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  • 2017 Italian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Italian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams) Gene HAAS (Haas)

    Q: Bob, let’s start with you. We’ve seen the Pérez-Ocon situation escalating from a rivalry to something perhaps more damaging. Does the team feel that you’ve managed it well up to this point – and what can you really realistically do to impose instructions in future situations without favouritism?

    RF: I didn’t think I’d get that question! Our team manages things. The outside judges rather than the inside. From an internal point of view we’re working very closely with the drivers. We’re very blessed to have two very talented and equally very competitive drivers. They’re at different stages of their careers. You will expect, as is often the case in that sport, where you’ve got an elbows-out for a little while, that’s happened. I think it probably reached a crescendo in Spa. I think both of them realise they’ve probably not done themselves any good in terms of their reputation or their careers, and Vijay I’m sure has certainly made sure he tells them that form that point of view. What we need to do is to regroup, which we have done. They’ve been individually talked to. They’ve sat down together. I feel very strongly that they’re intelligent and very, very good team players. They’ve just lost their way a bit – and I don’t expect any problems going forwards.

    Q: Obviously there’s a great opportunity for you this weekend for some big points given that both Red Bulls are going to be starting from the back of the grid. You could be fifth and sixth on Sunday – so you have to execute. Right?

    RF: I think the lady next door to me is looking for that! Absolutely. We’ll both be fighting. It’s a Mercedes track. There’s no question it benefits our power unit and we are going to have to optimise that position and we don’t want anybody making in-roads on that fourth position. We want to consolidate it and that will require both our drivers to deliver.

    Q: Quick final question on this. It’s no secret that both of your drivers are on the wishlists of competitor teams for next season – in some cases the same competitor team. How determined are you to retain them both in 2018?

    RF: I think from our side we are fully committed to retaining them both and that will be our objective. There’s no question of that. But, y’know, driver markets are driver markets and it’s quite right and proper that their managers, and in particular Checo’s manager, is out looking at other programmes. He’s got to keep us on our toes. If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be doing his job, and we’ve got to make sure that we close that off and retain him for next year and keep the pairing. It’s a phenomenally exciting pairing. Might be difficult to control a little bit – but I’d like to have that problem.

    Q: Gene, already ahead on points compared to last season with eight races still to go so is it time already to take the next step and what kind of investment does that need to go up to that level?

    Gene HAAS: Well, I’m not comfortable with the points lead we have because I think in any given race we could drop back a position or two in the Constructors’ series because we’re all so close. If anything, I feel a little bit on needles because our biggest problem is execution, minimising mistakes, that seems to be our worst (indistinct) ourselves. We’ve had some component failures we’ve executed poorly and I think we’ve left 15 or more points on the table, even at this point. That’s really where we need to perform is just running a race team with less mistakes, more consistency and that’s what’s going to earn us our points. I think both of our drivers are very very capable racers. I think that they’re much much better racers than they are at practice and qualifying. I know Kevin has shown the ability to sometimes get two to three positions just at the start of the race so he’s an aggressive driver. I think Romain’s more reserved, he knows that you have to finish the race to get the points, so I think the combination of these two drivers bodes well for us in the race but we do need to finish the race.

    Q: Now the Ferrari chairman, Sergio Marchionne, said he would like a team to help develop Ferrari’s junior drivers like Giovanazzi and Leclerc. You seem to have gone the opposite way in driver choices for this year and next, as you’ve just highlighted. Do you rule out working with Ferrari on juniors in the future?

    GH: No, I don’t think we rule it out but from a business model it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. There’s no secret that it costs $60m to put a car on the track for the season and if someone gives you a driver and not just from Ferrari, from anybody, and they’re going to pay you five or six million dollars, there’s $55m deficit there somewhere, so it doesn’t really make sense to want to run let’s say a partner or a paid driver for compensation. I think our point of view has always been that we need to obtain points and that’s how we generate moving forward and making money, so that’s our business model. I think Ferrari respects that and based on that, if there’s some mutual agreement that we could come to we probably would be more open to that.

    Q: Claire, obviously this season’s not gone according to plan and the car just clearly isn’t fast enough is the core of it. The 2018 car will be the first obviously under Paddy Lowe’s technical stewardship, what’s he doing to step things up?

    Claire WILLIAMS: Yeah, as you would expect someone of Paddy’s calibre has a plan and ever since he joined us back in March this year he’s been undertaking a full analysis of the team back at the factory but also the race team operations on the ground trackside in order to understand where the weaknesses lie. We’ve gone through that as a board and now we’re looking at how we allocate resources moving forward into 2018 so that we can address those weaknesses. I think a lot of our weaknesses appeared at the midpoint in last year’s season and we can’t go into another season having the same issues that we’ve had so we have full trust in Paddy but also we’ve brought in a number of other senior personnel to work alongside, so Dirk de Beer heads our aerodynamic department now as well, comes from Ferrari this year to us, and some other senior engineers who are hopefully going to turn things around for us. But as I said, we can’t have another year like this.

    Q: You got a bonus year out of Felipe, is there another year in him or are you casting the net wider for a teammate for Lance Stroll for next year?

    CW: Yeah, Felipe has done a fantastic job like you say, it’s been a bonus year for us. He very kindly came back and he’s really delivered for us. Obviously the past couple of races have been tough for him with his medical issue but we’re through that now  and we’re looking forward to him delivering for the rest of the year and we really just have to wait and see. I think I’ve made it really clear that the team at the moment are focusing on the Constructors’ championship, we need to make sure that we consolidate our P5. I don’t think we’re going to close the gap to Bob, unfortunately, but there’s a lot of teams behind us that would love to overtake us and take that P5 and we can’t afford that, so for us the focus really has to be on track performance at the moment rather than diluting that effort with thoughts about driver line-up so there’s still eight races to go, there’s plenty of time to be thinking about next year.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Inaudible) Question to everybody: on Thursday, there was the launch of the new Formula Two car and it’s pretty similar to a Formula One car. On this occasion, Ross Brawn and Charlie Whiting were saying that the plan for the next years FIA and Formula One is to encourage Formula One teams to work closely with Formula Two teams. Do you think that makes sense from your point of view?

    BF: Well, I think historically we’ve tried to do that anyway. It’s not just a case of working closer with the teams. Usually you have some sort of driver link and that’s the bit that brings the two together so I don’t see any changes to that. Where you can, you support it but to have a direct link between the Formula One team and the Formula Two team is not easy. There are certain people who are doing it very well but all teams can’t embrace it because of the costs.

    CW: Yeah, I probably echo what Bob says really. Obviously we’re all looking at drivers in that championship and if there’s ways in which we can work with teams from that perspective then fine but I think from our perspective as a team at the moment we have our own issues that we need to be concentrating our full efforts on rather than diluting that down again with maybe other projects such as working with a Formula Two team.

    GH: We have an association with several F2 drivers and quite frankly it’s a learning experience but going forward, I think we could see ourselves working closely with the teams as development drivers. That would be a great way of bringing up talent which obviously we need. It would be a great way of maybe bringing up some teams, too.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) There’s been a lot of talk about what direction Formula One should take in the future. Auto manufacturers are interested in Formula E. Where, as representatives of independent teams, do you think F1 should go, bearing in mind road car relevance and also that it has to remain entertaining?

    GH: Well, certainly the battery revolution in cars is among us. I think we have to pay attention to these new drivetrain developments because it’s the future. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do see either more mainstream car companies get involved in this new sport of Formula E. How it relates to Formula One, what we can do, I think… we’re kind of the minnows here so we can’t really drive that technology but certainly today’s engine is somewhat of a hybrid technology, very very similar to the hybrid cars out there. There’s a lot of technology that goes into these cars so I think it’s an exciting new venture. Quite frankly, I don’t think I would mind being in it myself if I understood it better but we have our hands full of Formula One so I think it’s great.

    CW: I think from our perspective and as a business model, looking at it from that perspective I think there are some concerns we would have as an independent team, where Formula One could eventually be heading if we don’t take ownership of that direction now. Obviously we’ve got the manufacturers in our sport who are spending huge amounts of money and then independent teams in the middle that can’t ever dream of achieving that kind of expenditure in Formula One and that delta between our expenditure is creating the situations that we have at the moment in our business, certainly, where we are looking ahead at every year and really trying to make sure that we secure budgets in order just to be sustainable in this sport and that needs to change. There’s a huge amount of money that washes around Formula One and there should be enough for ten teams to be able to compete competitively amongst each other without being four seconds apart on the grid. So from my perspective, I’d really like to see Formula One move in a positive direction from a financial perspective, cost controls and budget caps, and I think that would bring about the entertainment that we need to see remain in Formula One but improving Formula One as well. I think we all want to see Formula One grow and I think the new owners have a handle on that. I think I’m personally really looking forward to seeing what they’re going to bring about from 2018 onwards. From that perspective I think they’ve done some great or brought about some great initiatives this year alone but I think there’s probably more to come and I think we need to grow the sport collaboratively as a whole with everybody’s best interests at heart rather than just a few.

    BF: Yeah, I completely agree with Claire. Force India in particular has been very vocal about the disparity between the top teams and the rest of the grid and you can’t have… we’re almost getting into a two tier championship at the moment where the top three teams are significantly far away from the fourth team and below. And to be able to say well we need to compete… the only way you can compete on that is adding 200m to your budget is quite ridiculous and we need to get that under control.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Taking what the three of you have just said variously in reply to a question, it appears as though Liberty are intent on introducing a budget cap of about $150m by the end of 2020. This will have certain exceptions like engines etc but is $150m or $200m all in; is it actually a realistic figure, can it be policed and what would it do for your individual prospects as race teams compared to the big three or four?

