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Rosberg Ahead in Brazil GP Free Practice 3

Nico Rosberg took the honors for the fastest time in the third free practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The session got off to a slow start after some rain earlier in the day left the track damp in some places. The damp track seen drivers venture out on the full wets for installation laps. A few laps on the full wets was quickly followed by slick tyres.

Rosberg was just 9 hundredths of a second faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg’s time of 1:11.740 was 0.093s faster than Hamilton who set a best time of 1:11.833. Rosberg’s time came on his second go at a flying lap where he found some time.

After a very disappointing showing of pace in yesterday’s sessions, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was 3rd fastest 0.219s off the pace with a 1:11.959. Once again there was not much between the two Ferrari drivers with Kimi Raikkonen 4th fastest with a session best time of 1:12.027. Raikkonen held the fastest lap early on in the session until the second round of soft tyre runs.

The Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished 5th and 6th fastest respectively. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was 7th fastest with team-mate Felipe Massa in 9th. Splitting the Williams was Renault’s Jolyon Palmer in 8th.

Finishing off the top 10 was McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Alonso’s session had a slight delayed start after gearbox issue on his car. He was out on track with 30mins left in the session. His team mate Jenson Button’s session was riddled with issues. Button struggled with front grip and front warming. Towards the end of the session he was told to stop the car. Button managed to nurse the car back to the pits which brought his session to an early end.

Sauber had issues with both their cars. Early on in the session Felipe Nasr was called in with a problem on his car. Nasr was back out after a few mins. The team, however, found a problem with Ericsson’s engine and found they would have to replace the engine before qualifying.

After struggling for pace yesterday, Ferrari look like they’re in a better position for fight for the second row of the grid. It does look like the cooler temperatures suit the Ferrari better than the warmer conditions we saw yesterday. Red Bull do look like they have the edge on Ferrari and are expected to have both their cars ahead of Ferrari at the end of Qualifying.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Best Time	Gap	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:11.740s	–	19
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:11.833s	+0.093s	21
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:11.959s	+0.219s	14
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:12.027s	+0.287s	16
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:12.077s	+0.337s	19
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:12.287s	+0.547s	21
7	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:12.614s	+0.874s	27
8	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:12.968s	+1.228s	19
9	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:12.990s	+1.250s	26
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:13.002s	+1.262s	12
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:13.203s	+1.463s	14
12	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:13.231s	+1.491s	19
13	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:13.255s	+1.515s	15
14	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:13.293s	+1.553s	20
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:13.344s	+1.604s	15
16	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	1:13.596s	+1.856s	16
17	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:13.609s	+1.869s	13
18	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:13.750s	+2.010s	9
19	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:13.972s	+2.232s	20
20	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:13.992s	+2.252s	14
21	Esteban Ocon	Manor	1:14.222s	+2.482s	21
22	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	–	–	1

November 12, 2016

2016 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Frédéric VASSEUR (Renault)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Christian, can we start with you: just looking at the track action that’s been going on today, the long run pace obviously looks quite close to Mercedes, but is it really that offers you the chance to fight for victory, or can you be a little more optimistic after today?

Christian HORNER: Well, I think under normal circumstances the usual business will happen. Mercedes have been the dominant force all year and there’s no reason to expect any different this weekend. But, race pace over the last few race, on a Sunday we’ve managed to get close to them particularly their tail car. Perhaps with a little bit of weather… there are some unpredictable forecasts over the next few days and opportunities can hopefully present themselves to put a challenge on.

Either way, there is a pretty good chance that you are going to wrap up second place in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend. Given where you’ve been, in transition from 2015 to 2016, does that constitute a success?

CH: It would represent an enormous achievement for the whole team. We came into the year thinking, ‘you know what, to get into the top five will be difficult’. But the guys have produced a great car. The people at Renault have done a good job with the engine over the winter. Our season has just grown stronger and stronger. To be sitting here having achieved 14 or so podiums, two grand prix victories, Max’s first victory in Barcelona, Daniel with a one-two finish in Malaysia and to be sitting here ahead of Ferrari on points and the nearest competitor to Mercedes represents and extremely impressive season for the whole team.

Maurizio, what about your side of that story: the battle with Red Bull. It’s not the team you set our to be battling against this year in the world championship but how and why did they get ahead of you?

Maurizio ARRIVABENE: I think first of all we need to take into consideration… it’s not an excuse but it is circumstances that happened where we lose position on the grid and you know when you start a bit in front the story is going to change. Having said so, they have a strong reaction, as Christian said, and we are below of our expectation. By the way, as I said many, many times, we are not giving up here and not either in Abu Dhabi. I know it’s tough, but the championship is still not finished.

Now you told Sebastian yourself, personally over the radio in Mexico, to “calm down”, quote-unquote, and he admitted sitting here yesterday that he did lose his cool in Mexico but he said it was not down to frustration, so how happy have you been in general with his performance?

MA: I have zero problem with Sebastian. I mean, as I said many, many times, Sebastian is quite emotional. Sometimes he looks a bit more Latino than German. I think Christian knows the matter like I do. He’s very emotional, he’s very passionate, especially when he’s driving and it’s in a racing battle. It’s not a question of frustration. Sometimes he can be unhappy as we are unhappy because our expectations are different. But he’s not a guy who is giving up; he’s a guy that is pushing like hell. Sometimes when the adrenalin is going up to the sky, maybe he’s choosing a word more than what is expected, but then my role, like in Mexico, is also to call him and to invite him to be focused on what he’s doing.

Paul, you brought soft and medium again this year to Interlagos, but also the hard tyre. It’s quite an unusual move, only the second time this season you’ve brought a harder tyre than the one that came last season. How’s that looking?

Paul HEMBERY: Well, you wouldn’t want the supersoft here that’s for sure, so it sort of chose itself from that point of view. The soft tyre is suffering. It’s hot, an aggressive track, high wear, so it’s pretty much as we expected, but that was the majority choice as well of the teams.

Important test coming up for you in Abu Dhabi. Can you give us a preview of what to expect and a general overview on progress, where you are with next year’s tyres?

PH: Well, we’re clearly homing in on final solutions now. There are still going to be a lot of combinations tested next week in Abu Dhabi. Still some compounding work, we’re still working on some internal aspects of the tyre but we’re progressing as planned.

Fred, coming to you, you’ve retained Jolyon Palmer for 2017 to drive along Nico Hulkenberg. What were the reasons for that and what do you expect from him in his second year?

Frédéric VASSEUR: First we had to secure the first one. It was done with Nico around Suzuka, something like this. Then we were able to postpone a little bit the decision. If you have a look at the last event, I think that Jo did a very good job; he is improving. If you have a look also to what he did in the past in the junior series he was always able to improve step by step, year after year and we took the decision to move forward with Jo and I would expect that he will have the same improving curve that he did in the junior series and it will be good.

Now, a lot hinges for next season, for you team and for Christian’s team, on the Renault engine taking a decent step. So will it?

FV: I hope so! It’s in the pipe… I think Christian also thinks so… no, no we are working on the project of the new engine and I think everything is going well so far and we will see in Barcelona.

