F1 Madness

Tag: f1

  • Vettel Not off the Hook Yet

    Vettel Not off the Hook Yet

    Formula One governing body, the FIA has decided to further investigate the clash between F1 title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

    The clash between the drivers happened behind the safety car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Vettel ran into the back of Lewis Hamilton who was in the lead and was backing up the pack before the restart. Vettel made contact with Hamilton coming out of Turn 16 after it looked like Hamilton slowed down, seemingly catching Vettel off-guard. Vettel, after running into the back of Hamilton, pulled alongside the Mercedes and deliberately banged wheels with Hamilton.

    The German received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his indiscretion.

    The FIA has now decided to further investigate the incident. The FIA said in a statement:

    “Following the recent incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which Car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) was involved in a collision with Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), on Monday 3rd July, the FIA will further examine the causes on the incident in order to evaluate whether further action is necessary.

    “A statement regarding the outcome of this process will be made available before the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix.” 

    After the race Hamilton openly shared his feelings towards Vettel and called him a “disgrace” and said that it set a bad example for the younger generation in the sport.

    Vettel remained defiant throughout and never acknowledged pulling alongside Hamilton and deliberately steering into him.

    Depending on what the FIA decide Vettel could be looking at a race ban among other penalties.

  • F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Bedlam In Baku

    F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Bedlam In Baku

    If you had been given absolute free reign to dream up the most dramatic script for a Formula 1 race the chances are you still wouldn’t have come up with what transpired in the 51 laps of the 2017 Baku grand prix.

    From the first corner on lap one to the crossing of the finish line there was action and drama and tension stamped on every lap of the race which featured three safety-car periods and red flag stoppage. While Hamilton led cleanly away pole his teammate Valterri Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen clashed into turn two. Raikkonen with significant damage the floor of his car somehow maintained a place in the top ten while Bottas’ puncture dropped him a lap down.

    Hamilton led Sebastian Vettel by roughly three seconds until lap 13 when the first safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Toro Rosso of Dannil Kvyat. Racing resumed on lap 16 but an overzealous Esteban Ocon attempt to overtake his Force India teammate Sergio Perez ended in a shower of carbon fiber and the deployment of a second safety-car period.

    008The Pirelli tyres, supersoft and soft, available for this weekend, proved a step too hard as nearly the entire field of drivers struggled with warming the tyres to their optimal working range. A tyre not within this critical working range produces little to no grip and leaves drivers vulnerable. It’s for this reason that Hamilton complained that the Safety car was not going fast enough. Nevertheless, Hamilton bunched up the field into turn 16 which must’ve caught Vettel by surprise as he hit the rear of the Mercedes. The Ferrari driver then pulled alongside Hamilton and turned his Ferrari into the side of the Mercedes. It was an outrageously disappointing, irresponsible and daft reaction from Vettel which earned him a ten second stop/go penalty. While some might like to think Vettel’s actions are defensible consider the fact that, post-race, he could not defend his actions.

    So much carbon fiber lay strewn across the racetrack that the race was red-flagged on lap 22 in order to clear it away. While Raikkonen had retired with additional rear-wing damage a lap earlier the Ferrari mechanics had somehow managed to change an entire floor and a rear-wing endplate to get Raikkonen back in the race. Similarly, Force India made running repairs to Perez’s car and he too was back in the race. Unfortunately, the pair would ultimately retire from the race.

    012The race resumed after a 23 minutes stoppage with Hamilton in the lead and Vettel behind. Through the chaos and carnage Williams’ Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa had emerged in third and fourth. Daniel Ricciardo, who had earlier been 17th in the Red Bull after an early stop, was not in fifth for long as he pulled off an exquisite move to pass both the Williams’ into turn one on the restart. Felipe Massa would soon after retire with a broken rear-damper.

    The drama was still far from over however as the headrest on Hamilton’s leading Mercedes had not been attached correctly. He tried in vain to push it back into place before the FIA directed the Mercedes team to stop and fit a new headrest. It dropped Hamilton to eighth and promoted Vettel into the lead of the race but the Ferrari driver still needed to serve the ten second stop/go penalty. He served the penalty on lap 33 and emerged in seventh ahead of Hamilton.

    Now it was Daniel Ricciardo in the lead with Lance Stroll in second and Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen in third. Magnussen could mount much of a fight for the position though and was quickly shuffled back by Ocon before himself falling victim to a recovering Bottas. Vettel and Hamilton would also pass Ocon and Magnussen.

    026Bottas’ significantly superior pace to the Williams of Stroll proved just enough as he snatched second place, on the line, by one tenth of a second. As if to prove how crazy the Baku grand prix was Fernando Alonso was running in fifth at one stage and with a bit more grunt from the Honda could justifiably have won the race.

    As it were Ricciardo took his first win since Malaysia 2016 ahead of Bottas and Stroll who, at 18, has become the youngest rookie, to score a podium finish. Astoundingly, Vettel emerged in fourth and extended his championship lead to 14 points over Hamilton who eventually finished fifth. Esteban Ocon salvaged sixth ahead of Kevin Magnussen in seventh and Carlos Sainz in eighth. Fernando Alonso finally opened McLaren’s points account with ninth as Pascal Wehrlein in the Sauber finished tenth.

    The Baku grand prix was undoubtedly the race of the season so far as nearly the entire field ran into some sort of trouble. Roll on Austria.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Azerbaijan GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Jock CLEAR (Ferrari), Rob SMEDLEY (Williams), Beat ZEHNDER (Sauber)

    Q: Jock, can we start by talking about the car? What’s the standout characteristic of the SF70H?

    Jock CLEAR: I think we could say that the standout characteristic is that there is no standout characteristic. It just seems to be a very well-behaved car in all areas. The drivers are certainly giving us good feedback in all conditions, all circuits: slow speed, high speed, medium speed. So, it’s a very benign car, let’s say.

    Q: Is it bringing the best out of both Kimi and Sebastian?

    JC: I think so. I think they’re both very happy with the feel they have for it. For getting into the car. Certainly, drivers like to have a car they feel they can attack, especially in qualifying: if they feel they can attack a qualifying lap, and have confidence in the car, and I think from day one – day zero in this car in pre-season – both of the drivers have said that it just gives them a lot of confidence when they’re in the car.

