F1 Madness

Tag: force india

  • F1 2016: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton Conquers Mexico

    F1 2016: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton Conquers Mexico

    A crowd of nearly one hundred thousand fans looked on as Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory in Mexico and the 59th of this grand prix career.

    For the Mercedes driver the 71 laps around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez went exactly to plan. Despite a bit of a messy start he was able to control proceedings and notch up a second win in seven days. It was a vintage Hamilton weekend in many respects. He dominated from the first session on Friday, through qualifying and never came under pressure in the race. For his part he did all he needed to keep his championship hopes alive. Nevertheless, Nico Rosberg finished an omnipresent second to maintain his points advantage. He didn’t sail through to second though and had to withstand a few dicey moments with Max Verstappen and the start and later on in the race.

    Most of the drama was reserved for the battle between the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. For the majority of the race Verstappen was running third and extolling pressure on Rosberg for second. Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo opted for alternate strategy by taking a second tour through the pitlane and emerging with soft tyres for his final stint. This promoted Vettel into fourth and onto the gearbox of Verstappen. Under significant pressure from the Ferrari driver Verstappen took the grass in order to maintain his position. The fact that the Dutchman gained an advantage by doing so was evident however he did not cede the position. This refusal from Verstappen didn’t settle well in the paddock where is already facing backlash for his debatable technique.

    GP MESSICO F1/2016There is no question that Vettel’s drive was a good one but it was soured by his foul-mouthed tirade over the radio. While well within his right to be upset with Verstappen he profanity-laced rants were shocking and unacceptable. While not an excuse by any stretch of the imagination his exaggerated reaction is telling and reveals the effect and pressure that a subpar season has exacted on him.

    Subsequently, Verstappen was, rightly, slapped with a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This promoted Vettel to third but a few laters this too would be undone as he was given a ten second time penalty for erratic driving in defense of his position. The rejigging of the order promoted Daniel Ricciardo to third with Verstappen fourth and Vettel in fifth.

    The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen came home in sixth with what could only be described as a odd pit stop strategy. The Finn was holding his own ahead of teammate Vettel on the medium tyre when he was called into for a second stop. The strategy call from Ferrari, who have had their fair share of dubious calls this season, made little sense as several other drivers, including Vettel, ran the race on one stop.

    GP MESSICO F1/2016The Force India of Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in eighth and Felipe Massa in ninth. Local  hero Sergio Perez was embroiled in a race-long battle with Massa but his inability to overtake the Williams consigned him to tenth. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson deserves an honourable mention for his eleventh place finish in what has been a dire season for the Swiss-based team.

    While Hamilton didn’t face any pressure from behind there were some concerns on his car. An overheating turbo and sky rocketing exhaust temperatures had the team a bit nervous and eager to avoid any sort of failure. As a result Hamilton was instructed to tune down his power unit performance towards the end of the race. It didn’t cost the reigning champion anything who has now closed to within nineteen points of Rosberg with two rounds of the 2016 season to go.

  • F1 2016: Mexico Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Seizes Pole

    F1 2016: Mexico Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Seizes Pole

    Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole position for Sunday’s Mexican grand prix.

    A ninety thousand strong crowd looked on as Mercedes locked out their eleventh front row of the season. Crucially it was Lewis Hamilton who took the team’s 18th pole of the season ahead of championship rival Nico Rosberg.

    Max Verstappen was best of the rest in third and will share the second row with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg delivered a brilliant fifth for Force India ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Sebastian Vettel in seventh. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa secured eighth and ninth for Williams with the ever-impressive Carlos Sainz in tenth for Toro Rosso.

    Pascal Wehrlein underlined his credentials with a fine sixteenth place for Manor while Fernando Alonso, in eleventh, will the first driver with free tyre choice. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer missed out on the qualifying session as the Renault team uncovered a crack in his chassis.

    Final Qualifying Standings:

    screen-shot-2016-10-29-at-9-15-37-pm

  • F1 2016: Mexico Gp Free Practice Three Report – Verstappen On Top

    F1 2016: Mexico Gp Free Practice Three Report – Verstappen On Top

    Max Verstappen has set the quickest time for Red Bull in the final free practice session ahead of the 2016 Mexican grand prix.

    The Dutchman’s quickest lap of 1:19:137 was roughly one tenth quicker than the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who set his quickest time at the third time of asking after encountering traffic earlier on. The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was third ahead Nico Rosberg in fourth and Valterri Bottas’ Williams in fifth.

    The first of the Ferrari’s was sixth with Sebastian Vettel ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in seventh. Neither driver delivered their best on the the first laps of their quali sim runs but will nevertheless be disappointed with the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull. Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.

    All eyes now turn to Nico Rosberg as the leader of the championship. Can he find the pace to secure another pole position or will teammate Lewis Hamilton strike a crucial blow. Will Red Bull find the pace to take them to the front row of the grid?

    Final Free Practice Three Standings:

    screen-shot-2016-10-29-at-6-07-58-pm

  • 2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Dave RYAN (Manor), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Eric BOULLIER (McLaren), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Mike O’DRISCOLL (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Bob, if we could start with you, the news broke recently that Nico Hulkenberg is off to Renault. Does his departure weaken the team going forward?

    Robert FERNLEY: No, not necessarily. Nico will certainly be missed because he’s been a great part of Force India and the growing of Force India over the last few years, but we’ll just have to make sure that we replace him with as good as we possibly can.

    Well, a lot of drivers have been linked to your team for 2017, how close are you to making that final choice?

    RF: First of all, I’m not close at all. It’s Vijay’s decision and we’ll start those discussions probably when we get back next week.

    So have you got a deadline in mind as to when you want to have it nailed down?

    RF: No, I don’t think so. I think we’ll take our time, have a look at what offers are on the table, Vijay will make his decision and then we’ll announce it.

    Sergio said in the press conference yesterday that he’s staying at Force India because of the opportunity that the new cars next year will bring. Has the team got the resources and the capability to deliver on those expectations?

    RF: Yes, I think so. What is exciting for us for 2017 is that it’s the first time we are on a reasonably level playing field. We’re not quite the same as the big teams, the big manufacturing teams, but you’ve got restricted aero programmes, it’s the first new generation car that we will do using a 60% model and I think we’ve shown already this year what we can do once we moved up to 60%, so I’m very optimistic that the team will be very competitive in 2017.

    Thank you. Dave, you’ve been in your job for a year now, what were your goals then and have you realised them?

    Dave RYAN: Well, when I arrived it was obviously a team in a bit of a holding pattern but with big ambitions. It became fairly clear to me early on that we needed to attract some different skill sets and some good people, which I’m pleased to say we have. So yeah, we are definitely heading in the right direction. We do need to improve in all areas still, but I think we have come a long way in the past year.

    So looking at the longer term, what can the Manor team become?

    DR: Oh for sure we want to become a strong midfield team. If you look at where we were last year and where we now sit, we’ve made a huge improvement. We need to keep making improvements and our goal is to be a serious and strong midfield team.

    How integral are your current drivers to that ambition?

    DR: Well, the drivers we’ve got we’re very, very happy with, they’re a great couple of lads, but going forward who knows.

    Thanks, Dave. Coming to you Mike: this is the first time you’ve been in an FIA press conference as it’s usually a role filled by Claire Williams for the team. She hasn’t been at any races recently. Why is that and are we likely to see her before the end of the season?

    Mike O’DRISCOLL: I certainly hope so. Frank, as you know, was taken ill at the Monza race. He’s been a fixture in the paddock for so many decades now it’s strange not to have him with us. He’s had a tough time in hospital. He has contracted pneumonia. He is making a recovery, a slow steady recovery. We hope to see him back at Grove very soon. We all know how determined he is. We expect Claire to be back at a race… she has wanted to stay close to home, close to Frank, but in this modern world you are only ever a phone call away, so we stay connected and she’s part of everything that happens on a minute-by-minute, day-by-day basis. We hope to see her by the end of the year and hopefully that will be Abu Dhabi and this will be maybe my first [press conference] but it might be my last as well, so thanks for having me!

    Pleasure to have you! Williams have had a difficult season in which you’ve slipped backwards. From your perspective, as CEO, why is that?

    MO’D: Yeah, two very good seasons in ’14 and ’15 and this year has been more difficult. First of all I’d like to give a lot of credit to Force India. I think they have done a superb job this year in bringing the fight to us and making the battle for fourth place more interesting than we would have liked, maybe. I think it’s also fair to say that the development of this year’s car hasn’t gone as well as we would have like – all of the upgrades we brought haven’t been as effective as we would have wished. I also think it’s fair to say that we made an early decision in the season to focus on the 2017 development. We can play Monday morning quarterback and decide now to double guess – was it too early, too late – but we stand by the decision we made and we haven’t given up the fight for fourth place and we intend to get it back in the remaining three races.

    And just a final question from me: we haven’t had your thoughts on the takeover over Formula One by Liberty Media. I would be interesting to get your thoughts on that?

    MO’D: Yeah, first of all, I think Formula One is just a terrific global sport and it’s no surprise that it has attracted interest from bidders around the world, from some of the large companies and it’s a tribute to the work that Bernie and his team have done over the years in building Formula One to the sport it is. Liberty are a global heavyweight in entertainment, digital, media and telecoms and I’ve no doubt they can grow it and take it to new heights and that two working together are a very effective combination.

    Franz, you announced last weekend that Dany Kvyat has signed again for 2017. How does he make your team stronger?