Guenther, coming to you and continuing on the theme of the drivers, Esteban Gutierrez has said on social media this weekend that he is leaving your team and there are strong suggestions that Magnussen will be leaving Fred’s team to come and join you. What’s most important for you over the next couple of years? Is it to have consistent drivers that you can work with to develop the team and the cars or would you look to bring in an American or a rookie? What’s the most important thing?

Guenther STEINER: I think the most important… just if somebody hasn’t seen the press release, it just came out maybe 10 minutes ago, we confirmed that Romain and Kevin will join us next year, that just came out 10 minutes ago. We want to grow the team and therefore we wanted some experience of drivers that have been on the podium and that have scored points and Kevin was fitting the bill, therefore we moved forward with him. I would like to take this moment to thanks Esteban for what he did for us over this year. I think he has got a good future; he did a good job and whatever people say he is a good driver. He helped us develop the team from nothing to be where we are so thanks a lot to him.

Q: The Ferrari partnership has obviously got you started in 2016; you’ve scored plenty of points but as you now move forward, are you now looking to build your own capability in the future to be able to take control of your own destiny.

GS: No, we have a long-standing contract in place with Ferrari that we can continue the business model we are doing. We are going forward like this for the next few years and then we see, we rethink. But at the moment we are very happy with Ferrari, what they did for us over the year to get again to the point where we are now. Hopefully we finish eighth if Fred’s team doesn’t pull out something very special, and we hope we move up next year. But in the moment, for sure you always develop your team and you keep on getting better and more people in and that will happen – but in general it stays like we are now.

Q: Coming to you Monisha, staying again on the theme of the drivers, the other teams clearly as we’re hearing have been tying down their drivers and making their announcements, just a few moments ago in the case of Haas. You did yours here a couple of years ago I think. How far off being able to do the same thing are you and should we expect any changes?

Monisha KALTENBORN: Well we are still in the process of analysing our options but it’s not going to take that long any more. We still have the target that we do want to announce in the season, so there’s not that much time left. So that’s all I can tell you now.

Q: Jörg Zander has returned to the team. How had he benefitted from his years with Audi in particular and what will that bring to your team?

MK: Well, we know Jörg Zander for quite a while. He was the chief designer in our team earlier and now, as we decided to actually take up a technical director again it was quite an obvious person to look at. He’s been working at Audi for very long, he has a lot of motorsport experience now, inside Formula One, outside Formula One, so we do think he fits in very well with that because we also have third party business outside Formula One. I’m sure he’ll bring many new ideas and the team can only benefit from that because we are now in a new era, you know it’s a new chapter in the team history and this kind of influence and these ideas will only be beneficial to move into the right direction.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Alessandro Giannini – Agência O Globo) For you Monisha, I would like to ask you a direct question about Felipe. How are the talks with him and if he has one chance to stay at the Sauber team?

MK: Well, Felipe is certainly one of our options, that’s clear, we know him well, we know his skills. We’ve had a lot of experiences together with him: good ones, bad ones, so we can assess him very well. So talks are taking place, that’s what I can tell you.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi, La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Maurizio, yesterday you present an appeal now for the podium win in Mexico. I would like to know some more details, when you find out the new elements. If you can give us some more details about which are these elements.

MA: Yes, if we present according with the International Sporting Code Article 14.1, we presented new elements, of course, as we said, what we think are new elements and we have the right to present it. If you want me to present all the elements here, is not something that I’m going to do because in 40 minutes we have a conference call and we have to discuss the matter. I think it’s not correct to share this kind of information here.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) As the previous question proves, there’s been a lot of controversy about the regulations etc and Christian, you and Maurizio have been particularly outspoken about them. You’re both members of the Strategy Group: would you like to take them up in the Strategy Group. Would you like to take them up in the Strategy Group? What would you like to see changed? And if anybody else would like to comment, feel free, please.

MA: Back, if you refer to Mexico and many other races, I think, I understand the difficulties of the stewards because sometimes they have to take a decision immediately and to take this decision they need to collect in quick time all the available data and material – and it’s not an easy job, I think. That is further complicated by what we said many, many times at the strategy group level about sometimes the complication of the regulation. We ask many, many times to try to find a way to simplify the rules, so I think this is something that we need to think further for the future, making sure that we don’t have a Rule A that is covered by the Rule B that is covered by the Rule C and D and E and F and so on. If there is a rule it is A dot. And then we go to the B. I’m expressing my thought with all the respect for the people that is making the rule. But I think this sport, it is already complicated in terms of technology, in term of what we have to do to build-up the car and to make competitive the car. I think simplifying the rules could be a good help for everybody.

Christian, your view.

CH: Yeah, I think that we’re over-regulated in many respects, that the drivers need to take a rulebook with them really on a Sunday now in the car and consult it before they either defend or make an overtaking manoeuvre these days and there’s too much subjectivity and interpretation of different events. So Lewis Hamilton going straight on at the first turn last weekend, comes out half a kilometre up the road, is that an advantage or a disadvantage compared to Max going off and coming back in the same position he went off with, with dirty tyres later in the race. It’s very difficult for the teams, for the drivers and one can only think for the viewers as to what’s permitted and what isn’t. I think, like all things in life, keep it simple. Keep it straightforward. I’d say less rules in terms of… but more clarity in terms of what the rules of engagement are. Nobody wants to see dangerous driving but let the drivers race, let them go wheel to wheel. I mean everybody’s talking about the last five or six laps in Mexico because, let’s face it, the rest of the race was pretty boring. The last ten laps were fantastic and of course there’s been a whole bunch of discussion about it since then and that’s what Formula One needs to be and I think let’s avoid the situation that drivers can cut corners and gain an advantage. Put a gravel trap there. Put something to slow the cars down, and then it takes that subjectivity away from stewards having to interpret ‘well, is that result different to this one. Is that incident different to that?’ We can see so many examples of that that I think for the teams, for the drivers and most importantly for the fans, let’s come up with something straight forward and simple that’s easy to understand and interpret.

Monisha, do you agree?

MK: Well I agree with that but I think there’s another element to it which is how you actually apply the rules, and you would need to try to bring some consistency in there. At the end of the day it’s always up to an interpretation, it’s up to the discretion of the people who are doing it, so apart from making things simpler it’s also that you try to have consistency on the people. That you have somebody who is always there, or a group of people because this is how you will bring in certain consistency on how rules are applied. So I think you have to look at both sides: look at the rules themselves but also how they are implemented.

Fred?

FV: It’s not an easy point and to know if we are to take the decision during the race or not, the first one is that you will always have someone to complain: that if you take the decision during the race you will say that OK, the steward has to take time before to take a decision and, if they take the decision after the race, OK you will affect the results of the race, after the podium and so on. But for sure we’ll have always issue with the chicane and probably the only solution would be to do all the races in Monaco but even Monaco will be tricky. The solution to slow down the car when they cut the chicane would be the best one to be sure. We have to find a solution that the guy will be directly penalised, that will avoid discussion and the stewards and so and so and so because it will be always the same mess after the race.

Final thought on this Guenther

GS: I think everything was said. I think I’m good, y’know, they all spoke and I agree with all of which was said. It’s just to try to simply what we are doing.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Maurizio Arrivabene, just two days ago Bernie Ecclestone said that in his opinion maybe the problem with Ferrari not winning races is because it is 100 percent an Italian team. I would love to know if you agree with that and in which way the passion which we know the team has and which we know is fantastic is a handicap for your work?

