F1 Madness

Tag: nico hulkenberg

  • F1 2015: Hulkenberg – “I’ll be in a good car next year”

    F1 2015: Hulkenberg – “I’ll be in a good car next year”

    German Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg says that he has “good options” for 2016.

    The 24 Hour Le Mans winner is F1’s perennially overlooked but highly rated driver but despite this believes that he has a few options to consider for 2016. “There are a few good options out there, and I’m pretty confident I can put something good together and that I’ll be here next year in a good car,” says Hulkenberg.

    Hulkenberg’s F1 career started with Williams in 2010 before moving to Force India for the 2011 and ’12 seasons. He spent the 2013 season as a Sauber driver before returning to Force India at the beginning of 2014. Hulkenberg’s year at Williams wasn’t a stellar one by any means but a return to the Williams team isn’t out the question. The British team, who holds the option to extend Valtteri Bottas’ contract, has not yet announced its driver line-up for 2016.

    The 28-year-old was linked with a possible to Ferrari but never expected to make the move to the Italian team.

  • F1 2015: Belgium GP Preview – Spa Set To Resurrect Formula 1

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

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

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

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

    Hamilton_Rosberg_Spa 2014_LesCombesLast year’s race was remarkable for Daniel Ricciardo’s popular victory considering his team’s lack of performance up to that point. It was memorable too for Nico Rosberg’s exasperated attempt at overtaking teammate Lewis Hamilton into Les combes, the upshot of which was a collision between the two and a boatload of tension for the team.

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

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

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

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

  • Drivers Pay Tribute To Jules Bianchi Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix Weekend

    Drivers Pay Tribute To Jules Bianchi Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix Weekend

    The Formula 1 circus heads into Hungary with heavy hearts this weekend with drivers paying tribute to the Frenchman ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

    Felipe Nasr: “I met Jules on one occasion only but we shared the track in this go-kart race that Felipe [Massa] does, or used to do, every year. It was really the first time I got in a conversation with him and you could see the guy was special.

    “Not only as a person – for sure he had a good heart inside of him – but all his techniques, all the junior categories he had been through. As everybody mentioned he was a real reference to all of us.

    “Especially for me, I was always a few years behind him because we didn’t have the same age. But you could definitely see he had all the ingredients to be a very good driver and to fight for something bigger in the future. I have all the respect for him, even though I didn’t know him so well and I wish the best for his family as well.”

    Sergio Perez: “I met him when we were both in GP2. When I really spent more time with him was in the Ferrari Academy, when we were both doing the Ferrari Academy.

    “You could see Jules was a very special driver but also a very special person that everyone seemed to like. He was just very humble and very human as well and he really left a big impact on the world. I think we all share the same opinion.

    “I think Jules was a very special driver that didn’t have the opportunity to show what he could do in Formula One in his short period. It was just enough to realise that he was a potential champion for the future. He was just a very, very special driver.

    “It’s very sad, you know. As drivers we share many moments – every Sunday, every Friday afternoon in the drivers’ briefing. We’re not the best friends but we always share moments. We do the same, all of us. We see each other every 15 days or so during the whole year, so we spend a lot things together and not to see him ever again, it really shocks you. It’s very, very hard for all of us – I’m sure not only for the drivers, but for everyone involved in the sport – to lose someone, because you know you could be there, it could be your family.

    “I was talking the other day to his father and it’s just very, very difficult for the whole family. But his family is our family now and we really want to support them in any way because Jules will stay with us forever. I think what Jules did for the sport… he was just a great ambassador for us and he will always be in our hearts.”

    Romain Grosjean: “Well, as you can imagine, I’ve got questioned a few times. I cannot pick up a favourite memory because I’ve got too much with Jules.

    “I think the first time I heard his name was back in 2003. He was a much better driver in go-karts than I was; he was a bit younger.

    “Then he did follow up in all categories what I did and he won everywhere.

    “I think we shared a lot with Jules. It was a very nice ceremony. It was very emotional. His parents were, I think, happy to see us. Of course, this week all our thoughts go with him but personally I will never forget that we race and we race for Jules as well.”

    Nico Hulkenberg: “He’s been my team-mate twice, in 2008 in Formula 3 and 2012 in Formula One here.

    “I remember in 2008, I was in my second in Formula 3, supposed to win the championship and he came in as a rookie, his first year. I remember his race in Mugello, I was starting from pole and he was starting second or third. Anyway, we take off, I’m leading, he’s second and I’m seeing him in my mirrors, pushing really hard, really chasing me down, trying to get me. He was burning his tyres at the time, I was saving them, but it just showed how competitive he was and he was so hungry for success.

    “Even outside the track he was a great guy, a lot fun, a lot of great moments together and we’ll all miss him.”

    Roberto Merhi: “The first time I met Jules was in 2002 in a karting race. It was a race in Spain and he was coming from France and normally when you are that young to come to a track that you don’t know, in Spain, that you have never raced, it’s very hard to be quick and I remember I was really surprised to see that guy that was really quick immediately on that track.

    “He really impressed everybody. After that I followed him really closely. He was always the driver – the reference. He was all the time the quickest and doing really great things.

    “Obviously, when I jumped into Formula Renault in 2007 we did a few races together because he also jumped in 2007 to Formula Renault and again he won straight away; his first year in the championship. It was pretty incredible, no?

    “For me he was the biggest talent I saw in motorsport. Also, when I raced, back in 2009, with an F3, we were fighting against him because he was the man to beat that year and he won the championship with so many good drivers on the track and he won it really easy; just winning so many races. I think that shows how good he was and for me it’s, to be honest, really a shame that he was not able to really show in an F1 car what he was able to do, because I think he was the best driver that I raced against and it’s a bit of a shame what happened in Suzuka, but hopefully he’s in a good place and enjoying.”

  • 2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS:

    Roberto MERHI (Manor)

    Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    Felipe NASR (Sauber)

    Sergio PEREZ (Force India)

    Felipe MASSA (Williams)

    Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well gentlemen, clearly all our thoughts this Hungarian Grand Prix weekend are with Jules Bianchi and his family. Many of you were at the funeral this week. Perhaps we should start with a word or perhaps a favourite memory from the drivers about their colleague. Romain, would you start?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Well, as you can imagine, I’ve got questioned a few times. I cannot pick up a favourite memory because I’ve got too much with Jules. I think the first time I heard his name was back in 2003. He was a much better driver in go-karts than I was; he was a bit younger. Then he did follow up in all categories what I did and he won everywhere. I think we shared a lot with Jules. It was a very nice ceremony. It was very emotional. His parents were, I think, happy to see us. Of course, this week all our thoughts go with him but personally I will never forget that we race and we race for Jules as well.

    Felipe?

    Felipe MASSA: Jules, first of all, I mean, he was a great friend. [When] I met him he was still racing in go-karts, because we have the same manager. [When] Nicolas [Todt] started to work with Jules he was still at the end of his go-kart career and I met him in that time. For me he was a fantastic boy, very nice, very humble and an amazing driver. Unfortunately in Formula One he didn’t have the opportunity to race in a competitive car; to show his talent. He showed us anyway by finishing in the points in Monaco with a car he was driving which everybody knows was like… it was an amazing thing he did in that race. But for me the experience I had with Jules was also that we did a lot of go-kart together, even in Brazil, and in my experience he was the best go-kart driver I saw. It was amazing the way he was driving go-karts. It was maybe the opportunity we had to race together in a similar kart. It’s not nice to see has happened. It was so difficult to be there in the church, to understand what’s happened, it was so sad. But I’m sure he is in a good place, racing, enjoying and definitely looking here to all of us, from whatever place he is, I don’t know, but I think he was an amazing boy and a fantastic driver that I really hope the best for his family as well. It was a very difficult day to be there.