    Q: And it’s day one here in Baku. How do you assess your pace so far this weekend? Fourth and fifth this afternoon. Sebastian in particular looked very quick in his long run…

    JC: Yeah, I think Fridays are notoriously difficult to read the exact picture from and I think we’ve all understood that here in Baku with a street circuit that’s taking a while to clean up and a very tricky grip level, getting a clean lap certainly on those short runs, on ‘low-fuel’ was very difficult for people – so I don’t think the ultimate lap times you see there are particularly representative for many of the cars. I think they all feel they could have got a better lap in there. Perhaps more representative is the long-run pace and, yeah, we’re very comfortable with where we’re at. Again the car felt good and it’s behaving and everything’s under control, so we’re happy with today.

    Q: And looking specifically at your battle with Mercedes this year, on a day when both you and them are on song – who has the faster car?

    JC: I think that’s impossible to say. I was just saying to some of the journalists outside, it hangs on tiny margins and I think when you’re spending 1m20s going at over 200km/h around a circuit, those tiny margins can be anywhere at any time, and I think we both have cars that are very, very well-matched in most conditions and we’ve got four very, very good drivers in the Mercedes and the Ferrari and actually, on any given day, any of them are capable of putting it on the front row and putting it on pole. The races we’ve seen so far, again they swing on very fine margins of exactly what sort of tyre degradation you can get out of the first qualifying set, or how well you can work the Option tyre, and that makes the difference. And it is tiny margins.

    Q: Beat, the last few years have been difficult for Sauber and just when some stability seemed to be emerging it’s all change again. Can you give us a picture from inside the team about what’s going on? 

    Beat ZEHNDER: No, I cannot, no. You’ve seen the official press statement from Mr Picci and it seems that Mr Picci and Mrs Kaltenborn had different views how to operate the company. We shouldn’t forget that it’s not only a race team, it’s a home team as well with 350 people or so, but I cannot give you more information because I’m not actively involved in that decision.

    Q: So who is running the show this weekend in Azerbaijan? 

    BZ: We’ve been – Jorg Zander, the technical director and myself – we’ve been entrusted to run the operation of the team this weekend but this is only temporary. It doesn’t change a lot for us because our job is to have two cars running as quickly as possible around the circuit and for me it’s a little bit more media work.

    Q: When can we expect news about a new team principal? 

    BZ: I hope soon. We were talking to some candidates and I hope we can announce it sooner rather than later.

    Q:  OK, on a different note, have you started with Honda yet? It was announced a couple of months ago that you are going to work with them next year. Have you had engineers go to Japan and vice versa? 

    BZ: Yeah of course. We have started with the project and there is an exchange of information on the logistical side, on the set-up side and the garages. We have to organise computers and IT stuff and things like this so the work has started, yes.

    Q: Rob, there are changes at Sauber, there have been changes at Williams this year as well, notably Paddy Lowe coming in as the technical chief. Can you just explain the impact he’s had on the team, any new processes he’s brought in?

    Rob SMEDLEY: Well, it’s been positive, it’s definitely been positive. Paddy comes with a great pedigree of working in teams that, if they weren’t winning, they were certainly expected to win for the past probably about 30 years. He’s got 30 years of experience. We were adding up between us that we’ve got 50 years of experience, but it’s a bit more biased towards him so he’s got the 30, I’ve got the 20. But it’s been really really positive. He’s a very collaborative guy, he’s super intelligent, obviously and he has a great deal of experience and it’s just about him instilling that culture into the team of how to win really. That’s probably one of the biggest things that we need to pick up on at Williams is not only that we want to win – that it’s implicit. If you take 60 people around the world 21 times a year you want to win, of course you want to win but it’s how to win and then it’s putting those processes in place and you can’t really put a timeline on it – or it’s difficult to put a timeline on it but certainly we’re initiating those processes, we’re starting them or they’ve already started, a lot of them. And then it’s when and how those processes bear fruit. Some of them will immediately be very visible to the outside and some of them less so. Formula One is very much about marginal gains and it’s just about the marginal gains that we need to make now but he’s been very positive with the team, a real good breath of fresh air.

    Q: OK, so marginal gains there but also huge gains it seems for Lance Stroll. It’s amazing what a couple of points can do, him finishing ninth in Montreal last time out, sixth fastest in second practice here in Baku this afternoon. It seems like he’s got the monkey off his back. 

    RS: Yeah, possibly. For younger drivers is predominantly about confidence. Once they start to get that confidence then they get into a virtuous circle if you like and I think within the team, certainly the more senior members of the team, it’s always been apparent that the talent is there and we have been making progress but it’s just that that progress is not always visible to the outside world. You’ve got a guy on the other side of the garage who’s got 16 years of experience, who was one point away from being a World Champion, he’s nobody’s fool. He’s one of the quickest guys in Formula One still and you’re being measured against him every other weekend and it’s tough because Formula One cars – especially this generation of Formula One cars – they’re generally quite difficult to drive. I think all of the drivers will attest to that and it’s just about acclimatising yourself in this environment: in the car, in the actual environment, because everything that you’ve done before, including Formula Three in Lance’s case, is just a huge huge step away from Formula One. There’s Formula One and there’s everything else in terms of how difficult it is. So we’ve got to expect that it’s going to take some time, he’s going to take some time to acclimatise to it and he is doing… he’s making progress from Australia to practice today, he’s made progress. And as I said, some of that’s visible to the outside world and some of it isn’t but certainly what we saw in Canada was visible to the outside world and that helped.

    Q: Does he seem more relaxed this weekend?

    RS: Definitely, I think he gets more and more relaxed… more and more comfortable probably is a better way of putting it, as the events go on and of course he would. The first time you walk in the paddock in Australia as an 18-year old rookie, that’s difficult. I wouldn’t like to have walked in as an 18-year old engineer – thankfully I never did – but certainly as an 18-year old driver, I think that must be hugely difficult with all the pressures that not only go on inside the car but outside the car as well and he’s just got more and more comfortable, more and more comfortable, more and more relaxed and more and more confident and with that, the results start coming.

    Q: And just a word on your pace this weekend; what do you think you can achieve?

    RS: Yeah, it would be – for where we are at the minute – it would nice to be the fourth quickest car, I think that’s got to be our target for 2017 in Azerbaijan, at least. I think Ferrari and Mercedes are having their fight out at the front and hopefully that’s going to be another good one this weekend. Red Bull are probably – with the development that they’re putting on their car – are a little bit far in front but I would like to see a good fight between us and Force India. Certainly Force India appear to have their car hooked up quite well around here as they did last year as well so that’s going to be quite a fight for us but we’ve got two good drivers, one who’s emerging as a very good driver in the car and hopefully we can have a good fight with them.

    Q: Jock, do you feel that Red Bull are in the mix this weekend? Is their pace genuine? 

