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  • F1 2018: Spanish Gp Preview – Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull In The Mix

    F1 2018: Spanish Gp Preview – Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull In The Mix

    Formula heads to Spain’s circuit de Catalunya for the fifth round of the 2018 season.

    Amid the enthralling on track action of the season there has been many, significant, developments off it. Firstly, it was recently announced that the aerodynamic rules for the 2019 will be modified with the aim of allowing cars to follow each more easily. This, the FIA hopes, will ultimately aid in overtaking. The revision include a wider, simplified front wing and brake duct with no aero winglets and a wider and deeper rear wing that will increase the effectiveness of DRS. These changes are a bit of a quick fix for the 2019 season while the FIA are planning a comprehensive overhaul of the sport’s technical regulations for 2021.

    On the face of it anything that improves the ability to overtake is a positive. However, several teams voted against the 2019 changes and for good reason. The changes proposed by the FIA aren’t trivial and will likely force several teams into completely changing aerodynamic philosophy of their cars. And a re-designed aero package precipitates a re-design that will likely cost teams a lot of money.

    Elsewhere, the local authorities of Miami will vote this week on a bid to bring F1 to Florida from 2019 onwards. The bid is being backed by Miami mayor Francis Suarez and with American-owned Liberty Media wanting to expand the sport’s presence in the US it seems like a no-brainer. The first images of a possible layout for the Miami street-track have been revealed and it features a, first-ever, bridge that runs across the water and back, an idea first touted by Bernie Ecclestone in the 1980s. With F1’s calendar already bulging with 21 races it remains to be seen how a Miami Gp will be slotted in.

    spain-hamilton-rosbergAmidst it all there is a grand prix to be had this weekend around a circuit that teams and drivers know all to well. The circuit de Catalunya has long been the pre-season testing venue of choice meaning that teams arrive at the Southern-Spain track with a vast amount of data and know-how. Still the cars tested in late-February will be significantly different to what they arrive with this weekend. What’s more, it is the traditional trend that the Spanish grand prix weekend sees several teams bolt on upgrade packages to their respective cars.

    While Lewis Hamilton may have taken victory in a chaotic Azerbaijan grand prix he has been decidedly lacking in his usually near-faultless form. Still, he comes into the weekend with a four-point lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and with the expectation of being near the sharp-end of the grid.

    However, what has been most thrilling about F1 in 2018 is that no grand prix weekend has been predictable. Whether it be because of safety-cars, pit strategy, or out-right pace the potential has been there for at least six drivers to stand on top of the podium.

    Your money could be on Mercedes as they traditionally excel in Spain, or Ferrari who have seemingly built a car that can perform well at all circuits, including over one lap. Or you could put your money on Red Bull. After all it was here that Max Verstappen won his first race and who would bet against an ultra-confident Daniel Ricciardo? If nothing else this is what fans of the sport have wanted, and deserved, for the last several years – the beautiful unpredictability of Formula 1.

  • 2018 Formula 1 Spanish GP: Thursday Press Conference

    2018 Formula 1 Spanish GP: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso), Carlos SAINZ (Renault), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Brendon, you scored your first World Championship point in Baku, last time out, how good did that feel?

    Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was maybe a bit of a relief, in a way because I’d had a couple of opportunities already and didn’t capitalise. Bahrain was the most obvious one where we had a very competitive car. So, it’s nice to finally get that first point. Had a bit of pressure on the last lap from Marcus, closing in the Sauber. Happy I kept it clean, kept it on the road and got my first point.

     

    Q: And what can we expect from both you and Toro Rosso in the coming races, because, end of last season you did four races in Formula One but you were dovetailing a WEC programme at the same time. Now you’re focussing on Formula One, how do you feel it’s all coming together?

    BH: I felt strong, especially starting the season after all that preparation. Like I say, I felt quite disappointed after Bahrain, having such a competitive car that Toro Rosso brought to the table, almost getting through to Q3 then having the penalty and not scoring a point there. The last couple of races have actually been quite challenging for us as a team, with nowhere near the pace we had in Bahrain. But yeah, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable than I did last year – but still waiting to piece together the perfect weekend.

     

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, your podium in Azerbaijan was the eighth of your career, surpassing the Mexican record of Pedro Rodríguez. What did that mean to you?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, it was an amazing result, especially for us this year, it’s been so difficult at the start of the season. So, having… actually they were my first points of the year so it was a massive boost for the team, we’re certainly improving. That podium meant a lot to me. As you say, it’s my eighth podium in my career, but now I’m the most Mexican driver with podiums, so it means a lot. Obviously Pedro… Pedro Rodríguez is a big name in our country, so to share that with him, it’s a massive reward to my career.

     

    Big news back home?

    SP: Definitely.

     

    Q: Did that result in Baku flatter the car? How confident are you of repeating, for example, your fourth place here last year?

    SP: Well, that fourth place came in… very much, we had a couple of retirements in the race but the most important thing, and where our challenge is, certainly in Baku we were the fourth fastest team and that’s the target for us here. Everyone is bringing upgrades. We’re bringing also our bit so we’re certainly closing up the gap. The midfield pack, the group is so close anything can happen. For us it will be very important to be on top of that group.

     

    Q: Carlos, coming to you now, fifth last time out in Baku, you’re now racing in your home grand prix for a works team for the first time. What does that mean to you can what can we expect this weekend?

    Carlos SAINZ: It means a big boost. It has been a good start of the season but that result in Baku definitely has made it a lot better. From now on is keep pushing, keep learning, keep improving the car in the right direction to keep scoring that kind of result again. Like Checo said, the fifth place is helped a bit by the accident for the Red Bulls and all that – but we need to make sure we keep being the fourth fastest team. The Force India looks like it’s catching up a bit.

     

    Q: And are you comfortable with the car now?

    CS: No. No, definitely not. It’s not one hundred per cent confident yet. There’s still things to test, things to adapt to, things to make the car be well-suited to me and it’s something that I’m taking a lot of care of, a lot of effort and a lot of timing and it’s coming little by little and sooner or later it will be one hundred per cent.

     

    Q: Carlos, tell us a little about qualifying, if you would because you’ve been out-qualified by your team-mate Nico Hülkenberg so far this year, that’s a new experience for you, because you’ve always been a very good qualifier. Do you feel under pressure from your team-mate – particularly here in Spain this weekend?

    CS: No, not at all – because in the end, if I don’t have full confidence in the car, and don’t have the car well-suited for the qualifying lap time, there’s always going to be tenths around. That’s what I was talking about before. As soon as I will get the balance I like, the car better suited to me, it will just come automatically and I’m definitely not worried.

     

    Q: Fernando, let’s start by talking about last weekend. Congratulations on your victory at Spa in the FIA World Endurance Championship. How did it feel to be back on the top step of the podium?

    Fernando ALONSO: Well, definitely felt good. It felt a long time not being on the podium and it has been a good preparation, a fast preparation into the WEC programme as well and a lot of testing, a lot of simulator, a lot of preparation, even going to Baku and from Baku, I had to keep studying, and watching onboard videos from previous years and things like that. It was nice for the team to get this result, one-two in qualifying, one-two in the race, and yeah, definitely quite a very good moment for the whole team and for me as well after a long time not being in the podium.

     

    Q: Was there a sense of relief to kick off your sportscar career with a victory?

    FA:  Well, obviously, those races are quite long, quite difficult to predict. Even if you are quite confident in the first two hours then suddenly everything changes. We had a little bit of drama with an extra pitstop and things like that. Yeah, it was nice, definitely to start with a nice result, even if it was second or third, just finishing the race, get the experience and warming up for the big one, Le Mans in a couple of weeks’ time.

     

    Q: And turning to Formula One now, can you give us a progress report on McLaren. How far behind the curve do you feel the team is, and how crucial is this weekend in terms of upgrades?

    FA: Well, I think we are behind. Definitely we are not in the position we wanted or expected at the beginning of the winter. At the same time, I think it has been a very positive start to the season. We are the only team completing the full four races with both cars. We did score points in every single race and we are fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Three months ago we were here testing and we did the least laps of every single team and we had a lot of issues. Reliability seems a concern into Australia for the first race and now we are quite happy with the results and the standards – but competitive-wise, we are not in the Q3, we are not in the top ten yet and that’s something we want to change, if we can, this weekend. Obviously, it’s a different circuit layout compared to the last couple of races and with upgrades everyone brings here, the same as us, hopefully we can pick up the pace a little bit. But let’s see. The most important thing is to keep scoring points on Sundays and keep helping the team to secure this fourth place in the Championship.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Alessandro Sala – tercerequipo.com) Question for Fernando and Carlos. After a good fight and good points between you in Baku, you are here in a special Derby – Oviedo-Madrid – in front of your fans. What do you expect, the both of you having a stand here in the circuit? What does it mean for you?

    FA: Well, obviously, we expect a close fight again. I think the mid-part of the field, as Checo said, is quite tight. In two or three-tenths there are seven or eight cars and I think in those cars are the Renault and McLaren normally, so I guess it’s going to be a close fight again. Hopefully we put on a good show for our fans. As you said, a lot of people will come here to support us and a grandstand for Carlos, another grandstand will be for me as well, and, as I said, if everyone enjoys the race on Sunday and we both can finish and score points and put on a good show, that’s the thing I wish for Sunday.

     

    Carlos, your thoughts.