    GH: Well, that would actually be an increase for us so we would fall under that budget cap at the moment. I think the bigger problem though is the bigger teams… I was over at Ferrari yesterday and they have a huge R&D department as I’m sure Mercedes do too and the question is where do these teams go and what they do and that’s even more of a question because they’re the ones that really bring the DNA of Formula One to the track. Formula One is considered to be the ultimate sport and after being in it for a while, I find that’s the most fascinating aspect of it is this technology that they develop and the extent and passion with which a company like Ferrari puts into developing these things. Having a budget cap and suddenly saying that you’re going to have to shelve 500 people is going to be extremely difficult and that’s where the new owners are going to run into some big obstacles when they simply say ‘ah well, here’s your new marching rules.’ If it’s contrary to where a company’s put 50 years into that’s just not going to work so that’s the dilemma they have is, trying to radically change something that’s been around for so long and it’s so firmly put into concrete. You just can’t change it overnight and I’m glad that I don’t have to be part of that decision at the moment.

    CW: There are some points that Gene has made that I would share. I think that it would be very difficult – or will be very difficult – if a cost cap comes in to that degree, $150m for teams like Ferrari and Mercedes and Red Bull to bring down their operations but in the past we’ve operated on those kinds of budgets and I think to say that those teams are the teams that bring the DNA to this sport is just incorrect. I think that teams like Williams are the very fabric of this sport  that we operate in and teams like Williams and Force India, the independents that have been in this sport for 40 years and delivered a huge amount of technology that have had benefits to other industries as a result, need to be protected as well. So from my perspective of course we would be absolutely behind the cost cap whatever that may be but from my perspective equally, I would want to see it come in a lot sooner than that.

    BF: We would want it to come in as soon as possible. The 150m is above our budget but I’d much rather be able to say that Force India was capable of bridging the deficit of 30m than 200m which is where it is at the moment, and I think it’s very important, I think, for the sport to have five or six teams that are capable of achieving a podium on merit. At the moment, that’s not possible. Even the top fourth, fifth and sixth teams are only capable of getting it on opportunity at this point and we need to be able to change that round to make the sport the spectacle that it is and to give the competition there. Teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull will always have the advantage in terms of the fact that drivers’ salaries will be out of that budget cap and they will have the money to spend on the better drivers, but it means that we’re going to be to be looking at talented drivers which means we’re bringing through drivers and drivers become one of the key elements then going forward which to me is very very important.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Gene, the work that your foundation has done, the Gene Haas Foundation which has provided scholarships for young people and their communities, I was curious to know, are you planning to expand or have plans to expand that scholarship programme into your team, to where those young people would be interested in aerospace or engineering or want to get a position in F1?

    GH: Well, the foundation primarily funds the projects in relationship to community projects of teaching young people about manufacturing with an emphasis on machining. Whether a person decides to build race cars or rocket ships or simply work on next generation cars is fully up to them and I try not to… I don’t spend any of our foundation money particularly on racing. We are working in collaboration with Dallara and Ferrari on trying to set up a school that teaches, like, say, five axis machining so that’s probably as close as we’ve got into that so it’s mainly there to teach young people about manufacturing in today’s world and I can look at the racing as being a subset of that but not a primary goal to teach kids about racing. That’s the way we’re running it and that’s probably the way it will continue.

    Q: (Peter Hartig – BMF1) This has nothing to do with economy: Gene, at the magazine, we noticed that you tried the F1 experience so I have two questions for you: how was it to sit to ride on the back of a V10, beautiful noisy V10? And by the way, how is the back of your neck?

    GH: You know, I’ll tell you what, it’s exactly what they say: it’s an F1 experience. I think pulling out of the garage and the acceleration, going through gears, it just throws you in the back and then you come into turn one and your whole body goes to the… you know, slams into the front of the car. I never experienced that and then it feels like you’re pulling 5G side load going through the turns and quite frankly, I started to feel a little queasy doing that. It’s a heck of an experience, I would highly recommend it if you’re a thrill seeker but being an F1 driver is not easy. I don’t think I would ever want to be able to do that because to do that for 50 laps, that must just take the life out of you. It’s exciting, it’s a real experience and they did a great job, from everything from bringing you into the experience with the suit, the helmet, bolting you into the car, it’s all very very nicely done. I say I was pretty much exhausted by the time I got out of the car. It didn’t bother my neck at all. It didn’t bother it at all.

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

    2017 Italian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber)

    Maurizio, obviously notable that you have had some very strong updates either side of the summer break, in Hungary and in Spa, which have made the car good on all circuits. Tell us how that’s been achieved and is there more like that coming in the pipeline later in the season?

    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: I mean it’s not really a big achievement. You’ve got a big achievement when you are winning the race and we are not winning the race. Having said so, Belgium and also even Monza they are not races that are good for the technical point of view for our car, we know that. Knowing that even before we were working a lot but for the type of project related to our car, we are still… these guys, they are stronger than us.

    You’ve committed to next year with Kimi and Sebastian, providing stability. Can you tell us why they work so well as a pair? And also some thoughts on your plans for your young drivers Leclerc and Giovinazzi.

    MA: The reason why I think is quite clear. They went through the last three years with great co-operating within them. They feel very good together, being part of the team and translating this spirit to the overall team, I think we don’t find any reason why not confirming them together. Talking about the young drivers, they are growing, our objective is to of course to grow up young drivers and maybe to see them in the future with us. This is the final goal. But, before that they need to demonstrate in Formula One that they deserve it.

    Thank you. Toto, following up on the first question to Maurizio, after dominating as you did at Silverstone, were you shocked or surprised the Ferrari was on a similar type of circuit, in Spa, and have you had to scale up your response?

    Toto WOLFF: Ferrari’s response in Spa was very strong indeed. I don’t think that you should be shocked by anything in Formula but we knew that the DNA of the car and the performance of the car is very good on twisty circuits and they came to Spa and they were competitive. It’s the same thing we in Monza today also. Second free practice gave a good indication that Ferrari is to be expected to be fast tomorrow and on Sunday. I think this is the narrative of the season. It’s a tough fight between the two teams. It’s rare that you can say on Sunday who has had the faster car. You have to just put it all together, and hopefully the drivers put it all together, and then you can win the race. I think this is going to go to the very end.

    Only one of the top four seats not confirmed for next year. Can you give us an update on Valtteri’s situation? And with him being 41 points off the championship lead, does he need a win here in Monza for Mercedes to maintain a two-driver challenge for the championship?

    TW: It is a no-brainer for the team to continue with Valtteri for the very same reason that Maurizio mentioned – within the team the dynamic between the drivers is important in order to extract the best possible result. We’re very happy with Valtteri. It’s his first year with the team. He had very good moments, like in Sochi, and he had more difficult races, like in Spa. But we are not manic depressive and therefore stability is important and we want to keep him in the team and it’s just down to the contractual situation – the nailing it and signing it and hopefully we can do this.

    And the second part of the question?

    TW: Which was what?

    Does he need a win here for Mercedes to feel you are maintaining a two-driver challenge for the championship?

    TW: Again, Ferrari has a situation where Sebastian has been scoring lots of points and Kimi, for whatever reasons, not so much. Therefore, for them it’s probably a little bit easier. Our boys were pretty close together, until probably Spa. The situation is a little bit different now, but we would like to keep all options open and evaluate the situation in every race and see how it develops.

    Thank you for that. Fred, your Ferrari engine deal all signed, can you tell us the benefits of that relationship? Also, Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has said he would like a Ferrari junior team. Do you see it that way, with a chance to take either Leclerc or Giovinazzi, or both?

    Frédéric VASSEUR: First of all, the deal is based on the powertrain, which means it’s the engine and the gearbox and then we will discuss together the fact that we could extend the deal on another parameter for some other parts. On the driver point of view, I think that if it’s regarding Charles for example, I think he has to be focused on the Formula 2 Championship, still a couple of races to go and it’s a bit too early to discuss about this. I hope we will have the discussion at some stage! But I think, to be honest, even for Charles it’s a bit too early to put it on the table.

    You’ve had some time now – not much! – but you have had some time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Sauber. What are you telling the owners that the team needs to move forwards?

    FV: The problem is that we are in a tough situation because we started the project very, very late last year. We are also running of the previous year, but I think our biggest weakness is on the development of the chassis, because we started very late. We decided to switch on the ’18 car quite early also. But we knew perfectly the situation before the season for the team, and before I joined. For me it’s clear that we won’t be able to change the situation before the end of the season. We just have to keep the pressure, to race and to keep the team on their motivation. That’s very important in terms of preparation for next year also. But we know that the end of the season will be difficult, it’s not a surprise.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) A question or Maurizio. Coming here to Monza, if you have never been here and you are walking around this track, this place. I wanted to ask you what does Monza mean to you and to Ferrari?

    MA: Monza is the Grand Prix of Italy and we are an Italian team, so of course for us, it’s like… it’s unbelievable – the atmosphere, the tradition, the history. Even Enzo Ferrari was talking always about the Italian Grand Prix as the grand prix. This is the emotional part. The public is fantastic; we can feel the vibe. I think even yesterday, it was only Thursday but we were feeling, all the team, the drivers etc, they were feeling the vibe of the tifosi and they were pushing us. The expectation is very, very high. Despite that we need to be humble because we know the natural [characteristics] of this year’s car and we know that Monza is not really the best track for us. Having said so, our attitude will be humble, but not surrendering. This is what I can promise to our tifosi and I hope they are going to support us big time tomorrow and also on Sunday.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) A question for Toto and Maurizio. Toto, regarding this engine oil-burning situation, there have been some conflicting reports in the press. Some said that you brought forward the engine so that you could adhere to the old 1.2-litre limit and others said you voluntarily adhered to the 1.9. What’s the truth and how do you see it going forward. Maurizio, what’s Ferrari’s stance on the whole situation?

