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2017 Formula 1 Malaysia Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India).

PRESS CONFERENCE

Christian, let’s begin with you and the announcement of the Aston Martin deal. Tell us the scope of that, the ambition and whether there is an engine dimension to it going forward?

Christian HORNER: Well, it’s great news for our team. We have been working with Aston over the last 18 months now on a project, starting with the Valkyrie road car, and out of the upturn there has been within the Aston business over the last couple of years, they have decided that Formula 1 is the right platform to invest in and have taken up the title sponsorship of our team for the next three years. That collaboration will not only see an on-track, with the team being named Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, it also sees behind the scenes a collaboration on future products that Aston are working on and then producing some of those cars in Milton Keynes, producing more jobs in Milton Keynes – over 100 new positions are going to be created in the future – to hopefully produce some great looking cars.

And the engine dimension?

CH: There is no engine dimension at this point in time but what we await with interest is what will the regulations be, what are Liberty’s plans regarding engines and chassis from 2021 onwards. So in an ideal world it would allow an independent manufacturer such as an Ilmor or a Cosworth to be able to compete with the big guns. But until we can see what the scope of those regulations are, it’s difficult to make any assumptions.

And on the subject of engines, your sister team Toro Rosso has the Honda engines next season and you collaborate technically with that team, so how closely will you be monitoring the progress of Honda?

CH: I think it’s a really exciting development for Toro Rosso. It’s an opportunity for them to move forward. It keeps Honda in Formula One, which I think is also a positive and we’ll certainly be keeping an interested eye on how things are developing in Italy.

Otmar, you’ve kept the same two drivers for next season – a very exciting pairing – how are things working out between them since you had a talking to them in Spa and do you feel you have got on top of their issues without blunting their competitiveness?

Otmar SZAFNAUER: Yeah, they’ve always gotten on. They have their on-track incidents, like you mentioned in Spa. That event kind of focused both their minds and now they have a good understanding that if they come together you never know who the winner or loser is, but for certain the team loses. We all work for a team, we all pull together, we’re all team members. They understand that and they’ll be working for the team going forward.

You’re a clear fourth in the Constructors’ Championship now, and likely to stay there. Obviously next year with Renault likely to move forward, with McLaren pairing up with Renault and all the other moves going on, will it be an achievement to just stand still in fourth next year, or are you pushing the team to get third?

OS: Well, it will be difficult next year. Like you say, Renault have shown great steps forward this year from where they started to where they are now. I think it’s no secret that McLaren have a lot of resources and are also capable. It will be difficult for us to remain fourth, but we always set our sights on achievable goals and we will push hard next year to at least stay fourth and someone makes a mistake ahead of us, you never know what can happen.

Frédéric, you ran Charles Leclerc in FP1. How did he do? And how do you rate him, given that you’ve had so many great young drivers pass through your hands – the Hamiltons, the Hulkenbergs, the Rosbergs – how do you rate Charles against them?

Frédéric VASSEUR: I won’t rate Charles, only on the FP1 this morning, and it was a tricky session. He did very well this morning. He had not so many laps to do but he was at a good pace from the start and he did a very good session, even on the technical feedback everything went well. If you look on the global picture, he did very well in the junior series, he is doing very well in Formula 2. So far I think he had to be focused on the last part of the championship, to win the title and then you will see for next year.

It looks like Sauber could be more closely linked to Ferrari next season. You’re obviously an expert in bringing young drivers on, as we’ve just discussed. Is that the best direction, you believe, for Sauber to take?

FV: For sure there is a huge gap today between Sauber and the top teams and we need to find a way of collaborating with a top team fi we want to improve and if we want to improve quickly. Because the most important thing is to bring the team back into the field and then to be able to compete. OK, with the Ferrari deal we will improve and we will improve a lot and then we have to build up our own project to be able to fight with the guy in front of us.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all three of you: there has been a resignation this week from a senior member of the FIA’s technical team. He has three months’ ‘gardening leave’, which would then allow him to go to another team in a technical capacity. Does it concern you that he could be taking some secrets from teams with him?

CH: Well, we take major issue with that if he does end up with another team. Obviously in these individuals you place an enormous amount of trust. In the role that Marcin has been responsible for he has been in an extremely privileged position and extremely recently he has been in people’s wind tunnels and looking at intimate details of knowledge of next year’s cars and I think three months’ notice period for him to then turn up in a competitor team in Formula One is entirely inappropriate. I certainly hope that isn’t the case and I’m sure it will get discussed quite seriously at the next strategy group meeting. It’s an important and vital role and it’s vital that the teams have trust and faith in the governing body that they can discuss their technical know-how, their technical secrets in many respects, which cost millions and millions of pounds, in confidence that that information doesn’t have the ability to end up in a rival team.

FV: First, we need to know where Marcin will go but I agree with Christian, it is a big issue, because the FIA is fully aware of all the teams’ project and at the end of the day if we can’t be open with the FIA it’s a tricky situation. But first we need to know where Marcin will go.

OS: I do agree and it would have been nice to know the notice period. Three months I don’t think is long enough and had we known it was three months earlier, perhaps we would have hired him. But I think three months is nowhere near long enough.

What is?

OS: I think a year. I mean, it has to be long enough such that the technology that he is aware of becomes, if not obsolete, then not leading edge. There are some sporting regulations as well that prohibit us from selling current-year cars for exactly the same reason. The cars have to be at least one year before we can dispose of them and it’s for that reason and I think notice periods should follow along the same lines.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) For the other two gentlemen: what do you think would be an appropriate time, one year or more?

FV: For sure, one year would fit with the spirit of the regulations but three months is really too short.

CH: I think industry standard for the type of role that Marcin has been performing would be anywhere between 12 and 18 months. We would look to place senior personnel within our team on at least 12 months.

Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) To all three of you: How can concerning was what we saw at the end of the session, with Romain Grosjean going off?

FV: For sure it was a huge crash. I am not an expert on the drain cover but I think we have to find a solution for tomorrow because it will be very, very risky, but I think that the FIA is focused on this point and I hope that we will be able to find a solution for tomorrow morning.

Christian you have experienced this before.

CH: Yeah, we had an incident quite a while back similar to that. The good thing is that nobody was hurt. Obviously the session was stopped and I’m sure all the covers here will be inspected rigorously before tomorrow’s running. I’m pretty confident and hopefully we won’t see a repeat issue.

Otmar?

OS: I think it just teaches that in future we should do it before it happens, have good inspection before something like this happens.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This question’s for Christian, since your announcement with Aston Martin for 2018, social media has been very creative coming up with some liveries for next year – would you be considering taking some of those ideas from social media, maybe getting the fans involved – because Red Bull’s very good at fan engagement.

CH: We enjoy the work we do on social media, we have great interaction with the fans and followers of the teams. The livery is pretty much decided for next year but it’s great to see people’s interpretations and ideas and they should keep putting them out there.

Have you seen anything that’s on the right track?

CH: No!

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christian, your team has recently published its financial results – or rather submitted them, filed them with Companies House. When I look at them, first of all, there’s about a £40million contribution from the parent company, but apart from that your budget’s about two and a half times the size of Otmar’s. Do you actually get 250 per cent the value compared to theirs or is this not really proof that there should be some form of budget cap in place?

CH: Well, I think what you have to look at is what are the cost-drivers in Formula One, and they are absolutely the sporting and technical regulations. We see costs spiralling out of control. We’re not by any means the biggest spender in Formula One as you’re well aware. And I think what’s going to be fascinating to see, hopefully over the next month or so, is what are Liberty’s and FIA’s plans regarding the future – because a budget cap becomes far less emotive if it goes hand-in-hand with sporting and technical regulations that absolutely deal with the costs, because they are the cost drivers. So I think, if the sporting and technical side are dealt with, some form of cap will be easier to bring in but if you put all of the pressure on the cap, then it becomes an accounting world championship and I think that some of the issues we have today with disparity of performance, with the amount of spend that’s going on, with the situation that’s regarding… Red Bull Racing is the only British registered team to be registering a profit, albeit a moderate one, and that shouldn’t be right in this level of sport.

Otmar?

OS: We welcome a budget cap or some cost controls within the sport. I mean, even with a cap I don’t think we’ll have the resources to spend up to it but I think it will help reduce some of the disparity in performance and that can only be good for the fans.

Fred?

FV: Yeah, we spoke about this in Monza, as I told you, I think the cap won’t be an issue for me.

CH: Just coming back on Dieter’s point, I think one of the key things within Red Bull’s cost is how much goes into promotion, and promotion of the sport as well, that are contained within that budget. I think Red Bull does more than any other team on the grid with its running show car activities around the world, with the way that we try to promote not just the team and the brand but obviously the sport in general as well.

September 29, 2017
2017 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

PART TWO: DRIVERS – Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso), Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

Q: Pierre, the moment has finally come, you make your Formula One debut. You’ve had to be patient – how does it feel?

Pierre GASLY: It feels amazing, honestly. Starting my first Formula One race this weekend is just a dream coming true for me. I worked really hard these past few years to make it happen and had to be patient but yeah, it’s worth it and I’m just so excited and really looking forward to this weekend.

Q: So is it your expectation, understanding that this is a prelude to racing a full season next year in 2018 – and what are the plans around trying to finish off and win the Super Formula series this year?

