F1 Madness

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  • Gearbox Change Drops Hamilton down 5-Grid Places

    Gearbox Change Drops Hamilton down 5-Grid Places

    Lewis Hamilton has been handed a 5-place grid drop for the Bahrain Grand Prix after his team elected to change his gearbox.

    Mercedes say that a hydraulic leak was the cause of the change. They had attempted to repair the leak ahead of this weekend but could not get the repair done in time and had no choice to take a new gearbox.

    Even if Hamilton qualifies on pole, he will start the race from P6 on the grid. This will add a little more difficulty to his afternoon since the race pace of Ferrari and Red Bull are so similar.

    No I’m definitely not where I [need to be],” Hamilton said.

    “I mean, we’ve got things to improve on.

    “What it’s just shown is that it’s incredibly close between the three teams, like really close. I think it will be a tough weekend.”

     

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • 2018 Bahrain GP: Friday Practice Round Up

    2018 Bahrain GP: Friday Practice Round Up

    Free Practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday yielded some mixed results between the two sessions with Ferrari ultimately getting the edge and looking the stronger team at the end of the day.

    Free Practice 1

    Daniel Ricciardo was the man on top of the time sheets at the end of FP1 with a session best time of 1:31.060. Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes was 0.304s down in P2 with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen a further 0.398s off the pace.

    Going into the session it looked like it would be a Mercedes-Ferrari battle, but Daniel Ricciardo getting into the mix shows that Red Bull are knocking on the door.

    The session, which takes place during the day while qualifying and the race is in the evening, was not representative of the performance of the teams, which meant that teams were not in a hurry to get out until much later in the session.

    While Ricciardo set the fastest time of the session, his team mate Max Verstappen had electrical issues after two laps. The Dutchman managed to get the car to the edge of the pit lane and pushed it back into the pits with the help of the marshals.

    The mid-field battle looked extremely close with Romain Grosjean in the Haas leading the pack in 7th ahead of Pierre Gasly in the upgraded Toro Rosso in 8th. Carlos Sainz in the Renault.

    Spins from Williams Lance Stroll and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc capped off uneventful sessions for the pair.

     

     

    Free Practice 2

    Ferrari emerged from the second free practice session in the evening as the strongest running team with Kimi Raikkonen topping the time sheets narrowly edging Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.011s. Bottas in the Mercedes was 0.563 off the pace. The fastest times for the top three was set on the red banded super soft tyre, a tyre that the Mercedes cars did not seem comfortable on while the Ferrari’s on the other hand seemed solid.

    Lewis Hamilton finished 4th fastest 0.655s off Raikkonen’s pace ahead of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in 5th and 6th respectively.

    Nico Hulkenberg who complained about the balance of his Renault ended his session 7th fastest ahead of the upgraded Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly.

    Both McLaren’s finished in the top 10 with Fernando Alonso finishing 9th ahead of team mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

    The long run pace between Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull looks very closely matched. It looks like strategy could be the only differentiator come race day for victory – with a bit of luck thrown in for good measure.

    Just 15mins before the end of the session, Raikkonen had to pull over after one of his wheels was not fastened properly. The team was fined €5000 for their transgression.

    The Haas boys finished a little lower down the order while the Force India pair ended up higher up the order.

    The teams go into Saturday’s final practice session very closely matched with Ferrari slightly edging ahead.

     

     

     

    Photo by courtesy Pirelli

  • 2018 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2018 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Zak BROWN (McLaren), Guenther STEINER (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Guenther, we’ll start with you: that looked like an encouraging first session, with Romain up in sixth place. Does that help you move ahead from the disappointment of Australia and start to put it behind you?

    Guenther STEINER: Yeah, absolutely, it will help. It keeps the morale up with the guys, from the disappointment of Australia. But then again, FP1 doesn’t mean a lot. But it’s better to be there than to be last. It helps the guys to keep going and I hope we keep going in FP2, FP3 and Qualifying. And then hopefully in the race we have a flawless race.

     

    And how did you pick up the guys after Australia?

    GS: I think we just regrouped and said ‘these things can happen; they shouldn’t happen, we all know that’. You don’t have to beat anybody up; they all feel bad about it. Nobody does this intentionally. It was a series of things that went wrong and it just happened in one race and when we were in a good position. But you always have to take out the positives. We learn, it seems like we have a good car, we just have to keep pushing and we will be fine the rest of the year.

     

    Thank you. Claire, Melbourne was quite a difficult weekend for Williams, certainly in the race. Was that race a fair reflection of where the team stands in the pecking order at the moment?

    Claire WILLIAMS: Yeah, you’re right – it wasn’t our finest hour in Melbourne. I think we probably came into the season following testing knowing that we wanted to be. I think we would have hoped that we made some greater inroads into the performance delta to the frontrunners, however that didn’t transpire in Melbourne. But I’m not necessarily convinced that Melbourne was particularly representative, I hope it wasn’t. We know that there are three key areas of weakness that we need to focus on, which we’re doing now. We certainly believe we have more performance to extract from the car and that’s what the team are working on at the moment.

     

    How do you move forward from here to improve the car in those areas?

    CW: As I said, we know the three key areas of weakness and we just need to focus on those. The team needs to a good job trackside to make sure that our race ops are where they need to be. The drivers need to ensure that they’re doing what they needs to do from the start of the weekend. And then we need to make sure that we’re improving the performance of the car race to race. Probably it’s the car that’s our greatest weakness at the moment, so everybody at Grove is galvanised to make sure that we bring the upgrades that we need to bring and that we keep working on it. It’s just about keeping our heads down and not getting too stressed out but the first result in Melbourne. I think that’s really important – this is a long season and we need to look forward rather than back.

     

    Thank you. Zak, coming to you, it’s a home race of sorts for McLaren and you had a strong result on the first race weekend, but was the pace where you expected it to be at the start of the season?

    Zak BROWN: Our pace was there or thereabouts. It was a good race for us. We wanted to get both cars home, reliably and in the points. It was a good weekend. The drivers did an exceptional job, the pit stops were good, we’re in the rebuilding process, it’s a long season, but that was a long season for us.

     

    Yesterday, Fernando Alonso said that the next two months are crucial for McLaren. Is that a sentiment that you share?

    ZB: I think the next two months are crucial for every Formula 1 team, with the pace of development. No one is sitting still. This race is important, the following race is important, every race is important, but we need to build on Australia, find some more speed, make sure we continue with the reliable and good team work, and I think we’ll have a good season.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Kate Walker– New York Times) This week we saw the results of the gender pay gap figures published – I know Guenther your team was exempt – but what sort of efforts are you guys making to rectify any imbalances in pay in your workforce and to what extent are the existing imbalances down to people of different gender being in different roles, rather than any deliberate effort to underpay women?

    CW: I can get on my soapbox now! Gender equality at Williams, and I’m talking on behalf of our team, is obviously an issue that we have been looking at and addressing for a number of years now. It’s hugely important as part of a wider societal conversation that we’re having and it’s really important that we tackle and we address these issues. I do think the report that came out this week is misleading. I think the criteria by which we have to report has been particularly misleading. You look at the tables of teams that have had to report and Williams is pretty far down the bottom, but they are looking at the mean and the median. And actually the most important thing when you’re looking at gender pay is that women are paid the same amount as their male counterparts for doing the same role. That’s the most important thing. At Williams we tackled that issue a while ago, probably 12-18 months ago. We know, and I can sit here with total transparency, saying all women at Williams are paid for doing the identical roles that men are paid. I think that’s the most important issue that we have to address. I think that these reports that have come out this week can be extremely misleading, because they are comparing situations where actually there are far fewer women in our roles in our teams, because this is a very male-dominated sport and always has been. However, we’ve done a huge amount of work to tackle that over the past 12 months and we continue to do so. I think at Williams we probably do more work than most of the teams in the paddock, and I’m really proud to say that, either through the initiatives we’ve set up over the past two years to address the situation, or through the work we do with external parties such as F1 in Schools and Dare to be Different. And we will keep plugging this conversation and keep doing this work to ensure that we have more females coming into our team and into motorsport as a whole. It’s so important when we’re looking at a shortage of engineers coming up. We have to be talking to all students, male and female, in secondary and tertiary education if we’re to make sure that at the end of the day this sport survives. But it is also really important to say that we recruit on merit. Sport has to be done on a meritocracy, it’s not just a box-ticking exercise for us to make surer that we have more women in. It’s to make sure that we have quality people coming into our racing teams to work.