MA: First of all, we all know Bernie. The day after he said the opposite and he also came to me to explain himself without being requested to do so. If I’m not wrong, it’s said that I need somebody nearby me to help. I don’t need it. I’m part of the Ferrari racing department and I have hundreds of people who are nearby me. We have a new technical group led by Mattia Binotto. They are enthusiasts, they are working very very well. So we have a team. In terms of the passion, I was always passionate about Ferrari, all my life, I have to say, even before doing this job and Ferrari is about passion, it’s about emotion. When I’m at the factory and I cross the street to go in the GT department and I’m looking at new GT cars that are coming out from the factory, for me it’s a big emotion. And this is something that is not a handicap, it’s a dream.

Q: (Andra Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Maurizio, it’s about the arguments of the last Grand Prix. Have you talked to Sebastian, have you tried to make a different approach for this Grand Prix, even because the FIA said they will not forgive another situation like this in the future?

MA: Listen, first of all I think… I don’t know if you know but Sebastian asked… he excused himself in writing with Charlie and the FIA and the FIA responded to Sebastian in a way that we really appreciated. I spoke every day with Sebastian, and not only after the Mexican race. Somebody maybe thinks we have tension or things like this. No, we are honest with each other. The word honesty must sometimes be put in the script or in the article, because we have an honest, open, straightforward relationship and if you are asking me, we are always in agreement, like all human beings, sometimes yes, sometimes no. We have a fantastic relationship and it’s based on an honest, day after day feedback. I respect him as a driver, he was four times World Champion. He’s putting all of himself into the job that he’s doing. A couple of months ago, I said sometimes even too much but it was not a criticism. I want to make it clear, once and forever. It’s because he’s putting all of himself – he tries to put all of himself into everything he’s doing and sometimes you just have to say, like in Mexico, ‘hey Seb, calm down, head down, look in front of you and push.’ And there’s nothing wrong with that so you ask me, you can ask him and you have the same version.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) I’m not Italian but the question’s for you, Maurizio, and I’d like to refer to yesterday’s teleconference call by your president to investors after your Q3 results. One of the things that Mr Marchionne didn’t do is rule out Ferrari possibly going into Formula E. And the second thing is that he said that Ferrari can’t continue throwing money at Formula One, which would indicate that the investors are starting to seek more value for money. How do you feel about these two comments? Could we see a red Formula E car and how do you see this for Ferrari’s future, that just maybe investor pressure could turn Ferrari away?

MA: The strategy in terms of investment at Ferrari is not under my responsibility. Formula E, I think Mr Marchionne was very very clear, at the moment it’s not in the programme of Ferrari. If we’re talking about hybrid, we have Formula One, we are building up our experience in Formula One on that side. We could be but it’s not up to me to decide or to indicate the right strategy but Formula E, I don’t think so.

Again, it’s not my responsibility to talk to the investors. I can talk about the word pressure. Everybody is talking about pressure when they are referring to our job and everything we are doing but there’s nothing strange in that. If you are working in a team like this, the day that you sign a contract you know what you are doing, you know that the sport is pointing at you because we are Ferrari. Sometimes I am hearing ‘are you guys under a lot of pressure?’ It makes me laugh. So what, it’s expected when your name is Ferrari

November 12, 2016
FIA Rejects Ferrari’s Appeal on Vettel’s Penalty at Mexican GP

Formula 1 Governing Body the FIA has dismissed Ferrari’s appeal on Sebastian Vettel’s penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix which demoted him to 5th place.

Vettel incurred the 10s time penalty for breaching Article 27.5 of the FIA Sporting Regulations when he moved under braking to block off Ricciardo who attempted a pass on Vettel down the inside of Turn 4 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico.

Ferrari lodged an appeal to the decision based on “new elements” that they felt was grounds for a review of the decision.

After a teleconference with the stewards for the Mexican Grand Prix and representatives from Ferrari, the FIA have decided to dismiss the appeal from Ferrari stating that there were no new elements to the argument.

Ferrari’s two new elements to the case was that the Race Director had the power to instruct Max Verstappen to give back the position and that there was new GPS data.

In a statement by the FIA they detail the reasons for rejecting the appeal.

“Scuderia Ferrari argued in its written submission that the ‘new element’, in accordance with Article 14.1, existed. In its verbal submissions it also argued that there were two “new elements”, read the statement.

“Specifically the Scuderia argued that the Race Director, pursuant to Article 27.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, had the “power” to instruct the driver of Car 33 Max Verstappen, to give back the alleged advantage he had gained when leaving the track on a previous lap to that of the incident involving Car 5 and Car 3 driven by Daniel Ricciardo.

Scuderia Ferrari also argued that the GPS data it presented was a “new element”. The Stewards heard extensive verbal submission and argument for all parties.

“In relation to the matter of the Race Director having the ‘power’ to instruct the driver of Car 33 to give back the alleged advantage, we note firstly that the relevant article gives the Race Director ‘absolute authority’ to allow the driver to give back a position. It does not imply an obligation to do so. The fact that the Race Director did not exercise his discretion is not relevant to the decision taken in Document 38.

“In relation to the GPS data, we note that this data is available to teams during the race. It is also available to, and referred to by, the stewards, in the Stewards Room during the race.

“When asked if the GPS data in any way contradicted the telemetry and other evidence that the Stewards concluded showed that the driver of Car 5 had steered whilst under braking at Turn 4, Mr [Jock] Clear conceded that it did not.

“Article 14.2 of the International Sporting Code gives the Stewards the sole discretion to determine if a new element exists. Having received all the written and verbal submissions and carefully considered them, the Stewards decide there is no new element.”

Ferrari have the option of appealing the matter if they so wish.

Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

November 12, 2016
Ron Dennis to be ousted in £1.6bn Chinese takeover bid for McLaren?

According to Sky News, Ron Dennis is said to have presented a £1.65bn for the McLaren Formula One team. Reports state that a consortium of Chinese investors has tabled a £1.65bn takeover bid for McLaren, who own the McLaren Formula One (F1) team.

Sky News reported today that Dennis presented the offer from a group of unidentified Chinese investors ‎last week. This move has allegedly prompted his fellow shareholders to launch a plot to oust him as chief executive.

Sky News sources said Dennis‎ was in the High Court on Thursday and Friday in an attempt to secure an injunction against a move to place him on gardening leave until his contract expires in mid-January. According to the reports, his move has been rejected. This has apparently led to an emergency board meeting of McLaren being convened thsi evening. The meeting is expected to lead to his immediate suspension as chief executive.

There’s more though … according to the Sky News reports, tensions have been mounting between Dennis, who owns 25% of McLaren Technology Group, and Mansour Ojjeh, a long-term business partner, who also holds 25%. Sky reports that both Mr Ojjeh and Mumtalakat, the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund, which owns the remaining 50%, believe that the Chinese bid is undesirable and want Ron to step down.

Neither Ron Dennis nor McLaren have commented on the matter yet and while all information is not yet confirmed, we will do out utmost to keep you updated as news updates are released.

November 11, 2016
Hamilton Leads Rosberg in Brazil Free Practice 2

Mercedes stamped their authority on the weekend after Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the session with team-mate, Nico Rosberg just 0.030s off the pace in 2nd.

