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Rosberg makes it three out of three in final Brazilian GP practice

Rosberg has sent out a very clear message about his intentions this weekend by completing a clean sweep after topping the time sheets for all three practice sessions ahead of the Brazilian GP.

Rosberg topped the session ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton with a lap time of 1:10.446. His time is faster any pole position time ever seen at the circuit, and only six tenths of a second off the record time, which was set a decade ago. It is very likely that we’ll see the record time beaten before the end of the Brazilian GP on the newly resurfaced Interlagos circuit.

An epic storm which hit Sao Paolo last night washed away most of the rubber that had been laid down during Friday’s Brazilian GP practice sessions so grip levels were pretty low to start off with. A good few drivers enjoyed a few minor spins and excursions off the track including Lewis Hamilton who spun into the Senna S.

The Williams duo set the early pace while teams were still running on the Prime tyres but fell behind the Mercedes drivers after the switch to options. Brazilian home favourite Felipe Massa still manage to secure the third spot with Valterri Bottas finishing fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth for Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso placed themselves in seventh and eighth for Ferrari, while Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat completed the top 10.

Sebastian Vettel could manage only 11th for Red Bull, ahead of everybody’s favourite Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado.

Adrian Sutil, who has pretty much been dumped by his team Sauber team, finished 13th, ahead of the two Frenchmen Romain Grosjean and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez rounded out the 18-car field. Only 18 cars will compete in the Brazilian GP following the shutting down of the Marussia F1 team, and Caterham who are now looking for crowd funding in order to still be able to compete in Abu Dhabi.

Nico Rosberg will be looking to secure pole position this afternoon ahead of tomorrow’s Brazilian GP, and with possible rain on the way, there’s no doubt that the stage is set for a nail biting qualifying session.

Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat during qualifying and the Brazlian GP.

Your full time sheet for the third and final Brazilian GP practice session, is below:

November 8, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Petrobras Brazilian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing)

Pat FRY (Ferrari)

Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli)

Rob SMEDLEY (Williams)

Sam MICHAEL (McLaren)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Paul Hembery, if we could start with you? Interesting day today to say the least. Obviously a new track surface here at Interlagos [along with] your choice of soft and medium tyres for this weekend. What did you learn today, particularly in the extremely high track temperatures, up around 57-58 degrees [Celsius]?

Paul HEMBERY: Well, the track is very different from last year. We’ve lost a lot of the macro roughness, 50% less than last year, so it’s a very smooth track and in the first sessions we saw a lot of oils coming out from the new tarmac that we’ve got out there, which you get from new surfaces. So a lot of graining going on in the first run on the tyres in P1. It improved a little bit through the day. Having said that it’s a strong pull for something like the softer compound here when you get up to nearly 60 degrees on the track. A little bit of blistering we started to see on the front tyres. But who knows what the rest of the weekend is going to hold. Nobody foresaw having this high temperature today, so there are still a few question marks, I guess, for the rest of the weekend.

What about 2015 tyres? Give us an insight, if you could, about your thinking, what you want to achieve on strategy, performance, that kind of thing?

PH: Well, we’re not planning any great changes. We’re trying to improve a little bit the footprint area of the tyre, which is what you do as a tyre maker. Compounds? Well, again minimal changes. Maybe working on some of the temperature ranges of some of the compounds, but not planning anything dramatic. Primarily because we still want to understand what these technical guys are going to come up with in terms of developments for next season. They’ve had a year to understand the new regulations and we are expecting some quite strong improvements during next season.

Thank you very much. Rob, coming to you, same first question for you as it was for Paul, but from a team’s point of view. What did you find today running with these tyres on this new track surface? Anything you’d like to share with us about it?