    CS: Yeah, I think it’s an exciting battle, what we have now in the midfield actually. There’s many times in the Drivers’ Parade, us three together chatting about what’s going to happen today: who’s going to be fastest: is it going to be Renault? Is it going to be McLaren? Is it going to be Force India? So, we are obviously… it’s obviously quite exciting back there in the field and there are a lot of battles together with Fernando, with Checo, even the Toro Rossos sometimes are there. It just makes for very good, exciting racing and it’s something that I’m enjoying a lot this year. Hopefully we can keep them behind, because I think up until now Renault has had a bit the upper hand and it looks like these two guys here are coming with big upgrades here in this part of the season and we need to keep pushing.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Fernando, question for you. You mentioned the limitations McLaren has at the moment, performance-wise, how far off do you think McLaren is of it’s stated position of challenging for podiums and wins again? And are you prepared to wait as long as you think it’s going to take?

    FA: I think it’s difficult to say, and to be precise on how far behind we are – but if you take the first qualifyings over the year so far in Q2 times, that we are eliminated in all four races. We were 1.8-2.0 seconds behind. That’s my estimation. I don’t know how much they push in Q2, so maybe it is a little bit more or a little bit less, depends on the circuit. We have been in power-sensitive circuits so far in the first four races to I think here, Monaco, we see a different picture of different teams. They’re moving around, so hopefully McLaren is one of those that picks up a little bit of pace. And, as I said, Spain brings a lot of updates for all of the teams. Some of them they work better, some of them, they need a little bit more time. So, hopefully on that we can benefit somehow as well.

    Still a long way to go for us – but at the same time we were here last year with zero points. We are sixth in the World Championship and fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, so it has been a very good start, in a way. Let’s keep the momentum.

     

    Q: (Toni López – la Vanguardia) Fernando, this weekend it will be five last since your last victory in Formula 1. What have you done to keep the motivation all this time? Secondly, after your last victory, in Spa, can it help to achieve a victory again?

    FA: I kept the motivation because I’m a competitive man. I love to win. In 2013, we won here… I think the tyres were degrading a lot that year and we make an extra stop and we managed to win the race. Not with the quickest car, Nico was on pole by six tenths or something like that. That was a good call by the team at that time. In 2014 we had quite a difficult season, and then the last three years you know that we struggled a lot and that the project was always getting a bit difficult and we tried to give hope for the following year. It’s the same this year. As I said, I think the start has been not too bad, in terms of results especially and the number of points. The win last weekend in Spa will not change anything. I think it’s two different series and two different worlds. It will not change anything for me. Every time that I will have a car that is close to victory, I will go for it. I did some better races in the last five years, even if the last victory was five years ago. Here, in the last five year, I did much better races than previously, even if I was not able to win the race. The Baku race is one of… I will never probably do a race as I did in Baku, and I finished seventh. It’s difficult to see from the outside but extremely proud and motivated every time you do a one-off performance.

     

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Autocar.nl) A question for Fernando and Carlos. If you had to choose, which victory would mean more to you: the Spanish Grand Prix or the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

    CA: Ah to win in this time sounds very good to me. I think it’s something that I look forward to and I would never forget, to win in your home grand prix. It’s what I’m working for at the moment. Every time I go training, every time I go to bed, I have one dream in mind and that is to win a race in Formula 1 and to win a world championship. Maybe in 10 or 15 years’ time that dream will change and it will go towards Le Mans, because I don’t want to be anymore in Formula 1. I doubt that will happen but in life everything can change. But at the moment, Formula 1 and winning is in my mind all the time.

    FA: Difficult to comment, you know. A couple of years ago I would say the Spanish Grand Prix. Winning a race in Formula 1 is obviously something that we dream for a long time, when you are a go-kart driver and you dream for Formula 1. Now that I have won a couple of times here in Spain, obviously for me it would be winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, because it’s the biggest race in the world. But I think everyone will have different answers in different parts of his career.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Given how well you did on your WEC debut and given the troubles McLaren are going through it seems impossible that you will be able to challenge for victories with McLaren, do you think your future lies away from Formula 1 next year?

    FA: It doesn’t matter, I think, the results that we are achieving in one or other championships, you know I am attempting two world championships at the same time. I am happy with the progress we did here at McLaren and with the direction that everything is going for the future. I am happy on the endurance attempt as well. It’s quite demanding, especially the F1 calendar. The biggest thing here is how predictable everything is. We can put on a paper now what will be the qualifying here on Saturday, what will be in Monaco, in Canada and in Silverstone, so that’s something you need to take into account for future decisions. This is sad, in a way, for Formula 1, the direction in which everything went.

     

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Fernando, in the WEC car are you closer or further away from your personal limits than in Formula 1? Did driving the WEC car give you any apprehension about the possibility that you would have to re-adjust and waster time getting back to driving the Formula 1 car?

    FA: I struggle a little bit more when I go from Formula 1 to the WEC car, just because the driving styles are so different. I think when I come back here I don’t need any adaptation. I’m straight away comfortable with everything. It’s what I learned and my driving style developed for Formula 1 driving, so I expect no problem on the comeback. I think I am closer to the limit here in an F1 car. You need to maximise, you need to make perfection every lap and repeat that perfection over and over the laps. That’s Formula 1’s style. In WEC, you have to be super-flexible, and super-open-minded on everything. You will not repeat the same lap in six hours. You will find traffic in different places, you will have different conditions, you will have different tyres age, you will have everything. So, that flexibility in terms of driving, I think it’s quite good for me. That adaptation you need to make, you have to do it really quickly. Brendon has even more experience than me, but it’s part of what’s special about WEC: how you need to adapt, every single, every single laps, about different driving styles and how unpredictable will be the race until the chequered flag. That’s lovely, in terms of sport, driving and the spectators.

     

    Q: Brendon, at the end of last year, you were doing what Fernando is doing: dovetailing WEC and Formula One. How do you compare the two?

    BH: I think Fernando summed it up pretty well. Yeah, there’s a lot more variability in endurance racing, like Fernando mentioned, with the traffic. It was a bit the opposite for me last year; I felt so comfortable in the WEC car with the Michelin tyres, four wheel drive, everything else that goes along with LMP1 hybrid, so I was feeling a lot more confused coming back into the Formula One, which is exactly why, when I had this opportunity to be in Formula One this year, that there was no question mark that I would try and compete Le Mans and WEC at the same time. Obviously I’m at a different stage in my career than Fernando but it takes a lot of focus and hard work to put a perfect Formula One Grand Prix weekend together. I think both are equally complicated but in quite different ways. Definitely the driving style is a little bit different. I guess my only argument with Fernando is the fact that I feel that in WEC you are all so equally on the limit every lap, but like he said, there are these variables that you don’t have the same in Formula One. Different, but a lot of similarities too.

     

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsportweek.com) Carlos, you say you’re not comfortable in the car. Do you feel it’s because you weren’t involved in the design last year when it was set up or do you think there’s something else needed? Is it more suited to Nico’s style of driving or was it something totally different?

    CS: I think it’s a bit of a combination of both but that at the same time I’m very confident that as soon as I correct a couple of things that I need… we’re talking about very small margins. In Formula One, those very small margins in one qualifying lap they can easily fall for you, so that’s why I’m not worried because it’s very very small, what I need to adapt and what I need from the car. As soon as this comes, every piece will fall in, you know. Responding to your question, I think it’s a bit of both but mainly the car to me.

     

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – SB Belarus Today) Fernando, last week we were with you in Spa. Thank you very much for a good race and thank you for your first place. First, do you like this system without control, open door in the paddock in WEC. And the second question, what do you think for the future in Formula One: it will be possible or not, open door in the paddock for all people with tickets?

    FA: I think I prefer this system in F1, it’s a little bit more under control, the paddock passes. In WEC, especially until Sunday (Saturday) or even Sunday (Saturday), being free access to the paddock, it was a little bit too much, a little bit of stress a couple of times. I think here is quite under control and I think if you open free entrance to the paddock here we will not even be able to walk and we will hide even more, we will close ourselves even more in our motorhomes and things like that because you cannot do normal things. Then it will probably not be in the direction we want. We want to open the paddock and like these fans, they see the drivers and they can communicate a little bit more, maybe it has the opposite reaction so I think it’s good as it is and I think every championship has its own philosophy and I think it’s working quite OK for each category, so I think it’s good as it is.

     

    Q: (Cristobel Rosalen – Movistar TV) Carlos, it may be true that you’re maybe having problems with the car but at the same time, it looks like your bosses are hinting about the possibility of extending your relationship with Renault in the future. How do you feel about those nice words?

    CS: It’s not bad. It means that it must not be as bad as it looks like maybe! Importantly, though, I’m working very hard. I think Formula One bosses appreciate the hard effort, the travelling to Enstone, everything involved and they see that I am very very close and at any moment it can fall for me and because of that, I am very very calm, very confident and they are giving me that confidence that I enjoy and that I’m willing to give back with results like I did in Baku. As soon as the opportunity was presented to me I went for it and scored the best results for the team since I came back, so as you said, it’s going pretty well.

     

    Q: (Joos Nederpelt – NU.NL) Brendon, we’ve had some power sensitive tracks now, what do you feel about the Honda engine so far and do you think they can supply a top team in the near future?

    BH: Yeah, I don’t think it’s my place to comment on supplying different teams in the future but yeah, I was asked a lot of questions after China and Baku, because we were lacking pace and a lot of the questions were directed towards Honda but actually Bahrain was similar on power sensitivity and we were very competitive there. So yeah, Honda have been working very hard and I know that there’s updates to come during the season. I would say everyone in Toro Rosso is only positive about being solely supplied by an engine manufacturer. I think that there’s more or less only positivity coming out of this partnership and I think there’s more performance to come during the year.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For all of you: does this circuit still have any secrets for you, or can you drive it with your eyes closed? Is it a challenge or not?

