Have a look at this great compilation of the Top 10 F1 overtakes of 2016. Some absolutely fantastic overtaking here with Max Verstappen coming out at the top of the pack after fans voted in the official F1 website’s Twitter polls. Interesting to note how Lewis Hamilton must have spent so much time leading races that he doesn’t even feature.
Tag: felipe nasr
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Ericsson Remains at Sauber for 2017
The Sauber Formula One team has confirmed on Monday 21 November that they will retain the services of Marcus Ericsson for 2017.
Ericsson has sealed 1 out of the two seats available at Sauber with the second seat which is held by Felipe Nasr is currently up for grabs. Ericsson has been closely linked to the investment company that has purchased a stake in the Sauber team so it would’ve just been a matter of time since his announcement to remain at the team.
“It is great news that I will be racing for another year for the Sauber F1 Team. I have spent two years with Sauber now, and I really feel at home,” said Ericsson
“A big thanks to everyone within the team for trusting in me again. From a personal point of view, I have developed a lot as a driver during my time at Sauber. We have had ups and downs, but we always stick together and work as hard as we can.
“Since the new ownership, there has been a positive push in the team, so it will also be exciting to go into this new era.
“Many motorsport experts are becoming part of Sauber, which is a good sign for the future.
“For 2017 my aim is to build on my performance from the second half of this season, and to continue working hard with the team.
“I cannot wait for the 2017 season, so that we can make our way up to the midfield with the objective to score points on a regular basis.”
Sauber said they will announce their second drive in due course. After scoring their first points at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Nasr has a solid argument for him to remain in the team. It remains to be seen if his points haul was enough to keep him in the team for 2017.
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2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference
DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Jolyon PALMER (Renault), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Congratulations on your marriage last week. While your private life is settled, clearly you will be looking for a new partner in a professional sense next year, as a team-mate at Williams. What kind of driver would suit, a rookie or someone more experienced?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you very much. The one thing is it is a fact that I’m going to have a new team-mate next year and it’s still not obviously confirmed if I will be with Williams or not, but yeah, new team-mate and I’ve always said and that’s how I feel, the quicker team-mate you have, it doesn’t matter who it is, as long as he’s quick it always boosts the performance of both drivers and helps the team, so that’s always good. And a team player would be nice, but obviously I have nothing to do with choosing the team-mate, it’s completely up to the team who I will be racing with so I hope everything’s OK.
The battle with Force India in the championship is very tight: they were ahead on points, you moved back ahead after Monza. Where do you think your relative strengths lie as teams?
VB: I think it’s going to be a great battle between us and Force India, we been have really close the last six races, really depending on the track; some tracks they have their strong points and some places us. So I think overall we are very, very equal in terms of how quick the cars are so it will be just depending race by race and trying to maximise everything, getting the strategy right every time and having a good qualifying, trying to be ahead of them. I’m looking forward to the end of the year and it’s going to be a good fight.
Marcus, coming to you: congratulations, 50th GP start this weekend, only 4th Swede to make that mark. Sauber is now hiring again, some solid signings the last few weeks, how is the team evolving??
Marcus ERICSSON: Thanks a lot. Yeah, 50 sounds like a lot of race, but it’s nice. With the team I think we are definitely moving in the right direction. Like you say, we got some new signings, new personnel in the team, and it’s good, with fresh ideas, it’s positive for everyone I think. Also on the car side we got some updates going in the last couple of races and it’s interesting, we’re trying them out, trying to optimise them, and coming here to Singapore will also be very interesting for us because it will be the first time we really run the full new package we have introduced after the summer break, so it will be a very interesting weekend for us to see how far it gets us really.
What weaknesses were you working on with that update package and what are you expecting this weekend from the sort of test that Singapore provides?
ME: I think for sure it’s just general downforce that we have been lacking and hopefully from the signs we have got so far is that we have gained quite a bit on that side. Like I said, it’s been both Monza and Spa, the last two races that we have had this package; it’s not been high downforce tracks. It’s a bit of an unknown, so hopefully here in Singapore it’s obviously a very high downforce track so we will see then how this update package is working.
Felipe, coming to you: In points here last year. It’s always a complex race strategy wise as Valtteri was alluding to earlier on, but with three different tyre options this season, how do you see the variables playing out, Saturday and Sunday?
Felipe NASR: Well, yes it is, it’s normally a very challenging track, very demanding for both the car and the drivers and I feel the tyres will play a big part on it this weekend, you know having such softer compounds. I will be curious to see how many stops will be going in the race and I think the key really is to understand the tyres, how much you can make them last, understand how the car is reacting on track, with the temperatures here being very high. So it’s always a challenging weekend and Singapore always brings some surprises in terms of the racing always being exciting. A lot of things can happen so hopefully we are in a position to take any profit.
The driver market is in gear now, you’ve been linked with a possible move to Williams, there may be openings at Renault, obviously Sauber has had investment. What’s your personal objective regarding next season??
FN: Well, it’s difficult to say. Right now I don’t have any news. Hopefully soon but right now I don’t have much to say realty. All I can say, at Sauber things are moving forward. I can see the team really stepping up a lot of new people coming in, so as I said, it’s still a very attractive place to be, but it’s still and unknown. Hopefully when I have some news I’ll bring it in.
OK, thank you very much for that. Sergio, 23-race finishing streak, scored points in all five of your appearances here in Singapore. What do you like about Singapore and do you see this as a weekend where you’ll get the edge back over Williams?
