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Niki Lauda says it’s not Mercedes’ job to make F1 entertaining

Mercedes team boss Niki Lauda has dismissed suggestions that the dominance of the Mercedes team is making Formula One boring. He says that the team is focused on “winning every bloody race” rather than the overall spectacle.

Mercedes took a comfortable 1-2 at the Canadian Grand Prix with the nearest rival Valtteri Bottas crossing the line an insane 40 seconds later. The team looks unlikely to be challenged on pace this season having already won 22 of the 26 races since the start of the V6 turbo era.

When asked if the rather boring Canadian Grand Prix was a good day for Mercedes but a bad day for F1, Niki Lauda said, “Guys, I’m not here in charge of your politics. I can only run, with Toto [Wolff] together, the team in the best possible professional way. Win every bloody race, that’s what I’m here for and the rest I don’t know.”

When it was suggested that Mercedes should lead the change to increase the spectacle of Formula One, Lauda replied, “We do take a lead for the sport, we win the races for you. Look at the Canadians – 12% more people here for this so-called boring sport, you are trying to tell me, with no noise. Only Canadians are crazy here. I just said to Austrian TV ‘you crazy Austrians, think like the Canadians and all come to Spielberg!’”

Niki Lauda Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

Lewis Hamilton Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

June 12, 2015
Ferrari still targeting two 2015 race wins

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene has said that Ferrari will not change its target of two race wins for the 2015 Formula One season following on a below average Canadian Grand Prix. The Ferrari boss likened the idea of changing their target to surrending which he is most definitely not ready to do.

After not recording a single win during the 2014 F1 season, Ferrari returned to the top step of the podium after only two races, with Sebastian Vettel taking the victory in Malaysia.

Despite using engine tokens to close the gap to pace setting rivals Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel managed only fourth and fifth places at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Arrivabene however sees no reason to change their expectations despite the dissapointing result. “No, absolutely no change,” Arrivabene said. “If I change the objectives it’s like if I say, ‘I surrender’, and we don’t surrender.”

“Going to the podium every race is boring, but when you go down from the podium it’s the worst,” he continued. “I think we need to look up and not down, but don’t change the objectives, no way.”

He added that engine upgrades brought to the Canadian Grand Prix were in line with their expectactions and that Ferrari need to accept that Mercedes is just a lot stronger at the moment.
“The engine upgrade was giving us the positive answer that we were asking for,” he said.

“Unfortunately it was not a good weekend, but the response we had from the engine was good.

“We need a bit of humility to recognise at the moment they [Mercedes] are stronger than us, without thinking, ‘OK, now we have closed the gap so we can beat them every race’.

“This is not realistic, but the answer that we get during the weekend is quite good.”

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari

June 11, 2015
F1 2015: Canadian GP Review – Mercedes Dominate In Montreal

Most would hold the opinion that the Canadian grand prix was far from the riveting showpiece it typically delivers. In terms of on track action they would be right but there were a number of significant goings-on for various teams.

It wouldn’t have been considered outlandish to expect McLaren to be threatening the outskirts of the top ten by race seven of the 2015 championship. The reality however is far from this lofty expectation. Neither Jenson Button nor Fernando Alonso saw the chequered flag at the end of the Canadian grand prix and whilst they were running it wasn’t pretty.

An ERS (energy recovery system) failure on Jenson Button’s number 22 McLaren meant that the Brit had to sit out qualifying which was the preface to yet another retirement this time due to an exhaust issue. The sister McLaren of Fernando Alonso ran until lap 44 until he too was forced into his third consecutive retirement. The Spaniard’s race was rather painful as the double world champion appeared as nothing more than a mobile chicane with cars sauntering past him with embarrassing ease.

The McLaren drivers have been measured in their comments to the press since the start of the season but the frustrations are starting to show. First it was Jenson Button who described the McLaren as a scary car to drive which he then promptly walked back with a bit of PR spin. And then there is Fernando Alonso who remains adamant that he does not regret his departure from Ferrari.

The driver’s statements to the press are more often than not just PR drabble regimented by the team. But occasionally we are privy to the radio comms between car and pitwall and here the unadorned feelings often come to light in very colourful ways.

Fernando Alonso irritation was evident as he told his team over the radio that he was being made to look like “an amateur” during the race. Similarly, when he was asked to save fuel after a meagre twenty-four laps Alonso responded with “I don’t want, I don’t want.” As much as the blame has been placed at Honda’s doorstep McLaren’s racing director Eric Boullier accepted that improvement is needed “everywhere.”