    ZB: I echo Claire’s comments, I think she laid that out very well. What I would say is that it is a very important issue for McLaren. It’s something that we speak about frequently. It’s something that we are doing something about, so we recognise its importance and there is definitely room for improvement.

    GS: After Claire, what she said, I don’t know what to say! It was so good. Even if we are exempt, we are equal, it’s the job position, we don’t look at gender. It’s very transparent, we are very new, so we never had any history there. When we started it needed to be equal anyway. That is the position and that is the pay. It doesn’t matter whoever it is that is what gets paid. So we are very fair on that one. Even if we don’t have to report, we have no issues with that and we just keep it fair.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) Liberty presented its broad outline for the future. It’s going to require co-operation from the teams. You’ve all observed Formula 1 for a long time and you know that teams rarely agree unanimously on everything. What’s different now than it has been in the past 30 or 40 years?

    ZB: I can’t really speak to the last 30 or 40 years because I haven’t been around that long… but I have watched it. Yeah, I look like it! Thanks! I think we all recognise that the sport starts with the fan and that’s what Liberty are focused on – putting on a better for the fan. And if the fan wins, we all win. The sponsors win, the m4edia wins, television ratings win. I think we all recognise that the sport is not where it needs to be today so it’s in our collective interest to improve the show. That means we’re all going to have make varying degrees of compromises but I think we’ll ultimate get there at the end and I’m excited about the future of Formula 1.

    CW: I was extremely positive about today’s meeting, I have to say. I think we’ve all hoped for change under our new management and I think today they presented change. I think for a team like ours, based on what they presented, it was an extremely good day for us. I came back thinking let’s crack open some champagne, because from our perspective if we can get these new regulations through, and if Liberty/FOM do everything they say they are going to do, that they presented this morning, then from our perspective I know that Williams’ future is safe. That’s not to say that we were on the brink, or anywhere close, but with today’s sport and the way it is structured and with the financial disparity between teams then the likelihood of Williams’ survival into the medium and long-term was looking pretty bleak. Everything they presented from revenue redistribution to cost caps is absolutely everything that we want to see from 2021 and beyond, so I’m personally delighted with the proposals that they laid down. I know that in the past you can have these conversations and they come out and not necessarily anything is ever done about it, but I’m not sure these discussions are negotiable. That’s not the message I got anyway.

    GS: I think I echo what Claire and Zak said. We are looking all positive after our meeting. But to answer Dan’s question, there’s a different owner of the sport in place so they will do things differently. We knew what was before, there was always the same tactics. With the new owner that is what you have got the chance to make it happen different this time. That’s my opinion about it, to answer Dan’s question straight. I think it was good today. The presentation went well. For sure, everybody goes away and comes back with questions but I think as Claire and Zak said we are at the point where we need to change something to attract people, to attract new fans to do what we need to do to make the sport the leading sport in the world.

     

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, is there anything – for all three of you – that you had any reservations about regarding the proposals? Any particular point?

    ZB: I think we’re going to avoid getting into specifics of what was discussed this morning. That was what was agreed amongst the teams, Chase and Ross. But, as Claire and Guenther have said, I would say overall the impression is very positive and I think the direction they’re taking is the right direction. There’s obviously a lot of details, questions – but we’ll do that behind closed doors.

     

    Guenther, anything to add?

    GS: No. Nice try to get more information. But no, nothing more to add. The detailed discussions are behind closed doors, we all agreed on that one, and so we should keep it like in any other business and hopefully we bring back a better sport that is better for all of us.

     

    Claire, you’re very happy but I assume you’re going the say the same?

    CW: Yeah, the same. Thank you.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Sorry to continue along the same sort of line but referring to this morning’s meeting, is it not… the presentation was more a Liberty wishlist rather than proposals for the future, given the fact that they aren’t actually the regulatory body. So, do you actually see this as a blueprint for the future or a discussion point?

    CW: I believe it was a proposal rather than a wishlist. It was presented as such and I think that everyone felt it was a blueprint for the future. There are obviously elements in that proposal are under FOM’s control and others which fall under the FIA’s control – but I believe that FOM and FIA are working together and, as I’ve always said, if we’re going to protect the future of this sport then we need to work collaboratively. All three stakeholders.

     

    Zak, did you see it like that?

    ZB: Yep. I was in the same meeting.

     

    Guenther?

    GS: Yes – but there is something between a blueprint and a wishlist, which is called a proposal. That’s what it was. It’s not a blueprint but it’s not ‘oh, let’s try to do this’. It’s something in between but it’s a good starting point. A very good one, actually.

     

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Zak. As you’re chairman of McLaren and non-executive director at Motorsport Network, do you think it’s right that one of your drivers advertises a link to the magazine and the website.

    ZB: Yeah, it was a free offering. I think some other drivers are going to be doing it. So yeah, it’s a free opportunity for consumers and hopefully more drivers will help share accordingly.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Just a quick one back on the topic of the meeting this morning. One of the things that was pointed out was a reiteration of the need for a cost cap. So, how much do you think is a sensible target for that and how to you think it would be employed?

    ZB: I think that falls into the realm of items that we’re not going to discuss. I think there’s a lot of detail of what goes into a cost cap and what doesn’t. I think at the end of the day we’re trying to get the sporting field levelled so wherever we land on cost caps should be based around what makes a race car fast on the track – not necessarily some of the other items that go around a Formula One programme: marketing, things of that nature. What you see in the paddock – I think that’s quite special and unique to Formula One.

     

    Guenther, do you have a figure in mind that you think would be good?

    GS: No. I think as Zak said, it’s behind closed doors and we have to go back to that one because we agreed on it. It will come out when the deal is done. Or maybe it never will – but it needs to be reasonable that we can put a good show on, the technology still to showcase it, and what we put in and what we take out, we have to still obviously decide on it but again it will be done behind closed doors.

     

    And Claire, if I could ask, if a figure was given, was it one that would actually affect many of the teams at the moment, or was it quite a high ceiling?

    CW: I don’t know whether to say it was behind closed doors or not – because that’s what everyone else keeps saying. I think it’s a balanced figure. I think obviously whenever you talk about cost caps there are going to be winners and losers, aren’t there? And it’s about compromise at the end of the day.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Question to Guenther – and I won’t ask what you could do with a $150million cost cap – but you’ve obviously played the listed parts regulation to the absolute limit and your performances and commercial performances to date in your last two years prove that it’s actually worked for you. Is this how you intend continuing going forward? To actually continue still getting all the listed parts from your favoured team supplier – or do you intend changing that model? And to the other two, do you believe that this is the way forward for Formula One? To basically be a semi-customer team acquiring as many parts as possible.

    GS: We are doing it until 2020. We were waiting for this proposal and see where we get with the proposal with Liberty Media. And then we decide what we are going to do in the future. We haven’t taken this decision yet, what we are going to do but, for sure, it seems to be working and I don’t see any point to do it different at this moment in time. But it was this morning, the meeting, we have still have not the decision of what will be done with the sport for 2021. How the new contract looks. As soon as we have got that one, we will take a decision in the months after that one, how we continue there.

     

    Zak, is this a future direction that you think Formula One should be exploring?

    ZB: Yeah, I think it… Haas has done an outstanding job. Gene Haas is a very smart businessman, he obviously saw an opportunity to enter the sport and get competitive with less resources than a lot of the other teams out there and I think it does point to future regulations where you do talk about some standardisation of some parts that maybe aren’t visible to the race fan – therefore it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the sport, the customisation. So, I think it is something that they’ve done a very good job on and I think we need to look at some of that, or all of that, some of the basis on which we move forwards as we try to drive cost down.

     

    Claire, your thoughts.

    CW: Yeah, I think Haas have done a fantastic job. They’ve come into the sport and are now a hugely competitive. Obviously we are not very happy about that – but as a model I think certainly it is not one that Williams subscribes to. I think everybody knows our philosophy around being a constructor in our sport. For us, personally – I wouldn’t criticise the way other people want to do it – but we want to retain our constructor position. So it’s not something that I would want our team to subscribe to – to go and buy a whole load of another team’s parts. For me, success for us is us designing, developing and building our race car, ourselves, in-house. And success has to come from us doing it our own way. But, as  a philosophy for other teams, we totally accept that.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – Ad SportWorld) Zak, Formula Two is also starting this weekend. Last week, Nyck de Vries told on Dutch television that you said to him that he will definitely get a chance with McLaren in Formula One in 2019 when he wins the championship. Two questions: is that true and what does a chance mean?

