Tag: Lotus

2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by David Coulthard)

Lewis, your 39^th grand prix victory, your 80^th time on the podium – equalling your great hero Ayrton Senna – a pretty good day at the office?

Lewis HAMILTON: Wow. How you guys doing, you good? We’ve had such a great crowd here this weekend. It’s been incredible, the whole circuit just packed out with all you fans, so thank you all for coming. And for me, just an amazing weekend again. Incredible job done by the team throughout the pit stops, throughout the whole weekend, the guys back at the factory… You know, today was a dream. The whole weekend the car was fantastic, so thank you guys.

It seemed to me that the only real concern you had after the start was after the Virtual Safety Car and Nico was able to get that gap down to just a few seconds. Any other concerns during the race?

LH: No. Nico had obviously good pace but I was able to answer most of the time, so I was fairly relaxed at the front. The car was feeling great and it was really about looking after the tyres, particularly at the end when I saw that one of the tyres had blown on another cars I was being very cautious, so in the last two laps Nico was allowed to close the gap. No, I felt in control all the way and as I said a lot of good assistance from the team, so I felt like 100 per cent all weekend.

OK, Lewis, congratulations, your summer holiday obviously treated you well. Just come to our second-placed finisher here.

Nico, congratulations. It seemed it all went away from you at the start. You were able to come back at Lewis later in the race, but just talk us through what went wrong there?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, I just completely messed up the start, so that was very annoying. I fought my way through. I gave it absolutely everything, I mean we were both on the edge all the way through. The car has been amazing, so I’m really thankful to the team again for giving us such a car. It’s awesome to drive it. And Lewis did a great job, so deserved to win. I tried to give it everything but not enough.

Well, you certainly kept him honest. We know that you have a big event coming up in the coming few days, so you’ll not be wanting to spend too much time on the interviews. Your lovely wife is expecting your first child, so you’re rushing off after this?

NR: Yeah, I’m rushing off very, very quickly yes, because we’re expecting our first child any moment, so a very exciting time, looking forward to that, probably next week, let’s see.

We’ll, good luck and congratulations for that. Now, Romain, welcome back, your 10^th podium. This circuit saw one of the low points in your career I guess when you got a one-race ban, but focusing on this high today: fantastic and very timely for the Lotus team.

Romain GROSJEAN: Hello, everyone. It has been an incredible weekend for us. A great qualifying yesterday, unfortunately we had the grid penalty, and a good race. I still can’t believe that we are on the podium. Those guys have been working hard to give us that car to be able to be here today. Of course going into turn one, every time I take a start in Spa, I will remember 2012 but I think it made me stronger and indeed allowed me to be 10 times on the podium. Being here today is kind of special I think, it has the feel of a race win.

Well congratulations, fantastic to see you back up here and you’ve never stopped smiling through the difficult times? Lewis, as you recognise the fans down there, just a closing question from us. As you look into the second half of the season, it’s still very close with your team-mate, but do you start to feel now that you’re getting your hands closer to another world title?

LH: It definitely way too early for that. But as I said coming into this weekend, you want to get those pole positions and translate them into wins and hopefully today is the beginning of that, so I’m looking forward to the next races, I hope to see many of these fans at some of the other races coming up.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, Mercedes’ seventh one-two finish of the season, 2015, you just said on the podium there you were under control. Obviously a great start but obviously Nico was closing at various phases before the virtual safety car. I just wonder if the virtual safety car, also the cloud cover coming over, just helped you to bed in those medium tyres because after that initial spurt from Nico in the first lap or two after the virtual safety car, you were able to just stretch away from him. Maybe you could just tell us about that phase of the grand prix and his challenge at that point?

LH: It was really just about utilising the tyres, not having to push. I didn’t really push very hard on the out-laps, took it quite easy for the first three or four laps in which there was areas where Nico would be closing. And then I started to push after that – but I was really never in a position where I was nervous or anything. I had great pace in the car, the balance felt fantastic. It actually was getting better throughout the race. There was no real need to push any more than I was already. I had a comfortable gap and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it’s won by a tenth or won by ten seconds. So, at the end I saw that there was a blow-up so I was being very cautious with my tyres. I’d done pretty well up until then so I was just going to make sure I bought it home.

Q: You said on Thursday this wasn’t one of your favourites. Is it moving into becoming one of them again now?

LH: I didn’t mean that it wasn’t one of my favourites. Monaco of course is definitely a favourite but this is a great circuit. It’s incredibly challenging. The weather’s been great this weekend so for sure when the weather’s as good as it is today it really does make it a great weekend. Incredible turnout from all the fans, which is really good to see. A lot of British flags, which I really appreciate but the track is really fun to drive. It’s a historic circuit. Eau Rouge. You can never get tired of driving through Eau Rouge. So it’ll always be a special circuit, for sure.

Q: Coming to you Nico. Obviously a terrific recovery after a poor getaway. Some good strategy as well that got you up into second place around the first pitstops – but tell us, from your perspective, about the way that gap seemed to come down and then just rose again.

NR: Yeah, the start was really bad so I need to practice that a bit more I think, and then after that I just benefited from the fact they weren’t racing me, in front of me. They were just racing all the people behind, so they just pitted, I suppose, because I wasn’t their opponent. They assumed I was too quick anyway – rightly so – and then, yeah, I had a clear path in front, chased down Lewis. I was always coming closer except for this one phase in the second stint, towards the end where Lewis pulled away. So that definitely cost me a bit. Then on the Option felt great again. I was qualifying lap every lap trying to hunt Lewis down but he did a great job and it wasn’t enough.

Q: Romain, welcome back. 31 races since we last had you here, Austin 2013 when you had that big Stetson on as I recall. Lots of great overtakes today, I want you to pick out a few of your favourites. I know you were building to a pass on Vettel at the end when he had the tyre go. Obviously he changed his strategy. What were your thoughts around that final period of the grand prix? What was going through your head?

RG: I was really closing the gap on Seb. It’s very unfortunate he had that puncture and it was a bit of a scary moment just being behind. I think we got everything we could get today, starting from P4 on the grid I’m sure we would have had a much easier race but it was really good fun. All the overtaking into Turn Five, I was really taking it as hard as I could on brake. Probably one of my best races ever. I remember Austin, a long time ago, but I still remember I was a bit drunk at the press conference! A little bit too much champagne on the podium with Seb. It has been up and down here for me. Of course Spa 2012 with Lewis was a bit of a tough time but on the other side it’s helped me because who I am today and being able to be on the podium with how we are during the weekend shows how strong our guys, and how strong we’re capable of building a car and be there. It was a great race, I enjoyed every minute and if we can do it again, let’s go.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speedsport magazines) Nico, talk us through that start. Was that a direct consequence of the new clutch rules?

NR: It was more a consequence of… well, yes, for sure but mostly also because we did another formation lap and that always puts more temperature in everything and then things change. But eventually it’s my job to do it well and I didn’t’ do a good job.

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Question for Romain Grosjean. Was it your call to pit during the virtual safety car and can you explain how do you gain the speed this weekend with your car?