    Franz TOST: First of all, Danill Kvyat is a very high-skilled driver. As we know from the past, he won the GP3 European championship; he was this year in China on the podium. Therefore, we are convinced of his talent. Secondly, his experience because next year will be his [fourth] season in Formula One and especially with the new regulations his experience will help us. And third, each party knows each other now very well. That means the co-operation also regarding next year’s new car will help us hopefully to operate quite successfully.

    While we’re on the subject of next year, you’ve got two relatively experienced drivers in Kvyat and Sainz, you’re going to have an up-to-date engine from Renault, you’ve managed to retain all the key technical staff in the team during the course of this year. Given all that stability how does that change your ambitions for 2017?

    FT: First of all we must know how good the car will be, how good the complete package will be, because it’s difficult to estimate nowadays where we will be, I think no team can do this. But I think we have all the ingredients together to come up with a very competitive package, because the technical staff, under the lead of James Key, have in the last years done a fantastic good job. As you mentioned, with Renault we have a new engine partner and their power unit is quite strong and I hope this will also be the case next year. We have two experienced drivers, which was never the case before at Toro Rosso, and also the team itself is improving. I expect a lot from the team and I hope that everything works into the direction what we think will be the case.

    Thank you Franz. Eric, thanks for waiting, I’d like to continue exploring the theme of next year with you as well, because it looks likely that McLaren will finish sixth this year and given the amount of work that’s going on in both Woking and in Japan at the moment, what is the minimum that acceptable for McLaren in 2017?

    Eric BOULLIER: Doing better than ’16. Obviously we don’t have any numbers in terms of ranking in the championship, or targets like this. There is, like you said, still a huge amount of work to be done in Woking and in Japan, so we’ll see next year what we have as a package. We’ll see how fast or quick we can develop the car next year and then we will draw a line about where we want to be. But we just want to be on the move now. We were ninth last year in the championship, sixth is very likely this year obviously. We just want to better next year.

    So ninth, sixth, third in 2017?

    EB: No comment!

    My words, not yours! Now, Jenson Button in Monza announced that he is going to take a sabbatical next year but he is going to retain very close links to the team. In your position as Race Director can you tell us how he will work with the race team next year?

    EB: Well, there are many ways for him to bring, let’s say, his experience and feedback and guidance as well. It’s good when they are in car, but outside the car as well, especially a driver with a lot of experience, can bring some good advice. He will obviously be a part of the simulator team, which is important to correlate with the car. He will be attending a few grands prix as well, so his vision or let’s say his understanding about the racing next year from outside the car will be interesting for the team. In many ways, his great experience will be a good contribution for us next year.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto X) You’re all from different backgrounds as team principals, or racing directors, whatever your official title is. They don’t have a school for team principals: what is it you need to be a Formula One team principal?

    Bob, let’s start with you.

    RF: A reasonably thick skin, I think. I don’t know actually Joe, you’re very right in saying there’s no school for it. It’s something you have to build with experience. I don’t think anything comes easily. You have to have a knowledge of all elements of racing – so it’s commercial, technical, hospitality, every aspect of it. I think unless you have that overall awareness of what’s going on in Formula One at all times, it’s a job that will elude you.

    Franz?

    FT: First of all, you should know and be aware about the most important pillars in motorsport in general, and especially in Formula One because to run a Formula One team, you cannot compare with a normal company. Formula One has their own rules. Especially it takes time to build-up a team, to find the correct people, that they work together. As you know, you hardly have technical problems, you have only problems with people who are working together or not working together. You have to find a way that this is the case. Then, on the economic side, to find sponsors, to convince companies that Formula One is the best possible platform for marketing reasons. And to bring in, let me say, the satisfaction in the team: that the people are motivated; that they like this job and to convince them that this is a very special work – because there are not so many Formula One teams, that they are lucky to go to 21 races for example, to see different countries and so on.

    Mike, interesting to get your take on this as you have experience of the wider car industry

    MO’D: I wouldn’t disagree with the comments you’ve already heard but I’d say that, as with any organisation, it’s about people and it’s about leadership and it’s about motivation. It’s about the ability to organise. And great instincts. And if all of that’s founded on really good knowledge of Formula One and motorsport, I think you’ll succeed.

    Eric, do you have anything to add?

    EB: Most of what they say I would agree to – but I think first you need to like racing. If you don’t like racing I would never turn up in the paddock in my life, y’know? Obviously if you like racing then it depends on where your pass is going. I guess to be a racing director or a team principal you need then yes, you need to lead, you need to understand who you’re working with, you need some commercial skills, some political skills, some… I don’t know, most of it you try to get.

    Dave?

    DR: First of all, if you talk about team principals, if you go back to Frank Williams and Ken Tyrrell, people like that, Ron Dennis, those team principals, they owned the team, they did everything. It’s changed now. Not one of us here owns the team; we all work for other people and, for me, it’s all about understanding your role within the organisation. We had different people with different skillsets and we work to those skillsets. In terms of a team principal, I think it’s very different today to how it used to be and it’s really just putting the right people in the right places to do the best job they can.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Monsieur Boullier, with Jost Capito arriving next year, what will be your position in the team?

    EB: Well, if I may correct, first he already arrived because he started on the 1st of September. My position exactly the same, racing director, his position is to be CEO, which is to different roles within the company. One is obviously being in charge of the business and more factory-based and the other is in charge of the racing. So no change. There is a racing director and a CEO in Manor, the same in Williams, there was the same in Lotus where I was before, so…

    Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) This question is for Dave Ryan. You have a very talented pool of drivers at Manor. Does having such a talented pool of drivers make it difficult to choose from. And the second question, you have one that has won the Indy 500 this season, and has that caught the eye of the higher-ups at Manor?

    DR: Well, first of all, we do have a pool of very good drivers at Manor. Pascal and Esteban are fantastic talents, we’re very lucky to have them, they’ve been great for the team, they’ve pushed each other along and pushed us along as well. Together I think we’re doing a pretty good job. Alex, winning the Indy 500 was fantastic for him and he’s great to have on board as well.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you. Next year will be the third year in a row where a team has run last year’s spec engines. Originally it was to help Manor-Marussia in their situation and this year with Toro Rosso because they were engine-less. But next year Sauber will be running this year’s Ferrari engines. In view of the engine agreement that was struck in May, is it really necessary to have a regulation permitting this or should that regulation be closed, that we only have one tier of engines?

    Bob, why don’t you start?

    RF: I think I’d like to see one tier of engines mainly because it keeps everybody very competitive – but you have to probably look at the reasons individual teams have had to go down those routes. Only those teams can give you the answers on there. We have issues in Formula One in terms of obviously the distribution of payments and things like that. Some of it can be financial, some of it’s performance-based, some of it’s availability-based. I think you have to look at the whole thing – but if we could move forward on a better programme it would be much better if all the engines were current.

    Franz, what’s your take on this?

    FT: I don’t know all the reasons and background stories why Sauber decided to go with this year’s engine. I wouldn’t like to be in this situation because it’s a big disadvantage on the performance side to run with last year’s engine. From the regulation side, I think it should be kept open because a one year old engine is most-often cheaper than the newest specification. Therefore the regulation should allow it. From the performance side the team anyway is disadvantaged.

    Eric, how about you, Honda doesn’t yet supply another team, what’s your take on this?

    EB: There will be a time, I guess, when they will supply another team in the future but I guess, ideally we all want to have a new spec engine. Obviously performance very similar – but I think like everybody said before me, there is some various conditions like availability, finance or this kind of thing which will make a difference today. I guess in the future we are going to tend to have all the same spec.

    Dave?

    DR: I would imagine any team would like to have the latest-spec engine. So if you take that into account and the team chooses to use an older-spec engine then there’s obviously commercial aspects you’ve got to take into account. So, leaving it open at the moment I think is fine.

    Mike?

    MO’D: I’m not against a team using a prior-spec engine, they would have their good reasons, commercial reasons, for doing so – but it’s symptomatic of a much bigger problem which is revenue distribution in the sport. There needs to be much greater equality.

    Q: (Thomas Gorton – Dazed) This is for all of you. Who do you think will be running the sport next year – and who would you like to be running the sport next year?

    Eric, would you start us please?

    EB: Good question, because we are not in charge of the sport, we are obviously not behind the doors in the boardrooms and obviously we are all, from the comments I’ve read in the press, happy that Liberty is onboard. Bernie is still in charge and still running the show, so I guess it’s going to be a mix or all of them all.

    Mike, we’ve had your thoughts on Liberty, so Franz, how about you?

    FT: I think the taking-over process takes time. It’s not from one day to the next day. I assume the next year and also the year after it will be a combination of Bernie and Liberty together and afterwards then we will do.

    Dave?

    DR: We’re just happy to be here. So that’s the first thing. I think with Liberty coming on board it obviously opens the door for discussions on how to change things for the better or just to be different perhaps. We’re just happy to be here, whoever’s running it.

    And Bob.

    RF: I think obviously we’re excited to see Liberty come on board. They have a tremendous expertise in sports marketing which is quite unique to America, and having obviously lived and raced in America for a number of years, I recognise that as some of the best in the world. What we also must remember is Formula One is a unique product. It has been created as a unique product by Bernie. We need Bernie to help that transition into the new ownership and I think it’s very, very important for the new owners to look very carefully at this unique product that is F1 and maybe integrate the sports marketing into F1 and not try to integrate Formula One into an American sports marketing programme.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Franz, next year you’ll have the same engines as the main Red Bull team, obviously the same tyres, you’ve got two very very strong drivers and that leads us to believe that particularly with your strong technical team that you could actually be a challenge to the main team. Will there be anything such as Red Bull team orders internally? Will you have to give way to the Red Bull team if you should be running them close?