    ZB: That is not an accurate reflection of the conversation but Nyck’s a very good driver. McLaren will always look to put the two best drivers that it can in the car and no one has any promises from McLaren verbally or contractually as to who is going to be in our car in 2019.

    Q: Indistinct

    ZB: We won’t comment on our contracts but I can tell you that no one has a guarantee to be in our seat for 2019, regardless of any race results.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Do you think the Liberty plans secure the future of the ten teams?  For instance, will it keep Ferrari on board?

    GS: I cannot speak for Ferrari so I think we need to ask Dr Marchionne that one but I think there is… I’ve no idea. Mr Marchionne wasn’t present and nobody committed this morning, nobody made any comment if they would join or not. I hope they stay on board, obviously, because Ferrari’s a big part of Formula One. I hope everybody stays on board because I think they’ve got ten good teams at the moment and we should try to all work together to keep it going like this.

     

    Q: Claire, you said you came out very happy from that meeting. Do you think every team came out very happy from it?

    CW: I’m sure that some people aren’t going to be very happy. If you hear the intricacies of that meeting then, as I said earlier, there are always going to be winners and losers in this situation and sometimes it’s about compromise if we’re to protect the future health of this sport. Like Guenther says, I can’t comment on Ferrari’s feelings around the proposals that were laid out. All I can comment on is our team and if their proposal is blue-printed then it does protect the survival of Williams and at the end of the day that’s all that matters to me. I want our team to be competing and hopefully winning in this sport for the next two, three, four decades.

    ZB: No, nothing to add, I think we’ll find out soon who’s on board and who’s not. Hopefully everyone will be on board, that’s what’s going to be best for the sport and I believe for all the teams as well.

     

    Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Claire, you mentioned key areas of your car that need progressing, improving. Can you be more specific? Is it a case of lack of downforce, issues with stability or something else? And regarding the updates, do you think you can have them ready perhaps for Baku or will you have to wait for the start of the European season?

    CW: Yeah, we don’t really like airing our dirty linen in public at Williams. It’s not fair. We know the areas and that’s half the battle, to make sure that you understand the weaker areas of your car. Clearly everyone always wants more downforce, that’s certainly something that we need to work on. But it’s across the whole car. We do believe that there is more performance to find, that we didn’t manage to get it out in Melbourne and so that’s the work moving forward. We do have some significant upgrades coming in the next few races and I’ll be really looking forward to seeing how those perform on the track but as I said earlier, it’s a long season but we have work to do. We’re not happy finishing where we finished in Melbourne, we’ve got to make progress but unfortunately a lot of the other teams that we thought we’d be fighting with have made greater progress than us and really we haven’t done a good enough job and we need to really dig deep if we’re going to make progress this year. It’s going to be a really tough year which is great for the fans, just not so great for us at Williams.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Zak, the new regulations post-2020, whatever is in the public domain and other stuff that we’ve heard etc, would this incentivise McLaren to actually become a complete manufacturer and provide their own engines, because obviously the manufacturers will receive bonuses and with you sourcing an engine from a French production car company doesn’t qualify you for that yet you are also a supercar manufacturer?

    ZB: You know it’s very early days, hours into understanding directionally which way this sport’s going to go with engines, so it is something that we discuss from time to time but with all that we have to accomplish right now, our heads are focused a little bit more on tomorrow and Sunday. As things become clear, then we’ll have that discussion.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) We heard a lot about 2021, there’s a couple of years to go. Isn’t it frustrating that nothing much can be done to get more attractive races in the short term?

    CW: Yeah, I think we’re probably all slightly disappointed by the race in Melbourne, that it didn’t bring the track action that we’d like to hope for. I think there are probably circuits coming up where we may see some more interesting racing. Melbourne’s not necessarily an easy circuit to overtake on. I hope that improves. I know that the TWG have been talking about means by which to improve the racing, to overtaking, in the coming weeks, so I think we probably have to wait and see the outcomes that they discuss to hopefully effect change for the next couple of seasons, because probably we can’t wait and our fans certainly can’t wait until 2021 for us to improve things.

    GS: I would go back to the comment that we didn’t have a lot of interesting races; we’ve had one, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. I think we should wait a little bit longer to see if it is interesting or not. As Claire said, Australia’s not the easiest circuit to overtake on anyway. I would wait a few races before we jump to conclusions but in the meantime, again as Claire said, the TWG has started its own ideas to make overtaking better and to see what’s coming out there. I stay calm. We didn’t have three years of uninteresting races, we had one this year so give us a little bit of time.

    ZB: I agree with Guenther, it’s been one race. I they’re also talking about some modifications of that particular circuit and then hopefully we can have discussions. We’ve got an upcoming strategy group meeting where we will discuss things for 2019 so hopefully we don’t have to wait until 2021 to impact some change but let’s see what’s necessary after a few more races.

  • 2018 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2018 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Kimi, if we can start with you. It was third place in Australia for the opening and it could have been even better and you said you were happy with the car during the first weekend. Could you just tell us what about this car you like and does it suit you more than last year’s car? 

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Obviously it’s hard to say. I think it was a pretty straightforward weekend. For sure, we could have done more things and improved always, but it’s the same: it doesn’t matter if you win or are tenth of something; there are always things to improve or work on. Obviously we have a very limited amount of time over the weekend to do things, with the practice, and also with the weather it was a bit tricky. Overall, I think we were quite pleased with how things went. You want more, better positions, but I think we take that happily. As a team we did a pretty job out of it. Not much to complain about really. We want to win races, but it’s the first race out and we managed to do decent points, so we go forward here, try to make a good practice. So far the car has been working well, even with pretty limited testing over the winter, with some illness and obviously the weather was not ideal on the first test, so I’m pretty OK with how things are running, so let’s just keep doing our normal things and improving.

    Thank you. Valtteri, coming to you: it was a difficult weekend for you in Australia, especially with the crash in qualifying. How much does a weekend like that play on your mind in the gap between races and how eager are you to get out on track this weekend? 

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, not so much been in my mind, because everything was kind of processed during the weekend. It was a bad weekend, that’s it. Now we still have 20 races to go and we’re here in Bahrain, so nothing really to worry about at this point. We have a competitive car. We know we still have a lot of work to do to make it better. Just a bad weekend, so looking forward to this one.

    Thank you very much. Fernando, you said on Saturday evening in Melbourne that hopefully you’d finish higher than P7 or P6 in Australia and you went and finished in fifth place, so where will you finish this weekend? 

    Fernando ALONSO: I don’t know, I don’t have the crystal ball anymore! I think definitely the car has some potential. Over the winter we had some ups and downs in testing and then in Australia it was the same thing – the free practice was affected by the weather and the qualifying was not smooth enough for us to show the potential. It was a good race, a lucky race with the two Haas retirements and the Virtual Safety Car. Nevertheless, I think we take this fifth place and we move on. There is still a lot to improve for us if we want to catch up to the top three teams, but I think we have the potential there and hopefully we can unlock some performance in the next races.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Fernando, following on from that: as you say, ups and downs and still potential to come, but are happy days here again?

    FA: Well, I think there’s still quite a reasonable gap to close with the leaders, but I think it’s up to us now. It’s up to the team to deliver the performance in the next weeks, in the next four or five or six grands prix. If we are able to bring the performance to the track and close that gap and, you know, being in a reasonable distance to the pole position and the podium finishes and things like that, then it’s up to us to deliver the result on the weekend. I think the next two months are crucial for our hopes in this year’s championship, but hopefully we can keep improving the car, keep putting more performance and if it’s not a world championship fight, it will hopefully be some podium positions during the year or it can be regular top six or top five positions, not only in Australia P5 because of the Virtual Safety Car and the two Haas retirements. Maybe P5 could become a normality. That’s something we need to discover and to find out and as I said before, it’s probably the first time in the last three years that it’s up to us now to deliver that result, so we will try to do our best.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have eight podiums here but the qualifying results have not been that good – only one P3. Is that the biggest difference you have between racing and qualifying in any circuit, and, if yes, where is that coming from?