    JC: Well yeah, you only have to look at today and the lap times you see at the top of the sheets today are not one-offs. As I say, FP1, FP2 are generally not a true reflection on where things end up on a Saturday and a Sunday but if you pick through the details of it, you can clearly see the cars that are hooked up, as Rob says, and the Force India is certainly one of them and Red Bull is certainly one of them and indeed the Williams looked quite quick today as well so there’s a number of cars at the front today.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Jock and Rob, from an engineering point of view, we saw a lot of cars going off today. Clearly the demands of the track were very particular and the tyres perhaps weren’t working. Can you just talk us through the difficulties of getting through today and what you see improving tomorrow as the track rubbers in?

    Who’s first, Jock?

    RS: Old Jock has more experience.

    BZ: For twenty years.

    RS: No, no, he’s more got experience of cars going off!

    JC: I think you’ve got a street circuit that’s obviously very dirty to start with and taking time to clean up. We saw a huge amount of track evolution last year and as such the grip level is low but as we’ve seen a number of times this year, getting warm-up certainly in the front tyres is really tough and that’s always a challenge in qualifying but certainly today it’s been very challenging to get some temperature in those front tyres. All the time there’s no grip, you don’t get any grip, you can’t brake late, you can’t get any energy in the tyres and when they don’t get hot they don’t have any grip so you’re in this vicious cycle of not being able to get the fronts to work so to speak and that’s certainly what our drivers were reporting early on in their runs until you get into a good six, seven, eight lap run where the tyres starting to get some heat in them. It is all about tyre temperature and that’s been the story of many many qualifyings this year so far and all you’re seeing today is a manifestation of that issue really, on a track that’s very dirty. I think it will be a lot grippier tomorrow and even grippier again on Sunday, so less issues, I think.

    RS: I think Jock’s explained it very eloquently. I think what possibly exaggerates it is the run-offs here. The run-offs are quite narrow and you can’t spin turn the car so when a driver does go off, as Jock says, they lock the inside front and then they’ve got to bail out at that point. You can’t try and make the corner because there’s a wall on the other side so you have to bail out and go straight on and once you get down the escape road it’s then a bit of a chore to get out because they’ve got to reverse out, so you saw almost every single driver today using their reverse and that just takes time and double waved yellows come out and because of that, it’s the vicious circle that I think Jock mentioned which is that then the drivers are doing slower laps and later on, very quickly after the track will go green but then it happens again because people have lost tyre temperature so it is pretty much as Jock said, just about tyre temperature.

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Azerbaijan GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Robert FERNLEY (Force India)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Eric, if I could start with you, we saw another engine failure for Fernando Alonso this afternoon… you’re shaking your head.

    Eric BOULLIER: Yes, it wasn’t an engine failure. It was a gearbox failure.

    Q: A gearbox failure, but regarding that thorny subject of Honda. The regularity of the criticism from McLaren senior management suggests that the situation is now irretrievable. Is there anything that can be done to repair the relationship?

    EB: Well, first of all, your question is a suggestion, as you said, which is not exactly the truth or the case. Both organisations are working very, very hard to get to where we want to be. The level of friction, let’s say, if there is any, is a little bit exacerbated by the media. It is true that we have to deliver what we need to do, we have to be where we want to be but both organisations are working hard to deliver and I don’t think there is such a drama like in your questions.

    Q: But Eric, both you and Zak Brown have said it’s not good enough what Honda are doing. So what have Honda got to do to satisfy you, McLaren?

    EB: Well, we have to compete these guys, not to be in the back of the grid. As a partner we expect obviously a certain level of performance, not commitment, because they have that in terms of resources, it’s just a level of performance and today we need another step, a big step.

    Q: And have Honda given any indication as to when the next big step will come?

    EB: Yes, they have some plan and obviously they will be able to respect them.

    Q: OK, let’s talk drivers then. How does the state of flux, if I can call it that, leave you regarding driver for 2018?

    EB: Well, we don’t have any contract with Fernando. Fernando has been very clear. He likes the team, he would like to stay with us, but we need to be competitive. So there is also… say, after summer he will take his decision, so we know the agenda, the calendar for us, what we have to do and Alonso knows what he has to do as well.

    And Stoffel? 

    EB: Stoffel is a long-term contract with McLaren, so there is not any concern for the future.

    Q: Final question for now. How do you assess the performance of the car this weekend in Baku?

    EB: Well, the global performance is very easy, you just see the lap time. We are very slow this weekend; we were expecting to be slow. Then, if you want to be more in detail, we all have GPS traces of each, this is shared data between all the teams so then you can work more about where you need to improve your car in terms of performance.

    Q: Bob, that accident involving Sergio Perez in that first practice session: what are the ramifications of that crash, is there much damage to the car? 

    Robert FERNLEY: The damage wasn’t quite as bad as we thought. The credit goes to the team really for that. They were very well prepared and we were able to effect what were considerable repairs in a very short period of time, so a more than credible effort by the team.

    Q: Let’s cast our minds two weeks, to the Canadian Grand Prix. Quite a lot of controversy after the race regarding team orders, so can you give us your version of events about those closing laps in Montreal? 

    RF: Well, we don’t run team orders to race, which we did. If you look at the difference in tyre performance it’s very, very small. If you at Checo’s history of being able to pass other drivers, it’s incredibly high, and he felt he had the3 opportunity to do so. From our side, there was a suggestion to let us have a turnaround, but he felt quite confident and we were happy to back that and support that, and we will continue to do so.

    Q: Was there a feeling in the team afterwards that somehow Sergio was wrong?

    RF: No, I don’t think so. You can speculate many, many things in terms of what ifs, and hindsight is wonderful, but in reality we were dealing with a Red Bull and we mustn’t underestimate it. A Force India trying to pass a Red Bull isn’t the easiest of things. And we had Ferraris coming back and whether we had pitted or not pitted there is a second a lap difference on optimum, optimum. I think we did the best we could and I have had no recriminations from the team whatsoever and we will continue to follow that path and evaluate things on a race-by-race basis.

    Q: Vijay Mallya said after the race that there would be some new rules of engagement from Baku onwards. What are those rules? 

    RF: No I don’t think he said that. He said he would look at the rules of engagement and we discussed it at the management meetings, which we normally do, and what I am telling you now I think are Vijay’s sentiments entirely.

    Q: Cyril, let’s also start with the on-track action as well. We saw an accident involving Jolyon Palmer today. What is the situation with Jolyon regarding his future? What does he have to do to keep his seat at Renault? 

