary chassis, which means they will be really competitive.

“Concerning my team, my engineers and aerodynamicists know their own jobs and for that reason I don’t have a problem. Competition is nice when you have a stronger competitor.”

He did however admit, “This doesn’t mean tomorrow morning we will give our engines to Red Bull or Toro Rosso.”

Photo Credits:

Red Bull photo courtesy of Red Bull Racing

Renault F1 photo courtesty of Renault Sport F1

Mauricio Arrivabene photo courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari

September 9, 2015
Felipe Massa delighted with ’emotional’ Monza podium

Felipe Massa was ecstatic with the achievement of his second podium of the 2015 Formula One season at the Italian Grand Prix.

The third position finish was a repeat of his podium finish last year when he also collected the trophy in front of his former Ferrari team’s fans.

“It’s really emotional to have been on the podium,” Massa said. “It was a difficult but fantastic race, I didn’t have the best start but I was still able to pass cars so it was good enough.

“I worked hard to open the gap to Valtteri [Bottas], but when I pitted early it gave him the advantage on tyres at the end of the race. It was hard to keep him behind as he really wanted it, but I just about managed it.

“I am delighted for myself and the team, we got a lot of valuable points. It’s special to be up on the podium at Monza again, and I really thank the team for their effort today.”

Massa’s Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas finished a mere 0.3s behind him in fourth place and laments a few minor issues.

“It was a good result for the team today, good points which is important,” Bottas said after the race.

“My pit stop lost me too much time which was crucial for the second part of the race. I managed to get extremely close in the end but it was too late.

“As I saved my tyres and brakes I was able to attack in the final laps but we had system issues on the last lap, so we need to investigate what happened because I also lost an opportunity there.”

Photo Credits:

Podium image courtesy of Mercedes AMG Petronas

Massa press conference image screengrab courtesy of Sky F1

September 7, 2015
“Today Was A Massive Step In the Wrong Direction” – Rosberg

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg that his retirement from the race at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza was a massive step backward for the German.

Rosberg was forced to take an engine change after the new unit, which the team spent all its development tokens on, had a coolant leak which contaminated the engine. The German had to revert back to the engine which he used in Belgium, which had already run 6 races.

Rosberg was running in 3rd place and closing in on 2nd place man, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, when two laps from the end of the race the engine gave up in a cloud of smoke and flames on the run to Della Roggia.

It was a tough weekend all round for Rosberg who wants to put it behind him. He’s already looking forward to Singapore in two weeks time.

“This weekend was very tough for me,” commented Rosberg after the race.

“There were just too many problems with my car which made it impossible to fight for the win.

“It hurts a lot when you have to retire with just two or three laps to go. A few corners earlier, I felt already that I had lost some power but was still hoping I could make it.

“Today was a massive step in the wrong direction for me in the Championship – but to complain doesn’t help in these situations.

“I just need to keep pushing and come back even stronger. Giving up is not an option for me.

“I will push hard to turn things in the right direction – starting in Singapore, which is one of my favourite races. I’m looking forward to it already.”

September 6, 2015
Mercedes turned Rosberg’s engine up before it failed

It has been revealed that the Mercedes F1 team turned the power up on Nico Rosberg’s engine shortly before it failed ending his hopes of finishing the Italian Grand Prix.

F1 championship title contender Rosberg lost a lot of ground off the start of the race after having to dodge the stalled Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and dropped back to sixth place from fourth on the grid.

He had managed to make up a lot of the lost ground during the race and, in the late stages, was starting to catch Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for the second step on the podium. In a bid to help Rosberg catch Vettel, Mercedes turned the power of his engine up. The 6 race old power unit expired in a plume of smoke just three laps before the end of the race.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Motorsport Chief admitted that Rosberg had been given the go ahead to push the Spa-spec engine harder to chase Vettel. The engine had been put back into Rosberg’s Mercedes after his new spec power unit encountered problems during the final practice session on Saturday ahead of qualifying for the Italian GP.

“We gave it a little push at the end to try to catch Sebastian and this is when it decided to call it a day,” he said.

“The engine was on its sixth race, so it was very high on miles,” Wolff added.

“And we didn’t get any warnings.”

Hamilton now leads Rosberg by 53 points following the German’s retirement from the race. Hamilton’s victory – following being cleared of a tyre pressure infringement on both cars – has put him well clear of his main title rival.

“It’s a fact that it’s a massive step in the wrong direction,” said Rosberg.

“It’s the biggest loss I’ve had in one day throughout the whole season, so that’s very bad, and I now need to catch up a few points.