    SP: Well, it’s probably the circuit that we all know the most. We do all our winter testing here and I feel that this circuit is so much related to your car performance. It’s not like Monaco, Baku or other circuits where the driver can make something special. I think here’s it so much more down to what the car can do. If there is a circuit where the driver can influence the least I feel that it’s Barcelona.

    FA: Yeah, not many secrets any more but still always challenging. This year, for example, the track, they put new asphalt last winter so it’s still a challenge for all of us to understand the best set-up and how you get around this new track. The same with the wind direction, the temperature. You know we come here over the winter with very cold temperatures and then in May you need to re-adapt a little bit so it’s always challenging. Yes, it’s a shame for Carlos or me or young Spanish drivers that we grew up in this circuit, we race in many smaller categories and then you arrive to F1 and you are the driver with the least laps at your home Grand Prix; you know, everyone has done more laps than you in Barcelona. You lose all the home advantage.

    CS: Yeah, well at least we have the crowd which for sure helps a bit. I think there’s two points: I think there’s the tarmac that is going to make things a bit different this year, at least me I found personally in winter that the track has nothing to do with last year, the balance is very different. It is faster than it was last year, it has more grip, but it is a bit more difficult to find the right balance round here; at least, that was my impression. And then the second point: I think if you put this track in China, in Bahrain and you don’t visit it as much as we do because of being in Europe, close to all the team bases, I think drivers would love this track because to go new into Barcelona, it’s always the first two, three, four laps they are always fun, it’s a fun track, I enjoy driving it. It’s just that we do a lot of laps and because of that it takes away a bit the excitement, no? But I really enjoy it and this track somewhere else would be good.

     

    Q: Well Brendon, you’ve probably done the fewest laps of the four guys in the room, how do you….?

    BH: I’ve done a few actually, yeah. Yes, similar comments. A lot of winter testing here. During my time as a simulator driver nine times out of ten we were driving Barcelona so I think the whole grid knows this track so well which in a way also makes it very difficult to get any time or edge over your teammate or fellow competitors. In the end, we know the midfield can be extremely tight. It’s not only the drivers who know it very well, the teams know it well too. But it is a fun track and the surface has changed, which is nothing new for me, so in some ways it’s not really a disadvantage for me, maybe an advantage. The rain? If it rains, it will be extremely challenging. What we saw in winter testing was the new surface  was very low grip and very few areas for the water to run off so that could be challenging. I think tyre management is interesting here because it’s not just about degradation through the whole race, at least from what I’ve studied over the last years but also managing temperatures in the last sector, so even in qualifying how you approach the first sector can heavily influence the last sector. Even though it’s all familiar for all of us there’s still a few things to manage and definitely still some areas to maybe get an advantage. The only tricky thing here is overtaking, doesn’t offer so many opportunities.

     

    Q: (Daniel Horvath – Racingline.hu) Fernando, I guess you already tested the new updates in the simulator. What do you expect according to those this weekend?

    FA: Faster car.

     

    Q: Can you elaborate any more?

    FA: You wish.

     

    Q: (Fabio Marchi – Mundo Deportivo) What do you think about the probability of rain in qualifying?

    CS: Personally my rain radar says Saturday afternoon/night, let’s put it like that, so I’m not too worried about it.

    SP: I wish we can have some rain to mix up the grid a bit on Saturday. As Carlos said, we are expecting it later than qualifying. Hopefully it will get to us earlier.

     

    Q: And Checo, do you agree with Brendon about the slippery conditions on the new asphalt if it does rain?

    SP: Yeah. Do you remember in winter testing actually Fernando did a lap in the snow which is even more difficult. It will be very tricky, on this new asphalt with the rain. Looking forward to it if that happens.

     

    Q: (Lorenzo Cinares – Momento GP) Fernando and Carlos: we know that you are both introducing new parts this weekend. If the results are great, do you think we could see a double Spanish podium someday?

    FA: Ooof.

    CS: It’s coming, it’s coming.

    FA: Easy.

    CS: One day, one day. This year maybe a bit difficult, no? But who knows? All of a sudden, Checo did a podium in Baku and I think no one expected it so it’s a good sign that strange things can still happen in Formula One sometimes but I think at the moment it’s extremely difficult. Both teams would need more than half a second – nearly one second of performance boost to start to fight with the top teams but that’s what we’re here for, to improve and make it happen, so we will push for it.

     

    Q: Carlos, what would it mean to you to stand on a podium with Fernando Alonso?

    CS: It would be great. I think I’ve said it many times already but it would be a dream come true. If it’s at the home Grand Prix even better but anywhere in world also. It’s one of my dreams, what I’m working for and as long as I’m in front, always better but… no seriously speaking, it would be great.

     

    Q: (Carlos Miguel – AutoHebdo Sport) Fernando and Carlos: what’s your bet for the final of the championship? Who will win the Spanish cup for Formula One, Fernando or Carlos? Who will win in the championship between you and Fernando? Who will finish ahead?

    FA: I think it’s difficult to predict. It depends a little bit on our teams. If I have to bet my money, I will put it on McLaren and myself.

    CS: I feel like…

    FA: How many points do you have?

    CS: I don’t know.

    FA: How many points do we have now?

    Off: 28 for Fernando.

    FA: And you?

    CS: I think I have 13, something like that. Ooof, I have some work to do.

    FA: Bet even more now.

    CS: But Renault is the team that has developed the most last year, so be careful. I just give it that it could happen the same this year and I’m going to develop also.

  • Aero Changes for F1 in 2019

    Aero Changes for F1 in 2019

    The FIA, together with the F1 Commission, the World Motorsport Council and the F1 Strategy group approved regulation changes for the 2019 season that will hopefully improve the racing and overtaking.

    Early in the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the teams were presented with proposals to improve racing and overtaking for 2019. Together with most of the teams, the FIA then got to work to find technical solutions and these solutions, among others were ratified yesterday.

    The changes, approved by e-vote, are as follows:

    • Simplified front wing, with a larger span, and low outwash potential
    • Simplified front brake duct with no winglets
    • Wider and deeper rear wing

    “Yesterday’s vote follows an intense period of research into the FIA’s initial proposals, which were made with the support of the F1 Commercial Rights Holder, conducted by a majority of the F1 teams,” said the FIA in a statement.

    “These studies indicated the strong likelihood of a positive impact on racing and overtaking within F1 and as such have now been ratified for implementation in 2019.

    “The approved changes are separate to the ongoing work being undertaken in regard to defining Formula 1’s regulations for 2021 and beyond.

    “In addition to the aerodynamic changes ratified yesterday, the FIA is continuing to evaluate a range of other measures aimed at encouraging closer racing and boosting overtaking in F1.”

  • F1 2018: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Chaos & Collisions in Baku

    F1 2018: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Chaos & Collisions in Baku

    The ingredients were there to make the Azerbaijan grand prix a cracker. And they all mixed together to produce as thrilling and unpredictable a race as any Hollywood director could dream up.

    There wasn’t a long wait for the inevitable safety-car as Esteban Ocon collided with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen after leaving the Finn no room into turn two. It meant that Raikkonen needed to stop for a new front-wing and the soft compound tyre, which dropped him to plumb last.

    For most of the race pole starter Sebastian Vettel seemed to have it under control as he managed the pace ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes. But the mid-race lull quickly gave way to a melee of crashes and safety cars. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen who dramatically took each other out at the end of the start/finish strait induced the second appearance of the safety-car.

    The two Red Bull drivers had been swopping paint and banging wheels throughout the race as the battled for supremacy. Ultimately the FIA race stewards adjudged that Verstappen had moved twice ahead of Ricciardo that prompted the crash. Both drivers were given a reprimand and Red Bull management have chalked it up to “two guys taking things into their own hands” and that blame would not be appropriated either way, at least that’s what team principal Christian Horner said in public.

    Baku 2018_Ricciardo_Versatppen_Race_CrashIt certainly hasn’t been the first time that Verstappen has made two moves under braking as Vettel, Raikkonen and others have criticized him for it in the past. His errors in judgment are beginning to pile up and well into his third season in the sport the excuse of ‘inexperience’ cannot be used any longer. While his aggressive approach to racing has been lauded and welcomed Verstappen runs the risk of developing a reputation that wont be easy to overcome.

    The second safety-car was good news for Valtteri Bottas, who, because he hadn’t stopped yet, was in the lead of the race. His twelve-second window over Vettel was enough to get him in and out of the pitlane ahead of the Ferrari driver. The re-start prompted Vettel to attempt a dive up the inside of Bottas for the lead of the race but the Ferrari driver only succeeded in significantly flat-spotting his tyres. He dropped behind the Force India of Sergio Perez to finish fourth.

    The joy was short lived for Bottas though as he was agonizingly forced out of the race with a right rear puncture. As the dust settled Lewis Hamilton emerged to win the 63rd race of his career ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who was at one point plumb last. Sergio Perez kept his nose clean enough to earn the final step on the podium. By his own admission Hamilton considered ‘lady-luck’ the determining factor in his race win. Nevertheless, luck is part of the sport and Hamilton kept it together when everything was going off around him.

