Tag: renault

Rosberg beats Ricciardo to Chinese GP pole, Hamilton last

Nico Rosberg resisted what seemed to be a mighty threat from Ferrari to claim the pole position in what turned out to be an action packed qualifying session ahead of the Chinese GP.

Kimi Raikkonen threatened to claim the pole with Rosberg trailing him after the initial Q3 runs but going too deep into the penultimate corner, and a perfect 1:35.402 lap from Rosberg handed the German the pole.

Team mate Lewis Hamilton, who already headed into qualifying with a five place grid drop for a gearbox change, will start from the back of the grid tomorrow.

Mercedes are still trying to fix the problem with Hamilton’s ERS but seem confident that they will be able to solve the problem in time for the race. Hamilton has won the last four Chinese grands prix – he’ll have to really earn his pounds tomorrow if he wants to make it five in a row.

Rosberg cruised his way through Q2 on Pirelli’s soft tyres, meaning that he will be starting the race on the soft compound rather than the super softs which are expected to only last only a few laps.

Ricciardo stormed through his final lap to start on the front row for Red Bull, finishing second – just over half a second down on Rosberg’s Chinese GP pole time.

Raikkonen managed to salvage third – the Finn very disappointed in his result after making the mistake into the penultimate corner.

After having his fans at the edges of their seats with the hopes that the Iceman would claim his first pole position since 2008, the disappointment was more than obvious.

Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel opted to go for only a single run in Q3 in a likely effort to save an extra set of tyres for the race but rand deep at the hairpin and finished only fourth.

Valtteri Bottas finished 5th for Williams with Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez and the Toro Rosso drivers behind him.

Nico Hulkenberg had made it through to the Top 10 Chinese GP pole shootout but could take no part in it after his front left tyre simply slipped off at a thankfully low speed during the final minutes of Q2 which brought out the second red flag of the session.

Interestingly there was no word of any investigation from the stewards into the incident.

Felipe Massa only just missed out on a slot in Q3 after being caught out by the red flag.

McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button also felt they had a chance of getting through before the red flag came out, with Alonso repeating a good few ARGH’s over his team radio after being told he wouldn’t be able to have a go at it. Button, just as frustrated responded with a, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The McLaren Honda team looks to have made some good progress. Both drivers never got to show their true pace but they will however have a free choice of tyres for the race start tomorrow which could help them make out the deficit suffered today.

Romain Grosjean was 14th for the Haas F1 team with Felipe Nasr behind him.

Renault drivers Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer finished 17th and 19th with Esteban Gutierrez splitting the pair in 18th place. Rio Haryanto finished in 20th place.

Pascal Wehrlein took part in only five minutes of Q1 after he lost control on a bump along the main straight and brought out the first red flag of the session. The delay lasted for 20 minutes as marshalls spent time drying wet patches of water.

Many fans took to Twitter to voice their frustration that such action was being taken for what really amounted to puddles considering the fact that these – the best drivers in the world – do have wet and intermediate tyres available. Wehrlein was running on slicks at the time.

Will Lewis Hamilton be able to fight his way through the pack and pose any sort of a threat up front tomorrow? One thing is for sure – this is definitely going to hurt his title prospects. Rosberg has the Chinese GP pole in his pocket, but not the race victory just yet … Perhaps the Ferrari team could unsettle things at the top a little further with both Raikkonen and Vettel hungry for a win. And, with Daniel Ricciardo in the mix up front, we could just be in for a proper cracker of a race tomorrow. Join us for live commentary, banter and opinions on Twitter @F1_Madness before, throughout, and after the Chinese GP.

Photo Credits: Screengrabs as broadcast by FOM

April 16, 2016
FIA Friday press conference – Chinese GP

Here’s a look at who said what at the Friday Press Conference following practice ahead of the Chinese GP.

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frederic Vasseur (Renault), Yusuke Hasegawa (Honda), Eric Boullier (McLaren), Maurizio Arrivabene (Ferrari), Toto Wolff (Mercedes), Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Maybe we could start with a general question for everyone. Obviously in the next couple of weeks there have got to be some decisions made on the future shape of Formula One, the regulations for 2017 and engines for 2018, so Christian, maybe we could start with you and how things are shaping up on the chassis side and where you think the discussion are, what shape we’re in and what we can look forward to?

Christian Horner: Well, I believe that as far as the technical regulations are concerned, we’re pretty close to a conclusion on that. They were basically agreed at the last strategy meeting, so I think it’s just a formality to finalise those chassis regulations at the end of this month. I think most people are already tentatively looking towards next year based on those regulations anyway. As far as the engine regulations are concerned, again there have been some discussions recently, which again will go through the Strategy (Group) and subsequently onto the Formula One Commission but everything has to be fixed by the last day of this month for 2017, so I’m not expecting too many major surprises.

And are you comfortable with where everything is at the moment, the shape of those regulations?

CH: Well, they are the same for everybody at the end of the day. It represents a bigger change on the chassis side, so that inevitably is going to move things around a little. On the engine side there is obviously discussion still going on and that’s probably the bigger topic for the future, but as far as the chassis is concerned I think they are interesting rules, they add an element of variance compared to what we currently have, so you’ll see some different solutions no doubt from different teams, that you usually get from a regulations change such as that.

Toto is that a situation that suits you, that there might be some variation in how the regulations suit the teams?

Toto Wolff: Well, every variance challenges your organisation and I think we are well position to take up the challenge. Definitely making the cars look different, putting emphasis on new bits or innovation is interesting. Whether those rules can provide more interesting racing is another question. In hindsight, because we’ve voted on these regs already, we will see next if it works out. But yeah, I’m looking forward.

Eric, what are your thoughts on this?

Eric Boullier: Pretty similar to be honest to Toto and Christian. It’s exciting a little bit to have a new package. I guess the car will be faster and the drivers definitely will enjoy driving the car. So drivers happier, fans happier I guess. As far as we are concerned on the engine, we are seeking some stability, which would be the key to develop and have a better convergence in the future.