    KR: I don’t look too closely what has happened in the past, you probably know better. To be honest we try to do our best. Sometimes it works; sometimes not and obviously, you start where you qualify. If it’s a good place or not that great you try to make the best out of it. To be honest some years it’s been working out well here. You can choose the tyres and do a different race and it worked out well. Could it be better if you started at the front? Who knows? Another weekend where we try to do a good job and be up there and see where we end up. It’s a bit unknown. This is a completely different circuit to the previous two where we’ve been in Barcelona and Australia – so yeah, we have to see how everything plans out and where we are, where others are – but it’s been a pretty decent place in past years.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To Kimi and Valtteri, starting with Kimi. Kimi, you were almost seven-tenths slower in qualifying in Australia. Do you think Mercedes can also have such an advantage in qualifying here? And, in race conditions, if you believe Ferrari will be more or less in the same gap to Mercedes – or even smaller due to characteristics of the track, and considering the history of Ferrari in this track?

    KR: Who knows. You can keep guessing as long as you want, we see over the weekend where we are. I have zero interest to start guessing where we are, what’s the difference in qualifying. There’s so many things that will change that and y’know, we’ll do our best and see where we end up in qualifying and the race – but the most important part is the Sunday after the race where it will be finished. I am finished to be two seconds off if we win every Sunday. I don’t care. It’s pretty irrelevant on Saturday in that way. But yeah, I don’t know. That’s why we come here. To find out.

    VB:     I think pretty much the same. You can always guess but at this point we can only guess, so yeah… I think historically Ferrari has been good here. They had good race pace in Australia. Last year they had stronger pace here than in Australia, so I think it’s going to be a threat and they’re going to be close to us. Even Red Bull. But more than that, just can’t say. We will see how the weekend develops.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Interesting day coming up tomorrow where we understand Liberty Media will be presenting their blueprint of the future of Formula One to the teams. I was just wondering, as drivers, what input you’ve had, what consultations you’ve had and where you see any changes necessary from a racing perspective to improve Formula One for the future. It’s a question to you all.

    FA: I don’t think that there is anything thing that we can probably can say about that. Definitely Liberty has been quite open to us from Day One and they’ve been asking us all of last year about opinions and different ideas that we may have. So, they were very productive conversations. So, now I think they have a plan. They will show it tomorrow to the teams and we will agree with whatever their decision is because they have all the power and they have all the knowledge of who to do things. Hopefully they’ll bring new ideas, new things that can improve the show and that will be welcome from all of us.

    Kimi, has there been any feedback you’ve been giving to Liberty about the direction of Formula One?

    KR: No, in the end it’s no our decision, it’s up to them. It’s their business. They make plans and obviously take decisions they feel is correct. I don’t know what they’re doing now. I know very little about it and I’m not interested in it, so we’ll see tomorrow what they say. It’s in many years’ time anyhow. I doubt I’ll be here so it doesn’t really bother me.

    Valtteri, anything to add?

    VB: Not really. I think Fernando covered well. In the end, it’s their decision and tomorrow we’ll see what they will recommend. It’s difficult to speculate more than that – but it will be interesting to see what they recommend.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Valtteri, you say it’s been processed –  what happened at the Australian Grand Prix –  but how much pressure do you feel to have a good performance here? 

    VB: I think it’s a normal race weekend, that’s my feeling at the moment, honestly. Sometimes you have bad races and then there’s always the next one and of course you always want to perform but there is no point in gathering pressure from one mistake in qualifying. Of course, I always hope for a good weekend but yeah, I feel a normal race weekend ahead.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Just coming back to the previous question, to all drivers, Fernando said they have the power to change Formula One. If you had the power, what would you change in the Formula One we have today? 

    KR: I don’t have it, so…

    Q: Nothing you’d change at all?

    KR: No, I don’t have the power so what’s the point to wasting… even thinking about it because I don’t understand why you… what’s the point for me, to give you a list, because in the end I have zero power? I can’t. You understand? We can’t, we don’t make the rules, that’s my point. What’s the point of even making a story out of it.
    FA:  Well, I think it could be a closer battle, that will always be welcome but it has always been like that in F1. I remember watching the TV in the very old days… it was on television last week a race from ’90 or ’89 and apart from the first four cars, everyone was flat. We remember that era like a golden era, with big names etc and they’ve always been a big spread but I think if you see now, other series, if you watch a race of IndyCars or whatever, that unpredictable result until the last ten laps makes you excited in front of the television and now we can put (down) the qualifying order for this race right now, on Thursday and that’s a little bit sad.
    VB: Well, I think, like everyone, all the spectators, all the drivers, we would all love more closer racing like Fernando said but how to do that? It’s not in my hands.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Fernando, one of the current stated objectives this year is to return to the podium. Now based on what you’ve experienced in testing and the race, what you’ve just said etc, in order to get onto the podium you have to beat both or one or both Ferraris, one or both Mercedes, plus two Red Bulls which have got the same engine. Do you honestly believe that that’s do-able and achievable this year? 

    FA: Yes. We were two places from that podium already in Australia. They were very close, the last ten laps, Ricciardo and Kimi fighting together so anything can happen in a race. I won two races in 2008 with that ING Renault. I was on the podium in 2009 with the introduction of KERS and that car that we were, I think, ninth in the World Championship or something like that, and I was on the podium so anything can happen in F1. If you are close to that position, sooner or later that opportunity will come and we will be there to take it. I think it’s very possible this year.

  • F1 2018: Bahrain Gp Preview – Ferrari to drive home advantage?

    F1 2018: Bahrain Gp Preview – Ferrari to drive home advantage?

    Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher won the first Bahrain grand prix, held in 2004. While it was a new, never before raced at, venue for F1 it didn’t produce much excitement as it earned the unfortunate moniker ‘Bore-rain’ thanks to its processional races.

    However, in 2014, as the tenth anniversary of F1 in Bahrain rolled around, no pun intended, organisers decided to run the race under lights. It was a masterstroke as the formerly docile race came alive and produced some of the most exhilarating racing all season. It was Lewis Hamilton who beat then teammate Nico Rosberg to victory following thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead.

    In 2017 Valtteri Bottas scored the first pole position of his career but ultimately didn’t have the composure to hold of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. It is a new season though and Australia has not done much to reveal the true pecking order of 2018.

    Though Ferrari stood on the top step of the podium in the first race of the season the Sebastian Vettel was the first to admit that the opportunistic win had a definite element of luck infused. Further, he admits that the 2018 Ferrari isn’t yet where it needs to be. “I think our car has huge potential but I’m still struggling a little bit. When you talk about something that you miss as a driver, it’s because the car doesn’t respond the way you like. Ours is still sliding in places you don’t want it to slide. I want the car to be spot-on when I hit the brakes and turn in, and in that window, I’m not yet happy,” says Vettel.

    MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS

    The Sakhir International circuit is not the ideal test of an F1 car but it will allow them to stretch their legs a bit more than in Australia. Low speed corners dominate the circuit layout, which means that traction and tyre temperatures significantly influence the laptime. Specifically, management of rear tyre temperatures is the key in Bahrain.

    The top three teams, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull have made similar tyre choices for the weekend where the supersoft, soft, and medium tyre will be run. The high desert temps and difficulty in managing rear tyre wear could play to Ferrari’s favour as Mercedes has traditionally suffered on the softer compounds of the Pirelli range.

    It isn’t all about what happens at the sharp-end though as the tight mid-field battle has all the potential to produce some of the closest racing of all. The team to look out for is Haas. They were desperately unlucky that cross-threaded wheel-nuts forced both cars retire in Australia. However, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were turning a genuinely quick pace and should be able to replicate it this weekend.

    Bahrain_NightMany drivers including Lewis Hamilton and both Red Bulls complained about the lack of overtaking opportunities in Australia. This should be somewhat alleviated in Bahrain partly due to its kilometer long straight.

    There was little question in Australia that Mercedes had a quick car. However, there are several factors, most notably the higher temperatures and rear tyre wear, that could play in Ferrari’s favour. Given that Vettel does not yet feel 100% comfortable with his Ferrari it could well be Kimi Raikkonen who has a record seven podiums in Bahrain.

  • F1 2018: Australian Gp Review – Ferrari Score Opportunistic Win

    F1 2018: Australian Gp Review – Ferrari Score Opportunistic Win

    “I was waiting to put a lap in and wipe the smile off your face”. This was the jibe Lewis Hamilton directed at Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after Saturday’s qualifying session. “What goes around come around” was Vettel’s retort at the time but he also responded on Sunday with an opportunistic win the opening round of the 2018 season.

    Hamilton withstood a challenge for the lead of the race from Kimi Raikkonen in the opening lap as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slipped to fifth behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. The Dutchman’s race suffered further when he oddly spun in the middle of turn one.

