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  • 2017 Japanese GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Japanese GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Ayao KOMATSU (Haas), Paddy LOWE (Williams)

     

    Q: Hasegawa-san, if we could start with you please. It’s been a good couple of races for McLaren-Honda, particularly Stoffel Vandoorne, seventh in both of the last two races. Just wondering how much satisfaction have those results given you and how confident are you of another good result on home turf this weekend?

    Yusuke HASEGAWA: Obviously in Singapore and Malaysia we got points which were very good but of course we are not satisfied. We are aiming higher all the time but we feel kind-of relieved to get a decent step. So, of course we try to keep the same performance for here, in Suzuka.

     

    Q: What can you hope for this weekend?

    YH: So far, that we get some points.

     

    Q: And with regard to next year, let’s just talk a little bit about the relationship with Toro Rosso. How do you think that relationship might differ to the one that you’ve had with McLaren?

    YH: I don’t think it’s a huge difference. We have already started the preparation for next year. They are very kind and they are very excited to have a new partnership, which we, of course, are feeling the same thing. No, there’s not a big difference, just a new partner.

     

    Q: Is the commercial relationship going to be the same as it was with McLaren?

    YH: Of course, the McLaren-Honda, the name of the McLaren-Honda is very famous – in Japan at least, maybe in other countries. From that point of view it could be that the expectation from the audience is a bit less, so we need to show that we can make it better. From that point of view, maybe I will feel a bit less pressure from the outside but from the inside there is no difference. We need to prove that we can do a better job for next year.

    Q: Ayao, second season of the Haas Formula One team, what is your perspective on how it’s gone? How would you sum up the last 18 months with Haas? How’s it gone?

    Ayao KOMATSU: It’s going well. Of course it could be better but from last year to this year we made a very big improvement and even though it may not be obvious to everyone but consistency is better than last year and our understanding is better, but I think now that we made a step from last year we now know again how much we need to improve for next year so really concentrating on the next step.

     

    Q: Now you’ve worked with Romain for a long time, drivers like to progress every year, just how have you seen him grow in a small team like that, because we hear him a lot on the radio and it’s not always complimentary?

    AK: Sure, I know Romain since 2009. I’ve done every single race he’s done in Formula One together so we understand each other pretty well, but yeah, he’s quite an emotional guy but then what comes out as negative on the radio is what actually makes him quick as well so you can’t have it both ways. We both understand the downside of that so we’ve just got to manage it, try to channel it in the right way so that everybody works in a positive direction.

     

    Q: Now I guess this is the time of year when you work through the good points and the bad points of the current car. You obviously want to translate the good points into next year. Could you elaborate a little bit on the good and the bad of the VF17?

    AK: I think our baseline is pretty good but the operating window is not very wide, so when we can get the tyres to work OK, you can see the potential, we can be in Q3 but there are some events where we really cannot switch the tyres on then we are fighting to get out of Q1. In Malaysia, Saturday was our lowest point, both cars out in Q1 so that’s the bad point. Next year, we really need to keep this good base but then trying to have the wider window so that we can work with… obviously next year you can have more different compounds as well so that will be the key, trying to work with different compounds, trying to get consistency out of it.

     

    Q: Paddy, let’s start by talking about drivers: there’s a lot of speculation in the press about who is going to partner Lance Stroll in the team next year. Can you just tell us a little bit about what you want from that driver and indeed, who is in the running?

    Paddy LOWE: It seems like we’re one of the last chairs available for next year. Of course Felipe is very much in the frame, very very high on our list of possibilities but we owe it to ourselves to take a look around and see what could be the best option for the team going forwards. As you say, that will be a partner to Lance. Lance has made great progress through the year, we’re seeing him performing consistently, particularly in the races so we need a driver to complement Lance on that side of the garage. But all options are under consideration, to be honest. You’ve probably seen a number of names that are floating around that we’re looking at but honestly the range is almost unlimited. We will consider all ideas. We’re not in a super hurry to do so and we’ll just make sure we land the best line-up we can.

     

    Q: But is the idea to have an experienced driver alongside Lance?

    PL: I think there are many attributes you could attach to different drivers and experience could be one of them, but we may weigh that against other things. We’re not fixed on any particular aspect.

     

    Q: Because where is Williams’s natural habitat in this pit lane at the moment? You’re lying fifth in the Constructors’ championship; are you looking for a driver who can help leapfrog you up to third? Is that the ambition for next season?

    PL: Yeah, we’re always ambitious to move forwards as all teams are and I think we recognise that the driver or drivers are a very key element in the team. Clearly you need a quick car as well, but the driver is probably the single most important factor in the end to take the package forward and score the points and indeed win races. I’ve seen that in the past, what a difference drivers can make to the race proposition, so it’s a very important decision.

     

    Q: And just tell us a little bit about next year’s car, what’s going on back in Grove? Are you encouraged by the signs you’re seeing in the windtunnel, for example?

    PL: Lots of good work going on. Yeah, we’re making quite a few changes. We see lots of opportunities out there that we’re determined to exploit and the project’s going well, yeah. At the same time, you know, we recognise we’ve got some very tough competition out there, some teams that we respect greatly who are also fighting to move forward so it’s going to be a tough space next year. We all want to have cars that can get safely into Q3, that’s a kind of mark of respectability really in Formula One, but there are quite a few teams that will be trying to squeeze into that quite small box.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Hasegawa-san, you’ve just heard what Paddy said, that the driver is a crucial element in the overall package. With McLaren, you had various World Champions driving for you. With Toro Rosso, although they haven’t confirmed their line-up, the chances of them having a Grand Prix winner let alone a World Champion are fairly remote at this stage. Do you believe that a driver is not important to drive a project forward, at the state that Honda finds itself in at the moment?

    YH: For the next year, you mean?  Of course the driver project is very important and of course we’d like to encourage the Japanese motor racing character we well so that to do that a Japanese driver is also very important. But currently we have nothing we can tell you about the drivers for Toro Rosso and we don’t have any contract about that. Actually, we don’t have any position to tell. Of course, we may negotiate with them so maybe we would like to discuss about that but it is not a contract matter, so that maybe they are just as a partner, as a friendship matter.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Paddy, there have been reports that you were going to test Robert Kubica and Paul di Resta in a 2014 car. Can you enlighten us as to what is going to happen?

    PL: Yeah, you’re correct, we will test those two drivers. We won’t give away any information around what we do within those tests, that’s a private matter for us and I would stress that that doesn’t mean that they’re the only drivers under consideration. As I said earlier, we’re considering quite a large range of which they are only two possibilities.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Paddy, can you at least tell us when this test will happen?

    PL: In the next few weeks.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Hasegawa-san, I’d like to just clarify my question earlier on about the fact that it wasn’t so much aimed at Japanese drivers, but just generally whether you believe or not that a proven or an established driver line-up is important to develop your Honda engine project going forward because you had had World Champions, whereas at Toro Rosso you are unlikely to even have a Grand Prix winner. Do you believe that an established driver line-up is important?

    YH: Yeah, sorry, I don’t answer the question. Yep, of course, the driver’s feedback is very important to evaluate the engine itself and to find any issue from the engine and also to stop the engine as soon as something happens. From that point of view, Fernando, Jenson and Stoffel were perfect for that development driver and evaluator so yeah, it is very important. So far, as I mentioned, we cannot tell (about next year). I am very happy to have Pierre Gasly, he is a very talented driver, but actually I didn’t work with him directly but I expect him very much. So I don’t know for next year but we expect to have good drivers, of course.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Paddy Lowe, how intense has your contact to Nico Rosberg been in the last weeks? And did the subjects you talk about change since he is managing Robert?