Maurizio, Eric mentioned the fans there. These regulations are largely predicated on making Formula One more appealing, how important is it that Formula One gets these regulations right, now, for the next generation of Formula One fans?

Maurizio Arrivabene: I think as my colleagues said, I think the regulations they are under discussion and nearly done, they are also especially to enhance the show in Formula One. Next year you are going to see a different car, tyres a bit larger and then if you want to make sure you do a good overtake you have to enlarge the track – no, I’m joking! I think it’s all following the direction to enhance the show and to make Formula One more interesting.

Frederic, Renault has come back into the sport this year as a constructor, how difficult does it make it for you, or does it make it easier for you that everything changes next year?

Frederic Vasseur: I don’t know if it will be easier or more difficult, but I think at least it’s new rules and it’s important for us also to start with this kind of game. But I think it’s not for sure much easier for us to start with a new regulation for next year, because we have to restructure the team and it’s not for us the best moment to change the regulations. But it doesn’t matter, it’s not the target, the FIA is not there to play the game for one team or another one but we have to try to push for Formula One and to find the most exciting way for the fan. And I think if the car is more impressive it will be much more fun for the fan and spectators.

Hasegawa-san, welcome, your first time on this panel, and your second stint in Formula One. What’s Honda’s position on the engine regulations or the talks that are happening for 2018 in terms of power units for then? Are you satisfied with the progress that has been made there?

Yusuke Hasegawa: As they mentioned still we need to have some further discussion but something like cost reduction and obligation. Yeah, from an engine manufacturer point of view, or as a member of Formula One society point of view, we have a kind of obligation to the fans and to this group, so Honda is happy to have that regulation, although we need to have some further discussion I understand.

Just to the other people who engine manufacturers, what about the guaranteed supply that is being talked about for 2018. Is that something that you are comfortable with; is it deliverable? Toto?

TW: It is a complex agreement. We have been given the task in coming up with solutions so that no team is left without an engine. I think all the engine manufacturers have acknowledged that, so we try to cover that. There is an aspect of price reduction, which is important to most of the teams, and we tried to cover that in the framework agreement. Obviously it’s very difficult to make everybody happy. Christian isn’t so happy. But I think we need to come up with a solution until the end of April. We need to ratify those regulations and at the moment everybody is working very hard to at least find the smallest common denominator.

Christian, Toto mentioned that you may not be very happy. It’s obviously been an issue in the past. What’s your position on that supply going forward?

CH: I think it’s a complex situation, but fundamentally there were four criteria that were requested by the governing body to be met to ensure stability moving forward. Those four criteria were: a significant reduction in cost to €12 million, the availability of supply or the guarantee of supply, power convergence to within a relatively small bandwidth and to address the noise. As we sit here now we are not anywhere near having met any of those criteria and I think unfortunately what will happen, as is often the case with these things, time will run out at the end of the month and nothing will be achieved and nothing will change. There is one more attempt in the Strategy meeting and the Commission meeting at the end of the month to discuss and table the concerns and where we’re at, but failing that regulations will inevitably stay as they are.

Eric, Fernando back in the car today, maybe you could tell us what the process has been, how it worked with him today? And also maybe you could give us some insight into what Stoffel did at the last race and what he brought to the team.

EB: Well, happily everything is back to normal. Fernando back in the car today was fine. The FIA wanted obviously to have another check and another go after practice one which was an easy one because he ran through practice one without any issues. He felt ready anyway before the Chinese GP weekend and I think this is a matter that is closed now. For Stoffel, obviously as far as we are concerned he did a very good job in Bahrain. Never easy to jump into an F1 car for a race weekend. I think he impressed everybody by how quiet he was and obviously by the good job he delivered. I think it’s a good driver for the future to have in our stable.

Hasegawa-san, obviously the performance of McLaren has stepped up a little last year – what are your expectations for the rest of the season? Where do you see performance gains coming, when can you expect them to come?

YH: It is too soon to say the exact number or position but obviously we’re not happy, we’re not satisfied with the current position. We can improve definitely with a decent level of step-ups so we are happy about that. Of course it is coming from the chassis as well but we can contribute with the power unit. It is important to show that we can improve in the step-ups. This is our target so far.

Maurizio, one and two this afternoon, so a fairly good afternoon’s work. You’ve had two good results in Australia and Bahrain but a couple of technical issues as well. What’s been the response to those back at base and do you feel that that’s now been overcome?

MA: What’s happened in Australia and Bahrain, we explained it very, very well and I think I don’t need to give further explanation because what we said, it was absolutely true, like it or not. Concerning here for the Chinese GP, it was a good Friday, not a bad one but unfortunately not gaining position on the grid or points in the championship. So, it’s a good short but the Chinese GP weekend is still long. Concerning the expectation of the season, I can say the Mercedes team of this year is the strongest one that I saw in the last ten years because it’s quite a lot of years that I’m around and, I mean, to be able to win against them, you have to work and be better than them. So, we are doing all our best to have good results.

Toto, the best team in ten years! And Nico is performing very well at the moment. How have you seen him change over, not just the winter but if you look back to him in 2014-2015, do you think he came into the season with a different attitude? Is he a different driver?

TW: Before answering the question I’d like to give the flowers back – they are pushing us very hard and you have seen today that it is raw performance and we have seen the performance in the last couple of races. Ferrari haven’t been able to pull it together because they made a big step from ’15 to ’16, similar to the step of ’14 to ’15 and in order to have the package rolled properly deliver and be reliable, that isn’t an easy task but in terms of sheer performance, they are really pushing us. And that is good; this is how the competition should be. In terms of Nico, he’s in a great place. I don’t see him oscillating a lot. People keep asking when Lewis had his winning streak last year, ‘is that going to knock Nico down?’ and then when he started winning after the championship was decided, ‘is it going to pull him up?’ Those guys perform on a very high level and it doesn’t particularly affect them whether they’ve had a good weekend or not. They’ve been in the job – or in motor racing – for 20 years or more, so the Nico I see today is developing as a personality, developing as a racing driver and learning – but also it’s not very much different to how I’ve known him the last couple of years.

