Tag: mercedes

2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

Drivers:

1st Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2nd Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Nigel Mansell)

Q: What a race we just had ladies and gentlemen, a very tough one at the office for these gentlemen. Brilliant drives everybody. Lewis, your 30th win, my goodness me, how did you enjoy that?
Lewis Hamilton: It was great. What a day it’s been. It’s been a very difficult weekend. Today, to be raining so much, it was very difficult, tricky conditions. We hope that Bianchi is OK. But we had a great crowd this weekend, as every year.

Q: Tell us about those hot laps, 15 or 16 laps before the end there. You were putting in some hot laps, a second or second and a half quicker than anyone?
LH: Yeah, I really got into a groove. In terms of feeling it was very reminiscent of Silverstone 2008.

Q: Tell the fans what you really thought when you went off at the first turn when you were really pushing hard early in the race?
LH: I was pushing to get by Nico and I had the DRS open and I forgot to turn it off. When I went into the corner the rear end stepped out. It was very, very close but I saved it.

Q: Well, a brilliant win. Nico, you did everything perfect, great pole position yesterday and then great drive. You were doing all the hard work, acting as the brake, because being out front is difficult isn’t it?
Nico Rosberg: It’s been a good weekend for us as a team. Of course it’s great for us as a team to get a one-two. And you fans have been absolutely spectacular again this weekend, it’s very, very special to drive here and to really get an impression of the whole atmosphere here. Congrats to Lewis for winning today, of course with my thoughts at the moment with our colleagues Jules, because it seems quite serious, so I really wish him all the best.

Q: As we all do. Unfortunately, we don’t have any news about that at the moment. But brilliant drive and congratulations Nico. Seb, unbelievable drive, you made things very exciting with the Williams drivers, getting on the inside and then the outside. How did you enjoy that today?
Sebastian Vettel: As they both touched on it was very, very tricky. Took a while to get the race started, waiting for the conditions but then I think it was very good fun. Concentration has to be very, very high when it’s wet; it’s so easy to do a mistake. In the end obviously we pitted, decided to go for fresh tyres, lost one position only. Obviously I got lucky to have the safety car coming before, so I’m quite lucky to be up here. Great race, we seemed to have great at some times as well. Overall, very happy and last but not least best to Jules Bianchi.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, an excellent race, the right result for you in very difficult conditions.
LH: Yeah, absolutely. It’s been an interesting weekend. Obviously a great result for the team. I think we’re all very concerned about our colleague, Bianchi. Don’t really know what to say. But again, to have the result, this has been a great weekend with the car; qualifying obviously wasn’t perfect for me but generally the car was absolutely fantastic through the race and once I was passed Nico I was able to really manage the gap and enjoy the ride. Obviously didn’t finish the way we would have hoped but really, my prayers are with him (Bianchi) and his family.

Q: A great overtaking manoeuvre round the outside of Nico going down into the first corner; tell us about that.
LH: Fairly straightforward, really. I had a lot more pace than Nico. This is not a very easy circuit to follow but fortunately I was able to get quite close and particularly in the last corner and I think perhaps he had a small oversteer moment out of the last corner and I didn’t. Obviously the DRS enabled me to get alongside. I was fairly confident with the balance of the car so I put it there and stuck it out. And after that it was really about trying to… you know, the whole approach changed after that because I was attacking, attacking and after that, I kind of took different lines and managed it differently. But it felt very reminiscent of a time years and years ago, of 2008, and it was a great feeling in that respect.

Q: And you had a couple of excursions but they didn’t really seem to hurt you at all.
LH: Yeah, I only remember one of them but yeah, I went into turn one with the DRS open and there’s so much less downforce when that wing is open. You’ve got to remember to close it again and then I started to turn and brake and it was still open, so the back end stepped out. It was very, very close but yeah, kept hold of it, didn’t really lose too much time so fortunate.

Q: Nico, we heard you talking about a lot of oversteer, is that what the problem was throughout the race?
NR: I was definitely not happy with my balance but I think we had pretty much the same set-up so Lewis must have had the same oversteer. I just wasn’t happy with that and tried to figure out a way to reduce that and found some improvements then with the pit stop, put down the front wing so that was a bit better but still not good so just need to look into that. But all in all, Lewis just did a better job today and deserves to win. OK, second place is damage limitation and taking everything into consideration, it was very, very difficult conditions out there on this track and everything so seven points lost to Lewis… you know, there’s worse than that.

Q: Sebastian, a late stop and we weren’t awfully certain if we’d see you or Daniel in here; it was a bit worrying with that late stop.
SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t know what happened. The safety car came out and I think we were aware that Adrian went off in turn seven and obviously it was difficult to see what happened after that. From a racing point of view, the safety car comes in and we saw that there was quite a good gap and so we decided to pit and lost only one position. Obviously, as it turned out with the red flag, we thought initially we were not on the podium, but as the rules are similar to… I think a little bit of confusion. Five years ago in Malaysia I think we had a similar scenario and we found ourselves back in third. Obviously it was great to be on the podium, this is my favourite track, it’s for sure very nice in those tricky conditions. In the end, I don’t think it really matters. I think the most important thing, as we’re all probably thinking, is that we hope the best for Jules, obviously currently not in the best shape but we hope that we get some very good news very soon.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Question to all three of you: you were out in the last few laps on intermediates as well when the accidents happened. How slippery was it and was it already too wet for intermediates at that period of the race?
LH: For me personally it wasn’t. There was more and more rain coming and you could see the circuit… you started to see more reflections and so you could see that it was increasing – the amount of water that was on the track, but it wasn’t… I didn’t notice any difference so I was still able to maintain the same pace. I would imagine that we would probably have been able to finish on those tyres since there was only ten laps left. Yeah, but the tyres performed quite well today.
NR: Yeah, it was fine but the thing is that we have so much more downforce than some other people, so I can imagine that maybe for them… because it was starting to get a little bit more difficult for us and maybe for them, with so much less downforce, it was already on the limit of needing to go to full wets. That’s very possible and I myself was a little bit surprised to hear that other people were already going for full wets but I guess that must be the explanation.
SV: Yeah, it was borderline. At some stage, towards the end, just before the safety car, it started to rain a little bit less with a little bit less intensity. Also when the race was stopped it was just a drizzle and a couple of laps before it was getting quite bad, that’s why we decided to pit and we decided to go for intermediates again. I think the problem, in general, is that once there is a lot of water, visibility is very poor and once there’s too much water, the inter doesn’t work anymore and the extreme wet only has a very, very narrow window where it works because also, with a lot of water on the track, water drainage on the extreme tyres is not as good as it probably should be, so that’s why I think the window is narrow and that’s why other people probably decided to pit. For us, I think it was borderline but for sure, the better your car, the better – Nico explained it well – the better it is for you.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Nico and Lewis, do you have any kind of explanation of the difference of balance and settings for the car and the difference during the race between the two of you?
NR: We had pretty much the same set-up, so I’m sure the balance was similar for Lewis and I just struggled more with it I suppose: a lot of oversteer and I don’t like that.
LH: Yeah, we had pretty much exactly the same set-up so as Nico said, maybe he took out some wing later on in the race. I didn’t really have any problems with the balance of the car. It was oversteery but it was manageable.