Rob SMEDLEY: I think that the track improved quite dramatically through the first session as Paul just said. There were a lot of oils coming out. As you put Formula One cars over the surface you impart a lot of load into the surface and the oil comes out. I think that’s quite normal. And as it did the track gripped up a bit, between the first and the second set there was quite a big track evolution. We started the second session about 17 or 18 degrees hotter than what we finished the first. We were 56 degrees, I think, track temperature, about 34 or 35 ambient and that went up to 57-58 at the end we were measuring at the end. So they were quite extreme temperatures. On the old surface round here with that tyre of temperature you’ll get quite a lot of degradation. And that’s why I think everybody put the option on and the people who looked best on it were simply the people who’d run least in their short runs. Anybody who’d run four or five laps, as our cars had done, we grained the rears and blistered the front. But I think that’s quite normal for these track temperatures. We’re predicting, for what it’s worth, that it will be quite different conditions for tomorrow and Sunday. I think the main thing to take out of it, as always, is that Friday, yes it’s important and it’s good to go and do your homework, but the track can change quite dramatically for the rest of the weekend.

Q: Felipe, yesterday in the press conference was very optimistic about the next steps for Williams. They’ve obviously been a midfield team for a while now but the car and the technology are clearly on the point of being race-winning again. What needs to be done about developing the mentality of the team to that point as well?

RS: It’s a long-term project. You have to change cultures and methodology within the team and, like I’ve always said since I arrived at Williams, it’s very easy to change process, you can change process in a week – but it’s much more difficult to change culture, y’know? The team’s got to get back to being able to win. Being ready to win. Being pretty much ready to beat everybody. If you look at the most recent success – bar Mercedes – in F1 then it’s Red Bull. They started off some years back with not the quickest car and certainly not the best operation and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me saying that. And right now, in terms of their chassis, they still have a fantastic chassis, in terms of how they operate, they operate very well – but it’s because the same core group was there for a long time. And that’s what we have to do at Williams. I think we’ve got reasonably sensible people there now, there’s a good level of competence, a good level of young talent as well – which is always important – it’s not just the people at the top end who make all the decisions but the people who actually do the work as well. And yeah, for the moment it’s working. There’s more to do. We have to go further but as long we stay on the road that we’re on, hopefully it will work out.

Q: Pat, tell us about the contrasting day for your two drivers: obviously Kimi at the top of the timesheets in FP2 and the fire for Fernando. Is that going to mean a penalty?

Pat FRY: The fire, it’s a high-mileage Friday engine to be honest. I’m sure every team’s in a similar boat so it doesn’t really affect the strategy that we run on a Saturday and a Sunday, so that side of things, it looks more spectacular and it’s hard work for us to clean it all up but it’s not that big a deal. I think this morning we, like most people, we struggled with graining of, particularly the right front, and it takes a little bit of a while for us to work out how to deal with that. As the track improved the graining reduced significantly in the second part of FP1. We’ve been trying different setup options with Kimi and he seems happier. We’ve been reviewing… it’s been a constant battle for us to try and work out and give him the front end he wants in the car. We’re a little bit closer and it shows that, if we can give him the car that gives him the right feedback, he’s right there and right on the pace. So, I think that side of things went reasonably well. Long run pace, it’s hard to say really. I think everyone’s long run was disrupted by, firstly, the red flag we caused and then the following red flag. On Fernando’s side, again, similar comments with graining and car balance. I think everyone’s struggling a bit with the tyres and the way they’re behaving here. But yeah, we didn’t get a clean lap on the very first lap but other than that I think they’re relatively close together.

Q: Tell us how the Mattiacci long-term plan is manifesting itself in the technical department.

PF: I think, like all these things I’ve said to you before, to stop and look at what you’re doing and realise where… or start thinking long term, is definitely what we needed to do. It’s good that we’ve done that. Some of the changes that have been emplaced are already paying huge dividends in the way we’re developing next year’s car. Only time will tell really. There’s a huge amount of catching-up we need to do but at least there’s the drive to improve the technical process, invest where we need to. It’s a long-term process but the right path is there to get us back to the top.

Q: Sam, you’ve obviously announced that you’re leaving Formula One after a long career at the end of this season. Why have you decided to leave the sport and what are your plans?