Frederic, you’re coming back to the grid as a constructor as we mentioned, you’ve had a couple of months now to assess where things are: what have you identified, or what did you identify as the things that needed immediate attention – and how is that progressing?

FV: Nothing special and on every single matter because as we all know, we took over the company very late. The first challenge was to be on track for Barcelona and I think we did it but now, for sure, it’s a long term project and we have to improve on each area. There is no one, single matter to work on. We have to push on every single project and every single department of the company – but we know that it’s a long way and we are more than motivated and I hope that we will do it.

Christian, these two gentlemen alongside you, they’re a little bit ahead but two fourth places in a row in Australia and Bahrain. Does that give you encouragement about the steps that have been made over the winter, not just on the chassis, on power unit as well. Where do you see it taking you this year?

CH: Well we’re hoping to join their love-in. Sometimes two’s company, three’s a crowd… we’ve made good progress over the winter and I think at the last couple of races we’ve had arguably the third-fastest car. It’s a very tight pack fighting over that third place and the jump then to where these two teams are is quite a significant one. We’re hoping with further development on the power unit, that we expect around Montreal, to make good progress, certainly in the second half of the year and at certain circuits hopefully, try and get onto their shirt tails – but it’s quite a big gap that is inevitably going to take more than a season to close down.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4 TV) Frederic, about today, and about the tyre problem we saw on Kevin’s car and the decision not to run the car this afternoon; can you just explain that a little bit?

FV: We investigated the problem at the end of FP1, that the problem came from the suspension and we had a lot of damage on the car and it was much better for us to stay in the garage for FP2 but we will be ready for tomorrow morning.

Q: (Haoran Zhou – Top Driver) Question to everyone: during the last round of big regulation changes we heard that people like Ross Brawn were quoting downforce figures in the meeting to guide everyone how we should set these chassis rules. Presumably that sort of the discussion is present again in the strategy group; can you give us a rough range how much more downforce would next year’s car have on the chassis side? Is it one third or 20 points or something?

TW: Interesting one! Around 80 percent! No, the numbers vary of course and they vary because of different interests so it goes from teams saying that it’s not a lot more than it is today until 30-35 percent.. So it could have quite a big effect on downforce which is in one sense good, because the cars will be more difficult to drive, will deploy much more G on the driver like in the past. But equally G isn’t visible for the spectator and the risk might be that overtaking could be more difficult and it will put an additional stress on the tyres. And all this is still in debate, but we have chosen the way forward and to come back to your question, that is the bit of the bandwidth I would say between zero and 30 percent.

EB: It’s a little bit… yes, the debate was based as well on the tyres because we wanted to have more mechanical grip, let’s say, so there is a different tyre size, different compound and philosophy and all the discussion has been steered more about an improvement in lap time and on that point, I did agree with Toto. I think having a car with more downforce makes the drivers a little bit more confident to let’s say out-brake each other and obviously if you change the philosophy of the aero, less driven by the front wing, you improve the overtaking so I think it should be good.

Q: (Joe van Burik – De Telegraaf) Mr Boullier, Stoffel Vandoorne received much praise for his performance in Bahrain; what more does he have to do to prove himself worthy of a fulltime racing seat or is that merely a matter of time?

EB: Well, at this stage I don’t think he has to prove anything anymore, it’s just a question of having an opportunity.

Q: (Haoran Zhou – Top Driver) Again, to presumably everyone: with the bigger tyre size for next year, presumably adding some weight, starting weight of the cars in race trim would be something like 820 kilograms and with Pirelli’s tyres being designed to degrade faster, that would significantly put a burden on how much the driver can push at the start of a race, which at the moment, at the start of the race, a Formula One car is not going that much faster than a GP2 car. Is there any way you can address that problem? And how much the drivers can push cannot really be solved by adding more aero to the cars in race trim.

CH: First of all, I hope the cars aren’t 820 kilos. They’ve got a lot heavier with the new technology that’s been introduced over the last couple of years and compared to ten years ago, they’re more than a hundred kilos heavier than they were, almost approaching sports car weight, and that of course adds to the characteristic of making the car a little lazier than a lighter car but I disagree with you that by adding downforce and load back onto the car you’re going to give the driver a harder time. You’re going to give him much more of a workout. The drivers have been crying out for cars that are more challenging to drive. The cars that we have at the moment… it’s been discussed whether they are too easy to drive and I think that by making the cars edgier, by making them quicker you will get a bigger variance of drivers, the teams will get better value for money out of their drivers and they’ll have to start going to the gym again. So I think it’s a positive thing that we’ve got a regulation change but yes, the cars are a little bit on the heavy side. It would be nice to somehow get a hundred kilos out of them.

FV: I think that Pirelli will adapt the tyres to the new regulations. It’s not a matter of downforce or degradation; it’s just the combination between the tyre regulations and degradation.

April 15, 2016
F1 2016: Chinese GP Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Quickest

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Chinese grand prix.

The session stumbled into life as cars trickled out onto the Shanghai International circuit which was holding a track temperature of 33 degrees Celcius. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the quickest time of the session, a 1:38:037, on the yellow walled soft tyre. Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton followed in second one and a half tenths adrift.

The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, and sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five positions. Fernando Alonso was back in the McLaren for the first free practice session and ended the session twelfth overall. Alonso has not yet been given the all clear to race for the remainder of the weekend and is expected to undergo his second medical check-up of the weekend fifteen minutes after the conclusion of the first practice session.

The one and a half hour session was marred by two red flag periods brought about first by the Williams of Felipe Massa and secondly by the Renault of Kevin Magnussen. The first red flag was shown as a result of gravel on the circuit caused by the left-rear tyre on Massa’s car letting go. Peculiarly, once the track re-opened Massa ventured back out only to experience the same delamination on the left-rear tyre. There is no word as yet to the cause of the delamination however.