“I keep going. Giving up doesn’t exist for me, so I’ll just keep fighting, and I’ve got to try to win the next couple of races somehow.

“The whole weekend just went completely wrong, and unlucky I think.

“So many repercussions of this engine issue… it wasn’t an engine issue actually, it was a chassis issue that made me have to change.

“To have it explode two laps from the end was unbelievable. It’s even more disappointing.

“I was going to have a good go at Vettel because finally I had the brakes cool enough to attack, and I could ramp up the electric power, and I was going to really go for it.”

September 6, 2015
Clutch Issues to Blame for Raikkonen’s Poor Start

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen put his poor start to the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday down to a clutch problem.

Raikkonen had a clean get away at the start at the formation lap and his practice start when leaving the pits was near perfect. But when the five lights went out, Raikkonen was bogged down and when he eventually got his car going again almost all the cars had passed him.

Replays of the start showed that Raikkonen dropped the first clutch to get off the line, but his car did not move. It was almost as if he had not selected first gear. He eventually got going but not before he was passed by nearly all the cars on the grid. When he got up to speed he was in 20th place.

Raikkonen fought through the field and drove a really good race to finish the in 5th. It was a really good recovery from the Finn but he still remained disappointed about the start.

“I don’t know exactly what happened at the start,” said Raikkonen after the race.

“As far as I know I did everything correctly, but the car went into the anti-stall and did not move at all.

“I still don’t have the right explanation about what happened, but it’s a really bad thing that cost us a lot today.

“If you start from second place and after a few seconds you’re in last position it’s not easy to see the positive side of the race: we wasted a big opportunity to fight at the front.”

Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene suggested that Raikkonen had messed up at the start but then said that it was wrong of him to make an an accusation before he gets the data.

Ferrari are investigating the issue with Raikkonen’s clutch.

“This time I see the glass half full,” commented Arrivabene

“Sebastian’s race to second place was unbelievable. His contribution to the team so far has been outstanding.

“As for Kimi, he had a great qualifying yesterday, then maybe he messed up a bit at the start of the race, but making an accusation before I have the data is wrong”. But afterwards he was able to pass a lot of cars on the track with a fantastic race.

Despite the mishap with Raikkonen Arrivabene was happy with the teams performance at his first race in charge of the Scuderia on home turf and confirmed that they spent a few engine development tokens ahead of the race.

“Ideally, we would have hoped for two good starts, but we’re happy anyway with this weekend.

“We came here investing a few tokens on our Power Unit and we’re satisfied with our gain, also in terms of reliability.

Sebastian Vettel was overwhelmed on the podium as a Ferrari driver in Monza. Although finishing second, he dubbed it as “the best second place he’s ever had in Formula 1.”

“It’s an incredible day, it’s the best second place I ever had in Formula One,” said Vettel

“Thanks to all the tifosi for giving me those emotions today on the podium: it’s fantastic to see so many fans, feel the support we get as a team. It just makes our lives so much more worth living when you see all the fans coming underneath the podium.

“In terms of emotions it’s more than a victory. It’s nearly a perfect day: I’m saying nearly because I don’t know what happened to Kimi at the start.”

“It’s a shame because otherwise I believe we could have both cars on the podium today. The speed was there, unfortunately not enough to win, but we’ve tried everything.

September 6, 2015
F1 2015: Italian GP Review – Hamilton Strolls to Victory

The Italian GP wasn’t one that was ever going to set your heart aflutter but it delivered its fair share of drama.

The Saturday qualifying session delivered a dream result that elated Ferrari’s fanatical tifosi. Kimi Raikkonen delivered a stunning lap just two tenths shy of pole position to line up his scarlet Ferrari in second place while teammate Sebastian Vettel completed the top three.

It was Lewis Hamilton however who ran the show on Sunday much like he did on Saturday to secure a staggering seventh consecutive pole position. Most were drooling about a possible Italian GP battle between the Ferrari’s and Lewis Hamilton’s number 44 Mercedes. Alas, a disastrous start for Raikkonen and all-round lack of pace for Vettel meant Hamilton could stroll through the 53 laps to eventual victory.

As the red lights extinguished so did Raikkonen’s chances as he remained achingly motionless in his grid slot. As it were, Raikkonen reported that when he released the clutch nothing happened after which the car engaged the anti-stall function. It dropped the Finn to dead last but a dogged drive through the field netted the 2007 champ fifth place.