PG: It’s a really good question. At the moment I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in the next couple of weeks, so I’m just focussing, fully focussing on the weekend, trying to do my best, learn as quickly as possible. It’s a great opportunity for me to start next to Carlos who is on top of his game at the moment. So really good benchmark for me and I’ll try to learn as quickly as possible, focus on the weekend and then we’ll see what’s going to happen in the next few weeks a bit later.

Q: Marcus, coming to you, you’ve obviously got very strong connections at Sauber but how does that square with all the initiatives going on around the junior Ferrari drivers? Where does it all leave you?

Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, nothing is done at the moment for me, so yeah, I need to keep pushing and do good, the last couple of races now to show that I deserve to be in F1 next year – so it’s important for me now, even though we are struggling a bit as a team to keep up with the other guys, it’s still very important races for me. So, yeah, big push needed.

Q: The strategy of using the year-old Ferrari engines is clearly beginning to hurt now: everyone else is making real progress. What are you working on at the moment in terms of finding performance.

ME: Yeah, like you say, with the old power unit it’s always going to be difficult towards the second half of the season. And now we’re really see in the last couple of races that we’ve been lacking quite a lot compared to the competition, so it’s tough – but we need to still, as a team, keep pushing and keep motivated and do the best we can to maximise the performance, and we can see crazy races, like in Singapore, it was an opportunity with a lot of things happening with the rain there – so it’s these types of circumstances that can play into our hands. Here in Malaysia as well, the weather can really play a big part. We need to be there to maximise and try to take the opportunities. I thing that’s the important thing to keep the motivation high and keep pushing as a team.

Q: Carlos, obviously a career-best finish in Singapore on the weekend that your new deal with Renault was confirmed. What part did that good news play in the race outcome, do you think?

Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, it was a great weekend all around, first with the news on Friday, then with Q3 on Saturday, fourth place on Sunday, probably one of my best weekends in Formula One, for sure. It didn’t really affect me, to be honest. I did everything that I’ve done this year. It just happened to be my best result in Formula One which is – on the other hand – quite nice to do it on that exciting weekend, no? Very proud of it. We did celebrate a bit on Sunday but at the same time, from one day onwards I was watching videos of previous years in Malaysia and I turned the page pretty quickly.

Q: You’re only seven points, I think it is now, behind Williams in the battle for fifth in the Constructors championship so with the recent form of both teams and the tracks coming up, do you think it’s possible to finish ahead of them?

CS: I think we have our chances but we will need to work hard, very hard to achieve it. We will need to be doing things really right on Sundays. We know that our pace at the moment is not the fastest of the midfield but we also know that on Sundays we have our little chances to score extra points and we need to make sure that whenever there’s a chance – like in Singapore – to score good points we do it because that’s what makes the difference in the midfield, when you have a race where you can score a lot of points. So hopefully, together with Pierre, we can achieve that target, also keeping an eye on Renault, McLaren behind us in the championship who are definitely starting to come on very strong towards the end of the season.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Carlos, you’ve known Pierre for a long time, what are your thoughts on him as a teammate and what kind of advice can you give him?

CS: Well, first of all congratulate him because I remember back to my first Formula One race in 2015, it was a very special day, very special weekend. I think he deserves his chance in Formula One. He has done everything right to be here and I’m also sure Red Bull wouldn’t put anyone into our car that isn’t capable of being on the pace straight away and scoring points and helping the team, no? So extremely happy for him. I’ve raced him in World Series, I know how fast he is, I know the big talent he is so very happy for him.

Q: (Manuel Franco – Diario AS) Carlos, for the second time, you will not be in free practice one for the Grand Prix. What is your opinion about this? Is it a problem for you?

CS: Let’s say that I’m not happiest man, knowing that I will, for the second consecutive time, miss free practice one. Obviously at Singapore it turned out to be good because we still managed to get into Q3 and P4 but in a tougher weekend like Malaysia when I expect to have more to do in FP1, FP2, FP3 but hopefully like in Singapore we can do our best and come back strong like we did there.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Pierre, Esteban Ocon told us the delightful story about how you got into motor sport by testing his go-kart for the very first time. If you could expand on that and also how you felt when you saw him get into Formula One? Have you ever felt that you were going to lose out, because it took you a bit longer to get here eventually?

PG: It’s a pretty long story with Esteban and I think we got to know each other since we were six years old. We are living more or less in the same place and we kind of grew up together in karting. I was happy for him when he got his opportunity in F1. It was first with the Gravity programme and afterwards with Mercedes and then he had the opportunity during his DTM season to go with Manor. It’s great for him but we were in different programmes; I was with Red Bull and I had to wait a bit longer for my opportunity but I never really compared my little career so far with his one. That’s about it.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Pierre, possibly next season there could be four French drivers on the grid. How great is this for you and for French racing: you could be up against Leclerc and Grosjean; how good would that be?

PG: It would be amazing for French people, you know, also with the French GP coming back on the calendar. I think that’s a great opportunity for us as French drivers. It would be amazing to be all together, racing in Formula One. I remember 2005, I think, in karting, I raced together with Esteban and Charles in minikart. To imagine that we might be racing all together again in Formula One is something special. I think it’s good to have many French drivers, especially in 2018 with the French GP.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Pierre, how do you handle this situation? You have two Grands Prix. You must probably do something to show at least the potential to be in Formula One. You’re very young, it’s not so simple to handle this situation, at least emotionally. Technically it may be easier.

PG: At the moment, I don’t know how many races I’m going to do in F1 so there is nothing confirmed. The team told me to focus on this weekend and try to do my best. I’ve been competitive in lower series, I’ve won the EuroCup in two litres, finished second behind Carlos in 3.5, I won the GP2 and they sent me to Japan this year and I’m fighting for the championship with one race to go. The pace will come. I think Formula One is brand new for me, it’s my first GP but there is no real target. Of course I’m here to learn as quickly as possible and to perform and perform with the team but at the moment, I think I need to take each session at a time, learn as quickly as possible next to Carlos and then we will see where we are. For me, I’m really excited about it, I’ve been dreaming about this weekend so many times and it’s finally happening so I’m just excited, I’m also a big competitor so of course I want to do well but then I also need to be objective, coming in with six races to go. For me, there will be many things to learn and I’m just going to try to do my best to learn as quickly as possible.

Q: (Daniel Hicks – AFP) Pierre, when did you find out that you would be racing this weekend, because we only found out this week; and how difficult is it to prepare when you have such short notice that you’re going to be racing?

PG: Of course I knew there were things going on with Red Bull but I didn’t know exactly what and then I travelled from Japan on Monday, I was racing last weekend in Super Formula in Sugo and then I travelled from Tokyo to Malaysia on Monday and then when I got here I received a text saying that I might be driving this weekend. I got really excited about it. Of course, tried to sleep Monday night, even though it was a bit difficult with all the excitement and then Tuesday morning I had the confirmation that it was confirmed and official and I was going to drive; amazing moment and great news.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Carlos, you’re effectively on loan to Renault next year, so you don’t belong to Renault, you actually still belong to Red Bull. Where will your loyalties lie; will you be driving a hundred percent for Renault or will you have your eye more on the following season with Red Bull for example?

CS: No, not at all. I think I will be obviously in my head a Renault driver and I will give everything I can to that team, to that manufacturer and in the future we will see but it’s not something I will think about during my 2018 season because my full focus needs to be in 2018 with Renault, no, although at the moment my focus is with Malaysia, Toro Rosso.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Pierre, you’re living the dream now, you’re here and you’re doing this on the last Malaysian Grand Prix. What are your thoughts and feelings on that?

PG: For me, as you say, I’m living the dream at the moment. It’s pretty hectic since Tuesday. Everything’s going on and I’m just really excited about this last race. For me, I’m sure I will remember this weekend for the rest of my life. When you have such a dream coming true, to do it on the last Malaysian GP… I don’t know if we’re going to come back one day, probably on this track but for sure it’s a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) And to Carlos and Marcus, what are your thoughts on this final Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend?

ME: It’s a bit sad seeing Malaysia go. I think it’s a track that has a good mix of everything and also there have been some really good races here in the past in Formula One so yeah, in that way it’s a bit sad seeing it go.

CS: From my side, I rate the Malaysian Grand Prix very highly. It’s probably one of the best track layouts we get to race on over the whole year with the fast corners, high grip tarmac like last year. On top of that, it is the most physically demanding track, or one of the most physically demanding, which makes it also quite special and quite a challenge for us so to miss it, yes, we will definitely miss it. Never say never, it can always come back hopefully.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Carlos and Pierre, obviously you’ve got the drive, Pierre that Daniil Kvyat is being kind of nerfed aside. Do you feel sorry for him at all, or isn’t there any room for this kind of feeling in Formula One?

CS: Let’s say that in the middle of a season when you are so focused on your driving in 2017 you cannot really be affected by what’s going on in the other side of the garage. I’ve switched teammates in Formula One a few times now and I remain focused on my own job, trying not to think what goes on the other side, also because with Red Bull it just works like that. You need to be ready for that. I haven’t had the chance to speak with Daniil yet because I’ve been focused on this weekend but I’m sure I will.

PG: For me, I didn’t have the chance to talk with him yet but of course unfortunately that’s how it works in this sport and being in my position, before I came to F1, I was waiting for this chance and then I had to take the seat of someone else. Of course I feel sorry for him, I think he’s a really good driver, talented and unfortunately it’s happening and I’m going to take his seat but I’m pretty sure we will see him back on the grid at some point maybe. We will see what’s going to happen in the near future.