The second red flag was a bit lengthier and required a bit more clean-up as the left-rear tyre on Kevin Magnussen’s Renault let go halfway down the back strait. On the face of it the two incidents for Massa and Magnussen don’t seem to be related. It was the McLaren teams opinion that Magnussen’s issue might have been caused by debris on the circuit.

The tyre compouds available this weekend are the medium (white), soft (yellow), and supersoft (red).

April 15, 2016
F1 2016: Bahrain GP Race Report – Desert Success for Rosberg

For nine years the Bahrain grand prix was run under the hot desert sun. For nearly a decade it wasn’t a race marked as one to look forward to and it almost always produced the most lacklustre racing of a season. But it would only take pushing back the starting time a few hours and a few thousand floodlight to ignite the Bahrain Gp into a spectacle of note. And in 2016 it delivered once more.

As if to emphasise its transformation the drama started before a lap could be turned in anger. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was forced into retirement on the formation lap. While Ferrari has stopped short of calling it an engine failure the plumes of smoke pouring from the rear of the car say otherwise. In Australia it was Raikkonen who retired with a turbo failure and there too Ferrari went out of its way to assure that there is no reliability concern. But even though its only two races into the season they’re developing a bit of an uncomfortable and undesirable habit of only getting one car to the chequered flag.

Lewis Hamilton was sitting pretty in pole position with teammate Nico Rosberg alongside on the front row of the grid but it wasn’t to last very long for the Brit. Hamilton struggled to get off the line and ended up tangling with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and dropped down to seventh.

From fourth place Raikkonen made a poor start and dropped behind a pair of fast starting Williams’ and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. However, the Finn followed with some tenacious overtaking got himself into second place. By this stage the leading Mercedes of Rosberg was already eleven seconds up the road. The 2007 champion maintained a comparable pace with the Mercedes and even managed to reduce the gap to three seconds through strategy and occasional superior pace. But the number 7 Ferrari was never close enough to challenge for the lead of the race.

As Hamilton recovered to third with some damage to the right-side barge board Rosberg wrapped up his fifth win in a row. For years we’ve been calling for Rosberg to step up his game and make it a championship battle worth watching and he’s done it now. There is still an incredibly long season ahead but Rosberg has started 2016 in the way that he’s needed to, in a way that will give Hamilton a lot to think about.

With the top three positions established the rest of the points paying positions was an intense fight right to the chequered flag. The availability of three tyre compounds once again added a dynamism to the racing as drivers opted for strategies than ran the gamut of possibilities. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth thanks an early stop and rolling the dice by running the final stint on the medium tyres.

As the race strategy engineer for the Haas F1 team Ruth Buscombe once again worked a brilliant strategy for Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman ran most of the race on the supersoft compound which allowed him to scythe through the field. He ran as high as fourth at one stage and ultimately finished fifth in what is turning out to be a fairytale debut for the American team.

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen finished sixth ahead of Daniil Kvyat in seventh who recovered from starting fifteenth on the grid. After a difficult tyre strategy Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished eighth and ninth for Williams. Driver of the day belong the final points scorer Stoffel Vandoorne. The 24-year-old Belgian driver stood in for Fernando Alonso who is recovering from fractured ribs sustained in the Australian Gp crash. The difficulty of having to deal with the complexity of a 2016 F1 car, to understand the Pirelli tyres, and to fight with seasoned F1 drivers, must not be underestimated. Vandoorne put all of his talents on display and blitzed his F1 debut.

The 2016 hasn’t begun to hit its stride and already an immense battle is brewing up and down the field. Roll on China.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

April 4, 2016
F1 2016: Bahrain Qualifying Report – Hamilton Wraps Up Pole

Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his second consecutive pole position of the season for the Mercedes F1 team.

The much maligned qualifying format got underway on the floodlit Sakhir International circuit and claimed its fist victim as Sergio Perez. The Force India driver and his team miscalculated the timing clock which left the Mexican driver towards the back of the grid. Pascal Wehrlein impressed in his Manor F1 car and will start Sunday’s race in 17th place.

The second session of qualifying saw the red light at the end of the pitlane malfunction prompting a marshal to wave a green flag to set the drivers on their way. Stand-in McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne out-qualified teammate Jenson Button and will line up in twelfth position. French driver Romain Grosjean sported a big smile as he will line up the Haas F1 car in ninth place on the grid.

The final session of qualifying produced a surprise for Daniel Ricciardo who will start in fifth position ahead of both the Williams drivers. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner remarked earlier that they would have to deliver something special to come out ahead in the intensely close mid-field battle.

The first run between both Mercedes and Ferrari team’s drivers saw laptimes split only by a couple of tenths. However, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton upped the ante for the final run. The reigning champion secured pole position ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg but less than a tenth of a second. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will share the second row of the grid as they did in Australia.

Attention now turns to the start of Sunday’s race and the run down to the all-important first corner. Mercedes will be keen to improve on their starting prowess following the opening round of the season. And with the longer run down to turn one it will have to be inch perfect.

April 2, 2016
Magnussen to Start Bahrain GP Race from the Pit Lane

Renault’s Kevin Magnussen will start Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix race from the pit lane after failing to stop at a red light for a weight check.

Magnussen, behind Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, was given the red light for a weight check. Because the drivers were close together, this caused a bit of confusion. Kvyat stopped when he was not supposed to while Magnussen carried on toward his pit garage. This is in breach of Article 29.1 of the FIA Sporting Regulations.

“The driver failed to stop for weighing during P2 when signalled to do so by the red traffic light, the car was not returned to the FIA garage and work was undertaken,” a statement from the stewards read.

“In accordance with Article 29.1 iv) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations the driver is required to start from the pit lane.”

Picture Credit: Renault Sport Formula 1 Team

April 1, 2016
F1 2016: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg On Top

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets in the first free practice session of the Bahrain grand prix.