Hamilton’s best time of 1:12.271 came courtesy of the soft tyres on a qualifying simulation. Rosberg’s time which was just 0.030s off Hamilton’s was done on his second run at a timed lap on the soft, option tyre.

Williams sprang somewhat of a surprise in FP2 to finish 3rd and 4th. Valtteri Bottas had a best lap 1:12.761 to place him 3rd ahead of Felipe Massa who set a 1:12.789. Williams tend to turn their engines down during practice and turn them back up for FP3 and Qualifying. This turn of pace from Williams is quite refreshing and it sets the weekend up for a very good battle at the top of the field and towards the mid field. The pace will be encouraging as Williams seek to overhaul Force India in the constructors standings for 4th place.

Daniel Ricciardo finished 5th fastest ahead of Max Versatppen who was 6th fastest. Both Red Bulls were clear of the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who could only manage 7th and 8th respectively with Raikkonen just a little over half a second off the pace.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was 9th fastest just a little over a second off the pace.

McLaren’s Jenson Button rounded out the top 10 with a best session time of 1:13.299.

The highlight of the session came courtesy of Fernando Alonso who ended his session prematurely due to an ERS issue. Alonso was told to pull off the track and jump out of his car. He chose the outside of T3 to park his car. Alonso spent the rest of the session track side watching the cars lap the track and relaxing. Images of 2015 of Alonso resting on a camp chair enjoying the sun came to mind.

Alonso, not satisfied just watching the cars found a FOM remote camera panel and decided to try his hand at being a camera operator. This pleased everyone on track and Twitter came alive with the images of Alonso making a right hash of being a cameraman.

FP2 confirmed that Mercedes once again have a firm grip over the weekends proceedings. Hamilton does seem to have the early upper hand over Rosberg who needs a win to secure his first world title.

With the turn of pace from Williams it will be a close fight for the second row of the podium between Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari.

The long run pace up front has Mercedes ahead of the rest. Red Bull seem to be best of the rest with Williams and Ferrari very similar on pace.

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

November 11, 2016
Haas F1 Confirm Kevin Magnussen from 2017

The Haas F1 Team confirmed that Kevin Magnussen will drive for the Kannapolis based team from 2017.

This announcement follows the announcement that current Haas driver, Esteban Gutierrez will not be driving for the team from next year. Rumors and reports have been circulating for a few weeks that Kevin Magnussen will make the move to Haas while Jolyon Palmer will remain at Renault for 2017. The latest announcement finalises the driver line up for Haas for 2017 which leaves Manor (2 seats), and Sauber(2 seats) to confirm their driver line up for 2017.

“This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m very happy to be a part of Haas F1 Team,” Magnussen said.

“Obviously, I’m confident in my abilities as a Formula One driver, but I’m also very confident of what Haas F1 Team can do in its second season and every season thereafter.

“Gene Haas has come into Formula One with a strong vision and a different way of doing things. He’s making it work and work well. I’ve had a good vantage point all season long, and I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of next year’s Haas VF-17.”

Founder and Chairman of Haas F1, Gene Haas had this to say about Magnussen’s appointment:

“From the time we began looking at drivers, Kevin Magnussen was always on our short list,”

“He’s accomplished a lot in a very short period of time, and we feel like he can accomplish a lot with us. Our second season will bring a new set of challenges, and we feel that pairing Kevin with Romain will help us develop our new car and continue our growth.

“I want to thank Esteban Gutiérrez for all of his efforts. He’s been an instrumental part of our first year in Formula One and we’re looking forward to finishing the season strong with him and Romain.”

“As a brand new team with a new car and new personnel, it was incredibly important to have detailed, authoritative feedback of our race car and our methods so that we could improve. Romain brought a lot of experience to our team and has been instrumental in getting us to where we are today,” added Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team.

“Credit also goes to Esteban Gutiérrez for all of his work. His time with Ferrari was very beneficial as it helped get us acquainted with its methodologies and make the most of our partnership with them.

“He and Romain pushed each other on the track and together they’re responsible for the success we’ve had in our first season.”

November 11, 2016

Hamilton On Top in Brazil GP Free Practice 1

Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets at the end of the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Hamilton set his best time of 1:11.895 on the soft tyre just marginally faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who set a best time of 1:11.991. Verstappen’s time came mid way through the session on the soft tyres and looks like an early signal that Red Bull will be taking the fight to Mercedes this weekend.

Nico Rosberg was 3rd fastest at the end of the session setting a best time of 1:12.125 on the soft tyre, 0.230s off Hamilton’s pace. Not far off Rosberg’s pace was Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull in 4th.

Valtteri Bottas finished 5th fastest in the Williams ahead of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg in 6th and 7th respectively for Force India. Felipe Massa, at his final F1 race in his home country, was 8th fastest.

Rounding out the top 10 were the two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen more than 1.5s off the pace. Ferrari did not run the soft tyre in the session and stuck to the medium compound tyres. Both Ferrari drivers had just 0.002s between them at the end of the session. Vettel did not look comfortable in the car and made a few mistakes around the circuit. He spun it at Turn 11 just before the end of the session bringing an end to a very anonymous session by both Ferrari’s.

Red Bull are showing some good early pace which should give Mercedes something to think about going into Qualifying tomorrow. The characteristics of the track suit the Red Bulls and Mercedes may find it tricky keeping the Red Bulls at bay.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Best Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:11.895s	–	32
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:11.991	+0.096s	29
3	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:12.125	+0.230s	26
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:12.371	+0.476s	27
5	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:13.129	+1.234s	36
6	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:13.289	+1.394s	31
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:13.293	+1.398s	33
8	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:13.318	+1.423s	33
9	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:13.567	+1.672s	24
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:13.569	+1.674s	26
11	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:13.711	+1.816s	22
12	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:14.090	+2.195s	15
13	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:14.252	+2.357s	27
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:14.296	+2.401s	26
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:14.507	+2.612s	25
16	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:14.631	+2.736s	21
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:14.654	+2.759s	23
18	Esteban Ocon	Manor	1:14.827	+2.932s	30
19	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:14.908	+3.013s	32
20	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:14.948	+3.053s	32
21	Charles Leclerc	Haas	1:15.391	+3.496s	27
22	Sergey Sirotkin	Renault	1:15.800	+3.905s	10

November 11, 2016

Ferrari Asks Stewards to Review Vettel’s Mexican GP Penalty

Ferrari have submitted a request to the Mexican Grand Prix stewards to review the decision to penalize Sebastian Vettel for his defensive move on Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo on lap 70 of the race at Turn 4.

Ferrari say that a “a number of new elements” have come to light and believe that the penalty decision can be reviewed according to Article 41.1 of the International Sporting Code.

“Scuderia Ferrari has submitted a request to the Stewards of the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix to review their decision to penalize Sebastian Vettel for breach of Article 27.5 of the 2016 F1 Sporting Regulations as a consequence of his driving behavior in Turn 4 of lap 70,” said Ferrari in a statement.

“This has been the first application of Article 27.5 of the 2016 F1 Sporting Regulations as interpreted on the basis of the Race Director’s notes on ‘defensive maneuvers’ and effective from the 2016 US Grand Prix,” the statement continued.

