Tag: max chilton

2013 Santander German Grand Prix – Team and Driver Quotes

Red Bull-Renault

Sebastian Vettel (1st): “It was a tough race; it was one of the toughest for a long time. I’m happy the race wasn’t two or three laps longer, as Kimi was a bit quicker towards the end. I’m very happy that it worked out and it’s very special. The team worked really hard to give me the chance to win this weekend and we got it. First of all you have to remember that it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to race in your home country; we have around 20 races, but there are obviously more than 20 countries, so it’s special to race at home and get so much support. I had a good start and then just focused on every single lap during the race. You don’t really think about where you are while you are racing, you can’t allow your mind to drift, but when the flag came out and the race was over I really let myself enjoy the parade lap and saw a lot of people in the grandstands cheering and waving flags. These pictures will remain in my head for a long, long time.”

Mark Webber (7th): “I knew we had lost the tyre in the pit stop of course, but not that someone got hit by it. That’s bad and I hope he is okay, that’s the main thing. Today was a bit of a nightmare and you want to wake up tomorrow and have another go at it. We had an excellent start and were in a great position leading up to the first stop with Seb, but we lost all of that. We lost a lot of points today and a chance to challenge for the win, but there’s no rewind button now.”

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: “The most important thing today is that the cameraman who got struck by the tyre does not appear to have suffered any life threatening injuries. It’s a timely reminder that working in the pit lane is dangerous. Everyone reacted incredibly quickly and the most important thing is to hear that he seems to be fundamentally okay. Looking to the race, for any driver to win their home grand prix is something tremendously special and after the disappointment of missing out on the victory a week ago in Silverstone, Sebastian drove faultlessly today and can be very proud of what he’s achieved in his home grand prix in front of the home fans. It’s a huge result for him and very positive for the Championship. For Mark, it was a strong recovery drive; he got back on to the lead lap through the pace car and then fought his way back into the points. It’s a great shame that we couldn’t have both cars right up there today, but all credit to Mark for his very determined drive. We need to understand what went wrong in that first pit stop for Mark, but as I said, our main concern today is knowing that the cameraman is okay.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault: “We fought hard for that today. Kimi and Romain really pushed us hard, but Sebastian did a great job to win at home for the first time. Mark also drove a storming race, coming from a lap down to a points-scoring position. For Renault it is very positive to see three Renault-powered drivers racing for the win and ultimately to have a clean sweep of the podium. Although it certainly makes us nervous behind the screens!”

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso (4th): “This was a difficult race, we weren’t very quick and at some moments we were not competitive enough. In the first stint, we paid the price for being on used tyres, because by lap twelve they were already finished, which cost us some of the advantage we hoped to gain from our strategic choice. Even if we were hoping to finish on the podium, finishing less than eight seconds off Vettel after starting eighth is an encouraging result. The team is doing its utmost to make the car more competitive and after tackling a few races without being too sure about our updates, today we can claim to have cleared up many of our doubts and to have understood which are the areas we must concentrate on to move the development forward. When we arrived here on Thursday, the Silverstone test did not seem that important, because the race drivers were only meant to be testing the tyres, but having heard what the FIA had to say, it’s been confirmed that we can test updates and this makes it a much more sensible proposition. If I get the call from the team, I’m ready to go.”

Felipe Massa (DNF, Spin): “I am very disappointed with what happened, especially after the rest of the weekend had gone well. At the start of lap four, when I was on the straight, at the moment when I braked, the rear wheels locked up and I couldn’t stop the car from spinning. When the car came to a stop, it was stuck in fifth gear and I couldn’t stop the engine from stalling. It’s very odd that it got stuck like that, even if so far, the team has not seen anything unusual. The Mediums did not have the pace we expected after Friday’s free practice, but maybe other factors, such as the higher temperatures, came into play and made the difference. Now I want to focus on the next race when I plan to do my utmost to turn things around.”

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: “Given the current state of play, I think today’s result is the most we could have achieved and I don’t think the strategy had much of an influence on the outcome of the race. Wanting to see the glass as half full, the points we have picked up at this point in the season are very important. The variable temperatures we saw today produced different performance levels. This turnaround confirms yet again how difficult it is for everyone to interpret as well as possible the true competitiveness of the car-tyre package at every track. Looking ahead, now it is vital that we optimise the performance of our car, just as our rivals have managed to do, because we want to get back to fighting for the top places as soon as possible. In Hungary we will have different tyres and it will be important to understand their behaviour right from the test at Silverstone, in two weeks time. At the same time, we will try to change pace on our development work, an area where we need to push hard.”

Pat Fry: “Today’s temperatures and track conditions, different to those we saw over the past days, had a strong influence on the performance of the various teams. In our case, I don’t think the final result would have been different if we had opted for the opposite strategy, because, starting from fifth or sixth on the Softs, our position in the end would have been the same. Our pace on the soft compound was better than expected, when one considers that it’s particularly sensitive to the higher temperatures, while the degradation of the Mediums was higher than expected and caused us a few more problems in balancing the car and that spoilt our first stint. I am sorry for Felipe, who had made another great start, but unfortunately he locked up the rear wheels under braking and spun, possibly because of the lack of grip. Fernando managed to get the most out of the car, always trying to attack when possible. It was a shame to miss out on the podium in the end, especially as the speed of the Red Bulls and Lotuses was not that much higher than ours. Now there are two weeks before the next round in Hungary, during which we will be pushing as hard as possible to close the performance gap which separates us from the leaders.”

McLaren-Mercedes

Jenson Button (6th): “There are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend; our pace was reasonably good; it’s nice to be racing cars closer to the front, such as the Mercedes; our laptimes compared to the four cars at the front weren’t too bad either; and today’s points are badly needed right now. Unfortunately, the two Caterhams fighting in front of me in the closing laps probably cost me fifth place. When you’re fighting for position, you expect the backmarkers to move over, even if they’re fighting for position themselves. It’s a shame – those points could be so important for us later in the season. The Safety Car also didn’t help our strategy – but we were a lot stronger this weekend than we’ve been for the past few races. We can be positive – as a team, we didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, and we got the best out of what we have. Overall, it’s a positive day for the team – now we just need to find some more pace in the car.”