This year’s Canandian grand prix was far less dramatic for Mercedes than twelve months ago when brake failure devastated Lewis Hamilton’s race and severely impeded Nico Rosberg’s progress. But even though Hamilton and Rosberg appeared to be untroubled as they secured a dominant one-two victory several issues needed managing throughout the race. At various stages both Hamilton and Rosberg were instructed to manage sky rocketing brake temperatures and the inevitable phase of fuel saving to get to the end of the grand prix.

Just when it looks as if Ferrari has taken a step towards closing the chasm to Mercedes it’s found to be off base. The long run pace in the second free practice session suggested that the Ferrari was looking in great shape to take the fight to Ferrari. Besides the reality that Ferrari is still off the Merc pace, circumstances combined to make it a difficult weekend.

Sebastian Vettel’s ERS issue in qualifying and subsequent 5 place penalty for overtaking under red flag relegated him to the back of the grid. Yet, the German was able to make his way through to a solid fifth place by the end of the race. Kimi Raikkonen’s Saturday afternoon had a far better outcome with a season’s best third place on the grid.

The race itself wasn’t going too badly for the Finn who was keeping both Mercedes in sight. Alas, a couple of laps after switching onto the yellow side-walled soft tyre a spin at the exit of the turn ten hairpin comprised his afternoon’s work. The spin was eerily similar to one Raikkonen suffered in last year’s Canadian grand prix which was prompted by a difference in the torque map. The Ferrari driver, who had now slipped to fourth, confirmed on the radio that the spin was “the same as last year.” A second pitstop for the supersoft tyre didn’t lose the number seven Ferrari any positions but left it nearly twenty seconds adrift of the third placed Williams of Valtteri Bottas. Despite Raikkonen’s best efforts his fellow Finn still held a five second gap by the time the chequered flag was unfurled.

Williams driver Felipe Massa too suffered issues in qualifying which dropped him to the back of the starting grid. The Brazilian was able to recover to sixth overall which included an inch perfect overtake on Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson. Pastor Maldonado, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat and the second Lotus of Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten.

Last year’s Canadian Gp winner Daniel Ricciardo described his race as horrible beyond his wildest dreams. And this less than pretty statement was followed with a threat from Renault, via Christian Horner, that they may quit the sport in 2016. Notably Carlos Sainz junior out-performed his highly fancied teammate Max Verstappen.

Contrary to Canadian grand prix history the 2015 edition was a meek outing with little to amp up the excitement factor. There were several overtaking manoeuvres but no close dices for position. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was slapped with a five second penalty for clipping the edge off Will Stevens’ Manor.

Often we get caught up in the chaotic world of Formula 1 to the point where the bigger picture is sometimes overlooked. Yes, Lewis Hamilton is in the most magnificent car built for at least the last decade; but what has been truly impressive is make-up of Hamilton and how he has evolved. The Monaco grand prix debacle was undoubtedly a tough moment but the driver he is now and the temperament he has now allows not for a showy comeback but rather a deafening response which declares that he can surmount whatever obstacle is placed in his way.

June 9, 2015
No Frustration for Alonso after Retiring From Canadian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso insists that his frustrations as McLaren did not boil over during the race.

The Spaniard ended his Canadian Grand Prix campaign early after retiring on lap 46 with an exhaust related issue. But even before that he was heard on the radio during the race venting his frustrations to the team.

When his race engineer asked him to save fuel Alonso replied with a defiant “I don’t want. I don’t want. His engineer then replied and told him that they will have bigger problems later in the race if he does not save fuel. Alonso replied with: “I already have big problems now. Driving like this and looking like amateurs. So I’ll race and then I’ll save fuel.”

When asked about his radio message after the race Alonso insisted that it was not because he was frustrated with the situation.

“No frustration, it was just I had some battles going on, I had to save fuel, save tyres and after three or four reminders I said ‘First, let me race because it is my good motivation now, as we have cars around and then at the end if we are on our own, we save fuel then’,” he said speaking to Sky Sports F1.

“But we know the situation, it is what it is, and what we need to do is work harder than ever because we want to change the situation. All the things I see for future races make sense, I see some positive signs that everything that is coming makes sense.”