The first ninety minutes of practice for the 2016 Bahrain grand prix took place under natural light as opposed to the rest of the weekend which will be run on the floodlights which line the circuit.

The first of the three free practice session ran without any major incident save for a few drivers locking up their front tyres as they attempt to find the limit of adhesion. With the news that Fernando Alonso is not medically fit to race this weekend came the debut of Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne. The highly rated rookie driver finished the first session in 18th place overall.

Sergio Perez also stood aside for fellow countryman Alfonso Celis who piloted the Force India for the practice session. The 19 year old Mexican driver was twenty-first on the timing sheets. Nico Rosberg completed twenty-four laps and set the a quickest time overall of 1:32:294 on the yellow-walled soft tyre. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was second quickest with a 1:32:799.

Ferrari split tyre strategy at the end of the session as Kimi Raikkonen set the third fastest time, a 1:34:128, on the soft tyre while Sebastian Vettel persisted with the medium compound tyre. The German ended the session in eleventh place with a quickest time of 1:35:037.

Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo completed twenty-seven laps and set a quickest time of 1:34:461 which was the fourth fastest time overall. Team principal Christian Horner noted that the team might struggle in qualifying trim this weekend but that they have high hopes for Sunday’s race.

April 1, 2016
F1 2016: Bahrain GP Preview – Bahrain Battle Between Merc & Ferrari

Formula 1 has long been known as a sport that is both complicated and the technical supreme of motorized sport. This and the allure of speed and victory and glamour is what draw millions of fans to it. But recently the sport, which celebrates more than six decades of existence, has been anything but glorious.

Of late all of what makes Formula 1 great has been overwhelmed and buried under the awkward mess of the new qualifying format. The elimination style qualifying format was universally slammed by all who tuned into the farcical hour that would determine the starting grid.

The qualifying change was an idea cooked up by Jean Todt’s FIA, F1’s governing body. It put the choice of the ill-conceived elimination-style quali or a reversed starting grid before the teams. Rather than choose the preposterous idea of a reversed grid they opted for the lesser of two evils and so elimination-style quali came to pass. Subsequent to scorching criticism a reversion to the previous quali session was called for. However, F1’s strategy group has decided to give the new format another chance in Bahrain. It’s difficult to imagine that the new format will suddenly transform unenthusiastic opinion it’s currently viewed with.

The qualifying debacle has, unfortunately, dominated headlines for the last two weeks. It’s nearly made us forget that as the opening round of the 2016 season the Oz Gp was a compelling race. The choice of three tyre compounds in the race worked well and produced several different strategies up and down the field which is an exciting precursor for the rest of the season. And although Mercedes were eventual victors with a 1-2 finish they were pushed to the limit of what they could produce.

As Formula 1 tracks go the Albert Park circuit is unique. Its street-style layout is not a definitive barometer for car performance and it’s difficult to overtake on. As the second round of the season Bahrain’s Sakhir International circuit presents a bigger test on performance and more chances for overtaking. “The last corner flows quite well and if you can get close for DRS you can get a good run [to overtake] into Turn 1,” said Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. “If you don’t get it into Turn 1, then there’s Turn 4 or the middle sectors where it’s easy to make mistakes. There’s probably four places you can pass on the track which is pretty good.”

As you might expect tyre strategy will play its role in determining what the final result on Sunday will be. The medium, soft, and supersoft Pirelli tyres are the choices available to drivers. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen has opted for three sets of medium tyres each while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has taken only one set of the medium compound. It indicates that Ferrari hasn’t ruled out an alternative strategy of a long stint on the medium tyre should conditions be suitable. In 2013 Kimi Raikkonen pulled off a two stop strategy to finish second for Lotus.

The Finn has a record of seven podiums at the Desert track and despite being inches away from winning the grand prix in 2015 has never stood on the top step of the podium here. As the Sakhir International circuit is clearly a venue where Raikkonen excels the 2007 champion may not be a bad bet for the spoils this weekend.

The Bahrain grand prix exploded into life on account of its transformation into a night race. In 2014 it produced an exhilarating wheel-to-wheel battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. In this race it was Hamilton who emerged a memorable victor. In 2016, it could produce a battle between Mercedes and Ferrari that you do not want to miss.

March 31, 2016
F1 2016: Australian GP Review – Rosberg Wins Frenetic Season-opener

After Saturday’s new qualifying format was unilaterally panned as farcical and anti-climatic F1 needed to bounce back quickly. It did so with an action packed Australian grand prix.

Naturally, before the start of any race several scenarios run through your mind, all them which include some situation that will spice up the race from the get go. The catalyst was an extra formation lap after Dannil Kvyat’s Red Bull was stranded at the back of the grid.

The exhilaration is delivered by the two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who blast past Nico Rosberg and Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and first and second place. Behind the two Ferraris Rosberg fights to maintain his position and squeezes Hamilton to the edge of the circuit which causes the Brit to fall down to seventh place.

Immediately Vettel is able to open a two second gap over teammate Raikkonen who in turn keeps the Mercedes of Rosberg at bay. It’s a dream start for the Italian team who is more than able to match the race pace of Mercedes.

On lap sixteen the race changes. The race is red flagged for a crash between Haas F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren. The Spaniard’s McLaren clipped the left-rear of the Haas, flipped through the air and came to rest, on its side, against a barrier. The damage to Alonso’s car looked horrific but he exited the car and walked away without injury. There is no question that had this accident happened in any other era of the sport it would’ve had a far different outcome. Once more, this proves that the advancement of safety in F1 should never be taken for granted nor rejected because it may not be visually appealing.

This red flag is where the race changed for Ferrari. As the cars stood in the pitlane teams were able to make changes including which tyre compound to restart the race on. Ferrari opted for the red-walled supersoft tyre while Mercedes fitted the medium compound. It was evident that the Silver Arrow’s aim was to get to the end of the race without another stop.

For Raikkonen it didn’t make much difference as he was forced into retirement a few laps after the re-start. With fire and smoke pouring out the Ferrari it looked ominously like the engine had let go however the team later confirmed that it was a turbo failure.