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: I think it’s a bit unfair to link today and the future. Today we saw a lot of drivers going a bit outside of the track – a lot, and I mean a lot. Clearly, indeed, Jo has been one of those at a Turn that unfortunately doesn’t forgive, unlike other turns. Which means there is a bit of damage on the car but it’s not huge. Not really different to what Checo did this morning. If you want to link that to the bigger picture for Jo, our situation is very clear: he has a contract with us; we are completely committed to helping him get through the period, which is a tough period, that’s obvious. He has no ultimatum, but having said that he has to deliver, like every single member of the team. But I think what will help him is that frankly we take him out of the spotlight under which he is constantly, in particular in starting the first day, Friday, and all the media focus, all the media attention, is not necessarily helping. Obviously you have to do what you have to do, and ask the questions, which you feel are the right ones. But that doesn’t help. That’s part of the job, part of the pressure that every Formula One driver has to go through. He has to live with that. We are trying our best to protect him but at the same time to do the best as a team to explain to him what we are expecting and we had that type of conversation with him yesterday – go through the metrics and try to define the targets short to medium terms so that he can improve. So that’s the situation really.

    Q: And can you just clarify the situation with Robert Kubica. He tested with the team just prior to the Canadian Grand Prix. Why did the test come about and is he going to be testing in FP1 ahead of the Italian Grand Prix? 

    CA: Easy answer on the last one – no, absolutely not. I don’t know where this is coming from and I can completely wipe that one out. Also I would to make it clear that I guess the questions are unconnected – the question regarding Jo and the question regarding Robert. Robert has been a family member of the Enstone team, and Eric on my right knows what I mean. He has been very close and very loyal. The team in Enstone, which is a very small group of people, actually have been very loyal to a number of drivers. In particular Robert made a huge impression on people who’ve been around, Alan Permane, Bob Bell, Ricardo on the Viry side. People feel very loyal and feel they owe something to Robert for making something big in their life and there was this opportunity that we give to him, that we could afford to him to drive again, because it was actually a marketing event that got cancelled, so we had a car available at the track and we offered that opportunity to him. Robert is going through some form of programme to try to understand what he can do. He has been driving a number of cars, Formula E, GP3, F2, LMP2, you name it, so I think he wants to understand what he can do as part of his sort of rehabilitation programme. We’ll see. There is nothing else that is planned for the time being, apart from a marketing event at Goodwood, where he will be driving the same car, E20, in front of Lord March’s house.

    Q: Just looking at performance, you said recently there are no magic bullets in Formula One. How should we translate that comment?

    CA: Yeah, I think I was trying to make reference and clarify as situation regarding engine upgrades and actually it’s not so easy to be clear in that respect. Just to make it clear, I think there was some speculation, some expectation that we do on the engine side this year the same thing that we did last year, with a major upgrade that was very visible to everyone, particular our customers and I think there was this sort of expectation that we were about to do the same. No, unfortunately it’s not happening. But I’m not saying that because it’s not happening that there won’t be any improvement. There is improvement. For instance, this weekend, we have two tenths of an upgrade in the engine. We were not expecting to make huge publicity on that but I feel that I have to make that clarification. And that upgrade is coming despite the fact that we are not changing the engine. That’s why it’s important to disconnect the different aspects. It would be the same thing on the chassis side. We are having a sort of arms race. All teams are bringing big upgrades, we are doing the same but same thing as on the engine, there won’t be a golden bullet.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Bob, can I just ask quick question about the accident this morning for Sergio. We saw the week come off but it certainly didn’t look like the tether failed because it didn’t look like that was involved in that – so can you just explain what happened with the wheel coming off?

    RF: It’s not something we’ve seen before. As you rightly say, the entire wheel came off the hub. We need to look into it to see. The tethers were fine. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen that. In fact Eric and I were talking about it coming up – he hadn’t seen anything like it either. We’ll just have to have a look at what that is and make sure if there needs to be any changes across the board for Formula One.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Eric, quick question about Stoffel’s season so far. Obviously, it’s not been an ideal season for him – it’s always tough being up against Fernando – but can you talk us through his season and what has been his struggles and what he’s going through?

    EB: First of all, he’s had a lot of issues with his cars since the beginning of the season. Not only the engine but also the car. A lot of little glitches y’know that stop him, let’s say, doing complete runs during free practices and various qualifyings. I think his confidence level then went a little bit lower – that’s why a couple of times in qualifying he was not ready to deliver on the first lap and that cost him actually a Q2 because there was a yellow flag or something else. I think it’s just for him to find his place in the team to make sure he can voice his needs to setup the car the way he likes to drive it. Formula One is also a bit different when you talk about driving style so you need to maybe both need to move toward each other. We are now since a couple of races addressing this seriously with a working group around him – his engineers first but some others, trying to address this and get his confidence back.

    Q: (Gunel Safarova – BBC Azerbaijan) So you say today three accidents happened. It’s interesting, why do you think these accidents happened so much. At the moment there is speculation this road in Baku is very dangerous and it has very dangerous turns. Do you think it’s because of this?

    CA: We’ve seen a lot of accidents and also our drivers escaping from accidents. Frankly I think we should put a bit more walls to create a bit more penalty and incentivise the drives to stay on track. I think there is a combination. I understand that it is not easy on some corners actually to see with the sun in the drivers’ eyes, struggling to see the apex. That’s one, another thing to take into consideration, without wanting to start a debate, it’s maybe the grip from tyres which is maybe not where it should be for a track like that and the sort of braking energy that you need to dissipate. So that might be an explanation – maybe more than last year in particular with the shift in compounds that we’ve seen this season. That might be one explanation also.

    Eric or Bob, do you have anything to add?

    EB: Cyril answered mostly. The only reason why you have got these cars going into the escape road is just because of the grip and the braking energy. Track is also very green today, obviously a lot of dust everywhere, so this is even more difficult to generate some energy in the tyres.

    Q: Bob, Pérez, why did he crash, what did he say when he got back to the garage?

    RF: I don’t think it was anything to do with them. He was trying to find the limit and found it! I agree with Eric and Cyril. It’s about tyres – and obviously the track was green. Tyres are probably a little bit hard compound. And maybe next year we’ll start going softer.

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2: Verstappen Out Ahead then Crashes Out

    2017 Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2: Verstappen Out Ahead then Crashes Out

    Max Verstappen finished the second free practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on top of the time sheets this afternoon but ended his session by crashing out with just 30-second left in the session.