Sergio Perez (8th): “My car performed a lot better today than it did yesterday. We had better pace and degradation than we’d expected: we managed a very long final stint, and I think we maximised everything today. We should be happy. After the Safety Car, it was like the start of a second race. I just focused on preserving the tyres over that long stint – the car and tyres performed very strongly, but we just lost out on the final corner. It was always going to be difficult to hold Mark [Webber] back. This is a good step on from Silverstone – it’s been a very promising weekend, and I hope we can take another step forward for Hungary.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: “Both drivers did a fantastic job this afternoon – they managed the limits of the tyre, pushed aggressively when it was needed and were always able to maximise the pace of the car. It’s just a pity that they each lost position on the final lap. That was a little bit frustrating: we had terrible traffic at the end, so Jenson lost a couple of seconds at a critical point in the race. That enabled Lewis [Hamilton] to close him down quicker than normal and take a position that we felt we could have kept. The whole team did an extremely good job today: our strategy was perfectly managed, our pitstops were faultless, and the engineers maximised the pace of the car. We raced well, but we’re still not where we want to be, although there are positives to take away from today. We’ll be putting out heads down during the three-week break before Hungary and will be aiming to capitalise on the momentum we’ve gathered this weekend.”

Lotus-Renault

Kimi Raikkonen (2nd): “We had a pretty good last stint of the race, but the cars are close on performance so it’s difficult to overtake. Maybe some more laps would have helped us, but the race is only 60 laps so you have to do your best with that. After my first stop I was stuck behind a Mercedes for a while, but once I was past the car was pretty good. After the safety car three of us were able to pull away, but we were too close on speed to change the order. It was a good day for the team. Of course, we wanted to win; we couldn’t, but we did score the most points here. The warmer temperatures definitely helped us, so let’s hope for some more hot weather in Budapest.”

Romain Grosjean (3rd): “After some difficult races, everything went right today and it was pretty special when I was leading the race and returning to the podium is naturally a good thing. My car felt great on the first stint with the soft tyres and it’s clear that the summer weather really suits us. Hopefully we’ll have a long summer now in Europe! Letting Kimi past at the end of the race was the sensible thing to do as we were on different strategies and he had more of a chance of going for the win than I did at that point. We didn’t know which tyre would be the best at the end of the race, so we didn’t put all our eggs in one basket.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “That was a very good race from the team which validates all the hard work which has been going on back at Enstone, so we thank everyone at the factory for their efforts. After three difficult weekends, being on the podium was exactly what we needed. We need to continue like this to make up for lost ground in both championships. The E21 worked very well today and both Kimi and Romain drove superbly. We had a good strategy from the pit wall, some fantastic pit stops, and were it not for losing some time behind both Mercedes, it’s possible that we could have won today. I think we’ll have to ask Pirelli to keep this weekend’s specification of tyres for the rest of the season.”

Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: “We’re very happy to be back on the podium again after a short spell of bleak races. Both cars ran faultlessly from start to finish and it did look like we could be able to take the fight to Sebastian [Vettel] but ultimately we didn’t quite manage it. Kimi was held up by Lewis [Hamilton] after his first pit stop but came back fighting at the end of the race. Romain did a fantastic job managing his first set of tyres which enabled him to make some great gains. We did consider running Kimi on a two-stop strategy but we could see the tyre performance dropping. We expected slightly more performance from his final set of soft tyres, but he was right with Seb at the end.”

Riccardo Penteado, Engine Support Leader: “A great race from both drivers, with incredible pace. It was a shame that the traffic pushed us back from the outright win but a double podium is still a great result, and more than we expected going into the weekend. Engine-wise, it’s been a good Grand Prix, although temperatures were hotter than expected. The result shows the engine-chassis package is back to its best and we’ll look to keep this going to the next race.”

Mercedes GP

Lewis Hamilton (5th): “That was really a tough race out there for us today. I didn’t have a great start and the Red Bulls were much quicker off the line, dropping me back to third. We really struggled with the second set of tyres which then compromised the rest of my race. It’s a real shame as the team are working so hard and doing such a good job. We’ve clearly got a good car but for some reason, it doesn’t work in these hot conditions. We’ll keep working on it and the positive from today is that we were able to recover to fifth place with a good strategy and great pit stops, and we’re still second in the Constructors’ table. Hopefully we’ll have a better chance at the next race but, for now, there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

Nico Rosberg (9th): “The car didn’t feel so nice to drive today. We struggled a lot with the rear tyres and that’s why we weren’t able to match the pace of the guys in the front. Even so, I had a bit of fun when I changed to the option tyres and could really push to at least score a few points. But we need to understand the new tyres a bit more because it seems that the new construction has shuffled things around, especially in these hot conditions. We have to do a lot of work in the next weeks to make sure we arrive in Hungary in good shape.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: “Our first thoughts today go to the cameraman who was struck by an errant wheel in the pit lane. Happily, he does not appear to have suffered serious injuries but it was once again a reminder of the dangers of our sport and underlines the need for constant vigilance in terms of safety. Today was a race of two halves for us. In the first part, we were once again overstressing the tyres – particularly on the prime compound – and our performance fell away as a result. However, as the temperatures cooled off a little and things settled down, both drivers had respectable pace and were able to fight their way back through the field. Lewis and Nico kept pushing until the final lap and were rewarded for their commitment and determination. At one point it didn’t look like we would come away with much at all from this afternoon, so there has to be a certain satisfaction in saving 12 points today. We have said all along that there is still a question mark over our performance in hotter conditions, and today’s race showed that we still have work to do. We have made big steps forward since Bahrain and Barcelona, where we particularly suffered with hotter track temperatures, and our performance was much improved compared to those races. But we have not yet done enough to convert our Saturday pace into race-winning speed in all conditions on Sunday. The three-week break until Hungary will give us an opportunity to think about how we can make further progress on our tyre management as well as continuing to develop the core performance of the car.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Motorsport Director: “We had a real character-building afternoon here at the Nurburgring. Neither of the drivers could find any grip on the prime tyre in the first part of the race and it mirrored similar experiences we have had so far this season. We managed to recover in the second half, though, and our result was pretty respectable in the end given how things looked after the first 30 laps. Well done to both drivers for squeezing the maximum out of the car today. After such a successful weekend in Silverstone, it feels a little bit like a night and day difference for us. We need to get our heads down at the factory, properly analyse our performance and keep working hard because we know that we will see similar temperatures in Hungary to what we experienced here.”

Sauber-Ferrari

Nico Hulkenberg (10th): “It was an extremely tough race. I was fighting on every lap, but this is what we were able to get out of it. To be honest, I expected we would have better pace today, but we didn’t. The car didn’t feel as good as I expected it would either. I thought, and hoped, we could fight with McLaren, but, unfortunately, they were too fast for us today. It was a race with a lot of overtaking and wheel-to-wheel battles, which are always fun. However, having to fight for positions all the time is never good for the strategy, as it’s tough on the tyres and you loose time. Nevertheless, this weekend was better than the previous ones. We didn’t have an update on the car, we experimented with the set-up, which worked well.”