Sam MICHAEL: Thanks James. First thing I wanted to say was that it’s been really been an honour and a privilege to work alongside all the engineers and technicians and drivers, media and all the people that make up Grand Prix racing. It’s an incredibly privileged position to be in and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. There are some fantastic people in this business, it’s one of those businesses where there’s lots of different characters and a great deal of diversity but the one thing that bonds us all together is that we’re all racers. We always have conflicts and fights about whether it’s technical regs or sporting regs or who said what or did at different times. We’re all here to do the best thing for Formula One and if it didn’t exist like that then we wouldn’t be here. It’s been a fantastic run, 21 years with four different teams and I looked at it and thought it’s time to go back to Australia. Looking forward to that, probably spending a bit more time with my family. As you know, yourself, motor racing itself is an incredibly selfish business when it comes to families and I think it got to the point where I thought if I don’t see my kids grow up at this point then I probably never will. So that was basically the driving factor behind it. It’s been a great trip and that’s it.

Q: What’s your favourite period?

SM: I’ve enjoyed all of it really. As I said, I’ve been very lucky to work with some pretty inspirational people right from the beginning with the two Peters, Peter Collins and Peter Wright, the infamous Eddie Jordan, obviously Gary Anderson who was a good teacher at the time, then Frank and Patrick and then obviously Martin and Ron. You could look at each period and say that when you’re winning Grands Prix, they’re the most fantastic results and the highlights, but there’s actually lots of other little areas and little wins that you get, whether it’s coming up with a new technology before someone else in a team, results where you’ve driven from the back… I think of things like when Alex Wurz drove from the back in 2007 and got to the podium. I think of Nico Rosberg’s first Grand Prix in Bahrain where he started a lap down effectively and got back to seventh and had fastest lap of the race. There’s all the wins as well that I had in those teams. I think all those moments are the ones that bonded a race team together and they’re the ones that you remember the most.

Q: Paul Monaghan, great year, obviously for Daniel Ricciardo: three wins, third in the drivers’ championship. Less so for Sebastian Vettel who admitted yesterday that ‘Ricciardo has simply done a better job than me.’ What’s the technical explanation for these two very different seasons?

Paul MONAGHAN: We present two equal cars to the drivers and I think you have to ask Sebastian for a little bit more explanation of his side of what he meant. We service both drivers with the best equipment we can, treat them equally, allow them their requests where we can and field them onto the track in the best state we possibly can. I would have said Sebastian’s coming off five very intense years, isn’t he, and he’s been phenomenally successful and I suppose it concludes with we wish him well.

Q: Well, you’re turning a page, obviously. You’ve got Daniel Kvyat coming in; when do you get to run him for the first time, and more importantly, do you think he’s ready?

PM: He’ll be ready. He’s had a season, hasn’t he? He’s had some glamorous moments. In terms of running him, I think it’s going to be in February and yeah, looking forward to it. It’s a new challenge for us, isn’t it? So off we go, we’ll see what happens.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Rob, Pat Symonds said Alonso could be a disturbing factor for a Williams that is still growing and trying to become a top team to win again. Do you agree with that?

RS: Well, I don’t exactly know what Pat said so I can’t really comment on that. I’m sure that’s not verbatim what you’ve just said to me, it rarely is. I think that Williams is, yes, growing, yes, in a state of transition. But I don’t think that anybody would be a distraction. I think that it’s up to us to be able to integrate people into the team, whoever they are. If they’re good and they offer something, then it’s up to the management and the rest of the team to be able to integrate them. Don’t take this away as a quote that I think that Fernando Alonso’s coming to Williams because he isn’t. You’d have to ask Pat to explain further on what he said, but as far as I’m concerned, I think that Williams is open to everybody.

Q: (Ben Edwards – BBC TV Sport) A question for Paul: I know there were very interrupted race runs that everybody was doing this afternoon but Red Bull did look pretty good. Do you think you can give Mercedes a bit of a run, particularly if the weather conditions change this weekend?

PM: Yes, in summary to your question, we’ll set out to try and win the race. If it’s dry and the race is as we might expect, then we’ll probably watch the Mercedes. If you throw in a bit of inclement weather, a few unexpected pit stops, we’ll do our utmost to finish at the front, yes.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Paul, I would like to follow up on what Rob had said about the core group of people who of course will no longer be around: for example, Adrian’s moving on, Sebastian’s moving on, I believe Rocky is moving on as well, so there will be a total restructure. How do you people see that restructure working internally? Will there be an announcement of people starting to move into positions?