    MA: First of all, we have no conflict. I don’t want to comment on this kind of thing. Mercedes introduced early one engine that have also disadvantages during the course of the season, because you have no more development and this is the end of my comment.

    TW: I think it was completely blown out of proportion. Exactly what Maurizio said, the reasons we have introduced it early was in order to bring some performance to the track, with the risk of having to do many races until the end of the season – more races than our direct competitors, number one. Number two, you lack for further development. The longer you wait for the last introduction of engine, the more you can probably add the upgrade. So these are the reasons we brought it and not in order to extract a performance advantage out of the capability of burning more oil. So, if you ask the FIA you will be quite interested to see what the results are, and they are pretty much all the same. I don’t know where that rumour came and it was nothing that was ever a problem or discussion among us.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Maurizio, Kimi said that his target is a race win in the second part of the season. Do you think he is a capable of getting it?

    MA: He demonstrated that he could be capable to do it in Monaco. Also in Hungary he was nearly there. I would be happy if Kimi is going to win a race during the course of this season. For me, it could be a dream, because he was working so hard during the last three years and I think if he is going to win I can be happy.

    Q: (Peter Hartig – BMF1) A question for Frédéric. I would ask you the main difference between being a team principal at Sauber, compared to Renault. It could be internally, it could be a little close that answer, and also according to the drivers?

    FV: There is not big difference to be honest. The two teams are passionate and it’s a real racing team, in both cases. Now I am taking the team in approximately the same direction, because when I joined Renault last year, we were in a restructuring situation and it’s exactly the same with Sauber. I hope that I will have some other challenge in the future because it’s a bit tough. But, on the other hand, it’s a good challenge, it’s exciting, because we know where we are today and we know that we have a lot of work in front of us. On the driver situation, it’s also quite similar: they are young, they are doing a good job, they win a couple of races, a couple of championships in the junior series but we have to still improve – the same for the team, the same for everybody and we have to keep everybody under pressure, including drivers to try to improve and to get the best from them also.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) The commercial rights holder, Liberty, seems intent on introducing a cost cap of about $150 million from 2021 onwards, with a glide path through until the end of 2020. This of course has massive impact on your head count levels etc, because you would probably have to cut your head counts by 50 per cent in the case of Mercedes and Ferrari. Could you still see yourself still participating in Formula One after that has happened, to Toto and Maurizio?

    TW: It’s the first time I hear the number. It’s good that you tell us, so we are warned!

    MA: Thank you!

    TW: And the glide path until 2020. I think we are all living in the same financial reality and we have seen teams growing dramatically over the years and we are all very sensible that we want to somehow contain it. It needs to be done in a way that it is good for the sport, that it respects the structures that have been created, so it needs a glide path, and it needs to be fair. That is very important. We have all different set-ups, the way we are organised in different ways. Ferrari is a fully integrated team within the larger road car company. We are a separate entity in the UK. You look at all the teams; it’s very different. You need a governance that functions and you need a strict set of rules and then it just needs to cover everybody. The discussions that have been happening, at a very early stage, I think there is no big disagreement.

    MA: I agree with Toto. Having said so, we need to take into consideration that this year, thanks to the battle between Mercedes and us, you can see, all the tracks they are full of people and I mean, maybe Liberty have to think about that.

    Fred, any comment from you? Obviously head count won’t be an issue for you but…

    FV: I won’t have to cut my head counts first – at least that’s a good news. NO but for sure at one stage we will have to work on it but it’s also difficult. We have to find a fair way. If we want to do something like this we need to find the best way to do it and it’s not so easy to police after the decision and to be sure everybody is sticking to the decision. For sure it will be in the common interest of the championship also to have close competition and to close a little bit the gap on the grid.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Maurizio. It’s a fact that introducing your fourth power unit in the last part of the season, you will be forced to respect a lower oil consumption limit because of the rules. Are you confident you can compensate for this disadvantage with respect to Mercedes with your new upgrades?

    MA: First of all, we are not introducing out power unit number four for that reason. It has nothing to do with that. We have a plan since the beginning of the year and we would like to introduce power unit number at the right time and with the right power. This is the answer, but nothing to do with the oil consumption.

    Q: (Agris Lauzinieks – Kapitals) Question to all three team principals. According to President of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde in the world there is unprecedented economic situation where countries are doing really well economically – does this mean that there is also a boom time in the sponsors market that teams are having lots of demand and monies flowing into teams easily and will you have next year some new names printed on cars? Thank you.

    TW: The market is a challenging market. I think in my experience I have seen years that were more difficult but due to the intense fight between Ferrari and Mercedes at the moment and growing audiences in many territories we have a quite a good pipeline and solid interest from potential sponsors and I’m optimistic that we can close some of these discussions.

    MA: First of all, we are perfectly fine with our sponsors. Having said so, you notice on the car that some of them, they leave their spaces on the car and on driver overalls to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Ferrari and this is also a very good sign. Having said so, I can confirm what Toto said about Mercedes. We have contact every day with sponsors. They are calling us and the interest due to the battle between us and Mercedes is growing every day. Today the problem is to select the sponsor and find the space on the car – but not the other way around.

    Fred?

    FV: For sure on our side it is a little bit different. The situation is difficult for sure but I think it’s also coming from the fact that we have much more sport on the TV and proposals than we had in the past. On the other hand, I think we have much more contact for Sauber than we had in the past and I think we can be optimistic for the future.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Getting back to this glide path and the budget cap. I’ve calculated that collectively the four or five teams that employ in excess of the sort-of 500 figure would have to retrench or redeploy something like 1500 engineers or staff members. How does one go about this and is that actually a responsible alternative?

    TW: Again, I think that where we are at the moment, everybody at Liberty, the FIA are pretty conscious about the structures that have been created and it needs to be a consensus about how these numbers can be reduced to a sensible level, find out what a sensible level is and discuss the glide path and, in any case, avoid any hardship for anybody involved. So, it’s early days. It’s 2017 and once we agree on a way forward, we will have three, four, five years to adapt our structures to whatever the end result will be.

    Maurizio?

    MA: I agree with Toto, every structure has a number of employees that is related to the business request, the objective and the performance and so on. I mean I’m not questioning the number of people that is working for Liberty or for FIA but of course to find an agreement we need to sit everybody around a table and we need to have a good confrontation about what is the reality of our companies today and to work on that. I’m not telling you that our intention is to do nothing but at least if they are sharing with us their thoughts we can discuss about that. Having said so, as I said before, linking my answer related to the sponsors, saying no to some of them, we are already applying a budget cut somehow.

    Fred?

    FV: Yeah, at Sauber I can’t be against this regulation for sure but on the other hand I think the most important thing for everybody is that if we want to introduce new rules we have to be sure that we will be able to monitor the point. For me this is the most important. We will introduce into the system new discussion and it won’t be good point. When you want to make a rule you have to be sure you will be able to monitor it.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Toto and Maurizio. It just occurred to me that, in the past, we have seen some really fierce rivalries between teams fighting for the World Championship. The rivalry has often gone off-track, literally, there was some animosity between the teams but to me, from the outside at least, it seems that now Ferrari and Mercedes are in a surprisingly harmonious relationship and it didn’t go off track even though there were some issues where it could have. Could you explain why your relationship is so friendly – at least it seems so.

    TW: You want Maurizio and I coming out here?

    MA: I’m always surprised when I’m hearing this kind of comments. If you want we can organise a boxing match, if you want, just to create some spectacular relation but we don’t need to. We need to get used to a kind of civil relationship between the teams out of the competition. Out of the track there is nothing wrong if you are taking a coffee together and at the track we are punching each other. Because there is the competition, it’s not out of there. I can respect Toto as a person, not as a competitor, he knows that. I’m not going to take a coffee with everybody. With certain people I get on very well, with other people not at all. This is my personal choice. Having said so, I think that a civil and a gentle education is the minimum that is requested in all sports. Otherwise instead of being team principals we can be defined as hooligans – and we’re not.

    TW: Many topics covered. First of all, I’m not going to let the sport ruin a respect that I have for a personality off-track. As Maurizio said, you get on with somebody or you don’t. Number two, I like the analogy to rugby: that you can be fierce and tough competitors and trying to punch each other during the match and win with all the necessary emotions – but you’re still able to have a beer afterwards. This is the attitude that we’ve had over the years: that we can be fierce competitors and we wouldn’t want to have a coffee during the race with each other. But it’s necessary for my third point of view, we are all stakeholders in this giant platform. And if this giant platform is successful, it makes the teams successful and it makes the sport successful and we are all benefitting from this. I think in the past – not only in the past, still today – there are individuals that are very narrow-mindedly focussed on Formula One as is there was nothing else besides it. And the truth is that there are many interests that we share besides the fierce competition on track. And Formula One is at a crucial point with new shareholders, with new management. We all want the sport to do well and it is necessary that we are capable to sit around a table and discuss the sport and be able to take our Ferrari or Mercedes or Sauber head off and say what in this particular situation is important for us to understand in terms of doing good for the sport. And this is the discussion we are having regularly and this is influencing our relationship.

    MA: We’re not only discussing sport. With certain people you can… life is not only about Formula One, we can discuss about everything: about music, art, many, many other topics like all the other human beings.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Again Toto and Maurizio, back to the same topic, if they do actually reduce the cost of competing to around about $200million all in, would you be prepared, as the recipients of by far and away the largest slice of Formula One’s revenues to receive less – possibly half of what you’re getting at the moment, because the costs will be cut in half?

    TW: You changed the number!

    No – I said $200million including. The $150million is the basic cap excluding marketing, executive pay, drivers and engines. Adding up to about $200million.

    TW: Again, I didn’t hear the number before.

    Well whatever. If it comes in.