    Motor Racing - Formula One World Championship - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Race Day - Baku, AzerbaijanRenault’s Carlos Sainz secured a brilliant fifth place finish by the driver of the day was undoubtedly Sauber’s Charles Le Clerc with a stunning sixth place. Fernando Alonso recovered from a double-puncture to finish seventh ahead of Lance Stroll who scored Williams’ first points on the season in eighth. Stoffel Vandoorne took ninth for McLaren as Brendon Hartley scored the first point of his F1 career in tenth.

    Hamilton’s victory takes him four-points clear at the top of the driver’s standings while Ferrari retake the lead in the constructor’s standings ahead of F1’s return to Europe for the Spanish grand prix in two weeks time.

  • 2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Press Conference

    2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

     

    We have our top three here. Lewis Hamilton just being weighed in. We just have to wait for the guys to get their helmets off. We’ve got a very happy Checo Pérez there and Kimi Räikkönen. Checo, you’re first with the helmet off: fantastic, absolutely brilliant, last time you were on the podium was here.

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, two years ago. I think today I did the best two laps of my whole career. The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult. I was on the supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to Räikkönen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough, and in the end we did a real… I’m speechless.

     

    Great stuff, great job indeed. We’ll come across to our race winner, Lewis, that was the perfect example of you never give up, running down with cold tyres at the re-start. Could you predict what was going to happen with Seb?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely not. Really quite an emotional race to be honest. Valtteri did such an exceptional job today and really deserved to have the win. Also, Sebastian did a great job. I think it was really, really fortunate today, so it feels a little bit odd to be up here, but I’ve got to take it. I didn’t give up, I keep pushing but definitely a very untidy race from me.

     

    Well, it was absolutely a fantastic race to see, congratulations Lewis. We’ll jump over to Kimi Räikkönen. Tough start to that grand prix, you came together with Ocon. The Clerk of the Course thought it was a race incident. I guess you have a different point of view?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, well, obviously I was inside and I think he probably didn’t see me. It’s pretty difficult sometimes to see. So obviously he just turned in and I was there. It wasn’t ideal the start for me but I didn’t get worse off from that, so I was lucky in that way. A difficult race after that. I tried to come back and at certain moments I felt good but I struggled a bit with the tyres, to keep them warm enough. I just tried to pay the long game and to stay there, expecting issues. It paid off, but it wasn’t easy.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, win number 63. You’ve already said it wasn’t the easiest – but are you happier with the car this weekend than in China last time out?

    LH: A little bit, yeah. In all honesty, I think I struggled throughout the weekend and I’m definitely struggling to extract, I think the car’s potential but also my potential so it’s definitely been a little difficult, particularly the last two races but also with the tyres in Bahrain. But I have to be happy with today. I have to be thankful and grateful for today because it is such a tricky race and you don’t know what’s going to happen: Safety Car comes out and you can lose out and lots of different things happening within this race but what’s important is just to keep your head down and keep going and live to fight another day. I came out in the lead and honestly I couldn’t believe that I was where I was, that I had a Ferrari behind me and I was just praying that I could keep it together, stay focussed and bring it home. So, we’ve definitely got a lot of work still to do, we still are behind, whilst we finished ahead today that was due to, as I said, lots of different circumstances getting in the way. But Kimi was nearly on pole yesterday, two-tenths ahead of Sebastian, their pure pace is a lot ahead of ours at the moment. Then, within the race, I’m sure Sebastian was managing but I’m sure their pace also in the race is a little bit up on ours. We definitely are there in the mix and we’ve not got a terrible car at all, by any means. We’ve just got to refine it a little bit and make it a little bit easier to drive. She definitely isn’t as easy to drive as it was last year. So yeah, that’s what we’re going to continue to work to.

     

    Q: And a sense of relief to be back at the top of the Championship?

    LH: Hmmm… I definitely don’t feel relieved at the moment. I have really mixed emotions. Obviously, I could hear constantly I was battling with my team-mate over time, over the pitstop window and ultimately Valtteri had done an exceptional job. Obviously, I did a good job in qualifying and put myself in a good position – but there were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me – but I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that’s something I don’t take lightly, so I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise of today for myself.

     

    Q: Kimi, so close yesterday, so close today. Is there a sense of frustration building inside you now, of what do you have to do to win a grand prix?

    KR: No, not really, yesterday I can only look in the mirror and the reason is easy to know. Yeah, it was frustrating, as I said earlier, I was taking it easy into the corner and I still managed to throw it away, so that is more painful that just if you happen to know that you have to try something to be fast enough – but that wasn’t the case. Yeah, pretty eventful race today. Got a destroyed front wing and tyre in the first few corners. I had a good feeling sometimes but was struggling to switch the tyres on. It was kind of on and off. I had a great many close moments. Even on the way to the grid I was pretty certain that it’s in the wall already but I managed to get it away from it. Too many close calls. The feeling was there but not consistently. I thought, OK, I just try to go as fast as I can and a little bit safer and the Red Bulls, looking at what they were doing earlier in the race it was pretty certain something will happen later on when they get close to each other. Everything changed after that and once put the other tyres on and again it felt OK and it all played into our hands. Very definitely a better day than yesterday but it still… second is not what you want but looking where we were earlier, you take it and we go from there. We know we have the speed. We just have to put things together, and I’m sure it will come.

     

    Q: Checo, great to see you and Force India back on the podium. It’s been a dramatic turnaround by the team over the last month. How confident are you that you can stay where you are going forwards?

    SP: Well, obviously, this result is a coincidence of so many things happening but it’s not a coincidence that we are always there to take anything that is offered to us. I think our battle is not here, to be honest, it’s the midfield and finally we got plenty of points today with this podium, that we can close up the gap to the cars ahead, to the Renaults. I think we were definitely the fourth-best team this weekend. In two weeks’ time, we have a very important challenge. Barcelona is where really the car is… you show all of your potential there. It will be very interesting to see where we are. I believe that we are making good progress. Up to now we only had one point as a team. It’s definitely a massive motivation for all the boys that are doing a fantastic job. They did an incredible job with the stops. With the strategy. Yeah, what else can I say? Amazing job.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Kimi, you’ve had a lot of bad luck in the races this season. You’ve had some big results go amiss through no fault of your own. Do you feel that you got a bit of that luck back today and how important is this for you to really kick on for the rest of the season?

    KR: Well, I wouldn’t say that I have had a lot of luck over the years, but I don’t count on luck. You cannot count on that. I think you get what you deserve in a way and sometimes you are a bit luckier than other times but if I take over the years, I’m far from on the positive side yet. Maybe today certain things worked in our direction but then whatever happened in front of us are self-made issues in many ways. Stay out of trouble in this kind of race and definitely knowing what happened last year, it’s going to pay off. I’m more happy that I have the speed  – I know that I have the speed. We just didn’t do it: the mistake yesterday and some issues earlier. That’s the main thing, that we have the speed. We just need to put it together and I’m sure that we can do even better.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Lewis, we didn’t see Valtteri hit anything; did you see him hit anything on the lap he had in front of you? Do you think there was still debris around the area where Romain had crashed before?

    LH: For me it was impossible to see. I was obviously chasing Valtteri and it was so blurred, the vision is quite blurred at that high speed so all I could see was a few things fly away from his car and his speed reduced massively so I lifted and I didn’t really know what had happened, so I couldn’t tell you. And I couldn’t see any debris on the straight but the guys were telling me there was some debris there but there was also debris where Grosjean had crashed. It was all on the right side, before the left, fast lefthander so I can’t honestly say where it came from.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, Checo hit you on the first lap, then you had the incident with Ocon. Was your car damaged for the rest of the race? Did you feel there was something lacking there?

    KR: Honestly, I don’t know. Obviously we destroyed the front wing and right tyre but then they changed the front wing so I didn’t check the car at all. Then also, I think on the first lap, after the restart, on the little kink, coming on the last part of the straight, I hit the inside wall at full speed so I’m pretty lucky that the front wheel didn’t go. I was expecting to go quite fast but I was lucky. It felt OK, the car, honestly. I struggled a bit with the tyres sometimes but apart from that I’m sure there wasn’t big damage.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you mentioned that you think Ferrari’s still a bit ahead of Mercedes at the moment. We saw exceptional pace from you in Australia, you’ve sort of struggled since then. So do you think that in order to get back on terms with them or get ahead it’s going to be upgrades that you require or just unlocking more from the package you have at the moment?

    LH: I think the performance upgrade battle will be important, to see how that development goes between both teams, so that will definitely be important. I think more unlocking the potential of the car. Australia, we started on the right foot on the Friday and it progressed and got better and better. Since then, every weekend we’ve generally started a couple of steps – at least – behind the Ferraris and struggled to catch up. So whilst there has been a lot of work that has been done, we are still, today, performance-wise, we are still behind them. If you look at them, they had a little bit more downforce this weekend yet they were a little bit slower on the straights but quicker through all the corners. The middle sector was always three tenths up, three or four tenths up, which we just couldn’t catch up so their package really suited this track perfectly, I would say. Maybe ours did in Australia but I would imagine they just didn’t unlock their potential in that race, particularly, and since then have. But I don’t think we’re under any illusions that we have the fastest car or that we don’t have work to do. We know that. Everyone’s working as hard as they can but we’ve got to keep pushing, really got to keep pushing. I’ve got to figure out how to get on top of this car a little bit more. Australia, as I said, I was really comfortable with it and since then I’ve not been and I don’t really know why, so I’ve got to try and work on that.