“Scuderia Ferrari considers that a number of new elements have come to light after the decision was rendered that make the decision reviewable under Article 14.1 of the International Sporting Code.”

Ferrari are aware that Vettel’s championship position will not change, regardless, but feel that the decision will set a precedent going forward for future penalties of a similar nature.

“Scuderia Ferrari considers that a number of new elements have come to light after the decision was rendered that make the decision reviewable under Article 14.1 of the International Sporting Code.

“Scuderia Ferrari is aware that championship rankings will not change, regardless of the outcome. But in light of its importance as a precedent for the future, and in order to provide clarity in the application of the rules in future events, Scuderia Ferrari believes that the decision should be reconsidered by the Stewards.”

Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

November 10, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS – Felipe MASSA (Williams), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes).

Charlie WHITING (FIA)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Let’s start with Felipe, your last Brazilian Grand Prix as a Formula One driver, what does this weekend, this occasion, mean to you?

Felipe MASSA: Well, I think it will be a very special weekend for me, for my last home race, the place where I grew up, the place that I remember I was in the grandstand watching and supporting Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, always dreaming to be here. And then I managed to get here and managed to win two races here in Interlagos, getting quite a lot of times on the podium, so it’s definitely a fantastic place for me. I will miss, definitely, this race. When I see these guys racing next year, I will definitely miss to be here. But I am so happy and proud for everything I passed through these 15 years in Formula One, every people that I met – friends, drivers, the competition I had with these guys for quite a long time. So yeah, I will miss, definitely, this place, some nice races around the world but also some friends. It will be a very special moment for me.

Q: As you say, so many great memories from your own career here, especially the pole positions, the podiums and those two very special wins with Ferrari. What stands out, though, for you, and what were these guys like to race against?

FM: Difficult. We are talking about the best drivers in the world. Everybody who got here is here because of talent. They are here because of talent. The competition is really high, but I think I definitely learned a lot. I think it was an amazing life experience that I had. It’s definitely not easy to be a Formula One driver I would say, but I had a fantastic time and so happy to achieve what I managed to achieve and to get here after very long and yeah, I will always remember them as tough drivers on track and I would say maybe the relationship maybe in the last years gets a little bit better outside the track and it will get even better when all of us stop I would say. Just expect the best for them and support them for the future.

Q: OK, thank you. Lewis, of course that 2008 memory is still very strong. You won the world championship, your first of three world championships, that day but Felipe showed great dignity on the podium, having won the race. What was he like as an adversary?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been great driving alongside Felipe and against him. We’ve had some great times. Even before I got to Formula One, when I was in GP2, we had already become friends back then and had some good experience. But yeah, to have those great, strong battles we had, even beyond 2008, for me was a privilege and something that I will always cherish. At some stage we’ll be a bunch of oldies, replacing the older drivers that are hanging around today and we’ll be coming along, looking at the other youngsters, but yeah I think Formula One is going to miss him for sure.

Q: OK, and the other drivers, your thoughts on Felipe’s final race here as part of his Formula One career. What kind of atmosphere do we expect at this Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend?

Nico ROSBERG: It will great. I’m sure the Brazilians will go crazy to support Felipe in his last race here. He’s given a lot to F1 so it’s going to be a loss for the sport, for us, for sure.

Q: Max?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Of course, I mean the career he has had many want to achieve. That many years in Formula One as well, and being able to fight for four world championships. So I think it will definitely be a very special moment for him and I think, in general, the Brazilian Grand Prix is always very special and a great track and a great atmosphere to be at.

Q: Seb, you’ve won here a few times, you’ve had a few good battles against Felipe, your thoughts?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think… well, we don’t need to talk about his talent. I think there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most talented drivers on the grid. But apart from that, he’s a great person. He’s the kind of person you look at and smile, because he’s just smiling from the inside, so I think that will be missed a lot. So I hope he still comes around a couple of times and has a look and a laugh and in that regard I wish him the best. But for this weekend, I think it would be great to see hopefully a lot of Brazilian flags, support for him, because as everyone said, he has had a great career. So, yeah, it’s hid weekend.

Q: Daniel, final thought?

FM: Be careful what you say!

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m looking forward to the drivers’ parade on Sunday. It’s always very interesting. For as long as I’ve been doing it at least anyone who is Felipe’s team-mate gets an absolute pounding on the drivers’ parade. He’s going to get some extra love this weekend and we’ll probably get yelled some funny Brazilian names, but it’s all in good humour. The atmosphere is awesome, so I think we are going to have a pretty amazing crowd this weekend.

Q: Thanks for that. Back to Lewis and Nico then. Two races to go and Nico a win for you on Sunday and you’re world champion. Lewis, a great motivation for you to win a Brazilian Grand Prix you haven’t won before. How are you both feeling going into this? Is the tension rising? Nico, first…

NR: Yeah, feeling great, of course, because it’s awesome to be fighting for the world championship with two races to go and so, yeah, excited about the weekend, looking forward to it and of course going to try to go for the win.

Q: Lewis?

LH: yeah, I’ve had lots of great, or mixed experiences here, so it’s a real challenge to come here and try to win for the first time, something that Nico and Felipe have experienced in the past. That’s my goal and nothing really to lose.

Q: For the drivers on the back row, with the nature of this track and also the weather forecast we have at the moment for this weekend, what’s the scope for racing against these two guys at the front this? Daniel…

DR: Yeah, it looks like it’s going to be potentially wet on the weekend, which is going to make it interesting. There’s obviously a little bit less pressure on everyone else but I’m envious of their positions. I’d like to have that little bit of pressure. Anyway, if there’s an opportunity we still go for it. We race, and that’s how it’s going to be. If it’s wet it’s going to make it interesting. It’s going to be fun. We’ll see how it pans out on Sunday but hopefully we get a good race on Sunday.

Q: Seb?

SV: I think this place for some reason has always delivered special races. I don’t know what it is: I think the circuit is good fun, nice to drive, but I think it’s the atmosphere, the weather, all that coming together that has created crazy races in the past. You mentioned the one in 2008, the last race in 2012 was pretty amazing as well. I’m sure we’ll have a great race on Sunday. Obviously for all of us not fighting for the championship, we are fighting for the victory here, but yeah, we’ll see. Weather conditions and so on, as I said, there’s always room to do something.

Q: Max, a potentially winnable race for you?

MV: You always try, but I haven’t really experience a lot of mixed conditions here in Brazil. Of course I’ve seen a lot on the TV. But it will be interesting like always. I really enjoyed it last year and hopefully with some rain coming in it would be even more interesting, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Pedro Lopes – GloboEsporte.com) Ricciardo, how was you meat feast yesterday?

DR: Our meat feat yesterday was… very good. Fortunately it’s no longer with me, otherwise I would still be sweating. But yes, how do you say… muito bon?

Q: (Kevin Eason – The Times) Seb, can you tell me, do you believe… You’ve had a pretty fruitless year with Ferrari and you started with bit of a dream. Do you believe you’ll ever win a world championship with Ferrari.

SV: Yes.

Q: (Kevin Eason – The Times) Why?