Despite this he remains positive and he is very optimistic at future developments McLaren are bringing to the car despite his third consecutive retirement from a race.

“Obviously, I’m a little bit sad to have suffered a third consecutive retirement. I lost power and I had to pit, and that was it,” he said after the race.

“Definitely, we need to put some things in order – we know the situation for what it is but what we have to do now is work harder than ever because we want to change the situation more than ever.”

“All the developments I know are coming for future races make sense, so I can see positive signs. I think we need to be patient now, and we need to continue to work incredibly hard.”

Photo Credit: McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team

June 8, 2015
Renault Could Walk Away From F1 if 2016 Rules Are Not Changed

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has warned that Renault may walk away from F1 if the 2016 rules are not changed.

A loophole in the 2015 season rules was discovered and after a successful challenge by the teams, they were finally allowed to develop their engines during the season using a set number of tokens. Since the challenge, the FIA has moved to close the loophole and in season development of the engines during the 2016 season is now forbidden. The teams are required to use up their tokens and homologate their engines by 28 February 2016.

With Mercedes in such a strong position in the championship for the second season running, they will want to maintain their advantage and oppose any change to the rules which Ferrari, Renault and Honda are pushing for. The rule change would require unanimous support from all the teams and with Mercedes in the position that they are in at the moment, it is unlikely they will agree to any changes in the rules.

“The situation is we are at a precarious point in terms of Renault’s commitment to the future,” Horner said.

“If you are effectively shutting that down [the engine development] in February, you are almost waving goodbye to them,” he added.

Horner is calling for level heads to prevail at the FIA and Mercedes and he urges the parties involved to see the bigger picture and to consider the future of F1 as a sport.

“Mercedes need to have a bit of a grown-up think about it, and the FIA as well, to say what is in the best interests of Formula 1.

“If Formula 1 can afford to lose an engine manufacturer, then stick to February 28.”

Renault have been on the back foot since the start of the season with their engines. They have fallen further behind with their development and they have not spent any development tokens this season. It’s been a tough first quarter of the season for them with Red Bull already using their 4th and final allocated engine of the season for both of their drivers due to unreliability. Red Bull have been rather vocal about their issues and place the blame with Renault.

There were several high level meeting taking place at the Canadian Grand Prix where team bosses from Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren were present. Many believe discussions about customer teams have taken place and they may have taken place. But what about the engine rules? Surely there must have been a word or two about it.

June 8, 2015
Video: Jonathan Neale on McLaren’s Difficult Race Weekend

Race Director for McLaren Jonathan Neale reflects on McLaren’s tough weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix and about the future developemnts. He’s brutally honest about the work that McLaren still need to do to get back to form.

June 8, 2015
Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2015: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Ted Kravitz)

Lewis, congratulations, tell us your emotions right now. Does this make up for Monaco?

Lewis HAMILTON: I love Montreal. I love this track; I love the city and really just a fantastic weekend and great to get back on the top step. For me personally and I’m sure I’m speak for the team, I want to dedicate this to my engineer Bonno’s [Pete Bonnington’s] father, who I know it’s been a tough weekend for him but he has been amazing all weekend and he helped me win this today and this is really dedicated to him.

It was hard out there; it was hard-fought. It might not have looked it but tell us how close it was, how tough it was with Nico and what you had to handle in the car?

LH: I didn’t feel happy or the most comfortable, I generally had a lot of understeer but I never really felt too much under pressure. Nico was quick but I felt like I always had it under control, I had a bit of time in my pocket to be able to pull it out when I needed to, so it was never too serious. But it was a great race. I don’t know how it was to watch but it felt like it was intense and I really enjoyed it.

And tell me: you’re back in business now, do you feel you needed this after Monaco?

LH: Did I need this? I think so. I think so. Again, just a big thank you to all the fans today. Every time we come here we have the most incredible support from all the fans, so I just take my hat off to you guys.

Thank you very much Lewis. Nico, coming to you: great race, you were struggling with all sorts of things; the team was telling you to save brakes and save fuel sometimes. How close was it?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was a good race against Lewis. I was pushing like mad to try to put the pressure on but he didn’t make any mistakes, so fair play. It was a challenging race, yeah, because we had to manage fuel, brakes, all these things, but it was the same for Lewis, the same for both of us. It was a good race. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it happen but second place is still OK.

Well, you say it’s still OK but it is another second place. You were coming off a couple of good races for you. Where have you been lacking this weekend do you feel?