     

     

    Photo Credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

  • Ricciardo and Verstappen Given Reprimands for Baku Collision

    Ricciardo and Verstappen Given Reprimands for Baku Collision

    Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were both handed reprimands following their collision which took both Red Bull drivers out of the race.

    The incident happened when Ricciardo was lining Verstappen up for a pass on the run to Turn 1. Ricciardo sold the dummy to Verstappen on the outside then switched to the inside on the right. Verstappen was seen moving twice to close off Ricciardo. After Verstappen’s second move Ricciardo had no way to avoid contact with his team mate and drove into the back of him which sent them off the track into the Turn 1 run off area.

    After hearing from both the drivers the stewards reprimanded both the drivers. The stewards outlined their decision in the FIA decision document.

    “The Stewards heard from Daniel Ricciardo, the driver of car 3, Max Verstappen, the driver of car 33 and the team representative.

    “Both drivers contributed to the collision.  The driver of car 33 made two moves, both of which were relatively minor.

    “The driver of car 3 admitted he left his move to overtake on the left, too late.

    “It was obvious to the stewards that although the incident had its origins in the moves by car 33, the driver of car 3 also contributed to the incident.

    “Both drivers expressed regret about their respective contributions to the incident, during the Stewards’ hearing.”

    Elsewhere on the grid, Williams’ Sergei Sirotkin was handed a 3-place grid penalty at the Spanish Grand Prix for driving into the back of Force India’s Sergio Perez at the start of the race.

    “The Stewards examined video evidence. The driver of car 35 drove into the back of car 11.

    The Stewards determined that the driver of car 35 was wholly to blame for the collision,” read the decision document for the incident.

    After the race, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen were cited for illegal use of DRS during the race when the automatic detection system failed. The stewards subsequently decided that no further action would be taken on either of the drivers.

     

  • 2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    Q: Sebastian Vettel is in pit lane and will be out here to speak to us soon, but let’s go and talk to the Mercedes guys who had such a quick car today but maybe not quite enough. Lewis, that first sector was phenomenal, just seemed to lose something in the second, but are you happy with your job today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, well firstly you’ve got a great crowd here – hi, everyone. That was close! We did the best job we could. Jeez, I think I was up three tenths until Turn 15 and then I came across the line two tenths up, so I lost a little bit in the last sector. But regardless, Sebastian did a good job. They were quickest all weekend. They’ve obviously got a phenomenal car this year. But really happy with the job the team did to get us from where we were yesterday to where we are today. Valtteri did also a great job. We’re in the mix. This is the fifth-best track to overtake, I think. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible but I’ll try to give Sebastian a hard time tomorrow.

     

    Q: As we saw from even the place markers being pushed away by the wind when you got here, how windy is it out there? How hard is it?

    LH: Down the straight particularly it’s hard to keep the car straight. You’re getting crosswinds in between buildings, so you’re constantly correcting the car, but the track has been great today, so I appreciate everyone in Azerbaijan for having us.

     

    Q: Great job, Lewis, and what about this guy? Seb, unbelievable job, three poles in a row, looked phenomenal out there. I know on your second run you were going for faster but a bit of a lock-up stopped you from doing that but you were phenomenal today.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Thank you. I felt the car was good in Q2 and Q2 and then in the last segment of qualifying I knew I have it, I have the car that does what I want. Not have it as in pole position, but that I could get a good lap together. The first lap I was really happy, there were maybe two tiny bits where it wasn’t exactly perfect, but I knew on the second run that the track would ramp up and that I would have to go out and get it again. I was a little bit down on the time, a little bit faster and then I locked up. It caught me by surprise for Turn 3 and then I wasn’t sure, do I go straight or do I try to hang on to it. I tried to hang on to it but, yeah, fortunately it was enough. I really had a good lap on the first attempt, so really happy.

     

    Q: Beautiful job. Don’t go anywhere. Hey Valterri, great car, quick car, can you take the fight to Ferrari tomorrow?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, for sure we can. We are there with both cars now. It’s been really happening this season so we are starting very close. The race here can be really crazy, so we are up for the fight.

     

    Q: Right until the last lap, to the last inches it can be crazy, you know that better than anyone from last year?

    VB: Yeah, sure. Last year I was one lap down after lap one and I ended up second, so anything can happen but at least now we have a good starting point.

     

    Q: Seb, we come back to you. It’s been a great day, but this is only the start. Mercedes are in the mix, Red Bull are in the mix. How hard is it going to be tomorrow? Even just that run down to Turn 1, how tough is it going to be tomorrow?

    SV: It’s not that long. That way is a lot longer! I think it will be an intense race. Here, anything can happen, safety cars are very likely. The good point is that our car was really good this afternoon, so we should be in a good place tomorrow. Yesterday I struggled a bit with confidence, with trust in the car, and just rhythm, which is important around here, but today, when it clicks it just keeps coming and it was really enjoyable. I’m a bit upset with my final run because I thought I had a little bit more but we got pole so we can’t be much happier with how the day went.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Sebastian, how happy are you after this one, particularly after yesterday when you said you were lacking confidence in the car?

    SV: Well, lack of confidence in the car, leading into lack of confidence around the track. I think around this place you need to have the trust, otherwise you don’t dare go as quick as you might be able to. At the end of the session I was quite confident and today I was able to carry that into the day and the car was amazing. It just kept getting better. The track picked up quite a bit through qualifying. Q3 run one I was really happy. There was maybe a tiny bit in the middle sector – in Turn 6, Turn 11 – where I was a bit greedy and went a bit wider than I should, but the rest of the lap was really good. Also, I ha da good exit from the last corner, which was incredibly difficult today, with the wind playing tricks on all of is I guess, and even a little bit of a two with the car five, six, seven seconds ahead, so I was really happy how that lap came together. And then for the second run I knew there was a little bit more in those places that I mentioned and the car was on fire straight away but then I think I got a bit too excited for Turn 3 and tried to brake later, quite a bit later, than the laps before. I must have hit the bump as well and locked the front. From then onwards the front left was flat-spotted. I was quite upset at the time in the car, because I burnt my shot at an improvement and I didn’t know what was going around me. So when I then aborted the lap and I was told pole position then obviously I was really happy. I think the team has done well. We’ve changed the car again overnight and found even more performance.

     

    Lewis, we haven’t had you in the qualifying press conference for the last couple of races, so what news from Mercedes? Is the car much more to your liking?

    LH: It’s good to be back. I hope you haven’t missed me too much. Sebastian did a great job today, congratulations to him. Ferrari have been so dominant in the last couple of races and pace-wise we knew that they would be very quick here. Which they have been all weekend. I think Red Bull also looked really promising, not sure what happened to them. And we were struggling yesterday, but we came into today and the engineers did some really great work last night to understand where we were and how we could progress forwards, so a big thank you to them for all their hard work. Today was much more reasonable car. There were still areas where we were lacking but it’s a work in progress I would say and to be that close to the Ferraris is definitely a positive and to have me and Valtteri up there is a good booster for the team, to be right there in up in the mix. Excited for the race. It’s very hard to overtake here as it is anywhere around the world, but we’ll give it everything we’ve got.

     

    Q: Valtteri, how was the session from your point of view, and can we also have a word from you about the conditions. The wind seemed to be changing direction the whole time.

    VB: I think, like Lewis said, we made some good progress since yesterday. The end result today was a lot better than what we saw and thought it could be today. We believed we can fix the issues, just like we did here last year here actually, from Friday to Saturday and, yeah, we were still finding out way with the setup in Practice Three and made it even better for qualifying. Definitely the best car I had this weekend, so far. I think the session was pretty straightforward. At the beginning lots of yellow flags and difficult to put the lap together but after that Q2, Q3, really straightforward. I felt that I could never quite get the perfect lap. It is extremely difficult here – and, especially the second run I was still missing something. I feel maybe still Ferrari was too quick for us but yeah, as a team reasonable result now. We have both cars in pretty good position to fight for the win.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question for the two Mercedes drivers. What exactly did you have to change after yesterday’s session and how much of a difference did it actually make in the car? What was different about the cars’ handling today?

    LH: Just setup. Yesterday we were sliding around a lot, so setup wing level, ride heights. Pretty much everything on the car. Did a lot of changes.

     

    Valtteri, anything to add from your point of view?

    VB: No, no I think we had similar direction where we were heading since yesterday with both cars and definitely it was better.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Also for the two Mercedes drivers. You seemed to be able to match the Ferrari’s pace in Sector One, almost in Sector Three but Sector Two as the most difficult for you guys. What’s not happening in your car in the Old City section?

    VB: Yeah, I think we have seen that all weekend really. Especially the sessions earlier to qualifying. Sector Two is the twisty section and I think we’ve been struggling a little bit more than other cars, riding over the kerbs in some places, which might cause a bit of lap time loss for us. I think the main issue has been getting the tyres to work, and that can be made through the setup of the car. I think we’ve made it better. Obviously, they are still doing something better in Sector Two and getting the tyres to work, and being able to ride over the kerbs.

     

    Lewis, anything to add?

    LH: The middle sector, I can’t really explain it. I think they have a little bit more downforce than us.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, Bernie Ecclestone had some complimentary things to say about you yesterday. Said you’re super quick, super talented and a super nice guy – but he also said that he didn’t think you’re the racer you once were and that you appear fed up with things. Do you have any response or comment about that?

    LH: Not really, no.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Are you as good as you’ve ever been, do you think?