Sergio PEREZ: Yeah well, that’s the target coming here. We obviously want to close up the gap. We lost out in the battle last race. We knew they were going to he strong there, so hopefully here we can close up and hopefully beat them. Singapore is a great place, it’s a very unique race, starting from racing at night, the way you get your routine; it’s totally different to any other race, waking up so late, going to bed also. Yesterday I was running at the track at 1am in the morning. Things like that are just not common in any other race. Also, the track is a very big challenge – mentally, physically, it’s just very difficult to finish the race, not having a contact or a crash. So it’s always important to make it until the end of the race. So hopefully I can keep my good score in Singapore with the points on Sunday.
You seem to hold the key to the driver market at present. Force India say you are definitely with them next year, when will we know for sure your plans for 2017?
SP: Well, I tried. I was hoping to be able to be in a position to announce my plans for this weekend. Obviously we got some delays. But I really hope that bef0re the next race we can definitely announce where I’ll be racing.
Any little hints?
SP: Well, I always say I’ll be very happy if I can stay, if everything is fine for me to stay where I am.
Jolyon, you won GP2 feature race here in 2013 and you’ve outqualified your team-mate Magnussen in 3 of the last 4 races, do you feel it’s an important moment to show what you can do with an eye on securing a seat for next season?
Jolyon PALMER: I think so, yeah. Still obviously the seats are in doubt, or up for grabs, so every race from now on is a chance to show what I can do. It’s a track I really like here and I feel like I’m driving the best I’ve driven all season at the moment. The results haven’t really shown in the last couple of races but I feel good within myself. Yeah, it’s a track I really like, I’ve had some good success here before, so hopefully keep on the good form at the moment and I think this one will suit our car a little bit more as well. Hopefully we will be able to challenge a little bit higher and I can show what I can do a bit more.
That leads on to my next question: Renault have been rather erratic in qualifying, between row seven and row 11 of the grid depending on which race track, so is this more of a row seven weekend than a row 11 weekend?
JP: I think it’s more of a row seven. Row 11, Monza was pretty much everything that we don’t want from a track. It was high speeds; Renault has made good steps with the engine but we’re still behind Ferrari and Mercedes, and then slow-speed corners and kerb riding, so it was everything we don’t want. Here, the straight-line speed is not so much; the corners are more suited to us. Even though it’s a street circuit, it’s reasonably smooth, so I think this could be one of our best of the year.
Coming to you Daniel: twice on the podium here, front-row starter last year and Monaco pole sitter this year, that adds up to making you many people’s favourite for this weekend, Do you share that view?
Daniel RICCIARDO: I think I’ve got a pretty good chance of the top 10, absolutely. That’s about it.
Come on, you can do better than that!
DR: I hope so, but top 10 is pretty safe you’d think.
The narrative for this weekend seems to be a chance to put right what went wrong in Monaco, to take the win that was snatched from you in the Principality, do you have a sense of unfinished business and are you asking the team for perfect execution this weekend?
DR: It’s obviously the next closest track to Monaco, so sure we look at it as a good chance to try to get the victory I’ve been after this season. With the team, since Monaco, a lot of things have been working better, in terms of I think we’ve executed a lot more on a Sunday and I’ve left Sundays feeling a lot happier the last handful of races, so that’s been good on both sides. I feel I have executed as well good things on Sunday. Let’s see. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself or them for this weekend but I think deep down we obviously want to win. I believe we are a group of winners, so if there is a bit of pressure on us to get it done then I think we will thrive off that. Let’s see what happens. I’m definitely prepared and excited. I don’t know what I’m paying for a top 10, but it’s safe money.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Question for Valtteri, Monza was supposed to be a very good circuit for your car – and it was, you could compete with Red Bull. This, on the other hand, shouldn’t be as good, so what are the expectations for this weekend?
VB: Yeah, definitely. Monza was a lot better than what we’ve seen in the few races before that with high speed circuits really suiting our car. Definitely had Red Bull had a bit of an upper hand but definitely we could keep them behind for quite a long time. And yeah, this is a completely different circuit. You need so much more downforce from the car, you need good mechanical grip, you need good tyre life. Last year it wasn’t too bad for us actually, coming to the weekend slightly carefully but then ending up fifth in the race with reasonable pace all weekend. So I think there are still good opportunities here, even though it’s maybe in theory the best – but I always see every weekend as a new opportunity, especially here where with a good qualifying, and if we can get a perfect strategy, very strong points are still possible.
Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Question to all of the drivers, a simple one. Do you think it’s the hardest race of the calendar?
ME: Definitely. I think it’s for sure the hardest race of the year. It’s probably similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but just the fact it’s a street circuit and not many places to rest makes it the hardest one. But I like it, it’s a good challenge and you need to be really on top of your fitness. For me it’s the toughest – but it’s also one of the most enjoyable.
Jolyon?
JP: I’ve never raced it in Formula One but in GP2 it was hard. It was the hardest of the year in that so I believe these guys – I’m sure they’re all going to say it’s the hardest.
Felipe?
FN: I agree. I think it’s an amazing event. Night race, very demanding as I said, for both car and driver. Really it’s an endless track, you’re just doing corner by corner and to get everything precisely correct, it’s a challenge. The race itself, normally it brings a lot of surprises here so I’m looking forward to the weekend, as I said, we’ve been fighting to get, to sneak into those points, so why not this weekend? Let’s try it again.
Valtteri, you find this the toughest?
VB: It is, at least physically at least it is the toughest. Mentally, I think it feels a bit like Monaco. It’s very intense and needs to be zero mistakes during the race.
Daniel, bit of tiredness, fatigue coming in, affecting concentration towards the end? Always a bit of an enemy there I guess?