    All who put money on the fact that Mercedes and Hamilton were going to scamper off into the distance wouldn’t have seen a great return on that bet. Not only did the Mercedes not disappear into the distance but also Raikkonen kept him within three seconds for all of the first stint. Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas was making slow progress from fifteenth after binning the Merc in qualifying a day earlier.

    The race seemed to settle slightly just before the forced retirement of both Haas drivers. Kevin Magnussen was the first to pull over with a loose wheel and Romain Grosjean suffered the same fate one lap later. It was desperate situation for the American team who were running comfortably in fourth and fifth at the time. While Magnussen pulled off in a safe area Grosjean’s Haas required the deployment of the Virtual safety-car (VSC) and later the real safety-car.

    0090Raikkonen and Hamilton had made their respective trips through the pitlane while Vettel remained on track for several more laps. As it were his pitstop coincided with VSC period during which all drivers must run to a minimum laptime. Bizarrely, Hamilton ran well below the prescribed laptime and ceded the lead of the race to Vettel.

    The bunching up of the field behind the safety-car also allowed Daniel Ricciardo back into the action and onto the gearbox of Raikkonen. However, while the Aussie got within seven tenths of the Ferrari he never looked like making a pass for the final step on the podium.

    Further adrift Fernando Alonso emphasized McLaren’s comeback with a fine fifth ahead of Verstappen in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg brought his Renault home in seventh ahead of Bottas in eighth and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne in ninth. Carlos Sainz snapped up the final point on offer in tenth despite fighting off severe nausea in the cockpit due a drinks bottle failure.

    Many will term Vettel’s win lucky but opportunistic is better-suited and fairer descriptor of events. Ultimately, it was Vettel’s pace, and Ferrari’s strategic call, that was the determining factor. Though he ran slightly adrift of his teammate and race-leader Hamilton in the opening stint of the race he remained within touching distance. When the VSC, and later the safety-car, was deployed he was close enough to take full advantage of it.

    0084Similarly, he had enough pace to hold off Hamilton and push the reigning world champion into waving the white flag with a handful of laps to go. The VSC and safety-car has been a well-known and accepted variable in F1 for decades. It’s not luck but merely a part of the sport.

    Vettel and Ferrari will come away from Australia with a significant boost in confidence and a doff of the cap to the strategists.

  • 2018 Australian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2018 Australian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Mark Webber)

     

    Sebastian, 48th victory, 100th podium, a couple behind Alain Prost, so run us through it – what a race. 

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, obviously pretty good. We got a bit lucky with the safety car but yeah, really enjoyed it. A great turnout today, you saw in the grandstands, I really enjoyed the lap back in. And for the race, I mean my start, I was hoping for it to be a little bit better, but it didn’t really work, so I had to settle for third. And then, towards the end of that first stint I lost a little bit the connection to Lewis and Kimi ahead. I was struggling a little bit with the tyres. I felt happier with the soft tyres, with the yellow tyres at the end, for the second stint. Obviously I was praying for a safety and there was a car that stopped in Turn 4 and I was like ‘no, it’s not coming out’ and then somebody stopped, I think it was a Haas, in Turn 2, and then when I saw it I was full of adrenalin, even though the race is frozen, but still to come into the pits, everything on the limit, trying to get back out, because they told me it was really close with Lewis. And when we got out ahead I knew it was difficult to pass but he kept some pressure on, especially at the beginning of the last stint and then at the end, during the last five laps at least I could enjoy it a little bit more.

     

    Well done. Lewis, God, what a weekend you’ve had! Give him a round of applause. He’s been incredible this weekend, absolutely on fire yesterday in qualifying. You’ve been on this podium eight times, more than any other driver in history in Australia. I thought you drove phenomenally this weekend, mate, it got away through tactics in the [it lane. Talk us through the race, how was it for you?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been an incredible weekend, honestly. To arrive and have the performance we had today. A big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari. Today, obviously, they did the better job and we have to go back to the drawing board and work on it. We still have great pace, our qualifying was great, I think through the race I was able to apply some pressure towards the end. This is one awesome circuit but it’s so hard to overtake, even with the extra DRS, obviously with the cars being as close as they were. At the end it was really trying to live to fight another day, save the engine and we’ll try to regain the point later on. But a big thank you to everyone that has come out this weekend. We’ve got so many British flags and for the Australians for having us this week.

     

    Kimi, my man. How was it? Sixteen times this man has raced in front of you guys. He’s an absolute legend. Up here on the podium for the first time since he won in 2013. Kimi, how was your race?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I think it was OK. We didn’t have the most luck but what can you do. Luckily it was Seb that got the luck and it was our team at least. I think I had decent speed all day long and just difficult to pass. I got a good go in the second corner and then just tried to follow and see if we could do something in a pit stop. Obviously with the safety car it’s pure luck. We could hold onto third place. Got some pressure in the end, from the Red Bull with little bit more fresh tyres, but I’ll take it the third place. I think I’ve been happy with the car and it’s nice to go onto the next races.

     

    Sebastian, we meet up again on this podium with (you) victorious. It’s a nice meeting point in terms of Ferrari winning, the season starting off on the front foot, last year it was a titanic battle with Lewis, off to Bahrain in a few weeks. How do you see it playing out?

    SV: Obviously we were a little bit lucky today. Lewis had a great lap yesterday. He deserved pole position. He drove a very good race; controlled it in the beginning. As I say, we got a bit lucky, but we’ll take it. We put a flag up in Maranello for every win and I asked them to do that this morning back in Europe. We’re not yet there where we want to be. I’m not yet exactly there with the car, you know. If I don’t feel what I need to feel then it’s a bit tricky. I think we all know. But I think it gives us a good start, a good wind and fresh motivation for the coming weeks.

     

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: (Yianni Mavromoustakos – Talkingtorque.com.au) Firstly congratulations to Seb, now for all three drivers, how did you find the Halo in race conditions.

    KR: No different than in testing or at any other point. I think it definitely doesn’t disturb at all. I think it was helpful here because the sun, when it’s coming in the right height, it’s blocking the sun in the eyes. So, I think it was only beneficial here, and it’s safer. Maybe people don’t like how it looks but y’know it might make a difference for us one day and it’s a good thing to have.

     

    Seb?

    SV: During the race, it was no issue. As Kimi said, it even helped. I don’t know what you call the thing in the car… it worked like a sun visor, that helped. In the parade lap, that’s when it was bothering because you couldn’t see so well the people in the grandstands. Was trying to find, is it better to look below, or… wasn’t tall enough to get above. Other than that, no difference.

     

    Lewis, anything to add?

    LH: I don’t think so.

     

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Seb, what do you still miss in the feeling of the car. It’s up to the balance of the car, the power of the engine or what else?

    SV: No, I think the car has huge potential but yeah, I’m still struggling a little bit. I think if we also compare to where we’re still a bit weak, it’s where I also feel that the car is not yet there, so, what am I missing, when you talk about something that you miss as a driver, the car doesn’t respond the way you like and it’s still sliding in places you don’t want it to slide. I’m quite… I want the car to be spot on when I hit brakes and turn in, and in that window, I’m not yet happy, so it’s always sort-of a compromise. Of course, it’s our job to drive around problems that we have but if I could chose, I would like it a bit different and yeah, it’s not a big drama. I think we can live with it but I feel also if we get on top of that then you feel more confident. A track like here, when you have confidence it makes a big difference. I think today was quite windy, very gusty. You always try to push but equally to try to be a bit safe – because you don’t want to throw it away. That’s exactly where it makes a difference: if then then have the confidence and you trust the car, you don’t think for a second, you just go out and do it. At the moment, it just feels a bit too conscious. So, let’s hope I get to think less, and we need to think less in the next races.

     

    Q: (Paul Gover – Herald Sun) Party time for you guys tonight. Will you be inviting the guys from the Haas team perhaps as well?

    SV: I don’t know what the problem for them was. Obviously, as I said before, the Virtual Safety Car did help me today, no doubt, but as I said as well, there were other races where it didn’t, so that’s the way it goes. I’ve been on the other side as well. I said as well that, y’know, Lewis was probably the quickest out of all three of us but that’s how it goes and for sure, wearing red is a good day today.

     

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, it’s your best start to the season for five years. P3, it is more satisfaction or a disappointment?

    KR: Obviously, you want more, always, and you want to win. I think we had decent speed all weekend and we were pretty OK in the early part of the race and then obviously, it’s just pure luck sometimes that goes your way or against you. What happened today, at least it was our team. Not ideal for me but it’s a decent start and it’s a long year so the feeling has been OK this weekend. We go for the next race and I’d rather take a third place than no points, so yeah, we always want more but I’ll take it and we go.