    LH: We’ll see at the end of the year.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for Sebastian. Sebastian, were you being made aware by your team how close Kimi had come to nicking pole from you. He was two-tenths up on you after the first couple of sectors. A second point to that, how much are you feeling from Kimi’s side of the garage this year. Are you noticing a renewed level of performance from him?

    SV: I think one thing is always to look at the result and the other one, if you look a little bit deeper… I think it’s been incredibly close this year so far. He’s obviously… to be honest, most of the Fridays I think he had the upper hand so far. Yeah, here and there was struggling to understand the car and feel the car so I think knowing him, knowing his strength, he’s incredibly talented and able to drive around problems. So, as I said, it’s been quite close this year. The last lap, I wasn’t aware, obviously I was out because I took myself out but if you look also the previous years the image is a bit distorting. It wasn’t as one-sided as you might think if you look at the results. I think we’re… I don’t know where you’re going or why you’re asking but I think we’re a good pair, a good match. We just said recently there’s so little problem… there’s no problem at all between us ever and there were races where I messed up, crashed into him, took him out and yeah, life goes on. I think that’s a really big bonus for the team and for us to just enjoy our job.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis and Valtteri, you said that the Ferrari probably has more downforce and here also the power unit is also very very important. Can you make a comment about it? It looks, from the outside that they have a little step in front of Mercedes, which is a great surprise in Formula One.

    LH: Well, I don’t know if that’s a surprise because they’ve had the same power units for all the races this season, so they’ve shown they’ve been very quick on the straights. They’ve got a very strong DRS in particular, quite efficient DRS as far as I’m aware. Yeah, but honestly I’ve not looked at the data so I don’t know where they are faster than us and where we’re faster than them but obviously they’ve made a big step forward this year and they are the number one team to beat at the moment.

    VB: I think that was everything, really.

     

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb: you’ve been involved in Formula One now for a great number of years. How hard is it to sustain it at that level? I say that slightly… bearing in mind Bernie’s remarks about Lewis. How demanding and draining is it for a high level driver?

    SV: It’s certainly different… going into the season certainly feels different than it did ten years ago. I think that’s what ten years do to you. Don’t get me wrong, not in a bad way but I think as you grow up you change your views on some things, you hopefully get a bit wiser so you change… your horizon changes and also your motivation is different. Maybe you are looking at things a bit differently. It always depends on how you are as a person, which targets you have and what you’re ultimately trying to achieve. For me, I’m enjoying what I do, I love what I do, I love racing. Obviously there’s a lot of people that have an opinion on every single day that I’m in the car and sometimes they are right, sometimes they are not. I think the most important thing is that you know who you are and you’re true to yourself. Then, I think you can afford to listen less to what’s going on around, not be distracted and simply enjoy your racing. Whether you are at your prime or not, I think then – once you retire – you have enough time to analyse and look back and say… Of course, the level is high, if you want to fight at the front, you cannot afford to do many mistakes and for whoever is at the top and was at the top in the past for many years, usually has a high level and there’s a lot of effort going into it, not just putting everything together at the track but also away from the track. Yeah, without making it longer than it already is, it is a lot of work and sometimes it gets appreciated, other times less but ultimately it’s about yourself.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) The first two editions of this Grand Prix were very different. One was very tame, almost dull, and last year we had a crashfest, so what can we expect from tomorrow’s race, especially with the weather conditions getting even worse with more wind?

    SV: I don’t have a crystal ball so I don’t know. The thing nowadays, that I don’t like, is that people tend to judge our sport straightaway based on one race. After Australia we had ‘catastrophe, these cars blah blah blah.’ I mean yes, it might have been a boring race but also it’s down to many things: the track, the race, whatever. Then we had, I think, an entertaining race in Bahrain and in China. Maybe tomorrow’s boring, maybe it’s exciting. I don’t know. Maybe it rains. Who knows? In the end, that’s why we go racing so that we will find out, I guess.

    LH: Yeah, hopefully it will be fun and hopefully challenging. If you look at the GP2 (F2) race, there were lots of safety cars as there were last year. I really have no idea what’s in store for us but I know it’s going to be exciting and I just hope that we’re there in the mix, fighting with them.

    VB: Yeah, I think it’s going to be a good race, because we have such a tight field this year and on a track like this, where we have a massive long straight and there’s the possibility for overtaking so at least we try to make it exciting with Lewis and battling for the win.

     

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motosport) Seb, it’s obvious that the guys next to you want to make the next undercut tomorrow. Will you be prepared for it?

    SV: Well, I think certainly what happened in China, we didn’t like it but I think we have a good team looking after this sort of stuff. I think we will see how the start goes, how the first stint goes but certainly we are aware that this is a long lap here and the undercut power is probably there. Equally it’s tough, I guess, to make the tyres work straight away for everyone. I think what there was to learn from China we learned and we should be fine tomorrow.

  • Vettel Out in Front After FP3 For Azerbaijan GP

    Vettel Out in Front After FP3 For Azerbaijan GP

    After struggling to get in the groove on Saturday, Sebastian Vettel took the honours in FP3 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

    Vettel set a session best time of 1:43.091 on the ultra soft tyres. Championship rival Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes was 2nd fastest with a best time of 1:43.452, 0.361s off the pace. Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkone was 3rd fastest 0.402s of the pace.

    Max Verstappen was 4th fastest after setting a time late in the session narrowly edging out Valtteri Bottas in 5th. Team mate Ricciardo who showed strong pace on Friday was 12th.

    The battle of the mid-field is heating up nicely with Force India continuing their strong showing this weekend with Sergio Perez 6th fastest just ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the Haas in 7th. Lance Stroll getting in the mix with his Williams in 8th while the second Force India of Esteban Ocon finished 9th.

    Rounding out the top 10 was Sergei Sirotkin in the second Williams. His session was cut short after making contact with the Turn 3 exit barrier, damaging the front left suspension of his car. The Williams mechanics have a race on their hands to get his car ready for qualifying.

    Elsewhere on track a tail wind in the final corner caused some issues for the driver with many running wide. Romain Grosjean was caught out and spun at the exit of T19.

    Vettel has seem to have found a setup he is comfortable with and it looks like it’s brought Ferrari back in the fight. Mercedes seem to be struggling for rear grip in the middle sector while Red Bull’s only weakness is the long straight. Qualifying is shaping up to be a nail biter.

     

  • Azerbaijan GP 2018: Friday Practice Round Up

    Azerbaijan GP 2018: Friday Practice Round Up

    Friday Practice in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix showed the Red Bull are looking like the team to beat. After a strong showing in FP1, and FP2 Daniel Ricciardo looks like he’s in the groove this weekend, hot on the heels of his victory in China.

    The Australian was not far off the pace in FP1 finishing 2nd fastest. In FP2 he finished top of the time sheets with team mate Max Verstappen a little bit off the pace finishing off a strong Friday for Red Bull.

    Free Practice 1

    The session was off to a busy start with the Mercedes drivers heading out unusually early in the session. Nevertheless it was Valtteri Bottas that edged out Daniel Ricciardo by 0.035s to finish fastest of the session. Bottas best time of the session was a 1:44.242.

    In a really strong showing was the Force India of Sergio Perez finishing the session 3rd fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 4th nearly one second off Bottas’ pace.

    Esteban Ocon finished 5th fastest ahead of the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Although Verstappen had set a time early in the session, he was out of the session just as quick. The Dutchman lost the rear of his Red Bull under braking into T5 and tagged the barrier side on. He kept the car running and tried to get going again but he stalled the car and could not get it going again. The VSC was deployed to retrieve the stricken Red Bull. Verstappen sat out the rest of the session trackside.

    The green and dusty track made conditions tricky and the notorious Turn 8 run off area came into play very quickly there were also a few other drivers that tested the limits of grip into various other corners around the track by aborting the corner and taking to the run off area.

    Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, got on with McLaren’s program and finished the session 7th fastest. Sergei Sirotkin ended 8th in a very good session for Williams.

    Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10 for Ferrari. Vettel complained about a lack of rear grip throughout the session and tried various tyres in a bit to try and find a viable setup. Kimi Raikkonen suffered a technical issue after 10-minutes and sat out the rest of the session.

    At the end of the session it looked like Mercedes and Red Bull had it dialled in very early on in the session but the long runs of FP2 were still to come…

    Free Practice 2

    Free Practice 2 all but confirmed Red Bull’s strong pace with Ricciardo topping the session with a session best time of 1:42.795 just edging out Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who set a best time of 1:42.864. Raikkonen did catch a small break courtesy of a tow from Hamilton down the long run to the finish line.

    3rd Fastest was Max Verstappen who had a much cleaner FP2 but had an issue at the end of the session where he was told to come into the pits slowly. Red Bull, after the session revealed that a faulty sensor was the cause and that there is no real concern.

    Valtteri Bottas finished 4th fastest ahead of team-mate Hamilton in 5th. Continuing their good run of form from FP1 was Esteban Ocon in the Force India finishing 7th ahead of another solid session for Carlos Sainz in the Renault.

    Kevin Magnussen finished a good session for Haas in 9th with Nico Hulkenberg in the second Renault rounding out the top 10.

    Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari did not feature in the top 10 with another scrappy session with rear grip once again the issue.

    Like in FP1, the drivers continued to test the limits of grip under braking with a few drivers running into the run off areas around the circuit.

    Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber was confined to the garage for the session after a gearbox issue was detected early in the session.

    On the long runs Red Bull are coming out the fastest with Ferrari close behind. Mercedes are finding it hard to get heat into the tyres which means front and rear grip comes at a premium. On board shots of Hamilton’s car shows that the usually on rails Mercedes is quite a way off peak grip.