RG: I unfortunately cannot explain the gain of speed – but the call on the safety car, I went through Eau Rouge on that lap and they just told me on the radio “safety car window is open” and I did finish the lap and ‘safety car’ came up on the steering wheel and we pitted as planned. We needed to fit the prime tyre for the end of the race. I think then I lost a positon to Seb, they stayed on the one-stop strategy which was quite aggressive and we didn’t think we’d be able to do it. I knew the safety car window was open, and if the safety car, the virtual safety car, was lasting long enough for me to rejoin the pit or get in the pit before it ended, it was the strategy for me to stop, yeah.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Romain, we know there are some issues in the team in this period. I would like to know how tough is it to deal with this situation and try to be focused only on the race.

RG: I think engineers, driver, mechanics, we are focusing more on the racing side and I’m probably not aware of everything going around but I didn’t want to neither, I think. I’m here to race as hard as I can, to give it 100 per cent all of the time. I think driving around Spa, every time you go through Eau Rouge and Pouhon, Turn 10-11, it’s a special feeling and I think you just enjoy it. I don’t really care about what’s going around. The only thing I want is to do my best to give the guys who are really working hard a good reward.

Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – Auto Digest) My question is for you Romain. Since a moment the future of Lotus was unknown and last days we’ve heard a lot about the potential comeback of Renault. So, did it give you motivation to step up on the podium?

RG: No. I think, as a racing driver in general, every time we start a race the idea is to try to win it. You know what you have in your hands and you know that sometimes it is not possible but as long as you do everything with 100 per cent of your performance you can fly home in the evening being proud of what you did. That’s what I want to achieve. Sometimes there’s been times in the past year where you score one point or two points and it has been an incredible performance, probably you can’t see it on TV because it’s hidden by the fact that the car is not as good – but every time I just in the car it’s to give my best. It’s cost me a little bit in the past but putting things in the right order makes it good today.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, Nico just mentioned that he might have been caught out by the second formation lap. I think you had a similar drama in Budapest. Did the experience from Budapest help you to overcome that?

LH: I don’t think so. I think, of course we were wary of it but going into the weekend we knew that that may be a scenario and we prepared for it. So, when it came to doing the start, I was very much prepared for it. The engineers prepared me for that potential restart, so, yeah, maybe it was a small benefit. I’m happy. My start was really good.

Q: (Mike Doodson – GP Plus) A question for Romain. You’re a father. My question is – and try to be honest – does becoming a father have an effect on your performance and what advice would you like to offer to Nico and his wife?

RG: Sleep as much as you can while the baby’s not here! It’s going to get bad! I think it helps your life in general. You don’t do things for yourself anymore, you do them for them. They are everything for you. And it’s your blood that goes through their body. When you have a tough weekend – or a tough day – you call then, you Skype then in the evening, you see the face of your son, or your sons, and you just laugh. It probably helps to relax your mind in the evening, to think about something else and come fresh in the morning. Once the helmet is on, visor closed, going flat out through Eau Rouge. If you think about your family, you’re not going to stay flat out. We’re racing drivers, we love doing what we do. We know it’s dangerous – we had a good example recently. But, it certainly changes your life. And, to be fair, I’ve never been a world champion, never won a grand prix but the feeling and the emotion I had on the birth of my two sons, has been far better than everything else I’ve known in the world. I wish Nico the same thing. He’ll probably tell us in Monza how it is.

Q: (Sarah Holt – CNN) Romain, you said that the big crash you had here in 2012 made you stronger. Can you explain in what ways: racecraft, mentally, other things?

RG: Well, I think it’s no secret that since that day I’ve been working with a psychologist specialising in sport and top athletes. There’s a lot of people in the sporting world, especially in the Olympic Games or in professional rugby or football teams, that are working with psychologists and they succeed in overcoming their problems, to understand. Being a father is not always easy either, so sometimes we can speak about fatherhood, about being an husband, being a racing driver, having problems at the start, what was the key, what was the problem? Was I focusing on the right way, the wrong way? All of that work, which has not always been nice and easy – you know, you can have a bad night after a good session – but help you to understand things and to be able to pull out some performances as we did today.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport Magazines) Lewis, yesterday you said one of your concerns about starting first was that someone might get by you going up the hill and Perez actually got ahead of you; the timing screens showed that at the end of sector one. How did you get back in there and take the lead again?

LH: It was very similar to last year, actually. I think Sebastian had slipstreamed me and was pretty much past but by having the inside line and braking later, I was able to hold the position and that’s really what I did with Perez. He braked earlier than me and I outbraked him and managed to get back in the lead after he just took it for a second but he was very fair which was good of him.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, you said that it’s too early to speak about clinching the World Championship trophy, but yesterday, with your pole position, you already secured the pole trophy. Does that mean anything to you?

LH: The pole trophy is not particularly exciting but getting poles is definitely a great thing. Naturally winning the World Championship is the goal. I would give up everything else, all the poles, the pole position trophy for the – yeah, you can have it, no problem – for the World Championship so that’s really the goal but I’m really happy with how the qualifying has gone this year. It’s been a huge step for me and today the plan was to try and convert that pole position and the speed that I had in qualifying into the race. I feel like I did that and I’m sure that there will be areas to improve on which I will continue to try and work on.

NR: I never got my trophy for last year, so don’t expect a trophy coming your way for that. Ask whoever is responsible.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Romain, as Monza is similar to Spa, can you expect the same result in two weeks?

RG: I think Monza is a big difference in a way that there are special aero packages for Monza and it’s one race out of 19 where it’s always difficult to know exactly what’s going to be there. I’m sure in term of pole everything is going to be under control. Hopefully is working as well as it is today but I think right now I’m just thinking about having a good drink tonight!

Q: (Giusto Ferronato – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, we remember that in the final part of the last year, I mean from Monza, you started to win a lot of races. Do you feel the same sensations as last year?

LH: At the moment, it’s a lot different to last year, obviously at this point. Last year I came away from here… it was a very difficult time but after that, no great pace and great results, so for sure that’s the goal, to continue that from here so this has already been a much much better year than last year and the plan is to try and continue with that. I still feel there’s improvements to be made, particularly in the race so that’s what I will continue to do but I’ll definitely take today’s result.

August 23, 2015
2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

Nick CHESTER (Lotus)

Andrew GREEN (Force India)

Giampaolo DALL’ARA (Sauber)

James ALLISON (Ferrari)

Paddy LOWE (Mercedes)

Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing)

PRESS CONFERENCE

If I could start with a question for all of you: coming in next year are further restrictions on driver aids and team radio assistance. Can you give us your thoughts on the difference it will make that fans will be able to appreciate? James, why don’t you start?

James ALLISON: Well, if it has its intended effect it will make it so that the drivers who are most on top of their game can do a better job than the ones who needed to be led a little bit more by the hand. I think on the whole the drivers are all pretty good in Formula One so I imagine that within six months or so, or maybe sooner, it will feel very much like it did before but maybe in the transition to that there will be a few mistakes made and maybe some interesting events as a result.

Giampaolo?

Giampaolo DALL’ARA: Yeah, well, I can tell you about the engineering side of it: it changes quite a bit the way we work, approaching the issues involving the driver more and the engineering side of the car. Eventually I think the result is what James has just mentioned. The driver will be more in charge of what he is doing, also on aspects that today maybe are driven from the back. Judging then the perception on the spectators, this is very difficult from where I sit, honestly.