September 28, 2017
2017 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Start with a question to all of you. Clearly a painful moment in Singapore, three cars eliminated on the first lap of the grand prix, how do all three of you assess it now and how do you move forward?

Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think there’s much assessment necessary. Obviously on Sunday all three of us were unhappy, but you move on.

Max VERSTAPPEN: It happened, you know. You can’t change it any more — it was just a very unfortunate moment. But there’s nothing you can do about it — we just come here and we try again.

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really anything. Obviously moved on since Sunday, since the weekend.

Q: Sebastian, you’re a four time winner here. Since the summer break you’ve gone from a 14 point championship lead to a 28 point deficit to Hamilton. You’ve obviously seen quite a fluctuation throughout this year and in your previous title-winning years. Do you still think it’s possible to get back on terms? Or do you rely on him to have problems?

SV: I don’t know. I think we have a lot of races left. I think we have a strong car. I’m not too fussed about the amount of points. Obviously it’s never good to be behind, I’d like to be in front but we’re not so I’m not thinking about that.

Q: Max, it’s your 20th birthday on Saturday. You’re committed obviously to Red Bull for next year. What kind of progress does the team need to make next year to satisfy you?

MV: I think for next year, the team and I, we want to win, so that’s our priority and we’ll see what happens afterwards.

Q: And Kimi, it’s the 19th and last Malaysian Grand Prix. You’ve raced in most of them, all but three, and you got your first win here. What do you think this event has contributed to the world championship over the years?

KR: I think to start with it’s a very nice circuit, I think there’s been quite good racing over the years here. I think the layout obviously helps that, and conditions have been always tricky. I think everybody has got more used to it since the early days, but nevertheless I think the racing has been good and that’s the main thing. Obviously all the rest, it doesn’t matter because we are here for racing and if that’s good then that’s fine.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Question to Sebastian. A 28 point gap is tough for sure, but in some ways could it help you because there is maybe less pressure and you don’t have anything to lose?

SV: I don’t look at it that way. I think it depends on the points you have at the end of the year or not, so yeah. As I said, if you would choose you want always to be ahead. I would rather not be a little bit behind, but overall it doesn’t change anything for how you tackle the last six races from here.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Leaving aside yourselves, who would you each nominate as the most able driver out there, the best?

MV: I find that one really difficult. I think you can only compare with your teammate, because you don’t know what’s going on in the other teams. Also, the car you know, it can suit you better, so I don’t know to be honest.

SV: I agree with Max, I don’t want to answer.

KR: I think it’s pointless to answer this one. It’s up to you guys, you’re very good on it at least over the years, so do it again and we can obviously read it then.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Question for all three of you. Nineteen years of Malaysian Grand Prix, this is the final one. What have been some of your fondest memories of this race?

SV: Obviously it’s a while ago, but for sure one of the nicest ones was 2015, my first win with Ferrari. It certainly was very special — we came here early in the season, at the very beginning of my time with Ferrari. There’s still a lot of very nice memories coming up, I’m thinking about that day, and how the race happened, what happened after the race. I had a really good time. I think the other races, I’m not sure I remember all of them, but 2013 obviously was a bit of a special one — which came with a bit of noise after the race — but still I think it was a good race.

MV: Well, I haven’t done that many races but I always enjoy coming here. It’s a good track, and I think last year it was good to be second. I would have preferred to win, of course, but still you know for the team it was a great day. That’s my fondest memory. Hopefully this weekend will be better.

KR: Obviously I won my first race here, it was a while ago now, but it obviously meant a lot. Then there was the win in 2008 with Ferrari, I mean it was a good fight with Felipe and obviously good memories, some bad memories over the years, but that’s when you go many times in the same place that will happen — you have some good years and some not so good. But it’s been pretty good.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. You seem to have got over Singapore quite quickly, quite easily. How do you put that frustration aside so easily?

SV: Well, I think it would have been more difficult if I had lost the car somewhere in the race and it’s obviously different but with collision at the start like that, I think we all three after the race, that was when we had to go to the stewards. What can you do? The lights went off, obviously, we did our starts, everyone was trying to move at the start and it was the way it happened. It ended up really bad for all three of us and that was it. Obviously I could continue a little bit more, but the damage was so bad that I had to stop anyway. Not much you can do — I think it’s part of racing. It’s also not the first time I’ve been in a situation like this and probably it will not be the last time. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but it’s part of racing. It happened, there’s not much you can do, and therefore not much point in trying to look at it again and again, I think it’s much better if your time and energy is spent looking forward.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) This is more or less in line with the last question to Sebastian and Kimi. Sebastian, you are the leader of the championship since the beginning of the season till Monza, and then you lost it and you saw your one race lead to 20 points. What is the psychological impact of that in you and in the team? Will you discuss it so that it does not interfere in the rest of the season?

SV: I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss. As I said, with things like this happening, what can you do? We could have had major problems with the car, or I might have made a mistake, and it might be a different story. There’s something you need to change, some way you need to react quickly to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and it might be a different story. Looking at it now, obviously there’s been one race where we didn’t finish. Certainly didn’t help that Lewis scored a lot of points, but that’s the way it goes. Certainly we would all three love to have had a different race, championship yes or no. We just want to race, and that’s what we set out to do in Singapore. All three of us didn’t get very far.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Sebastian. At the beginning of this race, will you go about it in any, will you try to protect your lead, maybe be slightly less rash? How will you, what will be going through your mind on lap one of the race? And b, everyone’s saying — all the experts — that the next five races or so all suit the Merc rather than the Ferrari. How do you respond to that? You obviously I guess believe it’s all still alive?

SV: Some might say that in order for them to remain experts we have to prove them wrong every now and then, otherwise they will maybe be out of a job if they are never wrong! The second thing is I wanted to say it was flattering that you said ‘when on Sunday you are starting from the lead’ — providing, obviously, that we qualify on pole, so it’s nice to have you on board as a fan! Not really. Every start is different, and the way Singapore happened you can look at it again and again; it doesn’t matter. First of all it’s done, and second I think it was pretty unfortunate for all three of us so we want to move on. Having said that, I can’t promise you now what will be on my mind on Sunday when I leave the grid, but normally I don’t, I never thought about the last race, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be focussed on seeing what I can do on that race start on Sunday.

Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for Max. It was obviously not your first frustration this season. Do you still expectations for this race or is that already something you completely don’t have before a new race because of all the frustration you have?

MV: I’m here, I always try to do well. It’s not my year in terms of Sunday finishes, but in general you have to try to stay positive, and to look at the positives. I think the speed is there, so we need to try again here in Malaysia, and see how competitive we are. It’s a bit difficult to say. But last year I think was pretty alright, and we’ll just try again.

Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for all three drivers. How do you guys cope with the heat during a race weekend like this? Do you have any tips and tricks during the race? Is the preparation different?

KR: I don’t think it’s an awful lot different, really. It’s obviously a bit more hot than other races, Singapore is quite hot. At least myself, I don’t feel that we do an awful lot different things and it’s probably drink a bit more, but that’s about it. It doesn’t feel too bad in the past, at least in the car, you more feel it in the practice when you keep stopping in the box and all the heat comes from there, but during the driving it’s not too bad.

Q: Sebastian? How much do you need to drink before the race in terms of litres?

SV: I don’t know, I generally try and hydrate, I think everybody does. You’re always thirsty, and you sweat a lot, but you stay hydrated — there are no big secrets. I think at some point you try and not to drink too much because you don’t want to stop during the race doing another stop if you know what I mean, yeah. Once you go normally you sweat so much that it’s not really a big problem. Normally they say you should drink around two litres a day, at least, here I think it’s at least double on race day, maybe a bit more.

Max, any special preparations?

MV: I agree with what Sebastian and Kimi said.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max. When you say you’re looking at next season, and we’ll see what happens after this, do you have a specific target in mind in terms of race wins? What are you actually aiming for next season?

MV: I want to be able to fight for the championship. If you win one race and you win the championship, that’s wonderful. It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment, when you’re not in that position. Hopefully we are next year, but it’s a bit too early to say so. We just have to wait and see till we go to Melbourne.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. How would you feel about Max joining you one day at Ferrari. And to Max, how would you feel joining Ferrari with Seb.

SV: I don’t know. I feel that you need to be prepared to race anyone on the grid, so obvioiusly Max is still quite young and has more years left than we have, but yeah, you never know. Obviously I have a longer contract now than him but Formula One… some things they take time. Other things they tend to change very quickly. So it’s a bit pointless to look too far into the future. For now I think we are pretty calm inside the team: myself; everyone – because we know what’s going on this year, what’s going on next year and then I think it’s more for the team as well…

Max, your side of that.

MV: Yeah, I mean, to be honest I don’t want to look too much in the future. I just want to focus on the job I have now and try to finish it off in a good way this season and then for next season, I know where I am and, well, before we finish next season is still such a long time, so, just have to wait.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian and Kimi, the last results of the team were not so good: Monza and Singapore. Do you think it’s due to circumstnaces of the competition or maybe again Mercedes did a step forward that Ferrari didn’t and could not follow it, concerning the project of the six rounds to the end of the season?