Esteban Gutierrez (14th): “From the beginning to the end we were fighting for positions, so it was a very tough race. It was difficult to overtake, because we were lacking speed on the straights. My rhythm was quite reasonable and I tried to do my best. The strategy wasn’t ideal, although everything went to plan, but we pitted just before the safety car, which didn’t make it any easier.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “One point is not exactly what we expected after a strong qualifying, but the safety car period didn’t play into our hands. Nevertheless, we move on to the test in Silverstone and to the next Grand Prix with confidence. We were able to improve, particularly in qualifying, and we want to continue to improve. Nico delivered a strong performance. The last stint particularly was absolutely thrilling. Of course, we are not where we want to be, but we made a step in the right direction.”

Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “We elected to split the strategies with the tyres at the start. Esteban started on the soft tyres, Nico on the medium. Unfortunately, the timing of the safety car was at the worst moment for us as a team – eight laps into Nico’s second stint on the medium tyres and immediately Esteban had pitted. Therefore, it was going to be difficult to recover and score points from there. Nico did a good job in the last stint to get tenth place, which is good for the morale of the team.”

Force India-Mercedes

Paul di Resta (11th): “It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us, but in the final part of the race it looked like we were on course to score some points. In the end we just ran out of tyres during the last couple of laps, but it was always going to be risky with our two-stop strategy, especially as we had to pit under the safety car. There were times in the race when the car was working well, but I really struggled with the first set of mediums and was not happy with the balance. Things improved quite a bit for the final stint, but by then we were out of position. It’s a bit gutting to miss out on points so we need to unleash our potential and get back to our usual form in Hungary.”

Adrian Sutil (13th): “It turned out to be quite a disappointing race and for whatever reason we’ve just not had the pace this weekend. I struggled a lot with the tyres and had to convert from a two-stop race to a three-stop race, which was not our plan. I also lost some time at my final pit stop and after that the points were just too far away.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s disappointing to end our run of points finishes, but Paul came very close to picking up the final point today. Ultimately his two-stop strategy wasn’t quite enough to fend off our competitors in the final few laps, but we came close to pulling it off. Adrian’s race was also decided by tyre wear because we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy mid-way through the race. Overall we were missing some performance and didn’t have the pace to make the strategy work. Both Paul and Adrian were unable to pass the Williams of Maldonado after the safety car, which compromised the strategy. With three weeks until the next race and a young driver test before that, we will work hard to ensure we can recapture the form we’ve shown earlier in the season.”

Williams-Renault

Pastor Maldonado (15th): “It was a good race for us today as we put everything together and we were on for some points. It’s disappointing to finish where we did today after the problem with the pitstops but we have to look at the positives and move forward from this.”

Valtteri Bottas (16th): “We didn’t get a good start today as we had a few problems getting away from the line. We also lost some time in both pitstops so we need to work out what happened there. The race pace was better than we had seen previously this weekend which meant that we could have been challenging for points, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: “We started the race on medium tyres, and as most of the cars around us started on softs we had the opportunity to run out of sync and make up some positions. We were targeting a two-stop strategy for both drivers which we made work. Pitting before the safety car also worked to our advantage. The drivers drove a clean race and managed the tyres well but we lost a lot of time in our pitstops. We had a problem getting the front-right tyres off both cars and also a problem on the left-rear during Valtteri’s final stop, which resulted in the drivers not being able to finish in the positions they deserved. We are now investigating what happened to make sure we can fix this for the future. Overall, our strategy, the higher track temperatures and our tyre management enabled us to be in a position to compete for the top ten.”

Laurent Debout, Renault: “We were a lot more competitive in the race than we have been in previous Grands Prix and were fighting for points. It was a shame to lose time in the pitstops, but there are definite positives we can take away; we’ve made a step forward on the race pace, which is what counts.”

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Daniel Ricciardo (12th): “A frustrating and rather dull race for me. After the start, I was able to hold position on the Option, but once we pitted for the Prime tyre, I really struggled for pace and couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to in order to get more out of the car. I did try to push more, but the car wouldn’t take it and I began to lock the brakes and slide too much, as I didn’t have enough grip. This meant I had to drive more smoothly, but it was very frustrating going round and round, gradually slipping backwards. I can’t explain why for now, so we will need to look at the data to see why we were just too slow for much of the weekend.”

Jean-Eric Vergne (DNF, Hydraulics): “There’s not much to say today, because after not having a good pace all weekend, today there was no change. I found the car very difficult to drive right from the start, then there was the moment at my pit stop, when I had to brake hard to avoid Di Resta who was released from his pit right in front of me, which cost me more time. On lap 23 the team told me they had spotted a fault with the hydraulics and called me in to retire. It’s extremely disappointing, as this is my second consecutive race retirement. A weekend to forget.”

Franz Tost, Team Principal: “Naturally, it is disappointing not to score any points this weekend, especially after Daniel had secured a sixth place on the grid. In the current era of Formula 1 where retirements are rare, it is particularly frustrating that we had to call Jean-Eric into the garage with a hydraulic problem. We didn’t have the pace we needed today and Daniel did what he could, fighting with the Saubers and Force Indias, finishing ahead of one of each of them, but we were not quick enough to chase the McLarens, which were very strong today. For these reasons, we just fell out of the points zone. As for our strategy, it was fairly clear that three stops was the way to go for the majority. We knew this weekend would be a bit more difficult for us, as the track would not be best suited to the characteristics of our car. However, we have a few new updates planned for Hungary and before that we have two weeks to try and make further progress with our car.”

Caterham-Renault

Charles Pic (17th): “My start was ok – I passed Chilton but I had to brake hard in turn one and pretty soon I had a big vibration from the front right. We were always going to stop pretty early so we didn’t have to change strategy too much, coming in at the end of lap four to go onto the primes. In the second stint the deg level on the tyres was good. We were looking at stopping earlier to cover one of the Marussia pitstops but as the tyres were performing well we could stay out. For once we had some luck with the timing of the safety car and boxed for another set of mediums, coming out behind my teammate in 17th. As we’d changed the plan under the safety car I had to manage that second set of mediums and they were holding up well until I had a slow puncture on lap 35 and had to box unexpectedly. The unplanned stop obviously ruined the strategy which is a real shame as we would have been right up with the pack ahead who were all bunched up because of the safety car. That’s pretty frustrating but there’s not much you can do in those circumstances. Because of the stop I came back out last but passed Chilton and with a few laps to go I passed Giedo whose tyres were gone and from there it was just a question of getting it to the finish.”