October 5, 2014
F1 2014: Japanese GP – Rosberg Secures Pole

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg secured pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton ahead of Sunday’s Japanese grand prix.

There were few surprises in the first session of qualifying as both Caterhams, Marussia’s and Lotus’ were eliminated from Q1. The second part of qualifying saw Jean-Eric Vergne out-qualify his younger teammate Danil Kvyat who learnt this morning that he would be a Red Bull Racing driver in 2015.

The Russian will be replacing four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel who managed to secure ninth on the grid. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, surrounded by rumours and media off the track, slotted into fifth on the grid. Teammate Raikkonen could only set a lap fast enough for tenth.

The Williams pairing of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa locked out the second row of the grid and appear to be Mercedes’ closest challengers. Lewis Hamilton, recovering for a crash in the third practice session, was two tenths of his teammates place.

The biggest talking point on the track remains the prospective weather conditions for Sunday’s Japanese Gp. As a typhoon makes it way ever closer to the Mie prefecture questions remain as to the conditions and if it will allow for a race to take place.

October 4, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

Team representatives:

Pat Fry (Ferrari)

Andy Cowell (Mercedes)

Remi Taffin (Renault)

Paul Monaghan (Red Bull Racing)

Yasuhisa Arai (Honda)

Jonathan Neale (McLaren)

Q: Arai-san, if I can start with you please. What’s the current state of the Honda project? Is Honda on target with development?
Yasuhisa Arai: First of all, thank you very much to sit in centre. I am glad to be here again after Shanghai. Our progress is right now almost on schedule and I hope that in the year 2015, March we will make [a good start] together with our partner, get a good start on the grid.

Q: Would you like to run the power unit in a McLaren before the end of the year? Is that feasible? Are you allowed to do that?
YA: Everyone asks this to me! McLaren and Honda work together to design and create an experimental test vehicle to check the power unit system but unfortunately we don’t have an actual test plan but I hope if possible we will drive just before next season.

Q: You can’t say any more than “just before next season”?
YA: Just before next season. End of the season and next season, during that time. That’s my hope.

Q: What lessons have you learned from the efforts from the other power unit manufacturers? Are there particular areas that you’ve noticed they’ve had troubled with?
YA: I’ve learned very small things because most of the data we don’t know. So, very difficult to learn on the track.

Q: You’ve seen the failures that they have had. Are there particular areas you have concentrated on?
Jonathan Neale: If I may, just to help my partner here, as Arai-san says it’s very difficult at arm’s length to focus on any particular area. Honda and McLaren have a lot of work to do together in a short period of time and I’m sure if you were to ask – I don’t want to put words in the mouth of either Andy or Remi here – but if you were to ask them what it felt like for them at this time of year before they were starting with the V6 engines, they’ll know what we’re going through at the moment.

Q: Thank you for that. If I can come to the back row now: a couple of questions for all of you. First of all, what is your state of development at this stage for 2015 with your engines? Remi, if I can start with you?
Remi Taffin: It’s all about on plan. It’s basically now a few months we are working on that and we now have got a few examples on the dyno, so it’s a work in process. I think we are going in the right direction. It’s always difficult to know if we’ll hit all our targets but that’s where we are at the minute.

Q: Andy?
Andy Cowell: We’ve been doing lots of development ever since we froze the specification of this year’s engine in February, so we’ve been doing lots of development on research engines and using this year’s engine as a prove-out but our final specification of engine won’t be complete until the early part of next year, because for all of us we’re in the development phase until the.

Q: Thank you. And Pat?
Pat Fry: Our development is very similar to Andy’s really. As soon as the engine was frozen we’ve obviously been developing as hard as we can and trying to improve the power unit in all areas. There is a huge amount for us still to do. Very little of next year’s spec engine actually exists, which I expect to be the same for everyone here. It will all finally be coming together at the start of January.

Q: Can I ask you your feelings about unfreezing in-season power unit development and where is that discussion actually going? Remi?
RT: Where is that discussion? I think at the moment it is at the upper level than the one we are here and what I think about it, or what Renault thinks, is that it is not going to really change the way we are working. As Andy says we are developing our engine for next. There won’t be many parts that will be looking like the one from this year. Whether we will be able to put all the parts, all the development into one engine for Melbourne is difficult to say. Of course we will push as much as we can, because the more we put for the first race, the more performance we will get for the whole season. If we’ve got a slot at some point in the season to introduce some more development, they will be on the shelf, because obviously we just keep on working all through the year. It’s not really decisive in how we achieve our development. We will just take the opportunity if it is there.

Q: What are your feelings about this Andy?
AC: I think it would be a change to the way we are structured. We froze the performance specification of this engine in January/February of this year and started working on a 12-month development programme and if you’ve got one introduction point or two introduction points, it is a change. And often it is the prove-out – taking that performance specification into something that is reliable enough to do five race weekends – that’s the costly aspect, because you’ve got to have several sets of bits and often you have to go back around, because fatigue failures occur and you’ve got to redesign and go again. The regulations were put together several years ago with the opportunity to do an annual performance update. If we change to a mid-season as well as a start-of-season update, we all just need to consider that carefully. I think we all acknowledge that it would affect the financial situation. Perhaps the engineering directors would love the opportunity but the finance directors would have a furrowed brow at the thought of doing it. It needs to be discussed and considered carefully.