The simplicity of Hamilton’s task in the lead of the race was evident as he increased his pace at will. He built a substantial gap over Vettel which could’ve been considerably bigger if he had wished it so. Yet, the sister Mercedes wasn’t enjoying as easy a weekend. A failure in free practice three forced Rosberg to take an older engine onboard which landed him only fourth in qualifying. It looked to be going slightly better in the race as the championship runner-up was able to leapfrog Williams on strategy. The German was even able to take the fight to second-placed Vettel and was set to launch an attack on the Ferrari. However, a spectacular engine failure brought a fiery end to Rosberg’s ItalianGP and most probably his championship aspirations.

A spicy fight between Williams’ drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas highlighted the closing stages of the race. Despite significant pressure from behind Massa was able to resist his Finnish teammate and secure third much to the delight of deputy team principal Claire Williams.

The Pirelli tyres seemed to be, mostly, out of the spotlight when compared to the aftermath of the Belgian grand prix. But a suspected breach in tyre pressure regulation, by Mercedes, was noted by the Italian tyre supplier. Both Hamilton and Rosberg’s cars were found to be below the specified tyre pressure and were subsequently referred to the stewards.

In hindsight the instruction given to Hamilton to increase the gap to Vettel makes sense. At the time however not even the driver was sure what to make of the message coming from the pitwall. It is clear now that Mercedes were trying to avoid losing the Italian GP victory should a time penalty be imposed. As it turns out the stewards, after meeting with Mercedes personnel chose to take no further action.

While some might term this a lucky escape for Mercedes the details as to how and when tyre pressures are measured remain a tad sketchy. If the pressure were measured at different times it could turn out that Mercedes could well have been within the regulations. There is likely to be clarification on the measuring of tyre pressures in the near future.

As the newly blonde Lewis Hamilton looked out at the fervent Monza crowd there seemed to be a moment of realisation for the Brit. A comprehension of the very special moment he is experiencing in his glittering career. Are we seeing a soon-to-be three-time world champion in the form of his life? A 53 point gap to second place seems to suggest it.

All photos by courtesy Pirelli

September 6, 2015
2015 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by George Lucas)

This is amazing, simply amazing. Congratulations Lewis, you did a great job. You told me earlier when I was kidding you about these close call races of one or two seconds, I said ‘why don’t you win by 20 seconds?’ and you said ‘I could do that, I think’. Well, you did it in spades; I bow to you, you did a great job.

Lewis HAMILTON: Thank you. Today… look at this crowd, it’s incredible. Unbelievable fans here. I couldn’t have done it without my team. I couldn’t have done it without my team. I don’t know if anyone can hear us. This team is just remarkable and what we have achieved together is so special, so I’m incredibly grateful to them for really working so hard through the weekend, through the last weeks, through the whole year to give me the car I had today. These guys also did a great job.

Sebastian, I’ve been to the factory a few times and everybody has been talking about the new engine. Did the new engine live up to your expectations?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well look at this. I think this says it all. Grazie a voi! Grazie tifosi! Questo anno è incredible… Grazie, a tutta la squadra dico ancora grazie.

Felipe, how did it feel when you were coming up to the finish line there and your team-mate was only inches away from you?

Felipe MASSA: It feels very tough! I’m getting old for that! I even said to the team I’m getting old! The last three laps of the race I was fighting with my team-mate. It was very difficult but we managed to be here. Grazie mille a tutti. Sono molto contento di essere qui con voi. Questo podio é meraviglioso. Questo rettilineo è fantastico. Grazie davvero. Siete tutti nel mio cuore.

So Lewis, one last question: Do blonds have more fun?

LH: I hope so! Thank you everyone. Thank you to all the fans. You are the greatest fans here. Grazie a tutti.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Lewis, the technical delegate has referred the team to the stewards saying that “the minimum measured tyre starting pressure of the left-hand side rear tyre of car number 44 was 0.3 PSI below the specified minimum tyre starting pressure” and a representative of the team is asked to go to the stewards. Do you have any comment to make on that?

LH: Not really no.

You’re not aware of it?

LH: I wasn’t aware of it, so…

The team was asking you at the end of the grand prix to build a gap. You weren’t sure what that was for, presumably that was linked to this issue?

LH: Maybe.

They still haven’t told you?

LH: No.

Lewis, your 50^th grand prix start for Mercedes, your third win here in Monza, seventh of the season, 40^th of your career, now one short of Ayrton Senna, who I know was an idol of yours growing up. Really, obviously, the start was always going to be decisive. You took a defensive line, Sebastian had to go round the outside and from there on you seemed to be completely in control of the afternoon. Tell us about that and also the emotions of the afternoon from start to now?