Thank you. Paddy, there is obviously a big list of things you can and can’t say on the radio. How do you remember all those things?

Paddy LOWE: I know. It’s actually quite tricky. We police ourselves on the intercom. People often ask: “Can I say that? Can I say that?” But yeah, we will work our way through it and get used to it in time. As the other two have said, I think we will see a little bit more variability. But the big thing for me is that to a larger extent if a driver has a good or a bad start that will be down to his skill and less dependent on the team’s performance on configuring the start.

Nick, a step in the right direction?

Nick CHESTER: I think everybody wants to see the drivers being in charge of their own starts, so I can see why it has come in, but I’d echo the comments earlier, I think people will get used to it very quickly. There might be a few little mixes early on but it will settle down fairly quickly.

And Paul, looking ahead to next year, obviously more sweeping changes as well, what difference will that make?

Paul MONAGHAN: I think you’ll see a little bit more variability. We’ll see the odd fluffed start; we’ll see a bit of a shuffle up of the grid order approaching turn one. Mid-race I think when the drivers get used to it and depending on how the teams treat the level of automation there will be subtle differences maybe in ultimate performance you can extract from the car, after that I think it will settle out. What the fans will see? A little bit at the starts maybe but once you’re in the race I’m not sure there’ll be much other than less radio traffic.

A final thought from you Andrew?

Andrew GREEN: Yeah, I’m the same. I think within a few months the differences will be quite subtle. Like people have said, maybe a few fluffed starts. But the main thing is that the radio is going to be quite quiet.

OK. Coming back to you then James. Back on top with a victory in Hungary for Sebastian, but another technical problem on Kimi’s side. What was the reason for that and what expectations do you have both in terms of performance but also reliability for the remainder of the season?

JA: I don’t think we tend to go into the nuts and bolts of why our bits and pieces fail on our car but enough to say that we had a problem with the ERS system that meant that we were unable to continue in the race. Initially we lost a decent amount of power and then thereafter unable to continue. I hope we have put that behind us with the modifications that we’ve made during the last few weeks and for the remainder of the season, I think it’s going to be a bit like the first half. We’re not a bad car, but we’re not as good as these guys [Mercedes] and if they have a bad weekend while we’re having a good weekend then we can upset the apple cart a bit and if things pan out more normally then we tend to come in behind them. So let’s keep our fingers crossed that they have a bad weekend and we do the opposite.

Q: Paul, if James is saying the Ferrari’s not a bad car compared to the Mercedes, it looks as though the Red Bull has become a substantially better car in the last month. Obviously a double podium in Hungary. Big progress on the chassis side. Was that a question of new parts or was it just, as much as anything, unlocking the potential of what was already there?

PM: It’s a combination. We have some new parts there. We’ve improved the car a little bit in many areas, not just, shall we say, focussed on one of them. It’s starting to show benefits. We’ve seen the benefits in increments and in Hungary it was more complete, shall we say. It was nice to be challenging at the sharp end of it again and I think at the moment we have to accept Mercedes have a bit of a performance advantage. Maybe they have a bad weekend, maybe we have a good weekend and then I think it’s all up for the fight, isn’t it? We’ll put ourselves in there such that, if we can benefit from circumstances then we’re there to do so.

Q: Andrew Green, coming to you from Force India, talking about upward performance curves, you’re certainly a good example of that with Force India. New car, of course, introduced a few rounds ago certainly contributed to that. What do you think is possible for the rest of the season for your team?

AG: Well, I mean we’ve bought new parts here, we’ve got new parts coming for the next couple of races. I think once we get to Singapore, we’ll start to begin to understand where this car actually sits – that’s where we plan to bring the last of this current suite of updates to the track. We’re looking to start moving ahead of the guys behind us, obviously for sure, and looking to see if we can stay on the coat tails of Red Bull to a certain degree. If we hadn’t had the issues in Hungary, we were racing well in Hungary. Hungary was a shock to us, gave us a bit of a shot in the arm. We’ve learned from that, we’re moving forwards. We’ve got some exciting races coming up for Force India.

Q: Paddy, first of all, any update on the cause of Rosberg’s tyre failure from your side. What did you see on the screens?

PL: I think we’ve really only seen the same the same thing that everyone else has seen on the video. So very unusual situation where there seemed to be some bits of tyre structure coming out up to a minute before the actual terminal failure of the tyre. Not something I’ve seen before. So Pirelli have obviously taken the tyre away to analyse. I think we’ll have to wait to see what emerges from that. We’re double-checking everything to do with the car as well, obviously. But yeah, that’ll be something we’ll work through the evening.

Q: Obviously the reversed qualifying battle between Rosberg and Hamilton this season. Last year 11 poles for Rosberg, this year just one for him in the first ten races. Hamilton seven last year but nine from 10 this year. As the technical boss, the guy who oversees all of this, what do you see is going on there?

PL: I think it’s just the two drivers’ form as it varies. I know Nico was finding it quite difficult at the beginning of this year but actually he picked himself up from Spain onwards and he’s shown himself a great competitor to Lewis, so the battle’s far from over. As we can see, it isn’t always won on the Saturday grid position so the championship is wide open to the end.

Q: Coming to you Giampaolo, obviously you have bought some updates to the car this weekend. How happy are you. It certainly looked reasonably encouraging from the practice runs this afternoon. Obviously you can’t draw too many conclusions from Friday but how satisfied are you with what you bought to the track this weekend.

GD: At the moment we are finding what we are expecting to find. Difficult to say, as you mention, what this will mean for the race. What leaves us with quite some optimism more in general is that we got to the point where, after some frustration after losing some momentum, we expect some updates to come. Some are already here, as I mentioned. This is mostly on Ferrari’s side: we have an upgraded power unit fitted which is seemingly giving up some laptime. On top of this, let me add, it’s one of those tracks where our car feels more comfortable. It was lately some track-by-track troubles that here we don’t expect to have. Plus, in the next couple of races and ultimately Singapore we expect some major aerodynamic update which for us means the main target of getting back into the fight to get the guys here in the midfield in order to be able to score points more regularly than we are now.

Q: Finally Nick, a couple of talking points for you. On the one hand obviously encouragement with Romain Grosjean I think seventh fastest in that practice session, on the other an accident for Pastor this morning. How much does that kind of thing set you back in a race weekend?

NC: Well obviously it does set up back a little bit. Pastor was having quite a good P1 session until he had his off, and then that disrupts his P2 because it took us a while to get the car back together. So he’s missed a bit of running in P2 but he’s got back out there, proved the car out again and I’m sure he’ll be back on it for P3.

And encouragement from the performance of the other car?

NC: Yeah, quite pleased with Romain in P7. I think there’s only nine-hundredths to P4 and the car’s going quite well.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Week) I’ve been very puzzled by the clutch stories we’ve been told. We haven’t been given a lot of information about what the procedure was and I wondered, now that it’s no longer what it was, whether one of you could explain to an ignorant journalist exactly how these clutch procedures worked. I understand there are two clutches, you give advice to the driver over the radio, you’re not allowed to do that any more. Could I ask for a volunteer from the front row to go through the procedure just for me?