SV: Because, generally I think I’m positive, looking forward. Obviously it was a big step when I decided to change, at the time when I did. It was clear that it would take some time. Obviously we had a great season last year, we got closer and closer to Mercedes, so the hopes and expectations for this year were high. I think it’s normal when you finish second in the Constructors’ you aim to finish first. We haven’t achieved what we set out to achieve but nevertheless our main target is to win the championship, fight for the championship, and I think there is a lot of change that I see, a lot of change that is going on inside the team that will make us stronger, I’m pretty confident about that. I guess it’s a question of time.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Nico and then to Lewis. You won the last two races here starting from the pole position and Lewis also I recognise that you were very strong both weekends. Can you explain if you find something special, some special way to win here. And Lewis, why you’ve said he’s so fast and you could not reach him in the last two Brazilian Grands Prix?

NR: I love the track. It’s a great track, feels good and I’ve always gone well here, so I’m looking forward to the weekend also. Great memories also from those two wins, those were very special. But at the same time, this year we all start from zero. Those past wins are not going to help me get the win this weekend. We all start from the same place and I just need to do a good job this weekend and that’s it.

LH: I don’t really know why I’ve not won here, so I don’t really have an answer for you. I try every year and I’ll try harder this year.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Felipe, there are going to be a lot emotions leading up to the red lights going out. How difficult will it be to switch off when the red lights go out?

FM: I think it’s always the same. I think when you are in the car you don’t think about other things, you just think about what you want to do in the best way that you can. I would say that maybe the whole race I will be concentrating on my job, trying to get the best race possible, the best result I can, for me, for my team, especially in this moment that it’s quite important this fight with Force India for Williams Martini. But I think that maybe when I finish the race, after the chequered flag, I think it will be very special. It will be an amazing feeling to do the last lap in Interlagos of my career in Formula One, here, you know. I think during the race you just so much concentrate on everything you need to do but after it may be quite different.

PRESS CONFERENCE PART 2: QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE MEXICAN GRAND PRIX

[Note: Charlie Whiting refers to video clips of the Mexican Grand Prix that were shown in the press conference room to illustrate his answers]

Q: Charlie, obviously there are several key areas of interest. Firstly, can we talk about the incident with Lewis missing Turn Two at the start and the one later with Max at the same spot and the differences between them?

Charlie WHITING: Yeah, sure. I think the principal difference between the two was simply that, in Lewis’ case it was felt that he didn’t gain any lasting advantage and it Max’s case, he did. We can show you a couple of videos here just to refresh everyone’s memory: perhaps that will be a help. The first… I think you’re all pretty familiar with it. You can see that Lewis makes a small mistake at the beginning, cuts across, gains significant track advantage but then sets about giving that back immediately. You can see on the straight – or we can see – on the straight between Turns Three and Four he backs off to 80 per cent throttle to give that advantage back. Because obviously he’s got a significant advantage there. Then, about a minute later, the Safety Car’s deployed and that advantage is gone completely. So, the stewards felt no lasting advantage. On the other hand, the case with Max and Sebastian, if Max had done the same thing on the straight between Turns Three and Four, he would certainly have lost the place. I think that’s why the stewards felt that this deserved a penalty because the driver had gained a lasting advantage. That’s the fundamental difference between the two incidents in the eyes of the Stewards.

Let’s bring the drivers in on this. Max, you had a comment there. What’re your thoughts on what you’ve seen here and what Charlie just said?

MV: Yeah, well of course I don’t agree with the decision but it doesn’t really make a lot of difference, does it? I’ve got a penalty. I think if you give penalties, give it to both or you don’t give any penalties. But I think what we maybe need to change for the future is that once you go off it should be a penalty on its own instead of the stewards interfering with that to decide a penalty. I think we need to come up with a solution that, once you go off, that should be the penalty on its own.

Lewis, your thoughts on what we’ve just seen and what Charlie just said?

LH: I relatively agree with Charlie’s explanation. I don’t really have a particular opinion about it. I think ultimately the stewards have a very, very difficult job because every single scenario is different, as he was mentioning. For example, the Safety Car came out immediately after my incident, for example. Every scenario is a little bit different; it’s not that easy to apply the same rule to every single thing. I also agree with Max that we should work with Charlie – as we have been, I think, through the year – to try and make it easier for them to make decisions and for it to be more clear.

OK, moving on to another topic of great interest. The moving under braking obviously has been widely discussed throughout the season. You issued a clarificiation at the Austin weekend. Can you tell us about Sebastian’s defence from Daniel at the last race in light of that?

CW: I think it might be helpful to just go back a little bit to Hungary where there were two incidents involving Kimi and Max. This got thoroughly discussed during the drivers’ meeting in Germany and the consensus of opinion was that moving under braking was something that should not be done. We agreed with this and then we had the incident with Max and Lewis in Japan where the first think that Lewis said on the radio was “He moved. He moved when we were braking.”We looked at it after the race. The stewards, as you know, felt that there wasn’t a case to answer there, which gave rise, of course, to a lengthy discussion in the drivers’ meeting in Austin. I then issued what was a clarification of existing regulations to say exactly what we felt should be reported to the stewards. With that as the backdrop, so to speak, Mexico was really the first race where that rule was applied.

There are three fundamental points there within the rules. Firstly, if a driver has to take evasive action; if a driver makes an abnormal change of direction in the braking zone; and if it could be potentially dangerous to another driver. If those three conditions are satisfied then the stewards felt that was a dangerous manoeuvre and should be penalised. That’s how the stewards looked at it and they felt Sebastian had moved under braking; that was very clear from the data, and also pretty clear from the video, of course; it was potentially dangerous and it was an abnormal change of direction which could have led to an accident. So I think it we look carefully at some footage here, you’ll probably… there’s one view I doubt anyone has actually seen. This is from the track camera. I think you can see very clearly that both cars are on the left of the track; Sebastian moves to the right and then, in the braking zone, moves to his left and then you can see quite clearly that Daniel had to take evasive action. And then the onboard [footage]. I think you can see very clearly that, had Daniel’s right front hit Sebastian’s left rear it would have been a significantly different scenario. That’s, I think, what the stewards really looked at was that it was a potentially dangerous situation. It’s close, and I think that’s what the stewards looked at. As I say, those three conditions were satisfied as far as the stewards were concerned and that’s what they felt they should act upon.

OK, let’s bring the drivers in on this, Daniel first.

DR: yeah, I think it’s obviously been explained and we were in the stewards’ after the race and, from an outside point of view, for fans – and for drivers – you don’t want to wait so long after a race to then have an outcome but that was that. I felt like the move was as Charlie explained. It’s just when you’re in that braking zone, once you’re committed, and especially when you’re overtaking. You know, we’ve discussed this, drivers, that you’re putting the car on the limit because you’re trying to out-brake someone, so you’re already on the edge, so any sort of move then, you’re not really in control, I guess. Hence why I lock up the brake and it all turns into a bit of a mess. It’s the only real part where we’re not in… it’s not that we’re not in control but we can’t really get out of it much, once we’re on the brakes. When you’re down the straight, if someone defends, if they move one way you can obviously move the other, or whatever, but then once you’ve committed to the braking then it’s hard to pull out of the move. Yeah, so obviously I felt that was the right decision. As I said, from an outside point of view, from I guess fans and that it’s probably a bit hard to understand and digest it all after the race but yeah, obviously we’ll try to keep it… I won’t say clean: I like the hard racing, but we’ll just try to avoid these moving-under-braking things in the future and then these things won’t need to be addressed.