DR: Yeah, when you’re a high performance athlete… it is, it’s the toughest, sure. I think they touched on it, it’s similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but you’re surrounded by just the city and a lot of concrete, so it’s the one race I feel where you open your visor to get some air and you’re not getting any reward for that. It’s just heat and stale air. In Malaysia there’s a bit of circulation: even though it’s hot you get a bit of a breeze but here, no. It’s a track that you can’t… if you come here unprepared, then you can’t luck into a good result. You’ve got to come ready to go.
Sergio?
SP: I don’t feel the heat at all! I think it’s just a normal race. No, just kidding. I think it’s a really hard race out there. The last ten laps, twenty laps, you’re really praying for a safety car because it’s just really hard to finish the race, physically. And mentally as well. Mentally it’s a very big challenge because every corner, most of the corners, if you do a mistake you just touch the wall and it’s a puncture or something like that. I would say for me it’s definitely the most demanding race of the year.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, the last couple of times on the podium you’ve poured the sparkling wine into your shoe and drank it. What’s the background for all that?
DR: I didn’t start it! Well, as far as I know I started it in Formula One but not worldwide. It was a few loose Aussies, from what I saw, the Mad Hueys, they’re surfies and fisherman and just loose guys, they travel the world fishing, surfing and whatever and they like to drink a bit of beer and whatnot, and that’s where the shoey began. On their travels they’d get people to do it as well and it’s just a bit of a laugh. I know Jack Miller knows a few of the guys from the Mad Hueys, so when he got his win in Assen, I suspected he was going to do it, and he did, so I thought I’d keep the Australian tradition going – and now Valentino’s got in on the mix, I saw he Instagrammed it yesterday and he said “everyone loves a shoey”, and “delicious”, and all that. A few words I used for it. I think it’s just a bit of fun now – everyone’s enjoying it.
VB: How does it taste?
DR: Honestly, if the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good. Normally it’s cold on the podium, if it’s warm then sure, you’d get the sweat and that through it – but the cold taste kills the bad stuff, so it’s delicious, as we said!
So we can expect a shoe on Sunday if you win?
DR: If I win, sure! If it’s just a second or third probably not now. For a victory, I’d expect to see a few people do it with me!
Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for Dan, bit different tyre strategy between Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend in terms of allocation of super soft and ultra soft. Do you think the tyre strategy will be the key factor here or will there be something else?
DR: I think it can maybe decide a few things, whether it’s on Sunday I’m not sure, obviously we’ve got freedom to use any of those tyres during practice. Maybe us or Ferrari for example, will change our practice runs now and use a different compound to try and have something similar for the race – but yeah, it can, here because it’s so hot, the tyres do normally get a hard time and it’s low speed corners, a lot of traction and the rears can get a hard time for sure so I think if you’ve got too many softer compounds, you might run into a bit of trouble in the race but we’ll see. It’s been quite exciting this year, being able to use three compounds over a weekend and having been forced to choose them months in advance. Sure, if we could have picked the tyres this week, we all probably would have done something different. It’s a bit more of a lottery, makes it exciting and makes our practice runs perhaps a little bit more calculated.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Obviously since Monza, gentlemen, some quite seismic news in Formula One, new commercial rights holders, new owners in Liberty Media. As drivers, you keep saying that you’d quite like to have more of an input in the sport so if the new owners came to you and said what would you like to see in the future, to maybe make the sport better, to put a bigger smile on your faces, what would your advice be to them?
SP: I think I would love to see Formula One a lot closer, the competition a lot closer, closer teams, giving the midfield teams the opportunity to be capable of winning a race, fighting for titles. I think that would be just something great for the fans to see one race Williams on top, another race another team, that would just be very good and for that you need to change the system, how you divide the money because there’s obviously a massive difference, so I think that would be a very good thing for the sport.
DR: Nothing springs to mind; obviously we always talk about bits and pieces but nothing, I guess, that anyone’s heard before. Saturday races, like a Saturday race as opposed to Sunday, just so we can plan a bigger night on Saturday. That would be good fun!
VB: Yeah, I think we need to see first of all how next year is going to be with all the changes already fixed for next year with the new cars, bigger tyres, more grip. I think we need to see how it goes then.
FN: I would say a bit of what they have already said I agree with but I think the most important thing is to see closer competition between the cars, I think that’s what I hear from people or from fans – they always like to see more fighting on track between car, between teams. I think the closing line is what were looking for but also next year we have a big change in terms of the cars being different. I think everything will be a bit more aggressive in terms of the racing itself so let’s wait and see how it goes and we’ll take it from there.
JP: Yeah, I would agree with these guys. I think the main thing is closer competition. At the moment, we turn up for a weekend and we pretty much know maybe it’s two, four, maximum six drivers can win the race but it would be nice to turn up here and think maybe, you know, Williams can win or maybe Force India or maybe someone can put in a big surprise. I think that’s the biggest thing which would change a lot of fan involvement and make it a lot more interesting to watch.
ME: Not much to add, I agree with these guys: closer competition throughout the grid and more teams getting involved in race wins and podiums. I think that will make a big difference for the attraction to fans. That would be the biggest thing for me.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For the three drivers in the back row: not so long ago, you were fighting for championships and winning them and fighting for victories but you get to two thirds of this season and you have no points probably for the first time in your careers. Does that play a little bit on your mind when you go into a race weekend and how do you cope with it?
FN: Well, I guess I’m experienced at this. Last year I had plenty of opportunities to score points and it’s very rewarding when you can come into a weekend knowing that you have something to fight for. As I said, most of it is the reward you get back but coming to this year, you’re facing a lot more difficulties but on the other hand, you try to explore areas that you’re not really giving a hundred percent attention to so I think that as a driver I feel a lot more complete this year. Any opportunity counts so when it comes to a race weekend like this in Singapore, we know that there are a number of facts that happen in the race, you must be ready because they can come any time so let’s see. Three of us here, we don’t have a point so let’s see who gets it first, if we can…
JP: I’m not massively focused on it. Of course I want to score points but if we don’t have the car to score points then there’s nothing we can really do. I’m focused on my own job, basically doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got. The last two races have been quite difficult. Hungary was the better chance to score, I think this one will be a better chance to score but I think for me it’s all about improving as a driver, doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got and then I’m sure… I know in the future Renault will be fighting for points. If I can do a good job with what I’ve got at the moment, then the points will come further down the line.