JA: The overall procedure is fairly long and tedious so I will try and shortcut it a bit. When you go with the car from stop to going, there’s a certain amount of grip available on the track. The tyre has a certain amount of grip, the track has a certain amount of grip, you want to go as close to that available grip as possible but not over it and you don’t want to go under it otherwise you’re not making as much performance as there is available. Now if you were super duper skilful you might have fingers that could judge exactly where that grip is but it all happens very very fast so a perfect start is one where you can just let go of the clutch, let go of it and it closes to the perfect point where it delivers exactly the right amount of torque, such that the tyre doesn’t light up and spin, but neither does it give less torque to the road than the road is capable of taking. So our job, during the weekend, is to try to judge exactly how much grip is available and to adjust our clutches so that when the driver says go, the clutch closes the perfect amount to deliver the perfect amount of torque to the road and then off it goes. And that’s something that happens without the driver adjusting stuff, he doesn’t fiddle around with his fingers. The way that we used to do that in the past was there’s two clutch paddles, one which he holds all the way in, keeping the clutch fully open and the other which he holds in a partially closed and open position. We then, as engineers, adjust the clutch so that this partially closed and open position is at exactly the right point to get this magic start. And then when the light goes green, he lets go of the first clutch and the clutch closes to the point that is being held by the second paddle. Off the car goes.

All that’s changed is that now we‘re not allowed to advise or make any adjustments to that biting point between when the car’s on the grid preparing for the start of the race and when the driver actually does it so the parade lap start and the real start is done all by the driver and if he thinks it’s not closed enough or too open, he has to make his own judgement about that and make the calls. We can be sitting in the garage going ‘no, don’t do that’ but we don’t have any power to stop him.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Week) I understand what you say but you could, from the pits, via telemetry, actually adjust the clutch? You could, or you couldn’t?

JA: No, we can’t. All we can do is instruct the driver to change a map that he himself has to do with his fingers but we can judge what he should do. Now we can’t say anything. We can still judge but all we can do is go ‘no!’ or ‘hooray!’

Q: (Joe van Burik – NU.NL) Paul, Renault Sport have indicated that they worked through the summer break to keep developing the power units. They say that they conducted some notable performance work and also concepts for next year, pleased with the results. How were you involved in the development as a client and do you expect a notable increase in the overall performance when the upgrades arrive for Russia, as Christian Horner stated before?

PM: As a client, our involvement is in several stages. Clearly we will make a judgement on the relative performance of the car and power unit package. Then we try to separate the power unit from the chassis side of things if you like, to try and offer to – in this instance Renault – to say OK, that’s where we think you sit in relative terms. That sort of sets your targets, if you like, relative to how we perceive the best power unit. They will always push to get as much out of their power unit as they possibly can and it sets a target for that year, the following year and try to give them a relative positioning. If the changes are internal, it’s very much the business of Renault. If the changes again become more external, which can affect our packaging, then clearly we have to be involved. What they may want to do may not fit the car or may require changes to the car and that’s up to us to agree with them on an introduction and how we’re going to do it. So, if that’s making sense, it becomes a multi-phase project. We can get involved, we’re not necessarily involved, we look forward to whatever power increase is coming in the future and hope to exploit it as best we can with Renault.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) James, how close are the driving styles of Sebastian and Kimi compared to how it was last year with Fernando and Kimi, and if they are closer, is it a big advantage for the designer of the car?

JA: They are certainly closer. I think what Sebastian wants from a car is pretty similar to what Kimi wants and that’s mildly helpful but it really doesn’t make much difference in the way that you set about designing the car. You’re looking for downforce, they both like that. You’re looking for power, they both like that. If one likes a front ride height or a spring stiffness a bit different to another, well there’s very… you’ve got a whole range of springs and dampers that you can fit to either car. It’s only flavours of set-up that change, not fundamental design parameters of the car and that would be true whether it was Kimi, Fernando or Sebastian.

Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i) Nick, you told us a couple of times that the Lotus team is not for sale. Is that still the case and if not, how does it influence your planning for 2016 and maybe even 2017?

NC: OK, but I’m not sure that I actually told you that but there’s a lot of press about discussions that are on-going. They’re not really at my level so I can’t really give you a lot of information about it.

August 21, 2015
F1 2015: Belgium GP Preview – Spa Set To Resurrect Formula 1

In several aspects there is much turmoil that surrounds Formula 1. There is no argument though that the sport returns, after its month-long hiatus, to the greatest circuit in the world, Spa-francorchamps.

The glorious Belgian circuit situated in the heart of the Ardennes forest encompasses everything that is great about Formula 1. Its spectacular corners like Pouhon are real testers of skill and courage and its dizzying rise up to the crest of Eau Rouge is one of the most famous sites in all of motorsport. The 7,004 kilometre layout is a blend that demands both downforce and straight-line speed with several dramatic elevation changes.

There is something about the legendary Spa circuit which has lent itself to the creation of many memorable moments. It was here 1991 that a young Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut and where, in 1992, he would take the first of his ninety-one career victories. Schumacher remains the most prolific winner around the famous circuit with six victories while Kimi Raikkonen, of the active drivers, has won the race on four occasions.

Last year’s race was remarkable for Daniel Ricciardo’s popular victory considering his team’s lack of performance up to that point. It was memorable too for Nico Rosberg’s exasperated attempt at overtaking teammate Lewis Hamilton into Les combes, the upshot of which was a collision between the two and a boatload of tension for the team.

As the season approaches the halfway mark frustration has clouded many a team’s and driver’s campaign in 2015. After a stellar first year with Red Bull Racing which included three victories and several podium finishes Daniel Ricciardo had expected to have a go at winning the title this season. However, the engine produced by Renault and what Red Bull has offered the Aussie hasn’t been enough. “I came into this season on a high from last year and I was really ready to fight for the title. Mentally I was prepared for doing that.” Ricciardo told Autosport. “It’s not been easy to be honest.”

The Williams team has experienced their own form of frustration having lost ground, and pace, to Ferrari. Despite the team staging a fight back by beating Ferrari in Austria and Silverstone there have been some bizarrely poor weekends, performance wise, such as in Monaco and Hungary. The Belgian track should allow the team to produce a decent result given their low drag aero package and the handy Mercedes power unit at their disposal.

For Mercedes things may not be a given this weekend as the new rule around the starting procedure comes into action. The new regulation will mean that the assistance from the pitwall is restricted and will put the driver in control of the start. In both of the last two grand prix starts Mercedes has been swamped off the line and there is a feeling that this regulation could create further problems for the Silver Arrows. Hamilton has suggested that the starts could even be “disastrous.”

Ferrari went into the summer break with an incredible victory at the Hungarian grand prix in the bank. At Spa Ferrari probably shouldn’t be in the reckoning for victory if you consider that the circuit has a tremendous emphasis on engine power. Yet, there is something about Spa-Francorchamps and Kimi Raikkonen that makes for an extraordinary combination. The Finn won here in 2009 with a dreadfully underperforming Ferrari and last year finished fourth in a significantly underpowered car. So, it may not be too incredible to propose victory number five around the famed circuit for the Iceman.