    FT: As you know, this is not the philosophy of Red Bull. Nevertheless, Red Bull Technology is one of the strongest technical teams in Formula One. It would be nice if we could be close to them but I don’t think that we will be in front of them or that we will fight against them. It would be nice  but Red Bull will not call us back, for sure not.

    Q: (Seff Harding – Xero Xone News) To follow up on the earlier question, in terms of marketing for Liberty Media, in the United States do you feel that a larger platform in terms of packaging to devices, to social media would be necessary to help expand the visibility of Formula One, because it doesn’t work in certain markets outside of the US?

    MO’D: I think for sure, if I understand the question correctly, that there’s a great opportunity to expand the sport in the Americas, in North America and the USA specifically. I think it would need a greater critical mass of races, either on the East and West Coast as well. The digital component is key for reaching a younger audience globally. I don’t think that’s North America specific.

    FT: Yeah, we all know that Liberty Media is the best company to bring in all these tools which Formula One needs in future, the digital media, the social media and I’m convinced that their marketing strategy will find a way to bring Formula One forward, because we have some deficiencies and how they will do it we will then see, which strategy they will come up with.

    DR: I think there’s general agreement that we need to appeal to a bigger audience, perhaps a different audience as well. However we do that, it will apply to America, everywhere.

    BF: I think the digital and the social media market is going to be very important but we’ve also got to make sure that we can monetise that, and that’s going to be one of the challenges that Liberty will face.

    EB: As far as Formula One is concerned, we agree that the US market is still very young, to be honest. We can do much more in America and North America. But Formula One is a global series and maybe the only global platform in the world as a sport, so we need to stay global. That means that we have plenty of room to develop the sport side, the business side and consequently, social media is key in any marketing tool box and before we can monetise, we maybe need to use this tool just to promote Formula One for the youngsters if we can do it in term of rights and then see the future. But again it’s global, it’s not only US.

    Q: (Victor Macin – ESPN.com) Bob, what kind of driver are you looking for to replace Nico Hulkenberg ? Is he German, is he Mexican maybe?

    BF: As I mentioned earlier, I think the decision for that will come next week or the week after or even the week after that. It will be Vijay’s decision and I think it would be wrong for us to pre-empt anything along the driver line at this time.

    Q: (Victor Macin – ESPN.com) And to Dave, are you worried about the rumours that Pascal Wehrlein will leave the team?

    DR: Well, as I said earlier, Pascal’s a great talent and we’d love to keep him, but it’s Mercedes’ decision as to where he ends up.

    Q: (Silva Arias – Parabrisas) Can you please tell me, from one to ten, how you score your team regarding their performance this year, concerning what you expected at the beginning of this season and what is going on now, at the end of the season?

    BF: Well, I think given the fact that we’re challenging for the highest position that the team has ever had, I think I have to give them a ten. I don’t think there’s anything less than that.

    EB: Well, I think, if I remember, Ron Dennis said five out of ten, so I have to stick to my boss.

    MO’D: Report card for the year? I think it would be a five or a six out of ten, quite honestly.

    FT: Six.

    DR: Difficult one. I’d say about four or five for us. We set ourselves some pretty big targets and by and large we’ve achieved them but we’ve got to make a big improvement again for next year to be where we need to be. We’ve done a good job but going forward we need to do more so to put a number on it for me is pretty difficult but maybe that’s about it.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Mr Ecclestone recently said he would like to see Formula One more exciting which some took to mean more dangerous. He was talking about walls around the circuits and whatever else. Your drivers were fairly dismissive about this yesterday. Being the people who pay the bills if they hit the walls, how do you feel about it?

    FT: There must not be walls around, because it’s expensive if the cars crash in there. No. But we should get rid of all these penalties and all this nonsense, if a driver touches another driver, that he gets done up or whatever. But we need interesting races and if they crash into each other, they crash into each other,  this is what people always want to see. Formula One is also entertainment. And currently, we take too much care about all the safety issues and so on. Formula One is dangerous, we know this, but currently at the race track, if you look, nothing happens any more. Some friends said to me ‘I don’t watch Formula One any more because there are the two Mercedes in front. If they don’t crash on the first lap, the race is gone. I can sleep somewhere else, not in front of the TV.’ This is absolutely wrong. First of all, we need to come up with a parity between the different teams. The ideal case would be two or three teams would fight for the championship until the last race, Constructors’ championship as well as Drivers’, not as the last years when everything is decided with a couple of races to go, before the end. Then if drivers fight against each other and if they crash against each other and something happens, then they should not go to the stewards and get a penalty for this. People want to see real racing, people want to see that something is happening. This is not the case any more, currently.

    EB: I agree with Franz on at least one point: we want to have close racing which is why the fans like… which is why we like racing as well, and I think it’s going to come after every change of regulations, especially the last one with the power units. Obviously there is a lot of disparity between the cars and the performance but if you’re back to 2012 and 2013, I think if I remember, in the first ten races there were nine different winners. And then everybody was complaining that it was not good enough. So I obviously don’t think a wall will bring a solution and it’s expensive to build as well. I think it’s just making sure we can bring the regulations to a point where we can give a chance to every team to be competitive and if you have all the cars, all the drivers competitive, then you can have very good and close racing.

    BF: In all the things that Bernie says there is a message there and I think that message is that we need to get a little bit more excitement into the racing itself. I think there are ways that we can deal with cars going off, track limits and things like that and give opportunities for drivers behind by de-rating or whatever. That technology is available. I think we could do a lot more to get it more exciting without endangering the drivers in any way, or without making the tracks so they are F1-specific because we’ve also got think that a lot of these tracks are also doing MotoGP as well, so whatever we do has to fit in with those as well. So I think yes, there are things we can do but I think Bernie’s message is let’s get it a little bit more exciting.

    MO’D: Yeah, the big point’s really excitement, isn’t it? We need good, close racing, compelling racing. As you’ve heard from everyone here, we all want to see that.

    DR: Well we do need close racing, for sure, but if we had a fairer distribution of funds, our cars would be closer together, that would be a start. But I think what Franz says is absolutely right. The drivers are over regulated on the track, some of the recent decisions and points and reprimands and so… personally, I think they are just too far. The drivers are discouraged from actively racing and some of the incidents that have been penalised I just don’t get, it’s just racing and you’re just not allowed to do it now. The blue flag situation is also frustrating and I’m not so sure that the blue flag adds much to the racing. For sure it aids the lead cars but it really disrupts the racing for the guys at the back and we’re all part of it. So I think, for me, we need to look carefully at how the sport is regulated when it comes to racing, would be a  great help, and if the drivers were allowed to be themselves. There’s not many drivers who aren’t more than the corporate figurehead of the company. They’re not allowed to express opinions, or they are discouraged from it. I can understand that side of it but it would be nice if we had a few more personalities. Lewis gets criticised for what he does. Well, why? He’s just out there doing his thing and if we had a few more drivers doing that sort of thing I think it would add to the sport

  • F1 2016: Mexican Gp Preview – All Eyes On Rosberg

    F1 2016: Mexican Gp Preview – All Eyes On Rosberg

    The eyes of the racing world will be on Nico Rosberg this weekend as the Mercedes driver has his first chance to win the driver’s title.

    It isn’t a straightforward chance though. For Rosberg to clinch his first title he’ll have to win the race and Lewis Hamilton will have to finish tenth or lower. While it’s certainly not impossible [insert image of painful Malaysian engine failure here] it does seem improbable. Many are waiting with bated breath to see how Rosberg will react to the situation he now finds himself in. There probably won’t be a reaction from Rosberg because one isn’t needed. He’s gotten himself to this point and this position with a method that has worked for him the entire season, why change that now? A smart person once said: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The reality is that Rosberg has to keep doing what he’s done since the end of the 2015 season. It’s up to Hamilton now to pull something out of his bag of tricks.

    Rosberg’s first chance to take the crown comes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez just south of Texas. If there is one thing that is true about Mexico it’s that they love Formula 1. A record-breaking crowd at last year electrified the grand prix. The final sector’s stadium section is likely one of the most visually stunning aspects of any circuit anywhere in the world. The hundreds of thousands of fans clambering for a glimpse of the heroes and raucous passion of all of them is truly something to behold.

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM08. Mexican Grand Prix, Sunday 1st November 2015. Mexico City, Mexico.

    It might have something to do with the fact that they have two Mexican drivers on the grid in the form of Sergio Perez at Force India and Esteban Gutierrez at Haas F1. “It’s a very special week for my whole career. It’s probably one of the best two weeks of my career because it represents so much to racing, to motorsports in Mexico in general, and to me,” says Gutierrez. “It’s a kind of connection where I can share my passion for racing and what I do with all Mexicans. I feel grateful for their support”.

    Besides the second highest top speed, after Baku, the Mexican circuit provides several other challenges. “The primary feature of the circuit is its altitude which tests the turbo charger of the power unit, as well as the vehicle’s cooling systems. The altitude is not only a test for the car, but indeed the drivers and the whole pit crew,” says Williams’ Chief Technical Head, Pat Symonds. “Of particular note is the brake duty cycle, with this circuit now being one of the highest benchmarks we need to achieve. For the second time in a row, the teams also have to handle back-to-back race events as we continue through the busy final stint of the season.”