    Roberto?

    Roberto MERHI: The first time I met Jules was in 2002 in a karting race. It was a race in Spain and he was coming from France and normally when you are that young to come to a track that you don’t know, in Spain, that you have never raced, it’s very hard to be quick and I remember I was really surprised to see that guy that was really quick immediately on that track. He really impressed everybody. After that I followed him really closely. He was always the driver – the reference. He was all the time the quickest and doing really great things. Obviously, when I jumped into Formula Renault in 2007 we did a few races together because he also jumped in 2007 to Formula Renault and again he won straight away; his first year in the championship. It was pretty incredible, no? For me he was the biggest talent I saw in motorsport. Also, when I raced, back in 2009, with an F3, we were fighting against him because he was the man to beat that year and he won the championship with so many good drivers on the track and he won it really easy; just winning so many races. I think that shows how good he was and for me it’s, to be honest, really a shame that he was not able to really show in an F1 car what he was able to do, because I think he was the best driver that I raced against and it’s a bit of a shame what happened in Suzuka, but hopefully he’s in a good place and enjoying.

    Felipe (Nasr)?

    Felipe NASR: I met Jules on one occasion only but we shared the track in this go-kart race that Felipe [Massa] does, or used to do, every year. It was really the first time I got in a conversation with him and you could see the guy was special. Not only as a person – for sure he had a good heart inside of him – but all his techniques, all the junior categories he had been through. As everybody mentioned he was a real reference to all of us. Especially for me, I was always a few years behind him because we didn’t have the same age. But you could definitely see he had all the ingredients to be a very good driver and to fight for something bigger in the future. I have all the respect for him, even though I didn’t know him so well and I wish the best for his family as well.

    Sergio?

    Sergio PEREZ: Yeah, I met him when we were both in GP2. When I really spent more time with him was in the Ferrari Academy, when we were both doing the Ferrari Academy. You could see Jules was a very special driver but also a very special person that everyone seemed to like. He was just very humble and very human as well and he really left a big impact on the world. I think we all share the same opinion. I think Jules was a very special driver that didn’t have the opportunity to show what he could do in Formula One in his short period. It was just enough to realise that he was a potential champion for the future. He was just a very, very special driver. It’s very sad, you know. As drivers we share many moments – every Sunday, every Friday afternoon in the drivers’ briefing. We’re not the best friends but we always share moments. We do the same, all of us. We see each other every 15 days or so during the whole year, so we spend a lot things together and not to see him ever again, it really shocks you. It’s very, very hard for all of us – I’m sure not only for the drivers, but for everyone involved in the sport – to lose someone, because you know you could be there, it could be your family. I was talking the other day to his father and it’s just very, very difficult for the whole family. But his family is our family now and we really want to support them in any way because Jules will stay with us forever. I think what Jules did for the sport… he was just a great ambassador for us and he will always be in our hearts.

    And finally, Nico.

    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, he’s been my team-mate twice, in 2008 in Formula 3 and 2012 in Formula One here. I remember in 2008, I was in my second in Formula 3, supposed to win the championship and he came in as a rookie, his first year. I remember his race in Mugello, I was starting from pole and he was starting second or third. Anyway, we take off, I’m leading, he’s second and I’m seeing him in my mirrors, pushing really hard, really chasing me down, trying to get me. He was burning his tyres at the time, I was saving them, but it just showed how competitive he was and he was so hungry for success. Even outside the track he was a great guy, a lot fun, a lot of great moments together and we’ll all miss him.

    Thank you. Back to you Romain: the first lap at Silverstone was extraordinary, with both Lotus cars out. It seems as thought the team is still leaving a lot of points uncollected. What are your feelings at this stage of the season and where you go in the second half?

    RG: Yeah, after last year it was important for us to get a good baseline when we started the winter testing, which was the case and then we had missed opportunities, especially in the first few race where actually Felipe [Nasr] did very well, he finished P5 in Melbourne, where we could have finished and it was the same in Malaysia. Then we got in the points, things were looking better but unfortunately we were a bit less lucky in the next races. I made a mistake in Canada, cost us a good chunk of points and in the last race we couldn’t do much – we retired both cars at the beginning. I think we still have a very good baseline. We still have a few updates we would like to put on the car and then we could chase a little but more Force India, which just got in front of us in the championship.

    Thank you. Felipe Massa, coming to you: you had 19 in the lead at Silverstone, including the opening lap. How did it feel to be in control at the front again and how does the team avoid a repeat of what happened at the other end of the race, where the podium got away from you?

    FM: It feels amazing to be in the front! It’s really a great feeling. Unfortunately it didn’t stay until the chequered flag, but it was a great feeling to be back at the front, to be back fighting for the victory at least, you know. We couldn’t manage to win at the end, not just for the first moment we lost the first and I went to second but also for the rain; we were struggling a lot in the rain and it’s definitely part of our working to improve the car in the rain. But I think we need to take also the positive things, that the car was competitive, maybe we were very close to Mercedes. Even if they were a little bit quicker, we were not far. I think we were very close in that race. I think this positive aspect needs to stay in our brain and we need to try to understand how we can do that again but also stay in the front and finish and try to win the race. We will keep pushing.

    Q: Nico, coming to you, over the last few races we’ve seen Force India take a step forwards – even before the new chassis arrived – points finishes etcetera. That was on power circuits. What difference will the new chassis make here on this type of circuit, do you think?

    NH: Yeah, I think it’s going to be good and positive. The B-spec car has really, so far, talking about Silverstone, lived up to the expectations what we wanted from it. So that’s very positive and encouraging. I think, obviously having collected a lot of data from both cars in the race, we’re able in those two weeks to go through it and optimise even more. Plus there is some more tweaks to the car here. I’m excited to see how we’re going to get on here.

    Q: Felipe, coming to you, congratulations on your contract extension announced today. Why was staying at Sauber the right thing for you?

    FN: Well, I think it only builds up the trust between myself and the team. Although I think it was always the plan when we came to Sauber, for the first time the opportunity came and I thought it was the right moment to take it. It’s nice to see the team, they put in a lot of confidence on myself and I think, looking back at the year we’ve had already, in this seven months we’ve learned a lot together, we did achieve a lot, I think we did achieve most of what we’ve expected, especially in the beginning of the year when we had some great results. As mentioned, the Australia fifth place was fantastic and, after that, we saw things becoming a lot more difficult and from the drivers’ point of view it’s always easier for us to say where the car needs to work and the team is seeing all the limitations that we have at the moment. I think everybody is leaning towards the direction of improving things out there. We saw Mark Smith coming in, joining the team. It’s already the beginning of that. And by having the two drivers, the same line-up, I think it only brings more of this information together, and we can be committed together for 2016 and build up something a lot more promising.

    Q: Roberto, you’re a bit unusual in that you’re running a parallel Formula One and World Series programme this year, you were on the podium, I believe, at this track earlier in the season – how comfortable do you feel in Formula One now, and what happened with that accident at the end of the last race in Austria.