ME: Yeah, of course it’s different to when we were in junior categories like I said, fighting for wins every weekend or at least aiming for them. Now it’s different. When you’re in a smaller team and you know you’re going into a weekend when even scoring points is a big challenge – it’s a different mindset but it’s something you have to accept and that’s how it is in Formula One. I think it’s always been like that as well, that different teams have different strengths so you need to accept that and try and maximise the car that you’ve got and that’s all you can do, focusing a lot on your own performance and maybe not look so much at the results because it’s more important to try and maximise what you’ve got. But of course, it’s a lot nicer if you can fight for points.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have scored only 26 points from the last seven races since Canada; what number of points would have satisfied you from the last seven races?
VB: Yeah, it’s not quite as many as I was hoping for after being on the podium in Canada but it is what it is at the moment. I can’t say the exact number of points but the absolute maximum we can… I hope as a team we can leave every single race weekend at the end of the year feeling that we maximised the weekend, that we got everything out of it and the same for me personally. As a driver, that’s the main thing and hopefully that way we will be ahead of these guys (Force India).
Q: (S. Dipak Ragav – The Hindu) Sergio, for the last two years, Force India have had a slow start to the season. Do you think it’s a concern for you, going into the next year with the regulations? And the second part of my question is if Force India finishes fourth, do you think it has the ability, in terms of resources and infrastructure, to take the leap to beat the top three like Red Bull did in 2008, 2009?
SP: Yes, I think the team, especially this season, now that the rules are more consistent, I think we started with a competitive car. We just needed to figure out some set-up options on the car to improve the tyre degradation but the car straight away in qualifying was capable of achieving Q3s in the early part of the year so that makes a good difference. And when you look at the past, when we had the massive regulation change for 2014, on my third race I was on the podium for the team, so it shows that Force India is capable of adapting well to new regulations so I think we have the potential to do so. I believe that we are going to be in front of them (Williams) at the end of the year so I really hope that we move up and hopefully next year we can do another step forward which is going to be very tough. Now you’re fighting Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, so it’s going to be very tough but I fully believe in the team and I think if we manage to finish fourth it will be a massive bonus for everyone in the team.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Jolyon, have you been given any indication by Renault when you’ll get a decision for next year?
JP: No, nothing yet, so yeah, nothing changes for me really: just keep doing the job, I’ll know when I know but yeah, if I just keep doing what I’m doing. I know I’m in the mix but we’ll just see how things pan out.
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2016 Formula 1 German Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference
DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Manor), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Rio HARYANTO (Manor), Felipe NASR (Sauber)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Sebastian, let’s start with you, if we may. News yesterday that Ferrari is replacing technical chief James Allison with Mattia Binotto. Can you give us your thoughts on that?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, not much to add. I think we have stated in the press release what happened. I think Mattia has been in the team for a very long time so he is very experienced and knows the team inside out. Obviously there will be a difference but in the short term it doesn’t change that much.
The timing of the switch means that he’ll be in charge with plenty of time to influence the direction of next year’s car. Would you like the emphasis of the team now to shift to the 2017 car?
SV: We are already obviously working flat out on the ’17 car, I think everybody is, the rules are very different. Still there’s stuff I think we can learn from this year, so that’s why I think it would be wrong to forget about this year’s car. So I think still directions are very important heading into next year with the different approach but of course there is a very large group in the factory focusing on next year’s car.
Thank you. Coming to you Rio, you’ve out-qualified Pascal five times in 11 races; that’s quite a statement isn’t it?
Rio HARYANTO: Yeah, it’s a good result. It’s good to be able to be quote competitive in qualifying but I still want to improve also a lot in the races and we are clearly working hard on that and there are some occasions in the race where I’ve been having a split strategy to him and I just try to keep learning and to move forward.
The fact that you’re here in Germany this weekend, does that bode well for the rest of the season in terms of your involvement with the Manor team?
RH: I have a contract for one year. Of course there are certain obligations that we need to fulfill. My management is working very hard and I would like to say thanks to the team and also to the people in Indonesia who have been very supportive and hopefully I can keep my seat for the rest of the season.
Thank you for that. Nico, coming to you, you’ve scored points in five of the last six races but after Budapest you seemed to be a little bit downbeat in your assessment of the team’s chances at this race, sating it could possibly be a bit like Hungary. Don’t you think this track should suit Force India a little better than that?
Nico HULKENBERG: Difficult to judge. I think in Hungary we had a bit more potential in the car, but it was kind of a tough weekend with the mixed qualifying and then in the race also the race, how it happened, it just evolved against us. I think there was more potential than what we got at the end, only a tenth place. Hopefully here this weekend we’re a bit more competitive again and obviously we’d like to beat the McLarens, the Toro Rossos and put on a fight with the Williams and not be behind them.
Now, Vijay Mallya told us in Silverstone that both you and Checo are confirmed for next season. Checo was a little more non-committal than that last weekend. What’s your situation?
NH: Everything is easy and relaxed, there’s not much more to add. I think Vijay said what the situation is and we’re just focused on this year now, trying to get as many points as we possibly can and that’s the main focus really.
So you’re staying for next year
NH: Yes.