    The circuit’s demand on power unit performance will be prevalent this weekend. Normally, this would mean that Ferrari should have the edge over Red Bull and their Tag Heuer branded Renault engine. However, it has been a season of decline for the Italian team and not just on car performance. If they are to get anything out of this weekend they’ll have to inch perfect.

    Nico Rosberg stands on the cusp of realising his biggest dream – to become a Formula 1 World Champion. Despite this overwhelming prospect there is a feeling that Rosberg will continue to do what he’s done best this season and see how the chips land at the end of it. One thing is certain though he will not relent.

     

  • 2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Haas), Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Esteban OCON (Manor), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    There is an incredible sense of excitement ahead of this Mexican Grand Prix. Checo, last year, those scenes of you being swamped on the drivers’ parade by the fans, just describe what that sense of adulation is like coming into this race.

    Sergio PEREZ: Yeah, first of all, I’m so happy, I’ve been waiting the whole season for this race and finally to be here with all my people, arriving to Mexico City – as soon as I arrived here on Tuesday for an event, I can see all the energy from all the people is getting bigger. Formula One is getting bigger, it’s growing. It’s something that makes me very proud and I’m so much looking forward to give them a lot of happiness on Sunday. Hopefully I can give then a strong race, a strong performance. They always say that racing at home is an extra two tenths that you have on you. There really is, because the energy that I feel throughout the weekend is just phenomenal and I’m sure that this weekend will be a lot of that and I will be there to give them my best. The weekend goes to fast to me because I’m full of events and full of commitments that I just want to enjoy every single moment and give my best to them.

    And Esteban, same for you really: are you going to find those two tenths in what is your first Mexican Grand Prix?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: Well, it’s an incredible feeling to be here and see how all the people are excited. I feel honoured to be able to share this great weekend, this great moment, with all the people that are going to be here supporting us – family, friends, fans – it’s just an incredible feeling. It feels like a whole big party through the whole weekend. So, yeah, everybody is excited. I’m very grateful for the support and I’m going to give my best to give the best result possible this weekend and I’m lucky to be here, with another opportunity, thinking that it’s going to be in Mexico, in my home country and enjoying all together.

    Esteban, staying with you, one year ago you were announced as a Haas Formula One driver, how are your plans shaping up for 2017?

    EG: I think Gene has been very clear in the media, they want to wait a few races. Fortunately, we have other options, which we are now considering strongly, and I think it will be important to close something soon, because we cannot risk to just wait a few more races until the end of the season and risk to fall in between two chairs. So we are doing our best and things are looking very good for next season.

    Have you put a deadline for those negotiations to end?

    EG: Yeah, that deadline should be in the next two weeks.

    Checo, back to you, your current team-mate is moving to a works team in 2017, so what do you see in Force India that convinced you to stay there?

    SP: I see a good potential. If you see, since I arrived up to now, every season we have been moving forwards. It hasn’t been easy. Right now we are fourth in the Constructors’ and to go up the next top teams are locked out, they don’t have any vacancy, so really I felt like my next move was going to be sideways or probably backwards. I see going to a new generation of cars that my best future is staying where I am, knowing the people that I am working working, having the stability, and as well Force India has done so much for my career I want to be loyal to them.

    Moving on to Esteban Ocon, you’ve made huge progress in the six races you’ve driven in Formula One and you’re being linked with pretty much every available seat on the grid. How are those negotiations going and who will ultimately decided your future? Is it your decision or is it Mercedes’ decision?

    Esteban OCON: Well first of all I’m already really happy to make the progress we made with the team. Together we have done a really strong job. It hasn’t been an easy thing to arrive half way through the season but I’m happy with the progress. Mercedes is managing my career, so at the moment I’m trying to focus on the remaining races and, yeah, we will see from there on how it goes.

    Do you feel ready for a bigger team or do you think you’d benefit from another season with Manor?

    EO: I don’t know, you know, as I say I’m focusing as much as I can on the remaining races. If you do a strong job there will always be talks and opportunities.

    Marcus, you ran as high as 11th in Austin last weekend. Do you feel that Sauber are now starting to make real progress for the first time since the buyout?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, I think so. The last few races we’ve really been taking steps in the right direction, starting from Singapore really. Every race we are getting closer to the top ten, both in qualifying and in the races, and as you say, in Austin we had another really good weekend. In Q1 I was P14 on pure pace and that was really positive and then in the race I was running in P11 for a long time and I think it was with less than 10 laps to go I was still 11th but then obviously we struggled with the tyres and I dropped back a couple of positions. But as a team we have been pushing really hard and moved in the right directions. Also, the updates we brought to the car we got to work now better and better, so we realty see we are going in the right direction. But we just need to continue that now, really push our maximum these last three weekends. It’s no secret, we need to aim for that point to jump Manor in the championship and that’s what we are aiming for, but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

    Well, you’re absolutely right, the team really does need that point. Where do you think is your best chance at the remaining three races?

    ME: I think every one of them will be a good chance, but obviously on pure pace it’s going to be difficult because we still miss a couple of tenths it feels like to really take the fight for the top 10. It should be some races where there are some retirements or something like that and that should be a chance for us to benefit. We need to be there and do our maximum and be as high as possible in the races that we can take advantage of these surprising things that can happen. If this race is more chance than other races it’s difficult to say but we just need to be there to take the opportunities when they present themselves.

    Carlos, a tremendous race from you Austin and a great battle with Fernando Alonso. You’ve often said that he is your inspiration. Do you get an extra sense of satisfaction when you are racing him as opposed to the rest of your peers?

    Carlos SAINZ: Well, it’s already a big satisfaction to be a Formula One driver, because you are racing against the 21 best drivers in the world, but yeah, maybe that battle with Fernando was that tiny bit more special. I’ve been growing up looking up at him since he’s in Formula One in 2003. I’ve seen all his races and suddenly I saw myself in a position to fight on the last lap against him in Austin for a P5. It was special, but at that point you don’t really realise the thing you are doing. Maybe when you go to bed and you think a bit more about it, it’s that tiny bit more special, but it was an exciting one I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t have all the grip available to put up a stronger fight, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot.

    Toro Rosso confirmed last weekend that Daniil Kvyat will be your team-mate next season. It’s going to be one of the most experienced driver line-ups Toro Rosso have ever had and when you combine that with the Renault engine coming your way, how does that affect your ambitions for next year, what do you think you can achieve?

    CS: I think Toro Rosso is in constant progress at the moment. Obviously this year we have been a bit hampered by this power deficit that you all know by now. But if you look at the car and how it was performing in Austin, it’s a pretty decent car I must say. I really enjoy driving it. So as James Key and his team they do a very similar job to this last couple of years and the Renault engine works well, I think Toro Rosso has a good line-up next year to exploit this full potential of the car with Dany and myself and I really think we can move a bit forward in the Constructors’ Championship. We have the right people on board and we just need a bit of straight line speed, a bit more things coming together to put together some stronger results.

    Q: Nico, it’s been a great season for you so far and the upshot of that is that you can clinch the world championship here in Mexico this weekend. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t think about that. How does it change your mindset?

    Nico ROSBERG: I’m well aware of that, and yeah, it’s been a great season so far, which has put me into this position, y’know? It’s exciting to be in this championship battle now with Lewis towards the end of the season. We’ve been there before but anyways, it’s very cool. And that’s it. As I’ve said before, that for me, my way at the moment of achieving the best possible performance is really just to focus on the things that are within my control – and that’s, here in Mexico, try and win the race, and that’s it.

    Q: Given the intensity of your battle with Lewis, how is the atmosphere in the team at the minute? Are there echoes of 2014 or is this different somehow?

    NR: The atmosphere is really, really good. As an example we had a great party on Sunday night after Austin. All the mechanics, engineers together, it’s great. The team has come a long way and, in every area, we’re just so strong now. Even just this team feeling. Pulling in one direction, having a good time together. Everything. The atmosphere is awesome. I think everybody is thrilled by this battle which we’re finding ourselves in.

    Q: What about the dynamic between you and Lewis?

    NR: Not something I think about too much really. I try and do my thing and get the best possible result. That’s it. Of course it’s intense – but at the same time there’s an easy-going side lately.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Nico Rosberg, in Austin we heard some quotes from Bernie Ecclestone. Can you reply to what he said? He said if you win it could be good for you and for the Mercedes team but not necessarily for the sport because there’s nothing to write about you. What do you say about it?

    NR: I spoke to him personally and he said that’s not exactly the way he said it. And anyways, for me it’s not something that’s important to me. For me, I focus on my thing and that’s it.

    Q: (El Grafico – Enrique Gutierrez) Checo, what is your great fears in your life?

    SP: To be honest it’s snakes, probably! Apart from that I don’t fear anything. To me, I don’t have a lot of fears, to be honest.

    Second question, what do you think about the death?

    SP: Nice questions. It’s a point in life that you don’t want to reach but everyone will reach death in their life. Sooner or later everyone will reach it but it’s a point of life no-one wants to reach.

    NR: I wish all Mexicans a great celebration of the dead.

    SP: He asks the question because we have this celebration this Sunday, I think.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Question for Nico, you’ve been racing your entire life: you’ve been in Formula One for ten years, been fighting for the championship for the last three, what would winning the World Championship mean to you?