    TW: I think it depends on the situation. I have… you wouldn’t want to reduce your salary of what you have now. And then just smile and walk off and say “that’s great.” We are all… within our responsibility is the sporting aspect of the team’s performance and there is the business aspect of the team’s performance and we are all going to try to maximise our revenue and keep the team healthy. It’s clear what the answer to your question is.

    Maurizio?

    MA: I agree with Toto. In addition I would like to say that we… it’s the beginning of the story we were hearing many, many times. Everybody is focussed on making sure the sport is growing and so on. So, let us see the economics first: the earnings, the loss etcetera, etcetera and then we can discuss with pleasure. But we are at the early stage. We don’t have to rush that much before seeing the result and the number related.

  • Bottas Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 2nd Free Practice for Italian Grand Prix

    Bottas Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 2nd Free Practice for Italian Grand Prix

    Valtteri Bottas kept Mercedes in front at the second free practice session for the 2017 Italian Grand Prix by finishing fastest ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

    After rain threatened the first free practice session, the sun came out for the second free practice session and warmed things up a bit. The session got off to a quick start with many drivers heading out not long after the session got underway and got a few lap times together.

    But it was Bottas in the Mercedes that took the honors at the end of the session with is best time of 1:21.406 on the super soft tyres. Hamilton crossed the line in 1:21.462 just 0.056s off Bottas’ time for his best effort of the day. It looked like Raikkonen was on course to set the fastest time of the session. He was marginally faster than Bottas on his run through the first sector, but lost time in the second and final sector. In the end, it was Vettel that finished 3rd fastest ahead of Raikkonen who was 4th fastest.

    Grid penalties or not, that did not dampen Red Bull’s session with Max Verstappen finishing 5th fastest, 1.003s off the pace, ahead of Ricciardo in 6th.

    McLaren might be down on power and the long straights at Monza really bring to light the speed difference between them and the rest of the field. But thanks to some slipstreaming McLaren were able to get both cars into the top 10 with Stoffel Vandoorne 7th and Fernando Alonso in 8th.

    Esteban Ocon finished 9th with Felipe Massa in 10th.

    The session was relatively quiet with a the usual locking up into Turn 1 and some off track excursions.

    Lance Stroll had a little moment at Ascari and spun his Williams. Thankfully he was able to keep it on the tarmac and continued with his session.

    A suspected broken rear suspension brought Haas’ Kevin Magnussen’s session to a premature. Replays showed Magnussen exiting the 2nd Lesmo with his car snapping at the rear nearly sending him into the barrier. He evenutally came to a stop at Ascari bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.

    It will be a birthday to forget for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard turned 23 today and for a birthday present was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for taking his 5th MGU-H. The engine of his Toro Rosso let go in a cloud of white smoke. Team-mate Daniil Kvyat was also told to return to the pits with a suspected engine issue towards the end of the session.

    Mecedes and Ferrari seem to be on their own with their long run pace closely matched with Mercedes slightly edging Ferrari. The one lap pace of the Mercedes seems unbeatable at this point.

    It’s Mercedes’ weekend to lose.

     

    Photo credit Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • F1 2017: Italian Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Leads

    F1 2017: Italian Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Leads

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the quickset time overall in the first free practice session ahead of the 2017 Italian grand prix.

    Running for the ninety minute session got underway with cloudy conditions and the threat of rain lingering in the air. While some drops fell around the famous Monza circuit it wasn’t enough to cause any real delay or force drivers onto the Intermediate compound tyres.

    Instead it was Hamilton’s 1:21:537 on the Supersoft compound tyre that was the quickest overall. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes was roughly four and a half tenths adrift of his teammate in second. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top four on Ferrari’s 70th anniversary but were more than a second adrift. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, both of whom will incur grid penalties for Sunday’s race, rounded out the top six.

    While several drivers tested and searched the perfect braking spot into the first chicane no major incidents were noted during the first free practice session. Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, and Williams’ Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten.

  • 2017 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Nico HULKENBERG (Renault), Carlos SAINZ (Scuderia Toro Rosso)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Romain, strong run in Spa, seventh place finish means that Haas have actually now gone past their 2016 points total with another eight races to go, so does that feel like progress or is it just a case of having two drivers that are scoring points?

    Romain GROSJEAN: I think it’s progress. Last year we scored most of our points in the first two races and then we struggled a little bit to get them but this year we’ve been a bit more consistent. We still need to improve that aspect, clearly, because there are a few races where we were fighting at the front like Austria or Belgium but some other races like Budapest where we were really struggling. It’s all part of the learning curve, we have only a year and a half experience but I think we are much stronger in year two than we were in year one.

    Q: Can you clear up for us what’s being going on with the brakes in particular because it seems to have been a bit of a running narrative with your car; either it flies like in Spa or you’re on the radio saying these brakes are doing my head in. Can you explain what the problem is, why it’s taking a while to get on top of it?

    RG: I think the problem is the media. I haven’t complained – yeah, in Spa we had one set where one brake – the front left – we had an issue with that brake and we only had two sets and one wasn’t working so we tried to make it work, couldn’t better. Since… actually after Baku or Canada we’ve had the parts that we want to run and we’ve been swapping with CI and Brembo, depending on the track layout and it’s been fine.

    Q: So what was it, what was the issue?

    RG: Inconsistency, some of it was the running temperature that was… it was the way we were operating the brakes, some of the materials of the brake being inconsistent but in between those two factors we’ve struggled a little bit to find the right balance. It’s better, I would say we’ve reached 100 percent but to be fair, we haven’t complained much about it recently.

    Q: Nico, you’ve had more top six finishes than Renault managed in the previous three years combined and you’ve started seventh or better on the grid four times this year and that made Cyril Abiteboul – in our press conference in Belgium – say that he believes now you clearly have the fourth fastest car in Formula One. What will it take to make the next step?

    Nico HULKENBERG:  It will take more hard work and more of the same of what we’re doing. Obviously we had three races in a row where we were the fourth fastest team so that’s pretty good. The team is working extremely hard. Every weekend we have new bits arriving but it’s all in the detail so you can just feel the package coming together, better and better. That allows me to push harder, build my confidence. Just a nice feeling overall. But yeah, obviously the gap to the top three teams is very large. Also I saw Kimi, how he came flying past me in Spa after his penalty; it’s quite amazing to see the pace they have so it will take a lot of hard work from us and all the other teams to try and close that gap.

    Q: The seat alongside you next season is now pretty much the most attractive one on the driver market. What’s the right experience profile for your teammate if your team is to move forward, as you’ve just talked about?

    NH: You’re asking me that? Why?

    Q: I’m just interested!

    NH: I think it’s not my decision at all so probably a decision for Cyril and the management. I think they just want a good competitive driver package. I’d be happy to race with anyone, alongside anyone. For me, I’m obviously focused on myself and make sure everything is moving in the right direction there with me.

    Q: And Carlos, coming to you, your 23rd birthday tomorrow, I believe, so happy birthday in advance.

    Carlos SAINZ: Thank you very much.

    Q: You’ve scored points in every race you’ve finished this season and you reached 100 career points with Toro Rosso which makes you, in points terms, Toro Rosso’s most successful driver ever. So does it feel like a positive year and do you feel that you’re moving forward in your career?

    CS: Yeah, many nice statistics coming together there. Thanks for the info, I didn’t really know but yeah, I think we’ve had quite a successful year for us. We’ve been pushing hard all year to get into the points and the result of that is whenever we finish, we finish in the  points, so hopefully we can keep that statistic going. I think the team can be extremely proud of that and we will push hard to continue like that.

    Q: And intriguingly, you’re one of four teams, including the two alongside, four teams in midfield from fifth place to eighth place which I believe are separated by just I think it’s 11 points, something like that, so does every race feel like a tense battle for points, and does Toro Rosso have enough in the pipeline to finish on the right side of this battle?

    CS: It is a very interesting situation, a very tight battle that we’ve been doing… going on the whole year, really, in which every single detail makes a difference. At the moment, I think it’s even more interesting because we have Williams at the front which are maybe struggling a bit but then Renault and McLaren coming from behind, pushing very hard with development, so I expect the second half of the season will be really really exciting. We will do our best to keep ourselves in P5, P6, in that area there but I know it’s going to be tough.

    Q: Before we throw it open to the floor, just asking everyone about Ferrari’s seventieth anniversary being celebrated this weekend, just one particularly Ferrari Formula One memory… can be from your childhood or from your racing experience in Formula One. Just pick one in particular. Romain?

    RG: Ferrari is… when you’re a kid, one of my first cars must have been red and that’s the Ferrari spirit. Memories in Formula One, I guess every time they went to Monza I could see all the tifosi going crazy and it’s very very special and I guess being a Ferrari driver is one of the best things in the world.

    NH: Memories obviously going back to when I was still a teenager and I was a kid, looking at Michael when he was scoring many many world titles with Ferrari. These were the years when I was dreaming about Formula One and obviously working towards it and a lot of history written there and a very special brand.

    CS: Yes, probably the same as Nico, watching Michael either win or lose titles when I was starting to follow Formula One, was probably my best and biggest memory at the moment but the thing that really impressed me a lot is when I arrived to Monza in 2015 for my first Formula One race and I saw all the tifosi queueing in the paddock and trying to get an autograph of all the drivers. It’s probably the most special feeling you can have, to see them all queueing, doing half an hour of queues every day just to get a sign and it’s incredible.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Manuel Franco – Diaros As) Carlos, has there been any change about your future because there are rumours of Honda, Toro Rosso, Renault and a question to Nico, do you like Carlos as teammate for next year?

    CS: I’ll go first. Well, one thing I’ve learned this year is to comment in (indistinct) is not the best thing to do in press conferences.

    RG: What are you talking about?