Q: Pat, what does Ferrari think of this?
PF: I think we are continually developing all through the year. It’s not like we’re targeting a fixed point, we’re developing as quickly as we can in every single area – some parts of that will be ready in January and some might not. But even then we don’t stop, we’ll carry on developing all through the following year. I think the changes that are being discussed still stay within the technical regulations and the number of tokens that you are allowed – it’s exactly the same number – it just gives you the opportunity to upgrade in one extra point, mid-season. I think for us the cost implications are not huge. As I said we would be doing all that development work anyway and also trying to improve the reliability of bits, so it doesn’t make a huge difference for us from that point of view.

Q: Jonathan, we’ve heard the state of the engine development for next year. What’s the state of the chassis development?
JN: Well, as Arai-san has said, we’ve been developing an experimental vehicle to support the engine and transmission integration. We continue to develop the car on the circuit this year, aerodynamically. And while we are not comfortable with where we’re at, we’re much more confident about the direction in which we’re taking the team and the progress that we’re seeing on the track. The gap to Mercedes still looks pretty eye-watering at times, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. The changes that Eric and I have made to the organisation, I’m happy that that’s going in the right direction. We’ve just got to get out heads down now and get on with it now. It’s going the right way.

Q: We’d remember in the past McLaren and Honda would be pounding around here for weeks on end… not possible these days.
JN: Well the world has changed a bit since that time, not least of which the engine regulations, chassis regulations, aerodynamic restrictions – it’s an energy-constrained series. All of these things, I think, have been good for the sport. They have their challenges, the rate of development, or the rate of aerodynamic development has definitely been restricted by the amount of wind tunnel time that’s available – not so sure that that’s actually restricted the amount of aerodynamic cost because the reality is that a unit of time in capacity is worth so much more at the moment but that’s probably a wider discussion – but we are very optimistic that the steps we’re taking in the organisation are the right ones and we will be a competitive team.

Q: And finally – and I’m sure you’re expecting this one – when are going to hear about the drivers? What are the criteria for choosing the drivers for next year?
JN: That’s a really interesting question and I think it depends on who you ask. I’ll give you my view. We have two very good drivers in the car who have been working incredibly hard this year, not always with the easiest car but with an improving car nonetheless. Having a world champion in the team is fantastic from a development and a confidence part of view, and having the Viking charger is also a joy to work with and good for us. In terms of setting our stall out for the future, then in our longer range, longer term conversations both with the shareholders and with our colleagues in Honda, then we have an eye on what’s happening in two, three, four, five years’ time. Where does the team want to be? In the short term, I read the same magazines that you do. I look with interest and note that everybody’s in contracts – but this is Formula One and anything can happen at a moment’s notice. I’m never surprised by what Formula One will throw up.

Q: Paul, Sebastian in particular is on five units of certain parts of the engine. Is there any way you can manage that? Is there any way of managing how you take those penalties if there’s going to be a penalty? He says there’s going to be a penalty. How do you manage that?
Paul Monaghan: As carefully as you can, with the minimum damage to the team’s performance. Obviously we have a few people breathing down our necks for second place in the Constructors’ title, so we have to keep ourselves in a competitive situation. I think on a race-by-race basis we review where we are, what we’ve got, how far we think we can take it? When is it least damaging to take any penalty? And we’ll have to make that call in the near future.

Q: Unless it springs up on you beforehand…
PM: We’ll deal with it if it does.

Q: You are entering into a much closer relationship with your engine manufacturer Renault. How is that coming along, what are the benefits of that?
PM: I think we’ve always had a close relationship with Renault. Don’t forget we’ve got four Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles with them. I think a closer collaboration will only benefit both parties. So if we can bring some additional skill-sets to the party to complement those which Renault possess, we’ll get a better package out of it, not just the power unit but its integration into the car, and ultimately our performance. That’s our aim, and that’s what we’ll do.

Q: How far advanced is that?
PM: It’s taking shape at the moment and I think a few early projects are starting to bear fruit looking towards next year. We hope to pick up a few more and, as Remi said, when all the pieces come together, then we’ll see how big a step we can make with it all.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Arai-san, there are rumours today saying that Alonso has signed with McLaren-Honda. Can you confirm this, and if not, how desperate or hungry is Honda to have Alonso in its car next year?
YA: [to JN] Should I answer? McLaren-Honda know this idea, what driver should be used to drive our car. There is many rumours but my understanding that Formula One driver is just 22 drivers in the world. All of the drivers, I have great respect and so of course not only McLaren-Honda but also the other teams want to keep the good driver. Not only McLaren-Honda but also the team, everyone keeps the good driver. We don’t decide yet.

Q: (Kaz Kawai – Fuji Television) Pat, we’ve all heard that Steve Clark has won his job back. Do you have any idea when he’s coming back or have you been told by your boss when he’s coming back in?
PF: I think that’s all being negotiated and sorted out at the moment, so I’m sure we’ll know in a few days.

Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) Pat, we’ve heard some stories today about the movement of technical staff from Red Bull, possibly moving to your team. Does this mean that Seb has signed for Ferrari as has been rumoured?
PF: Technical team… we have had a few people join in the recent months but in terms of drivers, it’s got no link to drivers whatsoever.

Q: (Sumie Dan – The Hochi Shimbun) Question for Arai-san: I understand that your new engine power target is over 600hp. Did you achieve this target now?
YA: Sorry, I never said the number of our target. Where did you get such kind of a number? But of course our target is very clear. This season, the Mercedes is top of top so next season we shall achieve that same competition or power. Everyone understands that and wants to exceed that power. Lots of work.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To Andy, Remy and Arai-san if he would like to comment as well: obviously any change to the engine freeze situation requires regulation change. Given Formula One’s present governance process, that means that the teams would actually be voting for that rather than the engine suppliers. How much of a frustration is it that your destiny is not ultimately in your own hands?
RT: Difficult to answer or difficult question, I don’t know, but I will give one. That’s the way it is, as you say, that’s the regulations so obviously we have to follow that, and again, as I said a bit earlier, it’s not going to be changing the way we are working so whether we are going to have a change or not, we’re just pushing like elves to try to get back to where we should be, so at the upper level and whatever we will get for next year… it will just be a plus, I would say, if we have this change. I would not say we are frustrated.
AC: Yeah, I would support Remy’s comments. It’s not frustrating, that’s how Formula One is set up and one of the great things about Formula One is that the boundary conditions do change and you do well if you can adapt quickly, if you can react quickly, change your organisation, not slow down but accelerate and make sure that you’re in a strong place. And that’s what we’ll do. So as soon as we’ve got any change to the regulations, we’ll all react, we’ll all take the race on and we’ll all see who’s done the best job when we get to the first race.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Andy, I must come back to your comment earlier on that it’s got to be very carefully managed, any changes, and yet you won’t have any input into that process and that’s really what I’m getting at. How would you ensure that it is carefully managed?
AC: You’re asked your opinion, so collectively we’ve got lots of years’ experience developing engines, KERS systems, ERS systems and we’ve all got a clear breakdown as to how many people we’ve got, how much we spend on material, how loaded our dynos are so based on a different set of criteria, different set of regulations, we can all work out what the consequences are, what the opportunities are and do we want to take on those opportunities or not. So of course we’re all consulted on that and regulations are often a compromise, not everybody is completely happy but as soon as the regulations are clear and fixed, you react, you respond quickly, motivate the staff and you go racing into the first race with those regulations as we’ve seen at the start of this year.
YA: Just a small comment: from the engineers and many fans, they and we want to keep the competition so in a season, to develop the many parts and to keep the competition is very important, just from engineering and fans’ side.

Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) Arai-san, when you first announced your engine development programme, you said that there would be the possibility of supplying more than one customer team from 2016 onwards. Have you already entered into any negotiations or discussions with potential customers?
YA: Not yet, because no one knows of our potential. Of course, we prepare many cards but no one has checked my card.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Mr Arai, what is your target for next year, realistically. What level do you think your power unit will be able to perform at and do you think that you have been doing enough at this stage, to convince a top driver to join your team?
YA: Our development progress is still on plan but we need to be careful to achieve top competition power within five months, so I need more time but finally our target, the McLaren-Honda target will be to keep a good position to compete in the championship. That’s our target.

Q: (Ken Kawakita – Weekly Playboy Magazine) Arai-san, we’ve seen at the debut this year, a lot of engine manufacturers facing problems in testing as this whole system is so complicated and integration of the whole components is a colossal issue. And as far as we’ve heard, you start properly testing from next year with only one partner. That means that the information and data that you can gather from that is quite limited. Do you think this could be a disadvantage for your engine programme? Do you have any concerns about this situation?
YA: I don’t think so. Our partner is very strong and I think one of the best teams. Of course that means just one team’s data, but maybe that’s enough, I think. So we already discussed with our partner and set a target and already we have agreed whether the target is good or not. Then finally, maybe in March 2015 we will be in a good position.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Paul, obviously Adrian has started moving out and moving on within the group. What will the restructure look like? Who will be appointed in what positions, come next year?
PM: As I understand, a group of four will step into the void created by Adrian’s step-back. That’s Rob Marshall, Dan Fallows, Pierre Wache and myself. So we all get a dose more responsibility. Adrian hasn’t left, he will still be involved in the F1 programme and that’s how it will be divided up

October 3, 2014
Hamilton Ahead in Practice 2 at Suzuka

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished fastest in the second free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished the session with a 1:35.078 ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in P2 with a 1:35.318, 0.240s slower. Valtteri Bottas in the Williams finished the session P3 with a 1:36.279, 1.201s slower than Hamilton. McLaren’s Jenson Button finished the session in P4 with the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel rounding off the top 5.

The session got off to a rather interesting start with Kobayashi crashing into the barriers at the exit of T3. Replays showed that he lost the rear of the car on the entry to T3 which sent him into a spin and into the barrier backwards destroying his rear left suspension.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne had apparent electronics issues twice in the session. The first time was at the beginning of the session, the second time with just 2mins before the end of the session at the exit of Spoon.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo crashed out 20 mins into the session. He was about to start a timed lap and got on the throttle a bit early at the final corner. The rear of the car swung around, he corrected but unfortunately he ran out of track which meant he was on the gravel and into the barrier taking off his front left suspension in the process.

With just under an hour left in the session, Sauber’s Estaban Gutierrez had a bit of and off at Spoon Corner. replays show that he went straight on into Spoon. It looked as though he carried too much speed into the corner.

With 20mins left in the session there were some spots of rain around the circuit. The drivers were well into their long runs at this point but it did prove quite tricky for some. Most of the drivers were being caught out by the damp conditions as some were locking up and running wide while others were too early on the throttle out of the slow corners.

The session ended prematurely as Jean-Eric Vergne stopped on track again. This time at the exit of Spoon. The replays showed that as he made a tweak on the steering his car cut out and the screen on the steering went blank.

Mercedes were once ahead on the long run pace. Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren were all very close together. McLaren, however, are looking more comfortable around Suzuka despite Jenson Button saying that Suzuka wont suit the car.

It’s going to be an interesting qualifying session. With the rain forecast it will mix things up and make things very interesting.

Below is the timing sheet for the FP2 session for the Japanese Grand Prix

October 3, 2014
F1 2014: Japanese GP Preview – Who Will Be The Man In Japan?

In Japan there is a circuit known as Suzuka, it is roughly 5.8 km in length and throughout its history has witnessed the both the greats of the sport and some of the most dramatic moments in the history of Formula 1.

Adored by drivers and fans Suzuka is simultaneously one of the most iconic circuits on the calendar and one of its biggest challenges. Beyond the narrow strip of asphalt there are run off areas, no second chances. Here, a bit of gravel is all that precedes brutal punishment. This degree of difficulty is why Suzuka is so revered by one and all. The level of skill required around these parts are second to none and the reward for a driver, when he gets it right, is huge sense of achievement and most likely a pretty good lap time to boot. “When you finish a lap at Suzuka you really appreciate it because you know both the car and you have been really tested. You can be proud if you have got the maximum from everything,” says last year’s podium finisher Romain Grosjean.

The refreshing Daniel Ricciardo describes the first sector of the lap as a delight. “It’s a dream. You have those fast changes of directions through the Esses, hard around the Dunlop Curve and then, arguably the best bit, turns Eight and Nine: Degner. Through Eight you’re hanging on, it’s so narrow and there’s no room for error but you want to push as hard as you can.”

The great thing about Suzuka is that the lustre isn’t all contained in the first sector. Sector two is distinguished by the Spoon curve and the frighteningly flat-out 130R which follows on from the back straight. Despite the near non-existent margin for error and narrow track surface a few overtaking opportunities exist. Turn one is a popular choice but has to be preceded with a decent exit off the final chicane and a respectable straight-line speed. Another occasion for overtaking could present itself under braking into the final chicane and if a driver is feeling particularly adventurous, and perhaps a tad desperate, the first part of the Spoon curve may even be an option.