     

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Tabloid time again. Sebastian, are you concerned about ‘Party Mode’, do you think it’s legal what Mercedes have got?

    SV: I think so. I think also Lewis was right yesterday. I think that… y’know we do get a bit of data, GPS data and stuff like that… I think they did turn it up for Q3 but not by seven-tenths. I think probably if you look at qualifying carefully, I try to do so last night. It’s fair to say they were quick in Q1, quicker than us, Lewis was quick in Q2 and then his second run, I don’t know, something happened. So, his last run in Q3 was the only proper run at the end and he had a clean run and I don’t think the gain that he had in time was down to engine. Probably a tenth, a little bit more, but not seven tenths. So, the credit is for his lap that he did and not for the engine power. It’s completely fine what they’re doing because they didn’t do anything special. Not more than they did last year, probably even a bit less by the looks of it. So, it was clear that he just had a very good lap and he drove well.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Seb, do you take any extra satisfaction in the win today, given the comments that Lewis made yesterday about wiping the smile off your face after qualifying?

    SV: Not really. He said he was joking and I believe him. I think we are old enough, I don’t think we need to go on that sort of level. It’s fine as long as we joke with each other and I don’t think… apart from a point last year, we don’t have a problem with each other. I think even if we are very different persons, I think we share – all of us – a common passion and that makes us quite equal again. We love racing and we try to do our best, once we’re in the car and beat all the others. I think in that regard, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get on with each other.

    Q: Do you see it the same way, Lewis?

    LH: Sorry, I wasn’t listening.

    Q: No reason you shouldn’t get on with each other?

    LH: Don’t think so, no.

     

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriera della Sera) Seb, in your feeling, what is the difference between this victory from the one from last year in Melbourne? Which one is more unexpected?

    SV: The one today. I think last year we had more pace in relative terms. Last year we were putting them under pressure. Even though Lewis was in the lead, I think we managed to put him under pressure so yeah, I was forced to pit and we benefited from that. Because we had the speed today…  I think we didn’t have the true race pace to match them but we weren’t that far off. In the last stint, even though we were probably lucky with the safety car or virtual safety car, we still had enough pace to stay ahead and make it very difficult for him to be close and try and do something. I think also compared to the others, it didn’t look like there was a whole train behind us so I think we had some decent pace.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Two questions for Kimi: first of all, you were quicker than Sebastian in qualifying and in the first part of the race with the ultrasoft tyres so is that satisfactory and encouraging for future races? And second, with the harder tyre, you didn’t seem to be able to hold on to them. Was the balance the difference?

    KR: I think I had a chance to fight for the first place in the beginning but I was very happy with the car all weekend. Obviously there are things that we have to improve, we know that, but it wasn’t too bad and in the end of all the guys I had the older tyres so obviously with Ricciardo my aim was just to keep him behind because I followed throughout the first part of the race but it’s very difficult to overtake so it wasn’t really there. The biggest thing was to try to get in front of Lewis. I was happy to take the third place, not ideal but I was pretty happy with everything, not much to complain about but obviously the position could be a bit better.

     

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, if the team had warned you about Seb’s pitting, would have you been able to do something else to change the scenario?

    LH: I’d have to go and look at it but it was quite close between us, maybe a second or so. If I had known that Sebastian was in my window I may have been able to make a difference, yes. Whether it would be enough, I’m not quite sure. I’d have to look.

     

    Q: (Mikko Hyytia  – Iltalehti) Kimi, how surprised were you by Sebastian’s tactics because on the radio it sounded like you were pretty surprised?

    KR: Not really. The only thing I was surprised because we were talking on the radio that they didn’t let me know what he was doing. Obviously we talked before the race and there were hundreds of options what we can do and that was his best option and no threat from behind. He would obviously take a chance because he had nothing else to lose at that point, safe in third place so it would work out well. I wasn’t really surprised what they did. I was surprised that we didn’t – at one point – know exactly.

     

    Q: (Phil Branagan – Auto Action) Question to Seb to follow on from that earlier one: because the result was so similar to last year, and the race played out similarly, would you say, compared with Lewis’s car you were better off this year than you were a year ago, worse off or about the same?

    SV:  Well, at the moment we’re a bit worse off. Last year we had more pace at this point. If you look at the gaps the whole weekend and we’re not yet a true match. Obviously we had very good pace today, Kimi was very strong in the first stint. I think I was probably a tiny bit stronger in the second stint but it was a different race for us. But I think if you look and you are fair, then Lewis was fastest whereas last year I think we were fastest and it was very very close and therefore at this point we know that we are not yet where we want to be because we want to be fastest.

  • Vettel Tops Wet and Dry Free Practice 3

    Vettel Tops Wet and Dry Free Practice 3

    A wet start with a rapidly drying track with 15mins left in session has left a few more unknowns after the 3rd free practice session for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.

    It meant that the Ferrari’s who switched to the ultra soft tyres before the end of the session topped the time sheet with Sebastian Vettel setting a session best time of 1:26.067 and team mate Kimi Raikkonnen a further 2.432s off Vettel’s time with a 1:28.499. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber was the only other driver to post a lap on dry weather tyres, finished third fastest with a time of 1:28.890.

    The session started wet with a few initial installation laps on the full wets. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso went straight out on the intermediates.

    The Mercedes pair were out on intermediates and traded fastest laps as usual. Force India on the other hand saw no value in taking part in the session and both their drivers were confined to the garage.

    There was some trouble for Lance Stroll but the team did a great job to get him out after a gearbox issue saw him sit out part of the session.

    Vettel’s lap will give Mercedes something to think about even though it was no where near the times set yesterday in the dry. Red Bull who were hoping for rain didn’t quite show their hand in the wet. Qualifying is expected to be dry where Mercedes is expected to be clear ahead. It’s a question of who is going to line up behind them.

     

  • 2018 Australian GP: Friday Practice Report

    2018 Australian GP: Friday Practice Report

    It was a Friday of domination by Mercedes for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

    Lewis Hamilton took the honors in both Friday practice sessions finishing top of the time sheets. It looked like Mercedes were unreachable after Free Practice 1, but things closed up a bit in Free Practice 2 and, as it stands, it looks like Red Bull could pose a threat to Mercedes come race day.

    It’s believed that either Mercedes will qualify in pole position in tomorrows qualifying session. There is some rain forecast which may throw things for a bit. Red Bull will no doubt be hoping for rain. Ferrari on the other hand have not said much, only that there is more to come from the car and that they’re looking good for the rest of the weekend. Their long run pace puts them in contention but qualifying high on the grid is crucial.

    Free Practice three should finally reveal who’s got the pace to challenge the mighty Mercedes.

    Free Practice 1

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the first one to venture out on to the Albert Park Circuit to kick the 2018 off. With the track being very green, it took a few laps before some representative times started coming through.

    Mercedes were quick out the blocks and fastest times were being traded between Hamilton and Bottas almost immediately. The Red Bull’s of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen got in the mix as well but it was Hamilton who eventually set the session best time of 1:24.026. Bottas was second fastest 0.551s off the pace with a 1:24.577 with Verstappen a further 0.745s down.

    While the Red Bulls and Mercedes drivers ran with the super soft tyres and the ultra soft tyres, both Ferrari drivers chose to limit their super soft running and ran almost exclusively on the soft compound tyres with Vettel having a short stint on the super softs.

    McLaren were hoping that their bad run of luck would’ve ended in testing but that was not to be. Fernando Alonso sat out most of the session with an exhaust issue. Vandoorne didn’t escape the gremlins either. But McLaren were able to get the pair back out on track and Alonso jumped up the order and eventually finished 8th fastest with Vandoorne in 10th.

    Haas were definitely the surprise of the session. They proved that their testing pace was not a one off with Romain Grosjean finishing 7th.

     

    Free Practice 2

    With Mercedes utterly dominant in the first session it was expected they would just leave the rest of the field behind. But Red Bull and Ferrari had other ideas. In the end it was much closer than anyone had expected and it sets up a great qualifying and race.

    Hamilton took the fastest time of the session with a 1:23.931. 2nd Fastest was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull just 0.127s off Hamilton’s time with a 1:24.058. Bottas in the second Mercedes was 3rd fastest 0.228s off Hamilton’s time.