OK, thank you. Felipe, we had the news last week about the takeover of Sauber. What difference can you notice inside the team and where is the focus of attention now?
Felipe NASR: Well, first of all, it’s good news. I was happy for the team to have these new investors taking over. It brings a lot more stability to the team, especially to all the employees at the team. I could see in their faces already that people are happy again, back in their work, they can just focus on the job they do pretty much. We were very limited on the things we could do this year, talking about development and car performance. We couldn’t unlock anything, just because we didn’t have the resources to do so. I think now looking to the short and the long term there’s a lot that can happen. I believe there are serious people behind it. We expect to see some decent, let’s say, updates to be on the car after the summer break, which I’m really looking forward to. I want to put the car back competitive, I want the team to score points, I want to score points as well, which is the only thing missing until now.
Well, you mention that, the team is still looking for it’s first point as we reach the half way stage in the championship. So are you taking some encouragement that you’ll get there soon?
FN: Well, I believe so. I’m doing all I can. Sometimes in the last few races we have been close to it, we just need that little bit extra from the car to be more competitive, especially in qualifying, being able to qualify a bit higher, Unlocking performance is all we look for and hopefully it will come soon and I can celebrate that first point as well.
Thank you. Coming to you Pascal, your first Formula One grand prix at Hockenheim, first home grand prix in a Mercedes-powered car as a Mercedes protégé, sum up the emotions?
Pascal WEHRLEIN: Yeah, it’s a very special race to me. I’ve already said in a few interviews that when I was five years old, in 2000, I was here in the grandstands watching my first Formula One race live and it’s amazing to be in the car now in 2016.
You’ve had podiums here, I believe, in DTM and in Formula 3, so it’s a track you clearly know well and like. Is there a belief that you could repeat the result from Austria?
PW: I hope so. The track shouldn’t be that good, as Austria was for us, but as soon as I am in the car I will push as hard as I can and hopefully I can do the same again.
Thank you. Daniel, coming to you, your 100th grand prix start this weekend, congratulations. Obviously a very strong weekend in Hungary last time out but do you feel that after that double setback of not winning in Spain and Monaco it took a few races to get your mojo back?
Daniel RICCIARDO: No, not at all, if anything it increased it. The way things turned out after Spain and Monaco, yeah, the race results weren’t as high as I was hoping for sure. It wasn’t a lack of mojo or anything like that. It was probably too much of the other! Obviously it was nice to be back on the podium last weekend; that was cool. Obviously I had a podium in Monaco, but unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy it, so it was nice to actually enjoy the one in Budapest and appreciate it, because you don’t get a podium every race. To see the fans and everything and to spray the champagne on Sunday afternoon, it’s a nice reward. It’s a beautiful feeling, so it was nice to soak that in. A hundred grands prix – I would say it’s gone quick, but at the same time it hasn’t. It’s taken a lot of steps to get here and yeah, I look back on HRT and it does feel like a long time ago. Yeah, 100 feels about right.
There was optimism before Budapest that Red Bull would be able to challenger Mercedes there. Obviously it was a slightly complicated weekend, particularly with the rain in qualifying, but in the end they did manage to keep you at arm’s length. You personally now are third in the Drivers’ Championship, it that the limit of what’s possible this season?
DR: There should be another chance or a slight chance you’d think in Singapore. It’s a strong circuit for us and for whatever reason last year it was a weakness for Mercedes, so if it’s a similar trend then we can genuinely have a crack there. But otherwise probably a wet race is our only real opportunity on an even playing field. Now we’re close with Ferrari in the Constructors’, I’m third in the Drivers’ Championship, it’s really close from third to sixth. But that’s fun, so hopefully we’’ just try and keep that. Some more consistent podiums would be good and yeah leave Sundays feeling happy, that’s always important.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FOOR
Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Daily Telegraph) A questions for Seb or two actually. When you first came here when you were a kid the grandstands were full, there were 100,000 people, and if you look at Michael’s heyday the sport was massive here. It’s not secret that now it’s struggling for popularity compared to that. Do you have an explanation for why that is? And the second question is, from a driver’s point of view what was Michael’s impact on Formula One, what’s his legacy would you say?
SV: Starting with the second one, I think he was obviously the first German world champion and the first one that made Formula One really popular in Germany. Obviously Formula One has been around for a long time and also there were a lot of races in Germany, but I think the real difference is that we didn’t really have a local hero for a very, very long time. There were Germans participating, but obviously if there is one really, really successful one, winning a lot of races, that’s what attracts a lot of the attention. That’s what also caused the hype initially and caused the grandstands to be full. I think entering the motodrom in the old days was a bit different than nowadays, because the track was different, all the other parts of the track there was only trees, so I think that’s different now, you have big grandstands around the track, a bit more spread. Plus the fact that it’s clear nowadays, let’s say the last couple of years haven’t been that popular, there’s been a lot of negative in the press and obviously people, fans, follow that as well and that doesn’t help. I think Formula One has lost a little bit of its excitement in terms of just if you listen, the cars are a lot more quiet, which also then looks a little bit less spectacular, even though it’s not true, corners speeds are as high as they’ve ever been. Just when we go on power it doesn’t sound as nice as it probably did in the past. So there’s a couple of reasons and I think it general grandstand tickets are too expensive. In my point of view they should be a lot cheaper, a lot more affordable, so a lot more people would be tempted to spontaneously say ‘yes, let’s go, we want to be part of it and let’s not miss it’. So I think there are a couple of reasons.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Sebastian. Sebastian, until September of 2014 Mr Marchionne didn’t have great approach to Formula One and then came Arrivabene also. All of them for sure hard workers, competent and they were doing their time – and now we have also Binotto, also another guy without experience to concept a car globally. He comes from engine side. Are you worried that you have very good people behind you but all of them, the mainstream leadership of the team with no experience in Formula One?