    Red Bull seem to have the edge on one lap pace as well in Baku. Mercedes’ qualifying engine mode might spoil the party for the Bulls come qualifying which will make strategy quite important once again. With the Ultra soft being the qualifying tyre and with little durability, it looks like the soft tyre will be the favoured race tyre. And we know how well the softs suit the Mercedes. Red Bull have something to say about that though…

  • 2018 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference

    2018 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS: Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull), Nico HÜLKENBERG (Renault), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Daniel, if we could start with you, last time you were in the press conference room you were very emotional after winning in China. Having had two weeks to reflect on it, why did that win mean so much to you?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I haven’t had many, I guess, so they still feel very special. The wins. I guess it had been a fairly long time since Baku. A pretty long time between drinks, the last win and the whole race, I guess the weekend in Bahrain, the kind of… I just feel that the biggest disappointment in racing is being out of the race at the beginning, y’know, before it’s really started. You’re out of the race on the first lap or something, it’s tough – because you’ve worked all weekend to get to the Sunday and then it’s over like that. After Bahrain, I was obviously relieved to have a race the weekend after and have a chance to back it up. Well, to try again. And then yeah, the whole weekend, Saturday, FP3, another kinda head-down moment, but then to get out for qualifying and how the race turned out. It was cool. I guess jsut a lot emotion, happy emotions for sure. Yeah. The highs and lows of the sport can do that to you.

     

    Q: Have you seen enough from Red Bull Racing to think about the Championship this year?

    DR: Probably haven’t seen enough from everyone yet! So, I’m not thinking about the Championship in that sense. Obviously, I want to think about being there. But yeah, naturally because we won everyone’s asking can we fight for the championship now? It’s still early – but I think we’ve proved, if we’re there, we can do a lot with it. That’s the plan: to continue to be there for the next few races.

     

    Q: Nico, coming on to you, you’ve qualifying seventh at every race since Mexico last year. You’ve only been out-qualified by a team-mate once in the last 27 races. It’s an impressive stat, so let’s start by talking about qualifying. Have you made a step in this area?

    Nico HÜLKENBERG: I think I’ve just managed to… yeah… to hit it on the head each time. I quite enjoy qualifying, I like getting out there where it counts and putting a lap together. I feel also the last 20 or so races I also had a car that allows me to do that and gives me the support that a driver needs also. Since last year, with this generation of cars, when you have the downforce, you’ve got more grip to work with. It’s just been a bit more fun and probably helps the way I drive also, a little bit.

     

    Q: Let’s talk about where Renault are battling in the Championship. It looks, at the minute, a tight fight between yourselves, Haas and McLaren for fourth. Is this where you see yourself destined this year – or do you think you can start to challenge the guy on your left?

    NH: No, I think for now it’s more, like you say, about Haas and McLaren, these kind of teams, to try to keep them at bay but it’s very tight. Each weekend will be a bit different depending on the tyre compounds, different tracks and layouts. What favours one car more than another one. But for sure it’s a big development race in the midfield also. But yeah, we’re trying to get ahead but still got a lot of areas to work on to catch all the three guys ahead.

     

    Q: Kevin, coming on to you. While we’re talking about this battle for fourth place, perhaps we could ask you about Haas. Do you think they can maintain their current level of competitiveness, going forwards?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: It’s not going to be easy for sure. We’ve started with a good car and done a good job over the winter. I think we’re in this situation and we haven’t had a perfect start to the year so I think there’s more in it if we can get through the races and clear out any mistakes. Then I think we’re in good shape. Whether it will stay like that for the whole year, I think it depends a lot on how the other teams do: obviously, Renault and McLaren. Last year, consistency wasn’t our biggest strength, so I think that’s an area we have improved, it seems. Our car this year is a little easier to work with and seems like it has a broader window for its performance. I’m hoping that we can at least be much more competitive thought the whole season than last year – but whether we can keep up to those big guys, it’s not going to be easy but we’ll do our best.

     

    Q: You mentioned consistency, and one area where you have been very consistent is qualifying. You appear to have made a big step since last year. Can you explain how that’s come about?

    KM: It’s only been three races but I think the car is obviously better than last year. It’s performing, as I said, it has a broader window for its performance and it’s easier. You can set it up for what you prefer as a driver, in your driving style and it will still work. It’s just a little easier to drive. A little more forgiving, more predictable and it obviously has more grip. In terms of aero it’s more consistent. I prefer a consistent car, especially on the rear, a rear that I can trust and depend on and predict. This car has a good consistency in that regard. I think that helps – but generally just being more competitive makes things easier.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Question for Daniel. You won in China from sixth place. Only one of the previous 72 races, there has been a driver starting outside the top five who also won. That was you, here in Baku. What is your secret? Is it patience? Can you tell me something about it?

    DR: I’d like to qualify on the front row. It’s not always the case. I don’t know. Obviously the race is the race and qualifying is super-important in the sport but you can also have a different car on Sunday. You can take more opportunities and more opportunities can present themselves in the race – and that’s ultimately what we get to the weekend for, is the Sunday. The race obviously had the mid-race safety car in China and bunched everyone up and gave me a second chance to attack. I sensed an opportunity and made sure I capitalised on that. I think that’s something I really demand from myself and, I guess, expect from myself. A bit like Baku last year. Mid-race we were at the back but it was kinda just… you see a car in front and you try to pass them, you see the next car, you try to pass them, you see the next car and try to pass them. Obviously, I knew Seb was going to have the penalty, Lewis had the headrest thing. It was crazy – but again I sensed an opportunity and knew the restart was super-important to try to pass the Williams in front and in the end, for me that was the race-winning move, so I think yeah, just being aware of what’s available. Because we’re not winning every weekend, when you have a sniff of a victory, that’s all the motivation and the hunger I need. It’s enjoyable when you can see it in front of you.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for you Daniel, you have a big decision to make at some point over what you do for next season, which team you’ll be driving for. Red Bull is an environment you know extremely well, it will be a big change of scenery if you did go to another team. Lewis was in a similar situation a few years ago, left McLaren for Mercedes. How curious are you to find out if the grass is greener somewhere else?

    DR: It’s a good way of putting it. I don’t know. The curiosity will not overcome the facts, I guess, in terms of what options I will have, I guess and then which car is ultimately the fastest I can be with. Obviously that’s really top of my list. So yeah, I wouldn’t just… to answer that differently, I wouldn’t just go somewhere else just for a change. If I did move on obviously I’d want to make sure it was something I feel would potentially be better. That’s all really.

     

    Q: As a follow-up to that, do you feel a loyalty to Red Bull?

    DR: There will always be a bit of that, for sure. It’s kind of like, the start of it, 2008, it’s ten years since I was in the Red Bull Junior Team. So it’s a long time and they really set it up for me, to make all this happen. There will always be that. At some point you’ve got to weigh-up what does what but regardless, there will always be something and I’d always show love, I think, nonetheless.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Daniel, you said you can go to one place potentially better. After watching the last race, we saw Kimi competing for Sebastian, not for himself, and he was faster than Sebastian all the weekend, except in qualifying. Aren’t you worried that eventually, if you consider the possibility of Ferrari, that people you ask the same function as Kimi, to work just for another driver and not for himself, being a world champion like him?

    DR: These are certainly things that I would… wherever I may be, or go, I would always make sure that there was some clarity. I wouldn’t want to go somewhere where I didn’t feel I had a chance. At the moment that’s what I’m chasing is to try and be world champion. That’s my goal, my dream, something I really believe I’m capable of, so yeah, if someone said ‘we’ll let here but you can’t do this’, that’s not an attraction option to me. Is that the case somewhere? I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what’s going on with other teams. At Red Bull there’s always been really good clarity and I would say fairness, since 2014, since I’ve been there. That’s been certainly a nice environment and I would expect that environment everywhere.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) A question for Nico, Kevin and Daniel. How surprised are you that Mercedes didn’t win yet and do you think it might change this weekend? Is it good for the sport?

    NH: I think there have always been some circumstances that stopped them from winning. In Melbourne it was a safety car, in Shanghai as well, in Bahrain I don’t remember. I tend not to look at their race so much. I think they will get a shot at it pretty soon. Again, I think they have one of the best packages, so it’s just a matter of time.

     

    Kevin?

    KM: Nothing to add to that.

     

    Are you surprised?

    KM: Oh yeah, very surprised.

     

    Daniel?

    DR: They’re still very competitive and probably for circumstances and maybe not executing the perfect race yet are perhaps why. I think it is a matter of time. It is good for the sport, I think, to have that little bit of a change for now, but I don’t think it’s going to be necessarily a trend. As Nico said, I think it is a matter of time. They do have a fast car. They do have certainly a good package. We’ll try to keep holding them out as long as we can. But for sure, I expect them to be strong every weekend.

     

    Q: (John McEvoy – Daily Mail) Daniel, to what extent have you had any talks with Ferrari or Mercedes or Red Bull about next year, and how would you feel going side by side with Lewis?

    DR: So, I’ve only had talks with Red Bull. Even already last year, we’ve been pretty open with each other, and through the media as well, I think everyone is aware they’re interested in keeping me. We’ve had some talks regarding that obviously. I’m aware of other reports, but there hasn’t been anything else. They’re not true, at least up until now certainly not. Lewis: I would love to be challenged against the best and Lewis is arguably up there, so for sure that would be a good challenge. I’ve got a good challenge now obviously with Max and I had Seb, so I don’t want to say it’s just Lewis I’m looking for, but that would be a good challenge.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Daniel, to date Red Bull have managed your career, so you’ve driven for them and they’ve also been your managers. Now at the end of this year you’re on your own. What sort of infrastructure do you have? Do you honestly believe you could negotiate a crucial contract for your future and concentrate on delivering your best on track this year? Do you have a manager? Do you have some advisers? What do you have?