    The Ferrari’s were 4th and 5th with Raikkonen ahead of Vettel. The latter saying that he’s not entirely happy with the balance of the car, but he expects changes that will be made overnight to yield some results.

    The second session was a more aggressive. With some rubber laid down in the first session, the drivers were getting stuck in and pushing to find the limits. There were off track excursions from Esteban Ocon in the Force India at Turn 3 and Carlos Sainz in the Renault at Turn 12.

    Raikkonen and Bottas almost had a coming together when Raikkonen got muddled up at Turn 3. Bottas approaching, had to take to the gravel trap to avoid his fellow countryman. The pair were summoned to the stewards but it was judged that although Raikkonen had impeded Bottas he former did make the move to cede the apex to Bottas and that it was not intentional.

    The mid-field battle is heating up as Haas emerged best of the rest again. The rest of the pack are all extremely close.

    It’s setup to be a close race. Mercedes is expected to use their superior “quali” engine mode to steal pole. The race, however, is going to be an interesting prospect with rain expected in qualifying.

  • 2018 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2018 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES –Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    A question to all of you to start with, what sort of shape are you in relative to each going into this new championship? After all, one of your is likely to be the world champion team at the end of it. Christian, why don’t you start?

    Christian HORNER: First of all, it’s great to be back in Melbourne, good to be going racing again. It seems like a long winter this one. A positive first session for us, though obviously difficult to read too much into times but you start to get an bit of an idea. You can see Mercedes taking off where they left off; they look in great shape. I think we made good progress with the car over the winter. The drivers seem happy and I’m envisaging a quite tight battle with Maurizio but I’m not sure at the moment what the delta is to Toto’s cars.

    Toto?

    Toto WOLFF: Again, like Christian said, it’s good to get started again. We’ve had a pretty good test, much better than last year. But you’re never very sure where that will end up in the first race and the first session was OK, as expected. We didn’t see the Ferraris on the tyres that we have been running, and we need a little bit more time to understand, but I would say it’s a decent start.

    And Maurizio?

    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: I totally agree. With the weather we had in Barcelona, by the way it’s the same for everybody, but at a certain point I was a bit laughing because I saw all the engineers panicking but it was for the temperature, for the weather. One day Pirelli didn’t provide to use the winter tyres, the snow tyres, so it was quite difficult and we had a day off. Seriously, though, I think I saw Mercedes in very good shape, also Red Bull in a very good shape and I think we are in quite a good shape too.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Yianni Mavromoustakos– Talkingtorque.com.au) Just for all three team principals, how are you feeling about tyre changes for 2018?

    CH: I think Pirelli have introduced a broader range of compounds this year, hopefully better suited after 12 months of experience last year that we won’t just end up with one-stop races. I think the conditions in Barcelona… plus the new surface there made it very tricky to get a clear picture and understanding of those tyres, so it’s going to take a few race to see how things pan out.

    Toto, more strategic variation this year, do you think?

    TW: Yes, more variation I think. I think the hypersoft is going to be an interesting tyre because it has the biggest performance gap to the next hardest one, but it will be difficult to make it last during the race so that might end up in some interesting strategies. I’m looking forward to it.

    Maurizio?

    MA: As I said before, we didn’t collect a lot of data in Barcelona of course due to the weather conditions, but the target was quite clear, to have a bit more pit stops during the race, to make the race more interesting and I think we are going to see interesting races with these new tyres.

    Q: (John McEvoy – Daily Mail) Toto, a few things about Lewis: what update is there about his new deal, how do you see his state of mind on the eve of the opening race, and what do you imaging is Lewis’ view that he could equal Juan Manuel Fangio, one of the greats of racing, and what would it mean it he did it? I know there is a long way to go.

    TW: On your first question, the contract we have been discussing before going into the winter holiday and then we kind of left it there to get away from Formula 1 and picked it up again in January and these discussions are going in the right way and we finalising the last topics and there is no reason to not think that is not going to happen soon. He is in a good frame of mind, I’ve seen him coming back strong from the winter. And in terms of the record. I think whether it plays a role I don’t know but clearly with the four championship he is within a very good group of drivers and obviously the next one is to be achieved, but I don’t think it’s a good omen to discuss it or think too much about it. It’s better to look at those records afterwards.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Toto, we saw that Lewis posted a video on Instagram yesterday about a lack of diversity in Formula 1. I just wondered what your views on that are as the team principal of Mercedes and do you think he’s got a point and does Formula 1 need to do more to encourage more participation from ethnic backgrounds?

    TW: I think that is one thing that is very important not only for Lewis but for all of us. The more diversity we can get into Formula 1 the better it is. We had yesterday an event where we launched Dare to be Different in Australia. That was a good success and whether it is different ethnic backgrounds or girls getting into motor racing, overall I think this is what needs to happen. Eventually this will grow and the balance will be better in future.

    Q: (Lawrence Barretto – F1.com) A question to everybody: yesterday Lewis Hamilton was talking about the threat from Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo has talked about how you guys could all be within half a second this year. I’d just be interested to know where you guys think you are in the pecking order. I know we’ve had just a bit of testing and on practice session but just from what you can gather, where do you think you are relative to each other?

    Maurizio, do you want to nail it down to a guess of how many tenths?

    MA: It’s difficult to calculate, because we have no clear evidence in Barcelona. I hope we are above my friends here but how I can predict exactly?

    TW: Very difficult to judge. We have seen last year with the new rules that each of the teams has certain strengths on different tracks. I think we could see a similar pattern this year. I don’t see somebody running away. But as Maurizio says, it’s very difficult to read in a glass ball at that stage.

    And I suppose, Christian, it’s a long season. At the end of the year last year, Verstappen has the same points as Hamilton in the closing stages, you finished very strongly?

    CH: Yes, it’s a long season and form will vary from race to race. Twenty-one races is a grueling calendar this year and by the time we end up in Abu Dhabi in November. It’ll be fascinating to see how teams have developed during the course of the year. The cars are effectively prototypes at each grand prix and it’s really the rate of development between now and November that will dictate the outcome of performance over the course of the season. But you have to say that Mercedes look in great shape and I guess it depends on how fast Lewis wants to go.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Maurizio, every year, the same question: a lot of speculation that this season will be Kimi’s last season. How do you see it?

    MA: Kimi was driving quite well in FP1. We are at the first FP1 of the first race of the season, let him drive quietly please.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Question for Christian about Max. When you’re 20 years old and you already have sixty races and three wins, are you still a ‘talent’ or are you already a more experienced driver?

    CH: Max has achieved a huge amount in a very short space of time. He’s got that benefit of those three seasons of experience now and I think he’ll put that to go effect this year. He’s already got that databank of knowledge. And last year what impressed me was how he dealt with the difficult days as well as the good days. I think that’s all part of developing your character, developing your experience and knowledge – and I think it stands him in great stead. I think there’s no further obstacles to him in terms of experience. He’s gone through that now and I think he’s in great shape. He’s trained hard over the winter and looks sharp for the season ahead.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Gentleman, a new season, the same story: the big three and a gap to the rest. If you could make one or two suggestions to Formula One as a whole to close up that gap, what would you do?

    TW: Difficult one. I think, we don’t want to make excuses and say it has always been like that. If you look back the last 20 or so years there’s always been two, three or four teams that have been more dominant – but clearly looking into 2021, it is something we need to address, everybody wants to see a tough fight at the front and wants to see the odd freak result, an underdog being capable of making it all the way to the front – but it’s not trivial. It is a resource game and there is one factor that you can’t change and that is time. Organisations are built-up over time, intellectual property is being created and that doesn’t happen from one year to the other, and once the wheel turns – and I guess that’s the case for all three teams being represented here – it’s quite difficult to just put something in the wheel and stop it. In so far it’s about, I guess, reducing the gap in terms of resource in a clever way – but this is not going to change overnight.

    Maurizio?

    MA: I mean I agree with Toto, you can’t change overnight the overall rules, or you can’t ask Cristiano Ronaldo to not score, because otherwise Real Madrid is too strong. It takes time, for everybody, effort. It’s quite a complex matter to create, as Christian said, a prototype every year and especially to develop this prototype during the course of the year – but it’s not impossible. Having said so, I think we have many years ago the wave of Ferrari with Michael Schumacher, than another wave with Christian, with Red Bull, now it’s a wave of Mercedes. This is a sport and you can’t stop a top team playing just to make the game fair. Because otherwise it is becoming an unfair game.

    Do you see it that way?