    The session was one of the most bizarre sessions yet. Nearly all the drivers ran wide off the track at least once with Jolyon Palmer falling victim to the barriers at Turn 8. The Brit took too much out of the entry kerb at Turn 8, which sent the car crashing into the outside barrier. Palmer’s crash brought out the red flags for a brief period.

    The locking up and low grip could be put down to the high tyre pressures mandated by Pirelli but overall, the low grip conditions made it tough for the drivers to get in a clean qualifying simulation lap.

    While Verstappen did set the fastest lap, at one stage it looked as if Ferrari was on course to take that honor. But Verstappen made sure he claimed the fastest time by setting a 1:43.362. The Red Bulls were split by the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas who’s time of 1:43.462 was just 0.100s off Versatppen’s time. Ricciardo’s 3rd fastest time of 1:43.473 was 0.111s off the pace.

    It was business as usual at McLaren-Honda when Fernando Alonso’s newly fitted (and upgraded) Honda engine expired with smoke pouring out of the back of the MCL32.

    At the end of the session with just 30-seconds left in the session Verstappen locked up into Turn 1. The rear of the car stepped out, he tried to catch the slide, but ran out of road and smacked the barrier damaging the front left and front right suspension with the rear taking most of the damage. Despite Verstappen’s crash Red Bull ended the day on top of the time sheets and are looking good going into Saturday qualifying.

     

  • F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp First Free Practice Report – Verstappen Quickest

    F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp First Free Practice Report – Verstappen Quickest

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timing sheets in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Baku grand prix.

    The 90 minute session got underway in glorious sunshine in the city of Baku. However, the second longest circuit on the grid proved quite slippery and dusty as several drivers endured spins and running wide at various parts on the circuit.

    While Verstappen’s 1:44:410, on SuperSoft tyres, was quickest enough for P1 it was his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, also on the SuperSoft compound, who set the 2nd quickest time overall. The first of the Ferrari’s was third in the form of Sebastian Vettel who set a 1:44:967. The first of the Mercedes was Lewis Hamilton who set the 5th quickest time for the session.

    There was a lengthy red flag period towards the end of the session at the Force India of Sergio Perez bounced off the wall at Turn 8 after clipping the entry curb. The damage sustained looked quite significant as both the front-right and left-rear corners of the car were torn off. It remains to be seen if the Mexican will make it out at the start of the second free practice later this afternoon.

     

  • Grid Drops Expected for McLaren Duo

    Grid Drops Expected for McLaren Duo

    Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne are expected to take massive grid penalties going into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

    Honda plans to fit an updated MGU-H to both their cars and would mean that both drivers take on new turbochargers. Both drivers will incur a 15-place grid penalty for the new turbo since it’s the 6th new turbo of the season.

    Vandoorne will suffer the brunt of the penalties. Honda say that they will replace his power unit except for the control electronics and energy store after the second practice session. A further PU change is planned which will mean Vandoorne will take another 15-place grid penalty for a 7th MGU-H.

    Alonso will take his 4th, and final allocated engine for the season after his DNF in Canada.

    When asked if the changes will bring about some much needed reliability to the PU Vandoorne could say for certain.

    “Difficult to say, to be honest,” said Vandoorne to journalist at the Thursday Press Conference.

    “I think it’s probably more a question for Honda. I don’t think there’s many new introductions this weekend, so I don’t think it will be too different.”

    While he was unable to say if reliability would improve, Vandoorne knew coming into the weekend that Alonso and himself would incur penalties this weekend.

    “We have some penalties already to start the weekend, which isn’t ideal, but it’s the situation we’re in, so we’ll try our best, focus maybe a bit more on race runs, and hopefully we can play a bit during the race,” Vandoorne added.

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes), Esteban OCON (Force India), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas)

    Q: Valtteri, if we can start with you. There’s no doubting the speed of this year’s Mercedes – the four wins are testimony to that – but it has proved tricky to set up. Can you predict how competitive you’re going to be this weekend – particularly as there’s no ultrasoft tyre? Or is it something you’re only going to find out when you take to the track tomorrow?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: No, I can’t predict. As we’ve seen it’s been extremely close in some races, well, most of the races between us and Ferrari, so it is very difficult to predict, especially on a track like this. Some sections, a bit like Monza, some a bit like Monaco. I think it’s going to be close again but, like you said, we sometimes had a bit of difficulty to get the car set up well and get the real confidence with the car and also to get all four tyres to work with each compound. So, impossible to predict.

    Q: Do you think the harder tyre compounds this weekend will help you?

    VB: I don’t think it’s going to help us in any way. The tyres are going to be the same for everyone, it is up to us to get them to work well and that is going to be through the set up.

    Q: Your boss Toto Wolff said this week at the FIA Sport Conference in Geneva that you’re in an uncomfortable position at the moment: still without a drive for 2018. Do you feel uncomfortable in this situation?

    VB: I feel normal – because every single year in Formula One for me I’ve had the same situation. I’ve had no idea at this point what’s going to be next year. So, for me it’s a normal situation.

    Q: Has the team told you when they’ll let you know?

    VB: Yeah. I know some kind of plan, when they’re planning to have things sorted – but that is between us. There’s no rush.

    Q: Esteban, Force India were attracting a lot of headlines after the Canadian Grand Prix, specifically about team orders. Can you just talk us through the closing laps from your point of view.

    Esteban OCON: Yeah. At that moment I had a different strategy than Sergio. I did push on the first stint a bit later, so I changed my tyres later than Sergio and I was a bit quicker. But the team took the decision to let us race, both, which is respectable, and great also to see that they trust us and let us race. So no, we had a good discussion after the race in the debrief. And I also called Sergio during the week when everyone was relaxed, and discussed our points. We’re all good now. All set for a new weekend and there is no tension between us.

    Q: So Sergio is still on your Christmas card list?

    EO: Yes! No problem.

    Q: Vijay Mallya said after the race in Montreal that there would be some new rules of engagement starting in Baku. So, having had those discussions in the debrief, can you tell us what those rules of engagement are?

    EO: You know what the headline… what Force India always does it let both drivers race. Of course, if there is a big difference of speed between the cars then they will for sure try to do something to always benefit the team at the end. But they didn’t really want to do that in Montreal, which I think is very respectable, as I said. Now we will see if we get other opportunities here to do a great result.

    Q: So if there is a role-reversal this weekend and you’re ahead and are asked to let Pérez through, would you do that?

    EO: I always respect team orders if there are.