    RM: The feeling in Formula One, every time is going better through the races. At the start of the year I was struggling a little bit – but I, after Monaco, everything went better, the race pace, after the quali in Montreal and the race pace in Montreal, Austria, and then the race in Silverstone was really good. And yeah, obviously I am going another championship, so far the World Series season, we had so many issues at the start of the year with so many engine problems. In this track we were missing two seconds on Friday, we changed 70 per cent of the car, just pieces, and the next day I was P5 or P6 in quali, something like that, and I finished second in the race. Was a strong result, let’s say. Then last weekend in Austria, at the start of the race I had a failure with the steering wheel. All of the race I was driving with the steering wheel bent completely, like 50° to the left, and after the race I wanted to do just a slow lap. I moved to the right, just to avoid the people coming to the left and the next time I check the mirror, the guy behind me was three seconds behind and the next time I checked the mirror he was like five metres behind me, coming much quicker and, yeah, colliding to my back. I don’t know, it was a bit strange to be honest, the situation I think was really unlucky. Thanks God nothing happened to both drivers, we are both OK. He could race the race afterwards and nothing else happened.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, obviously point in three of the last four races but in the in-house battle Nico recently has the edge over you on qualifying. How’s the match-up going with Nico? How do you feel about it?

    SP: Obviously it’s been, the last three races, he obviously has scored more points that what I’ve done. I think with the B-spec and the upgrades I haven’t got on as well has he did in the last race. Still plenty of championship to go and I think it’s important that we keep improving. I’m very optimistic coming into this track. I think what we’ve shown in Silverstone was just the proof that the car has improved massively. So I think in a track like this it will be really interesting to see how we go because obviously here the engine is not so important. I think our car has improved a lot and we have plenty of data to analyse from the weekend before, so I think we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic into this weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To all drivers, I’m sorry to come back to the subject of Jules Bianchi. This was the first time your generation has faced a death in Formula One. We saw many of you very touched at the funeral, couldn’t be different. Do you think even maybe unconsciously you start avoiding some high-risk manoeuvres from now – or maybe even different approach to the races?

    Will it change the way you drive. Nico, do you want to take that one first?

    NH: I mean it opens your eyes and tells us what we’re doing, the sport we’re doing, there’s still some risk involved. I think you just have to be aware of that and make your own choices at times in the car, how much risk you’re willing to take, and be comfortable with it. Yeah, I think for me, personally, it won’t change much.

    Felipe?

    FM: I don’t think it changes. When you close your visor, you want the best, you want to finish in front, and you want to do the best you can and manoeuvre overtaking, the way you drive, your thinking, I don’t think it will change. When I had my accident here, when I start driving again here in Hungary, always when I pass that place I don’t remember that I had the accident there. So, you don’t think about it, it stays in the past. Maybe when you go out of the car you remember about Jules or about other things which is… now I remember about my accident but when I’m driving, I don’t know, y’know? So I don’t even think I have a mother, father, my son, my wife or whatever, you don’t think about it. You just think about your job, your work.  I don’t think that will change. But now, I have Jules all the time on my mind.

    Sergio, go along with that?

    SP: Yeah, definitely. Obviously when something like this happens you know that there is a big level of risk. It’s what we love to do and when something like this happens to our colleague, we all know it could have been ourselves in that car – but it doesn’t really change anything. I’ve had some accidents in the past and you know that the risk is there. We all know. It can happen in any practice, any day, as soon as you jump into the car, you know that the risk is very high but it doesn’t really change anything. As Felipe says, we want to give our best, we want to succeed, we want to take every tenth out of the car. So we just give it all. I don’t think it will change. We all have to make Jules very proud.

    Roberto?

    RM: I don’t think it changes much but for sure you think more about it. For example, I was racing here with the World Series, as I mentioned and out of the fastest corner on the track was a car crash and a tractor came in to recover the car and they didn’t put a Safety Car and, to be honest, when I saw that situation and a yellow flag I really slowed down. So maybe in the past I would not have slowed down so much because, after that, you think more about it. You’re more afraid that you know things can happen. To be honest I didn’t feel so comfortable in that situation and I really lift from that corner and maybe losing three tenths per lap because I think it’s a dangerous corner and a dangerous situation, as we can see. But obviously, I think for a single lap of for a start – a normal situation – I think will not change. But, for sure, this time, when I left my house, was not the same the way I say goodbye to family and that – because you know things can happen, and maybe before we never even stop a minute to think about that.

    Romain?

    RG: I think thought our career it’s in our nature to take risk and think, when you drive, especially a Formula One car going that quickly around the corner, you need to be 100 per cent in the car and not thinking about what could happen if and if. We know it’s a dangerous sport but I think that was a hard way to remember that. But when helmet is on and visor is closed, it’s racing 100 per cent. That’s what we’ve always been doing and that’s what racing drivers will always do.

    Felipe?

    FN: I agree with what everyone else said. We are racing. That’s what we come here for. We do face some risks sometimes but I think since then, the Virtual Safety Car thing was a good positive point to have in a way to avoid the kind of circumstances like it happened with Jules. But it’s also linked to us drivers to know this kind of situation and to be aware of it. In dangerous conditions out there or whatever it’s something you… we all have to know what is good for us. What we have to do, what is safe for us to do. As all the others do, like I do as well, when we are racing, we are not thinking about this thing.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to Romain. In 2010 you had the opportunity to drive a Ford GT car in Le Mans. Next year Ford is coming back – are you interested in that, driving again in Le Mans? And are you allowed to do that?

    RG: Well, of course that experience was a great experience. If I do it again Le Mans it would be LMP1 because I got tired of watching the mirrors in the night, and the day. I was quite jealous of Nico winning the race, I think all of us, but, to be fair, I haven’t thought about it.

    Would you recommend it Nico?

    NH: Yes!

    RG: Just for the watch or…?

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone.net) Felipe, do you believe you can benefit from the new starting procedure? If we look at Silverstone, you had a very good start there but it wasn’t enough to stay ahead of Mercedes.

    FM: On the start, yes, it was enough but afterwards not. I believe I can still be competitive at the start. To be honest, I’ve always had a great start. Even last year I had a trophy for the best start of the season and this year I did many many good starts as well. I believe I will still be competitive at the start and I don’t think it should really change a lot. The procedure is more of less similar. Maybe you have less information but I don’t think the procedure will change completely, so I’m really not worrying about that.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Felipe, I just wonder about two things especially after your accident here: first of all, what view do you take on the whole open/closed cockpit debate and touching on something Roberto said about the recovery tractors, are you and the rest of the drivers comfortable with them still being in use as they are?

    FM: Well, I think if you go back to what’s happened to Jules, many things changed after that so unfortunately, we need to see that type of accident to understand what’s happened. I really agree that Formula One has changed a lot, especially after Ayrton Senna’s accident. I believe the car is very safe now. We always need to keep working to improve the safety, you know –  not just the cars but the tracks and everything is very safe now – so what happened in Japan was a different situation. What happened in Japan is something that we cannot… I cannot accept, because a car crashed into a tractor. It was a race that… it was a very strange weekend so we had the typhoon, we had people asking to run the race at a different time, we had the red flag already at the beginning of the race. It was already a different event and I am sure after that accident that so many things changed and people understand that what’s happened there was something that was not supposed to happen. We had some different rules after that, for the virtual safety car, for more safety cars especially if the car goes off the track and everything. Unfortunately we  need to see that type of accident to change something. The most important thing is not to see that again. Unfortunately Jules is not here any more. So many things changed in the past because of accidents, it’s unfortunate, but it’s important that we don’t see that any more.

    I’m not completely against it (open/closed cockpits). I think it’s something that needs to be… if it’s better for everybody and it doesn’t change the aspect of Formula One – or maybe not closing the cockpit but doing something that they always did since years, to improve the safety on that area – I’m not against it.

    Q: (Gabor Joo – Index online) Felipe, basically could you clarify for us your contract situation with Williams, for next year especially? Will you stay there?