    PL: I didn’t fully understand the question but was it you were saying what contact had I had with Nico? Actually, honestly I’ve just had a couple of phone conversations with him, but as you point out, yeah, he’s now doing some work with Robert Kubica, so he has an interest in promoting that idea to us so I’ve had some conversations with him on that subject. As you say, a bit different from the previous conversations that I had with him the last few years.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Paddy, you may have missed it earlier on when Cyril was here because you were outside doing the TVs but he said that the chances were pretty good that Marcin Budkowski would be starting early April in the role of executive director. Does it concern you that the gardening leave, for want of a better description or expression is not sufficient, given the relationship that he’s had with teams? What do you believe is the ideal time and what do you think of the situation?

    PL: First point is to congratulate Marcin. It looks like he’s got an excellent job, very senior role at Renault. I worked with Marcin in the past at McLaren so you know he’s a strong engineer and that’s great that he has that opportunity. But I think you’re correct; the concern amongst all the teams has been the very short period of isolation between a role as an officer of the FIA, very senior officer, and working with a team. And it’s very critical that the teams have a strong degree of trust in their work with the FIA; that really underpins the ability of the FIA to police the sport from a technical point of view. It’s an important subject, the teams will be discussing that with the FIA to understand what should happen in this case or cases in the future. So I don’t have any pre-set ideas around what solution should exist or even could exist. Amongst the teams, with senior engineers, we have very long notice periods, as you know, for the same sort of reasons.

     

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Question for Paddy Lowe and Komatsu-san: we’ve had almost a season of running with these new generation cars now and almost every team I’ve spoken to has mentioned the narrow operational window of these cars and getting the tyres to work. What is it about the current rule-set that makes that operational window so hard to exploit?

    PL: I think it’s just mainly down to tyres. The tyre defines, to a great extent, the operating window of the car because it’s fundamentally the temperature window of the tyre, sometimes the pressure window, where the tyre delivers the best performance. So depending on how narrow or wide or peaky that window is determines then how difficult it is to make the car work at the fastest level. I think that’s the subject. I don’t think it’s necessarily that much more difficult than last year, the levels of grip are higher, the lap times are quicker but I think it feels just about as difficult as it was last year, to me.

    AK: It’s exactly as I… I don’t think it’s the cars, it’s more to do with the tyres, and some tyres can work in any conditions, some tyres need specific conditions so yeah, it’s mainly down to tyres.

     

    Q: (Ken Kawakita – Weekly Playboy) Hasegawa-san, Komatsu-san: this is very domestic question but having someone like you in the FIA press conference as a key member of a Formula One team, giving a lot of hope for young Japanese boys who are dreaming of being in Formula One to work as engineers, is it possible to have any advice to make the dream happen for those young Japanese boys or girls? Any word?

    AK: Yeah, I was interested in Formula One since I was a junior high school student and I wanted to do Formula One so then I thought, OK, it’s better to come to England so I decided to leave Japan after doing high school so I guess the advice is don’t limit yourself, if you like, don’t ever think you can’t do it, just assume that you can do it and then try your best and then when you’ve tried your best, even if you failed, then I think you learn a great deal from it, so there’s no downside so just try and believe you can do it. If I can give advice, that’s the advice.

    YH: Yeah, I think I’m completely different from him, so that he was aiming to be a Formula One engineer but I was joining Honda and I was just working as a mass production development and I never expected to be a Formula One engineer, but I always concentrated on doing my job, all the time and to improve myself, so the chance will come from outside, so I didn’t expect… so just do your job and just do it and improve by himself or herself is the important thing, I think.

     

    Q: Paddy, can you just tell us a little bit about how international the teams are, how many different nationalities might you have at Williams?

    PL: I haven’t got a number but it is a very international sport, not just in terms of drivers but also in terms of engineers and all the staff within the teams. I think that’s what makes it such an exciting and rich industry, and I’d echo the comments of my colleagues here, that if you have the determination, actually it’s not as difficult as you may imagine to make the progress and achieve the position that you may want, working in a team or some other part of the industry, so never think it’s out of your reach, go after it.

  • 2017 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), James ALLISON (Mercedes), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Cyril, there’s been a lot of speculation regarding the future of Marcin Budkowski. Now, you have announced today that he is joining Renault. Could you elaborate a little bit on what he is going to be going for the team and how you came to get hold of him in the first place?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, indeed, as you say the speculation and the rumour is part of the explanation of why we decided to make it official. We didn’t feel it was good actually to have any sort of ambiguity for any of the parties involved. It’s clear, and we appreciate, that it’s a sensitive topic for lots of parties, but it was important I think to present our side of the story. Marcin is coming in a non-technical capacity. He’s coming in a senior position into the team. I think it is a great career development for him. It’s something that he is doing because it makes sense in his career. As far as we are concerned, since we came back we are still building our team, building our structure. We tried something with Frédéric Vasseur last year, which, I mean it’s no secret, unfortunately did not work out, but Fred has now found a fantastic position with Sauber but there was still a gap and a position to be filled. Simply there is a lot to be done. Renault Sport Racing is involved in many different categories, Formula One but also Formula E, we are based on two sites, one in the UK and one in France, responsible for chassis and engine, supplying engines to lots of great teams with big expectations. So simply lots to do and I just needed some help and someone I can trust and that can work alongside me particularly on the development of the Enstone team.

     

    Can you just remind us, when will he be starting with the team?

    CA: Again, there has been lots of talk about that, not from us. We always made it clear that we would not want to be aggressive in relation to that. From a contractual perspective he could be available from early next year, but we have had a constructive discussion with the FIA and I believe that we are close to reaching an agreement on a start date that would I say make everyone comfortable. I think that is a date of early April, which is basically twice his gardening leave provision has been discussed, has been invoked. Nothing has been confirmed yet but that is something we are completely prepared to entertain as far as we are concerned.

     

    If we look back to the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend. It was a great victory for your engine. What does that win say about your power unit, and can you tell us a little about the development plans for next year? Is there going to be a qualifying mode, for example?

    CA: Yes, I think it says that we are catching up progressively. We are not quite there at the level of the two gentlemen on my left and right, in particular. I think the Renault powerplant is actually becoming very decent in race operation, but indeed we are definitely missing something in qualifying. Obviously it’s always a balance running safe and being aggressive and obviously the more potential performance we have then the more capacity we will have to be aggressive on Saturdays. This is typically what’s on plan for next year, even though we believe also that the regulation will help us in bridging any sort of deficit in relation to that on Saturday. So it’s positive and I think it’s something that McLaren could also see and part of the decision of working with us for the next three years.

     

    James, the last couple of races haven’t been the easiest for the team. I was just wondering if you could shed some light on those performances and how confident are you of running a little bit better this weekend at Suzuka?

    James ALLISON: Well, they’re two weekends that showed that it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. Nevertheless, if you look at the season as a whole, it has been divided into three types of experience. There have been a few races where we have come out and crushed everything in front of us. There have been a few where we’ve had the other end of that deal, where we have definitely come off second best. And then a whole lot in the middle where it has been pretty much a 50/50 slugging match. The last two were in the category where we got beaten for pace. We’re hopeful from what we’ve seen so far this weekend that this one will not fall into that category, and that we will be putting up a decent fight of it, and I suspect that it will fall into the slugging match category that most of this season has been so thrilling to be part of for.

     

    Where is the focus at the factory at the moment. The Constructors’ Championship looks pretty nailed on, so are you allowing yourself the luxury of focusing on next year back in Brackley?

    JA: Well, I wouldn’t agree with you about the nailing business, but the truth of it is that every single team, every single year faces the dilemma of how they ramp down their efforts on the car that races and how they ramp up their efforts on the car that will race next year. Every single one of us, the teams that is, will be transferring a substantial amount of resource onto next year’s car, because they couldn’t fail but to do that. But there is still an amount of residual resource, more than residual, going into this one to make sure that those developments keep coming until later in the season.

     

    Thank you James. Mattia, the last few races for Ferrari have been something of what if. I was just wondering, with reference to Malaysia in particular, if you could shed any light on the reliability problems you had there and how confident you are that you have solved those coming into the Japanese Grand Prix?