    NR: It’s a childhood dream. But that’s where it ends for me. As I said, what’s important for me this weekend is winning the Mexican Grand Prix.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Nico. How do you work with Lewis with the battle? Do you copy his settings, do you watch his telemetry or do you work all alone, apart from him?

    NR: It’s as-usual. Everything is open, everything is shared and that’s it. So nothing has changed.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Here we’re a long way up in the air. What’s it like to drive at altitude or is there anything that you feel when you’re driving and is there anything extra that you need to do to be ready for that?

    NR: Have you noticed that on your run this morning? What do you do 21k? No, for sure you notice it. So it’s one of those races where the fitness is important and it’s one of those I’ve worked towards. But it’s OK because there are long straights also to relax – so it’s not the toughest race of the year.

    Checo, do you have anything to add about racing at altitude?

    SP: You obviously feel it. Whatever you do, not only racing, running, whatever activity you do, you feel it a lot more. As Nico said, the circuit probably helps us with the layout. It has one of the longest straights in the calendar so physically it’s not one of the toughest: we’ve been through those already: Singapore, Malaysia – but it’s quite demanding as well, the race here.

    NR: But it’s just as difficult for car. Not just for us drivers, because the car having less air volume density makes a big difference. For cooling.

    Q: (Lazaro  Montano – Record) Nico, how special will it be to get the championship here in Mexico, considering that last year your good streak started here? After Austin, you began to win here in Mexico? How special would it be to complete the year with a championship here?

    NR: I have great memories from here last year. Winning here was awesome, and also to get so much support from the Mexican people, even after that, through the whole year, social media, it’s really nice to see, so I look forward to meeting everyone again this weekend. The podium is one of the best in the year, in the baseball stadium, it was absolutely phenomenal and in terms of the championship, it’s not within my control if I get it this weekend, so for me it’s all about just winning the race and then we see what happens.

    Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) To Marcus, do you see any chance for yourself to go to Force India next year? Is there any possibility; do you see that seat as a possibility for you?

    ME: I think all the drivers who don’t have a contract for next year are looking at the seat. Obviously Force India is the second best available car at the moment, so it’s definitely an option but also Sauber is exciting for me looking at next year, because they have a very strong project building. So yeah, for me and my management, they are keeping their options open and talking to different teams that have seats left and hopefully sooner rather than later I will know what will happen for next year for me.

    Q: (Ben Hunt –The Sun) Nico, two questions to you: do you think it’s unfair when people say that you’re only leading the championship due to Lewis’s failures? And also, just to bring you up on Bernie’s point, 2016 he said it would not be good for the sport if you were to win. Last year he had another pop at you and said it would be bad for business if you won the title. He seems to be doing you a bit of a disservice, don’t you feel?

    NR: Well, you’re talking a lot about what other think and their opinions. I’m here to win races and not to please everybody that’s out there. There’s always going to be people that have opinions that will be going against me in some way or other. Those are two examples that you’ve given me and that’s the nature of the business, it’s always going to be like that so I like to focus on the people who really support me. And that’s it.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Bernie’s come out and said that he’d like to see walls put around circuits. Now I know that you’re quite keen on driver safety; what do you make of that? He would like to see walls to stop people going off track, increase the drama, to increase the danger. It sounds a bit bonkers to me but I just wanted to get your opinions.

    NR: Well, my opinion is that there are ten other areas which we should look at before… if we want to make the sport even better than it is before we start looking at turning back time on safety. That would be my view on that.

    SP: I certainly agree with Nico. There are so many more areas where we can improve the sport before starting to put safety at risk. I think we can definitely make the circuits a bit more challenging for the drivers, not necessarily with walls but making the driver pay for mistakes if you go off, having a gravel trap and losing time, that kind of thing I think is good for the sport because that forces the drivers not to make any mistakes.

    CS: I fully agree with Checo on that one. For me, obviously safety comes first but also challenges for drivers. I just did a track walk this morning and you know when you see so much tarmac run-off where you can go wide like in Austin, it’s good for safety but I’m convinced we could use some devices to make it a bit more challenging, to make sure you use a bit more of the track. At least you pay something, you don’t gain an advantage. At the moment it’s too risky for us to just miss the braking point a bit, nothing happens, continue and you don’t even lock up the tyres. I fully agree on that one with Checo.

    Q: (Thomas Goubin – AutoHebdo) Sergio, about next season, for you, at what point will it be difficult to replace a competitive driver like Nico and what kind of a driver would you like for next season as a teammate?

    SP: Obviously having someone at the level of Nico is going to be difficult but I just want someone who comes with the right attitude to help the team, that gives good feedback and understands what’s going on with the car and hopefully if he can be fast as well, who pushes me, that would be great. I think that has worked really well with Nico because we push… (Esteban interjects) A Mexican as well, maybe would be good. Someone who pushes you, I think that’s for the benefit of the team and I think a lot of the success that the team has had has been because Nico and I have been pushing each other really hard. Since practice one up to the race, it’s always within half a tenth and that’s always good for the team.

    Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) Regarding that subject, would you like to become Checo’s teammate; would you like to be Esteban’s teammate, Checo?

    EG: Yeah, why not? It would be fantastic. Any teammate is good. Sure.

    Q: Is there any chance we can see you guys wrestling out there later on?

    SP: Why not?

    Q: (Juan Pablo Sanchez – Millenio) Nico, what do you think are the keys to repeat (your victory) here in Mexico on Sunday?

    NR: Well, we’ve seen this year that the results from last year don’t really make a difference to this year except for a positive memory, so we’re all starting from zero and the keys… I think to have a good rhythm through the weekend, starting from FP1, building it up and then the usual things: good qualifying, good start, race pace, those things.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Carlos, we’re in the land of the chilli and your nickname is Chilli. A reader called attribalF1 would like to know who gave you the nickname, when and whether you think it’s descriptive?

    CS: Yeah, this name comes probably from my friends, maybe on nights out or something, they get a bit too drunk and they come up from Carlos to Charlie from Charlie to Chilli and that’s how it ended up being… I don’t like chillis, this the interesting part, that I hate spicy stuff. Yesterday I went to have some tacos and I couldn’t have them because they were too spicy. Chilli is not my favourite.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Again to Nico, it seems that your mindset is very much each race and your mind isn’t on the broader story. Is that a decision that you’ve reached, the way that it works for you  or is it as a result of you having had a word with an expert in the area of mind management? I was just wondering how you stumbled on or decided that the idea that it was one race at a time and that was it.

    NR: It just feels right, it feels right to focus on the things I can influence to keep it simple, be in the moment and it’s been working so just stick with it.

    Q: (Diego Mejia – F1 Canal Latin America) To maybe Nico and if Checo can answer it as well: how would you expect the track to have evolved twelve months on, how will it be different or not from last year and how would you expect the supersoft tyre to be a factor after last year’s experience?

    NR: Normally the track surface gets a bit rougher and that will make it a bit different on the tyres, so that’s the main thing we need to learn and discover and see how that’s gone.

    SP: Same as Nico. I think the track will be rougher and that will have an impact on the degradation and now that we have a compound a step softer that might help the degradation so we might see different strategies. I think last year a lot of people went for one stop and now probably that’s not going to be that easy to be on a one stop.

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  • F1 2016: Texas Gp Review – America Brings Victory For Hamilton

    F1 2016: Texas Gp Review – America Brings Victory For Hamilton

    Lewis Hamilton has returned to winning ways with a measured drive to victory at the United States grand prix.

    Lewis Hamilton ran perfectly controlled race to take his 50th career win and with it a fifth victory on American soil at the Circuit of the Americas. While the perception from the outside made it look like an easy afternoon for Hamilton the Mercedes driver admitted to being “petrified” that his car would suffer a reliability issue as it did in Malaysia earlier in the season. “I was just the whole race concerned the car was not going to make it,” said Hamilton. “Right up until the line, I was just in fear of the same thing, the same feeling I had, the sound I heard in Malaysia. So I was grateful the car made it across the line.”

    Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was an ever-present second ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in third but he had to work for it. The German dropped behind Ricciardo at the start of the race and faced serious pressure from Max Verstappen after the first round of stops. Nevertheless, the rub of the green went Rosberg’s way and he emerged in second.

    GP USA F1/2016Aussie driver Ricciardo was on his way to the second step on the podium but the deployment of the virtual safety car afforded Rosberg a de facto free pitstop and, crucially, track position ahead of Ricciardo. As if to add insult to serious misfortune the virtual safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Red Bull of his teammate Max Verstappen who suffered a catastrophic gearbox failure.

    There was a second high profile retirement in the form of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as an embarrassing mistake from the pit crew at the Finn’s final stop meant he left the box with a loose wheel that eventually led to his retirement. As one side of the Ferrari garage suffered a costly self-inflicted blunder Sebastian Vettel was able to bring his Ferrari home in a lonely fourth in what was the best the team could have hoped to achieve regardless of the circumstances.

    GP USA F1/2016Fernando Alonso embraced the Texas spirit as he delivered a bigger and better performance than McLaren has seen in a while. The Spaniard’s feisty driving showed his fighting spirit as he battled his way into fifth while Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz finshed sixth ahead of Williams Felipe Massa in seventh. Force India driver Sergio Perez recovered brilliantly to eighth after a first corner incident while Jenson Button made up ten places to finish ninth in the McLaren. The Haas F1 Team became the first American team to score a point on home soil as Romain Grosjean collected tenth place.