Giedo van der Garde (18th): “I made a great start, passed two cars and then did Vergne on the first lap so by the end of lap one I was up to 17th. The car felt pretty good but we wanted to get the softs out of the way quickly so we stuck to the plan and came in early to go onto the mediums which had held up well on the long runs in practice. The first set of mediums was performing ok but we adapted the plan, pitting on lap 20 for another set of the harder compound. I’d just seen the first blue flags when the safety car came out so I was able to get the lap back and when the race restarted I was in 16th, behind Bottas’ Williams and Gutierrez, and ahead of Charles. From that point it was honestly a bit of a lonely race! I was focused on making sure I could get the car to the finish without any problems, and we didn’t have any more blue flags until towards the end of the race so it was all pretty trouble free. I boxed again on lap 35 and from there it was all about bringing it home. That was a long final stint so the tyres were completely gone towards the end and my pace had dropped a lot, but both Charles and I were clear of our nearest rival so it was a pretty straight run to the flag with him. Despite the final place I think this was another small step for me. My tyre management in the race improved a bit today and I’ve been working on it all weekend. We now have a small break until the next race in Hungary so I have time to head back to the factory, do more work in the sim and come back in Hungary aiming to continue to progress.”

Marussia-Cosworth

Max Chilton (19th): “Not an easy race today. We both struggled with our starts and the opening few laps and then I started to close the gap to Charles and Jules; I was happy with the car. Unfortunately for Jules he had an engine problem so I knew that I had to do my best to get some reward for the Team. In the middle stint there was nothing between us and Caterham and then the safety car came out and stirred up everyone’s strategies. We made the right call, but just suffered with rear tyre wear with 10 laps to go. On the whole I was happy with my performance and speed today.”

Jules Bianchi (DNF, Engine): “Obviously it is very disappointing to end my race so soon, due to an engine problem on lap 22. I got a very poor start and it was a real battle to recover from that and stay ahead of Pic. I had just completed my second pit stop and got ahead of Van Der Garde when the engine let go, but I think we had the pace to be able to fight to keep both Caterhams behind had I continued. The car felt well-balanced and we were showing the usual more positive race pace. It has been a less than straightforward weekend so perhaps this was just not destined to be our race and we just have to look ahead to the next one in Hungary.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “An incredibly disappointing result for the Team today but perhaps one which, when digested on Monday morning, will be viewed more favourably. It is clear we had much more potential today and Jules’ unfortunate engine problem meant that we were unable to beat our nearest competitors. We don’t yet know the cause but I am sure working with Cosworth tonight we will be able to make an initial assessment of what went wrong. What was pleasing today was to see Max running very much at the same pace as Jules and the Caterhams throughout the race and he only lost out due to a more oversteered balance today, which meant that his rear tyres suffered later in the stint. We now move on to the Young Driver Test and thereafter the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks’ time.”

July 7, 2013
Silverstone F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Marrusia

Here’s what the Marussia F1 team have to say ahead of this weekend’s Silverstone F1 Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi, Marussia

“I’m really looking forward to the Team’s home race at Silverstone. I know from Monaco what it feels like to have achieved your dream of racing in Formula One and then be able to do just that in front of your home crowd, so it will be a nice weekend for Max. It is also an important weekend for the whole Team and I too will be looking to achieve my objectives – to contribute to a good overall team result and keep up the fight with the cars around us. We will have a lot of our team members who don’t usually get to a race present and that is really important and nice for them, to be able to see us racing so close to our base. As for the track, I really like it, having raced here before in different formulae. It is one of the best tracks on the calendar in my opinion – very fast, challenging and technical. I’ve done some good preparation and now I can’t wait to start running on Friday.”

Max Chilton, Marussia

“The British Grand Prix is really special, and for so many reasons, so to be able to call it my home Grand Prix is pretty incredible and without
doubt it will be the highlight of my debut season so far. It is also the Team’s home race and Silverstone is just 18 miles from our base in
Banbury, so we’re racing in our own backyard with fantastic support from our fans, our Team and our Partners right here on our doorstep. It
doesn’t get much better than that, apart from bringing home a great result of course, which is what we’ll all be pushing for. I know from
having raced at Silverstone previously that the atmosphere is electric, with a sea of Union Jack flags and some big noise coming from the
grandstands. I’m sure it will be better than ever this year with four British drivers in the mix. As for the circuit itself, it has always been a real driver’s track with a character all if its own. The high-speed corners make it really exciting to drive, particularly Copse, Becketts and Stowe. We have a few small developments for this race but we are also still making progress with the updates we brought prior to that, so I’m optimistic that we will be able to put a good weekend together on track. Off-track, it’s looking very busy but exciting, with a lot of media activity and appearances. All in all, I can’t wait.”

Marussia F1 at Barcelona

John Booth, Marussia team principal

“The British Grand Prix is always a fantastic occasion and one of the highlights of the calendar for teams and fans alike. We are proud to be the only Anglo-Russian team on the grid and next year we will have two home races to celebrate, but for now, with our operational base in Banbury, Silverstone continues to be ‘home asphalt’ for us. We are also delighted to be fielding a British driver for the first time in our brief history. Max is, quite rightly, very excited to be racing in front of his home crowd for the first time in a Formula One car and, if the atmosphere we have seen there in previous years is anything to go by, he’ll thoroughly enjoy the support for him and the other British drivers. The British fans are incredible; so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They are very patriotic but equally, they’ll back whoever shines there next weekend because they just love to see a great race at the end of the day. We hope to play our part in the racing action and we’ll be aiming for the best possible finish with both our drivers to maintain our fight for position in the Constructors’ Championship and to reward the Team members and our Partners, many of whom will be sharing in the occasion with us. We look forward to a great weekend and a classic British Grand Prix.”

June 27, 2013
2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix Thursday Press Conference

Drivers – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren) Max Chilton (Marussia), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Q: Max, your first home Grand Prix, what are your thoughts coming up to this?
Max Chilton: It’s an extremely exciting moment. To be racing in Formula One is amazing. In Australia, that Grand Prix was very special but this is the one I’ve been waiting for. To be in front of the home crowd, all the Union Jacks around the circuit. It’s going to be a moment not to forget. The main thing is to keep doing what you always do, not do anything different and just try to do the best that you can do.

Q: How do you think your progress has been so far this year? We’re at round eight, you seem to be making quiet progress back there.
MC: Yeah, I’m confident of how we’ve done. I’m finished all seven races and had a great race in Monaco finishing 14th. You’ve got to learn as much as you can in your first year of Formula One. I’ve felt like I’ve learnt everything that I can and I’ve learnt everything from every race and taken it into the next race. I’ll be doing that for all of the year and maybe next year – I don’t know what the plan is. You’ve got to take in as much as you can and try to take that into the next race and get a better result.

Q: Mark, a two-time winner here. What are the chances of another?
Mark Webber: It’s been a happy hunting ground around here, in Formula One and also, years before that in the junior categories. I think it’s one of the best circuits on the calendar. All the drivers love driving here. A Formula One car on the limit, all the quick corners. And yeah, the Red Bull car in the last few years has also been pretty strong here, so we’re looking forward to certainly challenging for another victory. Qualifying also, the last five years I’ve been in the top three here, so yeah, that’s been a good platform to launch a good result off. So, we need to have a smooth weekend and yeah, challenge for the last part of the Grand Prix. I think again tyres will be playing a very big role – as they always have done the last few years around here. Fernando was strong in Shanghai and in Barcelona – similar types of layout – so we need to be mindful of that, not that we can do much about it but we know we’re going to have some opposition this weekend, and looking forward to it.