    Mattia BINOTTO: You can never be fully confident of solving the problems you have got. It’s true that the problems we had were completely unexpected; there are problems that we did not experience both at the dyno or at the race track during the entire season. There were some quality issues with the parts. We failed an inlet manifold of the engine, from the compressor to the cylinder heads, and it happened twice, because we had the same problem with Sebastian in qualifying and Kimi in the race. Obviously it happened twice in Malaysia, in an entire season, so certainly some boundary conditions have affected the overall reliability. This is something that we are analysing. Obviously in parallel we reinforce the components, but it’s something which we still need to better understand.

     

    The last couple of race we haven’t been able to see what your cars have been capable of, but fastest in practice in Suzuka this morning. How do you assess the pecking order now in Formula One? Do you think you have the fastest car?

    MB: I think qualifying is the best way, somehow, to evaluate it. We had the pole in Singapore, true, but we were not on pole in Malaysia. So I think we have progressed, we progressed through the season. I think for us battling for the pole, or being on pole was more difficult at the start of the season compared to today. Overall our package has improved but it’s never enough. Being fast is not sufficient. What counts is finally winning the race.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, regarding Marcin Budkowksi, do we understand that he will reporting directly to you and then people like Bob Bell and Rob White will be reporting to Marcin. Is that the structure that you envisage?

    CA: Yeah, that’s correct. The official position as announced today is Executive Director, so he will be sort of my right-hand man in Enstone, a place where I am not enough, given all the travelling and in particular the long seasons. So Marcin will be factory-based and Bob Bell, Nick Chester and Rob White will all together report to him.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Mattia, Sergio Marchionne was quoted on Monday as saying that it was unacceptable what had happened in the previous two races and that changes would have to be made. When this was put to Sebastian yesterday, he said he thought that there were some changes coming but they had nothing to do with that. Could you elaborate on that? What sorts of changes are envisaged that if a driver knows about them, they must have been announced internally already?

    MB: I think that to improve your performance you need to improve your car and your package but as well you need to improve your organisation. What we are considering is something, already planned, is to improve our quality department. Our quality department will be and somehow is already reinforced and those are the changes that our chairman was meaning.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) James, Lewis referred to the car as being a bit like him – great potential, but doesn’t always do what it has to do. Is the car a kind of a diva or is it, in the end, understandable, what it does?

    JA: It is difficult but it doesn’t disobey the laws of physics. It is clearly understandable but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to get the best from it. It’s been a challenge this year to achieve the results we have with, but nevertheless we have achieved some pretty decent outcomes with it, so it’s not been a bad machine for us. However, we would like a car that is easier to throw at the race track and easier to guarantee that every time we come racing we get every last little bit from it. Such changes as we have been able to make this year we have and we hope that next year we make something with a slightly sweeter temperament.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) To all three of you: going into this year there were a lot of unknowns, so it was difficult to design the cars. Going into next year, with all the new information, is it going to be easier to design them or even harder because you have so much information about the new regulations?

    MB: F1 is always a challenge, the difficulty is always there, whatever you are facing. We face a certain because of new regulations and now we’ll face a different difficulty because we need to improve our car. I don’t think there is ever a moment where you can relax. The difficult is simply that one. It is true that there will be a continuity of regulations but it’s also true that we need to improve as much as we can.

    CA: It’s always a challenge. It’s a competition, so you need to be better than the others, and to develop quicker, in particular if you are sitting behind, so that’s a challenge. Plus, you have also, even though there is not such big changes as this year in regulations, you still have a couple of changes. There will be the introduction of the Halo, some variation to the suspension regulation, which will make things slightly difficult. The sensitivity of car to weight will be much greater next year than this year so it’s going to be a different type of challenge, but still a challenge.

    JA: I think I’d just say that while last year was more a blank sheet of paper and therefore you had more design choices to make, that was true for everybody. And we go, all of us teams, with a lot more information about how these cars behave and therefore with clearer ideas of what we would like to do for the next season. But that’s true for everybody and therefore everyone will be better guided and the overall level of difficulty in making sure that you’re the quickest will remain the same. The new challenge of refining your current weapon will be the same for everyone.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, returning to the Marcin Budkowski question, could you elaborate, just for the avoidance of any doubt, could you elaborate please on whether he resigned because you’d recruited him or whether you recruited him because he’d resigned from the governing body?

    CA: I don’t want to enter into a… I don’t think we have any obligation to disclose that type of process that is an individual process. You may have encountered in your career some persons, so you know it’s always an opportunity that is coming from both ways. I think there was some feeling that Marcin wanted to do a career progression, moving also away from a pure technical role in which he is currently, for something which is a wider management responsibility, which is something we had on offer. So, it’s, as always, when demand and offer is meeting somewhere, and that has simply happened in the last couple of weeks and something that we have now made clear.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Question to Monsieur Abiteboul, the Budkowski deal, did you understand the discussion coming up about the deal or do you say ‘OK, everybody have the chance to make an approach to him’?

    CA: I’m not totally sure of the question. If the question is whether we wanted to be extremely aggressive on notice period, on gardening leave provision, is that correct?

     

    Can you understand that some of your competitors said it’s not correct?

    CA: No. Well, first, it’s word that has been reported. I’m not sure that everyone is actually thinking that. Approaching people is unfortunately a part of Formula One, it’s also part of why Formula One is competitive and you have a level playing field and you have an interesting show and races. We always talk about the distortion created by disparity of resources – but you also need to have some freedom of people within the organisations such that the racing is interesting. That’s the first comment I would make. The second comment is yes, I understand – but again, when you recruit someone it is not a short-term opportunity. All the designs of next year’s car are already frozen. We are in the process of manufacturing moulds, suspension geometry, all of that is already decided since months. It is not something that is going to influence, and things will again start from scratch for 2019. These gentleman on my left and my right will know that there is limited influence someone like that can make to a car, and because of the obsolescence of information in Formula One, it’s not going to make a huge difference. We are taking that person because he has the skills, he has the experience of Formula One this is required for our programme and our project, which is to become a top team by 2020, full stop. It’s not for what he knows today.

     

    Q: (Marco Mensurati – La Repubblica) To Mattia and James. I just would like to know what you think about that? What is your opinion? Are you fine with that or not?

    JA: Erm… well… the relationship the teams have with the FIA is always… it relies on certain things. It relies on the teams being able to be candid with the FIA and have absolute confidence that anything that is discussed with the FIA remains completely confidential. Those things have always been true about the relationship we have with the FIA and always will be. The main foundations of our relationship, the teams’ relationship to the FIA, are built on that, and those things are strong, and always will be. If an FIA employee leaves and re-joins a team, then you would wish, I think, to have somewhat longer notice period than three months. I think everyone, on FIA side and teams’ side would say that but… this isn’t the situation today and I guess we’ll all just swallow and get on with it. But the actual building blocks of what makes the relationship between teams and FIA good is what I described – and that always has been strong, always will be strong.

     

    Mattia?

    MB: There is not much I can add. Certainly, it’s a delicate matter. Certainly, all the people involved in that situation feels uncomfortable, and I’m sure it will be discussed at a different level still.

     

    Cyril has said that it’s a start date of April next year. Are you satisfied with that, James? Mattia?

    JA: Well, it is whatever it contractually is. So, there’s not much point in talking about it.

     

    Q: (Gaëtan Vigneron – RTBF) Question for James. You have worked with Fernando, with Sebastian, with Lewis. If you had to point out the big difference between them or who was the most impressive one for you?

    JA: I get asked this question a lot and it’s a frustrating question because, first of all, there’s an impossibility of answering it because there’s only one way to know for sure and it’s to line them all up in exactly the same equipment on the same days and have a championship where you find out exactly. All I can tell you is that all three of them have got the victories and the achievements that they have, not by good fortune but by being brilliantly skilful racing drivers. I would add to that, that it has been a considerable pleasure joining Mercedes this year for many, many reasons but one of those was that it was my first opportunity to start working alongside Lewis. I think I’d only ever said hello to him once in all the years prior to that and the experience of working with him is very different to what I imagined it would be and I’ve found a racing driver or the sort of excellence that all of us can see from his statistics and the way he goes about his job but what has been particularly good is that I’ve found a guy that conducts himself as a man in a way that makes you happy to work alongside him. And that’s been an enjoyable and good thing about joining Mercedes.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, still on the question of recruitment but this time about Carlos Sainz. Could you try and elaborate on the reasons why you have chosen to recruit a driver in the knowledge that you’ll lose him after a year. Or certainly the indications in the statements indicate that you lose him after a single year. What sort of benefit is that to the team?