    The grand prix in the lone star state delivered good news all around for Mercedes. The team secured its fifth one-two victory of the season and Lewis Hamilton stemmed Rosberg’s momentum and sliced his championship lead to 26 points. The good news for Rosberg is that he delivered exactly what he needs with his second place finish.

    Nico Rosberg’s lead in the championship has been sliced to 26 points with the Mexican grand prix just days away.

  • 2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Renault), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, let’s begin with you: congratulations on your first works drive in Formula One, with Renault for next season. Tell us, why is this the right move for you now and what was the clincher that made you decide to take it?

    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, I believe that it’s the right step in my career at this point. I feel I have come a long way with Force India – it’s my fifth year with them. We’ve had some good success together. But I felt that it’s time for a new challenge. Since I’m in F1 I’ve always wanted to race for a manufacturer team and this is a really good opportunity. The timing was pretty good too. So I think it was a good decision I think from my side.

    You’ve qualified in the Top 10 at the last nine consecutive races, what has been the secret of the consistency you’ve been finding recently?

    NH: I think a good strong car! That always makes things easier. I feel the team has done a really good job to develop the car. The car has really become an all-rounder. If it’s a high downforce, low downforce track or low-speed, high-speed, we’re always inside the top 10 somewhere and really [we have] become a strong contender behind the top three teams and it’s just the result of some good, hard work.

    Kevin, coming to you: So where does this deal leave you? As Nico’s team mate or are you likely to pursue other avenues?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: No, I hope I can stay on as his team-mate. That’s my target and that’s what I hope is going to happen. And hopefully it won’t be too long before we will be able to announce what’s going to happen – either/or – so we’ll just do this race and focus on driving and enjoying my time in the car and we’ll see what happens.

    You started your F1 career with a podium, then sat out 2015 and came back this year with Renault. What are your thoughts on how your second run at F1 has gone and how the reality of Renault this year matched your expectations?

    KM: I would say it has matched the expectation. We knew it was going to be a tough year, because the car that Renault took over from Lotus was very underdeveloped. Renault, at the beginning of the year, was behind on engine power; so going from a Mercedes engine to a Renault was a little bit of a step back. Renault has done a great job to improve the engine. We’ve got more out of the car but haven’t really improved it in terms of getting more downforce, because the focus has been on next year’s car back at the factory. It was going to be a transition year, where the focus was on the future and not so much on this year in terms of performance, so I think we’ve got out of it what we could.

    Thanks for that. Valtteri, coming to you: what about your plans? I’m sure you’re aware that you have now broken the F1 record of Jim Clark for the longest F1 career spent entirely with a single team. Is it time to stick or twist?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: I understand that stick or twist is meaning if I stay with Williams or not. We’re going to still need to wait a little bit to get things confirmed about what’s going to happen next year. But, yeah, it’s a nice fact. I’ve had a great time with the time and we’ve had some good results but I feel like there could be something more still to achieve together but let’s wait and see.

    You’ve been in the points at the last two races, including a very strong run in Malaysia, but both races you’ve qualified outside the top 10. Has that surprised you?

    VB: Definitely. We’ve struggled a bit in the last couple of races with the pure pace and obviously the team has focused a lot on next year’s car and we can definitely see that if some other teams are improving then it’s more tricky in certain tracks. So hopefully here it’s going to be better and I’m sure there are still good races for us this year and we just need to make sure we get everything right.

    Coming to Lewis, then: the reigning world champion and four-times US grand prix winner. You’ve had a pretty busy time of it, pre-Austin, speaking with American TV – the Ellen DeGeneres show – and also the news about you appearing in the new Call of Duty game. Tell us about that and what does that say about your ability as an F1 driver to reach our beyond the sport to new audiences?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, good morning everyone. Yeah, we were fortunate to have been on the Ellen show the other day, which was fantastic. I love being out here in the States, so this was a good opportunity for me to reach a completely new audience that perhaps… I’m pretty sure that most of the people that were in the audience, on the show, hadn’t heard of Formula One, so they were all glued to their seats to learn something new. It’s a weird thing. I don’t think anyone’s been on the Ellen show, so I’m pretty proud of it.

    And the Call of Duty thing?

    LH: Yeah, Call of Duty: I play that game every winter… obviously during the year but particularly in the winter, so to have got the call with the opportunity to be a part of it, I was like – absolutely. I jumped at it. So I can’t wait for this winter. A friend of mine that plays with us, he had no idea… well, he might read about it… but I haven’t told him yet that I’m in the game, so when I’m playing him in the winter and he sees me on there, he’s definitely going to lose it a little bit.

    Back to the day job: 100 points available in the remaining races, you trail by 33 – clearly you need some wins to get back into it, so is Austin the ideal place to race next, given your history here. You’ve won three of the four races that have been held on this race track?

    LH: Yeah, Austin has always been… America has always been a good hunting ground for me. I’ve been out here for a week already, so I’m looking forward to fighting again. This is a fantastic track. They did a very good job with the design. It’s one of the few of the newer circuits that really allows good overtaking and following of cars, which is always difficult in Formula One. Yeah, I’m here, I know the weather is going to better this weekend, so particularly for the fans that will be great and yeah, I’m excited.

    It could hardly be worse than last year, could it! Thank you for that. Moving on to another former winner of this race here, 2013 US Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel. Sebastian, it seemed that Suzuka summed up Ferrari’s season in many ways: the car was fast, but through a variety of reasons wasn’t able to convert that into a podium or a shot at victory. Do you see any of the four remaining tracks, including this one obviously, as winnable?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think there is always a chance. I think obviously in Japan we did some progress, so that was a positive, but as you said, it was probably was a good summary of our season so far. Nevertheless, I think the most important thing is that we fight, we give everything we have, and it could have been a better in Japan, it wasn’t and so we’re ready for this race.

    When we were in Monza, in the press conference, you talked about the feeling of being a Ferrari driver in Monza in front of the tifosi. Of course the US has a long, long history with Ferrari, it’s the biggest market for the cars and there is a tremendous fan base here for it, so what does it feel like to be a Ferrari driver in America?

    SV: Well, I had a very good race last year. Obviously we had to start a little bit further back. The weather helped us in that regard, to come back and finish on the podium, so it was a great first race with Ferrari here. As you mentioned, a huge fan base also here. Obviously, Italy is really the core, where the foundation lies, but I think everywhere around the world it’s amazing to see how much support we get. I think there are always a lot of Ferrari flags, people dressed in red and very passionate fans around the tracks, it’s great to be part of that family.

    Thank for that and coming to you Romain: your 100th grand prix this weekend, how appropriate, because it’s a big weekend, the Haas Formula One team’s first home grand prix in the USA. What special arrangements does the team have, to bring workers, families and so on to the race?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, we arrived Monday in Charlotte and then went to see the factory in North Carolina and went to see the NASCAR factory and did some media. Of course a lot of employees at the North Carolina factory are going to come here, which is great, as they don’t get to see us very often – the base is more in Europe – so that’s going to be good. Having my 100th grand prix here, home race for the team, is just a great thing.

    You’ve had some special days here in the past as well. You come here off the back of a Japanese GP where both cars qualified in the Top 10 for the first time ever. Can you repeat that here and this time convert it into some points?
    RG:     Well, if I’m not in Q3 but I score points that would be good as well! In Japan we had a great qualifying and we made some good progress on the car, which is good. We had a new front wing that we could eventually run, which worked well. It’s very hard for us every time we go to a track, because we don’t have any data from the past and we don’t know where to start with the set-up, so we have to guess a little bit and it takes more time than other people to find everything correct. But we definitely will try to qualify well and then scoring points in the race would be good, because we haven’t done that for a long time?

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) This question’s for Lewis: Lewis, you’ve done some great work with Unicef and recently you posted on your Facebook about the trip you took to Haiti two years ago, and you also noted the aid that’s needed for Haiti right now after the devastation of Hurricane Matthew. My question to you is: do you have plans to make another trip to Haiti to visit some of the devastated areas?
    LH:     Well, it’s good to see you again and thank you for the question. I haven’t another plan to go to Haiti, but I would love to. The trip that I had there was life-changing. To go to a country that has so much beauty but so much poverty was a huge eye-opener and obviously sad to see. But also to see the smiles on people who have so much less than all of us here. But knowing and seeing the devastation there and they don’t have the tools or the means to be able to make change and to recover from the difficult scenario they are in. That’s why we have an opportunity, us, as drivers, who have the following we have, not necessarily particularly to have to encourage people, but some people perhaps don’t know where to go to help. People are constantly on their phones, and if they see ‘oh, I didn’t know I could just go online, or by the click of a button help change someone’s life’, so that’s what I try to do. But I am working with Unicef on further plans for the future. I don’t know if it’s going to be in Haiti. If there’s a way I can get there and time for me to get there and help in any way. I don’t know what I could do, apart from taking a picture for social media, which is not really that helpful. But my thoughts and prayers are will all the families that are there.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, we know that you’re contract expires at the end of 2017. Do you expect to start soon the negotiations with the team to extend it?
    SV:     Well, I think we are all fairly busy at this time to focus on the four races that are left and focus in particular to prepare for next year, so I think that’s where, honestly, the main focus lies. I don’t think it’s that important to look into details such as… my contract is all fine for next year, so as I said, with a lot of things happening back at the factory, back in Maranello, I think… I know we’re very, very busy and that’s where I want also the focus to be.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you’ve had some great races and pole laps this year – but also a couple of more shaky weekend. How do you look back on this season as a competitor, for you, leaving aside the reliability issues?