    CS: Apart from that, I think I was very clear after Austria what I want and I want of my future. I have full trust in Red Bull that they’re going to do the right thing for me. It’s all in their hands. I have full trust in them, they’ve always done the right thing for me in my career and I hope it goes like that.

    Q: Nico, you shook your head when he asked the question.

    NH: Yeah, to go back to your question, 23 is too young, sorry!

    Q: (Alex Combralier – Nextgen-Auto) Romain, we know that in Monza it is one of the toughest braking points of the season and particularly at the first turn so do you now have full confidence in your brakes, in Carbon or Brembo?

    RG: I think we are on top of things.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, it’s been mentioned that the Renault car is now very quick, also in race trim, not only in qualifying. Could you please describe how different the car behaviour feels from the cockpit since the latest big aerodynamic update with the new floor, where it feels quicker especially in quick corners, slow corners, braking things like that?

    NH: Well, everywhere pretty much. The updates that we’ve introduced at Silverstone just made the car a lot more competitive so especially the aerodynamics, I think they work a lot better, allows me to brake later, to carry more speed into the corners, to get on the power earlier so overall it’s just a much better (indistinct) scenario, more grip, allows you to go faster, quite simple.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Carlos and Nico, there’s been a lot of talk in the Dutch press about Max, his problems with the Renault engine and the reliability. Can you tell us what your experience has been in the twelve races?
    CS:     I think the works driver can answer that better.

    NH: Well, what did I have, I think I had the gearbox problem in Monaco. Apart from that, obviously another gearbox penalty in Budapest but engine-wise I think I’ve been pretty OK.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) For all three drivers: which are the new parts or modifications do you have for this race and especially on your cars?

    RG: We’ve got a rear wing for here. There’s a front wing flap going with it, that’s mainly what we’ve got here.

    NH: Yeah, it’s just the low downforce configuration really for Monza, a few small things to try, to test tomorrow on the floor, that’s it.

    CS: Same really: low downforce configuration for the weekend and we will try some bits and bobs for hopefully upcoming races but nothing that we will run.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Romain, with all this good food here in Italy and you love to cook, what is your favourite Italian dish?

    RG: That’s a good question, how long have you got in front of you? Italian kitchen cooking is amazing. Between the north and the south it is so different that I cannot really pick up one. From the simple pizza that you can find on the motorway to the three Michelin star chefs that I know in Italy, it’s all amazing.

  • 2017 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Esteban OCON (Force India), Sergio PÉREZ (Force India), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari).

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, let’s start with you. There seems to have been a real bounce. If you can fight with Mercedes, especially at Spa, then you can fight them anywhere. Has the success of the updates you brought to Hungary and Spa given you clear belief as far as the Championship is concerned?

    Sebastian VETTEL: No. It wasn’t necessary. I think there was always belief. If you’re going to come into the race and you don’t have the feeling, or belief that you can achieve something for one race or many races in succession then there’s not much point. But, to really answer your question, I guess, the form we showed in Spa was real and the speed was there in particular in the race which weeks ago, on a similar type of track, maybe wasn’t the case. So that’s very positive. Obviously, we had a smoother weekend all around but still, I think we’ve made improvements on all fronts. So, I was very, very happy with the performance last week.

    Q: It’s been a while since a Ferrari driver came to Monza leading the Drivers’ World Championship. With the new commitment that you’ve just made to Ferrari for three more years, do you feel now the full force of tifosi support and is it worth a tenth or two, do you think?

    SV: Well it’s worth something! Obviously, we get out tomorrow and then we see for the first time how many people show up but I guess it ramps up also during the weekend. This morning was fairly quiet but considering –  I walked the track –  but considering it’s only Thursday there were still a lot of people with flags around the track – definitely more than in other places. So, yeah, difficult to quantify but I guess there’s something there. Obviously, it’s a grand prix that the whole team enjoys and it’s very special to be part of. So, need to make sure we enjoy it.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, your battle with Esteban has been one of the stories, one of the talking points of the season. Things started to get a little tricky in Canada, then obviously in Baku there was a collision, a little bit of contact in Budapest and then obviously, we had Spa last weekend. Why have things escalated and what’s your side the story?

    Sergio PÉREZ: We’ve been racing very closely lately. As you say, we’ve had a couple of incidents in the last races. I think, I had a really good conversation with him, personally, between him and me, and I think it’s time to move forwards. Everyone had his opinion of what happened. The engineers have one opinion, the fans, us… have different opinions on what has been happening. The most important thing is that, from now, we move forwards. The main objective as a team is to finish fourth in the Constructors’ and we cannot afford to lose any more points. I think we’ve lost quite a lot of points in those races you’ve just mentioned, so we will move forwards and I’m very sure that these things will not happen again.

    Q: Esteban, what’s your side of the story. Why did things escalate, and escalate particularly during the race in Belgium?

    Esteban OCON: We’ve been racing really closely, as Sergio was saying, we’re always fighting for the last tenths in qualifying, or in the race so, for sure, it’s really close between us. But yeah, what has happened before has happened. Now we can’t change what happened before. We have to move forwards. As Sergio was saying, we had a talk this morning together, just us two. Yeah, it is time we forget all that, that we work hard for the team. It’s important – that’s what they deserve as well – that we behave as professionals and yeah, we want to keep challenging the others, keep pushing them and we have to keep that fourth place until the end.

    Q: So, you look forward. Sergio, the team has indicated they won’t let this happen again, that instructions will be given. As the more senior driver, how would you like that to be managed?

    SP: I think we are both mature enough. Esteban has been racing for a long time as well and I think we both know how to handle things. Yeah, although there will be some instructions coming out for us, I think we will put everything in place to make sure the interests of the team come first before us.

    Q: And Esteban, is it important for your development that you’ll be allowed to push to the maximum at every event – and how will team instructions affect that?

    EO: No, I mean, it doesn’t matter if I’m a rookie or if I have experience or not. At the end, what matters at the end is the result for us, the result for the team and yeah, if there is a team instruction, I will follow it. There is no other points.

    Q: Sebastian, quick one for you, at your previous team, you experienced a similarly tense battle with your team-mate. Does there come a point in a relationship where a line is crossed that you can’t go back from – and how do you avoid that?

    SV: No, I don’t think… I think you can always talk to each other. On track, let’s be fair, you have occasions where things may not turn out the way both want to. I don’t think any driver ever has really bad intentions over his team mate or any other guy but for sure the duel with your team-mate is a bit more intense. You’re driving the same car, you are therefore naturally fighting for the same position around the track. So, yeah, you want to stay ahead. I think inside the car you want to be the one that is in front. At the time maybe you don’t care much about what else is going on, as they both mentioned. Obviously, the team behind, they don’t really care which driver because they see their cars. It’s a tough line in terms of, y’know, you have to be, in a way, egoistic inside a car. Equally, you want to do the best for the team. But there’s never a line, I think, you cross you can never can come back from. They obviously took the opportunity to talk to each other and y’know, if I look now with Mark, obviously, I guess that’s the one you’re talking about, I have a very good relationship with him and we talked also about stuff that happened years ago with a lot of distance and y’know, now we can laugh about it. We both have our views, I think we both have different views, maybe now on some things that we had back but that’s normal as you go forwards. That’s why I think you can also cross a line again.

    Q: Quick question to all three of you: it is Ferrari’s 70th anniversary, as Sebastian’s hat tells us. A quick specific Ferrari memory, either from your childhood or your racing career, any special Ferrari Formula One memory.

    SP: I think the one that’s comes to my mind was the first test that I did for Ferrari when I was a member of the Ferrari academy. Was a very special day and that will stick with me forever. Ferrari is the team that we all admire, that we all want to do well as a Formula One fan. So that moment was very special.

    EO: Yeah, also, I tested for Ferrari back in 2014, at the end of the year. It was just magical. Testing in Fiorano on that beautiful track, driving a Ferrari, working with Italian engineers, Italian mechanics. I also speak Italian, I’ve lived in Italy, I’ve raced a lot in go-kart in Italy and you know what Ferrari is for motorsport. It’s something massive. I’m also a big fan of Michael and I was watching on TV when I was really young and I will also remember looking at the Ferrari ahead.

    And finally Sebastian, you’ve obviously got a pretty decent scrapbook of your own memories of Ferrari – any before that in particular?

    SV: Yeah, as another big admirer of Michael, most of my memories as a child of watching Formula One are linked to Michael and in that case linked to Ferrari. So, big admiration for him but for the car he was racing, for the team and obviously the dream came true when I was able to join the team – but yeah, lots of memories. Childhood, I remember I was always racing with toy cars and the red car always won. Don’t know why! It’s sort of what I was taught by the world around me, I guess, is that that car should be in the front, or has to be in front. Yeah, and obviously since then when I had the opportunity through Michael to be in the Ferrari garage for the time, I think Nürburgring 2003 for a short time. Just magical to see the guys moving around, everybody dressed in red. These kind of things really matter to you as a child and make a difference. Now, obviously, I’m there whenever I want to be, which is quite nice. So, lots of very, very special memories.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to both Force India drivers. Can we know when you talked to each other and what was the talking about. What have you said?

    SP: It was this morning and it was mainly… I went to Esteban’s room and I had a talk with him. We basically said like… I mean… the engineers have their view, it’s pointless going again through each of the incidents because everyone has their point to say, so let’s just move on together. Let’s forget the past and go forwards together. I believe that a new relationship can start from now on and I really hope that from now on we can be working as a team and we can put the interests of the team first, and we both came to that agreement and it was quite simple.

    Esteban?

    EO: He said everything.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To both Force India drivers. Obviously given the fact you’re so closely matched in the same cars it’s inevitable you’re going to be together, whether it’s this year or next year. Is it not possibly time that one of you considered going elsewhere. You’re both in the frame for a Renault drive – who’s going to sign first?