    CA: First and foremost, we have to accept the fact we are, y’know, arriving a bit late to the part as Renault. We only entered back into Formula One as a manufacture team 18 months ago and we are arriving at a point where a lot of drivers are in the middle of their contracts. There are basically cycles for a number of contracts. You know that was something we had to acknowledge and take into account into our planning for drivers. It looks like there will be lots of things that will be up for renewal in the course of next year, for 2019. We sort-of feel that we should be part of those discussions next year and therefore having a driver for one year is a concession, in particular on a loan is a concession, but we feel it is an acceptable concession. It’s going to allow us to make a step forward, just like Nico Hülkenberg allowed us to do one step forward this year. It’s going to be another step forward for next year before many making maybe another step in 2019.

  • 20-Place Grid Drop for Sainz at Japanese GP

    20-Place Grid Drop for Sainz at Japanese GP

    Carlos Sainz will start from the back of the grid on Sunday’s race for Toro Rosso at the Japanese Grand Prix after taking on new engine components going into Free Practice 1.

    Toro Rosso fitted Sainz’s car with it’s 6th MGU-H, 5th internal combustion engine and 5th turbo charger. Because the MGU-H is the first 6th element used it resulted in a 10-place grid drop. The engine and turbo carried a 5-place grid drop each which totals a 20-place grid drop for the Spaniard.

    This did not come as surprise to Toro Rosso as they had notified the FIA Technical Delegate of the change on Tuesday 3 October 2017.

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One

  • 2017 Japanese GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Japanese GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren), Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Sauber)

     

    Q: Valtteri, if we could start with you, it hasn’t been the easiest for you since the summer break and you said on Sunday evening in Malaysia that this might now be the most difficult moment of your career. Can you elaborate on that? Why is that?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, I think the main thing is just because, the only thing I want to do is to perform and to try and meet my goals what I set for me personally. I definitely haven’t been achieving those lately, so that’s why the feeling wasn’t so positive after the race. So, for sure it’s tricky because now, y’know, having such a good car and with potential for such good results, I just want to perform. So, that’s why.

     

    Q: Has the car become harder to drive than it was earlier in the year when you were winning races, getting pole positions?

    VB: I think the compromises we’ve been needing to do in some circuits to get it into the right window has been quite a challenge sometimes to drive around. I think Lewis has been able to extract a little bit more sometimes with a more tricky setup. Some things with the driving style always makes a difference and to understand those, you always kind of need that bad weekend to learn from it – otherwise you don’t know these differences. It’s not massive things, it’s small things but this sport is all about details and changing some things in your own driving, then it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge and then that way the driving maybe doesn’t feel quite natural at times – but that’s how it is. I see things positive because I think from all those difficult weekends we’ve had there’s been so much to learn from, so much to get better from. Like the race in Malaysia. I’ve had so many answers to my questions from that race. We’ve been trying to work out every single detail with the engineers and trying to understand, so I’ve learned massively again from last weekend. That’s why there’s always a positive.

     

    And talking about those details, is there anything when you look at the data that you can learn from a guy like Lewis Hamilton?

    VB: Yes, of course. From every team mate you can always learn something. From every single one. From every circuit there’s always a thing or two you can pick up, especially from an experienced, extremely quick driver.

     

    Q: Stoffel, tough times for Valtteri at the moment but you’ve had a cracking couple of races, seventh in Singapore, seventh last weekend in Malaysia. You must be feeling pretty good about things.

    Stoffel VANDOORNE: Yeah, lately everything has been going very well for me. I think it shows all the work I’ve been doing with the team – with the engineers, back at the factory as well – is paying off. And yeah, obviously feeling more and more comfortable with the car. It was great to have those two seventh places in Singapore and Malaysia – I don’t want to get used to being happy with seventh but I think considering the package we have it was definitely the best result possible, so very pleased with that and, yeah, five races left this year, which is hopefully five opportunities to make something good of it, so shows we have to keep pushing, keep working as hard as we can and who knows what is possible for the last couple of races.

     

    Q: You’re now ahead of Fernando Alonso in the World Championship. Can you share with us just some of that work you’ve just referred to. What have you been doing? What areas of your job have you had to focus on to turn things around?

    SV: It’s only my first season in Formula One so there were a lot of things I had to get to grips with, learn. I think definitely the troubled start to the season didn’t help with that in terms of the amount of track time we missed and, yeah, lately everything has had a much better run. The relationship between my engineers has developed massively as well and yeah, I think we go into every weekend very positive, very comfortable as well, knowing the areas we have to focus on. It’s very nice to see the results are paying off as well.

     

    Q: You won a Super Formula race here at Suzuka last year. How important is local knowledge? Is there something you gain from your year in Japan last year that might help you this weekend? Is there a trick to this track that you might know that the others don’t?

    SV: I think it’s always very good to know a circuit. Like you said, I have a lot of experience around this circuit. Done a lot of testing, a lot of racing in Super Formula here, and obviously have a win around here as well – which was a special moment. So looking forward to this weekend again, to discover this circuit in Formula One. I think with these cars especially it will be a very exciting track for everyone to drive around.

     

    Q: Pascal, now unlike these other guys, you don’t yet know what you’re going to be doing in 2018 yet you’ve outqualified your teammate, Marcus Ericsson, nine times, you’ve scored all of Sauber’s points this year. Are you confident that that will be enough to keep you in Formula One next season?

    Pascal WEHRLEIN: I hope so. My focus is on driving. This weekend – or every weekend – is another opportunity to show something. The previous races have been quite difficult for us and Malaysia was a bit better so hopefully we learned something from there and can have a better weekend this weekend.

     

    Q: How dependent on Mercedes are you to place you somewhere next season?

    PW: I am a Mercedes Young Driver so of course Mercedes is doing all the talks for me.

     

    Q: And looking ahead to next season, specifically with Sauber, obviously it’s been a tough time for the team this year but judging by what you’ve seen of next year’s car, how do you rate their prospects going forward?

    PW: For Sauber, you mean? So definitely a step forward is the engine, that they are running the current engine next year because now, especially, in the second half of the season we are struggling a bit with the performance there and definitely this is going to be better next year and then also hopefully with the car they are doing some steps forward.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Tatsuya Otani – Car Graphic) I have two questions for Stoffel. How do you look back at the development of the car during the season, for the chassis and the power unit respectively? And question two is: you raced for Honda last year here in Japan in the Super Formula championship; after your experience in Formula One Grands Prix, your image or your feeling of Honda has been changed or not?

    SV: As a team, I think we’ve progressed a lot since the start of the season. Obviously everyone knows the situation, how it was back in Barcelona during winter testing, when it was obviously a very tough time for everyone, even getting the car out on track was difficult. The first few races were complicated as well and I think every weekend there were positives to take; every week has been going better and better. We’re still not at the point where we are happy about our performance. We still know it’s a very long way to go but I think lately we’ve been able to score a couple of points which are definitely very valuable for the team. But like I said, there’s still a long way to go to compete with the top guys so plenty of margin.

    Q: And Stoffel, the second question, can you relate the two experiences of Honda last year and this year?

    SV: Well definitely my year in Super Formula helped me to work with Japanese people. I think the culture especially was very different so to come out here and discover something new, to work in a completely Japanese environment was not the easiest in the beginning, but I think it was a big challenge for me as well to kind of transform a team around me, to teach them some European lessons as well and to guide the team in a certain direction and then seeing the results of that was a nice challenge for me to do.