LH: Yeah, this weekend has been just fantastic. It has been a perfect weekend for me. I don’t know if I have ever had a weekend like this. This circuit is such a special one for… I think it’s the same for all the drivers. When you stand on top of that podium you feel incredible pride and incredibly proud to be amongst the greats that have stood up there and when you see a sea of fans – a lot of them in red – but the sea of fans is just unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s very emotional when you are up there. The race was fantastic. I got a good start. I think we all probably got a difficult start and managed to hold ground. Sebastian was really fair into turn one and after that it was really just chipping away, looking after the tyres, trying to look after the tyres whilst chipping away… trying to take time away, increase the time, the gap behind. I was generally able to control it really after that. I felt comfortable. The car balance I really got perfect for the race. Perhaps not so much for qualifying but perfect for the race. It was actually one of my favourite balances I’ve had through the year, in the actual race. The last few laps I was told to push and I’m thinking I’ve got quite a big gap already, so, for me, I was a little taken aback by it, but nonetheless I still managed to pull it out and do what they asked me to do. Big congrats to Sebastian and Felipe. I know these two have been pushing hard for a long, long time, so I feel proud to be up here with them as well.

Q: And you were 29 points behind coming here last year. You’re 50 points ahead going away, over 50 points ahead going away this year.

LH: I don’t understand…

Rosberg retired

LH: I wasn’t aware of that. Oh. Wow. I think our performance, my performance today, I have to really take my hat off to my team: they’ve done a remarkable job the last two years and I can’t thank them enough. The constant attention to detail. Improvements they’ve been doing back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth is just… I’ve never seen it before. Incredibly grateful for everything they’ve done.

Q: So Sebastian, you “were very fair in Turn One,” says Lewis. You gave it a go. Did you think it might be on?

SV: I had to! Obviously I was on the outside so it was going to be difficult. I was a bit deeper on the brakes but yeah, I mean I have to give way, he’s on the inside, the first corner goes to the right. It’s a tricky one. We’ve seen across the various years you can get it wrong so I was quite happy. Tried to focus on the exit. He got a magnificent exit out of Turn Two so I couldn’t really get a run on him. I was trying – but I couldn’t get a run on him into Turn Four. After that I though, after the first couple of laps, I think at some points we were similar in lap time, he was only a tenth quicker for one or two laps, I thought that maybe now we get a chance to close the gap but then he just seemed to… in football you call it the second lung. I don’t know – that’s a German saying, it makes no sense in English – but he just seemed to find an extra switch and he was pulling away. I think myself, Felipe and the cars behind, we seemed to struggle with tyres, so we’re losing pace whereas Lewis just kept doing what he was doing in the first couple of laps. So it was quite incredible to see and no chance to stay close to him. After that our race was pretty isolated but I knew I had to keep pushing. Seeing the pace that Lewis had, I knew that Nico eventually will have the same pace. He did in the end, he was closing the gap, it was getting quite tight but I think we could have managed and get the place even with Nico not retiring. So, in the end, to sum it up, it’s fairly simple, it’s the best second place I ever had. The emotions on the podium is incredible. If we take this away from the calendar for any shitty money reasons I think you are basically ripping our hearts out. We are here, we are racing and this makes it so much more worthwhile. It’s what we’re here for. You stand on the grid, you look to the left, you look to the right, people are just happy to be part of it and it makes our day. So, simple as that. It’s incredible. So, thanks for this emotion on behalf of all the Ferrari team. Thank you.

Q: Felipe, on the podium here in Monza, second year in a row. Start obviously decisive for you as well because Kimi just didn’t get away, you were very, very quick on to that and at the end you had a little bit of a tussle with your younger team mate once again, which you seem to be enjoying.

FM: Yeah, it’s really emotional to be here. It’s a fantastic race, very difficult from the beginning to the end, just trying to make the gap and then, the start was OK. It was not really that fantastic a start I had but it was really good to overtake cars and to manage to be in the position compared to the guys behind, so happy for that. But also, just the pace. Trying to open the gap against Valtteri. I went to the pitstop a little bit early and he stays on the track for a few other laps which helps a lot his tyres for the end of the race. Maybe I opened the gap anyway and we were doing good lap times to maintain the gap but at the end I started to lose performance on the rear tyres and he was catching me with better tyres as well. So, in the last three laps it was pretty difficult. He was catching me a lot, he was quicker than me. The only problem was the traction: he has better traction. So, I managed to fight, and getting to the podium was tough, three laps but I’m so happy for the position, so happy for the team. I think we managed to score great and fantastic points today. And also in this amazing place. Being on the podium here, with the whole straight of people so we cannot even see any asphalt, y’know. Even in Corner Three, from the podium. So it’s really, I mean, definitely the best podium and very human. A very hot, human feeling when you see all these people.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, as you have said, there was a phase early in the race when you were just a couple of tenths slower than Lewis but then it has increased quite a bit. Why do you think this was? Was it just that your tyres didn’t hold up so well because it was the end of the stint or was it because you weren’t able to use the same engine modes as yesterday in qualifying?