    DR: Yeah, I’ve got a small little group, a network, around me and as far as the real negotiations go. I’ve got a guy doing that for me. Look, I’m obviously super aware and invested in what I want and where I see myself I guess, but as far as the real in-depth talks and all that, I think it’s best for me not to really focus on that too much. I’ve been getting asked the same questions since Austin, since Max re-signed. I think it was in Austin. So, it’s been probably been more than six months now, and it hasn’t got me. I don’t overcomplicate it. I guess with the people around me I keep it pretty small and I’m happy with that.

     

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Daniel, as a follow-up to the earlier question. Could you specifically rule out that you have any kind of pre-arrangement with Ferrari, because that’s what the reports have been in Italy?

    DR: No, that’s not true. Yeah, I can say that.

     

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) The question goes to Daniel…

    DR: I’m going to buy these guys a drink… Jeez!

     

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) You’re brave driver, I expect now a brave answer. Do you think you would have won the race in Bahrain with the Mercedes in this situation?

    DR: Oh, I answered this question in Shanghai. I know you weren’t in Shanghai. All I said is that I would have tried. I don’t want to say tried like… I would have had a look in Turn 1. If it worked, I don’t know, I don’t want to say it, because I wasn’t in the race and it’s probably not fair, and it’s probably a bit disrespectful when I wasn’t in Seb or Valtteri’s shoes. But I would see myself having a lunge for sure, so that’s the way I would answer it.

     

    Q: (Maksudov Teymur – 1news.az) Daniel, Baku was the only race you won last year, and how do you feel now when you are again here and does it give you more confidence before the current race?

    DR: Well done, Baku. I’ve been waiting to say that. Felt good! Obviously some good memories. I think when you come back to a track that you’ve had success on, I don’t think it necessarily changes your confidence. I think every race you go to you come prepared and that gives you confidence. So I’m not coming here thinking I’m going to be better than I was last week or anything like that, but there is a good feeling. There’s a nice feeling coming back, some good memories, so there are happy thoughts, I guess, and that’s nice. But the approach to the on-track stuff and the way I’ll approach the weekend, that doesn’t change.

     

    Daniel, you’ve had fastest lap in two of the opening three races. Are you favourite this weekend?

    DR: I wouldn’t go that far! Maybe a fan favourite, is that what you’re saying? I hope we’re close, but I think it’s too early to say we’re favourites. I think we have a good race car for sure. I think one-lap pace we’ve still got to show a bit more. At least for Saturday I think we’ll probably not be there but Sunday, who knows, that can turn around.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) I was going to ask you Daniel, but the question fits all three drivers: the three of you have had a better start to the season than last year and I know the season is still long but does this give an amount of confidence, a boost?

    KM: Yeah, definitely, it’s a much better season, getting off better at the start of the season so yeah, I would say the answer is yes, it’s a nice feeling and it’s more and enjoyable and easier to look forward to the races when you know you’ve got a good car and can fight for points.

    NH: Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely fun if you have a good couple of races and straightaway you get a couple of points and good results on the board. For sure that helps yourself, you know, but also the whole team, all the people are working hard; back in the factory, it puts a spring in their step and helps to create a good atmosphere and motivation inside the team.

     

    Q: And Nico, how are you enjoying the intra-team battle with Carlos Sainz this year?

    NH: I enjoy it, it’s good so far.

    DR: Yeah, I think the team one’s a big one. For sure it’s getting a good start like that it’s… there’s a lot of people back at the factory and for them to have that kind of motivation and that drive, it’s a long season and to get that kick-started early with some results is really important. I definitely feel that and believe that so that’s cool and I think from a personal point of view I think it’s just nice to get the season started well, because there’s a long break, obviously, between the… the off-season, then you do your training and you obviously prepare as well as you can so when that then corelates to good results on track that’s also a little bit rewarding.

     

    Q: Bahrain was only two races ago for you guys, are you worried about reliability?

    DR: I don’t want to use the word worried because, at least from my point of view, I’ve just got to drive the car. In a way it’s out of my control so I’m not going to drive around worried. You’re going too fast and too focused to be worried, but yeah, right now I’m not really in the short term. Maybe once we get later in the season it’s likely we’ll come across some penalties or whatever but right now… baseline chill.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) We know now that next season Formula One is going to raise the fuel limit slightly. From your perspective, do you feel a bit too forced to manage your races at the moment and do you think this is going to make a significant difference in terms of flat-out racing next year?

    NH: Yeah, it will definitely help the fuel saving situation and not really having to worry about that too much, on that front, definitely allows you to push to the limit. Obviously it’s not always just about fuel sometimes, it’s linked in with what the tyres are doing, how they behave. Weekend for weekend that’s quite different. There might be some of that left still but for sure it’s a positive thing I think and in the right direction.

    DR: Yup, I don’t see any real loss for the… Like races like Melbourne, that’s quite a high fuel demand circuit – there’s probably a better word but you know what I mean. So there’s a lot of lifting during the race, a lot of fuel management I guess. We all do it, part of us, like now, we’re all used to doing it but for sure it’s going to be better if we can race with real intentions for every lap.

    KM: Yeah, I think it’s good that it’s been raised. There are some races during the year that can be really really tricky like Russia for example, it can be almost ridiculous there. So it’s nice to see that going up so you can push a bit more. I don’t mind a little bit of fuel saving…  sometimes even before you had these limitations, like five years ago they were doing some management because they would start the race with an anticipation of safety cars or whatever. A little bit is fine but sometimes it’s too much. I think it’s a good change.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Daniel, what exactly are you looking for in your next contract? You’ve been reported as saying you don’t want anything longer than two years because Formula One’s going to be changing post-2020. The other top teams have all got somebody established in there already. What are you actually looking for? You’ve said you’ve got key requirements that you want, what are they, please?

    DR: Did I say key requirements, Dieter Rencken? I don’t really know how to answer any more contract questions. I don’t know if I’m getting bored of it but no, look, the real requirement obviously is to try and put myself in a position to win a World title. As I said, it doesn’t mean where I am currently is not that place but I think that’s why I’m trying to take my time with it because it’s still too early. Obviously we won the last race, that was great but realistically we need to win more than just once in the season to fight for a title so that’s why I’m going to take my time, but that’s the priority for sure and I guess the financials and all that are definitely behind that.

     

    Q: Daniel, how concerned are you about the regulations post-2020?

    DR: I guess I haven’t thought about it too much. We’re aware of it but I don’t know if I’m concerned about it. I don’t know. I feel like every year something changes, as in like life changes, things change, so looking beyond, like two years after this, seems like a long way away so that’s more for that but for the sport itself, I think all us drivers will do what we can to make it – any change – to make it for the better, we will, for the racing, for the atmosphere, for all of that. We are, let’s say, investing some time in those discussions, amongst us drivers, but I’m not necessarily concerned about the sport or where it’s going. But yeah, for me personally, I think just thinking about 2021 now seems like a long time away.

     

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) Daniel, my last question about your future, for the moment: you said you didn’t speak with Ferrari or Mercedes at the moment, only with Red Bull. But are you patient enough to wait, that people come to you or do you have a deadline maybe in summertime and nobody, apart from Red Bull, was talking to you? Would you then go to the people from Mercedes or Ferrari, to ask what’s going on? Or would you just wait until they come to you?

    DR: I guess it’s not a bad question. For sure, like the summer seems fine. I guess I don’t really fear not having a seat next year so I don’t feel that I need to sign something tomorrow or I will have nothing, so I guess for that reason I feel like I can see until the summer what’s happening. If nothing has happened since then, then yeah, I guess I think of Plan B or whatever that is and if it’s only then Red Bull, then that’s where I am at so yeah, but I don’t really feel that I need to push anything until then.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) All of you drive cars with power units that have won races this year: Ferrari and Renault. Mercedes out of first place until now. Can you comment what improvements your partner took for Renault to win the races and also Ferrari?

    Q: Your thoughts on the Ferrari power unit this year, Kevin, compared to last year?

    KM: Yeah, it’s a step forward, not only in power – a little step in power but in reliability. We need to see a little further to be sure that the reliability is there completely but it seems like it is. No complaints about the power unit. It’s not the power unit’s fault that we’re not winning, for sure.

    NH: Yeah, I think for us at Renault it’s the step in reliability that we’ve managed to fix. Obviously the second half of last year we had a lot of problems, lost a lot of points and results and I think they’ve managed to cure and fix a lot of the issues there. On top of that, also worked on a lot of the installation things. Powerwise, I think we’ve made a step too so they’ve done a very good job on the Renault power unit over the winter. Doesn’t mean that there’s not more work to do but I think we’ve done some good improvements.

    DR: I think, in race trim, I think on Sundays… I guess it’s no secret we don’t have as much power available on a Saturday as Ferrari and Merc power units but I think on Sunday, when everything kind of settles down and you run a race mode-type of engine, I think we’ve closed the gap on Sundays so yeah, following the quicker cars in China, for example, even Kimi in Melbourne, from what I remember last year, it felt like we were certainly losing out a lot less in those conditions so that was nice, that was positive, for sure.