     

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Hallo Valtteri; you have been very open and honest, talking about your current problem. Aren’t you afraid that at that the same time you have been playing yourself down in public?

    VB: I don’t really… I’m not really interested about what people say in public. I know, like I said before, I know just my own targets, my own goals and if I don’t meet those, if I’m far away from those I’m not happy and then it’s tricky. I’m always very honest with myself and if there’s any single little bit I can improve myself and if I can look in the mirror and I can say I can improve something, normally I will improve it, one way or another. It’s been a very difficult few races that I need to learn massively from and especially from Malaysia but that’s now history. I’m now here and I’m looking forward. There’s been weekends when I’ve learned massively so looking forward to the next one.

    Q: Valtteri, to go public on those thoughts as Heikki just referred to is a surprise to some people.

    VB: Normally I just say things how they are and how things were. I was not happy, that’s it.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Pascal, this weekend will mark the ninth race since the big management changes earlier on in the year, so effectively almost half a season ago in terms of race count. How much has the team changed in that time and in what areas and does it now have a proper foundation for the future, do you believe?

    PW: About the foundation, I don’t really know. But definitely it has changed in the team, with Fred coming we have a very experienced guy and also some other guys joining the team so for next year’s car everyone can expect a good step. Then one of the first things he did of course was to re-sign the Ferrari deal and to put the current engine in the car which will be better.

     

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Valtteri, you’ve talked about what’s happened since the summer break but whilst your teammate’s been on the podium, you haven’t got within half a second of him in qualifying, it’s been a bit difficult. You said the compromises you’ve made but is it time to ask for a new chassis? Would that actually help some of your problems?

    VB: Well, if the team would find a problem with the chassis, with nowadays technology, before going just changing the chassis, you can find out if everything is alright and I trust the team as always, doing everything to make sure the car is in a good condition and well set-up. I trust the guys on that and who knows, maybe I’ve already asked before.

     

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) I’ll take that as a yes, you have.

    VB: Erm, no, not really, directly. I think… what was the first one after the summer break? It was Belgium. I had a poor performance in the beginning of the race and also the qualifying wasn’t great so I asked a lot of questions, you know, I just wanted to kind of take off any  things that could affect… I always want to make sure the machinery is good as well. So, like I said, I completely trust that the team is giving me a good car.

     

    Q: (Shigenori Ogura – Tokyo Sport) Stoffel, welcome back to Suzuka. I would like to know how do you feel now to be back in Suzuka and racing in front of your supporters in Japan?

    SV: Yeah, obviously very excited to be back in Japan in general, back in Suzuka. Obviously some very good memories from last year, racing here. I always had a lot of support from the Japanese fans and this weekend will be no different. If anything, it will be more. They always turn up with great surprises, great presents for all of us and it’s just great to see the atmosphere so I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s a great circuit and just a great event for all of us.

     

    Q: (Gaetan Vigneron – RTBF) Stoffel, could we say that your improved results in so few races could be related to the fact that at one point you could chose your own set-up with your engineers?

    SV: Yeah, I think –  like I said before –  I think it’s just the way I’m working with the team, working with my engineers has developed a lot. I think having had the opportunity to have a bit more track time enabled us to kind of see what I needed from the car, for the engineers as well to understand exactly what I needed from the car. At this point we’re perfectly up to speed with that. There are no doubts any more. I’m very very comfortable as well. Every time I go into a weekend I’m just confident that things will work out, things will go and that’s a nice feeling to have when you jump in the car, to feel comfortable and the car will do what you want it to do.

  • 2017 Japanese GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Japanese GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Felipe MASSA (Williams), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Lance STROLL (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Felipe, let’s start by talking about your future. This time last year you knew what you were going to be doing, or not doing, in 2017….

    Felipe MASSA: No, I didn’t know anything last. What I decided didn’t happen.

     

    Well you weren’t going to be racing in Formula One, that was the plan, but there seems to be some uncertainty now. Where are you at ion your head, how much do you want to stay in Formula One and how much do you want to stay at Wiliams?

    FM: To be honest in my head I’m pretty relaxed, so I’m enjoying and trying to do the best I can in the last races this year and I don’t know what’s going to happen next year. But I’m quite relaxed. I’m quite keen to do maybe another season. I think I can do it in a great way. I can give a lot to the team, like I did already and I think maybe I can do another year. But I don’t decide; the team decides. Yeah, I’m pretty relaxed, trying to enjoy the races, trying to do the best I can in the car, trying to the give the best to the team, and that’s the most important thing. I’m talking with the team definitely for next year and we are in discussion. So everything has some directions around, so I have my direction as well to follow, like a professional driver, like I was always in my career in Formula One and I am very happy for that. That’s the way it is and definitely I can do a good effort for the team but we need to find a good solution to carry on in the right way, that everybody is happy. But anyway, I’m quite relaxed and definitely gave a lot to the team, to Formula One as well. If people are happy that I stay, I stay, and I will do everything I can to stay at the top level. But I’m quite relaxed and I’m trying to do my job in the right way in the last races and we’ll see what’s going to happen.

     

    When do you need to know by? Have you given the team a deadline?

    FM: Well, we don’t have a deadline. Definitely I think it would be good for the team and also for myself that we know what’s going to happen before the race in Brazil. We’ll see if this will be possible but I really hope so.

     

    Turning to matters on track now, you hold the pole position record here at Suzuka, for your Q3 time in 2006. Tell us a little about what’s the secret of stitching together a good lap here and indeed is there any advice you can give a rookie, like your team-mate Lance Stroll?

    FM: Yeah, I remember it was 2006, it was around 29.5 lap time. That was pretty amazing. A long time ago, many things change from that time to now. If you see also that the car we race now is one hundred and something kilos heavier than how it was the car in 2006. But maybe this year it can change. Maybe this year we can see some records around this track and I’m sure it will be great to driver the car we have this year on this track, which is definitely one of the best tracks in Formula One. I’m sure Sector 1 will be quite fun, but also quite difficult for all of us in terms of our neck and in the race and also to do one lap in qualifying will be pretty interesting, to see that feeling. Lance knows already the track, but definitely it is a different car so I think it will be nice for him to drive the car this year.

     

    Thank you. There is clearly a good dynamic between yourself and Felipe, and there’s a lot of speculation around who is going to be your team-mate next year. Do you have a preference?

    LS: We’ve had a really good relationship this year and we’ve done a good job to help the team score as many points as possible, between the both of us. But, at the end of the day, it comes down to the team, who are the drivers. I’ve just got to focus on what I’m doing, but definitely we have a good relationship this year.

     

    Is there one particular thing that you have learned from Felipe this year?

    FM: Many!

    LS: That’s it.

    FM: We should say, no?

    LS: No. It’s between the two of us. All in all, he brings a lot of experience to the team and I’ve been able to use him as a benchmark throughout my rookie season. He’s really helped to develop the car in many ways, with these regulations, and as well I think I’ve been able to pick up a few details along the way that I could apply into my work at the track, so all in all there have definitely been a lot of things I’ve picked up throughout the year.

     

    And you’ve now scored points in six of the last nine races. You’re looking very assured in the car. How much more confident are you now compared to Melbourne at the start of the year?

    LS: I’m a different driver to where I was in Melbourne at the beginning of the year. It’s just experience that you soak up through the year and every race there is always something that I think I could do better. I just feel that I’m getting better every single race and that’s just experience and time in the car.

     

    Thank you Lance. Daniel, can we start by talking about what you’ve been up to since the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend, have you been having fun in the Land of the Rising Sun?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It can be a dark place… the sun doesn’t always rise (laughs). It can get emotional in Tokyo. But no, it’s been OK. A more positive experience in the last few days, was actually with this man here [Felipe Massa]. We went to the famous sushi… I’m going to get it wrong now, Sukiyabashi Jiro, and it kind of became more on the map to let’s say the western world after there was a documentary ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ and I was told about it a couple years ago and I was like ‘oh, we’ll just call and get a reservation for tomorrow night’, but you’ve got to book like a year in advance, so two years later we finally made it. It was a good experience. Yeah but… well, anyway…

    FM: It was good to see his face, when some fish that he is not really keen to have…

    DR: I only started eating seafood a few years ago, like properly, like raw fish. I like some of it, but some is still new to me, but you don’t want to disrespect.