SV: It’s normal. It’s the way that people look at the races. If you then highlight the last two, certainly they were not good. We’re not proud, not happy with them. Singapore is fairly quickly explained: didn’t make it very far and then in Monza I think we didn’t do our best, Saturday and Sunday, probably a bit of a combination and, equally, Mercedes was very strong. So yeah, it’s been very tight all season. At Monza we didn’t have a very good weekend and lost a little bit, but still, I think we had a very good recovery from the Saturday that we had. So, yeah, I think it you look at those two races you can argue that they were not great – but I think it’s mostly Singapore where we didn’t race. Monza, I think third was not that bad, given that we were just not competitive to fight for the win.

Kimi, your perspective.

KR: Not really different. Singapore, Seb was first in the qualifying, I was fourth. So, if you purely compare to Mercedes, it was better. Obviously the race didn’t go that way but I don’t see why you would look at everything so negative. It’s your question, obviously. It’s up and down: some circuits are better for one guy and others for other guys – but it’s a normal story, every year it’s the same thing: some races go better, others not and there’s so many reasons for those. In the end the whole season is one season and in the end wherever the points are, are the best. It’s pointless to look at one race here, one race there. It’s over the whole year.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for the two Ferrari guys and one for Max. The two Ferrari guys, I would like to know if you talked, after the Ferrari race to the president Marchionne. What did he say to you? And the second question, if you think you have the same chance here as Singapore, and for Max, if you lost the last chance to win a race this year, due to the characteristics of the track there in Singapore – or there is some other track that you can stay in front, and fight for the victory?

OK, Sebastian, have you spoken to the president?

SV: No, I haven’t. Not spoke but I’ve been in contact. Obviously not a great day, as you can imagine. Fairly quickly, the response also from the whole team has been very positive. It’s been a bad day, no doubt about it but I think by Monday – Tuesday, everybody moved on and there has been a lot of excitement in the factory. We had family days last weekend which obviously is very special for all the team members and all the Ferrari employees, so there has been a lot of positives, to be honest, and yeah, what’s done is done. You have to look at what’s coming. And that’s what we are excited about. The car is strong this year, we know that, we’ve seen that, so there’s plenty of positives to look forward to. And, yeah, I think that partly answers your second question, if the car will be competitive here. I think there’s so many things on paper and you tend to look and you tend to say one way or the other – but we have to go here, and that’s the good thing about racing, the part that I enjoy. You go here and you find out. That’s what you fight for, you fight for every centimetre, every tenth that you can find somewhere, over a lot of laps in the race or over one lap in quali, to make the difference. So, I’m sure that, as a team, we can make that difference.

What’s your feeling Kimi? Is this a track that you think the Ferrari, as you feel it, will go well around, compared to Mercedes?

KR: Very hard to answer. It’s like any weekend when we go we don’t really know our self any more than any of you guys. You are always guessing a bit how it’s going to be and hoping the best – and then we will see tomorrow some ideas. To be honest, some weekends you seem to start a bit better and more straightforward and everything seems to go more easily, and some you have to… you struggle a bit to find the right way and then come Saturday it turns out to be pretty OK, so, it’s impossible to really answer. I’m feeling we should be OK here, but I might be wrong. I might be right. I don’t know.

Max, did you feel that was the last, best chance to win a race – or is there another one that you can see that Red Bull might win before the end of the year?

MV: It was definitely a good opportunity of course in Singapore. But never say never. A lot of things can happen. As you can see, the lights go out in Singapore and there are immediately three cars out. So, yeah, you have to stay positive and we’ll see what happens.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. I just wanted to get your thoughts on Charles Leclerc who’s going to drive in first practice for Sauber. Quite a promising driver, lot of expectation surrounding him.

SV: Well, I mean, in terms of expectations, I think he has proven enough so I don’t think you need to have high expectations. Obviously he’s helped us a lot developing this year’s car, done a lot of work on the simulator and had a fantastic season so far in GP2, bit up and down at times but the speed I think has been quite incredible. I’m sure he’ll do well. I don’t think he needs a word of advice, or yeah, any sort of expectations. He looks like he loves racing, enjoys that, and that, I think, for me is the key recipe.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) for all drivers, what will you miss from Malaysia next year when we are not returning?

MV: I think the track in general. I always enjoyed driving the track, so I think that’s the biggest part we’ll miss. The heat, to be honest, maybe not so much.

SV: I don’t know, I don’t think there’s one specific thing. It’s the mixture of the circuit, the conditions, the element of rain at any time during the day being possible. Yeah, I think it’s provided very good racing. I’m not obviously involved in why we’re not racing here any more but, who knows, maybe we’re back after a year break or two. I don’t know.

KR: To be honest, I don’t know if we’re going to miss it. It’s a nice circuit but the only thing you see is the airport, the hotel next to the airport and the circuit, so you can choose from that what you’re going to miss.

Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Question for Max again. You already mentioned your birthday. Is there time in a busy race weekend to spend some attention on a birthday, to do something for a birthday – or not?

MV: Well, it’s so humid here and warm, you make a cake but who wants to eat cake on such a warm day?

SV: I do!

MV: I’ll bring it to the garage before quali.

SV: ten to three…

MV: It’s fine. Do I need to serve you as well in the car?

SV: Yeah, five to three.

MV: OK, I’ll wait a bit in Q1 and then go out…

SV: No! Actually the quali’s at five…

MV: OK, that’s a plan then…

September 28, 2017
F12017: Malaysian Gp Preview – Must Win For Ferrari

To finish first, first you must finish. These are likely the words that have been rolling around Sebastian Vettel’s mind following the start-line crash in Singapore, which now has him at a 28-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton.

There’s little doubt that this weekend’s Malaysian grand prix is vital for Ferrari’s and Vettel’s championship aspirations. The Formula 1 paddock travels little more than 300 hundred kilometers to Sepang, just outside the city center of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia for this weekend’s 15^th round of the 2017 season.

The Malaysian circuit, famed for its hot and humid conditions, has been on the F1 calendar since 1999 and is making its final appearance in 2017. As, arguably, Herman Tilke’s most-liked circuit design the Sepang International circuit is one of the biggest technical challenges of the season. It’s combination of medium and high-speed corners and the ever-present long back- and start/finish straits means that somewhere drivers and teams will have to compromise on the car set-up.

Some in the paddock will have you believe that the Mercedes will stroll to victory this weekend given that the Malaysian circuit suits the Silver Arrow to a tee. While the strengths of the Mercedes are likely to be highlighted by the more aero-dominant sector of the lap Ferrari are unlikely to simply be reduced to also-rans. Kimi Raikkonen believes that Ferrari can be in the mix for victory this weekend. “You [the media] assume that it’s difficult. We don’t,” said Raikkonen.

“We go there [to Malaysia], it’s another race, another weekend, and we go there full of fight and we’ll do our best”. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene echoed Raikkonen’s sentiments by saying that the battle is not over but has simply become more difficult.

While the two main rivals in the 2017 championship dominate the headlines what then of Red Bull cheekily snatching the prize from both of them. The stats suggest that the Austrian team has indeed made significant progress since the start of the season. And while they’ll be snapping at the heels the top step of the podium, barring unreliability, crashes, or a sudden and opportune cloud-burst, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are unlikely to have the raw pace to match Merc and Ferrari.

As if to add more intrigue to the mix Ferrari and Mercedes have chosen different tyre strategies for this weekend too. With the medium, soft, and supersoft compounds available Mercedes has chosen to focus more on the yellow-walled soft tyre. With five sets available to Hamilton Mercedes have looked especially strong on the soft tyre on several occasions this season. In contrast, Ferrari has chosen to focus on the supersoft compound by selecting nine sets each for Vettel and Raikkonen with Red Bull taking a similar approach to Ferrari. The weather forecast, never devoid of the threat of a thunderstorm, predicts scorching temperatures for the duration of the weekend, which could swing the advantage to Ferrari and the supersoft compound.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel must win the Malaysian grand prix in order to keep their championship hopes alive. Ferrari has been adamant that they are, categorically, not out of the championship. It’s time now to underscore their bullish belief where it matters most – on track.

September 27, 2017
Gasly In, Kvyat Out at Toro Rosso

The Toro Rosso Formula One Team announced today that young rookie Pierre Gassly will replace Daniil Kvyat at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

This will be the Frenchman’s debut as a Formula 1 driver and will be in the driving seat for the next few races.

Speaking about Gasly’s debut Toro Rosso Team Principal Franz Tost: “Scuderia Toro Rosso was established by Red Bull to bring youngsters from its Junior Programme into Formula 1 and that’s what we are doing by giving Pierre this chance.

“He is the next in line at Red Bull for this opportunity and he has shown that he deserves it, having taken the 2016 GP2 title and this year being very competitive in the Super Formula series in Japan. He really has a valid chance of winning the title, as he is only half a point behind the leader.

It is, however, not the end of the road for Kvyat according to Tost saying that the Russian has his fair share of bad luck, and that his mistakes that he has made so far has hindered his ability to show his potential.

“The driver switch gives us an opportunity to make a more informed decision regarding our 2018 driver choices,” added Tost.

“For a variety of reasons, some of them due to technical problems, but others being mistakes of his own making, Daniil Kvyat has not really shown his true potential so far this year, which is why we are standing him down for the next races.

“This will give us the opportunity to evaluate Pierre on track during a proper race weekend.”

According to reports, Gasly would have been at Toro Rosso sooner had Renault’s Jolyon Palmer accepted an early exit deal from Renault. This move would’ve allowed Carlos Sainz to switch to Renault freeing up the space left by Sainz for Gasly. With Palmer reluctant to give up his seat, this was the next alternative for Toro Rosso.