    Q: Romain, it’s been a really encouraging few races for you. You’ve scored in three consecutive races for the first time in your Haas career – so where can you and the team go from here?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Afternoon. It’s a good question. I think from the first year we’ve shown that we’ve gained consistency and that the team is growing up and capitalising on good calls, good strategy, getting the best of the situation even though maybe the performance in Canada, for example, was not really good – but in the race it was a very aggressive strategy and, with a bit of luck at the end, we managed to score points. Monaco, we were pretty fast where we struggled last year. So I think we’ve moved a long way. Every time I look back and see what we’re doing I’m very proud of the team and kind of myself, because I was in there since day one and everything we’re achieving today is actually work that we’ve all done together. It’s a very special experience to build a team around you.

    Q: Just looking at this weekend specifically, you said in the team’s preview to this weekend that Baku is a mix of Monaco and Monza. Can you just elaborate what you mean by that and give us some insight into the set up challenges that this track presents?

    RG: Well, I think you’ve got the first sector, first part of the track where you’ve got a big, straight line, big braking and low speed corners which is what you’ve got in Monza: so, top speed and braking stability is important. Then from Turn Five onwards you’ve got much trickier sections: bumpy, up and down, tight, up and down again which is more like Monaco type of corners, so yeah, it’s a pretty tough one to set up the car: which compromise do you do? Which parts to you… yeah, get better? We’ve seen last year that some teams reduced a lot of the downforce for quali performance but then in the race after a few laps the tyres were gone. It’s just finding the right, and the sweet spots in between that quali pace and the race pace and where you’re going to set up your car.

    Q: And I guess you’re hoping for no plastic bags this year…?

    RG: That would be lovely! It didn’t help much our race last year.

    Of course, it got stuck in the radiator, didn’t it?

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Esteban, you said you rang Sergio to discuss things. Can I just ask why you felt the need to do that if you’d already had a debrief beforehand?

    EO: Well, first of all we had a plane to catch just after so we were in a bit of rush to debrief. It’s always good to do it a little bit after, to talk when you know everyone’s relaxed and the weekend’s finished. To have a further talk was quite important I think. And we just discussed our points, discussed freely, just us both, together. I think it was important to do that. As I said, now everything is settled-down and we are ready to attack that race.

    Q: (Simon Lazenby – Sky Sports) Romain, just following up on Tom’s question there with regard to Haas and where you are at the moment. When you first came into the team you said you were happy, they’re building a team around you but right now do you think you’re ahead of the curve, 15 points, eighth in the championship? And at what point does your frustration – if you like – with wanting to become competitive boil over? For example, with the relationship with Ferrari, do you feel you would be first in line should a seat become available? 

    RG: Well, good question. I don’t know. I don’t know the answer. Life is full of surprises and if you ask Valtteri what he was doing on the 15th of December I’m sure he would say yeah, I’m going to go again with Willliams and next thing you know, you’re in a World Champion’s car. So it’s a phone call and the best we can do is to do the best job on track. I’m frustrated sometimes because I love winning and that’s all that matters to me in Formula One and obviously you come from other categories where you’ve won everything and then you come to F1 and you don’t get the chance to win a race because it’s like you were starting the race ten seconds behind the others. It’s done. But it’s great as well to see that we can start from zero – a new team – and we can build and we can surprise a lot of people. Everyone was ‘ah yeah, Haas coming into Formula One and they’ve got four years fulltime in the wind tunnel and they could be great’ and then last year we struggled a bit and then people were like ‘yeah, you know…’ That’s normal for Formula One but actually the whole process was to prepare for 2017 and we’re already on 2018 and trying to get better every year, and that’s finding resources, the effort and do what it takes to get there; it’s pretty important. I think the year started well, the problem of this year is that there are two Mercedes, two Ferraris and two Red Bulls in the first six positions and they’re already locked so the race kind of starts from P7 onwards and then Williams and Force India have been very fast recently so you’ve got one spot, maybe two spots in the top ten to score points so it’s pretty tricky. We lost a fair amount of points in Melbourne as well because of the issue in the power units when we were ahead of the midfield but generally I think we are working hard and I’m hoping that we can join a bit more the fight for bigger points.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Valtteri, last year you reached 370/380kph here, the highest speed in a Formula One race. Do you think that with these new cars with more downforce it will be difficult to reach this speed? 

    VB: I don’t think we’re honestly going to see that kind of speed now that the cars are more draggy, so it would nearly be a miracle if we can hit those kind of speeds with these bigger tyres and bigger wings. That’s my opinion.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lap times? 

    VB: I think lap times will be quicker, I think it will be quicker. We are quite a lot quicker in the corners and apart from the two kilometre straight it is a lot of corners and that’s where you need the grip and downforce.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Valtteri, with regards to your future, you said there’s no rush. When do you think you will know, when do you want to know by? 

    VB: I don’t know when I will know. The timeline is quite flexible but like I said, there’s no rush really. For sure discussions will be opened soon, because as a driver, at some point, it’s always nice to know what you’re going to do next year but no more to say than that really. It’s still a bit early days for that and for sure I’m keen to have a long term relationship with Mercedes, that is my target, and that’s why every day I work hard and try to make the most out of every single situation and the race weekend.

    Q: Valtteri, are you in discussion with other teams, just in case? 

    VB: No.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) On the same subject, if you were a team principal and you had a new driver who is in a top team for the first time and makes pole position and win races in six rounds of the championship, until now, would you keep the driver? 

    VB: Of course! Yeah.

    Q: Would you re-sign yourself?

    VB: Of course.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Valtteri and Romain, can you just give a bit more comment from both of you about driving this circuit, the challenge of driving this track and the sort of combination of types of corner, not just from a set-up point of view but from the driving point of view? And turn 15? We saw quite a lot of action in turn 15 last year. Is that still a critical corner here?

    VB: So yeah, it is definitely a challenge here. It is one of those places like Monaco or Singapore that you just can’t afford any mistakes when you’re going so close to the walls, sometimes even slightly touching them, so that’s always a challenge and there’s nice excitement as a driver and it’s one of those places where if you put in a nice qualifying lap for example, it’s really satisfying and you need to take some risks, can’t lose focus at all. I think the high speed section, leading to the main straight, those corners, last year, with new tyres, low fuel, they were just about flat out but this year it will be easier so I think in qualifying for example, it’s not going to be a big challenge to make them flat out but in the race, high fuel, worn tyres, following other cars, it’s still a challenge over there.

    RG: I think turn 15 is a tricky one from the nature of the corner, coming up the crest and then downhill and then it’s kind of a blind corner and the braking zone is not straight. It’s fairly tricky to find the right braking point and you’re in the corner and then you’ve got the off-camber feeling when the car’s on the edge and you go above that and you can lose the rear end. Turn 8, the tiny one, was surprisingly safe last year because I think it’s slower and when you get the line it’s a bit easier but with the wider cars this year you just need to be a bit careful because 20cms around there is a like a good 40 on normal corners.