And Seb, your thoughts?

SV: Well, obviously I don’t agree with the decision that was made. I think I moved over once to defend my position, after that yeah, I think I gave Daniel enough room on the inside; I kept the car straight for more than the majority of the braking, so I think the reason why, from my point of view, why Daniel locked up so bad is because there was no grip on the inside and it’s something that… yeah… I think we all knew. There were people locking up on other corners when they were offline, so I think it actually looks a bit worse than it was. I don’t think it was actually dangerous for Daniel at that point but OK, I have to deal with the decision.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Charlie, we understood perfectly but the main question we see if that you have different stewards in each race and we are not sure all of them have the same criteria to interpret it. Even why it’s also an interpretation question what we have been seen. Don’t you think it’s a problem? If in one race they follow one criteria and then in another race another criteria. And also, the drivers I believe had complained about that.

CW: Well, needless to say, I disagree. As Lewis pointed out, every incident is different. Some can look at first sight to be very similar to another incident from a previous race but when you examine then more carefully… You must remember also that the stewards have an enormous amount of images available to them, data, all manner of things available to them which you don’t see. I think it’s easy to say decisions are made inconsistently but more often than not, in my opinion, when you look into it in detail, you find that, in fact, Incident A wasn’t the same as Incident B. They have small differences and that’s where I think further explanation is sometimes needed.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Charlie, one of the things you haven’t addressed so far is the issue of language being used over the radio and specifically what Seb said about you. Could you give us your take on that and your views on driver language and what was said about you?

CW: I’ll give you my views on what was said about me. I think bad language… it’s not the first time that bad language has been used, of course, and the fact that it was directed at me was unfortunate and I think there are a number of mitigating circumstances that led up to Sebastian’s obvious frustration but the fact that he sought me out very shortly after the race to apologise, for me that was enough and I’m prepared to just forget it and move on. I think that’s really what we should do. Things happen in the heat of the moment. I think you’ve seen what the FIA’s position on this is; and I personally feel that’s enough.

Sebastian, you have the right to reply if you wish.

SV: Well, I think it’s all been said but I have no problem saying it again. I’m sorry for what I said. Obviously when we are racing, when we are fighting… I think you can understand why I wasn’t so happy at that point but yeah, for sure I regret what I said and certainly didn’t mean it but yeah, it was very clear for me to look for Charlie right after. I wrote a letter as well. I’m happy that Charlie accepted the apology and happy to, as he said, move on.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) A follow-up. One of the things the FIA said was the impact swearing might have on the younger generation. So perhaps Max could also comment on that.

MV: Thank you! Thank you very much. I think when you’re in the heat of the moment and you have a radio available you can say bad things. But it’s the same if, let’s say you give a microphone to a football player. Imagine how many words are coming out there during a game. Or another sport, it doesn’t need to be football… rugby, whatever. So I think it’s just, yeah, with the radio around you it’s pretty dangerous. So, I think maybe you shouldn’t broadcast it. That’s another solution. Because you know, we are driving on the limit, in some good fights and then, you know the adrenaline is going really high. So maybe in the future, if it’s bad for the younger generation, just don’t broadcast it.

Lewis, you’re nodding. Do you agree with Max’s point?

LH: Someone’s nodding to me in the crowd.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Charlie, what do you think… how often would a guy like Donald Trump, because of the language, after a race, to the stewards? I asked because he’s now the president of the United States. Do you think it’s the right way to show the youth, OK, maybe it’s not the language you have to say it but it’s the language of everybody in the world, in the universities and everywhere?

CW: To be honest, I’m not sure what Donald Trump’s got to do with this. I think I’ve already answered what I feel about the language that was used there and I think the question of whether or not it should be broadcast is something that needs to be discussed really. I really don’t understand exactly what you’re asking, if I’m honest, but I think my answer to the previous question said what I feel about the actual incident that occurred in Mexico.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, don’t you think that in the last two Grands Prix you needed to revise your image a little bit, your reputation, because of the accident that happened during the race was followed by other accidents… I mean bad languages by other drivers. And the second question is if, when you lose your temper during a race, do you also lose your commitment to attack Verstappen? In that case, do you penalise yourself, losing control of yourself during the race?

SV: I’m not sure I understood this. First, what happened in Austin then, because you said the last two races, accidents? Well. Can you repeat the question, I’m not sure I….

Q: The basic gist of the question is about losing your cool.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta Dello Sport) Your reputation in the last two races, if you want to rebuild your reputation…

SV: I think we actually had two very strong races. I think we started seventh in Mexico and we were fighting for the podium at the end which I think is a great achievement. We had a great race so there’s a lot of positives. Obviously, I think… similar to all other drivers, when you’re fighting, for sure the adrenaline goes up, you’re excited and I was not happy with sitting in fourth which is still a good result coming from seventh. I wanted to attack for the podium because the opportunity was there. I think I tried everything I could. Obviously circumstances weren’t helping but from my point I think I did everything I could at that time. I think we’ve seen many times that overtaking is not so easy. I think I put Max under pressure and then I think we all know what happened but in the end I think it was actually two good races. If there’s anything to criticise, I think it was the performance on Saturday which wasn’t much in the performance that we could show on the Sunday.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Charlie – initially – a lot of the problems that arise from drivers going off track come from the fact that there’s no penalty for going off track. You can rejoin and keep your position. Are you looking at changing tracks to make that not the case and would drivers like to see that happen?

CW: Yes, I think we’ve done this in fact in a number of circuits where you have a situation similar to the one that occurred in Mexico: second chicane in Monza; last chicane in Montreal; Sochi, first corner or turn two in fact. So we’ve developed systems, if you like, that drivers have to take a certain route back onto the track and thereby are automatically slower. This wasn’t a problem last year in Mexico because I think simply because the grass was all new and it was wetter and it was more difficult to drive across. This year, quite clearly, it was quite easy to drive across and hence we had a problem, but it’s very easy, I think, to rectify that and do a similar sort of arrangement to come back onto the track, which will mean that drivers will come back on slower and hence there will be no discussion whether or not they gained an advantage. I think that’s what Max was saying earlier.

NR: For sure, I think it would be good if somehow we can automatically get some kind of slowing down system on all run-off areas so that would solve the issue, definitely

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Charlie, the incidents in turn one; was the safety car decisive for not giving Lewis a penalty, because you said ‘not gaining a lasting advantage’ and from what we see from the video, he had a one car length advantage under braking and at the braking at turn four, even though he lifted, a four or five car length advantage. If the safety car hadn’t happened, would it have been alright for his race to continue? And the other drivers who didn’t comment, what do they think about this?

CW: We were going to ask Lewis to back right off to ensure that he maintained the same distance he had when he went in to the corner but we could see from the data that he had already backed off significantly and then the VSC was deployed followed by the safety car so there was no need to take any further action but had that not happened, yes we would have done that, yes.

Q: (Erick Gabriel – motorsport.com) To Lewis and Nico, of course Max Verstappen has been a great topic – I think we’re discussing a lot of things because of his driving style. I want to know what do you think about his driving style and if you have any fear that he could interfere with the outcome of the championship?