SV: No, I think we have the right people on board. I think obviously, yeah, it’s been a lot in the press, especially about our president and what he expects from us and so on… I think first of all it’s good to see, as I’ve always said, that he’s involved. Obviously he’s pushing the team very hard, and also in Maranello, he spends a lot of time there. I think he knows what he’s talking about and generally has been trying to understand what’s going on, in the last year in particular. So, I think things are heading in the right direction. Obviously it’s a big change now, which doesn’t impact on tomorrow’s work but obviously for the future. No doubt about it but I think things are heading in the right direction. When you say that they didn’t have access, I think it’s not entirely true. Obviously I haven’t followed that close but in Maurizio’s case as well I think he’s been in Formula One and involved for a long time, so I think he knows the business very well and I think he’s doing a very, very good job. That’s how we all feel in the team. He’s our leader, he’s the team principal and we’re happy he’s with us.
Q: (Sandor Van Es – Formula 1 Magazine, Netherlands) Daniel, I have a question for you. Congratulations with your third in Hungary, your team-mate hinted that in the first part of the race he was a little bit held-up by you because he was driving like his grandma.
DR: His grandma’s fast!
How satisfying was it to finish clearly ahead of him and, related to that, how are you going to approach your little battle in the second part of the season?
DR: Yeah, it’s part of… especially the early stages of the race, there’s always, a lot of the time, when there’s some tyre-saving, you always go through a phase where you try and make it to lap number X and sometimes the approach is to build up to it and make sure you get to that point, that you don’t throw yourself in a three-stop strategy, say, when you’re planning a two. So, from my side, at the start, I was just trying to do what I had to do. Try to hang with Nico and Lewis. It was sort of there – and then to the end of that stint they seemed to pull away but it seemed like my tyres had a bit more life at the end of the stint than perhaps Max’s did. Yeah, I don’t know if it was necessarily a shot at me, it was more, I think, as well, the way sometimes we have to manage the tyres. Especially at the start of the race with high fuel. You do have to be quite conservative and yeah, it doesn’t always feel that fast. I am impressed with the speed of his grandma. That’s pretty good.
Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) For Sebastian and Daniel. What do you need to beat Mercedes on Sunday. Help from above or something else?
SV: I think we both have the cars that we have and both of us are very happy. Obviously we’re missing a bit to really take it on to Mercedes in lap time. It’s been, on this type of track, probably around three-four tenths to seven-eight tenths per lap, which is a lot and obviously allows them to take it fairly easy but we will try to extract everything we can, try to do the best job possible and I think that way we enhance our chances to put them under most pressure. Then, I think, there’s always a lot of things that can happen. We’ve seen it in the past. That’s why we go racing. Otherwise, y’know, there’s no point for us being here.
Daniel?
DR: Yep, you always hope for some variables. I think all things even they’re clearly the quickest at the moment. Rain definitely helps us. We seem to be able to close the gap there, and also the rain, whether it suits our car more or not, it also opens up more opportunity for the driver to make a bit more of a difference. It’s easier to make mistakes with things like this. Even if they were quicker in a wet races there’s still more chances they might make a mistake, or whatever. So, yeah, otherwise, as Seb touched on, we’ve just got to try and do what we can do with what we’ve got. It if does open an opportunity, obviously Barcelona, on lap one, that opened an opportunity for everyone, these sort of things can still happen. It would be nice if we could beat them with them still on track. That would be, I think, more satisfying.
Q: (Joe Van Burik – De Telegraaf) Another question for Seb and Daniel. Do you have faith F1 will change much with the new 2017 technical regulations.
DR: Yeah. I’m confident the cars will be quicker, the cornering speeds will be quicker. I think that’s one thing which obviously we’re all going to be open to. If it does become a bit more physical – not that it’s not, I was sweating quite a lot after the race last weekend – I think more to just feel the car a bit more in the high-speed corners. I know our car is very strong in high-speed corners and I still feel like I want to do more, so I can imagine midfield teams, they’re not really experiencing a massive amount of gees and grip. So, looking at that, the wider tyres and more downforce, it should make that part a lot more fun. How much it’s going to change, I don’t know. I am having fun, as Formula One is now, but of course you can always improve things. Even if this improves one part of it, then that’s a positive.
Q: (Graeme Keilloh – Grand Prix Times) Question for all of the drivers. We understand a decision about whether the Halo is to be introduced for next year is fairly imminent. Jolyon Palmer said earlier today that most drivers he talks to are against the halo but reluctant to say so. Do you all agree this is the case? That perhaps drivers aren’t expressing all of their concerns or drawbacks about it?
Nico, why don’t you start with that one.
NH: Yeah, I think there is some mixed opinions amongst the drivers. Some favour it, some don’t favour it. Obviously the aesthetics are not so good – it doesn’t look very attractive – and yes, in some cases it would probably have been better and saved lives. But as it is I think F1 is already pretty safe and we also need to keep an element there, of danger, to keep it exciting, to keep it spectacular – but it’s not in our hands, our decision, what’s going to happen with it. So, I think today there is a meeting about Halo. We’ll wait and here about that.
Rio, what are your thoughts?
RH: Same comments
Pascal?
PW: I’m for the halo, especially after the presentation we had last week in Budapest. I think it’s a very good solution and maybe it doesn’t look so nice but it can save our lives, I think – until 17 per cent – so I’m clearly for it.
Felipe?
FN: I’m in favour as well. I think it doesn’t look great, as everybody pretty much says a similar thing. On the other hand, safety being the priority, I would be in favour. I believe it’s, for now, with what we have, it’s something better. There can clearly be, as I said, in the priority list of safety, it can be improved, but there’s also to consider that people will have to get used to it, if it does happen. Because it looks very different.