    SP: I think that’s not the way I look at things. I want to do the best for the current team that I am with and I want to do the best results. I think we both know that we have done wrong in the past for this team so my main target, I’m not thinking to run away. I believe that working with Esteban is still possible. It can still be a successful partnership and I’m not thinking to move elsewhere.

    EO: I think I’m not thinking of that at the moment. There is a big challenge ahead. We have a car and a great team behind us, which we can score points at every race doing a great job, so at the moment I’m focussing to the drive with Force India and not to next year – but I fully trust my management side and I’m sure I will have an opportunity to drive F1 next year.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Sorry guys, another question for Esteban and Sergio, who mentioned the points that Force India have lost this year. Esteban you say you need to behave as professionals. Do you both feel that you haven’t behaved as professionals on the track at times this year. Is that a fair comment to make?

    EO: I think we both crossed the line, that’s for sure. We touched so of course something was wrong in there. I’m not going to argue because it’s all behind now and we want to move forwards but for sure we crossed the line and we can’t do that in the future for the purpose of the team and even for us.

    SP: Same.

    Q: (Marco Privitera – LiveGP.it) A question for Seb. We have seen a big fight in Spa with Lewis in the final part of the race. If you would be here in Monza in the same situation, would you attack him in a stronger way in order to make a special gift to Ferrari’s tifosi, or would you rather think about your championship hopes?

    SV: I think you are racing to win the race. I think that has priority. Obviously you need to be aware of what you are doing but it wasn’t like I was saving myself. I tried everything I had at the time. I stick with him the whole race, so I was battling, I think the whole race with him. Maybe not wheel-to-wheel but it was really close and intense from a driving point of view. So I enjoyed that a lot but obviously he had the upper hand in the end. So there can be only one of the top step of the podium. I think there are some things that I learned from Spa, that we learned as a team but I learned as a driver. Things that I would do a bit different. But at the time it felt like the right thing to do, with hindsight it was a bit more clever. Here I think it’s a different track. Generally it’s possible to overtake. We’ll see where we are in the race. I think going into this weekend we need to be fair and say that the track layout suits Mercedes but the performance that we showed last week gives us hope. So, we tried to do the best. Obviously, yeah, there should be quite a good atmosphere and a lot of support so for sure we try to give all the love and passion that we’ve received so far this year, we try to also give something back from our side.

    Q: (Peter Hardy – BMF1) Sorry Sebastian, this is for the two guys. From a psychological point of view, how is it to be called into an interview like this where you know that you will be asked a lot of questions about the incidents that have happened?

    EO: It’s part of the job, you know. You know that when you are a Formula One driver that you will be facing a lot of media, it’s not only the driving side, it’s also looking at this that you have to handle yourself and face what the journalists are going to say. At the end, it’s, as I said, part of the job.

    Sergio?

    SP: Yeah, I think Esteban is doing well.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Seb, if you had the possibility to choose, what would be important to you: to win one championship with Ferrari or two with another team?

    SV: Well, I’m not with another team, so I think I prioritise to win here. Obviously I have been very, very fortunate in the past to have the success I have had. It’s like a drug, you want to do it again, you want to get that feeling again, you want to stand on top of the podium and yeah, I think if you manage to achieve your target at the end of the year – talking about the championship – then it makes it very, very special. It’s something that has been a while and I want to do it again. For sure, it always feels a bit different if you are with a different team. How it feels with Ferrari, I don’t know, that’s what I’m trying to find out.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sportbild) A question to Seb. Coming back to Spa, it was the first situation after Baku where you were behind him with the safety car. Do you think he learned from Baku and his behaviour was better? What do you think about what he did?

    SV: What, specifically? The re-start?

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sportbild) Braking, not braking?

    SV: I don’t know how it felt… I was the first one following, I don’t know how it felt further down

    EO: Quite scary.

    SV: I tried to react. There have been a couple of re-starts, everybody has his style and you need to obviously try and do your best. I wasn’t thinking about Baku too much to be honest. I was thinking of trying… basically the same things as in Baku, trying to stay as close as possible and have a good re-start. I had a chance and I wanted to make sure I stay with him and use it. All went well, so nothing to think about, but I can understand if further back it was feeling a bit stop and go.

    Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) A question for Checo. I want to know your memories about 2012. I don’t know if that was the greatest moment, or at least one of the greatest, for you in Formula One?

    SP: Yeah, it was a very special day that race, beating both Ferraris in Monza and making it to the podium; getting so close to the win actually. It was definitely one of my best races; had incredible pace. So yeah, definitely great memories of that day.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – De Volksrant) A question for Sebastian. In Spa you said Ferrari has something that other teams don’t have. Can you tell me what that is and do you think F1 is more important for Ferrari or is it the other way round?

    SV: How can I describe? I guess, don’t get me wrong, maybe you have, but I guess you don’t have a Ferrari? No. Have you ever sat in a Ferrari? No. Then I strongly recommend that you do. Just to sit in a Ferrari… there are a lot of great sports cars around the planet, I don’t know all of them, at least that’s the way I feel and that for me is something unique and it’s similar and it probably describes or answers your questions, or tries to at least. It’s the feeling when you step into a Ferrari, when you sit in a Ferrari, I don’t know, you can step into another car but you don’t get the same feeling. When the engine then starts and you have the chance to drive yourself then I think everybody who likes cars and has a passion for racing falls in love with the cars straight away. Maybe you should ask whoever you are writing for to give you the opportunity to sign off a day in a Ferrari. That would be the best way to answer the question.

    Q: (Ibriam Ignacio Artimuno – Momento GP) A question for Sebastian. How does it feel to return to a circuit where you won for the first time?

    SV: Yeah, it’s a special place. It’s many years ago, a long time ago, but still a very strong emotion. There are people inside the team now that I have been working with back then. Obviously we had a Ferrari engine in the car with Toro Rosso in those days. The whole weekend was magical. Saturday to have the pole, and to win the race on Sunday the way we did. Pretty amazing memories and when I walked the track this morning there are some pictures coming back. In fact, I’m working with the same race engineer now as I did back then, with Ricardo. It’s a memory we shared together and yeah, it makes this place definitely one of the most special places for me.

    Q: (Alex Combralier – Nextgen-Auto) A question for Sebastian. At Mercedes we could see team orders between Hamilton and Bottas this week. Do you think that team orders are now necessary in your team and do you think that Räikkönen would agree with that?

    SV: No, and I think the second part of your questions is also no. I am a bit surprised by the way things are put. I think Kimi and myself, I can’t speak for other people, but Kimi and myself I think we have been racing each other all year. I read or I heard after the Hungarian Grand Prix that he was protecting me. I think if you speak to him he can make it pretty clear. He was, how can I say, I don’t think he was leaving anything behind. I think if he had the opportunity properly to pass me he would have tried and that’s fair enough. I think it would have been the same the other way round. I think we are racing for the team, we’re both trying to our best, if it happens that you race for the same spot then you might meet yourself on track, as these guys have proven. You’re both fighting for yourself but you’re also fighting for the team, so it’s something you need to keep in the back of your mind. I don’t know what other teams are doing, but for us, I think we both go flat out and see what happens. Normally you can always talk about a lot of things, scenarios and so on, but it always turns out to be a bit different from that.

    Q: (Benjamin Vinel – Motorsport.com) A question for Esteban and Sergio. Do you think with the standings currently, with Force India extremely likely to finish fourth, quite far away from Red Bull but quite far ahead of other teams, that the team could afford to let you race until the end of the year?

    SP: Well, what we cannot afford, us, is to lose more points. Things change really quickly in Formula One. We see other teams are closing up in terms of pace. We definitely need to score in strong races, such as Spa and Monza, they are probably the two strongest races for us, so we definitely have to make sure that we score as many points as we possibly can. That’s just for the good of the team you know. Everyone works so hard at the track, at the factory, we really need to take the maximum out of both cars every single weekend. It’s not only about finishing fourth; it’s about how we do it and that’s why we definitely have to make sure we do it properly.

    EO: Yeah, I agree with Sergio. We have to get the bosses’ trust back and maybe after some races they will let us race again.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, your car has been pretty reliable this year in general, apart from that hiccup in Hungary with the steering. Have the team discovered what the problem was, was it a mechanical problem, or just an impact? Did you have to take any countermeasures to make sure it doesn’t happen again? 

    SV: In Hungary? Yeah, we found the issue; it was an issue with the track rod. It was mechanical, we fixed it and it was fine ever after the race. Yeah, I think in terms of reliability, it’s true, things have been going really well. You’re trying to push the limits as hard as possible, but certainly we are not yet where we want to be. We can always improve. There is a lot of work and effort going on but certainly in Hungary it was a bit uncertain, also in the car, how the race would finish, if I would finish at all. I saved the car as much as I could, which turned out to be the right thing before it could have led to a DNF.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Sebastian, the way that Mercedes have played the oil burn regulation: do you believe they have stolen a march over Ferrari, that maybe Ferrari missed a trick after Spa?

    SV: No, not really. I don’t know whether that was always the plan for them, or whether they reacted to that and pulled it forward. I think for us we are pretty much on target. Obviously we know the change that is happening from here, on what is it? We don’t have a new engine for this weekend. I think it would be quite silly to miss for that, if that was your purposes, just for one week, so I think we are on plan, but as I said, I don’t know whether that was their sole intention or whether they had other issues.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) A question for Sebastian: the new cars they will be quicker than last year and it is a power circuit but the difference will be in the corners I think. Can you give a description of what it will be like?