    FM: I hope so. Nothing’s changed at the moment, I don’t see why I should not be there. I’m really enjoying working with the team. The team is really respecting me 100 percent and I think enjoying the way I work with the team as well. I see that the team is growing, growing and getting stronger most of the time, but what people wrote a few days ago or maybe a week ago, I don’t think really this guy has the right information. I think he just put (it) in the paper… I believe I will drive for Williams next year but I think maybe the chance that this guy is correct is bigger than… he’s risking the way that he can be correct.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) To Felipe again: Nelson Piquet has admitted just recently or a couple of years ago that he’s had serious problems with his vision after he had the big accident in 1987 at Imola. You’ve had the big one here, in Hungary, a couple of years ago; is everything alright 100 percent with your vision now?

    FM: Oh my God, it was in 2009. I’m still racing after years and if I cannot see, you understand, before that… you understand maybe the race after or two races after so I can see very well.

    Q: (Tomas Richtr – AMC/Sport1) Question to the drivers regarding the 21 race calendar next year, so it looks like it’s ever increasing. How difficult is it to adapt to your already busy schedules and do you think there is actually some kind of limit of number of races per year which is feasible for you as Formula One drivers?

    RG: I think the limit would be the divorce!

    FN: As I say, racing is more time away, for sure. All of us, all of us drivers but every one here, I’m sure they have other parts – apart from Formula One – everyone has a life behind that. But in a way I’m young, I’m in the opposite direction to him (Romain) so I’m fully open to as many races as they can do and let’s go for it.

    RG: You see, they want to get rid of the old ones, more so even those with kids!

    NH: Nothing more to add, really. I think it’s fine, it’s a job, you know. We’ll do as many as they tell us.

    SP: We already have 19 now, so two more doesn’t really change a lot, I think.

    RM: Yeah, obviously I’m doing 19 F1 races plus nine World Series races and so to do only 21 races next year will be less races than this year. I am the same as Felipe (Nasr), I am not married so I can go for it.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – Best of Radio) Roberto, your team is very young in Formula One but it has had two tragic accidents in the past few years. How difficult is it to manage this within the team?

    RM: Obviously I think they are really… to be honest, you cannot really complain about the team for these situations. It can happen to everyone. The team doesn’t have anything to do with that. The people from the team are really nice people, the best team bosses you can have and they are really open to speak with the drivers and the treatment they give you is really good and I am sure that they always do, since I met them in 2009, and I feel really comfortable to work with them. It’s just a kind of a bad luck that they had in the team. It’s nothing to do with them what happened. For sure they are the first ones that are really down with this situation.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) Felipe Nasr, your new contract, does it mean that the future of Sauber is solid now? And are you 100 percent sure that you’re only two drivers under contract?

    FN: We’ve seen this before, but I believe the situation is a lot better than it was a few months ago and all we’re trying to do is to improve, to develop the car as much as we can and as I said, I’ve been driving a pretty much similar car to the one I had in Australia, so as I said, we achieved the goals we had from the beginning of the year. Now of course it’s getting more difficult because all the teams are improving their cars, the development rate is much better in other teams but by having this confirmation early on, starting from now we can think about 2016 and I can tell you there are a lot of more positive things coming.

  • F1 2015: British GP Review – Hamilton Shines At Silverstone

    F1 2015: British GP Review – Hamilton Shines At Silverstone

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

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

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

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

    Britain 2015_Sunday Press ConferenceThe Williams driver couldn’t manage to run away from Mercedes but they were holding their own. As if to underline the difficulty of overtaking in Formula 1 Felipe Massa was able to resist a visibly quicker Bottas during the phase of the race. The Williams pitwall initially called off the fight between their drivers but quickly changed course and gave their drivers the freedom to fight. Despite this Bottas was unable to overtake his teammate.

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

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

    Alonso_Britain 2015Lewis Hamilton timed his tyre switch to perfection as the rain started falling once more as he exited the pits on the green-walled intermediate tyre and retook the lead of the race. Rosberg made his stop a lap later and emerged in second place where he would remain until the chequered flag. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas chances of the podium evaporated as the pair struggled for pace in the wet conditions. The duo eventually finished fourth and fifth as a slightly later call for intermediates from Vettel meant that the Ferrari jumped both Williams’ into third place.

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

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

  • Hamilton revels in British Grand Prix home crowd pole

    Hamilton revels in British Grand Prix home crowd pole

    Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his 8th pole position for the 2015 F1 season at the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

    Hamilton’s Q3 benchmark time of a 1:32.248 put him on pole ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg.

    Hamilton failed to improve in his final flying lap but his first was enough to secure pole with Rosberg almost half a second behind him, the latter claiming his front left tyre felt “strange” in the final minutes of the session.

    British Grand Prix - Qualifying - Top 3 - Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Felipe MassaThe Williams team had a very strong session, finishing as the second strongest team with Felipe Massa beating his team mate Valtteri Bottas to third postion – a full 0.8 seconds behind Hamilton.

    Ferrari, who were expected to have made progress ahead of the British Grand Prix after spending engine tokens for development, were nothing short of disappointing and clearly have not made as much progress as the Williams team have. Kimi Raikkonen beat team mate Sebastian Vettel to fifth place while Daniil Kvyat took seventh for Red Bull.

    Carlos Sainz Jr., Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the British Grand Prix top 10.

    Sergio Perez was 11th in the upgraded B-spec Force India, after having his final flying lap deleted due to track limits at Copse – something which seemed to catch many of the drivers out during the course of the session.

    Romain Grosjean was 12th, while Max Verstappen who finished 13th made no secret of his frustration with his car which was a very different machine to drive than he’d had during the final practice session.

    Pastor Maldonado was 14th fastest, Marcus Ericsson 15th, and Felipe Nasr missed out on a spot in Q2 by just 0.011s and will start from 16th.

    McLaren’s miseries continued with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button only managing 17th and 18th.

    Manor Marussia will take up the back row of the British Grand Prix grid with Will Stevens ahead of Roberto Merhi.

    The track limits rule will apply during today’s British Grand Prix with stewards taking a zero tolerance approach to drivers leaving the track at Copse.

    British Grand Prix Qualifying Photo Credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas

  • F1 2015: Austrian GP Review – Rosberg Strikes In Spielberg

    F1 2015: Austrian GP Review – Rosberg Strikes In Spielberg

    Control is a concept that when given up is difficult to regain. Yet, Nico Rosberg overcame his pole starting teammate and controlled all seventy-one laps for an important victory in Austria.

    The multi-lingual German secured his third victory of the season and second consecutive Austrian race win. But for a “vibration” late on in the race the afternoon was smooth as it could be with Rosberg firmly in the lead. This was an important victory for Rosberg to stymie Hamilton’s momentum ahead of the British Grand Prix.

    Lewis Hamilton, penalty at the Austrian GPFor Lewis Hamilton a supposed issue with the clutch complicated his afternoon. The reigning champion also cut the white line on pit exit for which he was given a five second penalty.

    It didn’t influence his second position as he brought the number 44 Mercedes home in a rather quiet afternoon.

    The Austrian country side is a beautiful vista of mountains and greenery but Kimi Raikkonen probably had enough of it. A communication error on Saturday landed the Finn at the back of the grid and Sunday’s race lasted all of three corners before a hefty clash with Fernando Alonso ended his race.

    Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, Austrian GP collisionThe crash itself was quite strange as Raikkonen appeared to lose rear grip and collected the front of Alonso’s McLaren. Some sources suggest that Raikkonen had a rear puncture which contributed to the rear end becoming unstuck but the Finn himself could not pinpoint a specific reason.

    Sebastian Vettel fared slightly better and was running third but a problem with a wheelnut cost the German third place as he fell behind Williams’ Felipe Massa. The four time champion was able to close the gap in the closing stages but similar to the Bahrain Grand Prix was unable to overtake the Williams. Vettel declared the Williams the most difficult car to overtake after finishing the race in fourth.