Q: And a momentous announcement from you today. Tell us the thinking behind the announcement of your retirement from Formula One. And how significant is the year, 2013 to 2014?
MW: Well, the timing is perfect for me. Very, very excited about my new chapter and the new challenge ahead. One of the most famous and most well-respected brands in automotive and motor racing in Porsche, so that’s something which personally I’m very satisfied about taking on. The decision has been there for quite a long time for me actually. So, I’ve known for quite a while, I’ve had a plan and I’ve stuck to it. But still, in the meantime, respecting the profession that I have now at this level and focusing on achieving very, very strong results in my last season in Formula One.

Q: Was it the new engine regs? Did that have anything to do with it?
MW: There’s lots of reasons that come into the pot, I think, when any sportsman or women comes to that time in their career where they want to call it a day. That’s another small ingredient: there’s going to be big, big changes in this sport next year, so I may as well go and do those big, big changes where my future is going to be. Let’s see how the category is next year in Formula One – I’ll be interested to watch every now and then and go from there. Watch these guys do their stuff.

Q: Jenson, Fernando, you’ve raced against Mark for many, many years. What are your thoughts about the announcement today?
Jenson Button: It leaves the seat free for someone else, doesn’t it? It’s not really a surprise. I think Mark’s career’s been a little bit similar to mine in a way in terms of struggling in the first few years to find a seat and a drive that you think you deserve and then being with a team that can give you victories. It’s obviously the right time so fair play to him.

Q: Fernando?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think it’s a good time for him, good opportunity. As Mark said, he’s moving to a very prestigious car brand and probably the most famous race in the world – together with Formula One. I think he’ll have a lot of fun behind the wheel, as he’s doing now, with a little bit of less problems outside the wheel that we have now in Formula One. We enjoy 19 Sundays a year and the rest of the time is a little bit of a stressful time. With the new series I think he will have a little bit more fun and I wish him the best of luck for the rest of the championship and for the future.

Q: Coming to your own thoughts about these two races, this race and a week’s time in Germany, how important are these two races for your championship hopes, given the deficit that exists at the moment?
FA: All races are important from now on, especially in the position we are in. 36 points behind the leader, we don’t have much more room to do mistakes or lose many more points. But, on the other side, we need to remain calm, we need to do our job, the maximum we can every weekend. If we can win the race, if we can finish in front of Sebastian [Vettel], will be great. If we cannot do it, we will try to lose the minimum points. Last year after Monza I think I have an advantage of around 40 points [39] over Sebastian and it was not enough – and that was Monza time. So now being in the race for the championship 36 points behind. It’s not the ideal position but it’s not the end of the world.

Q: The car was on pole position here last year, you finished second. How well is this car suited to Silverstone?
FA: We’ll see. I think it should be a good circuit for us. We’ve been more or less competitive here for the last three or four years. As Mark said before also, it is the first circuit that is a little bit similar to China and Barcelona – the best circuits so far for this year’s car and we have some high hopes for this weekend. On the other hand, Red Bull has been quite strong, and dominant here from 2009 so it will be an extremely close and challenging weekend with Mercedes I’m sure very, very strong as well, as they proved in China and in Barcelona with the first row in qualifying etcetera. So, y’know, interesting weekend ahead of us but we approach it with confidence, knowing that we have a good opportunity.

Q: Jenson, it’s an unfortunate statistic that you haven’t been on the podium here since 1999. Is it just an unfortunate statistic? Are you just unlucky here? What is it about Silverstone?
JB: I’m sure there’s more to it than just being unlucky, I’m sure it is. I’ve still had some really good races here. My first year in Formula One, my British Grand Prix I finished fifth, overtaking Michael at turn one and finished with nine cylinders and still finished fifth, so it was a great weekend, with DC winning. Very passionate fans here so it was a great celebration. But yeah, I agree, being on the podium here is something I would love to achieve. It’s going to be very difficult this year but we’ll see. We’ll fight as hard as we can and get the best out of the car hopefully. And that’s all we can do this weekend: we know we’re not quick enough but you want to repay the fans for all their support. They’re not just fans in the good times, they’re fans in the tough times as well. That’s really nice to see. Hopefully we’ll have a full house of Union Jacks here and I promise we’ll do the best we can.

Q: We know you’ve got a difficult car this year. What can you do to help its progress?
JB: I think everyone knows, when you watch on TV, our car does certain things a Formula One car shouldn’t really be doing. I think our ride is an area we need to improve and an area we are improving. So, with a circuit like Silverstone, it is reasonably bumpy. It’s not quite like Canada, and I think our car does suit circuits like Barcelona, like China, Malaysia. So, hopefully the flow of this circuit will help us – but still that’s not enough. We need to improve in the areas where we are weak. We’re not thinking about 2014 already, we want to get good results this year so we’re pushing flat out to make sure we do improve – but it’s an area of the car that’s also very difficult to improve. But we’re trying very hard.

Q: Paul, you’ve had two really good races – the last two races in Monaco and Canada – from low on the grid. So what are your feelings about those two Grands Prix?
Paul di Resta: Obviously coming away with good results, I think, fighting back. Canada was obviously an excellent result. I think everybody raised their game for Sunday and what we achieved was quite remarkable. This weekend, three more straightforward days I think will definitely be on the cards. To build upon that, to move forward really and to finish in the points. We’ve managed to score on six occasions this year, the other one, where we didn’t score was a DNF. If we can keep that up, and equally try and battle with McLaren, hopefully be in front of them, it makes a big difference to a team like us that’s battling in the midfield most of the year.

Q: You’ve had two good qualifyings in your two Grands Prix here. As you say, it’s a matter of three days going correctly is it? Getting everything in place?
PdiR: Canada was very difficult. I think the whole team felt the pain of that but I think here we’ll look to gather some data, starting on the tyres tomorrow. Our car seems to be working well in all circumstances this year. It seems very consistent. I think this is a track where tyres are going to be a question. We’re normally on the healthier side of tyre wear and really the focus should be on qualifying because that’s the big result of the weekend, and then transfer that into the race where we know we’ve got a strong package to gain some positions from. But it’s a long way away and a lot of work to do in front of hopefully some great British support.

Q: Lewis, are you a bit surprised that you come here at the British driver with the best chance of winning and best placed in the Championship?
Lewis Hamilton: I guess so, yeah. I was definitely not expecting that when we started the season. But it’s I guess a positive.