“I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get this chance in my motor racing career and specifically, Red Bull, Dr. Helmut Marko and Scuderia Toro Rosso…this is a great opportunity for me,” said Gasly.

“I feel as ready as I can be, having had to be prepared for anything in my role as Red Bull Racing’s third driver this year. I will do my best to perform well with Scuderia Toro Rosso during these coming races.”

Photo credit: Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One

September 26, 2017
F12017: Singapore Gp Review – Ferrari Pain, Hamilton Gain

IN 2008 Singapore became part of Formula 1 as the first night race on the calendar. Fast forward a decade and delivered another first by becoming F1’s first ever night race in the rain.

As uncertainty ran rampant the rain wasn’t enough to induce a safety-car start. Sebastian Vettel, after producing a scintillating lap on Saturday, lined up in pole position with Max Verstappen alongside. The Singapore grand prix should’ve been one where Ferrari could inflict serious damage, in terms of points, on Mercedes given that Hamilton and Bottas were fifth and sixth respectively. But yet again Formula 1 has proved itself to be the most unpredictable sport in the world.

Both the front-row starters, Vettel and Verstappen, were solid if unspectacular off the start-line. In contrast, the fourth-place starting Raikkonen hooked up his start perfectly and rocketed to the front. However, Vettel, in trying to cover his position swept across the track to block Verstappen not realizing that Raikkonen was on the other side of the Dutchman. It resulted in an enormous crash which brought an end to all three’s prospects and collected Fernando Alonso for good measure.

After the fact the crash was deemed a racing incident, and rightly so. While many would cast Vettel as the villain for cutting across the circuit this reasoning would be tenuous, at best. Firstly, Vettel wouldn’t have known that Raikkonen had made an amazing start and was on the other side of Verstappen. Some would argue too that Vettel shouldn’t have cut across the circuit in the manner that he did but consider the fact that any driver, in any conditions, in any race, would have done the same. In fact, cast your mind back two weeks to Hamilton cutting across the track in Italy, in exactly the same manner, to cover the Williams of Lance Stroll.

Whatever your opinion on the incident the one thing everyone would agree on is that it was a disastrous day for Vettel and Ferrari. Where he was expected to take back the lead in the driver’s standings Vettel leaves Singapore significantly on the back foot. Because through all the chaos Lewis Hamilton emerged in P1 and was never troubled on his way to the chequered flag. The expectation that Daniel Ricciardo could take the fight to the Merc was nipped in bud early on as the Aussie had to manage an oil leak from as early as lap 15.

Valtteri Bottas may have finished an uninspiring third but with it has ensured a more than one hundred point lead for Mercedes in the constructor’s standings.

In fourth Carlos Sainz delivered the drive of the day while Sergio Perez in the Force India snapped up fifth place. In sixth, and scoring his first points of the season, was Renault’s Jolyon Palmer who is to be replaced by Sainz in 2018.

Stoffel Vandoorne was able to translate his good form to a seventh place finish for McLaren while Lance Stroll, Romain Grosjean, and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.

As Ferrari rue what might have been Hamilton’s victory has gained him a twenty-eight point lead in the driver’s standings with six races remaining.

On such things do world championships turn.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 18, 2017
No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

The FIA race stewards have decided that no further action will be taken following the Turn 1 carnage at the start of the race for the Singapore Grand Prix which saw both Ferrari’s and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen collide subsequently putting them out of them out of the race.

After average starts from both Vettel and Verstappen, Vettel cut across the track to defend his position on the run to Turn 1. Raikkonen, who started 4th, had a better start that Verstappen who was lined up directly ahead of him on the grid. Raikkonen went down the inside of Verstappen and was almost clear of the Red Bull when Verstappen’s rear left tagged Raikkonen’s rear right, swinging the Ferrari around the front of the Red Bull and into the side of his team mate Vettel.

The move left Verstappen with no where to go and the “pincer” like movement executed by the Ferrari’s contact looked inevitable.

All three drivers were summoned to see the stewards after the race and after meeting with teams they decided that no driver was wholly to blame for the incident.

In a statement the stewards said: “The Stewards examined video evidence and heard from Sebastian Vettel,the driver of Car 5, Kimi Raikkonen, the driver of Car 7, Max Verstappen, the driver of Car 33 and the team representatives.

“Driver of Car 7 had a very good start and was able to attempt overtaking of Car 33 on the left hand side.

“At the same time, Car 5 which had a slower start, moved to the left hand side of the track; Car 33 and Car 7 then collided resulting in a chain collision with Car 5 and ultimately Car 14 (Fernando Alonso) at the next turn.

“Cars 7, 5 and 33 had to retire immediately as a result of the incident; and Car 14 retired some laps thereafter.

“The Stewards consider that no driver was found to have been wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident and will therefore take no further action.”

September 17, 2017
Sergio Perez Extends Contract at Force India for 2018

Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix race the Force India Formula One Team announced that they have extended Sergio Perez’s contract for 2018.

Perez was tipped to leave Force India but after Ferrari announced that they will retain the services of Kimi Raikkonen it shifted the big moves in the paddock to 2018.

“Staying with Sahara Force India was always my priority,” said Perez.

“It’s a team that has allowed me to show my talents as a driver and I feel very happy here.

“I’m proud of everything we have already achieved together and I think there is more to come.

“The team has done an amazing job this year to develop the car and establish our position as the fourth best team in Formula One. In the end it was an easy decision to continue our journey together.”

Perez’s deal is for one year which gives him the chance to make a switch to one of the rival teams on the grid.

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

September 17, 2017
2017 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(conducted by Will Buxton)

Sebastian, the crowd went crazy, the noise was huge when you crossed the line, and deservedly so. That lap was absolutely massive. You struggled yesterday, where did you find that time?

Sebastian VETTEL: Oh, I don’t know. I struggled also this morning, or this afternoon. I shouted probably as loud as them, it was unbelievable. I’m still full of adrenalin, so maybe whatever I say doesn’t make any sense but, yeah, I love this track. The car was tricky but it came alive and it was getting better and better and better as the night progressed, so really happy we got it done.

And these guys have been so quick, and there is no margin for error around this circuit. To take those kind of risks, to push… there’s a little bit down there, that’s how close you pushed, all the way to the edge and a little bit over it as well. In terms of laps you have set for pole position where does this one sit, because I can see you are shaking a little bit?

SV: I don’t know, I think I need to calm down first. But for now, very, very happy. The car was amazing and it’s an amazing track if you feel that the car is coming alove and you can do what you want to. I knew we had it in us; it was a bit of a struggle to get there, but now I’m just happy.

Huge. Many congratulations. Max, wow, it was going to take something special to beat you today and that was a special lap. But the pace you’ve shown all weekend, this has got to be promising for you?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it is. Just a shame we couldn’t put it on pole, I think the final lap was not great. But we were quite close and I’m pretty happy with that.

We’ve seen how hard Sebastian has had to push this weekend to beat you guys this weekend. It’s not the first time he’s done it. Are you hoping for more of that from him tomorrow?

MV: Hopefully for him, not. We’ll see. During the race it will be difficult to pass him so we will have to see in the first lap.

Awesome. Daniel, are you asking the man how he got that lap out of the car?

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m a little envious today. I will accept a little bit of defeat but I’m still confident we’ll get victory. I think we’ve got a good package. Seb turned it on in qualifying but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

So better race pace then them tomorrow?

DR: Yes.

Now Max… Daniel come down. Now last time you started alongside each other, back in Hungary, there was a little bit of a ding-dong between you on the first lap. There’s going to be none of that tomorrow. Christian isn’t going to be tapping his foot is he?

DR: What happened?

Is it all forgotten then?

MV: I mean that race happened. Now we’ve got Singapore. We’ve got great starting positions, so we don’t think about that.

Good stuff, thanks guys. Seb, have managed to calm the shakes down a little bit. Lewis is starting back on the third row of the grid tomorrow. How much do you need this win in the championship fight?

SV: I don’t know. I’m happy that we got the car where it deserved to be and we take it from there. Tomorrow is a long race; these guys are very, very quick. We had a difficult night yesterday, a better night today and I’m sure the car will be like today, tomorrow but I’m sure it will be a very close race.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Well, many congratulations Sebastian, your fourth pole in Singapore – bit of a specialist around this place – and your 49^th career pole, just one short of the magic 50. But a really open session, one of the most open sessions for a while. And one can just sense in the way you came over the radio at the end, not only a great effort but also a great emotion. Tell us the feeling?

SV: Yeah, it’s a long lap. There are a lot of corner – a lot of things to get right, and equally a lot of things you can get wrong. No, I’m really happy. Obviously the weekend so far has been a bit up and down for us. Yesterday was difficult. This afternoon was difficult. Tonight the car really came alive and it was just getting better. These guys were extremely quick. Q1, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to find a second and a half. But then, by Q2, the car was like a switch, from off to on – much better. I knew that the track would ramp up but probably I didn’t expect it that much. But, yeah, at the end, Q3 I was very happy with both my laps. A bit lucky in my final lap, because I brushed the wall quite severely out of 19. It was not just a little brush; it was actually a hit. I thought, “OK, I have to keep going”. It was fine until I approached the last corner; I had huge vibration. Thankfully there was only one corner left but I really pushed as hard as I could. I knew in the final run that even if I had the upper hand going in, these guys… the track would come up, these guys would have something in their pocket, so I needed to get it absolutely right. I was very relieved when I crossed the line. I looked at the screens behind and I waited for the call. I knew that Daniel was behind me so… I was very, very happy obviously. I think right now I’m starting to cool off.