    CH: I’ve got a slightly different slant on it, I suppose. For me the most damaging thing over the last five years has been the introduction of the current engine regulations. I think if you look at Formula One as a whole, I think the regulations for both chassis and engine are too complicated. That drives cost, it drives complexity, it drives distance between the teams, so for me, I’d be all for simplification. Simplification of the power unit, simplification of the chassis, go back to basics of making the driver the biggest variable, whereas at the moment the driver is not a big enough variable. We want the best drivers competing against each other. I think you’re always going to get variances depending on the skillset of the teams, and even if the teams have all equal budgets, you will still have teams that will perform better than others. That’s competition. We see it in other formulas. For me, the biggest issue in Formula One at the moment is the regulations that dictate cost, performance and divergence in terms of powertrain.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For Toto. History teaches us domination never lasts forever. So, will this be your most difficult season, the fifth season with these engines. Is there an indication of how long you will be on top, and is the climb easier than staying there?

    TW: Yeah, I tried to find to find a statistic in whatever sport of a team winning every year. There isn’t any, you’re absolutely right. At some stage, somebody else picks up the ball and runs faster. I think, coming back to your question on engine regulations, the longer you leave regulations alone, the more convergence happens. We have seen that definitely every year we have been in these regulations, the gap has become smaller. We just have to be on our toes. Every year we try to have a mindset of all points going to zero and you just need to do the same job again. We’re trying to be energised and motivated, not take anything for granted, respect the other teams and the work they are doing. We will be running around with a target on our back and everybody’s trying to get us, in so far as we’re pushing hard every year and trying to maintain the advantage for a bit.

    Q: (Phil Brannigan – Auto Action) Toto, can I take you back to the Dare to be Different programme. Would you support a similar programme being implemented to encourage diversity, as mentioned by Lewis yesterday? And if you did support that programme, should that also be part of discussions with Lewis regarding his ongoing contract with the team?

    TW: I think that… I don’t think that it should be part of his contract. I think as a general mind set we should be supporting diversity, as I said before. You’re absolutely right, more diversity in the paddock would do us good, would make us think differently and be more open-minded. For me personally and for the team, we are very supportive for whatever actions we can deploy.

    Q: (Julien Billiotte– AutoHebdo) Maurizio, before Melbourne we learned that Ferrari has hired Laurent Mekies from the FIA which doesn’t seem to go very well with other teams. Do you understand their concerns and to Toto and Christian, how did you react when you heard about the news?

    MA: First of all, there is nothing wrong with that because we were absolutely respecting the local law, the Swiss local law where Laurent was hired. And afterwards we went even further than that, because we gave him six months of gardening (leave). Having said so, normally what we discussed before the strategy group, we signed a confidentiality agreement, that means that we are not allowed to discuss or to share in public what we discussed there. Having said so, I heard comments related to us, supposedly, also called a gentleman’s agreement. I think they are comments because a gentleman’s agreement on libel law is illegal. I thought that they were comments… just comments, no more than that, I hope.

    TW: First of all, I didn’t see any gentlemen in the room when we discussed it. Second, for me the situation is completely different to Marcin (Budkowski), both intelligent engineers but Marcin was involved in issuing technical directives just a few weeks before he decided to join a team and had a lot of inside (information), and Laurent was involved in totally different activities that are not as sensitive, in my opinion, as with Marcin. He’s joining the team in seven or eight months from now and for me it’s not a big deal.

    CH: For me it is a big deal because I think the disappointing element about this is that we have a thing called the strategy group where the FIA, FOM and all team principals attended and we discussed the Marcin issue where there was great unrest about a key member of the FIA going to a team, in which case this was Renault. Renault diluted that by putting him on an extended gardening leave but then ensued a conversation about it’s unacceptable. Every team found it unacceptable. Of course you’re dealing with employment laws across different states, different countries and to try and police legally something like that, it was agreed in the room all the lawyers in the world couldn’t come up with a contract that could police it. But there was an understanding and a clear statement by the teams to say ‘right, let’s have a clear position that there should be at least a period of 12 months in the garden for a member of a team going from either FOM, FIA to a team or a team going vice versa’. Certain teams were pushing for that period to be three years but in the end it was agreed upon being 12 months. What’s disappointing is that that meeting was less than six weeks ago; arguably, discussions were probably happening at that time and it almost makes those meetings pointless if we can’t agree on something and action it. Of course you can hide behind ‘well it’s not in the regulations’ but as a group we agreed something, it hasn’t been adhered to and so one questions… what’s the point of having those meetings?

    Q: Maurizio, you’re shaking your head.

    MA: Yes, because we gave a mandate, that’s the main thing, we gave a mandate to the FIA,  to the lawyer of the FIA to check national law and to come back to us in the next strategy group and this is what the FIA is going to do in the next strategy group which is on April 17.

    CH: I think that what’s most disappointing about it was that it was Ferrari or Sergio who was pushing for a three year period. On one hand you get a team pushing for a three year gestation and then a few weeks later, we’re in this situation, so as I say, it makes discussions at that forum more or less a waste of time.

    MA: That was the discussion but then the conclusion was to give mandate to the FIA to come back… to the lawyer of the FIA to come back with a proposal.

    CH: I’ve said my piece.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) I think that might have been Chase Carey on the phone. It’s becoming quite apparent that you guys can’t agree on anything. Are we in a dangerous situation now where we’re going into the crucial period of their ownership where we need you guys to work together to benefit the sport, but you can’t even agree on anything it seems?

    TW: I think this is as much a battle on track as much as it is off track for an advantage and it has always been like that. Certainly, I guess we’re providing some good headlines for you. And we have all the very best for our teams at heart. We have different agendas, depending on the strength in the team and how we view the future and then each of us have a holistic side and probably also very personal opinion, how we see the sport going forward. And we are going to be vocal about it and say it. It is clear that the current governance and how the rules are being made is not very functional, there is too much different opinion when the agenda’s on the table and we need to sort it for 2021, for the best interest of the sport, but it shows that the debate that we just had a minute ago is that it needs tight rules to have a common legal ground to fight on track and if there is no rules and it’s not written down in the regulations it doesn’t work.

    Q: Christian, you’ve been saying all winter that these two teams do agree with each other.

    CH: We’re about the only teams in Formula One that do agree. Look, my view on this is very simple: trying to get a consensus between teams that have got varying objectives, different set-ups, is going to be impossible, so it’s down to the commercial rights holder and the FIA to get together, come up with a set of regulations, what is the financial framework, what is the distribution that they want to have, put it on the table and it’s down to the teams whether they want to sign up to that or not. Of course, as Toto says, there will be a lot of positioning, the media will be used, it’s history repeating itself. It happens every five or six years, every time the Concorde agreement comes up for renewal, but my feeling is, Liberty, together with FIA, need to get on the same piece of paper to say this is what we want Formula One to be, this is the financial distribution surrounding it, here’s the deal and laid out to the teams.

    Q: And Maurizio, your chairman is saying that if the DNA of Formula One as he sees it is not respected, Ferrari will walk.

    MA: I’m not commenting the statement of my chairman. My chairman knows very well what he’s talking about and my only suggestion is please take him seriously.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) This relates to what you just said: the word breakaway has appeared in a few recent headlines and your chairman, Maurizio, has made certain threatening remarks. Subsequently, Toto seems to have asked us to take those remarks seriously but how practical, Toto, is this for you,  would a breakaway be, because 35 years ago Bernie Ecclestone tried it and he ran up against the problem that national governments have respect for and like to see established federations organising sports and do not look favourably on breakaways or rebels. How practical would it be to have a breakaway?

    TW: More than practicability, it is about responsibility for Formula One. We are all carrying the torch of a great series and a great brand that was built 40 or 50 years ago and has tremendous value and nobody is taking that lightly. Headlines are being created based on things that are being said and like Christian mentioned before, it is about the new Concorde agreement going forward, everybody’s trying to position themselves but all the time with respect for the series. And comments that are being made maybe from Mr Marchionne’s side also, it is also because he cares I guess. I don’t want to speak for Maurizio but we all care for Formula One and we all have a certain vision and perspective of Formula One and how we want to see it going forward and it needs to fit that opinion and this is why these statements are being made. They of course are being blown up in the media like it has always been the case but I can assure you that whatever is being written is that we care a lot about responsibility and we owe it to Formula One and we need to give it all. We have at least three more years together in this great sport, regulated by the FIA, owned by Liberty, run by competent men and we just need to give our input support in the best possible ways so it’s great and we’re not devaluating it.