Q: What are your thoughts on the progress Mercedes have made this year?
LH: I think it’s incredible what they’ve been able to do, it’s very difficult. Watching my previous car evolve over time, over the last few years just to see how much improvement you can make over a winter. To see what they’ve done is pretty impressive. They’ve done an incredible job but it’s because they’ve got a great group of guys. They’ve got some very intelligent people coming up with great ideas and new innovations. It’s a team to be reckoned with.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR) Mark, you will be missed and I don’t think I’m alone in thinking this. How much will your approach change for the remaining races?
MW: I think going forward, for the rest of the season, it doesn’t change a huge amount to be honest, because I’ve known the decision… nothing changes for my approach now because obviously it’s now out for everybody, but in terms of the last few races, obviously challenging for the top steps and when you get everything right, obviously we want to get wins as well. I don’t see that being a huge, huge difference. It’s in my interest to keep the motivation up until Brazil and work hard with the guys. That’s important. At this level, I’m fully respectful of the effort that goes in to get the car out there, so I need to keep pushing, for myself and for the team because they put in a lot of work, obviously, at the factory at Milton Keynes, Renault, everyone.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR) Mark, during your first career at Le Mans, we remember a couple of crashes.
MW: Le Mans, yeah, in 1999, that era, those cars were very, very… I think the regulations were quite dangerous. We had a lot of cars having some big shunts in that era. I think all manufacturers had issues with keeping the cars on the ground, just because of the way the regs were written and they were quite quick. Look, motor racing is dangerous, I accept that, we all know that. Motor racing is dangerous. Le Mans is a classic race. The cars are not slow there now but I’m not a guy who wants to wrap myself in cotton wool either. I’m looking forward to the challenge and yeah, it’s something which was in my thinking in terms of the safety factors, all those things which have improved since we were there last and they will continue to improve as well, not just the circuit but the cars. We’ve gone forward since 13 years ago.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Mark, why did you chose to go that route of announcing it this morning on Twitter before you told the team?
MW: Well, it was a Porsche announcement. I informed Christian before the announcement which contractually I should do, so that’s what we did.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) It was just the guys in the factory didn’t know.
MW: Well, it wouldn’t have been an announcement then, would it? So you’ve got to get the balance right. Obviously I will talk to the factory of course at some stage. They’ve been superb for me on the floor there but Porsche were very keen to make the announcement. It was about Porsche and Mark Webber today.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) It wasn’t about scoring a point back at Red Bull over things that had happened over the years?
MW: No. I think I helped the team today. They know they’ve got to make some decisions in the future. Dietrich (Mateschitz) has been completely up to speed with my thinking in the last six to eight months, so Dietrich has been absolutely on board and on message with where I’ve been at. He’s certainly encouraged me not to rush my decision when I approached him earlier in the season. I think basically all of the right channels and avenues that we went through to get the message across as subtly as we could in terms of the announcement was done in the right way.

Q: (Jens Wolters – ARD Radio) Mark, do you actually care about the next guy who succeeds you in your position at Red Bull and maybe what should he bring into the team?
MW: I’ll watch with interest, mate. Yeah.

Q: (Rosie Baillie – F1Plus.com) You’ve spent many years in Formula One, Mark, what will you miss most about Formula One when you leave?
MW: Probably being with some of these guys to be honest. We all strive to get to the pinnacle, and I’ve been with JB, Lewis, Fernando, these guys for a long time, racing. We all know where we’ve come from. I’m very proud of where I’ve come from. I don’t forget the street that I grew up in in Australia. Formula One is seen as the pinnacle. Working with people like Adrian Newey, there’s things like that which of course won’t go un-noticed but as any sportsman or woman will know, you’re not 25 for ever so you’ve got to get the decision right and the timing right and stopping when you’re still performing well. I believe that’s absolutely correct for yourself and that’s part of the course that I will miss. The drug on the grid when the guys walk away from the car, that’s the best legal drug you can get. I’m ready to go racing so that’s brilliant. Like I say, you’ve got to be real with yourself and know there’s a day where you need to roll on to the next chapter and that’s what I’m very excited by. You can’t kid yourself and say it’s going to go on for ever. Yeah, and your performance is important so… yeah.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, in Monaco you didn’t have great tyre degradation and also in Montreal. OK, they are circuits that are not demanding in terms of tyre wear. Here it is. If you don’t face this kind of problem, do you think people will relate that to the test that your team did after the Spanish Grand Prix?
LH: Probably. That’s something we will have to face up to but I’m not really expecting us to have an easy weekend. I don’t think we’ve really made a huge step since Barcelona. The last couple of races have been a little bit easier on the tyres so we’ve definitely made a small improvement but I don’t know whether it’s going to be good enough this weekend to come out ahead of the Red Bulls and the Ferraris but time will tell. We definitely have some components that we’ve developed since Barcelona to help with the tyres, so I’m hoping that they will help this weekend.

Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) A question for everyone except Mark: if and when the time comes for you guys to move on and to retire, are there any series that you find particularly appealing? Anyone want to try their hand at NASCAR, motocross? What gets you guys excited as future possibilities?
LH: I don’t know. I haven’t any plans for leaving for a while. I’ve not really thought about it. I love quite a lot of the different sports that are out there but I don’t know whether I would consider doing any other sports after Formula One. This is the pinnacle of motor racing and I think that for me personally, anything after this would be a little bit boring for me.
FA: I don’t know. I will think when I arrive at the time.
JB: Yeah, I haven’t thought about it a lot to be fair. Categories that I would like would be… I think Le Mans is a very special race, a very big team race, big team effort. I also like Super GT in Japan. I think that’s a good category with the new regs that they have it looks pretty exciting.

Q: Paul, you’ve been in DTM, would you go back?
PdiR: Yeah, I had some great memories there. I don’t know. Hopefully my journey has only just started here. It’s a few years away. There might be new series by that point.
MC: I’ve planned to get success in Formula One first. I’ve done a Le Mans race before and loved every moment of it so I might go down that route and maybe go on to touring cars after that because I started – after karts – in a thing called a T-car so I’m used to the weight transfer. It was quite nice to drift a car without doing stupid speeds but I’ll think of that when I’ve gone through my twenties.

Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1Plus.com) Fernando, do you have any thoughts on this being the first race weekend after the sad passing of Jose Froilan Gonzales?
FA: Well, obviously it’s sad week and a sad news for all the Ferrari family and for the motor sport family. I remember two years ago when we won the race here, I spoke with him on the telephone after the podium ceremony because it was a very special day for Ferrari and we dedicated the victory that day to he who is a legend at Ferrari. Obviously this weekend it’s important if we could do a good job to dedicate again to all his family and all the passion and the fans that he brought into Formula One from his country and we would like to do a good job for him and for all the Ferrari fans.