August 18, 2015
F1 2015: Hungarian GP Preview – Racing At The ‘Ring

Formula 1 returns after a three week break to the Hungarian grand prix. However, the excitement has been significantly dulled. The passing of Jules Bianchi has been a surreal and deeply unfortunate reality.

While the mood is solemn the best way to honour the life of Jules Bianchi is by putting on a great show around Hungary’s Hungaroring circuit.

It’s a special place for both McLaren drivers as it is the venue of their first wins in the sport. In 2003 a fresh faced Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag in his blue and yellow liveried Renault and in 2006 Jenson Button turned on the magic on a damp circuit in his BAR Honda to take the top step of the podium.

Times have changed since then for these two who now find themselves teammates at a struggling McLaren Honda team. The 2015 season has been arduous for all involved but Fernando Alonso believes that the Hungaroring and the second half of the season will hold some opportunities for McLaren to show the gains it has made. “I think the second part of the year will show a completely different McLaren, much more competitive,” says the Spaniard. “The steps that are coming are quite big. This is not too difficult when you are at the back of the grid and two seconds off the pace – every step then is half a second or eight-tenths. When you are fighting for a podium you [only] gain 0.1s every two weeks. I think we will get much closer to the top guys in the second part of the championship.”

The Hungaroring’s layout is a flowing mixture of low to medium speed corners with a few elevation changes. This coupled with the lack of any significant straights decreases the demand on the power unit. Due to its flowing nature the circuit offers, in most areas, offers only one ideal line which will limit the chances for overtaking. Consequently, a good qualifying position becomes a major strategic advantage.

Pirelli have selected the medium and soft compounds for the weekend and expect the combination should provide a good balance between performance and reliability. “This selection is soft enough to provide the mechanical grip needed to negotiate all the corners, yet hard enough to withstand the punishing weather conditions and track layout of the Hungaroring. This is not always the easiest circuit to overtake on, so tyre strategy can make a real difference,” says Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

Ferrari experienced a difficult British grand prix but Kimi Raikkonen thinks that this was a once-off. “We’ve seen at other circuits it depends a lot on the layout of the circuit and what tyres we run,” said the Finn.”I expect it to be a different story in the next race and at different circuits again. Hungary I’m sure it will [be better]. Silverstone was not the ideal weekend. The others were a bit faster. I’m sure it will be a bit more easy there but we will see.”

Williams delivered a considerably better performance at Silverstone which led Rob Smedley to believe that the team is capable of beating Ferrari to second place in the constructor’s championship. The team believes that a steady stream of small upgrades at every race will make the difference but remain realistic about their potential this weekend. “We know we are still missing a bit in the low speed and we are big enough to hold hands up and say that is the case,” says Smedley.”We’re looking at all sorts of ways of recuperating that.”

For nine months all motorsport fans had hoped to receive the news that Jules Bianchi had woken up and was well on his way to recovery. Sadly, this news will never come and his enormous potential will remain unfulfilled. It is the worst possible outcome but it is not the end of Jules’ legacy. It has reaffirmed the commitment to safety above all else and that is a gift of which the impact and importance cannot be measured. Ciao Jules and thank you.

July 21, 2015
Red Bull Q&A with Christian Horner

The 2013 Formula One season saw Red Bull Racing win 13 grands prix as well as both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles. The 2014 F1 season, they managed only three race wins. They’re expected to complete the 2015 season without a single race win.

The former champions have literally gone from hero to zero due the complete lack of performance and reliability fo their Renault power unit and rule changes compromising their chassis design.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner spoke exclusively to the official Formula One website about how he and the team are coping and how they intend turning things around.

Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Christian, back in Canada Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said that Renault’s new project was on the dyno, and you would know its potential in three weeks’ time. That window closed at Silverstone – so what is the state of affairs?

Christian Horner: I think this is a question to be answered by Renault because it is their business, not ours. But as far as I am aware I think that they are making good progress on their dyno. They now have some strategic decisions about implementation, and the direction they want to take their development for the rest of this season – and that has an enormous impact on next year.

Q: What does their timeframe mean for you then?

Christian Horner: Of course it tests our patience. Like any competitive team we want performance yesterday, and unfortunately with engines the lead time is a lot longer than with the chassis. Patience is something that we are not really good at. We want to have performance as soon as possible…

Q: What is ‘as soon as possible’? The next three weeks?

Christian Horner: From where the concept is at the moment you are probably looking at least at a couple of months. Two to three months. It needs to happen this year – but also what you learn this year will help you next season.

Q: Both Renault and Red Bull have reportedly drawn up exit scenarios – but given that you recently signed a personal contract renewal with Red Bull, can we understand that their exit is now off the table?

Christian Horner: Hah! I signed that contract a short while ago. We are determined to get back to a competitive position. It hurts when you are not competitive, and unfortunately there are certain elements we are not in control of. But where we are in control, we are working flat out so that when the power upgrades do come, we are in a position to make best use of them.

Q: Are you satisfied with the chassis situation right now?

Christian Horner: We are never satisfied. Here you always try to get better. The regulation changes over the winter did hurt us – probably more than we anticipated – but we now have a pretty good understanding of the areas where we need to improve – and how to improve.

Q: Is there interest in trying to bring James Key over from Toro Rosso? He is showing what is possible on a slim budget…

Christian Horner: No interest at all. We have a strong technical team. Adrian (Newey) is still involved in all the things that are going on and with Rob Marshal, Pierre Wache and Dan Fallows we have a strong technical group – so no desire to change anything.

Q: What about Renault? There has been speculation that they could purchase Lotus. What would that mean for the two Red Bull teams? Boss Carlos Ghosn reportedly said it is very unlikely Renault will play the part of engine supplier in 2017…

Christian Horner: Those are decisions that they have to make. It would hold a certain irony if they buy back the team they sold. But as far as our position is concerned, we have a very clear agreement with Renault, which guarantees us priority status. Any of those scenarios requires having a competitive engine – and doesn’t really matter based on the agreement that we have.

Q: Some suggested Red Bull Racing have been ‘flirting’ with Ferrari recently. Could that be a short-term remedy? For sure it doesn’t appear to be a long-term solution if you want to win titles again…

Christian Horner: Ah, I think it would be an exaggeration saying that Red Bull is ‘flirting’ with Ferrari. Obviously Red Bull Group had a relationship with Ferrari for many years as engine supplier for Toro Rosso. Sergio (Marchionne) made a generous offer without any details when he attended the Austrian Grand Prix – but right now our focus is on what we have at this point in time.

Q: 2016 is one thing – but what about 2017?

Christian Horner: That could be a completely different ball game.

Q: Would you ever have imagined after so many successful years that you would find yourself in the doldrums so quickly – and with no obvious way out?

Christian Horner: Things change here very quickly. The vast majority of the people that helped us win eight titles and 50 Grands Prix are still here. But the circumstances have changed. Unfortunately the element that has the biggest effect on our competitiveness is one we are not in control of.

Q: You have said that even were Sebastian Vettel still racing for Red Bull Racing, you would still be in the same bad situation…

Christian Horner: If Sebastian was still with Red Bull our position would be no different because the drivers aren’t our issues.