Ferrari still had Vettel in the lead of the race but the tyre choice meant that the former champion had to pit again. It was a strategic error by Ferrari and it cost them a definite shot at winning the race. The possible reasoning for why Ferrari didn’t go with the medium tyre could be because of a lack of confidence that they could get the tyre up to working temperature in the cooler conditions. Vettel nearly recovered to second place but a slight error at the end sealed his fate in third behind Hamilton and Rosberg, respectively.

Sebastian Vettel said after the race that he feels that Ferrari can challenge for the title this year and given that he’s not the type to say things just for the sake of talking, it’s a great omen for the rest of the season.

Nico Rosberg may have taken the big prize but the Haas F1 Team owns the performance of the day. A sixth place finish for Romain Grosjean on the team’s debut is what Formula 1 dreams are made of. Coming into Formula 1 has always been a monumental task and this team is doing it with a staff of only about 170 people. It’s as great debut as we’ve seen in at least three decades.

If you were to look only at the result of this race another Mercedes 1-2 would make you think it’s pretty much the same story, different season. But they really had to work for it. An overheating right-front brake caliper and critical tyre wear on Rosberg’s car is indicative of just how hard they had to push. Twenty races remain in this F1 season and we may just have ourselves a real championship.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

March 21, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault Sport)

Toto WOLFF (Mercedes)

Eric BOULLIER (McLaren)

Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari)

Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)

Gene HAAS (Haas F1)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Cyril, let’s begin with you – welcome back as a Renault works team. Great history, 35 wins, two world championships and 100 podiums. How tough will it be to repeat those records against today’s competition?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: I think it will be very tough and I know that there were a lot of comments regarding the time that it took us to make our decision last year. It’s not so much the appetite to be in Formula One but to be in a capacity to be successful in Formula One, that was the question mark. So we come in that competition with lots of humility. As you mentioned we have been there fro quite a long period of time, almost 40 years but we equally we know that the level has raised considerably. So we know it’s going to take time; it’s a long journey, a long-term plan but we think we have all the ingredients – financial, technical, the support of a large group – to make that a successful one. We’re going to take it step by step but it’s absolutely possible.

What’s the plan for the engine this year? You’ve not used so many tokens so far. Do you expect to be close to Ferrari and Mercedes by the end of the season?
CA: Well, actually, I think that this is a demonstration that we have used little tokens but I hope in connection to the fact that we have made a substantial step in terms of performance will be actual evidence that there is no connection between token use and performance. You can use a lot of tokens and bring absolutely nothing in terms of lap time, which actually is maybe something we did last year. I think the whole debate of tokens should go away and we should focus on performance. There is a plan to use more tokens during the course of the season, that’s the plan and we have made lots of comments about that. Hopefully it will happen, both for the benefit of the Renault works team and also Red Bull.

Maurizio, coming to you – Sebastian told us here yesterday in the press conference he feels Ferrari has enough to challenge Mercedes this year. Tell us about the effort that has gone on behind the scenes to raise the level?
Maurizio ARRIVABENE: We are doing our job. We are working very hard during the winter and we know where we are, but where you really are depends on what the other competitors are going to be. During this weekend we will know.

We’ve got some new rules this year, qualifying rules, team radio rules, tyre rules etc coming into force, what differences do expect these to make, especially in the qualifying we’ll see tomorrow.
MA: I don’t want to be against any changes, Ferrari don’t want to be against the change, I simply think that maybe giving a bit more time to the team to work on ideas was better. But I can’t say so with a certainty. The only certainty is that more probably tomorrow at the beginning of the qualifying we are going to see a line like on Saturday at the cashier of the supermarket – everybody wants to go out. Then we will see. It’s not fair to criticize before that has happened.

Eric, your thoughts on that, the new regulations?
Eric BOULLIER: Well, we’ll see this weekend. There is some upside and downside. The qualifying format we had before, I think we all agree, was a successful format. We were used to it. I think it is true that there will be more traffic at the beginning of each qualifying segment and there should be more unpredictability for the final result, but we will see.

It was a tough year for McLaren last year to say the least. What’s the winter been like at Woking and what do you expect for 2016?
EB: Well, I think every year we keep working harder and harder. It was a very, very busy winter for us. We’ll see. Obviously there is a lot of progress. We have been able to work through this Friday this weekend, which is good for both Honda and McLaren. We will see where we are. Obviously we don’t want to overpromise everything. We will go step by step and there is still some more to come.

Coming to you Gene, a very warm welcome to Formula One. Your start-up has been a few years in the development. How does the reality match up to the expectation?
Gene HAAS: Well, I’m nervous. I think there are a lot of things going on here that I’m new to and the team is new too. So, putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together along with all the personnel and having it all come together for the first time has been a learning experience. That’s really what we’re here for is to learn how Formula One really operates from the ground floor. Your can watch this racing your whole life but there’s nothing like being a participant to really understand it and I have a lot of respect for the teams that are here and the level of technical competence you have to have to even start one of these races. I’m pretty much in awe. It’s a challenge and I hope it’s a lot of fun.

You’ve done it before, of course. You built a NASCAR team from scratch, won races, won championships. Formula One is obviously a different ball game from NASCAR but what would success in Formula One on a global scale mean to you?
GH: I think you have to look at it in terms of years. I have the feeling that if you over-anticipate what you can do in the sport it will humble you very quickly. I think the first year or two just to be able to come to the races, be competitive, not make any major mistakes would be a tremendous achievement. I know a few of our drivers are hoping to score some points and that would certainly be an accomplishment.