Q: (Michelle Foster – PlanetF1.com) Mark, will you be walking away with any regrets?
MW: No, no I don’t think so. At this level, you’re always open to some adversity here and there and challenges, that’s how this sport is, any top flight sport is going to be snapshots of different things which you could probably have done better here and there, but there’s no career which is like this. You’re going to have ups and downs and getting off the canvas is part of the rules, so I’ve been very fortunate to have some very, very special memories for sure. How long is a piece of string? You could have more in terms of championships or whatever, but 2010 was a very, very big battle with lots of quality drivers and it went to the last race so of course I remember that, I led the championship at the wrong race but it was… I’m looking back with very fond memories and I’ve still got races to go obviously this year so still looking to add to those great memories and helping Red Bull still achieve very, very good results.

Q: (Jens Wolters – ARD Radio) Lewis, for me it’s seem like since the decision in Paris that you and your team are the new bad guys in Formula One. Do you feel that? Do the other drivers still talk to you, how do you feel after this decision?
LH: So far, everyone still seems to be speaking to us. I feel that it’s one of those experiences that we’ve gone through that if anything it’s made us stronger. It’s been quite encouraging to see how the team has pulled together and how they’ve turned a negative into a positive and now moving forward and hungrier than ever to win, so that’s encouraging for me, that brings me great energy to come here with and hoping that we can get some good results moving forward.

Q: (Michael Casey – Associated Press) Lewis, talking more about this weekend, you had a good race in Canada. You’re obviously still in the hunt. How are you feeling about the prospects for a title this season, even with the tyre issues?
LH: Yeah, like Fernando was saying, we’re even further behind Sebastian and it’s quite a big deficit so to catch that up, it’s going to be very difficult, especially with the pace that they have, but we’re not giving up, we’re going to keep pushing and we’ll just push as hard as we can until the last race and the last opportunity we have. But I feel positive, we’re there or thereabouts and we’re trying to make improvements. Those guys are extremely quick, Ferrari and Red Bull but it’s not impossible to catch them, at least that’s what we believe so we are going to keep pushing.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) Jenson and Mark, Williams are celebrating their 600th race this weekend, I was just hoping you could talk about how impressive a feat that actually is.
JB: Why, because I’ve done so many races as well, you mean? Yeah, Frank and Patrick are both legends. I raced for them in 2000, they gave me the opportunity to race in Formula One. I’ve got great memories with them and with the whole team as I’m sure Mark does as well. It’s an amazing achievement, it’s not a manufacturer, it’s a true racing team and that’s what I love about it, how difficult it was for them to find the money in the first place, to go racing, but with belief and determination, he’s achieved or the team has achieved so much in their career. 600 Grands Prix, wow, it really is phenomenal. Fair play and hopefully they will be here for many, many more years.
MW: Yeah, I agree with JB. I think it’s an incredible achievement, under the sensational beacon that Frank has been. Obviously the adversity he has personally been through to still be in the factory week in week out are pretty much known. When I was there he was doing six days a week, he was very excited when he saw you arrive at the factory on a Saturday for whatever reason, even if it was for nothing, just to say hallo, he was excited to have you there. An amazing guy for the sport so under him, as Jenson said, the team has been a real force, mainly remembered for being towards the front of the grid obviously in those Canon Honda days and they were obviously the eras when I was watching the racing as well, but I think moving forward, obviously Frank’s slowly handing the reins over a little bit now and of course I wish Claire (Williams) all the best and the rest of the team. Claire is a super operator, really down to earth and a bit of a tough cookie as well, so she’s got some of the traits of Dad. I hope they have good success in the future.

Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, last year, during the summer, Ferrari made a big improvement in its performance. Are you confident you can do the same this year in order to close the gap, or is it more difficult?
FA: I think we will see. This year we are a little bit dominated by the tyres’ performance and the tyre issues that we face every weekend. Some weekends are hit by some tyres against the others but it seems that if you have a weekend where you make the tyre work properly and last properly throughout the race you have a better chance to win, so despite the performance of the car in the high speed corners or low speed corners, I think it will be a weekend over the next couple of races to make the tyres work in the maximum performance in qualifying and in the race, because sometimes you hit one of the two and it’s not enough so we need to improve in that aspect. I think the team performance needs to be a little bit better in the tyre preparation on Saturday and Sunday

Q: (Michael Casey – Associated Press) Fernando and Lewis, in terms of Sebastian after the race he had in Canada, is there a little bit of a sense that he’s starting to pull away, that a fourth title could be his at some point?
FA: I think he’s doing a fantastic job. I think he’s been nearly perfect in all the races with no negative races, always performing well in qualifying and doing very good races. Obviously I had two unlucky situations, one in Malaysia, one in Bahrain. Kimi [Raikkonen] was leading the championship or very close until he had two unlucky situations, one in Monaco and in Canada was a little bit of a mixed race for him. So we need to keep fighting, we need to keep pushing and we need to recover from these bad races that we had now. As Lewis said before, I think Red Bull is performing really well, it’s improving compared to the first part of the championship, so we really need to raise our game if we want to catch Sebastian because he’s doing a fantastic job.
LH: Yeah, same as what Fernando said: Sebastian’s doing an incredible job. He’s performing as the World Champion that he is and they will be difficult to catch but I don’t think it’s impossible to close the gap. From our side, we’ve already closed quite a huge deficit already so we’re happy where we are but of course we want to do better. Fernando’s a lot closer. I think once they sort out their qualifying they’ll be able to match the Red Bulls if not beat them so we need to do a lot more work.

June 27, 2013
F1 Canadian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Marussia F1 Team

The Marussia F1 Team Preview Quotes ahead of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi: “I was hoping for better things at my home race last weekend but now I am fully focused on the races ahead, not looking back. Canada is one of the races I have been most looking forward to all season and I have heard a lot of things about the track and the fantastic city of Montreal. Having been in the simulator this week I feel excited for the weekend, although I think we can expect to be challenged by the demands of the circuit characteristics. The last race was the first retirement of the season for myself and the Team, which is disappointing after such a good run of 10 car finishes in 10 races until then. It seems to be an isolated problem, so we look forward to getting back to full reliability and continuing to push forwards.”

Max Chilton: “I’m looking forward to my Canadian Grand Prix debut and returning to the learning experience of an unknown track. From what I know and have seen in the simulator, this is one of those circuits that will keep the drivers and the engineers fully occupied by the engineering challenge, as there is such a careful balance to strike between the low and higher downforce sections of the track, at the same time as managing brakes and tyres. After a good result in Monaco I am hopeful that we can carry that momentum forward and enjoy a positive weekend.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “Everyone at the Marussia F1 Team thoroughly enjoys the Canadian Grand Prix experience, although the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has not necessarily favoured our car on our three previous visits. We are hopeful that we can turn that corner in Montreal next weekend. It has been quite a tight turnaround after Monaco to prepare the cars for the freight but they leave this weekend and in the intervening period before we arrive we’ll continue to evaluate a frustrating Monaco and try to get a good head start for the race ahead. Canada always throws up quite a few challenges – a technically demanding track, variable weather and the rather more unusual concern over groundhogs. The one thing we were pleased with in the last race was our result and relative performance, so we’ll be happy to continue building on that next weekend.”