Q: Would you really be in the same situation with Sebastian? Does the driver make so little impact?

Christian Horner: We would be poorer!

Q: Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that F1 racing will be simpler – and more exciting – in 2017. Why did it take so long to understand that the sport was being pushed in the wrong direction?

Christian Horner: The fact is that if you have a bunch of ‘experts’ who all believe that they know what should be done, you end up with confusion. I think that the reality has only recently been understood – and as a result of that there is more alignment on what needs to be done.

Bernie was always right saying that F1 is about man and machine at the limit. It needs to be dramatic, it needs to be fast, it needs to be loud and it needs to be sexy. In one word, it needs that ‘wow’ factor to it.

We need to go back to these principles, which is relatively easy to achieve if everybody wants to achieve the same thing. They are not all quite sure how to achieve it – but they now have agreed on what they want to achieve!

Image Credits: Infiniti Red Bull Racing / Getty

July 14, 2015
F1 2015: British GP Review – Hamilton Shines At Silverstone

One-hundred and forty thousand fans were treated to quite a race around the famed Silverstone circuit.

Lewis Hamilton thrilled the home crowd with pole position on Saturday ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg while Williams locked out the second row of the grid. At this point you would’ve been forgiven if you’d assumed that it was going to be another Mercedes dominated afternoon. Felipe Massa rocketed off the starting line and straight into the lead of the race followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas.

The Finnish Williams driver soon fell prey to a determined Lewis Hamilton but held of Nico Rosberg to settle in third. An accident involving both Lotus and both McLaren’s brought out the safety car and saw the end of the race for Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. Fernando Alonso clunked into the side of his teammate but was able to continue after a stop for a new nose.

The restart of the race saw Hamilton launch an attack on race leader Felipe Massa but the canny Brazilian held his line and the position. The move sent Hamilton off the circuit at Club corner and into third as Valtteri Bottas seized second place. The fight for the lead of the race was a welcome sight and more so was Hamilton’s doggedness. In truth Hamilton’s championship fight is not with Massa and he couldn’t have been faulted for choosing the cautious route, but he didn’t. At the heart of Lewis Hamilton is still an out-and-out racing driver whose sole ambition is to win and that is what he put on display in that move.

The Williams driver couldn’t manage to run away from Mercedes but they were holding their own. As if to underline the difficulty of overtaking in Formula 1 Felipe Massa was able to resist a visibly quicker Bottas during the phase of the race. The Williams pitwall initially called off the fight between their drivers but quickly changed course and gave their drivers the freedom to fight. Despite this Bottas was unable to overtake his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners into the pitlane and used the undercut to perfection as he took the lead of the race as the two Williams made their respective stops. The front running back had now reshuffled with Hamilton in the lead from Massa, Rosberg and Bottas.

It wouldn’t be Silverstone if the weather didn’t have some sort of impact on proceedings. At first the rain was steadily falling on one side of the circuit while the other remained bone dry. As drivers were slipping and sliding their way around several drivers including Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso gambled with a switch to intermediate tyres. It proved a touch too early for Raikkonen who shredded his intermediates on the drying surface.

Lewis Hamilton timed his tyre switch to perfection as the rain started falling once more as he exited the pits on the green-walled intermediate tyre and retook the lead of the race. Rosberg made his stop a lap later and emerged in second place where he would remain until the chequered flag. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas chances of the podium evaporated as the pair struggled for pace in the wet conditions. The duo eventually finished fourth and fifth as a slightly later call for intermediates from Vettel meant that the Ferrari jumped both Williams’ into third place.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat finished sixth while Nico Hulkenberg brought home his heavily revised Force India in seventh ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The sister Force India of Sergio Perez finished ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso who ended a miserable non-point scoring run with tenth place.

To win on home ground is something special and Hamilton has now done it three times. This win is an invaluable boost of confidence that could carry him all the way to that coveted third world championship title.

July 6, 2015
Grosjean Feels Ricciardo is Responsible for First Lap Incident

Lotus’ Romain Grosjean feels that Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo is to blame for his premature exit on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix race.

Ricciardo made contact with Grosjean going into Turn 3. This sent Grosjean into the side of his team mate Pastor Maldonado. Both Maldonado and Ricciardo were able to continue for a while until both of them had to retire from the race. Maldonado due to damage sustained in the crash and Ricciardo due to an electrical problem.

“There were a lot of cars into turn three,” said the Frenchman.

“Daniel came in hard and hit me, and I collided with the Sauber on the outside, breaking the front wing and it created a puncture.

“The car went left and I hit Pastor which was a shame.”

“That was a very short race for the team and I feel for everyone here at Silverstone and at Enstone,” he said.

“No-one likes to end a Grand Prix like that as so much effort goes into making and preparing the cars.”

Grosjean’s crash also caused the retirement of McLaren’s Jenson Button after his team-mate Fernando Alonso, while trying to avoid the colliding Lotus’, had half a spin and made contact with Button’s left sidepod which shut off the McLaren’s engine immediately.

All the drivers that were involved in the first lap incident were called to the stewards after the race. The stewards decided that no one was responsible for the incident an no penalties were levied.

Deputy Team Principal at Lotus Federico Gastaldi has described the teams home race as frustrating.

“Motorsport is sometimes a cruel sport and we saw that today,” he said.

“There was nothing either of our drivers could have done to avoid the first lap incident and that was our race over.

“It’s been a frustrating home weekend for us.”

“We weren’t able to show the pace we have in the car, we’ve suffered from a few niggles, then it was a very early bath for both our guys.”

July 5, 2015
Alonso Feels Points Finish Will Lift Morale

After collecting his first championship point for the 2015 F1 Season, McLaren driver Fernando Alonso feels that the point will boost morale in the team.

It was not the best race start for the Spaniard when, at Turn 3, he spun to avoid making contact with the two Lotus’ ahead of him who had come together. In doing so, he T-boned his team mate Jenson Button. Button’s engine shut off immediately after contact with Alonso’s front wing and had to retire from the race. Alonso limped back to the pits for a wing change and new tyres. He then kept his head down and continued racing till the rain fell.

Alonso was one of the first few drivers to make the switch to intermediate tyres. At the time the track was mostly dry and was only wet in sector 2. Alonso, running in 11th, stuck with it and gained a place when Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson ahead of him changed from intermediate tyres to slick tyres and back to intermediate tyres. From then Alonso kept it on the track to take the final points paying position, 10th.

“It’s not the best of results, but 10th position helps to motivate everyone,” commented Alonso after the race.

“The whole team is incredibly focused – they’ve been working day and night to improve the car – and we all know this is a long-term project, and there are no magic solutions, but to get a decent result, and to put some points on the table, is always important.

Alonso felt that the two Lotus drivers ahead of him were being too aggressive and felt the contact between the two was unnecessary.

“The start was unbelievable,” he said.

“It was a big mess as we arrived at Turn Three. The two Lotus drivers were far too aggressive, and they touched each other; in avoiding them, I had a half-spin, and touched Jenson.

“There were a lot of retirements, and little common sense on display.”

Although a tough 10th place finish is all McLaren could do today. Alonso feels McLaren took a step forward today.