The demand for downforce isn’t as great around the Japanese track. However, striking the balance between having enough grip in the twisty bits and ensuring that they can reach reasonable speed down the straights is the key to set-up. It bodes well for Red Bull to be the best of the rest behind the outlandishly fast Mercedes.

The sinister underbelly of Formula 1 has struck once more. At least this is what the Formula 1 conspiracy theorists have been peddling. Giving rise to their frenzied ramblings was a Mercedes announcement that Rosberg’s retirement in Singapore was caused by a contaminated substance and subsequent electronics short circuiting of his car. It turns out, after a thorough examination, that the steering column electronics were contaminated by an undetectable substance. The loudest of the conspiracy theorists maintain that Rosberg’s car was deliberately sabotaged by the Mercedes management. Besides the fact that the team lost out on scoring points, and the cash that goes with it, what possible explanation could there be for deliberately taking one of its cars completely out of the race?

From a perspective more slanted towards the neutral the Rosberg retirement wasn’t exactly a full blown tragedy. Yes, for at least ten minutes we all felt bad for Rosberg and we sympathised with his desperate attempts to get going. But after this period of gloominess subsided the realization of F1’s skulking unpredictability sunk in. And just maybe you would’ve concluded that this little sequence of events could result in a cracking end to the season. Now we head to Japan with a slender three-point gap between the duelling teammates. Neither Hamilton nor Rosberg has ever won here which tees up the battle perfectly. All that is needed is for Messrs Rosberg and Hamilton to set it on fire.

September 30, 2014
Broadcast Times for the 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

The iconic Suzuka Circuit in Japan plays host to the Japanese Grand Prix and round 15 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

Suzuka is billed as a real drivers circuit, a favorite among many of the drivers in the F1 paddock. You wont find a driver out there who has bad things to say about this circuit.

Designed as a test track for Honda back in 1962, it is one of the longest serving circuits in F1. The circuit has decided many drivers titles over the years. This year we will need to wait a bit longer. The gap between the two Mercedes drivers is now just three points with Lewis Hamilton narrowly ahead after winning the Singapore Grand Prix a fortnight ago. Mercedes will want to put their reliability issues behind them for the Japanese Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg on the other hand will look to win the race and put the pressure back on Hamilton.

After a rather anonymous race in Singapore, Williams will also be looking to bounce back to the front. Suzuka will suit the Williams much better and we should see a strong performance from them. McLaren were hoping to be closer to Red Bull at the previous race. The new parts which they brought to Singapore didn’t quite work for them and they seemed neither here nor there. Red Bull also seemed to come alive in Singapore. But with the Renault engine down on power, they might struggle to keep the pace of the Mercedes.

Ferrari on the other hand showed a turn of pace at Singapore. But their Technical Director, Pat Fry has said that Singapore is a low power rating track which is why they were quite strong. Suzuka on the other hand, is a high power rating circuit, so Ferrari will be threading water the entire weekend trying to get up there.

After the Singapore Grand Prix, Force India Team Principal, Vijay Mallya was very happy with the performance of the team. He has said that they will continue to develop their cars so they can finish ahead of McLaren in the Constructors Championship. Can Force India finish ahead of McLaren this season you ask? Of course they can. It’s all to play for.

With the race weekend happening in Japan, the times for our European and African viewers will be a touch on the early side.

Below are the broadcast times for the 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at the legendary Suzuka. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 03:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 07:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 04:00

Qualifying: Saturday 07:00

Race: Sunday 08:00

September 30, 2014
Mercedes Reveal ‘Foreign Substance’ Caused Rosberg’s Retirement from Singapore GP

The Mercedes Formula 1 team revealed last night that a foreign substance used in the servicing of the cars during a race weekend caused Nico Rosberg’s early retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix.

After the race, the faulty parts were flown back to Brackley for investigations. It was revealed that the foreign substance caused an intermittent short circuit which meant that Rosberg could not change any of the settings on the steering wheel or engage the clutch.

Mercedes are not taking any chances. They have resolved to bring new parts to the final races of the season as they endeavour to get over their reliability issues.

This problem was particularly bizarre for Mercedes as they have been using the same procedures for servicing and preparing their cars since 2008.

September 27, 2014
F1 2014: Singapore Lights Up Championship Fight

If there are only a handful of things that can be counted on as a certainty in Formula 1 one of them will be the erratic fickleness of it all. Singapore played the joker that may just have turned the 2014 F1 season on its head.

The unfortunate victim of the ever dependable randomness of F1 was Nico Rosberg. A healthy, even comfortable, 22 point lead was completely blown away as unreliability struck the German before the start of the Singapore GP. An apparent steering wheel problem relegated Rosberg to a pitlane start which only delayed the inevitable. With already having to stage a comeback from the back of the field Rosberg was lapping five second off the pace and eventually had to retire with an unresponsive car. Toto Wolff confirmed that the entire system had broken down due to the failure of a “lume within the steering column.”

It left Lewis Hamilton with the delectable opportunity of regaining the championship lead. However, the characteristics of the Marina Bay circuit and a safety-car period allowed both Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari to within striking distance of the Silver Arrow, or so they thought. It was to be nothing more than a far-fetched pipedream for those behind Hamilton as he easily dismissed their feeble attempts at beating him.

If Formula 1 is our religion then we need to bow down the designers of the W05 Mercedes. In the last decade we’ve seen the Red Bull domination net itself four world championship titles but it certainly did not boast a lap time advantage as great as three seconds.

Never let it be known that Hamilton isn’t a man who doesn’t rise to the occasion. The safety-car appearance meant the Brit would have to pit and re-take the lead in order to win the race. First he would have to build a gap to second place and within several laps Hamilton’s staggering pace had ensured that he would emerge in the thick of the Red Bull fight. His superior speed, and fresh rubber, easily saw him past Sebastian Vettel and just to rub a bit of salt in the wounds he again extended the gap to fourteen seconds by the chequered flag.

Ferrari showed improved pace on the Singapore streets and with added benefit of the supremely gifted Fernando Alonso the Scuderia’s weekend wasn’t too shabby at all. The never-say-die Spaniard once again unleashed a masterful driving performance. The double world champ got to within touching distance of the podium, even second place, but was stranded behind the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth.