NR: Fear? No, definitely not. And driving style? I think it’s just important that we keep on discussing because I think there’s still room for progress in terms of getting continuity in the decisions and that’s it. So it’s something we need to keep going on with, keep discussing to see if we can make improvements there and that’s it. It’s not depending on one specific driver or not, so that would be good to do that.

LH: Well, firstly I think you should move your phone from down there because it’s kind of dangerous. It’s not healthy to have it there – just so that you know. Radiation, yeah. I’m helping you, seriously. I can only really comment on Max’s driving as I have through the year. He’s obviously a very talented kid and he’s come in and… I’m calling him a kid because he’s a kid to me, he’s still below 20 and he’s still got a lot to learn but he’s obviously done a great job up until now and he’s going to continue to grow and be a force to be reckoned with in Formula One.

MV: I’m still negotiating with them, who’s going to pay me the most. Yeah, so we’ll see, we’ll see on Sunday.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) To all of you apart from Lewis and Nico, will you be more careful during the last two races, when you attack Nico or Lewis because they’re contesting the World Championship?

DR: Honestly no, because I think that every race is like it’s the start of the season: in Melbourne, you race hard and now it’s the end of the season so I think the championship will work out how it should work out. I don’t think we should… if you like, assist in the outcome if that makes sense. Just because they are fighting doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still try and make an overtake if there’s a door open. I’ll always race, I think, with respect but sure I’ll race hard and if there’s an opportunity… normally if we are fighting with them it means we’ve got a chance to probably win a race. If there’s an opportunity to win, for sure I’ll go for it. I just feel that the championship will end as it probably should. The winner will be the winner and we shouldn’t affect it by staying out of the fight, if you know what I mean.

SV: First of all, it’s clear that the fact is that you race to see the chequered flag, so you never try to do something that doesn’t allow you to see the chequered flag. Equally it applies when racing against people who are racing for the championship, but for sure, I think it’s something you have to have in mind because credit to them, they did the best job of the season for whatever reason, to put them in that position and I think it’s for the others to respect the fact.

MV: For sure. Imagine you tell your team like ‘now I’m going to stay out of the fight, I’m just going to cruise round behind them.’ They wouldn’t be happy as well. You always treat it with respect, you never try to hit each other but that’s already the whole season when you try to pull a move on them or when you are in that position. There is the same approach.

FM: Well, I would love to be fighting with them, to be honest, in the race. If I can be fighting with them, then I think they need to be careful with me because I will try everything I can.

Q: Nico and Lewis, what you’ve heard from the other drivers is presumably what you expect on Sunday and again in Abu Dhabi.

NR: Of course, they’re not going to take it easy just because one guy’s fighting for the championship. He’s a competitor like everybody else and that’s completely normal for all us drivers to approach it in that way.

Q: (Bruno Vicaria – Bandeirantes Radio) Charlie, what’s your opinion about this new Interlagos? Are you satisfied with the structure here?

CW: Absolutely. It’s given the teams more space, I think it’s a lot better for all. I think the working conditions are greatly improved and I think it’s improved the whole place massively.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Charlie, you started in the seventies as a mechanic and then track engineer and we are discussing here, until now, drivers’ behaviour. Do you think all these rules, concerning drivers’ behaviour, are a step forward in motor sport or not? And what do the drivers think about this subject?

CW: Unfortunately I think the whole sport has become more complex and there are continual requests to make things clearer and the clearer things need to become, the longer the rules and the more detailed the rules become. For example, all the rules on driving could be summed up in one sentence: drivers must drive safely or something that simple. But when you have a simple rule like that, you are continually asked exactly what does that mean? Can we do this? Can we do that? And then the rule becomes longer and longer and longer, there’s always the request for more detail and more precision and it’s not just in driving, it’s throughout the whole rules, sporting and technical. They naturally become more complex because everyone’s trying that much harder to get everything out of every situation. So I personally don’t see any likelihood of the rules becoming simpler, because we do have a complex sport, that’s really how it is and that’s how it’s developed over the last twenty or so years, I would say.

DR: Obviously I was in a position last weekend where I was in a way protesting a move but on the flipside of that, I think that was a specific move as we discussed, under braking, but apart from that, I think that we should be allowed to… and I think they’ve eased the rules over the last couple of years or so. We did make a conscious effort to give us a bit more freedom to race and I think it’s been more fun and better since then. So there’s always going to be incidents where you feel this or that but I definitely feel that we should be allowed to still put it all on the line. I think that’s what makes the sport exciting, it lets out emotions as we’ve heard and it gives us our own personality, I guess, as well. Fans can attract to a driver on the way he races or the way he responds. Yeah, we should definitely… I mean all of us love racing. I’ve said it: you come here to win but if you can’t win you don’t want to drive around on Sunday afternoon by yourself. You want to have a fight and have a battle. We can always make improvements here or there but you don’t want the rules to become that tight that we’re afraid to do anything, but I think we’re OK as we are.

LH: I agree with what Daniel said. We’re here to race hard but of course we all have different opinions about different rules that are set and how we go about them, obviously, because we have two different opinions for every one scenario and that’s why we need people like Charlie in the middle who really helps, with no bias, to make sure the right decision is made. I think also they allow us to race but of course we can’t be led down the wrong path, the incorrect way.

MV: It’s normal that you don’t crash or make the other driver lose a lot of positions. I think you can race pretty hard.

Q: (Ralf Woodall – L’Equipe) Charlie, could you explain or clarify regarding the penalties: why Seb had a ten second penalty and Max a five second penalty?

CW: I think that in every set of circumstances where a penalty is applied, the stewards have a range of penalties they can choose from: a five second, ten second, drive-through or a ten second stop-and-go. It’s just simply a matter that the stewards felt that it was more serious hence ten seconds was necessary

November 10, 2016
Esteban Ocon Confirmed at Force India for 2017 and Beyond

The Sahara Force India Formula One team have announced that current Manor driver Esteban Ocon will drive for the team from 2017 on a multi year contract.

Ocon who was the test driver for Force India in 2015, will have his first shot at a full season in F1 after being promoted to F1 from DTM at the Belgian Grand Prix to take Rio Haryanto’s place at Manor.

The confirmation of Ocon completes the Force India Driver line up for 2017.

“I’m very excited to join Sahara Force India,” said Ocon.

“I know the team quite well already because I was a test driver last year and I’m really looking forward to working with everybody at Silverstone once again.

“I’m still relatively new to Formula One, but spending half a season at Manor Racing has given me some valuable experience and I feel ready for this new opportunity with Sahara Force India. The next few months will be very busy as I do all I can to prepare for the challenge ahead of me.

“It means lots of days at the factory, working on the simulator and building relationships with the engineers and everybody in the team. It’s something I’ve been working towards my whole life and I intend to grab this opportunity
with both hands so that I can deliver the results the team expects from me.

“I want to say ‘thank you’ to everybody at Manor and especially to Mercedes-Benz for their support and belief in me.

“I can’t wait for 2017 and my first full season racing in Formula One.”

Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff: “Esteban has the most impressive track record in junior formulae and he is an exceptional personality outside of the car.

“Force India have a strong record of working with young drivers and have again shown courage and vision to take Esteban under their wing.

“Even more, it is a positive development for Formula One that talent wins over money and we will be seeing some of the most impressive youngsters fighting to make it to the top in Formula One over the coming years.”

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

November 10, 2016