“Still, we know we’re improving, and today has been a good day for morale.”

July 5, 2015
2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

Will STEVENS (Manor)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Valtteri, why don’t we start with you? You finished second here last year from, I think, 14th on the grid – equal best result so far in Formula One, your finish. Is this one of your favourite tracks?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, it’s one of them, definitely. It’s one of these old school tracks and really high speed, so it’s always really fun to drive here. I think it should be good for our car as well, like we saw last year. We had some new bits for Austria and I think they should work maybe slightly better here, so looking forward to the weekend.

Well, podiums for Williams at the last two races, but can you tell us a bit more about why you think your car particularly suits this circuit and the things that you’re bringing here that are going to help that?

VB: Long straights – that’s where we have been strong the last one-and-a-half years and I think we’ve been this year pretty good in high-speed corners as well and probably the updates we had in Austria… they definitely created more downforce but maybe were a bit too draggy for that circuit. Maybe we can make better use of that and if we just get everything right it could be a strong weekend but let’s see.

Jenson, coming to you, this year I think it’s fair to say it’s been ‘hard yards’ as we say here in England, but does racing here on home soil raise the spirits a bit?

Jenson BUTTON: It does. Every race that we race in is a special race, you can find reasons to be excited, but when it’s your home grand prix it’s always very special. The British fans and public whether it’s raining, 32 degrees, there’s a British guy at the front or a British guy at the back, they will always be here to support us, which is fantastic. It’s always a very, very special atmosphere here and I’m really looking forward to the weekend.

World champion drivers are obviously leaders within a team. What’s the message to Honda and the McLaren management? What strategy do you want to adopt in terms of performance, reliability and what would be a win at the moment?

JB: Well, first of all I don’t think a press conference is the best place to do that, you know. We are one team and we work together and if we have issues we talk amongst ourselves and that’s the only way to improve a situation. The confidence is high within the team. You might say why is that, as the last two races have been very difficult, which they have, but there is a massive belief within the team that we will improve. There is a lot in the pipeline. I don’t want to look too far into the future, you know, I’m on of those people that wants to live in the moment and do the best I can right now. It’s the British Grand Prix, in front of them home crowd and I’m really looking forward to it and I will maximise what we have this weekend.

Thank you for that. Kimi, coming to you, the GPDA fans’ survey revealed that you are the most popular Formula One driver it would seem, amongst those polled. What’s your reaction to that?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: I think it’s a good thing. I would rather take the fans than not having them. Obviously, some people… maybe I was lucky that they were ones that answered the survey, but I’m happy to have fans and obviously that’s a good thing.

What do you think it is about your character that appeals to them?

KR: You’d have to go and ask them who voted, so…

There’s a few too many to do that I think. The team is telling us that retaining your seat for next season is in your hands, do you feel you are on the right track to meet their targets.

KR: I don’t know. Obviously they’ll make the decision. We try to do good races. Obviously the last race was a bit difficult but that’s part of the game, sometimes you have that. Who knows: I don’t know anything more than you guys, so I will know hopefully at some point what will happen. There are always speculations to start off the year and it’s always the same stories. It doesn’t really surprise me a lot so let’s see what happens.

Thanks. Marcus, coming to you, you edged it over your team-mate in Canada, he edged it over you in Austria, describe the duel between you this season at Sauber and what the atmosphere is like within the team.

Marcus ERICSSON: The atmosphere is good. I think me and Felipe are working well together. Obviously he has had the upper hand so far but I’m looking to change that, working hard for that. Now, coming to Silverstone, it’s one of my favourite tracks, I really enjoy driving here, some really great corner combinations, so hopefully I can fight back and have a good weekend.

It looks like Sauber has been caught after that strong start, with the big points finished in the early races – only one points finish in the last five races for the team. Do you have some answers up your sleeve in development terms for the second half of the season and how much of a boost do you think Mark Smith, the new technical director, will be?

ME: I think we knew that the summer would be a bit difficult for us; we have a big upgrade coming after the summer. We are hurting a bit at the moment with people bringing updates to the recent races and we lost a bit of touch to some of them. But I think still we showed in Austria last time out that if we maximise what we have we can still be competitive and fight in the midfield, so that’s what we needs to focus on doing. On Mark Smith, obviously I worked with him a bit last year at Caterham and I have a very positive feeling with him joining the team. Obviously he’s not going to be able to much short-term, but I think in the longer term he is a very good person to have in the team, with his experience, so it’s a good thing for Sauber.

Q: Pastor, points scored in the last two races but you’ve never scored points at Silverstone, amazingly. Looking to put that right this weekend?

Pastor MALDONADO: I hope so. Do my best.

Q: How did you leave it with Max Verstappen after the battle in the last race, in Austria? Spectacular action on track. How have you left it on a personal level?

PM: I mean it was a great battle. This kind of battle I always enjoy, y’know? This is real fight in Formula One, which is always fair. For sure a couple of times it was very close, because he was trying to put me over the track – but this is part of the race. I really like the stewards that allowed us to race and to have more opportunities to fight in the track. Yeah, it was great. For me it was OK. After that, the race started very badly, we had some problems in the start and then we recovered quite well, thanks to the strategy, thanks to the team as well, and I drove quite well.

Q: Will, celebrated your 24th birthday last weekend – what are your feelings on making your home Formula One debut in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday at the British Grand Prix?

Will STEVENS: I’m really looking forward to this race. I have been for a long time. Clearly for us, growing up we watch this race and have come to it for many years. So, to be here for my first home grand prix is really exciting. Can’t wait to get out there on Friday and see everybody around the circuit.

Q: The last couple of races haven’t been so good for you or the team. The margin – particularly in Austria – seemed to be bigger than it’s been elsewhere. Are there technical reasons for that due to the package that you’ve got – and how do you think you’ll be fixed this weekend?

WS: I think the last few races have been a little more up-and-down. I think the actual times from the free practice sessions in Austria were pretty strong. Quali for us didn’t really work out because of the conditions – but looking ahead to this weekend, we should be making some steps forwards with the car for sure. We have quite a few upgrades here, which is nice. So, looking forwards to Friday to see how much that can help us out.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, accident here last year, accident in last race in Austria, how difficult is it for you to come to this weekend?

KR: It’s a new race, different weekend. It doesn’t matter if you have an accident. It was obviously bad for our race but that’s part of the game. It doesn’t change this weekend at all. I’ve had accidents before and probably will in the future, you pay the price when things do wrong.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Plus) A question for Jenson and Kimi. Last weekend we had Formula E racing in London, there were a few good, old F1 names among the drivers. Did either of you see the race and would you seriously consider switching to electric racing after Formula One?

JB: To answer the second question: no. And did I watch the race? No. I have watched a race this year and the reason is, it’s not because of the cars themselves, it’s because of the drivers. There’s a lot of drivers that I’ve raced against over the years, I think there’s 13 ex-F1 drivers, and that’s what makes the category exciting: they’ve got some real talent there; they’ve done a good job of getting talented drivers in the cars. I think there’s a great place for electric racing – if that’s what you want to call it – but I think it’s great and there’s a good fight amongst the talented drivers that are there. But it’s not something that interests me. Motorsport is motorsport for me. Something that I love is the smell, the sound and the speed – and that’s what Formula One is all about.