    LH: Honestly, I don’t look back. There’s very little point to look back, it’s only looking forwards. As I’ve said, there’s obviously the four races but I’ve still got hopefully some time here in my career for better days. I’m obviously aware that you can’t always have great races and it’s a long, old season. But no-one’s perfect but yeah, all I can do is work as hard as I can with the team, we’ve got a great car, a great team, there’s no reason why we can’t have more positive weekends moving forwards.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question for Lewis. Lewis, you said previously that fans should be asking the questions and not the media. Well, there’s a fan who called himself @bigorangepaul on Twitter who’s asked, under the hashtag #fanQs4LH How will you feel if Nico wins the world championship this year? And the second question is: Have you considered when you will retire, or take a sabbatical?

    LH: Thank you for the question, what’s his name? @bigorangepaul. I don’t plan on taking any sabbaticals. If I stop, I stop, that will be the plan. And, what was the other one? Oh. Try to take it like a man. It is… you can’t win them all. Look at all the world championships in the past who’ve won championships and lost championships, it is part of the game. I am in the position right now where there are still a lot of points available so I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and still have the belief that anything is possible – but then I’ll move on. Once it’s decided and it happens, all I can do about it is shape the future, which is the next year. So, life will move on, we’ll go into next season and hopefully come back stronger.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, I’m sorry to come back to this subject because we saw you taking pictures now with your mobile and it was a big discussion at the last grand prix. It’s also an opportunity for you to clarify your point of view about this, let’s say, behaviour. And also, my personal question is, you think it’s fair to go in the drivers’ parade using earphones, creating a barrier to the fans, where they want you to hear them say “Lewis, we like you, Lewis we are here for you”, something like that.

    LH: Well, on the drivers’ parade, you don’t realise… at the beginning of my career I would stand and… you know I have respect for every single driver here… we’d stand and we’d talk, just generally shootin’, talking about whatever, and often not noticing that there’s certain individuals in the crowd who have travelled, probably spent all their money to get to a grand prix. So I actually genuinely often stand at the front of the truck and I often have one ear off so I can generally hear people and I make sure that I connect with the people that have come out to support me, y’know? A  lot of the people that have… sometimes there’s a Grenadian flag, but there’s often people, whatever country we’re in, even if it’s not their nationality they’ll have a British flag there and they’ll be waving. And if I’m talking to these guys often you’ll miss that. If I was in the grandstand having come to support someone, and I’m waving at the dude and he’s not even paying attention, I’d be pretty pissed. So that’s what I try to do. I try to connect with every single one. If you look at it, I point out to everyone, let them know that I recognise them and I appreciate it because I never in a million years thought I would ever have fans; people who consciously would decide to follow me and not the dude next to me. We all have that, and I think it’s really important that we engage with them, so I do. And then, I just took a picture just now, I waited for everyone to finish their questions and their answers. So respect me, I just took a picture. It’s a good picture, you’re all in it. So… yeah.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Question for Lewis, just going back to, I think the fan’s question about Nico. You’ve been racing against him your whole life. Generally you’ve beaten him. The last two years you’ve beaten him for the championship, you’ve beaten him in karting. Does that make what’s happened this year quite hard to take – because it’s not something that’s really happened to you before?

    LH: Not really. I think if you look if all things were… we’ve always been having close races, close battles. I think in all fairness to all of us here, if all things were equal in whatever our scenarios are, there would be a certain result. Obviously this year it’s obviously been a little bit different in terms of how our performances have been, particularly mechanically. And there’s nothing you can do about that. But, out of the ten times the car has been good – whatever it is – I’ve often done the job with it but then there definitely has been a few that, probably in the first few seconds of the race have not gone that well. But that’s motor racing.

    Q: (Tony Di Zimo – NBC Sports) Question for Lewis, after Japan, Mercedes clinched the third the third consecutive Constructors’ Championship. Can you describe what it felt inside the factory when you guys had the celebration and just how difficult that achievement is to accomplish?

    LH: Good question. Honestly, it’s kind-of daunting when you go back to the two factories because there’s so many people. I remember joining the team and having to stand… they’re like “we want to introduce you to everyone,” and having to stand in front of 800 people at the first place and then 500 people at the next place and speak to them. That’s always a difficult thing. But then, after you’ve grown to know everyone and you’ve gone on the journey that I have with this team and reached the success, it’s an incredibly proud moment for us to stand up there and show our appreciation – because those guys are not travelling like us but they are working crazy hours to enable us to get off the line, to be up the front and win these championships. And it takes a huge amount of work for these people to come together and every single individual operate at the best they can possibly do. I remember joining this team and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the majority of the people that were in here, said that it wasn’t the right decision. I had the belief that this team would really go somewhere and I’ve been a part of that journey and very proud of it. It was incredible. Everyone was just so happy – and now they’re turning all of those energies to next year.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Seb. Considering the last upgrades on the car, are you confident that Ferrari finally found a direction to follow from now to 2017? And what about strategies, is there something to correct?

    SV: About strategies, no, I don’t think so. I think… I’m guessing you’re referring to the last race… it’s one of those things with hindsight, it’s always easier to analyse but, in the moment I think where we were, we were in third, probably fourth place, because we didn’t have the pace that Lewis had from behind, so I don’t think there was much focus, I know that the there wasn’t much focus at that time on him, the main focus was to get second initially with Max. And we tried something different. It might have worked – and then you come out as the hero. In that case, it didn’t work, so it’s fine. We can live with that. The first question… for the new parts, yeah, I think it was a step forward, both Kimi and myself, we liked it straight away. I think it gave us quite good performance in Japan. Japan usually is quite a good test for the overall performance of the car, so here you can argue it’s similar in some ways. The first sector has a lot of fast corners as well, the last sector is a little bit slower but overall, yeah, it gave us a good indication for this year and then there’s always some things that you learn. Next year the rules are changing quite a lot – but still, every bit you understand about the car and how it works will help you also for the future.

    Q: (Frank Schneider – Bild) Question to Lewis, we saw you last week with some trouble with your feet. You weren’t able to drive at the Barcelona test. Are you 100 per cent? And what happened?

    LH: I am 100 per cent, yeah, feeling great. I basically had an injury that I’ve been carrying generally all year long, in both feet. Just induced by running. Unfortunately the physio said that it just takes a lot of stretching and it just heals over a long time. At the time I woke up in the morning, I was feeling quite a lot of pain the day before, and it hadn’t diminished, so there was very little… the most important thing was to be fresh for here and feeling better for here. This is actually the first week that it’s felt good.

    Q: (Will Buxton – NBC Sports) Lewis made the point in the last press conference in Japan that these press conferences needed changing in their format because they’d grown stale and a bit dull, so to the guys who haven’t answered anything in about the last 25 minutes – so that’s the back row and Nico Hülkenberg – what’s your current level of boredom and do you think this afternoon could be better spent?

    You’re smiling the most Romain, so you start.

    RG: Aw, thanks! It’s been great fun. I took a picture with a brand I’m not allowed to touch because I’m a Microsoft ambassador…

    LH: Sorry!

    RG: I may get in trouble with that! I’m just using the jet-lag. No, it’s not ideal, as a matter of fact, when you’re at the back and we don’t have any question. But we know it – but it’s how it goes. Maybe there’s room for improvement. Just keeping quiet.

    Nico, you’re at the front, how does it feel?

    NH: Yeah, quiet today. He takes the main questions, easy job for me.

    Valtteri?

    VB: Yeah, easy. Tomorrow anyway is the day we’re all looking forward to. This day anyway isn’t going to go any quicker, so I’m good.

    And finally Kevin.

    KM: Yeah, it could be better. But that’s how it is.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just to bring you up on social media. Just curious really. You’ve taken to blocking journalists on Twitter. Not sure your reasons why, we’ve been fairly supportive of you during your early career. I wondered why.

    LH: That’s something that’s just been brought to me. I don’t actually manage every single part of my social media. I have a couple of other people that do. Our general approach is that if you see something, see someone generally talking smack then you kind of cut it. I’d flown back from Asia and then I got a message afterwards…  I don’t know who has been blocked or not… I don’t have any particular feeling for it… I don’t have a lot of time to go online and do that. I don’t think it was just media. It was a lot of people got… I think it was a blocking-spree. I don’t even have… if you look at my phone I don’t even have the app, I don’t really do my Tweets. So…

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, SpeedSport) Valtteri, you say the car has not had the pace recently. Looking in the long term, do you think Williams has the structure and the resources to consistently fight with the works teams?

    VB: I think… like I’ve said, many many times, I definitely think Williams can do a  lot better than what we’ve seen for example this year. Two years back was a lot better, it was definitely not yet maximised really, every single bit, so there is potential. Definitely it is out there, the facilities. Team Haas, they are good, good to fight with the works teams but it’s tricky. It’s a massively competitive sport and everyone is pushing so hard, investing more and more but so also is Williams at the moment, trying to get some new interesting people and really trying to push forward. Obviously always when there is a rules change, there is always a great opportunity for every team to catch up, if you’ve let back a little bit. Yeah, I think we can do a lot lot better than this but we will see.

    Q: (Jonathan Green – SpeedCity) Lewis, again from the fans on Speedcast, on Twitter. We lost, here in the States, two great icons: one a sportsman in Mohammed Ali and obviously Prince and I wonder, given your interest in the States, how much those two people were any influence on you as a sportman and as somebody in the public eye?