    SV: Well, here I guess it will be fairly small, the difference, because on paper it’s probably the track that suits the old cars best, meaning that with long straights and more drag this year and because of more downforce naturally the cars will be a bit slower down the straights. They will still be quick because the engines are a bit better and so on, but yeah, I don’t know, the lap time will I guess be similar. I don’t expect it to be faster, like we went in Spa, not by that amount. But I don’t know, generally it’s lower downforce here, so the car is very light, but there are some epic corners on this track – the two Lesmos, especially the first one, it’s one of my favourites, Ascari, Parabolica, so with more grip normally they feel nicer, so they should be quite enjoyable this year.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Can you explain to us the difficulty of towing during qualifying and are you planning to use that on Saturday?

    SP: Yeah, it’s a great challenge to get it right. You have to kind of wait around five to six seconds, but it depends a lot what the car in front does. With Kimi, last time, I was close to him, it worked well but he aborted the lap in sector two so I got too close to him and then you lose a lot of downforce. If you can do it without it, it’s just better.

    SV: It’s always very difficult to time and you need to be lucky to get the most out of it. It’s one of those things…  you can’t plan what other people are doing. You can’t plan ahead and you can only look after yourself. For sure you can position yourself so that it should be helping you or not helping but whether it works out or not is very difficult to time, unless you do something that you agree on before with your teammate or others. Let’s put it this way: the likelihood of getting it wrong is far higher than getting it right.

    EO: Yeah, you always want a tow, basically, in a straight line but then the guy to move over before the corner so it’s pretty difficult to get. You are maybe lucky once in every three or four years to get that but as Seb just said, if you can get it without, it’s always the best solution.

  • 2017 Italian Grand Prix: Ferrari Set for Monza Fightback

    2017 Italian Grand Prix: Ferrari Set for Monza Fightback

    The Formula One circus returns to the Temple of Speed – Monza for Round 13 of the Formula 1 World Championship.

    The Italian Grand Prix also marks the end of the European season and the teams will embark on a series of fly-away races after Monza till the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

    The circuit is one of the oldest tracks on the F1 calendar and has featured on the F1 roster almost every season. There have been a number of modifications made to the Monza circuit and Formula 1 cars have raced on all of them. The one in use for Formula 1 is the 9th variation of the circuit. The 5.793km long, 11 corner circuit with famous turns such as Curva Grande, Curva di Lesmo, Variente Ascari and Parabolica.

    The engines have to work harder than any other track of the season.. Engines are at full throttle for 79% of the lap around Monza and it is the ultimate test for a manufacturer.. Top end speed and low drag are important with good traction out of the slow chicanes. A power deficit is easily exposed at teams with such a deficit make up for the lack in power by running extremely low-downforce setups.

    Understeer is usually a problem around the lap with the very skinny wings the cars are set up with. The top speed last year was held by Lewis Hamilton. According to Mercedes’ data, he clocked a speed of 359.0km/h with the help of DRS and a tow down the pit straight. This years cars are wider and have more drag so we may not see blistering speeds. It is expected, however, that Variente Ascari (Turns 8, 9, and 10) will be taken at full throttle.

    The championship battle is heating up and as we head off to the fly away races things will get intense. The gap between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton has been yo-yo’ing throughout the season. After his victory in Spa last week, Hamilton has brought the gap down to 7 points. A victory in Italy could see Hamilton leading the championship for the first time this season.

    Mercedes are expected to be dominant at Monza. The power of the Mercedes engine gives them the advantage they need over the rest of the field. Ferrari are expected to bring an updated power unit to Monza which should bring them closer to Mercedes. There is still no confirmation of such a move.

    Further back in the field, Red Bull expect to take engine penalties for Max Verstappen after he retired from the Belgian Grand Prix with a dead cylinder no.4 in his Renault Power Unit. With the Renault engine down on power compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, Verststappen looks like he’s going to have a tough weekend.

    The Force India team had their hands full with their drivers coming together out on track once again. Force India Team Principal, Vijay Mallya has made it clear that the team will enforce team orders. While no one likes to see team orders, their drivers were given enough opportunity to show each other some respect on track but this did not happen.

    Pirelli have stuck with the same compounds they have brought to Monza last year. The red marked super soft, the yellow marked soft and the white marked medium tyre. The durability of the of 2017 compounds may mean that it will be a one stop race this year. There are many overtaking opportunities around Monza so if teams wish to mix up their strategies a bit they do have that option.

    While Mercedes may have won in Spa it was not the commanding victory Mercedes have usually pulled out. The fact that Ferrari were able to keep up with the Silver Arrows during the race despite their engine power update was definitely an eye opener for Mercedes bosses. Their speed will definitely make them hard to beat come qualifying. But the points are awarded after the race.

  • F1 2017: Fan Survey Results Revealed

    F1 2017: Fan Survey Results Revealed

    The global fan survey conducted by the Motorsport Network has been released today and details several aspects fans deem most important to the sport.

    Download your copy of the Report here:

    F1 Survey Fans Report 2017

  • F1 2016: Italian Gp Review – Rosberg Romps to Italian Win

    F1 2016: Italian Gp Review – Rosberg Romps to Italian Win

    When Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on Saturday by half a second over his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg looked a beaten man. But little did he know that he would be gifted the lead of the Italian grand prix mere seconds after the red lights went out.

    A mistake from Hamilton on the starting grid dropped him down to sixth and presented Rosberg the perfect opportunity to make it two wins in two weeks. Hamilton’s trouble promoted the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen into second and third but the red cars weren’t a match for Rosberg’s Mercedes.

    As Rosberg strolled to career victory number 21 Hamilton recovered to second overall. The two Ferraris ran a two-stop strategy, as opposed to Mercedes’ one-stop, and put on a descent show for the Tifosi. Though they were never in contention their third and fourth place finishes were not as far off Mercedes as many feared it would be. Both drivers reported that the engine upgrade introduced in Italy worked well.

    GP ITALIA F1/2016 - MONZA (ITALIA) 04/09/2016 © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a stunning move into turn one on Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finish fifth. It was a weekend of damage limitation for Red Bull on a circuit where it always going to be difficult for the Renault engine to stand up to the Mercedes and Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas delivered solid points for Williams in sixth while the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen came home in seventh. Force India’s Sergio Perez had a quiet afternoon, which eventually netted him eighth place. Felipe Massa, who announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2016 season, scored two points in ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India in tenth.

    Though it didn’t deliver a spectacular result the Italian Gp proved vital for Williams. The sixth and ninth place finishes by Bottas and Massa has allowed Williams to take back into fourth in the constructor’s standings from Force India. This battle is likely to endure for the remainder of the season and has serious financial rewards for whichever teams comes out on top. Jenson Button, who will be taking a sabbatical in 2017, finished twelfth while teammate Fernando Alonso was fourteenth.

    rosberg-podiumRosberg’s first Italian Gp win puts him only two points off the championship lead. Rosberg remarked in a post-race interview that the battle between himself and Hamilton will carry on for the rest of the season. Rosberg has done a perfect job since the summer break and, as it stands the battle has been as close as it’s ever been on points. But it’s on the track where we are still waiting to see that wheel-to-wheel battle between the two championship contenders.

    The 2016 Italian grand prix wasn’t the most exciting in recent memory. However, the scene from the podium, which stretches partly onto the start/finish straight, was something to behold. For as far as the eye could see were adoring racing fans waving their flags, cheering their favourites, and sharing their passion for this sport. That is why Monza can never be left off any F1 calendar.

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

    2016 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

     

    Nico, I don’t need to tell you, your 50th podium, your 21st race win and more importantly, his first win in Monza!

    Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much everyone, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s a very special day for me. I’m very happy to finally win here in Italy. You guys are unbelievable and it just makes it phenomenal to be up here so thank you very, very much and I’m going to enjoy this day.

    Come on, tell us a little bit about the race. It was pretty much trouble-free, could your sort of control it from the front all the time apart from the pit stop?

    NR: It was all down to the start. I had an awesome start and that made the win, so it was all there.

    We’ll be back to you in a second. Ladies and gentleman, we know this man. Come on, how good is it to be here in front of all your adoring fans. Lewis, was it all down to the start?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, look at this crowd. A big thank you to everyone for coming out. This is the best crowd we get all year; this is incredible. Obviously the start, but it’s still a great day for Mercedes Benz and I’m proud to be a part of it.

    I’ve got to say, 14 race gone, two points between you two guys, I mean it’s all to play for isn’t it? it’s fantastic for us, the fans.

    LH: Yeah, it’s good for you guys. I don’t know it it’s fantastic for the fans in the sense that there should have been more of us racing, there should have been a bigger race between Ferrari and us this weekend but hopefully in the future there will be.

    Lewis, fantastic, well done and well done yesterday, great qualifying. Sebastian, first of all… it’s hard to believe this, isn’t it? It’s unbelievable.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Unbelievable. This is the best podium in the world. Noi, Ferrari abbiamo i migliori tifosi del mondo. Grazie a tutti, grazie per essere venuti, grazie!!

    This is dreamtime but nevertheless I’ve got to ask you the question: when do you think, how soon can you take these boys from Mercedes on? How soon can you be on the top of the podium?

    SV: Well, we’ll try. We’re working very hard. They are doing a very good job, so you have to say “well done” and show them the respect for what the achieved in the last couple of years, but we’re fighting. I’m sure Ferrari will come back. I can’t make any promises about when, but I know we will, so keep believing, keep it up, I know that we believe in it and I’m sure we will succeed.

    Why don’t you just say a few words to them in their Italian tongues?

    SV: Un’altra volta – grazie, grazie mille. Noi siamo Ferrari.

    Nico, a wonderful day for you, can you describe it?

    NR: Oh yeah, it’s unbelievable. This makes it unbelievable. A part of me is Italian in a way, because I have a lot of friends and grew up with the culture, so all the more special. Siete i migliori del mondo, veramente. Incredibile. Grazie mille. Troppo bello. Proviamolo!! (then he sings).