    Q: A lot of people were predicting incident and accident in last year’s Grand Prix here but that didn’t happen. Eighteen of the 22 cars finished. Are you guys going to take more risks this year? 

    VB: We were kind of lucky, you know, after seeing all the GP2 races, now F2, how many safety cars and virtual safety cars they had whereas we actually had none and there was not much action. I think it is a track that normally with this type of track things will happen so my guess is that we’re going to see a bit more of a mess than maybe before but who knows. We’re always taking risks and always calculating risks, how much you take and there’s no other from last year to this year that you…

    RG: It depends how the race goes. Rosberg last year was far ahead and then Lewis was at the back having various issues and then there were many fights in the field. We’re human beings; after seeing all the GP2 races everyone I guess was like yeah, let’s take it 99 percent and not 101 and that’s why the race went very smoothly.

    Q: (Simon Lazenby – Sky Sports) I know it was a long question, my last one Romain, but sorry to press you on it but can I just clear up with you what your relationship is with Ferrari right now and whether your people are talking to their people about your future? 

    RG: I’ve got an engine, a gearbox, suspensions so… I think it’s early days and we’re not even in July. Who knows what the F1 grid is going to be like next year. Valtteri is of course waiting on Mercedes, then there’s the Kimi case, what is he going to do? Everyone thinks he’s going to be out of Formula One since 2010 and here we are in 2017 and he’s 38 and he’s still here doing a decent job. So I don’t know. If there is an opportunity, if there is a seat, I believe I’m in a good position but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Esteban, just before the Monaco Grand Prix you were speaking, you said you were confident you could get a podium fairly soon. Given the last race, how encouraged are you that this is just around the corner, the podium for you?

    EO: Yeah, this is my target to be scoring a podium before the end of the season, that’s the goal I’ve set myself and that’s what I want to achieve and I’m pretty pleased with my progression since Melbourne. I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable with the car and just improving step by step and now I’m starting to feel really well and I think if we have a great car here why not, we can achieve it. I will definitely push for that so we will have to see where we are after practice but if it’s not here, I will keep pushing 100 percent to get it later.

  • 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Azerbaijan GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Kimi, if we can start with you. We’re back at a street track this weekend. You took pole position in Monaco a couple of races ago — how confident are you of a repeat here?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Unfortunately it doesn’t give you any guarantees. It’s in the past, and a completely different circuit. Not really any similarities than Monaco, but nevertheless I think we have a good car everywhere. We’ll see how it goes, we can only give our best. Hopefully we’ll be at the front again; we’ll see what happens.

    Q: Pirelli are turning up this weekend with slightly harder tyre compounds than in Monaco. How do you think that’s going to affect the battle between Ferrari and Mercedes?

    KR: I don’t know. It’s been close, more or less every race this year. Obviously, like I said, the circuits are so much different and it’s not a big surprise that the tyres are slightly different here. I don’t know. I’m not really interested in guessing what will happen, but I guess it’s going to be close like it’s been at other races; I’m surprised if it’s only one team is way ahead of another.

    Q: You don’t want to guess what’s going to happen this weekend, but after the technical problems you had in Canada last time out, do you feel you’re due a lucky break here?

    KR: No, not really! It’s not something you can count on it. I’ve had some not so good luck for quite a few times, but it’s an unfortunate thing to happen, something completely new that we never found out and it’s fixed now. Things usually go wrong when it’s the worst time it could happen, but at least we managed to finish the race and at least score some points. Obviously it was far from ideal, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

    Q: Thank you Kimi, good luck this weekend. Stoffel, if we could come on to you now. This is your first time in Baku. Can you give us some insight into how you prepare for a track you’ve never races at? Is it more time on the simulator? Has Fernando given you any tips?

    Stoffel VANDOORNE: Definitely spend some time in the simulator, like I do before every grand prix. A lot of laps in there. At least our simulator is reliable, so I managed to do a fair amount of laps there! And then also last year; I watched a lot of the races that happened here, GP2, Formula One as well. Some stuff on onboard videos. That’s about everything I did.

    Q: Is Fernando generous with his advice?

    SV: So far I’ve not had a chance to chat to him, but I’m sure I will do over the weekend.

    Q: You were quiet outspoken about the car’s performance in Canada — fuel saving, you referred to being ‘a sitting duck’ on the straights. Given the nature of this track layout, what are your expectations coming into this weekend?

    SV: It is a street circuit as well, but like Kimi said it’s very different to a circuit like Monaco — here we reach very very high top speeds, I think similar to Canada. I don’t think we have high hopes, but we’ll try our best from our side. We have some penalties already to start the weekend, which isn’t ideal, but it’s the situation we’re in, so we’ll try our best, focus maybe a bit more on race runs, and hopefully we can play a bit during the race.

    Q: Just to be clear on that, we knew about Fernando’s penalty coming into this weekend. Have you had penalties as well?

    SV: Yeah, I will have a penalty as well. We’re probably competing to start at the back of the grid.

    Q: Good luck this weekend. Daniil, thank you for waiting. Coming on to you, you had a very frustrating race in Canada. Having had time to reflect on what happened, what’s your version of events?

    Daniil KVYAT: It was a frustrating race; it brought us zero points. It all started on the formation lap when we couldn’t get away, so we lost a lot of time. Then, trying to recover positions I was already side by side with the cars I had to overtake … had to take the start from the grid, and we got a penalty for that — two, actually — and then, of course we couldn’t with the pit stop, yeah… It was all a bit of a spiral: when it starts to go bad, it goes bad. We did 55 laps on one set and we were on course for a point, but still???

    Q: Let’s hope you have better luck this weekend. Talking specifically about Baku, you qualified sixth here last year. Are you confident of being a Q3 contender again in 2017?

    DK: I think, once again, last year there are two different stories. Of course we had a good qualy last year, but quite different, you know, circumstances, cars, even though conditions will be similar. Car has been similarly competitive between most of the tracks, so hopefully we’ll be in a similar place to usual. Also here, this is one of the longest straights of the championship; it’s still not our favourite part of the track, but we’ll try to minimise the laptime loss through there and try to be competitive in the other parts of the track and try to really be strong.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Simon Lazenby (Sky Sports) Question to Stoffel. Stoffel, we’ve heard your management, senior management, teammate be very outspoken about the relationship with Honda just now. Perhaps it was the first time in Canada we heard you reiterating the woes. It’s obviously making your first full season in the sport very difficult. Which direction would you like to see McLaren take with any future engine partner?