Christian, coming to you – a new season, several new partnerships for the team. It feels, maybe from the outside, a little bit like a team in transition. What’s the plan for the next stage?
Christian HORNER: I think that it’s exactly that. I think we are in transition and I think we are hopefully getting on an upward curve now. We’ve had a positive winter, a busy winter. All the teams work hard. You know if you come into Formula One everybody works hard and arguably the smaller teams work the hardest as they have the least resource. But it’s about working smartly and I think this winter the team has worked not only hard but creatively and cleverly. We have a good basis of a car to develop throughout the year and with the different partnerships we have introduced, some exciting partnerships, welcoming Tag Heuer to the team not only as a sponsor but as branding on our power unit and also the announcement yesterday with Aston Martin, it’s very exciting for Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

Coming back to the discussion about the rules, specifically on the team radio I’m interested. What are your thoughts on those restrictions and the repositioning of the driver as very much the man in control, the decision-maker?
CH: Well I guess like modern technology these days and how people communicate, we’re working by text – maybe to SMS the driver would be an easier way, because we’re not allowed to say much these days. I think it’s going to be a voyage of discovery and I hope we haven’t gone too far on the radio stuff, because that’s taking away an element of dialogue between the engineer and the driver and some of that from behind the scenes can be quite entertaining, some it X-rated, but quite enthralling for the fans. We’ve got quite a few changes to take on board this year, let’s see how it goes.

Coming to you Toto, obviously the last couple of years some records that pushed the boundaries a bit beyond where they have been before. But nothing lasts forever, as I’m sure Christian will tell you. How nervous do you feel and do you think you have enough this year to hold everyone at bay?
Toto WOLFF: Before I answer the question, first of all I’d like to welcome the group and if you listen to what he says, that is certainly the right approach to enter Formula One. He’s been successful in NASCAR and obviously with his own company and I have no doubt that you will be successful in what you do here. You have to stay on your toes, that’s clear. You can be caught out quickly, either by regulations or just by not taking the right decisions and we’ve seen that over the last couple of years. There is a constant skepticism whether we have done a good enough job over the winter and we’re going to know more tomorrow.

Mercedes has some young drivers coming through the system – Pascal Wehrlein racing here with Manor, Esteban Ocon coming through and seconded to Renault as a reserve. Will we see more of this sort of development of drivers coming through from Mercedes in the next couple of years?
TW: I think it’s a good development. In the past it was only Red Bull holding up young drivers and transitioning them into Formula One on merit and now with Renault coming in and having Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen being back in a car, Pascal Wehrlein in a Manor and an additional team which has financial resource, I think it’s good news and hopefully we will see more good young people come into Formula One based on merit. For us certainly it’s about finding the right places. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to start an inflationary system and just enter many young kids if you don’t have a place in Formula One. With Esteban and Renault I think we found a good solution for our mutual benefit. Equally with Pascal, a completely different challenge for him this year than last and we’ll see how that pans out.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Martin Moravec – DPA) Maurizio, last year you said that if Ferrari would win four races then you would go into the hills of Maranello barefoot. What would you do this year if Ferrari becomes World Champion?
MA: I’ll let you know when it’s happened.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Last month the Commercial Rights Holder was quoted as saying “this sort of thing is what is commonly known as a cartel and cartels are illegal. We are running something that is illegal. On top of all that it is anti-competitive.” Given the EU laws etcetera and also the complaint that’s also recently been filed, is Formula One really being run as a cartel? How do you feel about this comment? Any comeback on that?

TW: Hi Dieter! It’s nice to start all over again. First of all, when you’re looking at today’s press conference, there’s a lot of positivity around what’s happening. Red Bull has bought Aston Martin back into the sport, a mega-brand. Renault is back as an official works team, Haas has entered the sport, an American team. But having said that, I don’t think there is any cartel around here, nor is the sport run as a cartel. Bernie is always good for controversy and throwing one in. If that were to run like a cartel we wouldn’t be sitting here. Some of us are part of multi-national global companies and we’re taking compliance very seriously. So… it just causes headlines but nothing else.

Maurizio?
MA: I think this talk of a cartel is simply ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. Everybody, they are doing their job, they try to do their best. We are talking here about brands who have a long story. They are not going to throw out of the window their story, their reputation for this comment that they don’t deserve even one word. I have to say, it’s strange because in this world you have to be careful sometimes because, if you are talking a bit more with somebody, if I’m going to go to the dinner with Toto or Cyril, I do a cartel? It’s simply a dinner! We have to learn something from rugby, that when you are in the field, you play very hard, you punch, whatever you have to do. And then afterwards, they go to the dinner and no-one is talking about having a cartel or creating some mismatch during the match. It’s simply ridiculous.

Cyril?
CA: No, I would not agree with that definition of cartel for the simply reason that we are all in a competitive environment, so at the end of the day Ferrari wants to win against Mercedes and hopefully one day Renault will want to win, I don’t know, against Ferrari. So, for that simple reason, any sort of unity will not last. So I will not agree with you. I will not concur with that. Plus, you have to accept that only a limited number of manufacturers have the financial capacity to subsidise the cost of the technology in accordance with the current regulation that we have all accepted. So no, I would not concur with that view.

Christian, you’re on the outside of the manufacturer equation, what’s your perspective?
CH: Look, I think you can understand that Bernie’s frustrated and his comments are borne out of frustration of being unable to influence change. You’ve got a dynamic in Formula One at the moment where the manufacturers collectively have a lot of strength. That primarily is through the technical regulations and the current situation regarding the power unit. I think Bernie’s frustration as a promoter is that he can’t influence that at this point in time. His comments obviously I think have come off the back of that. Our situation is different to that of a manufacturer team. As an independent team we rely on the manufacturers for the supply of an engine and, of course, there’s been great debate as to what price that engine should be, what format it should be and, of course, you have a divergence of performance as well. So, there’s some key issues that do need to be addressed. Hopefully consensus and agreement can be found on that in the near future.

Eric, do you have a view on that?
EB: I think it’s been debated.