NR: It was just that tiny bit I lost out qualifying in the end, because the race pace was there and just that qualifying position makes that big difference. That’s what I need to try and make happen the next time.

Valterri, coming to you: Williams’ first podium of the season, it must be a great result for you and everybody from Williams?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, really happy for us as a team, really proud. A proud member of the team and this was really good teamwork all weekend. And then the mistake Kimi made allowed us to get one position and we also changed the plan with the strategy during the race, which I thought was really dynamic, so really good job from the team and it was not a bad race from me either.

It must be satisfying to beat your fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen. Now, where can Williams go from here, two tracks that should be good for you, Austria and Silverstone, coming up?

VB: I think we really needed this result. Like last year we saw that it really boosts confidence. We know again now that we are a top team and that we can fight for podiums. I think from Austria, with the package that we have coming there, from then onwards we really hope that we can repeat at least these kind of results.

Thank you very much Valtteri. Lewis, final word from you. You see the flags, the crosses of Saint George, the Union flags, the flags of Grenada out there as well. What does this mean to you? Do you feel the momentum is back with you? And what are you going to do tonight, Lewis?

LH: Honestly, as I said, the support is incredible. Lots of British flags, people from out here in Canada supporting, Grenadian flags, Barbados flags, you know I’m so grateful. The team did amazing job and I’m really just proud to be up here and as I said, my first grand prix win was here back in 2007, so to be back up here feels really historic.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Many congratulations Lewis, you’re fourth win here in Canada and the 37^th of your career. In control really, I guess, in qualifying and the race is the best way to sum it up. Just a brief moment after the pitstop when the gap to Nico seemed to come down quite a bit, he got within DRS range of you. What was going on there?

LH: Well, I think because Nico was in my tow he was able to save more fuel. Naturally when you’re behind someone you use less fuel. And for me, I thought I had saved enough but I needed to save some more, so through that period I was just fuel-saving. Managing the gap within a second but I was saving a lot of fuel, and then once I’d saved enough, I was able to get on it a little bit more. But I only really needed to answer to the lap times Nico would do. If I could do a tenth or two faster, that would be fine. So that’s what I tried to do – just tried to manage it and bring the car home safely.

Q: Nico, tell us a little about the start. There was a lot of radio messages about the brakes. So maybe you could tell us a little bit more about the management you had to do there.

NR: Yeah. The start was good but not quite enough to somehow try and challenge Lewis. And also tight from Kimi behind and even Valtteri I think – I’m not sure. But anyways, it all went OK and second place after that. And then yeah, a very challenging race because of fuel saving – but that wasn’t so bad, more the brakes. And to adapt to the front brakes getting too hot. Adapting around that, changing brake balance, things like that. So that was the most challenging part – especially of course because I have Lewis in front, so I don’t have any clean air to cool the brakes – so for me it was even more of a challenge behind. But it worked out OK. I was still able to put the pressure on but not quite enough.

Q: Valtteri, welcome back. First podium of the season. Last year from this point onwards, you and Williams went on a bit of a spree on getting on the podium. Do you see that happening again? And also, obviously Kimi Räikkönen spun. You and the strategy team took advantage of that. Do you think you could have done it without Räikkönen’s problem?

VB: That’s really difficult to say really – for sure it helped us and it was good that we weren’t very far away at any point in the beginning to Kimi, so we could always put a bit of pressure on them. And we also managed to change the strategy halfway of the race. I think that was really dynamic from the team. The team did really good work today with the strategy and just being aware of all the things what was happening around us and in front. Really pleased that we finally got a good result. I’m sure it’s a big boost for the whole team.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Week) Lewis, very soon after you put on your second set of tyres, you had a big lock-up which we saw on the slo-mo and then later in the race you had a few more lock-ups. I wonder if you had any bad vibrations which may have affected your speed?

LH: Fortunately not. I didn’t have really… I think right at the end I might have had one lock-up but it was never enough to be a problem.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, is it a relief to come back to the victory after the last two races where Nico has been catching up points, especially after Monte Carlo where you were disappointed?

LH: Not particularly. I don’t feel I needed to be relieved. I was quickest all of the previous race weekend as well. Obviously we had the problem which enabled Nico to win the race but otherwise, generally I had good pace for the last two races so it’s not a relief, it just feels good to continue with good strength and it’s great that the team is continuing to be strong as well and continue to move forwards. That’s probably the most impressive thing.