PM: Well, I have to correct you on two out of three points you’ve made. Sebastian is departing the team, he’s one part of the team. We wish him well. Adrian’s not leaving, he’s taking a step back, but he’s still around. Rocky’s staying with the team so the core team to which you refer is still there and I think, as Rob said, we’ve been together for a long time, we work well together, we’re a close knit team so people are changing positions, structures have been in place for a little while now so I don’t envisage a great change in a short period of time. I think, from the outside, you will struggle to see very much in the way of differences and as the core team is staying together, then we expect to be strong if not stronger next year.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Pat, we’re hearing in the past few weeks different stories about the new Ferrari, first that it was delayed and that the data was not as good – even worse than this one, then that there have been some improvements. What can you say about the work that you are doing in Maranello? Where are you standing? What are you foreseeing?

PF: Well, I don’t know where you get your information from, to be honest. Yeah, we’ve set ourselves some strong challenging development targets on both the power unit side and on the chassis side. There’s obviously a huge gap we need to catch up. I think things are progressing reasonably well. Have we reached our target? No, far from it but I guess there’s four and a half months to go still – at least – but things are coming along and improving on both fronts really, so I think there’s been good progress there. All the teams are working well together, so only time will tell how much performance everyone else is going to put on. So we’re doing the best we can with the resource we’re applying, so it’s going OK.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speedsport News) Sam, do you plan to be involved in racing when you get back to Australia? And would you consider being involved in the V8 series down there?

SM: Thanks Dan. I think at this point in time, the first thing I want to do is get back to Australia. I’m still on this side of the world (Europe), get back there and get everyone – my family – established and then decide what I’m going to do next. Since it’s become public, it’s been a really interesting time with some quite fascinating and interesting projects but at the moment I’m not going to make any decision until I’m back there. Spend a few days on the beach first. Thanks.

November 8, 2014
Caterham Takes to Crowd Funding

The administrators of the Caterham F1 team have launched a crowd funding campaign in a desperate attempt to raise funds to get the team to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The target is to raise £2.35 million(4.5 Million Euros) by November 14. So far the campaign has raised £320 732 from 785 backers.

The administrator form Smith and Williamson, Finbarr O’Connel who is also the interim team principal at Sauber had this to say about the campaign:”We are working non-stop to get the Caterham F1 team back racing, initially in Abu Dhabi, but hopefully that will be just a stepping stone to get it back racing on a permanent basis, under new ownership.

“In order to achieve that one of our most useful, innovative and effective options right now is crowd-funding.

“We want to get as many sponsors and fans as possible involved this week and make our comeback something we can all be part of.

A website has been setup for this campaign and fans can pledge money or buy items that belonged to the Caterham team. Anything from turning vanes(£2 200) to team overalls(£500) are for sale. You can even pay to have your name on the car(£1 000).

Some people in the paddock don’t agree with the whole crowd-funding idea. Red Bull Team Principal, speaking to Sky Sports, hit out at the whole concept.

“I don’t agree with the fans having to fund a team,” he told Sky Sports.

“The fans pay to be entertained by the teams, they shouldn’t be having to pay for a team.

“The concept of that is wrong and shouldn’t be allowed.”

This crowd-funding initiative was announced on the same day administrators for the Marussia F1 Team said that the team would cease trading. This situation puts Caterham in a rather interesting situation. With Marussia out of the running and with only 10 teams left on the grid (only if Caterham makes it to the final race of the season). It would mean that Caterham finish 10th in the Constructors Championship and take home the prize money for finishing 10th. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. The prize money alone won’t be enough for the team to make it to the 2015 grid. It will need further investment for that to happen.

November 8, 2014
Vijay Mallya Excercises Perez’s Option to stay for 2015

Force India Team Team Principal and Managing Director, Vijay Mallay has confirmed that Sergio Perez will be retained for the 2015 Formula 1 Season.

Although the Mexican says he is in talks with the team regarding his contract, Mallya said that it was probably due to his contract extension for 2016.

“The possibility came of extending Checo’s contract in to 2016 as well, and that is what is under negotiation,” said Mallya.

“I have a two-year contract with Sergio Perez,” he added.

“He[Perez] can say what he wants: but I exercised my option and it is done.”

“As far as 2015 is concerned, we had a two-year contract with him. We exercised the option, period.