    FM: There was no salmon.

    DR: There was some different stuff, but anyway, it was a good experience for sure. And you’re in and out in 30 minutes, so it’s bang, bang, bang, but it was good. I did some Kendo as well, a Japanese martial art. That was quite cool and I enjoyed that. So two good experiences this week.

     

    You’ve been having a good time! Thanks for that. Well, let’s just cast our minds to the race last Sunday. Can you describe your emotions on Sunday night, because on the one hand you had scored your eighth podium of the year, but was there a sense of what if? What if, for example, you had got past Bottas sooner, what might have been possible?

    DR: I guess there was a small what if. If I had got Bottas or he hadn’t got me on the start I guess then my chances of having a battle with Lewis would have been higher. But I still didn’t look back on the race like ‘aw, it was a missed opportunity’. After the race I thought the start, I was like ‘if only I went to the outside I could have braked later and held my position’, but I think if I had pulled out early of Max’s slipstream to the outside, I think Bottas would have probably just gone through the middle of us. So in hindsight it would have been difficult probably to do anything better on the start. I was still happy, another podium. Although I won there last year it’s actually never really been a track I’ve… I wouldn’t say enjoyed, but had much success on, so to finish on the podium there in the last year I was going to take that, so it’s OK.

     

    Well, the car has been competitive on three very different tracks now, Monza, Singapore, Malaysia. Would you agree with Helmut Marko that it’s now the best chassis in Formula One?

    DR: We have to be close. If it’s not then we’re certainly close, and a lot closer than we were in the first handful of races this year. Like Monza, you surprise yourself on Sunday but then in Singapore, Seb puts a few tenths on us in quali. So you’re like ‘we do and we don’t, we do and we don’t’. Obviously, in Malaysia we were quick. If Ferrari has started at the front they would have been tough to beat. But we’re certainly close. If we’re not the best, we’re certainly close and I think this circuit is another chance for us to show that and I’m looking forward to it very much.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Daniel, Dr Marko has been quoted this week as saying that you are already on the market. Could you elaborate on that, are you aware of that, have you discussed anything with them and what does your future look like within the Red Bull family?

    DR: I mean the only thing I’m aware of is that my contract with them is at an end next year. I guess he’s referencing that. He’s not referencing next year, I guess.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) You hope!

    DR: Ha, ha! I’m 100%, well 99.999% sure I’ve got a seat with Red Bull Racing next year. But I guess he’s talking about beyond that, but nothing’s been said between us beyond next, so I guess he’s more stating facts than… I don’t think he has a plan yet beyond ’18. But yeah, I should be racing next year! He wasn’t too disappointed after Malaysia; I think he was OK, so I think I’m still OK.

     

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Daniel, in the beginning of the season you were not that close to Valtteri’s pace but in the last four races you have overtaken him twice and beaten him three times. Are you surprised at this change?

    DR: I think it’s been… we’ve been getting stronger. So, we have been able to compete more regularly now with Mercedes and yeah, since the summer break he hasn’t had as many – I guess – good performances compared to Lewis at least. I think it’s a combination maybe: he hasn’t performed at his best the last few races and we have got better, so it’s given us a chance to steal some points from him. Obviously my chance of winning the title is very, very, very little but there’s still a small chance at least to get top three again. Valtteri still has a good gap but if I can keep closing on this, then I’ll be pretty satisfied.

     

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Daniel, Red Bull are really good at developing through a season and getting better and better, as you’ve just said. From your perspective isn’t it about time they stopped developing through the season and started developing in the winter and gave you a car to win a championship from the outset. If that doesn’t happen next year, is that make or break for you with the team?

    DR: It’s certainly our plan. It has been obviously… I still don’t know why the last few years we’ve had slow starts and then found a way to come back. So I guess the idea is again what we learn, because there’s not many changes next year, what we learn hopefully from this year hopefully we take to next year and we start stronger. So yeah, that’s obviously the plan, that’s everyone’s wish and yeah, I guess we go from there. Look, if next year’s not a very competitive season at all then, of course, that will then, y’know, be addressed. At least… I feel I’ve said it every time this year but where we are now this year, you’d think next year we should be competitive. Hopefully as competitive as y’know, I would like to see. So, yeah. Mercedes has been winning for too long. We’ll try to change that.

     

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) To Felipe. It’s been reported that Williams are going to be evaluating Robert Kubica and Paul di Resta for next year. Knowing that, how does that factor into your plans for the future?

    FM: I think it doesn’t change anything for me. So… it doesn’t change anything for me. Williams know 100 per cent what I can give to the team and, even if you do a test with a car that is four years before, completely different. You cannot evaluate too much, as well. So, doesn’t change anything for me, to be honest.

     

    Felipe, will you attend that test?

    FM: No! I don’t know. I don’t know even if it’s true, that test, or not. I don’t know. To be honest… I don’t know.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lance, on the topic that Felipe’s just mentioned about a four-year-old car, you’ve done a lot of testing with a four-year-old car and you’re obviously driving the current car. What comparison is there between the two? Do you believe that one could really evaluate a driver that way?

    LS: Well, the cars we drive today are really quick. Back then, in ’14, the cars were, I believe, the first year with the new regulations, so there has been a lot of development, obviously the rules have changed this year, so lot more down downforce, different tyres and all that. So, they are very different, yeah, we’ll see what the team thinks about it. It’s not up to me to decide whether it’s a good evaluation or not.

  • 2017 Japanese GP Preview: Red Bull Resurgence

    2017 Japanese GP Preview: Red Bull Resurgence

    As quickly as the pack up in Malaysia had started, teams were in Suzuka, Japan preparing for the 16th Round of the Formula One World Championship.

    The Suzuka Circuit has been a regular feature on the Formula 1 calendar and traditionally has hosted the final Grand Prix of the season which saw many drivers crowned world champions.

    The current F1 layout of Suzuka is 5.807km long with 18 turns. Some famous corners such as 130R, sector one with the esses, Spoon and of course Degner 1 and 2 make this a real drivers track and it is a well known favourite of drivers.

    “It’s just a great circuit. It’s extremely fast, and you have the section in sector one with all the esses – that feels amazing going through there in a Formula One car,” says Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

    The drivers probably cannot wait to get these 2017 cars around the track. With all the downforce this years cars produce we can expect times to be very quick. There’s a possibility that Degner 1 could be taken flat out.

    Pirelli goes one step softer

    Pirelli are bringing going one step softer this year and for the first time will not bring the hard compound tyre to Suzuka this year. Instead they are bringing the white marked medium compound, yellow marked soft compound and the red marked super soft compound.

    Suzuka is one of the hardest tracks on the tyres in terms of longitudinal loading on the tyres. The long fast corners like Spoon and 130R and in the Esses put large amounts of energy through the tyres. High downforce configurations are usually run by teams around Suzuka.

    Pirelli expects high tyre wear and high degradation, and with the fast cornering graining can also be a factor.

    Although the tyres this year are more durable we could see a two-stop race this weekend.

    Red Bull Resurgence

    Red Bull have been looking increasingly competitive since coming back from the summer break despite being down on power. A Red Bull car has been a regular feature on the podium since the summer break the team from Milton Keynes are the team in form at the moment.

    Red Bull head into Suzuka on the back of a dominant Max Verstappen victory in Malaysia less than a week ago on a track which Mercedes were, on paper, supposed to dominate. It could be argued that Ferrari had the faster car over the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend but engine problems for both Ferrari’s cost them and they were not able to capitalise on Mercedes’ lack of pace.