Daniel, your thoughts.
DR: I think what people from the outside need to understand is that, when we say it’s going to make it safer, it will – but it doesn’t mean the risks we take are any less. So it will not change our approach to a corner, for me, as much as I understand it, it’s to help the freak accident, or to support the freak accident, or if something comes flying in the air to stop it hitting us on the head, as some incidents happen, and y’know, with last year as well with Indy. It’s purely just to, I’d say, get rid of that risk, which I think it will do a good job. For us getting behind the wheel and going flat out in Eau Rouge or something, it does not change if we’ve got the halo on or not. So, I think that’s what people from the outside who are against it, need to understand, that we’re not all just turning into… y’know… we’re still race car drivers, it’s just trying to eliminate that freak accident side of it.
Sebastian?
SV: I’m a bit surprised because it doesn’t sound as if we were clear about what we want in the future, so I’m a bit surprised about these comments and I think 90-95 per cent voted for it – so I don’t know why all of a sudden it comes up the way it does. I think it’s the wrong impression. As I think the majority in here said as well, we don’t like the looks of it but I don’t think there’s anything really that justifies death. So, I think we’ve always learned from what happened, incidences that happened on track, and we’ve always tried to improve. Now, that would be the first time I would think in human history that we’ve learned a lesson and we don’t change. I think it’s up to us to make sure it does happen, otherwise I think we’d be quite stupid.
Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Question to Seb. What do you expect from this race? A podium would be a good result for you here?
SV: Yeah, I think the nature of the track should suit us probably a little bit more than last week. But having said so, our main rival for victory will still remain Mercedes so we try to line all of our ducks up so we can deliver the strongest Ferrari that we can. Of course it would be very nice for me to be on the podium. Racing at home I think is something very special and, in that way, to give a little bit back would be great. It depends on how the race unfolds: if there’s a chance to win and you don’t, you cannot be happy. But yeah, I think, if everything goes, let’s say, normal, we should be fairly competitive and should be aiming at a podium.
Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Seb, on the halo, you said that you had a vote among the drivers. How do you feel about the fact that it’s something the teams are deciding on rather you. It would be in the FIA’s hands to just impose it but they’ve put it to a vote of the strategy group. Do you think that’s really fair on you guys?
SV: I think ultimately the FIA can do what they want, because based on safety grounds, they can do what they want so I think the message is clear, I think the feedback from the drivers so far – apart from the odd one or two here and there – has been clear. I think it’s fairly clear.
Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrucker Zeitung) Nico, after your inter-mezzo with the Sauber team, you turned back to Force India in 2014. What is for you the main difference between your first time in Force India formerly and today? What has changed?
NH: Well, I think obviously the team has grown and really become a more solid, stronger competitor since. When I initially joined the team in 2011 as a reserve driver and then 2012 I was there as a racing driver, and then when I came back in 2014, I think we’ve really made a good step. The team has employed a lot of good people, changed structures back at base at Silverstone and I think just taken a lot of good directions, made some good decisions and hired some right people and that usually then sets you up, puts you in the right direction and makes you competitive on the track. So I think all in all the team has matured and grown a lot in a very positive sense.
Q: (Rzeczpospolita – Mikolaj Sokol ) To all gentlemen, after last weekend when you now see a double yellow flag, what will you do?
SV: I don’t know, whatever comes up, spontaneously. I was the car in front of Nico (Rosberg) and I lifted as well but maybe I lifted too much, I don’t know. What to say? I think double yellow is still… should be double caution and I think in the rulebook it says ‘prepare to stop’. I think after what happened last week, we shouldn’t change our mindset. I think it should still remain the same in terms of that you are aware that someone’s in trouble, marshals might be on the track to help him, whatever, so you should be aware of that and be prepared to lift. That’s it.
Q: Daniel, do you still have some question marks about this after last week?
DR: I voiced my comments in the post-race briefing. I couldn’t have done anything different. Fernando was still on the track so I was prepared to slow down a lot and that I had to because he was there. So yeah, for me, I even get thing when people go quicker on a single yellow. The double yellow, I think, has to be clearly… there has to be a difference between a single and a double. When I see a single, sure, I slow but I’m aware that there probably isn’t anyone on the track but when you see a double it’s a lot more of a stronger sign, at least for me, and yeah, you know there’s a bit more going on. I think it’s something we’re still going to talk about, discuss and make a bit more clear. There needs to be a big difference.
PW: I think there will be a big meeting tomorrow and let’s see what’s the discussion and solution after that.
NH: I will take some food and drink into that one, I think. It’s going to be long. Every double yellow, of course, means there is some danger and obviously we know (we have to) prepare to stop. Every case is different, though. It’s difficult also for Charlie (Whiting) and for those on the outside to judge. Obviously in that incident, if you come around turn eight in Hungary you look into turn nine so some cars saw Fernando sitting on the kerb there, so you know you have to lift, you’re forced (to) because he was right there on the ideal line and I think when Nico came he was clear and it was different so it’s difficult but yeah, we all definitely have to have great respect for yellow flags.
FN: I agree on what the others are saying too. There has to be a clear message. Tomorrow, when we all sit down together, there has to be something that is really being followed by everyone, I guess. We don’t want to get in those doubts of the position there, well the car wasn’t there… It has to be something clear that we have to do and then everybody respects that.
RH: I think a double yellow says you have to prepare to stop. I think tomorrow we will discuss things together and clarify the position to take from what happened two weeks ago.
Q: Just for clarity, Sebastian, from a leadership point of view amongst the drivers, will that meeting tomorrow bring forward something that you will take to the FIA? What will happen?