SV: No, I think it’s pretty simple. I was falling asleep! No, I was pushing as hard as possible and Lewis, I think, to some extent, did the same and yeah, I think you could see on my lap times also Felipe’s – I got updated by radio that the lap times kept dropping so I guess we were struggling more with the tyres than Lewis was because he was able to do the same lap time on lap 22 as he did on lap four which is quite impressive. Obviously we had run down some fuel but tyres are 20 laps older. I think he said he felt well with the balance of the car which makes a huge difference so that’s that. They were quick on race pace, quicker than us but potentially they had a bit better tyre wear or tyre degradation, let’s put it this way, so I think that made the difference. On the first three laps I had a bit of hope and then, to be honest with you, I saw them going away, so yeah, that was that.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, have you already received an explanation, either before or after the podium, because you had to push, because there was a problem with the investigation of the tyres. Had they already explained to you or was it something else?

LH: As I just said, I don’t even know about it.

Q: What was the second question? There wasn’t one.

FM: He’s amazing, he never asks one question, always two! I think he has a fever.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis and Sebastian, what kind of help could you get with lower tyres pressures?

LH: 0.3 lower? Not really a huge amount on one rear tyre.

SV: Well, it’s difficult to judge now because I don’t know what was going on. I think it’s not fair to hand that question to Lewis because he doesn’t know what’s going on, so that’s that. In principle, the tyres last a bit longer, but as I said, I don’t think… In a lot of respect and fairness he did a very good job today and you have to accept that.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) To all of you, after such an emotional podium ceremony, what are your feelings when you hear that the future of Monza on the calendar is uncertain?

Q: Well, Sebastian has already made his feelings very clear on that one…

LH: I think we all have really. As I said on the podium, I said at the beginning here, this is one of the best tracks in the world. This has to stay here for moral reasons. As Felipe is saying, all those fans out there who come every single year. Are you going to take this Grand Prix away from us and put on another one, that would not have the same feeling, or would not have the special impact so we definitely have to keep this.

FM: I don’t think they can take it out. The history of Formula One, this is history here, here is part of what is Formula One… everything that Formula One grows is a lot thanks to these races as well, to these people. We race for the people and when you see the podium with a lot of people like that and they’re screaming and crying, I don’t think we can lose that. This is part of our blood and we cannot lose this type of races. I really like to go to new countries, we go to amazing countries, countries that I even didn’t know what they meant before and then I love to go there, many different countries and I’m really in favour to go there but you cannot lose something which is inside the blood as well.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think it’s highly unlikely because Lewis finished more than 25 seconds ahead of you so even if he gets a penalty I don’t think it will change the order but if he would lose the victory and you would win the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari like that, what would be your emotions?

SV: Well, it doesn’t change anything, emotions. I was second on the podium and that’s the emotions I got and I’m grateful for them. I had a great car today, not good enough to win but good enough to just finish second.

September 6, 2015
Mercedes escapes penalty for tyre pressure infringements

The Italian Grand Prix stewards have decided to take no further action against the Mercedes team or drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg following the investigation into their lower than minimum tyre pressures.

The Mercedes drivers had been found to have pressures lower than allowed but the investigation has found them to be innocent of any wrongdoing.

Here is the full text of the statement issued by the stewards:

“Having heard from the Technical Delegate, the Team Representatives and the Pirelli Team Tyre Engineer, the Stewards have determined that the pressure in the tyres concerned were at the minimum start pressure recommended by Pirelli when they were fitted to the car. In making this determination regarding the pressures. the Stewards noted that the tyre warming blankets had been disconnected from their power source, as is normal procedure, and the tyres were significantly below the maximum permitted tyre blanket temperature at the time of the FIA’s measurement on the grid, and at significantly different temperatures from other cars measured on the grid. Further, the Stewards are satisfied that the team followed the current specified procedure, supervised by the Tyre Manufacturer, for the safe operation of the tyres.

Therefore the Stewards decide to take no further action.

Nevertheless, the Stewards recommend that the Tyre Manufacturer and the FIA hold further meetings to provide clear guidance to the teams on measurement procedures.”

September 6, 2015