    The Suzuka circuit characteristics will suit Mercedes, but Red Bull will fancy their chances this weekend. They clearly have a very good package and with two drivers hungry for wins and nothing to lose, we can expect them to get in the mix between Mercedes and Ferrari.

    Over in Maranello Sergio Marchionne has reportedly made some changes to the team structure following the engine problems that plagued Sebastian Vettel after FP3 and Kimi Raikkonen just before the race for the Malaysia Grand Prix. There were also concerns that Vettel may have to take a gearbox penalty following his collision after the race on the cool down lap with Williams’ Lance Stroll but Ferrari have come out and said that everything seems to be fine with the gearbox and that they will conduct tests during Friday Practice in Suzuka as a final check.

    Mercedes will want to put their Malaysia weekend behind them and will no doubt be in a fighting mood come Friday in Suzuka. It’s a track where the W08 will feel right at home. Hamilton will see this as another chance to extend his championship lead over Vettel and put some breathing room between himself and German and who knows may already have one hand on the Championship trophy come Sunday.

     

    Photo credit: Red Bull Racing Formula One Team

  • 2016 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Q: Congratulations Nico, a fantastic win.

    Nico ROSBERG: It’s been an awesome weekend for sure, the whole weekend had gone great from the word go, so it’s been very, very special, especially on this legendary track, beautiful to win here. And of course congrats to everybody, to all my colleagues in the team, for clinching a third Constructors’ World title. So absolutely deserved, definitely it’s been an unbelievable effort all these years, so let’s celebrate hard. And thank you very much to all of you, a very, very special weekend this weekend, you put on such a great show out in the grandstands, it’s amazing. Arigato.

    Q: Turning over, Nico, to the important things. How important is it today not to have Daniel Ricciardo up here to have a shoey again, to drink out of his show?

    NR: I’m going to make sure that he never wins again this year because I don’t want to drink any more out if his shoe.

    Q: That’s a good one. So, going from Germany over the Dutch border to Max Verstappen. Congratulations, man of the race, fantastic. You had the hot breeze of Lewis on your neck, maybe you two had more traffic on track than on the Dutch motorway? 

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, there was a lot of traffic but we saved the tyres a bit in the last stint. I think in general we had a great strategy. Just to race against the Mercedes cars, I think that’s always positive. To come home in second, a big thanks to the team for that.

    Q: How hot was the breath of Lewis on your neck at the end?

    MV: It was not as hot as in Malaysia. The temperature here helped, but of course Lewis was pushing hard and we had a little moment in the chicane, but of course very happy to stay in second.

    Q: Coming to you Lewis, not an easy day for you. The start: what happened there, was it just due to the slippery surface?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly, a big thank you to everyone that came out today. A big congratulations to this team. I’m very, very proud to be a part of it. I’m glad I got some points for the team today. Congratulations to everyone back at the factory at Brixworth and the whole of Mercedes. We couldn’t have done it without all the support we’ve had. I did the best I could from where I was in the race but I’m happy with getting the points.

    Q: Now Lewis, the next races, the world championship, Nico leading now – now will we see the best Lewis Hamilton to fight for the championship?

    LH: Of course. I’ll give it everything I’ve got, as I did in the race and we’ll see what happens.

    Q: Thank you so much, Lewis. Coming back to you Nico, I know tonight you’re flying home but will you rock the plane again or do some karaoke in between in the land of karaoke?

    NR: Maybe a little bit, but not too much. The season is still long, many races to go around the world, so I need to keep my energies.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, let’s pick it up with you first. At the start obviously you lost ground. What part did the dampness on that side of the race track play, do you think, in your getaway? Perhaps a little detail about your fight back and then the championship position as it stands, trailing Nico by 33 points with four races to go.

    LH: Firstly, big congratulations to the team, incredible success for the last three years, very proud to be a part of it and to help contribute to it – so a big thank you to everyone for all of their hard work. This is a great result. Yeah, I don’t think the damp patch had really anything to do with it. I just had… I made a mistake and then just working my way up from there was tricky but, y’know, I did the best I could.

    And the 33 points, four races to go, feelings on that.

    LH: That’s a healthy margin for Nico, he did a great job, so congrats to him.

    Q: Let’s return to our race winner, Nico Rosberg, ninth win of this 2016 season, 23rd of your career and your first, as we were hearing on the podium, here in Japan after three pole positions. Clearly the start was decisive today. Your thoughts on that and how your race rolled out. And then, also your thoughts on having that margin. 33 points with four races to go. Niki Lauda has just said on TV it’s a “comfortable” position. Your thoughts.

    NR: Yeah, for sure. Just the whole weekend went really well from the word go. Just felt good in the car, found the right balance and all the way through to qualifying. Got that lap done and then the start went well… just everything went well. Just controlling the pace and the gap to Max in the race. Perfect weekend really. Really happy with that. To win on this legendary track as well. Points, yeah, I’m well aware of the 33 points of course but it’s not something I’m focussed on, as you know. Just want to take it race by race. That’s what I did this weekend. So focussed on trying to win the race and very happy it worked out. Still many races to go, so just keeping my head down.

    Q: Coming to you Max, your sixth podium in Formula One. One of the best I’m sure, great measured drive – but tell us more about the move to block Lewis at the end. Before his actual move was there a little bit of memories of holding off Räikkönen in Spain earlier this season, and then when he actually made the move, was it going through your mind that he had more to lose than you did?

    MV: To be honest, I never really thought about it, both of those things. I was just doing my race. I think the car was feeling quite good. I was trying to follow Nico a bit and I think in general we did a great strategy, so the car was working well and, of course, Lewis was closing up a lot. At the end of the race he was pushing really hard and I knew he’s fighting for the World Championship, so you’re not going to do crazy things, of course. But I think in the end it was all good. I managed to keep my tyres alive and to come home in second. That’s of course a great result for myself and I think also one of my best races so far but also for the team I think. For the Constructors’ it’s a very good result.

    Q: Lewis, your 100th podium in Formula One today. If you could just tell us a little bit about, particularly when you went onto the hard tyre you were extremely fast straight away, I think you passed four cars in one lap at that phase of the grand prix, so maybe a word about that. And then about the move at the end. You came over the radio and said Max moved under braking, as if to suggest you weren’t particularly happy about that. Maybe you could clarify what you were saying.

    LH: Yeah, the middle stint, the car felt good. Generally the car felt great throughout the race, so it wasn’t really a problem and I’m not really quite sure if I was overtaking backmarkers or not but I was just overtaking whoever I could. Had a good run there. Fought hard at the end but just didn’t make it.

    But you were happy with his move to defend?

    LH: Well… it doesn’t really matter now. It’s done and we move forwards.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Nico, of course there are four races to go, you said you are thinking race by race but you have two match points as we might say in tennis because you have more than one victory advantage. Do you have a different approach to the next races or are you just doing race to race?

    NR: There’s still a long way to go, hunh? There’s no point in changing my approach now so I’m sticking with what I’m doing because it’s working well.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport)  Lewis, after the first lap where did you think you were going to end up, being in P8, I think?

    LH: Honestly I don’t really remember. I can’t remember, I was just far back and I was just looking to go forwards.

    Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Lewis, you said you made a mistake at the start. Can you give us a little more detail, what exactly happened there?

    LH: Not really, I just got wheelspin.

    Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Max, when you were fighting with Lewis, did you imagine that he would attack in the chicane? Is that why you made a move to defend, you were expecting him to go there?

    MV: Yeah, it was just for fun! No, of course you see him coming in the mirrors so… Already the laps before he was closing quite a bit but I saw already out of T14 that he had a good exit so yeah, I was using a bit of energy and I defended into the last chicane. All good.

  • Vettel Defends Ferrari Strategy at Japanese GP

    Vettel Defends Ferrari Strategy at Japanese GP

    Sebastian Vettel defended Ferrari’s strategy decision at the Japanese Grand Prix race which seen him finish 4th, possibly missing out on a podium finish.