While you’re doing that analytically, that’s the bit you can control. The bit you can’t control is where your championship rival is – Lewis Hamilton. He’s not only got these two cars between you and him, you’ve also got your team-mate as well. Just purely looking at the race, you must be pretty pleased about that?

SV: Yeah, I mean, we have a long race and a lot of things can happen. Certainly grid position is king or crucial, but still it’s a long race. The fact that our car was good this evening I think is promising for tomorrow. Yesterday we had a scrappy car, I lost the car, I had damage, so the runs after that were compromised. But the feeling was there. I knew that the car has got it, we just needed to get it out and that’s what we did tonight. I’m confident for tomorrow. For the others? Max is next to me, so first of all I guess I’m racing him and then Daniel and so on and so forth, so not too bothered where other people are. I think there is a long race ahead and there are a lot of things we need to get right, so we should focus on ourselves.

Q: Max, almost, almost that first pole, almost the first ever teenage Formula One polesitter. This place is all about ramping it up, as Sebastian’s just said, tell us why you couldn’t find that step in the final run in Q3.

MV: I think I did – just not as much as Sebastian but all in all I think the weekend was a good progression, getting better and better. And qualifying also was constant improvement. Even though the whole weekend we’re a bit down on power. I don’t know why, we couldn’t really solve it. Lost a bit of top speed there. It’s not idea but at the end of the day, to be second here, on this track, I think is very promising. We are not too far off so I can be quite happy with this qualifying.

Q: Daniel, we could tell by one of the radio messages partway through the quali, you couldn’t quite live with these two in the final part of qualifying. There’s clearly some disappointment there but you told us yesterday that you think you can win this race. You’re the man who takes his opportunities on a Sunday, do you still believe in it?

DR: Yeah, I still believe so. Today I’ll accept a little bit of defeat but there’s still a lot to play for tomorrow. For sure I would love to be in Sebastian’s position today. I thought pole would be on but yeah, we couldn’t quite run with him in that last qualifying. It’s a long lap, you gain a bit, you lose a bit, you kind of say ‘I could have got more there’ but I think the gap was, in the end – three or four tenths – was quite significant. So yeah, look at what we can do tomorrow. I think it’s really on the cusp of one and two stops, so it’s going to make it exciting. You might have to carry us out of the cars tomorrow but I’m sure I’ll have a very strong race and get, yeah, get some big points.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for all three of you. How much would you say your car is developing during qualifying session – just in terms of power output. Do you have something for Q3 special in the engine or is there nothing coming once you’re in the qualifying.

SV: Well I think it’s normal that you start off a bit more conservative and then ramp it up. If you look at the importance of the session Q1 is the least important – I mean it’s very important to get through but least important to set a really, really competitive lap time. Q2 you need to make it to the top ten, obviously I think the quick teams have the luxury that they have a very quick car and it’s not a big secret we run a bit more conservative in the beginning and then gradually progress so that by Q3 obviously yeah, we ask for maximum power.

Is the same true for the Renault engine, Max?

MV: Maybe not as much. A little bit. Fine tuning. We know that we have to still work hard to improve, so it’s still not, of course, where Ferrari or Mercedes is.

And Daniel?

DR: No further comments. I mean, once qualifying starts we pretty much put it all in, so yeah, no secrets for Q3.

Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Question to all of you. This race is usually one of the most demanding of the year in terms of physical conditions. What do you expect for tomorrow with the new cars – will it be much more harder than last year and how did you prepare for that?

DR: Eat lots of pizza, drink lots of alcohol. It’s really important to dehydrate yourself before you get here! No. These two… it’s funny, the irony is that we go from probably the least physical is Monza, all the long straights, and it’s normally a quick race in terms of time itself, so you go from the easiest race of the year to the two hardest with Singapore and Malaysia. So, all last week I was just home, training and trying to get acclimated to the hotter conditions. And yeah, how much you need to drink is something as well: so simple. Yesterday I felt like I had a bottle in my hand all day and I was still struggling to go to the toilet, you sweat it out so much, so yeah, you’ve just got to stay on top of it. End of tomorrow you’ll see it in our faces, and Malaysia as well.

SV: Just to get that straight, you were struggling to get to the toilet because you were struggling to keep balance because you were drinking so much, or…?

DR: ah…

SV: Don’t worry, you’ll get it back.

DR: So what do you do?

SV: Basically I think you try to prepare the whole year as much as you can. This year’s cars are more physical, I think that’s more fun. This race has always been the biggest challenge in terms of what it demands from the driver. It’s a very long track, a lot of corners, it’s hot, humid, a night race, so no room for error. Yeah, all these things together, the race is very long, as Daniel touched on, in terms of preparation, not so much I get. There’s no big secrets ramping up to the Grand Prix, you just try to be recovered once you get here. I like the Finnish culture so I did a couple of sauna intervals. Maybe that’s something special just to get used to the hot weather.

What about you Max, what did you do?

MV: I think you always try to prepare as well as you can but it’s always going to be hard. If you train a lot – or not, when you come here you’re going to sweat a lot. It’s just very tough because there are not a lot of straights where you can just rest – because even the straights here you have to turn a lot and you’re always busy. Bumpy. Lot of concentration going on because there are so many corners here, so for sure it will be a tough race – but hopefully when I’m in the lead I can just, like, slow down a bit and we can cruise home. Right? Is that OK for you? No?

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how do you change on the car between yesterday and this afternoon and tonight? How is the balance between your effort and the effort of the mechanics?

SV: I think it’s been phenomenal, the amount of work. Obviously yesterday we were a little bit caught off guard. The car wasn’t behaving the way we wanted it to but it’s been pretty special, I think: the amount of effort that has gone in overnight, the support from Maranello. Charles (Leclerc) has been in the simulator – usually it’s swapping between Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles so that’s very very important for us. They answered a lot of questions that we couldn’t, simply because we didn’t have time enough and a lot of questions remaining. And then, as I said, a lot of support from the factory, the guys down here – I don’t know when they went to bed, probably around lunchtime. The car was a lot better today but as I said, obviously with the conditions, I think it was helping us as well. The car really came alive towards the evening or throughout the evening, which I think is mostly the track. We went out very early this afternoon and very early in qualifying as well so maybe not ideal but the car was better today than it was yesterday, for sure.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, you are the winning-most driver here on this track; what is the secret to win so much on this track, which is…

SV: I guess I was lucky I didn’t brush too many walls. Usually I got it done by latest Saturday, like today. It’s a long race, anything can happen. For sure it helps the further up you start but still it’s a long race. I don’t know if there are any secrets. It’s always a place that I enjoy and it’s the sort of race that you want to go to to test yourself as well, because it’s such a big challenge, but equally you don’t want it to start because you know it’s going to be so tough. For sure I will be ready and excited to start tomorrow to see what we can do. For sure we’re in a good positon so we have lots of reasons to look forward to.

MV: Do you think you’ll have a good start?

SV: Yeah.

MV: I hope not.

DR: Your starts haven’t been that good, have they?

SV: Yeah, they have been. Monza, no, but the other ones have been.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) To all three of you: Seb, do you have a different risk assessment at the start in the first corner when you’re challenging against two guys who are not in the championship battle? And for Daniel and Max, the same question, just the other way around…

MV: Am I not in? Am I not in the championship battle?

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Probably not, sorry.

SV: I guess the answer to your question is no because I don’t think anybody on the grid has the intention to stop the race in the first corner. I think you’re focusing on the start and then you go from there. No, I guess is the answer to your question.

Q: Max, nothing to lose? Go for it from the start?

MV: Yeah, but controlled, right? I mean you always go for it if there is a gap and if it’s possible but if not you just settle down and you go into the race and like Sebastian said, it’s a very long race so a lot of things can happen.

DR: For sure, you know my intention is always to try and go forward. I think here, a track where it’s hard to pass, obviously the start is a big opportunity so yeah, the intention is to go for it but see what happens. It always seems to tighten up at turn one but we’ll see, see how we go. I think mathematically I can still win the championship so I might just play it real conservative and settle for a top six or something!

Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, you had a close look at the Red Bulls after the session, what did you find out about the cars?

DR: He misses us.

SV: It’s probably the best chance to… well, it looks like ours, yeah. I actually asked them yesterday already if they do the parts in blue as well because…

MV: Yeah, we can swap?

SV: Probably it’s the best time to look at the cars. I mean, what do I understand, basically, but it’s interesting to have a look.

MV: Emotional.

SV: Yeah, close to tears.

Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

September 16, 2017
2017 Singapore GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Zak BROWN (McLaren), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)

Q: Zak, let’s start with you. After much deliberation, you’ve separated from Honda. What was the tipping point, and what sacrifices do you have to make now?