SV: Well, first of all we will see how the discussion goes but I assume it will be a bit longer, it won’t be dealt with in two minutes so I think we will have to wait and see.
Q: But it would be some sort of protocol that you would all agree between you from then on. Is that the idea?
SV: Well, to be honest, I think the difficulty is that with that, since we have the… again you could argue that modern technology didn’t do us a favour. Since we introduced the loops, the timing loops so that not just the sectors one, two and three but also in the individual sectors we have different loops and then there was a sort of guideline that if there was a single yellow waved flag you have to lift off by two tenths. If there’s a double yellow waved you have to lift off by five tenths but that was verbal, there’s no way (you will) find that in the rulebook and basically apply common sense. But then again the problem is that you leave it up to us and then where’s the limit, so you had a guy last weekend that arguably if a lot of other guys were in his shoes, we would maybe have done the same. He comes around the corner, sees the double yellow… first of all, comes around the corner, sees the track is clear, obviously then still has a shot at the rest of his lap, where do you draw the line? In the past it was probably more simple just because we didn’t have the ability with the loops, it was clear: sector two, in that case, if you go green or purple you abused the rule and yeah, in that sense it made it a lot easier for us in the car. Now you have to think about how much time you have to lose and so on and that, I think is what we need to discuss tomorrow and hopefully we will find a common agreement to move forwards.
Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Nico, Sebastian and Daniel, a follow-up on the 2017 changes, Stoffel Vandoorne recently made some interesting remarks comparing SuperFormula and Formula One. He said that in SuperFormula the tyres are rock solid so he can push, it’s quite enjoyable but that’s why the racing is not exciting. Now, next year we will have more aerodynamics, grippier and bigger tyres. Don’t you agree that the same will happen with Formula One and what is more important for you: having fun in the car or providing a good show? Because it seems to be a controversy.
DR: For me, the perfect or the ideal scenario would be to have something in qualifying with a lot of grip, that you can get the maximum out of the F1 car and push it to its limit and feel a real step but then yeah, the race, you don’t want it to go where it’s follow the leader and everyone’s going so quick and the braking points are too late and then you can’t overtake or anything so… I think the balance in racing hasn’t been too bad. I think the tyre deg and all that is not too bad. I think if we could just have that but with more grip like with quicker lap times but still the same rate of deg or whatever then I think that would still be a decent solution or outcome. So I think that’s what – looking at it – we probably will get, I think we will get just generally faster lap times but still the same amount of pit stops or whatever and hopefully in qualifying, we just get a bit more of a rush. Let’s see. I do believe it will go in the right direction, how much we achieve I’m not sure yet.
NH: Yeah, not much more to add really. Obviously we’re going to go faster for sure but we will also still see deg in the race which then allows a good show and overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing so I think for now we will go in a good direction.
Q: Seb, to the gentleman’s point about it not just being about you guys having fun but also the wider show and spectacle.
SV: Well, I think on that it needs to be real so I think now you can argue that obviously we all know how much faster our car could go if there was a fresher set of tyres on the car, less fuel in the car, that’s what is not so satisfying in the race. I think that’s the point that Stoffel made and also amongst us that he can push all the way through the race and that’s how, to be fair, Formula One has been some years ago and to what people refer when they say this was the best time, in the year 2000 through 2005. You didn’t see a lot of overtaking but if someone made it stick it was real and that generally got appreciated. Nowadays, we also have arguments whether there have been too many overtakings, whether some of the overtakings have been too easy and that’s where, I think, it sums it up, where we say it has to be real. If we enjoy it, I think the people enjoy it, our passion transfers also to the people in the grandstands and following it on the television. I think that has to be the target. Whether we will achieve it or not we have to wait and see.
Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) Question also about flag-gate in Hungary: Lewis went to Charlie’s office to get a clarification and he called him later in the evening as well; why didn’t you do this?
SV: Well, I think in that regard the rule is clear, in that if you read what it says under double waved yellow or yellow flag I think it’s clear. Obviously there was still the option to continue the lap which Nico did, fair enough to him and he made it stick and put the car on pole and then I think it means exactly that. What we are now all talking about is how much do you have to lift and every situation is different. I think we’re not too happy with that because there are certain inconsistencies there because then somebody has a different feeling or approach to somebody else. But to answer your question: I don’t know, I think to me it was clear what double waved yellow means so I didn’t feel that I had to go and ask.
DR: Yeah, I guess the team… I made my thoughts clear to the team and left that with them to deal with so I know… I think they were on to Charlie as well and seeing what the outcome was going to be.
PW: I don’t have Charlie’s number!
NH: Not much to say.
Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Sebastian, talking about flags. You have been complaining during the race on radio about the blue flags. How much does it need to make you complain about other drivers? Does it affect your driving? What can you say about that, about these things happening?
SV: I think it’s emotions. I think in the race you want to… I was catching Daniel at the time, I believe, and yeah, it always feels that you’re losing more time than the guy in front which I don’t think is true and I have been in the other situation as well. It’s not easy, you know. The mirrors are small, you see the car coming and two or three corners later the car is a lot closer and maybe closer than you expect. Equally you’re racing someone, you’re doing your own race. Yeah, I think in that moment I was a bit emotional and complaining. After the race I was a lot more relaxed about it, maybe I got a bit tempted by Max in the last couple of races so I started to complain a lot about blue flags during the race. But yeah, i think we’re all trying to do our best and I think most of the guys most of the time do a very good job, especially because it’s not easy and it’s not a nice position to be in. I think we all come from a racing background where we were not used to seeing blue flags and especially not used to moving over so it is a pain but people are doing what they can.



