    McLaren’s afternoon only got worse and that in the presence of new Honda managing director Takahiro Hachigo. Jenson Button’s McLaren gave up the ghost after only ten laps of which at least six were behind the safety car. Sadly, McLaren’s Honda issues have not gotten any better since pre-season testing and its drivers were given a combination of fifty grid place penalties, in Austria, for changing several parts of their power units.

    The issue of power unit penalties has been a point of heated contention. Nevertheless, the validity of this particular gripe is mostly unfounded. All manufacturers started with the same set of rules and the reality is that some, namely Merc, did a significantly better job than others. In all probability the manufacturers in Formula 1 would have thought that the second year of the hybrid power unit era would have looked far better in terms of power and reliability. In Renault’s case it’s showing a significant downturn in performance and reliability. Improvement from year one is possible though as Ferrari has proven. For Honda and Renault the level of frustration is further inflated by penalties but they are a consequence of a much bigger problem.

    austrian-gp-nico-rosberg-lewis-hamiltonThe race up front wasn’t as exciting as many would’ve liked but there were several juicy battles further down the field. For fifth place, Valtteri Bottas duked it out with an inspired Nico Hulkenberg. Bottas ultimately got the better of the tussle but the Force India driver, still on a high from winning Le Mans, put together a brilliant weekend which culminated with a sixth place finish.

    The fight for seventh too was an exhilarating scrap between Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen. The teenager’s never-say-die approach made for a great spectacle but didn’t go down too well with Maldonado who felt that the youngster didn’t “respect the rules.”  Ninth place went to Force India’s Sergio Perez ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

    There are many factors which contribute to the current state of Formula 1 not least of all the tyres provided by Pirelli. Daniel Ricciardo was able to run fifty laps on the yellow-walled soft tyres before having to pit. The blame isn’t solely on Pirelli but surely a nigh indestructible tyre is not going to add to the showpiece. Even the 2012 and 2013 version of their tyres, which dramatically fell away, would be a welcome return at this uninspiring point. Michelin has announced their interest in becoming the official tyre supplier of Formula 1 with a promise of allowing drivers to push to the limit at all times. It’s easier said than done of course but it’s clear that, on the tyre front, things have to change.

    The start of the 2015 season didn’t go to plan for Rosberg who was being summarily spanked by Hamilton. But little by little Rosberg has clawed his way back both on the leaderboard and mentally. With his confidence soaring a ten point gap doesn’t seem much at all.

    Rosberg Hamilton Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG F1

  • Hamilton secures pole after both Merc drivers spin off

    Hamilton secures pole after both Merc drivers spin off

    Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix during a pretty dramatic final qualifying shootout session at the Red Bull Ring, after both Mercedes drivers went off track in their final runs.

    Hamilton claimed the pole position with a time of 1:08.455, beating team mate Nico Rosberg, who was comfortably quickest in Q1 and Q2.

    Rosberg had already claimed provisional pole four tenths of a second clear of Hamilton, but despite improving on his next lap, Hamilton went even quicker and moved two tenths up on his team mate.

    Both drivers came out for their final flying laps – Rosberg ahead of Hamilton on track.

    Hamilton was first to spin off. He spun under braking for Turn 1 while Rosberg set a personal best in the first sector and went fastest of all in the second sector. But, the German ran a little wide at Turn 8 and slid off at Turn 9, parking his car in the gravel.

    Austria 2015_Post QualifyingThat sealed the deal for Hamilton, securing his pole position, ahead of Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel who’s team mate had a horrid session, getting knocked out in Q1.

    Kimi Raikkonen was caught out in Q1, ending the session in 18th place. He will however move up to 14th following penalties for both McLaren and Red Bull drivers.

    Felipe Massa, who locked out the front row of the grid with team mate Valtteri Bottas last season, will start from fourth place on the grid ahead of 2015 Le Mans winner Nico Hulkenberg and team mate Bottas.

    Young Max Verstappen starts in seventh place for Toro Rosso, with Daniil Kvyat qualifying eighth but will drop to 18th after his engine penalty.

    Felipe Nasr qualified in 9th place and Romain Grosjean 10th. He however did not register a Q3 lap due to brake issues. His team mate Pastor Maldonado was 11th fastest with Marcus Ericsson and Carlos Sainz Jr behind him.

    Daniel Ricciardo managed only 14th after going off at Turn 3. Fernando Alonso registered 15th on the time sheets but both drivers will slip further back due to their engine penalties.

    Sergio Perez was 16th quickest and Jenson Button 17th but he’ll start at the back of the grid and also serve a 10 second stop and go penalty as a result of changes to his car.

    The two Manor drivers finish up the grid, with Roberto Merhi beating team mate Will Stevens who also headed through the gravel at Turn 7.

  • 2015 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS:

    Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    Fernando ALONSO (McLaren)

    Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso)

    Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

    Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, if we can start with you. First of all, congratulations on winning Le Mans, a great achievement, especially at your first attempt. How was it?

    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, it was quite amazing obviously. A very intense and long week. I flew from Montreal to Paris and then straight to Le Mans. But yeah, to come there, first attempt, and to win it with my team and my team-mates has just been incredible. You know, very emotional moments and a great experience that I don’t want to miss obviously, so very proud about what we’ve achieved there.

    In Canada we saw a performance lift for Force India, scoring points again and also for yourself. There’s a B-spec car coming relatively soon. So how optimistic are you, looking at the future?

    NH: Yeah, quite, to be honest. I think, like you say, recently we’ve made good progress, we had a car in the points four of the last five grands prix, so we see signs that it is getting better. In Silverstone we’ll get some new parts and major upgrades, so I really look forward to those. I’m quite we can have a really strong second half of the season, which hopefully then will make up for the first bit, which wasn’t quite to plan.

    Thank you very much, Nico. Daniel, coming to you, Canada was a very difficult weekend and you left not knowing what the problem was really. There has been talk about chassis, replacing [it]… Have there been any solutions implemented and did you identify the problems in Canada?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, we understood quite a lot post-Canada. I think a lot of it as well was… I probably came in there quite in a way emotional from what happened there a year earlier and probably just hoping for too much. So that already probably set the target too high from the start and it sort of spiralled into a poor weekend, for obviously some other reasons as well. We come here now with let’s say a fresh approach on it all. I have a new chassis. I think we’ve got any variables that were maybe there in Canada and ready to have a good weekend. We know the track doesn’t realty suit everything for our performance right now but hopefully have a good weekend here in front of the home fans.

    There’s also been talk about you replacing engines and taking penalties here at a track that is probably not the best for you guys. Would this be the most sensible option this weekend?

    DR: It’s likely. We’re definitely looking into it. I think we’ll have a decision probably by this evening as to what we’ll do this weekend. It’s likely we’ll take a penalty here. If it’s not here it’s in the next few. We have to see as well what chance we have coming up in Silverstone and Budapest. Wouldn’t be a surprise if we see it here but probably a few hours away from a decision.

    Thank you very much Daniel. Moving on to you Nico Rosberg. Monaco last year seemed to be a turning point in your championship challenge and this season seems to be shaping up the same way. Is that your impression?

    Nico ROSBERG: I don’t know. I don’t think so much about the past or things like that. For me it’s now. Lately, yeah, it’s been going OK. Of course, Canada not such – I lost out there. But I’m feeling good, feeling good. It’s great to be here; I won here last year, so arriving here very optimistically, we have a great car, so it should be a great weekend.