Zak BROWN: Well, let me start James, and then I’ll come back and answer that question. I want to thank a lot of people because this has been quite a public process and involved a lot of people and required a lot of cooperation to get the outcome that I think was best for the sport. So, starting with the McLaren fans, they’ve been unbelievably supportive as we’ve been through a difficult three years and looking forward to next year. We’re very excited to be partnering with Renault and all the work that Cyril and his team have put in and then it took the collaboration of Christian, to my right, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and then last but not least Honda’s been a great partner. Obviously, we haven’t had the on-track results that we’d hoped for but they certainly gave it everything they’ve got. We felt it was time to move on, and then the FIA and Ross and Chase. So, there was a lot of people that had to come together to make this happen. Ultimately we knew… I don’t think there was a specific tipping point other than we knew we were in trouble in pre-season testing and we needed to improve upon our 2016 results. So, we knew we were in trouble then. We’ve spent quite a bit of time, most of it has been in the public domain, trying to find ways to get Honda competitive with us, and we ultimately couldn’t get there in the end – but great that they’re staying in the sport. Just want to thank everyone for their assistance. I think everyone’s going to be excited for Australia next year.

Q: So, does this mean Fernando Alonso will be staying with the team next year?

ZB: Well, we’re going to turn our attention to Fernando now. We’ve been speaking a lot, he’s been waiting to see what technical solution we came up with. He won his two championships with Renault. He’s very happy with the racing team, we’re very happy with him, so I think in the not too distant future we should be able to get something done and that’ll be the last big piece of the puzzle. Then I’ve got to find us some sponsorship with our commercial team and get ready for next year.

Q: Cyril, coming to you, we’ve heard from Honda and Toro Rosso in part one of this press conference, their side of the story, we’ve now just heard from McLaren. Tell us about the Renault side. The engine swap and Carlos Sainz coming to you.

Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, as mentioned by Zak, it’s been a fairly long and complex process for the number of parties that this was involving but I think that the solution reached is one that is good for all parties. It’s in particular one that manages to keep Honda in the sport, and I think it’s very important to keep diversity of manufacturers involved. As far as we’re concerned, it was not an easy decision. We know that we are making a competitor stronger. We know that very well. Having said that, the activity of Renault in Formula One, since 40 years that we are in Formula One is in particular articulated around what we are doing on the engine side: we are a car maker; the engine is at the core of the automotive. That’s what we have always been doing. We have been a works team on and off, we are currently ‘on’ – but it doesn’t remove anything to our engine activity that must be sustainable. In relation to that, what we want to do is to supply aspiration teams, great teams, great drivers. We’ve done 13 years with Williams with five championships, 12 years with Red Bull Racing, four championships as constructors, so we really look forward to the start of this new association with McLaren.

Q: Can you confirm exactly which teams you’ll be supplying with engines from 2019 onwards?

CA: Before 2019 there is 2018. And 2018 it is very clear those two gentlemen on my right, and one thing I must stress is they will get equity, and perfect parity of treatment between the Renault works team, McLaren and Red Bull…

ZB: You said we were going to get better stuff!

CA: Oh yeah! Sorry! This is a public one! So, this is something that matters. And in relation to 2019, obviously with McLaren today we are announcing a three-year partnership until 2020 and the rest, obviously, is a bit of speculation at this point in time with Red Bull Racing.

Q: OK, Christian, coming to you, what is Red Bull’s plan for engines form 2019 onwards? I understand that you alluded to this on TV earlier today.

Christian HORNER: No, I think what you are referring to, I was asked a question about Porsche coming in Formula One and I answered that very clearly that we have an existing relationship with an OEM that don’t make Formula One engines and obviously, that will continue. We are absolutely delighted for Toro Rosso with their Honda announcement. I think it’s great news for Toro Rosso, it’s great news for Honda, it’s great that they’re continuing with Formula One. Obviously, it’s facilitated that Zak has managed to get the Renault engine that he was craving and Carlos Sainz gets to further his career obviously in Cyril’s team while also remaining part of the Red Bull family. So, I think you have a rare occasion in Formula One where everybody’s happy.

Q: Does any of this make your job more difficult in securing the long-term commitment to Red Bull Racing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo?

CH: Well, both of our drivers are currently under contract at least for next year and it’s down to us to produce a good car, be competitive and then, of course, why would the drivers want to be anywhere else? We’re obviously not short of options on drivers but obviously, our preference is absolutely to retain the two that we have in the car at the moment.

Q: And just a final quick through from you, very strong performance today, particularly in FP2. Daniel was in here yesterday and he said he thought he might have a chance of winning this race. Does everything you’ve seen today – short runs, long runs – give you a bit of encouragement on that front.

CH: I think both guys have had a strong day today, particularly Daniel this evening had a strong session – but we didn’t really see Ferrari’s true hand, particularly on the short runs, and Mercedes always hold a bit up their sleeves – but it’s been certainly a positive day. I think Daniel’s invigorated by his new haircut that he turned up with the other day and obviously been using that air conditioning to good effect.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Cyril, you described 2019 as ‘speculation’ just then but have you told Red Bull already that you don’t want to supply them in 2019 – and if you have, how do you intend to… are you confident you’ll be able to stick with that given the undertakings you have to Formula One Management?

CA: Well, obviously Red Bull is well aware of the situation and right now we really want to focus on what’s certain – and what is certain is 2018. Any other year or situation will be looked at vis-à-vis different undertakings that we have with FIA. All manufacturers have got some obligation to supply, so the situation is fairly straight forward. I think that it’s more on the Red Bull camp to define what’s best for them medium- to long-term.

Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Zak, if I could just ask you, in the Renault press releases they talk about their mid-term goals and challenging for championships in 2020. This is a three year deal – do you see this as a short-term fix for McLaren – and is there any fear of Red Bull picking up a Honda power unit that has turned things around in the future?

ZB: No, this is not a short-term fix. At the end of the day no-one knows yet what the engine rules are in 2021, so I think it’s hard for anybody to look beyond 2020 because we don’t know what ’21 looks like. We think we’ve got a long-term partnership, the foundation for it. Renault’s got a great history in the sport, won a lot of championships with Red Bull, won a lot of championships themselves, so we’re very happy where we are: we think we’ll be very competitive together.

Any fear or Red Bull-Honda?

ZB: We’ve got great competition on both sides of me right now and Ferrari and Mercedes. I think probably what we’re most concerned about is not a Red Bull-Honda combination or any combination out there. We need to get budgets under control. I think the reason you see the gaps in the field now is the gaps in budgets between the top two teams and everyone else is way too big. The gaps seem to be getting bigger I think that’s something that Formula One is going to address. That’s probably where our biggest concern is: making sure we get a more level playing field. So, many teams can win races, ’21 onwards.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Cyril, Red Bull and McLaren build very good chassis. You’ll all have equal engines next year – what are you going to do to match them?

CA: Build a very good chassis! How? Well, frankly, if we are in Formula One it is not just to make up figures. It’s not just to participate. We are here with ambition at some point in order to challenge top team. Those two teams are top teams but there are two others in Mercedes and Ferrari. So, the problem is not just McLaren, it’s all teams that we must be able to fight against by 2020. In relation to that we are recruiting, we are investing, we are hiring obviously young drivers, we are finding new sponsors, we improve the commercial side of the business. We now have a sustainable association with McLaren, so all of these elements are playing a role in that target to be at the top by 2020.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Zak, you spoke about the inequitable budgets and pay outs and whatever else in Formula One. Your team and Christian’s team are two of the four teams that actually receive preferential payments and bonuses from Formula One management. You say you need to get budgets under control – that would tend to indicate that you’re talking about a budget cap of some type or other, as well as an equitable payment structure. All three of you, do you believe that budget caps should be introduced – and how do you feel about the figure of $150million that’s been discussed at the moment – excluding drivers, management and engines?

ZB: Speaking for McLaren, we’re a fan of budget caps. We think it’s important. Most other sports have it and it will equal the playing field. And we recognise that means, as you mentioned, we’re one of the four teams that get special payments, that might mean some compromise – but we feel if the sport is healthier ultimately that will benefit all of us. We’re a great racing team. There’s lots of great racing teams and we want to race and have the same chance as everyone else. The $150million number that we here, that sounds in the right ballpark. You get into a lot of detail: how do you handle CapEx, executive salaries, overhead etcetera, etcetera, so it’s quite complex – but the concept of the budget cap, yes, and the number of $150million seems to be in the right ballpark.

Q: Christian, do you and Red Bull’s owner Mr Mateschitz see things in the same way?

CH: I think we see things slightly differently. We’re fully in favour of reducing costs. I think the problem if you just introduce a budget cap with current regulations is that we’ll end up employing teams of accountants to find smart ways of circumventing the current set of rules. So, I think the biggest cost driver are the technical regulations – and I think FIA, FOM need to get those under control: to get the chassis-side under control, to clean up the cars – they’re starting to look far too messy in terms of all the appendages that are growing on them. And, of course, a key part of that also is the engine. We’re sitting here today with enormous engine bills because of the technology that are involved in these power units. The manufacturer obviously is bearing the brunt of the research and development costs of those engines that one has to question, what is the actual road relevance of? So I think there needs to be an absolute root and branch review of the regulations. I think once that is done, then you can potentially look at a budget cap – because it becomes a far softer mechanism than if you introduce the budget cap tomorrow, then with race teams incorporated as part of larger OEMs it would be almost impossible to effectively police the allocation of resource and spend and facilities, etcetera.

Cyril?