Kimi?

KR: yeah, actually I saw it. I saw the race and I’m not so interested in the future in some point to race them. It’s… I mean they’ve done well to go in the places that they race – I think it’s nice for people but, I mean, for me, unfortunately… we always talk here: it doesn’t go fast; it doesn’t look spectacular. They are… in my view they are pretty slow. The concept is probably nice in the future. Right now, yes, they get the good racing out of it but it doesn’t really… it’s something that doesn’t really excite me really – but obviously I’m happy for them to make such a good race series out of it.

Q: (Daan de Geus – NU.NL) Kimi, you let it be known earlier in the season that you were quite happy about the 2015 Ferrari and the way it handles and it fits your driving style. Ferrari have obviously been updating the car and made some changes to it. Do you still like the way it handles and the way it suits your way of driving?

KR: I don’t see why I wouldn’t suddenly like it; because I’ve had an accident doesn’t change anything. I’ve had accidents sometimes, like I said, it’s part of the game. We improved the car and it’s still a great car, obviously probably not fast enough to challenge Mercedes all the time but it’s a very good car and it’s a massive improvement from last year. Things go wrong sometimes but it doesn’t mean that you suddenly hate the car or you don’t like things. It’s just a part of the game. Like I said, it’s a good package and obviously we want to improve it and make it faster. Things could always be better. Even if you’re in a winning car you’re always wanting more out of it. Like I said, we’ve come such a long way from last year which people always forget. We’re still a work in progress to improve things.

Q: (Daniel Ortelli – Agence France Presse) Jenson, you were very vocal and supportive when the survey came out in Monaco and you’re one of the most experienced drivers; what’s your general comment or specific comment about the results of that survey? Were there some things that surprised you, is it in keeping with what you think of F1? Is there anything you can tell us about the reaction to the results?

JB: I don’t think there are any massive surprises in there. Obviously Kimi being the favourite driver of the fans – we knew that anyway, didn’t we? No, I don’t think there were any massive surprises. I think it’s really nice to get the view of the people that are out there that are watching us race, whether it’s at the circuit or on TV or read about Formula One. It’s nice to see their opinions. I think a lot of us agree – probably not with everything – but we all have our own opinions of the ways that Formula One can be improved. It’s great to see that there are lots of ideas that are floating around for the future in terms of making the cars wider, tyres wider, lighter, hopefully more sound. These are all things that are interesting and I think that’s great to see so hopefully they will happen in the near future.

Q: Do any of the other drivers have anything they would like to add on the findings of the survey?

Q: (Joe Bernstein – Daily Mail) Question to Will: you said that you used to watch the British Grand Prix as a kid when growing up. Can you tell us your first memory and also maybe your favourite race memory, watching it?

WS: Being British, obviously it’s a race I come to a lot so… Probably the first race I’ve been to was probably ten, twelve years ago. I remember it was wet but that’s not really too unusual for England. There’s been lots of good races here, more so on the old circuit and now obviously with the new layout – personally, I really like it. The racing here is always exciting, there’s always a good atmosphere here and that’s where the British fans do a good job. I’m sure this year’s going to be the same and I’m looking forward to seeing what it brings.

Q: (Joe Bernstein – Daily Mail) Is there one stand-out memory that you have?

WS: Not particularly for here, no.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you seem to be very happy with the car after the Austrian test. Is this the best Williams car you’ve ever driven and is it good enough to repeat last year’s result here?

VB: I think we’ve been improving all the time so I think every race it’s the best car we’ve had, I think. It’s good that we’re making the right things because it seems like since last year nearly every single bit we’ve put on the car has made the car better so it’s a good direction and like I said, I’m just looking forward for this weekend to see how strong we can be, possibly even stronger than Austria but let’s see.

July 2, 2015

Wehrlein Tops The Time Sheets on Day 1 of Rain Hit Austria In-Season Test

Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein ended on top of the time sheets after the first day of the final in-season test at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

The young German set a best time of 1:11.005, 0.187s clear of Force India’s Esteban Ocon who’s best time was 1:11.192.

The session got off to a very wet start on Tuesday morning with just Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne heading out for installation laps on full wets. The track remained quiet for the rest of the morning. The session was red-flagged 30mins in due to the heavy rains that showed no sign of letting up.

There was much deliberation between the teams to cancel running for the day and extend the test for an extra day to Thursday. It was eventually decided, as the rain started to ease up, that Monday’s running should be extended by 2 hours.

Cars started firing up and heading out after the lunch break. First on full wets and then on intermediates as the track quickly dried up. Not long after that it was time for dry weather tyres and we were able to see more cars on the track.

Finishing 3rd fastest for the day was Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen. He set a best time of 1:11.328 clocking up 97 laps, the most from all the drivers on the day.

Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco’s fastest time was 1:11.331 which was 0.326s off Wehrlein’s pace. He’s lap time steadily climbed all afternoon but a slight mistake into Turn 1 saw him spin off the track and hit the wall damaging the front end of the SF15-T. “I am very angry with myself for making a mistake today,” commented Fuoco. “But getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari has always been my dream and today it finally came true. All the same, I am pleased with the work I was able to do, gathering useful data for the team, even if the rain affected our programme today.”

GP2 driver Stoffel Vandoorne ended his day for McLaren 8th fastest 1.525s off the pace with a fastest time of 1:12.530 and managed to rack up 76 laps for the dayLotus’ Romain Grosjean ended his day 5th fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Peirre Gasly. Another Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello was in the driving seat at Sauber. He racked up 53 laps for the Swiss based team with his fastest time of the day of 1:11.826.

Williams test driver Susie Wolff was 9th fastest for Williams with a best time for her of 1:13.248. Wolff says that her runs in the dry were mainly for aerodynamic evaluations and preparation work for Silverstone. The Williams did emerge from the pits with interesting looking winglets ahead of the rear wheels which, if deemed legal, could provide the team with a really big advantage come Silverstone.

Force India were trailing parts for their B-spec car which they hope to run in Silverstone. Deputy Team Principal Robert Fernley says that the team hopes to have two complete B-spec cars ready for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. At the moment, he says they are on track to meet their deadline.

Wednesday’s driver line up:

Mercedes	Nico Rosberg
Ferrari	Esteban Gutierrez
Williams	Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull	Daniel Ricciardo
Force India	Pascal Wehrlein
Lotus	Jolyon Palmer
Sauber	Felipe Nasr
Toro Rosso	Marco Wittmann
McLaren	Fernando Alonso

Below is the unofficial timing sheet for Day 1 of the Austrian in-season test.

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes	67	1:11.005	–
2	Esteban Ocon	Force India	76	1:11.192	+0.178
3	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	97	1:11.328	+0.323
4	Antonio Fuoco	Ferrari	71	1:11.331	+0.326
5	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	45	1:11.509	+0.504
6	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull	80	1:11.757	+0.752
7	Raffaele Marciello	Sauber	53	1:11.826	+0.821
8	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	76	1:12.530	+1.525
9	Susie Wolff	Williams	39	1:13.248	+2.243

June 23, 2015