    Speaking about the car, Lewis recently said he’s feeling much happier with the 2015 car than he was with the 2014 car. What’s your impression?

    NR: Pretty much the same. It’s very similar, you know, because not much has changed in the regulations, so it’s just ongoing development, so it’s very similar.

    Thank you very much Nico. Moving on to Carlos now. Carlos this is a home race for the Red Bull family but probably not the best suited to the Toro Rosso’s strengths, but neither was Canada and there you finished very close to the points, you finished ahead of the one of the Red Bulls. How do you see this weekend panning out for you?

    Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, it should be another quite difficult weekend. Probably not as difficult as Canada because Canada was really not playing to our strengths because there were not really any high-speed corners, it was all either slow speed or a long straight. Here we have a couple of really quick corners that we know that our car is quite strong over there. We are also bringing a couple of upgrades that should also make us a bit quicker, and from there on expect another tough weekend, but maybe not as tough as Canada.

    We’re almost half way through the season and how do you rate it so far, because it’s been a pretty good start?

    CS: Yeah, I must say I am very happy with how things have gone in the first seven races. I think it has been a great achievement by all the team, especially with all the small problems we are having. The car is very, very competitive; it’s a great car to drive. Also the team is helping me a lot in all the areas to improve. I keep learning; every single time I go out in the car I enjoy, I learn. I’m very happy with it. Also there were a lot of new tracks for me, something like four or five new tracks, so it’s been a good first part of the season for sure.

    Thanks very much. Moving on to you Seb: a pretty promising performance in Canada, despite the penalties on the grid. Given the package you have at the moment, and also considering a good grid start, a positive start, how do you see this weekend panning out and do you see yourself challenging for victory here?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think ideally we always try to fight for the win. I know that we have a strong package this year, a strong car, so if everything goes normal then we should be a little bit further up again, especially on Saturday this weekend. In general, looking forward to the weekend. It’s a great place, a great venue. I think all of us really enjoy coming here. But we also have to be realistic [in] challenging the Mercedes. We know that first of all we need to have a flawless weekend, a perfect weekend and maybe hoping for them to have a little bit of a struggle. But in normal circumstances it is quite difficult to beat them as they are still the favourites going in and there is still quite a big gap.

    Canada, again despite the penalties, seemed to be a pretty enjoyable race for you, with all the overtaking moves, the fights on track. How good was it to have to battle through the field?

    SV: For sure it was more entertaining than the races before. It’s normal when you come from the back. Obviously first of all you go through cars that are slower than you. In general, obviously it was busier and at the end once I had my position I think I could extract a little bit more the pace of the car. But overall it was quite exciting and it was a good recovery, valuable points. We avoided all the risk in the opening lap which is always a bit messy if you are in the back of the field, but fortunately it all worked out and as I said we could get good points.

    Thank you very much. And last but not least, hola Fernando there at the back. You were involved in one of these very exciting fights on track [in Canada]. For you personally, as a racing driver, was this one of the highlights of the season so far – these battles, not giving up, fighting as much as you could?

    Fernando ALONSO: Probably that’s a little bit too much, you know to be one of the highlights. I think it was nice to battle a little bit but it was for half a lap, what I could do, so I prefer to do a little bit longer than that. I am enjoying the starts, the first laps. In Barcelona I think I was P8 in corner three. In Canada I also was ninth or eighth in corner six and then slowly you are losing positions on the straight with our lack of speed, so that’s a little bit a not ideal situation but at least the starts and the first lap I’m enjoying it.

    We’re coming to a track that they say is a little bit similar to Canada, maybe a little bit less extreme than Canada and Canada was a very difficult weekend for McLaren-Honda and for yourself as well. Do you think that this weekend could be a lot different, in terms of that you are bringing upgrades and still working on the car and identifying the problems as well?

    FA: Well, it will be another weekend where it’s going to be tough, where the results will not look good especially because there are probably some penalties to pay, so I think it’s going to be a test weekend for us, very important, there are some updates on the car, so hopefully we go out of this weekend with some answers and there is the test next week as well. Important days ahead for us. I’m quite optimistic with the things that are coming to the car and for the near future but as I said in terms of result it will not change too much this weekend or probably it will be even worse.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) A question for all the drivers. We have been hearing a lot about lift and coast since Canada and Mercedes issues a press release in the last couple of days trying to explain what lift and coast was and they stated that from a driving point of view it was not easy to do lift and coast because you have to find a different braking point because of the different speed that you were arriving at the corner. Could you please, as a driver, shed some light on how difficult it is to lift and coast and to find your braking point and also a question specifically to Nico Hulkenberg: Nico, how much lift and coast you have to do at Le Mans?

    NH: I think to do lift and coast in Formula One is quite easy – you just left off and coast down. The difficulty is to do it efficiently and to lose as little lap time as possible. Like you say, when you do it your braking point varies, so it’s quite difficult for us to judge, you know, where the actual braking point has moved. To get close to that target, I think that’s the art, that’s what makes it difficult. In WEC we also have quite a bit of lift and coast. They have different fuel regulations, they’re even tighter than here in Formula One, so fuel management is quote crucial there.

    Fernando as one of the most experienced drivers can you please explain a little about lift and coast?

    FA: Well, as Nico said, there’s not much secret – you lift, you coast to the corner, you brake. We are professional drivers, so we should know where is the point of braking, depends on the speed we arrive. There are other implications on fuel saving – the state of charge, the battery you may have at that point of the race, how much deployment you have on the straights in terms of the K deployment, so yeah, we drive maybe eight or ten different cars in a weekend. We drive low fuel, high fuel, maximum deployment, no deployment, fuel saving, new tyres, old tyres, so there are a variable of four or five seconds in the car during different stages of the free practice, qualifying or the race, so that’s the biggest difficulty, but we are professional drivers, we are ready to do that.

    Seb?

    SV: Nothing to add.

    Nico?

    NR: Well, lift and coast is the most efficient way to save fuel, they did it even in the 80s. I remember my dad racing with Alain Prost at McLaren and they had to save fuel because everybody was running out of fuel at the end of the race, so nothing has changed there. Just that it’s become more professional now and more accurate and more detailed. That doesn’t mean… still even if we’re doing that, we’re driving at the absolute limit of the car – it’s just a different kind of driving style, y’know? And even that driving style is very challenging, and you’re still pushing like crazy, you’re just driving a different way. That’s it.

    And Carlos, as one of the new guys, Can you explain what your experience is with it?

    CS: Yeah, for me something quite new. I have not been used to that… never in my life. And personally, it’s not a thing I really like, especially because I have to do it from very early in the race, probably after the first lap you have already the engineers telling you to lift and coast. I remember Australia was very big, Canada was again very big. You have to adapt and you have to be quick – but probably the amount that I was doing in the last… these two races was probably a bit too much for my opinion. But it’s something that I have to do, something that I have to learn and I will adapt.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to you Nico. You’re the only driver here Nico – in fact the only driver in Formula One – who’s been able to drive with two completely different tyre brands over consecutive weekends, different in terms of philosophy, construction etcetera. Can you, from a driver perspective, give us the difference between the Pirellis you use here and the Michelins you use in Le Mans please?

    NH: Yeah, it’s obviously a different tyre but it’s also a completely different car – so it’s a bit like comparing apples and pears. I think here we have more tyre degradation, which makes racing exciting and stuff, and in Le Mans the tyres obviously have to last a lot longer. The race is 24 hours and not just 300km, so it’s a completely different game – but otherwise it’s difficult to just take the tyre, isolate it from the rest of the car and the differences and compare that.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Question for five guys – apart from Nico Hülkenberg – and one after especially for Fernando. Could you imagine in future to take part as well in Le Mans? And for you Fernando, how do you rate the victory of Nico – because I have learned you have been very close to a Porsche deal as well for this year.