Q: (Collin Hunt – formulaspy.com) For both Nico and Lewis: Nico, we heard you ask over the radio about Lewis’s fuel levels and were told that you couldn’t be told about that while Lewis was being told when he was able to lift and coast. Can both of you shed some light on how that strategy call worked from the garage?

NR: Yeah, I can just say my part because I wasn’t to know if Lewis would run into trouble at the end of the race or not because that could help me judge how much fuel I would need to save at that point in time and when I should try and put the pressure on but unfortunately that’s been banned, to give that information, so I wasn’t able to get that, which is a pity, because it would have helped me judge, maybe put on a better attack if I had that information but it’s the way it is, it’s what they decided to do so OK.

LH: I don’t really know what I need to say. At the end I had fuel. I think the team was just… they wanted us to come home. I knew I had plenty of fuel at the end. There was a point where – I think about 15 laps from the end – I had enough fuel to make it to the end, even if I pushed flat out so that was good.

Q: (Dean McNulty – Toronto Sun) Lewis, this is your fourth win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. What is it about this circuit in particular that suits your style of driving?

LH: You know at this circuit you need to be very attacking and you need to be quick and good on the brakes, consistent under braking and that’s always been a strength for me. So I guess that’s really why I’ve been good here all these years because braking has been one of my strengths. And also having the guts to kind of push it up as close to the wall and over the kerbs as hard as you can. I guess it’s a bit like a go-kart track, so you can throw the car around.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis and Nico, Ferrari was using a new engine here as they had used a few tokens and you haven’t done that. There were a lot of questions whether they could get closer to you and we have seen that Mercedes still has a big gap. Does it make you even more relaxed that the fight for the championship is just between you two?

LH: I think it’s pretty much impossible for you to come to that conclusion because Kimi spun so we didn’t really get to see his true pace in the race. Maybe at the beginning of the race he wasn’t with us and also Sebastian wasn’t there and obviously Sebastian has generally been the quicker of the two so far this season so we didn’t really get to see Ferrari’s true pace this weekend, I think, and in the next race we will.

NR: Well, great to see how we’re continuing to push on with the development and everything. Even though Ferrari is throwing everything at it we seem to be keeping our advantage so that’s really great to see and a fantastic job from the team.

Q: (Graham Keilloh – Grand Prix Times) Valtteri, it was round about this point last season that Williams really stepped up to be competitive and had some really good results in qualifying. Are you confident that we’ll see something similar this season?

VB: I think the next couple of tracks, at least, will be pretty good for us. Austria, Silverstone, I think they will suit our car and I’m quite confident also with the package we have coming to Austria. At least, if it works like all the updates so far we’ve had, I think it should be a very good step and then possibly we could be fighting for many more podiums. I really hope it’s possible.

June 8, 2015
Video: Fernando Alonso 2015 Canadian Grand Prix Reaction

Fernando Alonso talks about his difficult race at the Canadian Grand Prix and explains his radio outburst and insists it was not frustration

June 8, 2015
Video: Jenson Button 2015 Canadian Grand Prix Reaction

Jenson Button shares his thoughts on McLaren’s tough 2015 Canadian Grand Prix Weekend

June 8, 2015
5-Place Grid Drop for Vettel ahead of Canadian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel will drop 5 places down the grid ahead of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix for passing under red flag conditions in free practice three.

Together with the 5-place drop he will be docked three points on his super license.

Vettel qualified in 15th after and MGU-H problem which seen the German eliminated at the end of the first qualifying session. The 5 place drop will see him start at the back of the grid. Ferrari may take advantage of the grid drop and make changes to Vettel’s car which may see him start from the pit lane.

The incident in question happened after the second red flag during practice three. Vettel was behind Roberto Merhi in the Manor and passed the Spaniard on the back straight between Turn 12 and Turn13. Vettel argued that he thought the Manor had an issue as it was moving very slow, the stewards felt that a grid penalty was necessary.

Elsewhere on the grid, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen was handed a 5 place grid drop for his collision with Romain Grosjean at the Monaco Grand Prix, and a further 10 places for replacing an engine and exceeding his allocated engine allowance for the season. Although not confirmed, Jenson Button thinks that he may incur a grid drop after sitting out qualifying due to an ERS issue on his McLaren in practice.

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

June 6, 2015