“We are talking about one additional year and that is the whole point of the negotiation.”

November 8, 2014
Brazilian GP: Rosberg Tops the Time Sheets in FP2

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished on top of the time sheets in the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Rosberg finished the session 0.213s ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton with a 1:12.123. Hamilton ended his session with a 1:12.336. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen showed some encouraging pace to round out the top three with a 1:12.696, 0.573s slower than Rosberg’s P1 time.

Force India’s Sergio Perez could not run in the session due to the repairs that were being carried out on his car after Daniel Juncadell’s crash in FP1. Although the damage wasn’t severe, the repair work to be carried out on his car was complicated, which resulted in the Mexican missing the session.

Jean-Eric Vergne’s session was cut short after his Toro Rosso suffered from vibrations at the front.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso ended his session prematurely after flames were seen escaping from his exhaust. He came to a stop in a plume of white smoke. He was quickly out of the car and did a little bit of fire fighting to put out the blaze on his car. After the session Ferrari said that it was an old engine with high mileage, so there was no cause for concern and he would not incur a penalty as it was not his race engine.

Just as the session got underway after it was red flagged to recover Alonso’s car, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez came to a stop in almost the same place as Alonso with a reported MGU-K problem. The session was red flagged and got underway with just 9 minutes on the clock.

The big talking point this session was about the tyre choices. Nico Rosberg had an unusually high amount of blistering on his tyres. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also reported heavy blistering on his rear tyres. It seems as though the tyres will be a big issue this weekend. If it does rain it will be a very different story for everyone.

November 7, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Tops In Brazil

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets at the end of the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian grand prix.

The German driver was roughly two tenths faster than his championship rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat set the third fastest timing in overcast conditions nearly a second off the leading Mercedes.

The newly re-surfaced track delivered little grip in the opening part of the one and a half hour session which resulted in several spins for various drivers. Force India’s Spanish reserve driver Daniel Juncadella was unable to limit his excursion just to a spin and made solid contact with the barriers. The Force India’s left-front suspension seemed to take the brunt of the impact as the driver exited the car uninjured. The incident brought out the red flag in order to safely recover the damaged car.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso completed thirty laps in his session and clocked the fourth fastest time ahead of local hero Felipe Massa in fifth. An ERS issue kept Jenson Button from setting a flying lap during the first free practice session. Similarly Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was able to complete only a handful of installations laps due an electrical problem.

Max Verstappen continued his preparation for 2015 by setting the sixth fastest time overall in the session ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

November 7, 2014
End of the Road For Marussia Formula 1 Team

The administrators for the Marussia F1 Team, FRP Advisory, have announced the team will cease trading and the staff at the will be made redundant.

The Marussia F1 Team was placed under administration last month after running into financial trouble. There was some news that there were two potential investors that could take over the running of the team. It seems like that has not materialized and the only thing left for the administrators was to dissolve the company and the team.

A deadline had been set for the two potential investors to transfer their money over before Friday 12:00 GMT. That deadline came and went with no cash being transferred which left the administrators with no choice.

“It goes without saying that it’s deeply regrettable that a business with such a great following in Britain and worldwide has had to cease trading and close its doors,” said Geoff Rowley, the joint administrator at FRP for the Marussia team.

“Whilst the team made significant progress during its relatively short period of operation, operating a F1 team requires significant ongoing investment.

“The group was put into administration last month following a shortfall in on-going funding and the administration process provided a moratorium to allow for attempts to secure a long term viable solution for the company within in a very limited time-frame.

“Sadly no solution could be achieved to allow for the business to continue in its current form. We would like to thank all the staff for their support during this difficult process.”

“The team will not be participating in the two further rounds of the 2014 championship remaining, in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi.

“The joint administrators will continue with their statutory duties to realise the assets of the business in the best interests of all the creditors.”

This announcement comes a day after the FIA released their list of provisional entries for the 2015 Formula 1 Season.

With the good news that came from Caterham a few days ago, one needs to wonder if they’re headed in the same direction.

November 7, 2014
Button Open To New Opportunities Beyond F1

McLaren’s Jenson Button says that there are other opportunities for him outside of F1 if he does not manage to secure a drive next season.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Button says that because of the uncertainty around his future it opened his eyes to other opportunities.