    FA: Yes, I considered to race in Le Mans. In the future – and when in the future I don’t know – I just said it was very close this year, so maybe next year. I don’t know.

    Daniel?

    DR: Yeah, it would be fun. I watched quite a lot of it actually, about 18 hours. I’m a fan! Yeah, it was cool. Racing is what we do, it’s fun, it’s nice to have a weekend off but when I was watching it I was obviously thinking it would be nice to be racing as well, on this weekend off. So, if we could manage to do more, like they did in the old days as well, there was drivers jumping from categories. Fortunately Nico’s made us all look good and I think he’s made it all seem possible for us now. So, maybe we’ll get the praise from our teams to venture into these things for the future.

    Nico, have you considered racing at Le Mans?

    NR: No, not really. At the moment I’m pretty focussed on this year so I haven’t thought about that.

    And you Seb?

    SV: A little bit along the lines of Daniel. I think it’s great to watch, especially as everyone has the impression that, a 24 Hour race, people tend to take it easy because the race is so long and so many things can happen, but it was great to see the guys were actually flat out from the first lap. For all of the race, basically. So, I think as racing drivers that’s what we’re after, to push every single lap and for a long time, obviously that means more fun. So, might be something in the future to think about. Obviously massive respect for what Nico did.

    Carlos, it might be a long way on the horizon but would you consider it?

    CS: Or not, who knows! If an offer comes, why not take it. For sure, its professionally one of the most prestigious races in the world and, to participate in that, after participating in F1, it would be something mega. Of course, I’m more than open. Anything that has four wheels and a steering wheel and an engine I would like to drive – so whatever.

    Q: (Istvan Janos Simon – Auto Magazine) Daniel, last year you came here on the back of a great win in Montreal with high spirits to Austria, to Spielberg, to the home of the Red Bull Racing team. Now, after a year it’s a completely different atmosphere within the team I guess. Could you talk to me about this morale of the team? How do you prepare? What is different compared to last year at the same time – for you and for the team?

    DR: I think that now it’s… yeah, we’re in a different position this year. Obviously a massive high. I think sitting at this press conference last year… I think it’s just reassess and re-evaluate our, or my, let’s say, expectations for what we’re capable of at the moment. And yeah, obviously I experienced some of the lows in Canada and then after that weekend I looked back on it all and said ‘OK, we have to, unfortunately for now, lower the bar and just try to not really look at the big picture of getting a podium or getting inside the top five, it’s just making sure we can just maximise our weekend for now and try and bring the team forwards as quick as possible. I know there’s lots of updates coming, some have worked more than others – but obviously we’re still pushing, we’re still trying. Like all things, they do take time, I think. You hope it turns around quicker but that’s the nature of the sport sometimes. Just learn to be a bit more patient I guess, and just make sure at least that I’m maximising my weekend. Obviously Canada wasn’t a good weekend, so just try and get back, let’s say, on the front foot this weekend and whatever position it puts us in, we’ll accept it and just try and keep the head down and more forwards.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas Magazine) Fernando, you said this weekend maybe going to be worse in terms of your performances. The car performances. Did you expect it takes so long to get the right performance – or let’s say, a good one. And how do you keep the optimism in this case?

    FA: Obviously the position we found ourselves in winter testing was not ideal. Probably we expect a little bit more – but it is the way it is. I think the performance has been always improving race after race. I think here it will be the case as well. The thing of this weekend is just the final result. We don’t know if it’s going to be good enough to make us happy – because probably with the penalties we will start a little bit already at the back and pay some extra penalties. So that will be not ideal. In terms of performance, we expect a lot from the car in the next month or two months. So we will see how we end up before summer and how we end up at the end of the year. That will give us some hopes for next year, let’s say. It’s the way it is. Why I remain optimistic? Because I see a lot of things inside the team, I see the group of people we have, I see the programme that we have in terms of chassis and in terms of engine. I see the resources, I see the talent of the team, so it’s a question of time when we will be competitive. Hopefully we will make it very short, that period of learning that we are having at the moment – but I’m optimistic.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos –  Nemzeti Sport) Daniel, Carlos and Sebastian; from next year, we will have a new super licence system which is based on earning points. For the GP2 title, you will get 50 points, for a European Formula Three title you will get 40 points and for a Formula Renault 3.5 title you get only 30 points. Do you also feel that success in Formula Renault 3.5 is worth less than the other two categories?

    DR: I never raced in GP2 and I know when I was doing World series it was the old spec car so it wasn’t even as fast as they are now and I thought that was already a very good stepping stone. I thought that car taught me a lot to – let’s say – prepare me well for Formula One and now I believe it’s… I see it’s quite a lot closer. Yeah, I would say it should be closer than that, we should get a bit more points than… did you say Formula Three is getting more points? OK. Judging on the speed of the car, obviously, and let’s say the lap time and whatever, I think the field is good in World series so I would expect it to have at least the same amount of points as Formula Three.

    SV: Well, I think all three of us gained our experience in Formula Renault 3.5 or World series. Obviously I also drove the old car but I thought it was a great car, a great championship, you’re the main event so everything happens around you, so you get a lot of time on the track which obviously is very important. I think it should be appreciated more, probably if you express it in points but equally I don’t see the reason why young drivers have to score points. I think it’s clear when someone is ready, someone has the talent to make the step. It doesn’t matter where he comes from, from Formula Three, from Formula Renault or GP2 so I guess it’s just another thing implemented to help confusing.

    CS: Judging by my experience last year and my experience this year, I just can only say that 3.5 prepared me very well for Formula One. It’s a very quick car, especially the last spec, very very quick, has a lot of downforce and I felt that when I stepped up to Formula One I was ready so probably more points would have been – in my opinion – I would give it more points, for sure.

    Q: (Gerhard Kuntschik – Salzburger Nachrichten) This is a question for all the drivers in manufacturers’ teams: are you dealing with the history of your manufacturers and are you interested in vintage cars and would you like to try some of these in the near future?

    NR: Yeah, very interested in the history. I like to watch the videos and read the books and everything. I’m really into vintage cars also, a big fan. Actually yesterday I drove a 300SL roadster from Stuttgart all the way to Schaffhausen in Switzerland which was awesome. It was such an incredible experience to drive those old cars and how advanced they already were back in those days so I always like driving them, yeah.

    SV: Yeah, almost a dream came true in this regard this year(to join Ferrari), great to see the history. I think it’s a very very special brand in racing in particular. So there’s a lot of cars from the history, especially old racing cars and it’s nice to see that they try to keep most of them intact and ready to go, so if there’s some time, hopefully I’m allowed to do a couple of laps around Fiorano in some of the old cars.

    FA: Yeah, obviously I’ve been lucky, feel privileged to drive for McLaren-Honda, for Ferrari, for Renault to some extent. Definitely when you see all those cars and some of them are the cars which you watched on television when you were a kid so definitely it’s nice to see the history behind a team or behind a manufacturer and also to drive those cars is always a little gift when you have that opportunity and we enjoy every minute.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – NU.NL) Daniel and Fernando: you have both voiced your frustration regarding the performance of your cars, most notably in Canada. Does this encourage you to look around for other opportunities?

    DR: Yeah, I expressed some frustration in Canada and I think – as I said – it was a bit of a spiral effect from year one, from probably the best day of my life to obviously a tough weekend. Yeah, I let some frustration out but as I said, I got back after the race, back home to Europe and – let’s say – assessed the weekend. Unfortunately, sometimes, you have to be a bit patient and for sure I’m set now with Red Bull and I would love to try and get back on the top step with them. Yeah, just got to be patient and just try and work out with them as a team and hopefully let out some frustration on track if I need to in a good positive way. But yeah, for now obviously my target is to get back on top with them and then we will see. The future is long but short term that’s where I look.