What is it about this Fernando Alonso that makes him the wonder that he is? To consistently out-perform what he is given and make a car do things no one dares think is possible. He’s preference for over-steery cars makes the current Ferrari a bit easier to drive but beyond this there is very little of the F 14T that is good. Surely then it can only come down to him, it does. His relentlessness seemingly knows no bounds and there is very much a feeling of a single-minded stubbornness when Alonso is in the cockpit. The sort of tenacious belief that he will get a lap time out of that car come hell or high water. Even if he isn’t your Formula 1 be-all-and-end-all he is still to be admired and commended.

Felipe Massa defied belief, and all statistical predictions, as he completed a mammoth 35 lap stint on the soft compound tyres to finish fifth. Teammate Valtteri Bottas nearly pulled off the same feat but lost several positions on the final lap as his tyres finally gave up the ghost. Jean-Eric Vergne overcame two five-second penalties to finish a brilliant sixth.

There was a bit of argy-bargy and some lost carbon fibre in the mid-field between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil and Force India’s Sergio Perez. Perez suffered significant front-wing damage as he was squeezed up against the barriers by Sutil and the shards of carbon fibre strewn across the track were the catalyst for the safety-car deployment. It was a bit surprising that the Stewards didn’t penalise Sutil whose actions did appear a bit dicey. Nevertheless, Checo did stage a fine recovery to finish seventh.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen never recovered from a software glitch in qualifying and finished eighth ahead Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen wrapped up the final point of the day but teammate Jenson Button lost sixth position after being forced into retirement with a suspected electronic issue.

A slender, but perhaps decisive, three points is Lewis Hamilton’s world championship lead over teammate Nico Rosberg. With five races remaining, and double points on offer in Abu Dhabi, this exceptional battle is, thankfully, far from over.

September 22, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

Drivers:

1st Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2nd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

3rd Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

Q: Lewis, did you dream or think this would be the result today?
Lewis Hamilton: Of course, I was dreaming it last night but you never really think it’s going to happen. I just want to say a huge thanks to my team. What they’ve done this year is absolutely incredible and to be able to arrive here knowing that we have a car we can fight with, and just the feeling I had through the race, it’s… I couldn’t do it without them. Thank you guys.

Q: We know you’ve won seven races this year but the talking point is how big a pressure was on you in that last pit stop? That’s what we wanted to know.
LH: Ah, it wasn’t that bad.

Q: Well you sounded totally paranoid up there I have to tell you!
LH: No, I think at the time it was just not really knowing what the situation was. I knew I had a big gap but if a safety car comes out, what does that mean, but then when I came in and knew that I had to fight the guys on a long, long, run-down tyre, I knew that we would have chance to get by, so I felt kind of comfortable.

Q: Well, we’ll come back to you because we have lots more questions but ladies and gentlemen, Sebastian Vettel, four times world champion, his best result of the year! Sebastian, what is it with Singapore and you? You seem to be a night raider or something like that. Every time there’s a night race you do remarkably well. Obviously on the podium again this year.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, kid did well! It’s a circuit that I really enjoy, I really like. The atmosphere is great. You know, on the drivers’ parade there are already so many people in for the race. It’s great. It’s a tough one, it’s two hours and again we went to the full two hours. I had a good start, got past Daniel and then I think we had a decent race. We played a little bit with strategy and then the safety car came in the worst possible moment for us. So we tried to obviously stay out with the last set of tyres and make them work, which was very, very much borderline. I had a lot of pressure from Daniel and also from Fernando behind, but very happy obviously to make it P2.

Q: A lot of red faces up here – the dehydration, the heat, the temperature. A huge race here is it? Is it very, very difficult?
SV: Yeah, it’s quite hot. The cars are sliding a lot, so you have to focus quite hard. It’s definitely a race we all enjoy as drivers because it’s such a big challenge and to stand up here and get a cool glass or bottle of champagne is quite nice.

Q: Well, your best race of the season, your best result and we know what you’ve done here before. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the pride of Australia, Daniel Ricciardo! Almost like a home race really?
Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah, feels like a home race. Singapore to Perth is pretty much as close as Melbourne to Perth, so for West Australia it’s like another home race.

Q: I need to ask you the question: do you think that when Fernando gave up the place to Sebastian, do you think he should have given up the place to you?
DR: To be honest, I’ll have to have a look. Obviously he went off, that was clear. I knew he would give it back to Seb [but] whether he had to give it back to me, I’ll have a look at that. I was just sort of focused on regrouping from the start really. To get on the podium I guess is not a bad result, good for the team and at least we’ve got some Aussie flags.

Q: We see a lot of Aussie flags, you’re the pride of Australia. Lewis, things have changed, really, haven’t they, for you?
LH: Absolutely.

Q: Big smile on your face…
LH: Yeah, I was so excited to have… I was looking for that clean weekend and this has been it. It’s been fantastic. It’s not perfect for the team because Nico didn’t finish and we’re always striving to get both cars finishing 1-2. I don’t think anyone has finished one-two before and that was our goal. So there are things we can still work on. I also want to say a big thanks to all the fans. Incredible support today, so thank you guys.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, your second victory in Singapore, your seventh of the season and a very popular win, it would seem, with the crowd – but there was clearly a tense moment for you after the safety car when you knew you had to stop again and it was clear the four or five cars behind you didn’t – but the strategy team stayed calm, you stayed calm and you’re now leading the Drivers’ Championship. Just tell us about the rollercoaster of emotions and the way you feel leaving Singapore tonight.
LH: Coming here and to the last six races with a great race in Monza, knowing that we had a car to compete here, obviously yesterday in qualifying it was very close between everyone so I didn’t really know what to expect today – but got off cleanly. Of course it would have been a hardcore race if Nico was in the race with me as the car was feeling very good and we would have been very strong. But, yeah, later on in the race, I think for me I was a bit unaware of what I needed to do. That second-to-last stint, I extended it as long as I could and then they said “we need 27s.” And that was still six seconds I needed more, and my tyres were dropping off, so I didn’t really understand why. And I was also nervous that, if the Safety Car came out, would that cause me big problems? So anyway, fortunately we got to where I needed to go and we pitted. I came out, and I saw Sebastian going past but straight away I knew they would be on… they were obviously doing a two-stop, I would have good pace. So, took it easy the first lap. It was actually a bit of a tight gap, maybe I should have overtaken him somewhere else but fortunately Sebastian was very fair and I got by. After that it was quite straightforward. Amazing job from the team and the guys back at the factory. The car was really spectacular in the race.