“It makes you think about other opportunities and other challenges,” said Button

“There’s so much out there, so many other challenges that I’m interested in taking on.”

Button has been linked to a WEC drive at Porsche next year. But there has been no word on that from either party.

When asked if he felt that the team showed him a lack of respect by the way he is being treated, he had this to say: “That is something I’m not going to answer. It’s and unfair question.”

Button went on to say that he was not disappointed, but he was disappointed that he does not have a winning car.

“I only want to be in Formula 1 to win,” he added.

“If I’m not winning next year, I do not want to be in the sport.”

When asked if he would stay on if McLaren gave him the nod, Button gave a very weary smile and after a long pause simply said: “I don’t know.”

November 6, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Petrobras Brazilian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren)

Adrian SUTIL (Sauber)

Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Nico, if we could start with you? It’s the first time this year, in this championship, that the championship itself is out of your hands, in the sense that two wins, here and in Abu Dhabi, won’t be enough. Do you feel you need to rely on a little bit of luck then and this venue might provide it?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s clear that I need to rely on something happening. Yeah, for sure there’s not enough for me to win, unfortunately, but that’s the way it is. Anyways, in sport so much can happen, so I’m still very optimistic.

You had a rich run of form from Monaco through to Hockenheim. How would characterise the period since then?

NR: A less rich run of form! What is it? Lewis has done a little bit of a better job since then. That’s it, pretty simple, but as I say, still two races.

OK, thank you. Felipe, coming to you: obviously, you’re a two-time winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Do you feel that with this car this year is your best shot of getting back on the podium, since that great win in ’08.

Felipe MASSA: Yeah, I think so. Anyway, I was on the podium in 2012. It’s a fantastic track for me. A track that I had great results. As you said, two victories, almost three I would say. Three pole positions. I always love this track. I won many races [here] even before Formula One. So I started my career here, on the other side of the wall, which is a go-kart track, at the top. I love this place. I love the energy that I feel here and I’m really looking forward to having a fantastic weekend. I hope our car can be as competitive as shown in the other tracks here as well. We’ll see how far we can be, or maybe even in the middle of these guys here on the left [Mercedes]. Trying to get all the opportunities to have a great race here.

You’ve obviously been a key part of Williams’ renaissance this year. With all the experience you have, tell us how you feel this team can become more competitive in 2015?

FM: Well, first of all you cannot forget how much we grow from the first race until now. I think maybe… I would say it was the team that grows more during the championship. It was a team that gets better, that improved the car in the top level, from the first race to the last race, looking at where we started and where we are now. So, I think definitely the team… when we started at the first test and where we are now, the team changed completely the organisation, the mentality. We are still changing, there are still some improvements we are working to be there before the first race of next year. But I really believe in this team. I think this team has everything to be even more competitive, it has everything to be fighting for victories and I really, really hope for championships as well.

Kevin, coming to you, obviously clear progress for McLaren on the car side in the last few grands prix, that’s clear to see. But the car still seem to have a narrow sweet spot in terms of getting the most out of it during a race weekend. What’s going on there?

Kevin MAGNUSSEN: A lot of it is down to the tyres, making the tyres work. It’s seems that sometimes we get it better than others. Sochi was an example of where we got the tyres working very well and I think Austin was an example of where we didn’t. It’s a little bit hard to understand but we’re trying out best.

Since the summer break you’ve had pretty strong form yourself personally, especially in qualifying. Do you think you’ve done enough to book your seat for 2015?

KM: I can only say I hope so. I think I’ve learned a lot. I’ve improved a lot in many areas and yeah, I’m sure I have a lot more potential even from where I am now. So, I hope so.

Thank you very much. Pastor, coming to you, first points in Austin, a very strong performance. Tell us about your and Lotus’ fight back?

Pastor MALDONADO: It was a very tough season, especially at the beginning, even not able to run the car as we wanted. It was not maybe the best way to start to work with a team. But we did a great job to try to put everything together, to get better and better and at some point we decided to be focused on next year’s car. But the team seems to be quite good, very competitive in terms of spirit. They are used to being in the front. They know how to do a good car, so let’s hope the best for next year.