    FA: Same.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Seb, you said that the gap to Mercedes is still very high at the moment. Are you confident that you, Ferrari,  can reduce it in the second part of the season, considering that you are introducing upgrades in the second part of the season, as are Mercedes, or will it be more difficult?

    SV: Well, first of all I think you have to see that it is natural that from track to track it might vary a bit but I think we’ve already done an incredible job. If you look at winter testing and where we are now, I think we consider ourselves to be quite a bit closer. Yeah, obviously it’s not that easy to make the gap smaller and smaller because Mercedes is a strong team and obviously they are improving as well. They introduced a new spec of engine in Canada so they’re also making progress but our target for sure, is to make bigger progress to finally close the gap, so for sure, we are hoping that in the second part of the season, we are starting to get closer – closer than we are now.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) To all the German drivers but mainly for Sebastian as ambassador for the ADAC: who do you think could be the next German driver in Formula One? It seems that right now the juniors are not represented in Formula Three or Renault 3.5. Mick Schumacher is one who seems to be coming to Formula One. Can there also be other names?

    SV: Well, obviously you’ve mentioned the Formula 4 championship. Obviously that’s not the closest to Formula One so short term I think it’s always tricky. Obviously there’s a couple of German guys around  and I think it’s completely normal to have sometimes more, sometimes less drivers from your country represented in Formula One. I remember a couple of years ago I think when I joined, when Nico joined there was a period when we had six German drivers on the grid so obviously we were quite lucky because we had young drivers and experienced drivers. Now, at that time, I  remember there were no French drivers and the French press was desperate because there weren’t any French drivers on the grid. They asked the questions: what is the secret, why are there so many German drivers? So I think it’s natural that it goes up and down. If you look at the grid now, there’s a couple of French drivers for quite a couple of years now. I think that’s normal and then you need to give everyone time. I think if you talk about guys that are now 15, 16 years old, obviously it could turn around quick. You can, obviously, drive a Formula One car at the age of 17 but if you look at it in a normal way, it takes quite a couple of years from there where you need to develop yourself. I think it’s wrong, now, to give you a name because it’s wrong to put pressure on any of these young drivers but I think there’s a couple around. It’s true that maybe it’s less if you look at the number compared to ten years ago but as I said, I think it’s completely natural if you then look further down the road to go-karting. Still in Germany, there’s one of the strongest championship in the whole of Europe with the German kart championship for juniors and for seniors. Seniors are considered guys from 15 years to probably 18 years old so I’m not worried. There’s a lot of attention for the guys, great championships to start from. As I mentioned, go-karting and then Formula 4 as a platform and then on to Formula Three Euroseries, so there’s plenty of stuff to do.

    NH: Not much more to add.

    NR: Well, Pascal Wehrlein, our test driver for example, he’s surely the best candidate short term.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – Fana Media) Nico Hulkenberg, could you please tell us about your new package?

    NH: It’s a couple of new parts. As you can imagine; it’s going to be quite a lot: front wing, floor, side pods so you’ll see it, it’s going to be quite different, I would expect.

    Q: (Manuel Franco – Diario AS) Sebastian, Daniel and Fernando: what is your opinion about Carlos Sainz’s start of his first season in Formula One?

    FA: Probably I’m on one side but yeah, I think it’s been perfect so far. It has been surprising everybody, not so much me because I have known him for many years and he’s showing his talent now in F1 with sometimes competitive cars, sometimes not but he’s always putting in some top performances together with a strong teammate as well, so that’s very positive in the first year, no mistakes. He will be the future of our country so I definitely hope the best for him.

    DR: Yeah, not much to add really, he’s obviously doing very well. I won’t give him too much of a big head because he’s sitting pretty close to us. In a way, obviously, it’s a bit of a compliment to the Red Bull programme. I think they’ve got a bit of a gift for selecting some drivers that have turned out to be pretty successful and Carlos and again also his teammate Max, they’ve obviously started off very well in their rookie year. Dany my teammate now, obviously just having his rookie year last year, showing good signs. Carlos is definitely on the right path. Obviously it runs in the blood with his family as well.

    SV: I think he’s had a great start. I think he has all the ingredients, he’s quick and he’s willing to learn. I remember when he was probably in a not so nice role as one of the support drivers for us at Red Bull Racing, the last couple of years. Until last year, he was pushing very hard and he’s willing to learn and he’s willing to make progress and I think that’s very important if you want to make it.

  • F1 2015: Austrian Grand Prix Preview – Power King At Red Bull Ring

    F1 2015: Austrian Grand Prix Preview – Power King At Red Bull Ring

    Power is defined as the capacity to move with great speed or force. As the Austrian Grand Prix’s four and a half kilometres circuit has only nine corners amongst its three long straights is it the classic power circuit.

    Austria’s interest in Formula 1 was indifferent at best until the rise of Jochen Rindt in the mid 1960s. Rindt arrived at the first ever race around the Osterreichring in 1970 but lost out to Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari. He would never return to his home grand prix as he fatally crashed at the following Italian Grand Prix. Rindt remains the only posthumous world champion in the sport.

    Austria’s love affair with Formula 1 would be renewed with the revelation of Niki Lauda who would go on to win three Formula 1 world championships. Decades later it would be renamed the A1 Ring and be re-introduced to the Formula 1 calendar in 1997 and host a yearly grand prix until 2003. The controversial 2002 race in which Rubens Barrichello handed victory to teammate Michael Schumacher is inscribed in its and in Formula 1’s infamous history of the Austrian Grand Prix.

    Red Bull Ring - Austrian Grand PrixIn 2011 the circuit was rebranded and brought back to Formula 1 in 2014 as the Red Bull Ring. It was here, twelve months ago, that the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas stunned the paddock by locking out the front row of the grid. In the end victory went to Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in third.

    In Canada Williams secured their first podium with Bottas but they can hardly be considered as having turned a corner. If it was not for fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen’s spin in the Canadian Grand Prix, the podium would have been highly doubtful. It’s been a tricky season for the Grove based team which hasn’t reached the heights of 2014. With all things being equal Massa and Bottas will likely not be at the sharp-end on Sunday but they could still make life very difficult for Ferrari and perhaps even Mercedes in Saturday qualifying.

    Besides those with the potential for victory the mid-field battle is worth keeping an eye on as it invariably delivers the most exciting battles of a race. Thanks to their Mercedes power unit Lotus is looking forward to a strong weekend and a decent haul of points. “Looking at the circuit and talking to our drivers and engineers it’s a place that could suit us so we’re feeling quite positive heading there, especially after the E23 showed pretty well in Canada,” said Deputy team Principal Federico Gastaldi.

    Seventy percent of the lap around the Red Bull Ring is spent at full throttle bringing the power unit well and truly to the centre of the picture this weekend. Ferrari introduced an upgraded engine during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend but was unable let loose it’s potential. It may not be as simple this weekend either as cooler temperatures in the Styrian Mountains will complicate Ferrari’s potential. When Ferrari has shown a pace advantage this season it has come from being able to switch on and look after the Pirelli tyres in warmer conditions.

    The Formula 1 headlines over last little while have been quite spectacular. As Williams’ co-founder Patrick Head received a knighthood from the Queen and Nico Hulkenberg won the Le Mans 24 hours in a LMP1 Porsche it’s now over to Formula 1 to deliver an Austrain Grand Prix worthy of its celebrated history.