    While Vettel completed the race with a 2-stop strategy, his was slightly different to the rest. The most widely used two-stop was to start on the softs, then two stints on the hard tyre. Vettel chose to complete his final stint on the soft tyre in the hopes of launching an attack on Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the final podium position.

    Hamilton pitted on lap 33 for another set of hard tyres for his final stint. Vettel came in a lap later on lap 34. Vettel had emerged just behind Hamilton on the soft tyres to try and gain a few positions. Vettel managed to hang on to Hamilton’s tail for a few laps and then dropped off as degradation took hold of his tyres.

    Talking about the choice of pit strategy Vettel felt that it was the right thing to do.

    “We tried to go on the softer tire in the end, which initially we thought would work well, but then we had too much degradation and we were falling off this group,” said Vettel.

    “It is always easy to criticize, and I am sure there are many ‘experts’ that knew better, but on the pit wall as well as in the car, I was keen to go for this strategy so to extend the second stint.

    Many felt that Ferrari threw away a podium finish for Vettel and if they had brought him in a lap before Hamilton he would have been able to maintain track position. Things are not that simple in F1, they rarely are. Vettel was heard over the radio complaining about traffic and cars that were not obeying the blue flags. The traffic definitely slowed Vettel down and according to the German he caught up with the traffic at the worst section of the track.

    After the race Vettel was calmer and a bit more open minded with his opinion about the traffic.

    “It’s a fact I lost big chunks of time with the blue flags,” added Vettel.

    “I always got the lapped cars right in sector one, when they can’t move, so I was losing a lot of time, and there’s probably where I lost track position to Lewis, who always seemed to clear the lapped cars in the straight. But then the pace wouldn’t have probably been enough to challenge for the podium.”

     

  • FIA post-qualifying press conference – Japanese Grand Prix

    FIA post-qualifying press conference – Japanese Grand Prix

    Drivers: 1 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 2 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari).

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Nico, the pressure was really on for that final run but you did it, pole by 13 thousandths of a second which I think your team calculates to be 82 centimetres around this Suzuka circuit.

    Nico Rosberg: Yeah, of course, happy with the result in the end. I was going well the whole weekend, I had a good balance in the car, feeling good, feeling comfortable so that’s what allows me then to put in a lap like that in the end. Yeah, pleased with that.

    Q: And Lewis, not the end of the world from your point of view because as we look back over the last couple of seasons you’ve won here from second place on the grid, so is that very much what’s on your mind as you sit here this afternoon?

    Lewis Hamilton: Well, I’m happy with qualifying. It’s been a weekend of a lot of work that’s gone on, getting the car set-up right and some big changes went into qualifying. Considering that, to be that close I was really happy with it. I got everything I could… I did as well as I could, I think. Naturally, if you have more laps, I guess you could always find more time but yeah, generally very happy with that and history has shown that you don’t have to be on pole to get the win. But Nico did a great job and has done all weekend.

    Q: Kimi, great lap for third place; for the fourth time this season you’ve qualified in this position. Do we infer from this that Ferrari has made a bit of a step compared to Red Bull in the last few races?

    Kimi Raikkonen: I don’t know. Honestly, it’s pretty much the same car that we raced a week ago. I don’t think many people have had a lot of difference but it’s very… positively surprised how well the car’s been behaving and how quick it’s been. Obviously it’s been a bit tricky to get the right balance but it’s been pretty good and so far so good but obviously third is not exactly what we’re looking for but I think we’re pretty close. It was not too bad.

    Q: Coming back to our pole-sitter, Nico Rosberg, you’ve been fastest in every single track session so far this weekend – obviously Lewis got the quicker first run in Q3 – but you’ve topped every single track session so far this weekend, but as Lewis was saying, the last two years he’s won the race from P2; how do you make it go your way tomorrow?

    NR: It’s just putting everything together, you know. For sure the start is going to be an important one, definitely tomorrow and we’ve seen this weekend that it’s not been too easy, because it’s downhill and the grip somehow has been a bit lower than usual so it’s going to be an interesting challenge. And from then on, then just need to get the tyre life to be able to do long enough stints and everything to get the strategy to work so it’s putting everything together.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Back to our pole-sitter, Nico Rosberg, third year in a row here in Suzuka, thirtieth of his Formula One career. Nico the last sector on that final run was what made the difference for you versus Lewis, I think it’s fair to say. Tell us about the pressure you were feeling after that first run in Q1 and what it was about that final sector that eventually nailed it for you?

    NR: It was just a good lap, just got it all done properly, that’s it. I knew I could do it, I knew I could do a good lap and just the first one in Q3 wasn’t perfect so I just had to get my head down and nail it.

    Q: Why was it not perfect?

    NR: I’m not really sure. I just felt a bit less grip somehow and it just didn’t come together so I don’t really have an explanation.

    Q: OK, moving to Lewis, Lewis bouncing back strongly from obviously the disappointment of last weekend, you were referring there in your first answer to the fact that you’ve been working very hard on the set-up of the car, particularly presumably with an eye on the race but you were in the groove as far as race pace is concerned?

    LH: Well, we just kind of veered off on a different tangent in terms of set-up this weekend and it wasn’t until qualifying that I veered back so some big changes. It’s not that easy to go straight into qualifying with a completely different car so that’s why I’m relatively happy with considering what I did. I think we’re in a good position for tomorrow.

    Q: Kimi, obviously balance is a big thing around here. You were complaining a few times on the radio of understeer throughout the last couple of days and again this afternoon. Tell us a little bit about that and also you did a soft tyre run in Q1 which Red Bull did not do, not a quick one. They only went on to it in Q2 and Q3. Do you think that helped you to find the balance that ultimately gave you this third place today?

    KR: Well, I think it doesn’t harm, that’s for sure. I mean it’s always more easy when you have more sets of the same compound so you can fine-tune a little bit but obviously in qualifying there’s not an awful lot that you can do that is correct or not. We been suffering a bit of understeer all weekend and even in qualifying just slowing us down a little bit in the first sector but it got a bit better in the end. Obviously it got faster then but it’s the very small details that have to come together and we managed to put all these together more or less and the car’s been behaving quite good. It’s shame that Seb has a penalty but we will try to do the same if not better tomorrow.

  • Japanese Grand Prix qualifying : Rosberg beats Hamilton to Suzuka pole

    Japanese Grand Prix qualifying : Rosberg beats Hamilton to Suzuka pole

    Formula One World Championship leader Nico Rosberg snuck in to steal the Japanese Grand Prix pole from Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.013s. Rosberg claimed his third consecutive Suzuka pole position with a time of 1:30.647.

    Ferrari outperformed their Red Bull championship rivals to claim the third and fourth spots on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen finished ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel. The German will start from P7 following the 3 place grid penalty he received for causing a collision with Rosberg at Turn 1 of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

    Verstappen finished fifth fastest for Red Bull but makes his way up to P4 with thanks to Vettel. Team mate and Malaysian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo will start the race behind him.

    Top 3 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka QualifyingSergio Perez will start sixth for Force India with Romain Grosjean putting in his best qualifying performance of the season to start 8th. For the first time both Haas F1 cars made it through to the Top 10 with Esteban Gutierrez lining up 10th behind Nico Hulkenberg.

    The Williams F1 team sent both of their drivers out for just a single run in Q2 and saw neither Valtteri Bottas nor Felipe Massa make it through to Q3. They will start 11th and 12th respectively.

    Daniil Kvyat managed to take P13 ahead of his Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz. Fernando Alonso will line up in 15th following a torrid qualifying session for the McLaren Honda team. Jenson Button could not even make it out of Q1.

    Jolyon Palmer pushed his Renault through to Q2 and will start from 16th on the grid. Kevin Magnussen, Marcos Ericsson, Felipe Nasr start ahead of Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein who will take up the back row of the grid for the Manor Racing team.

    Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and some chit chat throughout tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. It’s a very close race between the Ferrari and Red Bull teams setting the scene for what should be a smashing race at Suzuka.

    Japanese Grand Prix qualifying classification

    Japanese Grand Prix qualifying classification Suzuka