How do you feel about opportunities for this weekend? This track is always very unpredictable and the weather forecast looks like it’s going to be pretty wet throughout the weekend. A lot of variables there. Opportunities?

PM: Yeah, the main objective is to maintain the performance we had last week in Austin, so we think, as a team, we can continue to fight for the points. That is the main focus at the moment.

Q: Adrian, coming to you, obviously Sauber have announced both their 2015 drivers, so in what direction does your future lie, do you feel?

Adrian SUTIL: I don’t know, so I will see what is possible, what I want and also… yeah, it’s quite a few things to think about and I can’t really say more at the moment.

Q: Are you optimistic that you’ll be in Formula One next year?

AS: At the moment, I don’t know. Maybe. F1 is unpredictable – but as I said, there are a few things to think about first and then the team has to comment the rest.

Q: Obviously great performance in qualifying in Austin, you must have been so disappointed the way that first lap turned out. Have you spoken to Sergio [Pérez] afterwards? Have you been back through it?

AS: No, we didn’t speak. He didn’t apologise, to be honest. But anyway, that’s how it is. Shame, it was for sure a good chance for points. It was a very nice qualifying, it was good to be in Q3 finally with this car. It has been quite a challenge this year, to be honest, so we didn’t expect it – but for some reason it got better and better through the qualifying session and especially on Saturday, the car was better than ever before, so, many things to analyse. We try it of course again here. I look forward to the race weekend. Big chances with weather looking very wet and I think everyone knows how the weather can turn out here in Brazil. We have seen many exciting races.

Q: Jean-Eric, coming to you, some encouraging noises that you may get a chance to retain your Toro Rosso seat for next year. Can you tell us about progress on that and progress on any other options you might have in Formula One?

Jean-Eric VERGNE: Well yeah, there were some good words from many people, especially from Franz [Tost]. Well, you know, it would be a good thing to stay with this team, I really believe in it and I think this year we did get a lot stronger and next year we’ll be again on this up-trend, so I believe we can be again in a better position next year so hopefully we can continue. But you never know. And I don’t know much more about the situation than this.

Q: It’s clear from watching you race in the last period of time, just more recently, that there’s a lot of passion in your driving. Is that coming from the adversity that you’ve been through, the setbacks, or is it anger? What’s driving it?

JEV: Definitely not anger. I believe that I’ve done many races in the past like this but unfortunately the beginning of the year I had a lot of DNF and obviously, when you don’t finish the race, people don’t remember what you’ve been up to in the race. That was a little bit of a shame. I haven’t changed anything. I drive with a lot of passion, I love racing, that’s what I do best and it doesn’t matter what I do next year, I continue, I don’t continue, I’ll always give my best to a hundred percent and try to have the most fun possible. This is when you perform well.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Elmar Dreher – German Press Agency) Adrian, I can imagine that you are very frustrated. Can you describe a little bit your feelings about this bad situation for you?

AS: Well, I’m not frustrated but that’s just how it is in F1 since many years. It’s a little bit a different business. That’s all I can say right now. I look forward to the race and that’s it.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Nico, we know the championship will not finish here in Brazil. Is it an add-point from a psychological point of view that you can have a last chance in Abu Dhabi?

NR: It’s… for sure it’s great. Great news that for sure this year I have a chance to win the championship the way it is now. That’s a good thing. I’m also happy because it’s good for the fans that it’s going to be exciting until the very end. And, yeah, for sure it keeps me very, very optimistic.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, Lewis said that what happened in Spa was kind of a war for him and since then he changes his attitude and everything. What has it changed for you since then and what do you think you have to do now to change the results of the last five races?

NR: Did he say we’re at war? I don’t think anything has changed. It was an intense battle before and it still is an intense battle now. So, I don’t know his exact opinion on things but for me nothing has changed since then.

Q: (Claudio Nogueira – O Gobo) Felipe, can you make an overall evaluation of your first season with the Williams team?