Q: Sebastian, clearly the start was decisive for you. A fantastic initial getaway up into second place, you got the place back from Fernando. You were also a little bit sceptical when it came to the strategy, saying “that’s not my plan,” to go to the finish. So, tell us about the thinking at that point and how the race played out from your mind.
SV: As you mentioned, the start obviously was good for me. Quite weird to stop with no car ahead but not being on the first row. But it helped, obviously, because I had no car in front and I could get side by side and get straight into second place. After that I think we had a good race. Not ideal, in terms of timing with the safety car. Obviously, before that we lost a position to Fernando because we stopped too late – but we decided to go on the primes and we were hoping for no safety car to come out, which came out, so not ideal! But yeah, after that, obviously after the restart, we knew it was difficult with 27 seconds to make up on older tyres than everyone behind – it’s probably impossible. So, obviously to get the best result we knew we have to get to the end. I wasn’t very confident that we can do it, simply because of the wear we had the sets before. Obviously for one lap I was in the lead. As Lewis touched on, the overtaking manoeuvre, I wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. I thought that I give him all the space to pass me on the inside for the next corner but it seemed like he couldn’t wait to get back in the lead. It was quite tight but I saw him, obviously, so I had to back-off and let him through. There was no point fighting him at that stage because I didn’t have the tyres to match him. Nevertheless, to finish P2 obviously was the best we could do. We had the oldest set of tyres in the last stint, so it was quite tricky managing those to the finish line with not much tread left. Obviously very good result for the team.

Q: Daniel, I guess the opposite for you. Not a great initial getaway, you lost the initiative to Sebastian there, which is why you finished behind him in the end. Tell us whether you expected the attack from Alonso at the end because obviously he had pitted under the safety car, was on much fresher tyres than you . Were you surprised the attack didn’t come? What was going through your mind?
DR: Yeah, I think the closing stages, I could see after the restart for the safety car, he wasn’t attacking as much as I thought with a new set of primes, so I thought he was holding back and was going to make a late charge at the end. I think we all just piled up. I caught the back of Sebastian, he caught the back of me and we were all in a train and not really any real opportunities arose for any of us. So, it was what it was. I probably did expect him to come on a get stronger at the end but I think once you start following and trying to get the pedal down a bit harder to set up a pass, then you start hurting the rears and you all fall into each others’ pace. The start initially wasn’t too bad but just before Turn One we had a bit of an issue and I think we lost a bit of power. Whether we could have held on or not… who knows? But then yeah, Fernando went wide and then gave the place back to Seb and the race from there was fairly straightforward. Encountered a few other issues and bits and pieces here and there – so we’ll have to look into that. See how much it cost us in the end. But obviously it was nice to get on the back of Seb and try to put him under a bit of pressure but I think for all of us here it was follow-the-leader a bit and not much else to do.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Lewis, is there anyone you dedicate your victory to?
LH: I’ve not really thought of it. There are only a few of the race wins which I’ve really dedicated to anyone. Maybe to my fans, I think. I met a couple of really special people last week – they’ll know who they are – and just generally to all the fans. They’re sending me messages and all that, really just saying that we win or we lose together and also being here with all the British flags, it lifts you up so much that probably they don’t even realise, so this is for them.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Daniel, you were on the radio during the race saying that you were losing power and I believe gears. What was happening and was the team able to help you correct those matters?
DR: Yeah, we had quite a bit going on during the race so yeah, power was coming and going and from the safety car onwards it was pretty consistently down on power and basically, coming up through gears, I would get a bit of power and then it would drop and then it would come again. So we definitely had a few issues and we tried fixing them but to be honest we didn’t quite clear it all up. I guess it did cost us a bit today but obviously we still got it to the end but obviously we will definitely look at what the cause was and if we can fix it. Normally, if we have those glitches after a couple of laps we clear it but this one pretty much carried through all race. I guess I was a bit frustrated, bit concerned as well that we wouldn’t get it to the flag but luckily it held on and as I said, we’ll just look at it and I’m sure we’ll fix it for Japan.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To Seb and Daniel, what was the plan to have the harder tyre, the prime tyre, in the third stint rather than at the end, because at that moment, I don’t think you could know that the safety car would come out?
SV: I guess in my case Fernando undercut us, it was quite obvious, and then I think it was pretty pointless to do the same as him so we tried to do opposite and then get him back obviously, in the last stint of the race, I think that was the plan. With hindsight, we should have obviously stopped earlier, tyres were at the end of their wear life anyway so I think that was the plan. It was obviously high risk because of the safety car. In the end, we got lucky because the tyres held up but at that stage it didn’t look like it.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, you said on the podium that Mercedes were hoping for a one-two finish but in terms of the championship, can you say, in all honesty, that you’re sorry that Nico didn’t finish?
LH: Well, of course the points are something… I came here hoping to really gain those seven points and anything more than that was just a bonus, so today, of course, those extra points are a huge help. That’s several DNFs we’ve had now on either car and we want to continue getting those one-twos still. I know that the team will not be 100 percent happy today because we want to win collectively, we want to get those one-twos, we want to be the dominant team all together, so by not getting that result, they’ll be going back to the drawing board trying to figure out what happened. They’re constantly coming up to things and perhaps other people are starting to be a bit more reliable than us so that’s an area that we can still definitely improve on

September 21, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

TV UNILATERAL

Lewis, pole position once again for Singapore and you saved the best until last it seems?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, that’s always the plan. It doesn’t always go to plan but yeah, quite an exciting qualifying session. I wasn’t expecting… I guess no one was really expecting to see so much difference and how close everyone was. I did some good laps in the first and second qualifying sessions and saw the Ferraris were very, very close and then obviously for it to end up the way it did is good obviously for our team. My last lap, I locked up into turn one and lost a bit of time but still managed to pull it back later on in the lap. So, at that point I honestly thought that perhaps it was… I lost over a tenth and a half or was two tenths down but I just kept going and it just got better and better throughout the lap.

Were you surprised when you saw Felipe Massa on provisional pole after the first runs?

LH: I wasn’t really trying to look at it too much because there was so much happening. I don’t know what it ended up as but obviously it was very close. But a great effort by the team. To come here at very much a downforce and engine dependent circuit to have the performance we have I think it’s a fantastic performance by them.

Very well done. Nico you missed out by the smallest of margins, I think seven one thousandths of a second. Your radio message at the end on the cool down lap there said it all: “Damn it!”