    LH: Yeah, for me growing up, those two… as soon as I could remember hearing music, my Dad was always playing Prince so I grew up on that music and still today… Some of the races I’ve won this year, I’ve been listening to Prince, even before his passing.

    SV: What, during the race?

    LH: No, no, before the races, you know? Yeah, the beautiful thing about music is that it lives on so the great thing is that he’s left us a legacy that we can always… it’s timeless. And then when Mohammed Ali, absolutely as a sportsman who defied odds and stood for what he truly believed and was a remarkable man. I had the pleasure of meeting him but unfortunately the disease was too far gone at the time so I didn’t really get to have a conversation with him. I was hoping that I could be in the position that we could have a bit of banter and hear some of the comments that he wouldn’t normally say but still it was an amazing experience to meet him. He is truly missed. I think two races ago, I was watching Rumble in the Jungle, just because that… and some of the experiences he had are inspiring and we can all apply to whatever issues or situations we’re going through in our day-to-day life.

    Q: (Jim Vertuno – AP) Sebastian, Lewis is hopeful with four races left that he can catch Nico. In what you’ve seen on the track and your experience, is it realistic?

    SV: Of course. It’s realistic because I think he’s quick enough. It’s realistic because there’s a lot of points to get and I think it would be quite bad if you quit now. If I could swap, I would immediately and go for it, so I’m sure that he goes for it and four races is a lot of laps to do, a lot of things that can happen so it’s only over when it’s over.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Nico, we could hear you saying on the radio after passing Valtteri ‘see you later’ in Japan. So what did you mean? See you later in the race or maybe see you later at Renault next year?

    NH: No, I didn’t mean that actually. It just came naturally, a couple of seconds after the pass, I was just pleased with the move on him, just came out.

    SV: Why would you want to see him again, though?

    NH: Exactly, why would I?

    Q: (Silva Arias – Parabrisas) Nico, congratulations for this step forward. Tell me please, which are the main things do you expect to have at Renault which you didn’t have at Force India?

    NH: Well, I think them being a manufacturer, they are under some expectations to eventually be successful and be at the front and compete for wins and that’s obviously what I’m looking for. We know at the moment there is still a long journey ahead of them, to climb back to the top because it’s been a difficult year and where they’ve come from, when they bought Lotus last year was not the easiest situation so it will take time to rebuild the team and to get back to the top but obviously what I see there is a good future, definitely a big challenge, a massive challenge but I’m very much up for that and why not build a new success story with them?

    Q: (Leigh Diffey – NBC Sports) Romain, we’re the host broadcaster here in the United States so week in, week out we’re talking about you a lot, we’re talking about Haas a lot. We always preface the team ‘America’s Formula One team’. Tell our audience, tell the fans what life’s like in America’s Formula One team for the first time in 30 years because it’s a big deal for us and for our viewers?

    RG: Yeah, it is. It’s great to be here. Everyone is very much looking forward. I think it’s an extra pride to be wearing the American flag on the car and having the Haas name, Gene with Haas formation,  Stewart-Haas racing and now Haas… it’s got a huge story, huge successful life. I think it’s a big name and here in the US is quite special so hopefully a good race for us and a good result.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, based on what you’ve just said to Ben about social media and you not managing it, this is my question, not a fan’s question but I’m sure the fans would like to know…

    LH: There’s obviously several platforms so I’m not consciously doing every single platform all the time so I still have a lot of people who help me because it’s quite a big job.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) … so is there a chance though that some of the opinions that are expressed are not your own opinions on there? I’m sure the fans would like to know.

    LH: No, not at all. Every single thing that’s said is generally… I can either send it if I’ve not got it… for example time to post it or if it’s not the right time of course I can write it, send it and one of my team will post it when it’s the right time.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) Sebastian, one of the reasons Ferrari is getting better results recently is that the team is developing the car while other teams in the second part of the season, as far as you know, no, they are concentrated on next year’s project. The question is, what is this development for and considering the knowledge you have now, can you use next year’s car more? The limitation of forty hours wind tunnel combined with cfd is there for this year’s car and next year’s car so it means are you using space of next year’s car in this existing car? Your comment please?

    SV: Well, thank you for the lesson but I think I know the rules particularly well and so does the team so I think everything that we brought this year to the car has always been the plan to be brought to the car and I think everything that we brought made sense. I don’t think that we’re the only ones still bringing bits to the car. I think it’s normal in this time that if you’re not fighting actively for the championship obviously your main focus is on next year, given the demands of the rules that are changing but I still see the point in going round, I see the point of going to the next four races, not just to try and win and be successful and be there and fight, but also to learn about this year’s car which ultimately will help you also with next year’s car. I think every lap that we spend we try to spend wisely, we try to do the right thing in order to maximise the moment but in particular, looking forward to next year. So thanks for the lesson again. I am well aware of the hours and how they are split and so on but as I said, I’m confident we’re doing the right thing.

    Q: (Samuel Reiman – Fox Sports) Lewis, turn one, it’s a long run up to the first corner at this track. Obviously starts have been one of your difficulties this year it would seem. Does that concern you for this weekend’s race and have you been able to make any progress throughout the season with your starting procedure?

    LH: It has been an ongoing thing all year long. There’s been a lot of changes, a lot of work, perhaps more than in other areas. I was at the factory last week and we were working very hard to cover up all areas so we hope that we have a slightly better formula this weekend. If not  then there will be a better formula next weekend, but it is something that… I definitely feel that we’re in a better position so fingers crossed for Sunday.

    Q: (Kevin Lyttle – Austin American Statesman) Kevin and Valtteri, this track here has had some financial issues recently with damage from the storms and things like that. How do you think it stacks up and the city of Austin stacks up as an F1 stop. And the second question would be what’s the most interesting thing you guys have done in Austin?

    KM: The most interesting thing was the race last time I was here in 2014. But it’s also a great city, it’s a really cool city for Sunday night, it’s good for partying and other things as well: good restaurants. It’s great to hang out here but it’s a great race as well and it’s good to see American fans. It’s not often you see American fans at other tracks so it’s quite special here. So yeah, I think it’s a great race and it definitely deserves a place on the calendar.

    VB: Yeah, for me, overall this Grand Prix is a lot of fun. It’s a great track to drive. I think all the drivers really like the circuit and obviously a lot of support from the fans as well in here and just next door there is a great city like Austin with plenty of things to do and such a nice feeling in the city, so overall it is one of the best Grand Prix weekends in the calendar in my opinion. And the coolest thing I’ve done here? I think it was last year, it was not in Austin but it was in Georgetown, just next door. I had an opportunity to visit the police department in there so I spent the day with the local police and they showed me their work. I got to drive a police car around the track and everything. I beat their best lap time, by the way in their training circuit. That was a lot of fun.

  • Nico Hulkenberg Confirmed at Renault from 2017

    Nico Hulkenberg Confirmed at Renault from 2017

    Nico Hulkenberg will drive for the Renault F1 team from 2017.

    Hulkenberg will join the Enstone based team on a multi-year deal.

    Rumors have been circulating about Hulkenberg’s exit from Force India but in the recent weeks they’ve become louder. He was, however, tied to Force India for another year but Deputy Team Principal at Force India, Robert Fernley has said that he would not hold the German back.

    The announcement earlier on Friday 14 October 2016 all but confirmed his move to Renault for 2017.

    “I’m very happy to join Renault Sport Formula One Team in 2017,” said Hulkenberg in a statement.

    “Renault has always been a big player in the motorsport world that brings up incredible memories: in his stint with Renault, Michael Schumacher not only helped make Germany an F1 nation, he also sparked my enthusiasm and fire for racing.

    “As a part of the Renault family, I want to develop the car and write new success stories.

    “It has always been my dream to work for a manufacturer team,” Hulkenberg added

    “F1’s new regulations will change the game and give our team a good opportunity.

    “In the years to come, Renault will play a challenger role, which fits my approach to racing 100%. I can’t wait to become part of the family.

    Jérôme Stoll, Renault Sport Racing Chairman had this to say about Hulkenberg’s appointment:

    “2017 will be the second season of Groupe Renault’s return as a manufacturer entry in Formula 1 and the next step in our journey.

    “This season has been about putting the foundations in place for future success. For our next step we required an experienced driver who is still hungry for podiums.

    “Nico Hülkenberg fulfils this role perfectly and is an excellent complement to what we want to achieve.

    “He is a highly talented, dedicated and motivated driver. Nico will enable us to harness all the hard work completed this season and translate it to improved results on track in 2017 and beyond.

    “We look forward to seeing him in our new car for 2017.”

     

    Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

  • Force India Confirm Hulkenberg Exit at the end of the Year

    Force India Confirm Hulkenberg Exit at the end of the Year

    The Sahara Force India Formula One Team confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg will leave the team at the end of the season to “pursue other opportunities within Formula One.”

    Word has been going around that Hulkenberg was on the verge of leaving Force India to take a drive with the Renault Formula. This latest announcement opens the door for him to join the Renault F1 team in 2017 when another round of rule changes comes into play.

    “Everybody at Sahara Force India wishes Nico well as he embarks upon a different path in Formula One,” said the Team Principal and Managing Director of Force India Vijay Mallya.

    “Having spent five years with us, Nico has become a great friend and contributed a huge amount to the team’s success.

    “He’s an outstanding driver, who has scored more points for this team than anybody else.

    “While it’s true we will miss Nico, we respect his decision to explore fresh opportunities and it would be wrong to stand in his way.”