CA: Pretty much the view of both McLaren and Red Bull. I would tend to agree that if there is any form of cap or cost control mechanism through the regulation it should also encompass the engine – but not just the cost of supply but also the cost to develop the engine. That’s something we fell short so far. It’s complex – but I understand something that Ross Brawn and Liberty are taking very, very seriously and will come up with some proposal in the near future.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Cyril and possibly a comment from Christian, as part of the package deal that’s been done amongst the teams, you’ve now got Carlos Sainz for 2018. There’s been much speculation that he could be in a Renault seat before the end of this year. Is that something that is potential to happen and if so, Christian, would you be behind it?

CA: Yeah, you know I want to talk about realities. The reality is that Carlos will be in the car in Melbourne in 2018. Obviously your question makes reference to the situation of Jo, Jolyon Palmer. It’s a speculation that we – him and the team – have had to live with for… I don’t know how many races and frankly it’s really difficult on Jo and a bit unfair on Jo and the team and to a certain degree, it maybe has had a negative impact on his ongoing performance. Right now, what I see is that we have a car that is capable of scoring points in Singapore. That’s the focus and we have an ongoing contract with Jo until the end of the season.

CH: We’ve lent Carlos out to Renault from 2018. We’ve retained him within the Red Bull family because obviously we rate him as a driver very highly. We will be very interested to see how he performs against Nico Hulkenberg. I think any speculation prior to that is very much Renault’s business.

Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Zak, Honda brought a significant amount of investment to McLaren which won’t be there now. You spoke about going out and having to raise sponsorship; how do you plan to plug that shortfall and how confident are you that that shortfall can be plugged relatively quickly?

ZB: Well, I’m very confident. We have control of our finances. We’re a big team, we’re fortunate in that we have very committed shareholders, that the remit is ‘go win races, make the right sporting decisions and then the business will follow.’ It’s certainly going to be a lot easier to find sponsorship partners running towards the front of the field. It’s something that we’ve invested a lot in, the commercial team. It’s a big area of my background, I’m certainly not responsible for the speed of the racecar. And so I’m confident. It will take some time but our shareholders are very committed, very aware and we wouldn’t have made this decision if we weren’t prepared to work through short term economic loss from the lack of Honda income.

Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Mr Abiteboul, could you please sum up the strengths of the two drivers you will have in your team next year, and could you please also precise the expectations you will have in terms of results?

CA: In terms of expectations, maybe it’s a bit too early to talk about expectation for 2018, apart from the fact that it has to be a year that we will continue the construction of the team and the progress toward… from the midfield to the top team. This season is not completely dead. We already have a big job ahead to try and finish better than where we are currently and where I think… the car is capable of doing much better than eighth in the championship where we are today. As far as the drivers are concerned, I think we will have a perfect combination and balance between experience with Nico – lots of seasons – but also something to prove. He’s still yet to score a podium and we hope to be able to provide him with a car that’s capable of that, starting next year. And Carlos, still young, but already lots of experience in a good team, good organisation, good academy, three years with Toro Rosso. We can also remember the years that he was against Max Verstappen and actually the gap was not huge. I think everyone sort of wondered… the decision of Red Bull which obviously I’m not challenging… of going for Max rather than Carlos, which says something about Carlos’s pace and abilities and also the fact that Red Bull wanted to retain him as a driver and only be prepared to let him go as a loan does say something about the pace of Carlos. And he’s also not well (un)known to the family. He was racing with Renault in junior categories. He won Formula Renault 3.5 and Formula Renault 2.0 so it’s also to a certain degree some form of a return on somethings that we have invested in because sometimes people question why Renault is investing so much in these younger categories and this example is a good example as to why we are doing that.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Cyril, Christian, I’m confused. The story is out there, you’ve not denied it but you’re not confirming it either, so on behalf of everyone who wants a straight answer to a straight question: are Renault supplying engines to Red Bull in 2019 or not?

CH: Well, look David, anything that is beyond ’18 is speculation, so it’s neither confirming nor denying. So the situation for ’18 is absolutely clear. Anything beyond that will be dealt with behind closed doors, not through the media in terms of what will be the future, so I think the situation post ’18 is very clear. Our focus at the moment is on designing the best car we can for ’18. We will have a TAG Heuer Renault-provided engine and that will be the case for next year. Anything beyond that is speculation, conjecture, and there will be all kinds of rumours, I’m sure, between now and then.

CA: Nothing to add.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Do you want to supply engines?

CA: Do we want to supply an engine? We are an engine supplier. Frankly I think Christian has provided the best possible answer. I think that you must appreciate that there are a number of things that need to be considered and discussed. I think, frankly, you can infer from the answer of Christian what is the contractual situation which we have no obligation to disclose at this point in time. We’ve got a number of obligations towards the FIA. There was a reference to the obligations towards FOM; as an engine manufacturer our business Is obviously to supply engines, not under any terms, not under any sort of circumstances and it has to serve a strategic interest which I guess is what will be discussed in the future.

Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Christian, when McLaren-Honda partnered, I think it was Ron who said that the only way to win championships was to have a works partnership. Do you think that’s going to be the case, going through to the end of 2020 and how difficult is it going to be to change beyond the end of 2020?

CH: As I said earlier, I think everybody’s genuinely happy and excited about Honda remaining in Formula One. I think it’s great news for Toro Rosso, I think it’s great news for Honda and we’ll certainly be paying very close interest to that. I think that the engine is too much of a performance differentiator in Formula One as it currently stands and it’s wrong that manufacturers and teams find themselves in this situation. I just hope that moving forward… Ross seems to have a really good group of people around him. He seems to be working very well with the FIA to come up with a sensible set of regulations that control costs, of development that controls effectively the spread of performance, controls the supply price to customers and creates a more level playing field than we’ve seen since the introduction of these regulations that have been – really since they’ve been introduced in 2014 – have been extremely divisive and haven’t really added to Formula One that I can see in any way.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) With reference to the answers that I got earlier on regarding the budget cap and also what you’ve just said, Christian would you be prepared to accept a cost cap or budget cap linked to regulations from 2021 onward when the current regulations expire, so that the two get introduced simultaneously? And then to Cyril, Cyril, does it make sense ramping up your team, knowing that budget caps could actually be in place by then?

CH: Answering the first part of your question: we’re all in favour of reducing costs. Now the reason that we were previously against budget cap was because, as a team that was just a Formula One team, we were concerned, compared to our rivals that were part of OEMs, that costs could be hidden, could be contained. I think if you deal with the root source of the problem which is the regulations that create the expenditure, then bringing in a cap on top of that, if the two are done hand-in-hand, that’s acceptable to us but they have to go hand-in-hand. If you put all the pressure just on a budget cap, as I say, we’ll end up in a World Championship of accountants and who can hide the most money.

CA: No, it’s a good question. Anything we are doing, right now, obviously is with the current set of regulations, so it’s very difficult to assume a different set of regulations when you make strategic decisions like investment, like recruitment. Having said that, we really put at the top of our priorities the cost efficiency of the organisation. We accept that the cost efficiency actually… if you want to be a very competitive team in Formula One, you need to accept right now to be very low in terms of cost efficiency. And that’s something we try to see from a different angle. Right now, our commercial structure is slightly different from the top teams. There was reference made previously to the CCB status and others coming from FOM; we do not enjoy that status, so actually, to a certain degree, a cost cap would not hurt us to the same degree as the other teams and we believe that it’s good for the sport. So we are still at that position where we can adjust what is our lending platform in terms of recruitment, so we don’t feel that there is any risk related to that.

Q: (Michael Lamonato – Class Act Media) Question to all three and to Cyril in your capacity as an engine manufacturer rather than a works team: there’s been a lot of talk about grid penalties all year and particularly after the Italian Grand Prix Ross Brawn said he would perhaps like to see a future without grid penalties. Have you had those discussions with Ross about what those alternatives might be and amongst the three of you, do you have any solutions you believe would be fairer than what we currently have?

CA: There is a solution which is to have an engine that is reliable or a car that is reliable and that’s our priority, frankly, and we come short of that objective right now. Clearly it’s going in the right direction in the sense that there will be even fewer components alone next season. Having said that, most of the penalties that we have this year are related to the fact that we were very late in the development of our engine this year and we have all the confidence to be much more reliable next year, despite the fact that the life of the engine will be increased. Having said that, I think that grid penalties do not make sense. When you already have a problem on track, there is already a pain. To a certain degree it’s a double hit, a double impact which I think we could easily lose but we will still need, given the cost of the engine, to have some form of limitation in the number of engines that are used. Right now, we are making plans for the regulation and we need to have some form of stability we’ve invested in order to make the move from four power units (to three) per driver per season, I would hate having to go back and having this situation to be changed for next year. Having said that, I guess the penalty could be changed.

ZB: Well, I consider us to be grid penalty experts and we need to get rid of them. I think it’s confusing for the fans, 65 grid penalties here, we start here, we start there. There’s got to be a better way. Haven’t yet really thought through what the best solution is but I think when fans show up to races they want to see the best drivers set the fastest times sitting at the front, where they belong. So certainly, there needs to be some sort of penalty but I think it’s gotten to the point now where it’s not easy for people to understand what those penalties are so there’s got to be a clearer way to do that.

CH: As Zak said, I think most importantly for the fans… I mean who on earth could understand what was going on on the grid at Monza? I mean that was just nuts. I think the penalties are inelegant. Why should the driver be penalised? Maybe it should be a team thing as opposed to the driver or maybe the manufacturers should just be fined a disgustingly large amount of money for every failure that there is so that could be another way of… Dieter’s point of wealth distribution.

September 15, 2017