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, because seven thousandths, you know, when I think back at the lap, seven thousandths it’s nothing, a little bit here or there, you know, like “come on!” I could have done it. But OK, that’s the way it is. Lewis did a good job to get pole, fair play. And second place is OK, obviously first would be better but it’s a long race ahead and, yeah, it’s fine.

Tell us about the Q2 session? You were in sixth place in the closing stages there and you obviously felt you needed to run again so you did an extra lap?

NR: Yeah, because we changed brakes going into qualifying and I got into a rhythm with the other brakes and so that was a challenge. I mean we expected it to be, but it always is a bit of a challenge. So it took me some time to get into qualifying. And the balance was also very different because the track had cooled down relative to the session before qualifying, which was hotter. There was a lot more understeer now, in the rear we had a lot more grip, so had to complete adapt settings and it just took us some time to get into the qualifying. That’s why I’m pleased that in the end I was able to push flat out and put in a good lap time.

Daniel, a tenth-and-a-half behind the Mercedes; can you race them from here?

Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s definitely encouraging. Coming into the weekend I thought if we could be within two or three tenths it should give us a bit more optimistic chance in the race to stay with them, so, yeah, I think we ended up a bit closer than we thought we would, particularly after yesterday. So I think it was a good day. Yeah, it was good fun out there. The track was really improving so you had to adapt a lot during the session. Street circuits normally tend to be like that, so it keeps you on your toes. Yeah, good fun.

There was a big roar from the grandstands when you took provisional pole. Have you brought a few thousand of your closest friends from Perth?

DR: I’ve got a few mates here this weekend and there’s probably a few more here that I don’t know about. Yeah, it’s close to home and it’s nice to see a few Aussie flags. Yeah, hopefully keep it up there tomorrow and try and see a better view from the podium.

Q: Lewis, tyres have obviously been a big part of the story throughout this weekend, particularly today and it’s obviously going to have an impact on tomorrow’s race. What kind of race can we expect tomorrow?

LH: I think coming into the weekend we had a certain opinion about how the tyres would behave, and obviously when we got into the long runs yesterday we saw quite a big difference from what we had though was going to happen. So, I think tomorrow’s going to be a really interesting race. Looking after these tyres is not easy but I think it will be a great race to watch for the fans. I think there’s going to be a lot going on.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, one of the things I think is interesting about how today has evolved, that might surprise a few people, is that Mercedes hasn’t really shown too much. FP3, then you weren’t really at the top of the timesheets throughout qualifying. You mentioned “that’s the plan”, about saving the best to last. So, what was the strategy today?

LH: I just mean that, as a driver through the weekend you plan to have the last lap as your fastest lap because that’s when the track is at its best. That’s when you’ve got the configurations as close to perfect. That’s really the lap you want to do it on. The others have just obviously taken a step. It’s a real, real surprise. I’m sure the team are surprised, I’m sure we are just as surprised to see Ferrari really competing on a lap, which is great to see. Also with Williams, also with Red Bull. I think for racing it’s great. It makes it… that’s probably the most exciting qualifying session I’ve had for a long time, where there’s a lot of people really in the mix and you have to be spot on. I was almost there with that.

Q: Nico, there was a radio message for you: “look after these, these are the race tyres.” Obviously there is a consideration there: you have to take some performance out of them because you need the lap time but you’ve also got to use them tomorrow. How do you see the use of them tomorrow playing out?

NR: Tomorrow is going to be a tough race in terms of tyres. They have a lot of degradation but I’m confident because I had some really good long runs on Friday, so I’m well prepared for the race and feeling good about it.

Q: Daniel, are you fully able to recharge the energy system around this lap? One or two drivers are saying it’s been a bit of a struggle. Are you completely on top of that side of things with Red Bull?

DR: Yeah. Yes we are. We’re not having any issues there. I think for such a long lap, a little bit on what Lewis touched on, it’s amazing how close we are, y’know. Monaco is a street circuit but it’s a lot shorter lap so you can expect us to be closer but this one, yeah, it’s pretty cool how many cars are within half a second or a second. So, it’s going to be a fun race tomorrow definitely. I think tyres will be key, as always, but particularly here. It’s not going to be as straightforward as Monza with a one-stop. So, it should be fun.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Daniel, we saw you doing a wonderful lap, it was unbelievable watching it on TV. Do you have the same feeling when you’re going to the limit? Your feelings about this lap please?

DR: Yeah, street circuits are fun. I think all us drivers enjoy them. You jump across kerbs, you brush near the wall, it’s a little bit like the closer you get the more you want to risk and I guess that’s why we race, we love that rush, that adrenalin. It’s like speed, we wish we could go faster. It’s a bit like that when you come to a street circuit, you just really enjoy handling the car, playing with fire, so to speak. It’s not always the quickest way when it’s sliding around but I think you’ve got to take hold on a street circuit so that’s where I get the enjoyment.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, Nico just explained why, on the last lap, he was quick enough to be on the front row. How was it with you because you also did your fast lap only on the last lap? I guess you didn’t go slowly beforehand intentionally. Did you have any problems before?

LH: I just didn’t really have a clean lap through the whole of qualifying. The last one was the cleanest. When you do the first lap, you get your lap time. The next time you go out you have a delta so you know whether you’re up or down on that lap. I locked up into turn one and missed the apex and so I was down 0.18/two tenths by the time I got to turn five. At that point, I was thinking this is going to be almost impossible to regain that but the previous lap there were a couple of corners where I lost out as well so I fixed those and got back the time. It’s great that there’s still potential there and with a perfect lap it’s a good place to be.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis and Nico, if I understand the restrictions on radio use, how important is that going to be in terms of this race and information about how each other is doing in terms of your position on the track and what tyres you’re on and so on? Do you think it’s going to affect your battle for the championship?

NR: I don’t think it’s actually going to make too much of a difference tomorrow. There’s just a few bits and pieces… you know they can’t tell me ‘OK, work on turn seven because that’s where you’re losing some time’ or something like that or ‘turn twenty is good, keep doing what you’re doing.’ That’s the main difference, so actually for tomorrow’s race really, I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a thing.

Q: Lewis, anything to add? The starts, obviously, you’re going to be able to be talked through all the things you need to do still, that’s still permitted.

LH: Yeah, obviously coming into the weekend there was a plan of zero being able to say to us but I think there’s a just a few things (that are banned). We’re all in the same boat so I’m quite excited about that.

September 20, 2014