June 1, 2013
F1 2013: Monte Carlo Review – Lights to flag victory for Rosberg

It has taken thirty years for a son to emulate his father’s victory around the tight and twisting streets of Monte Carlo.

Mercedes’ chances in Saturday qualifying had always looked good but the test would come in the 78 lap race. The team’s struggles with tyre degradation had been well documented and many had expected them to fade on this Sunday as they had on so many other occasions. However, a controlled race from lights out had Nico Rosberg in the pound seats from the very first lap.

The first thirty laps of the Monaco GP was an exhibition by Rosberg and Hamilton as the two Mercedes set a steady pace and managed their race to within an inch of perfection. The two Red Bull’s of Vettel and Webber had made better get-aways but the tight entry to Ste Devote meant they had nowhere to go and the pair of them slotted in behind the two Silver Arrows.

So docile was the pace of Rosberg and Hamilton that the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde ran as the fastest car, by quite some margin, for a limited period of the race. Nevertheless, the twenty-five points and glory of winning the Monaco grand prix was the end goal and how they went about reaching it wasn’t of any concern.

After this display of ‘controlled aggression’ as coined by Mark Webber, the questions around Pirelli and what they are offering Formula 1 will deepen. Critics of the 2013 tyre compounds were undoubtedly armed with new ammunition after the Monaco GP and rightly so. Cruising around, three seconds a lap off the possible pace is not what fans want to see and more than likely not what drivers want to be doing. Formula 1 has always been about pushing the limits, daring to go the very edge of what is possible. It may be easy and comfortable to poke holes in Pirelli’s brief Formula 1 sojourn but it is also clear that something needs to change. A second tyre manufacturer to stir the pot perhaps?

Despite the monotony of the opening sting of the race by lap 30 the most famous race on the calendar would be turned on its head. A car problem pitched Ferrari’s Felipe Massa into the barriers of turn one and deployed the safety car. The Brazilian was held at the side of the track for a while but was later reported as uninjured. Two Red Bulls, Raikkonen, Alonso and the two Macca’s made use of the safety car and dived into the pits for a fresh set of boots. It didn’t quite go to plan for Mercedes as they had to stack Rosberg and Hamilton in the pitlane with the latter slipping from second to fourth as a result.

While Rosberg was easily holding Vettel and Webber at bay, a crash triggered by Marussia’s Max Chilton would bring the race to a stop. After failing to see him, Chilton clashed with Pastor Maldonado on the entry to Tabac sending the Williams airborne into the barrier. The track, partially blocked by the Tecpro barrier, had to be cleared on debris before the race could be restarted.

The carnage was far from over and to say Romain Grosjean had been experiencing a tough weekend could be considered the understatement of the year. The Lotus driver had crash on three separate occasions earlier in the weekend and the race was going to be no exception. Saving the most peculiar crash for last, Grosjean ran into the back of Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso on the exit of the tunnel. Grosjean’s Lotus was strewn across the track and the safety car deployed for a second time. Grosjean later remarked that he didn’t anticipate Ricciardo braking at that point. Can we deduce that in future he would prefer the car in front not to brake for the corner? Scarily, that almost makes perfect Grosjean-esque sense. The Frenchman has been given a ten place grid penalty for the next race and is believed to be on the brink of being replaced by his team.

The drama was far from over when the race restarted on lap 67 as a rejuvenated Adrian Sutil first passed Button and then Fernando Alonso. A ridiculous call from the stewards instructed Alonso earlier in the race to give his sixth place to Sergio Perez after avoiding a collision with the Mexican. Spotting that it had already worked once, Perez tried the same move on Raikkonen into the Nouvelle chicane. Perez, nowhere near enough to attempt an overtake, collided with Raikkonen. Checo was finally put out of his misery with a broken left-front suspension. There is no hesitation about the fact that the young Mexican has talent but his current way doing business and mistaking the rest of the field for bumper cars already has him well on his way of being branded F1’s newest crash-kid.

As a result of the incident Kimi Raikkonen was forced to pit with a puncture and exited the pitlane in 16^th place with seemingly no chance of scoring any points on the day. But with fresh tyres the undoubtedly angry Finn lapped six seconds a lap faster and passed five cars, in two laps, to take tenth and the final point on offer.

Nico Rosberg drove a composed race to clinch his second career victory and he deserved every one of the twenty-five points for it. He wasn’t expected to rattle Hamilton’s cage the way he has in 2013. Rosberg has been the nearly-man in F1 for too long but the way he has upped his game with the arrival of the illustrious Lewis Hamilton has boosted his shares and earned widespread respect. Good on you Nico!

May 29, 2013
Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Marussia F1 Team

Spanish Grand Prix Preview Quotes from the Marussia F1 Team who are hoping that Barcelona will confirm the positive development direction they have been following.

Jules Bianchi: “Although my first four races have been quite positive – and a nice adventure for me personally – as a driver in my debut season it is good to be heading into the start of the European season. The tracks are very familiar to me from previous formulas and that just provides a further confidence with interpreting the information we collect and how we roll that back into performance. The Team have spent a lot of time analysing our progress so it will be good to verify our findings with the package so far and of course to explore our new developments for Spain. I’m looking forward to getting busy in the car again.”

Max Chilton: “It will be great to get back down to business in Spain, where there will be a lot to focus our attentions on. We’ve learned a lot in the first four races and quite a lot since, with the technical team having been hard at it in the break. What we bring to the Circuit de Catalunya is the product of four races of evaluation coupled with the next step in our ongoing development path, so it will be interesting to see how we can progress from Bahrain. On a personal level this is a track I enjoy and have raced at plenty of times, and that will also be useful as we work through a busy evaluation programme on Friday in particular. I’m looking forward to it.”

John Booth, Team Principal, Marussia F1 Team: “After a good long break since the Bahrain Grand Prix, we head into Europe feeling refreshed and prepared for the start of the next phase of races. It was a whirlwind start to the season for us in some ways and the past few weeks have allowed the drivers in particular to draw a little more breath. Barcelona is always an interesting race as it provides a very good barometer of car performance up and down the grid and also the benefit of the new upgrades most teams will bring to their cars. We are no exception and having tested here over two weeks pre-season, we’ll be taking the opportunity to use that baseline data to further analyse our progress to date, conducting some back to back work with our Bahrain package prior to fielding our new developments for this race. Bahrain has always been a race that we have struggled at so we are hoping that the Circuit de Catalunya will provide further confirmation of the positive development direction we have been following.”

May 4, 2013