FM: Starting with the team, the team did a fantastic season, looking at how they were last year and looking at how they are now. I think the team did a fantastic season in terms of what I was saying before: improving the car and working in the good areas. We lost some opportunities, I lost many opportunities during the season, so many races that I couldn’t finish for different reasons. Some unlucky races as well, I would say. But I think now, I would say maybe from the middle of the season, things were a lot more consistent for myself, for the races, and I really believe that we can still do a great two races for the end of the championship. I’m really working and looking forward to having a very consistent and good season in 2015.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Kevin, two part question: first of all, I take it you still don’t know exactly what your future is for next year, and secondly, then, if you don’t know what your future is, do you feel a bit let down by the team, that in your rookie year, after you’ve done your best to try and perform on the track, you’ve got two races to go and they still haven’t told you whether you’ve got a drive next year or not?

KM: They’re not doing that to annoy me. They have a reason for it.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Do you feel let down?

KM: No, because I understand why I’ve not been told yet. Some things are still not sorted out from their side and if they could let me know, they would. Yeah, I can only just wait and see what happens. I’m not planning anything else, I’m not looking for anything else. I’m planning as if I’m here next year, so that’s what I’m working for and doing my best to get to.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Adrian, I understood you had a two year contract and it seems that it’s only one year. Is this something you have to talk to Sauber about resolving? You alluded to some issues to sort out still.

AS: Yes, there are certain things to talk about, definitely, yes. They’ve confirmed two drivers but that doesn’t mean the drivers can drive and it doesn’t mean that the team’s going to drive. So there’s no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It’s just an announcement and now, of course, my situation, I think I have to do some talking, to sort out the things.

Q: (Luiz Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) I don’t know which drivers have done a track walk or saw the new pit entry and pit exit but if somebody can comment on what they saw? Maybe Felipe?

FM: Yeah, I saw it. The pit exit is more or less similar, a little bit more inside and I would say corner two is more safe, because the wall is a bit further away, so we won’t see some crashes which we saw many times. I think that corner will be a lot safer now. And the pit entry, I would say, was a good job. You still have the wall there, in a similar place – this is the only thing that we need to be careful of, but the pit entrance is better so I would say it’s more safe, it’s better and I really hope we will see no accidents or less accidents than we saw in the past there. Anyway, we need to drive to see exactly but it looks OK by looking but we just need to drive to be sure about it.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) At the beginning of the year, Nico, you were quite outspoken against double points, you didn’t like it.

NR: I do now! It’s really a fantastic idea.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) I’m coming to that, yeah, and last weekend you were also saying you didn’t like it but you could see the positives. If you end up winning the championship because of double points now, the way the season’s gone, some people will say that it was a hollow victory or it shouldn’t have happened or whatever. How would you respond to that?

NR: I wouldn’t respond. Everybody can have their opinion and in sport it’s the points that count in the end and of course, then you can debate who deserved it more or less. That’s always going to be the case.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, we heard that Felipe Nasr is going to race for Sauber next year. You know him pretty well, he’s been the third driver for your team. What do you think he can bring to Sauber and what do you say about him as a driver?

FM: Well, I’m happy for him. I think for Brazil it’s great to have another Brazilian driver racing. I’m quite close to him, we’ve worked together the whole season inside the team. He’s in GP2, maybe his third season in GP2 so it’s his time, his opportunity to go to Formula One, otherwise it starts to be a little bit more difficult after that so I’m happy that he had his opportunity, his chance and I hope the best for him. I hope the best for him and I hope that we can bring our Brazilian flag on the top now with two drivers, not just one, and I hope the best for him. Definitely, it’s not a great moment for Sauber. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to be next year, his team, I don’t know which car and how competitive they can be, seeing that they are suffering a little bit of crisis and crisis is not good for everything you’re doing but anyway, I hope the best for him and I hope he can have a good start and a good experience and being in Formula One for a long time, not just for a few years.

November 6, 2014
Video: Interlagos memories: Senna vs Schumacher 1992 Brazilian GP

The battle of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher at Interlagos, at the start and early part of the race before Senna retired with engine cutout problems. After the race, Schumacher was upset over the incident in which Senna waved him through and passed him again at the end of the straight, thinking he was taunting him, however Senna’s engine was intermittently cutting out. This further lead to the argument between Senna and Schumacher in France where Senna told Schumacher to come to him first if he had a problem instead of criticizing Senna to the media as he did in the Interlagos post race press conference after the Brazilian Grand Prix.

November 6, 2014