    We knew you were a driver but we didn’t know you were a member of The White Stripes! Anyway, please tell us, you’ve come back from the summer break and you’ve won those two races, you’re like a new man aren’t you, what’s happened to you?

    NR: I’m feeling great. The race is on with Lewis of course, it’s always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what’s to come.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, congratulations, your first Monza victory, second win in a week. Obviously you won it at the start. We talked about the start as an opportunity here yesterday, so tell us about that? Two points in it now in the championship and it looks like you’ve got a future in singalong as well?

    NR: As we discussed, the start was the big opportunity and that worked out fantastically. I got a great start, because of course we had the soft and Ferrari had the supersoft and that worked out great and that gave me the race win in the end, because from then on I was able to control the pace and we had good speed. The singalong was awesome. The Italian crowd is just the best in the world and it’s really good fun.

    Is that become a new signature when you win now?

    NR: It just works here with them.

    OK. Lewis, conversely, you lost it at the start. I understand you told the team by radio that it was your mistake and you obviously did everything you did to recover but were the 10 laps behind the Williams of Bottas… did that leave you too much to do in the end?

    LH: Well, obviously yeah it was lost at the start. To be honest, I knew my engineers would be worried and nervous of how the start went, so that’s why I tried to put their minds at ease. I don’t really know what happened at the start, though obviously I will try to understand it later. I did everything normal. But, yeah, it’s hard to overtake here. Live to fight another day and you know a great audience here, as every year just an incredible crowd. A lot of Ferrari fans but also a lot of British flags were here today so I appreciate them coming out.

    Q: Sebastian, obviously a slightly different strategy, supersoft, supersoft, soft. Was there nothing more you could do to protect the track position that you got after Lewis’ poor start in the first stint, with the tyre choices you had. And what positives do you take from this weekend in general?

    SV: Well, he did one stop less, so obviously it was clear after our second stop he would be ahead of us – and I think the problem was that he was too far ahead of us. Simple as that. I think we were slightly quicker, we were on a fresher set of tyres but not quick enough to really catch up. I think in the end the gap was still fairly big. Nevertheless I think it’s been a great day. We’ve had a really good start, got a bit stuck. Maybe I should have gone to the left, I wasn’t sure what Lewis was going to do. Then I decided to go in the middle of them and was side-by-side with Nico but he did a good job braking for Turn One. I was hoping that he’ll go on the brakes a bit sooner but he didn’t. And then I had another crack, another look into Turn Four but I wasn’t close enough to be honest. After that I think we had good pace but it was sort of expected that they are obviously a bit quicker than us, in race pace as well. And I think you could see at the end the result was fairly clear. Still, I think it’s been a mega day for Ferrari. To get so much support. I think it felt even more than last year, which is great and hopefully it all peaks next year. Still, I can’t complain: two podiums in Monza two times at the start with Ferrari. I think it’s a great achievement, really happy and proud of that. But for sure, you’re always aiming for the top step, also to give the maximum support back. It’s been incredible. Coming into the track, leaving the track, even leaving late at night, they’re just happy to wave, with all the Ferrari kit, with all the flags equipped, it’s great to see the passion in this country for Ferrari and to be part of that is great. Obviously our mission doesn’t stop here. It’s only the beginning. We want to win. That’s what we really want. That’s what the people deserve as well.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, I would like to congratulate you to become the first ever Finnish national who has won a grand prix on Italian soil. Winning at Spa and then Monza first time, legendary places, how does that feel in your career.

    NR: It feels great.

    SV: Being a Finn, you should answer in Finnish…

    NR: Just talking about today it’s special because I really feel close to the Italian culture in many ways. All my best friends are Italian, I speak Italian and have a lot of connections with Italy and a lot of support here also, so it’s amazing to see. On this historic track it’s been a special place to win.

    I didn’t… Imola, Monza, no Finn has ever won? Wow. Cool.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Lewis, you said you don’t know exactly what happened in the car at the start but can you tell us what was going on in there and how you felt to see all those cars go screaming by.

    LH: To be honest I don’t really remember. I do remember a bunch of cars coming by but, as I said, I did the sequence, everything exactly the same and yeah, I think I just got lots of wheelspin. A bit like Nico’s start perhaps in Hockenheim. Yeah.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, yesterday in qualifying, bigger difference to Mercedes than last year, today in the race, maybe a smaller difference, you were even closing on the Mercedes with the soft tyres at the end. What was the reason for that? That you were so much quicker today. And how encouraging is it for the next two races especially?

    SV: Well, we had a different strategy so obviously we had fresher tyres, different compound at the end, it was clear and expected that we were quicker and catching up – but probably not enough really to put them seriously under any pressure. I think we extracted our best race which obviously, y’know… it’s been a while since it’s been the case. It speaks for the team. I think we’ve done a very good job this weekend, everyone has been really focused and, y’know many times I hear that coming to Monza, yeah, it’s a sort of extra burden and pressure and all this. I think it’s much the opposite for everyone in the team. You come here, people are able on Thursday, Friday to bring some of their family to the track, Ferrari is very helpful and open to give the chance to some of the mechanics and engineers, a lot of their families come here to see them and support them. And equally we has so much support from all the fans around the track, so of course you want to do well, it’s family in the end. We have probably the largest family we bring to a race track in that regard but I think everyone knows when I’m saying you want to do well in front of your family. So, of course, there is a bit of tension but if anything I think it lifted us up this weekend. It was great to see also the majority of the board of Ferrari coming, turning up, our president, giving the support and it’s been exactly the opposite of what people thought – or wrote probably – about. Really no pressure. We knew it would be tough against Mercedes, it has been tough and we didn’t beat them. Nevertheless, I think we did a great job, we pulled out our best, we had a great race. We finished third and fourth is the optimum we could get. That’s a lot to be proud about. Obviously the fans deserve nothing else but the top step and hopefully we can give it to them the next couple of years.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Two questions for Nico: firstly, are you the new Pirelli ambassador or why do you wear this cap here? And secondly, for what reasons didn’t you and Lewis use the supersoft tyres here

    NR: I apologise for that mistake to Mercedes, sorry for that. I didn’t realise. I’m sure I’ll hear about that later on.

    And what was the second part? Why didn’t we use them? Because the best race for us was soft-medium, that was the fastest way to get to the end of the race, as you could see. It was good speed.

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, curiosity, when you face a situation like today and you see your opponents overtaking you at the start, knowing that you have a very fast car, do you have time at that moment to think ‘oh my God, maybe I lost the race’ or do you only concentrate yourself to try to get some positions back?

    LH: I think at that moment you only think about getting back to where you started. So I’d fallen back and my goal was to try and get back up to where I was. But of course, I could see Nico pulling away, and I know from my experience of being here in Formula One that whilst anything can happen, the chances of the win decrease lap by lap, second by second so of course I knew that at quite an early stage that winning the race was not going to be possible but I would try but I got up to second and that’s the best I could do with such a loss at the start.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Sebastian, it was quite unusual to see you leaving the pit lane after your second stop with the DRS open on the run down to the first corner. I presume that’s because you were in the activation zone behind Kvyat coming into the pits. Can you talk about that? It’s quite interesting. And b) you had a big lock-up coming in and I wondered if that was due to the DRS being half-closed or not?

    SV: No, I had lock-up because to be honest the mindset when you come in is that you don’t really care about those tyres any more and you just to try to hit the brakes as hard as you can and stop for the line, so I had a bit of a lock-up but at that point you’re not really bothered, you just stamp on the brakes so that’s what triggered it. And then on the way out, I did have the advantage of the DRS so even if it’s 0.0 or something, you still go for it.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) To the Mercedes drivers; it was the seventh time this year that either of you lost the leading position, just after starting from pole. Usually you very quickly adapt to every technical rule change so can you explain why it’s so difficult to get it right with this simple clutch?

    Q: I think he means single clutch.

    NR: It’s the rule change, it makes it more challenging. Because now it’s down to the driver to do it. It’s more difficult.

    LH: Don’t agree that it’s more down to the driver. I think the driver thing is the same as it was before, it’s just that we have a relatively inconsistent clutch and it’s hard to… In the past we were able to be told our clutch temperature and it was easier to hit our target as well but now it’s a lot less easy to know what your clutch is going to be delivering and what it’s not.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Nico, just following up from what you were saying earlier about starting on the harder tyre than Ferrari, are you able to simulate that, practise that, given the allocation situation with tyres? Are you able to be that precise in practice starts?

    NR: Well, that’s the thing. No, because we’re not even practising on the grid, we’re practising at the end of the pit lane which is a whole different world. Everybody’s practising, their rubber’s going down so it’s a little bit trying to make the best guess and that’s what makes it so variable

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, after Spa with Kimi, were you more cautious at the first corner than usual?

    SV: Er, well, I was side-by-side with Nico so yeah, but as I said, they did a good job on the brakes and obviously I didn’t see the car behind. To be honest, at no point did Spa cross my mind. I think after plenty of starts, I think Monza at turn one, we all know it’s tight so I did what I felt was right and it seemed to be right. I think I left enough room for Nico, obviously I wasn’t really a challenge for him into turn one and for the cars behind, obviously I saw down to turn one that Nico and myself were putting up a shield and giving a lot of tow for the cars behind so it was natural  that they closed up. Equally I think they behaved well, doing their job right under braking, not overshooting so it all seemed fine coming out of turn two at least.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, it’s often said that it tends to go, for some reason, in waves, between Lewis and yourself. Both of you have waves when you are winning more races one after another and then it tends to change. So after now, winning two races in a row in one week, do you feel that the tide is in, it’s with you now?

    NR: No, not at all. I don’t see waves, I just see it race by race and today I’m very very happy to have won here and next is Singapore and I will try to win there and that’s it.