    SV: To be honest, it’s not up to me to take such a decision. Yes, it’s been a difficult start to the season; it’s definitely not an ideal situation for everyone. We’d like to be fighting much higher up the grid, but as McLaren we’re trying to put McLaren’s interest at the top, and that’s what’s the most important for us now. We need to fight back, and I’m pretty sure the team is moving in the right direction. Hopefully at some point we will be competitive again, and hopefully that is sooner rather than later.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Question for Kimi, the situation in the championship between Mercedes and Ferrari is obviously pretty tough; it’s very tight at the moment. Are you in a position where you have to play a support role to Sebastian now in the way that in the past things have happened when you’ve been at Ferrari? Obviously Felipe helped you a bit in 2007, you returned the favour in 2008. Are you in that position now of having to help Sebastian?

    KR: I think we have very clear roles in the team — what we’re allowed, what we’re not allowed, and what the team wants us to do. You know, it goes by those rules and, I don’t know. I don’t know if I have any interest of, to do, to tell what we talk inside the team in here. I think Maurizio has said something and nothing has changed and we know exactly when things will go either way. That’s fine, that’s how it’s always been, at least in the teams where I’ve been. When I don’t have a chance mathematically anymore to fight for the championship, for sure I will help him. I have no issues with that, I never had in the past. I think it’s just a very easy decision for all of us, at least in our team, and obviously the first thing is to try to make sure that we can be on the top with Ferrari. That’s the most important thing. And then obviously if Seb can win, then fine. If I don’t have any chance then that’s how it goes. The first thing is to work for Ferrari, to put them in the best possible position.`

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – GloboSport.com) Kimi, using the same subject. In your view, what is the reason for the difference in points? You have some difficulty with this car? You were unlucky in some races? Because it’s big difference.

    KR: It’s a big difference. When you have bad races, you adapt, and obviously Seb has done very good races so far and has been strong everywhere. I was not starting very well the first races — I was not too bad, but I was not where I want to be. Here and there little problems, we have one DNF, the last race was not ideal. That’s how it goes, unfortunately. When your teammate is on the podium more or less every time, a lot of points quickly. That’s racing.

    Q: (Alex Popov – Match TV) For Daniil. You just posted a very special video of your training – close combat training – on social media. It’s a message to somebody, or it’s just a coincidence?

    DK: No, it’s not a message! Training for sure, I do it in Monaco, it’s my hobby and I have a very good trainer there for that sport and really interests me a lot and very enjoyable. It’s not easy to find time with the Formula One calendar for some other specific training. Usually it’s either running or cycling and everything else gets quite boring – so tried something else for once and really liked it, so like to do it, so simple as that.

    Q: Daniil, for people who haven’t seen the video can you just elaborate what it is you’re doing?

    DK: Come to see my video! No, I just like to train, I got to know a very good boxing trainer in Monaco and because in my gym there is a ring, they can put you in to train. I just ask him to help me a bit to learn it. Very interesting. Very interesting sport, very exhausting for 12 rounds to be there. Very interesting.

    Q: (Simon Lazenby – Sky Sports) Question to Dany – I suppose that could come in very handy if you have any more disagreements with Carlos? Speaking of which, what happened in Canada with a couple of penalties, the retirement for you and then the disagreement over the towing issue in qualifying. Have you got to the bottom of that? How have you resolved it?

    DK: Starting with that double penalty, I think we spoke behind closed doors after it with the correct people. With Charlie Whiting, with Jean Todt. It was all very straightforward, all very simple and everyone said his opinion and everyone understood perfectly and the end of the conversation was very positive and everything has been said on that matter. So everything is clear now. Regarding the other matter which you just mentioned, everything has been told already as well and everything will be tried to keep inside the house. That’s what I hope for, at least, from my side.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) Question for Stoffel. You mentioned you’re going to have to carry some engine penalties this weekend. Are the engine bits that are going to be on the car this weekend going to give you any more performance or reliability from the bits that will be on there?

    SV: Difficult to say, to be honest. I think it’s probably more a question for Honda. I don’t think there’s many new introductions this weekend, so I don’t think it will be too different.

    Q: Just as a follow up to the towing in qualifying that Daniil was asked about, is it something, given the length of the straight here this weekend, that you’re going to work with your team-mates during qualifying to get a tow to improve your lap-time? Kimi, perhaps you could answer that one?

    KR: No, we haven’t had any plans. I mean, we haven’t really done it in any place so I don’t see that’s going to happen. Probably the biggest reason is that it’s very difficult to manage with all the cars you get. The most important thing is to try to get the free lap for yourself. When you try to plan it like that it’s actually quite difficult to make it happen every time and it can easily make more harm than good for both of you. So…

  • Kaltenborn Steps Down as CEO of Sauber

    Kaltenborn Steps Down as CEO of Sauber

    The Sauber Formula One Team have confirmed that CEO Monisha Kaltenborn is to step down with immediate effect.

    Kaltenborn held the CEO position at Sauber since 2010.

    The Chairman of the Board of Longbow Finance, Pascal Picci announced in a statement that Sauber and Kaltenborn have parted ways “due to diverging views of the future of the company”.

    “Longbow Finance SA regrets to announce that, by mutual consent and due to diverging views of the future of the company, Monisha Kaltenborn will leave her positions with the Sauber Group effective immediately,” said Picci.

    “We thank her for many years of strong leadership, great passion for the Sauber F1 Team and wish her the very best for the future.

    “Her successor will be announced shortly; in the meantime we wish the team the best of luck in Azerbaijan.”

    Initial reports about the split intimated that there was a difference in opinion between Kaltenborn and Longbow finance about the treatment of the Sauber drivers. Longbow wanted preferential treatment to be given to Marcus Ericsson while. Kaltenborn reportedly disagreed with this.

    Before announcing Kaltenborn’s departure a statement was released by Picci blasting media reports about the equal treatment of Sauber’s drivers.

    “The owners and board of Sauber Motorsport AG take strong exception to speculative and widespread media reports today that our race drivers have not been, and are not being, treated equally.

    “This is not only patently untrue, it would be contrary to the team’s absolute and longstanding commitment to fair competition.

    “These reports, attributed to anonymous “sources”, are highly detrimental to both Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein as well as to the management and all staff of the Sauber F1 Team.”

    Kaltenborns announcement will be made soon. According to Motorsport.com former HRT Team Principal Colin Kolles is in the running for the position.