Gene?
GH: Well, I think the complexity of the engine- turbo-electrical package was maybe underestimated by everybody, including Bernie and the teams of how hard it would be to build. It would seem to me that maybe in hindsight that maybe if there had been a price that had been set initially that said ‘this is what is has to be built for and what you have to sell to the teams for’ maybe the manufacturers would have had to make a compromise, saying “well, we can’t build the current package for that money, we’ll have to compromise.” I think it’s something that just wasn’t anticipated and unfortunately… I can certainly tell you what I know about the Ferraris is that the money they put into their [power unit] is probably well worth what they charge us for those packages but unfortunately that kind of technology doesn’t really make it back to the fan base, which is the people that we rely on. So, going forwards, those sort of things, cost, has certainly to be part of the equation before they make any kind of rulings.

Q: (Peter Habicht – The Auto Channel) I have to two-part question, Gene, the first is to you and the next is to the team principals. So Gene, all credit to you, Gunther and the team and bringing America back to the sport after nearly 30 years. While there’s been little time for nostalgia, now that you’re here has there been anything more you’d like to share about your experience so far this weekend with American fans back home. And, to the rest of the team principals, do you have any words of advice for Gene?
GH: Well, I tell you all of a sudden I’m sitting here in awe that I’m sitting among all these team principals from Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault and Honda and Red Bull, that’s pretty awesome for someone who… you look at these things in magazines. To be sitting among this group of elite is humbling, I can say that. It’s been a long journey, I’m not sure how I really got here but here I am. I think, if you probably ask everybody here, how you wind up here is somewhat unique. Things in life, I guess you have to grab them. This is just part of the process of being able to compete at this level. It’s just awe inspiring. I know there’s some hard times ahead but I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to the challenge.

As for words of advice from the other team principals, maybe start with Christian.
CH: I think it’s fantastic to have Haas join Formula One as an independent team, as a really credible independent team. Formual One’s a big challenge, it’s great to have an American, and a true American presence in Formula One. Words of advice… get a good lawyer!

Eric?
EB: Very similar. I think it’s very exciting for Formula One to have, as Christian said, a true American team and an American character like Gene joining us who had a deep understanding of racing, who has also useful experience in America with NASCAR, which he could share and I would be very happy to hear sometime. I don’t have any advice to give. He knows about racing enough and he is serious about what he had built already and I think it is going to be a nice surprise and maybe a difficult but a nice journey in Formula One.

Cyril, you’re in a Renault shirt now but you were a team principal of a start-up. Any advice for Gene?
CA: I was expecting that one. No. I think it’s interesting. I understand that you’re following and it’s interesting to see a new model, in particularly a collaboration with Ferrari because I think that there is a whole field of collaboration between teams which is not explored at this point in time by most teams, so I think I’ll be really curious and, to be honest, a bit frightened to see what it gives on Saturday. In terms of pieces of advice, I’ve heard a lot of people come in with big plans, willing to do things completely differently. So, don’t try to do things too differently because the good old recipes, they also work.

Toto?
TW: I think Gene doesn’t need any advice. He has done it very successfully in NASCAR and much more successful than all of us with his own company. If there is advice in Formula One it’s to manage expectations – because pressure is going to increase the better the results are and, the way you’ve been doing it, keeping both feet on the ground and staying humble, I think is the right approach.

And Maurizio, presumably you speak all the time?
MA: I think that what I have to say, we are talking most of the time about teams that left or want to leave Formula One and not enough about people like Gene. He’s a serious person, financially reliable, committed and with a lot of experience. I don’t have to give him any advice – but I have to congratulate people like Gene Haas, that they want to invest in Formula One and they want to take this sport seriously and not as a kind of speculation. In terms of a lawyer, he got a good lawyer – but he’s using his lawyer properly.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Maurizio, yesterday we read some quotes from president Marchionne. Is he putting too much pressure on the team or is he right to say that Ferrari is ready to win all the time?
MA: If your editor is asking you to sell more copies, it is putting pressure on you. It’s normal that the president, when you do something, is not asking you, the following year, to do less than what you have done. The role of the president is to push his people to do better, better and better. If he’s going to create pressure this is normal, this is part of our job, this is part of any kind of job. He’s doing his role. He was giving to us what we were asking for and he’s pushing us to strive for the best.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Christian, you expressed some misgivings about the radio communication rules, which I’m sure some of us agree with. I personally agree with you but is there not a disconnect here, because we tend to think that nothing happens unless you guys have agreed to make it happen? Or am I wrong there? Can we not blame you for having it in the first place?
CH: Not me personally, hopefully not. Look, I think out of well intention, sometimes we don’t think through the consequences. The intention of restricting the radio is that the drivers need to drive the car and I don’t think anybody enjoys hearing a driver being told how to operate his car. I think the problem that we have is that the complexity of these cars is so great now and the assistance that is required from the pit wall and behind the scenes is very different to Formula One of even three, four years ago. And it’s finding that line: is it right to help a driver find a bit of clear space in traffic or to pit now and so on? I think it’s going to be a bit of a voyage of discovery with this rule and I think applying it to the operation of the car is one thing; applying it to other sporting measures… we need to find that right balance and I’m not sure we’re going to achieve that immediately in one weekend.
Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just to come back on that point, if you’re going to take away the radio, surely the logical thing is to replace that with other radio, because the fans do love to hear the radio, it’s part of the show now? And hearing the technology on the radio was actually a good thing, I think.
CH: Absolutely, I think there’s entertainment through the radio and I think that what’s fascinating is to hear these guys communicating at the speeds that they’re achieving and in the heat of the battle – that radio content can produce good entertainment behind the scenes for the fans and it’s finding that balance. The bit that you should really hear is the intercom because there’s a far more interesting discussion going on on the pit wall on the intercom than there is on the radio and we, for sure, would love to hear the Mercedes intercom.

Q: (Leon Alepidis – F1Fan.gr) Question to Mr Boullier: we presume that this season McLaren will be fighting with the midfield teams instead of at the front for the title, no title sponsor yet and two expensive drivers. Would you say that for now or with hindsight for the past that there has been a mistake, plans for investment for the development of the car instead of putting all this money into the drivers without having an actual good car to drive from the start of the project?
EB: Well, definitely we at McLaren had a difficult year last year and we are not where we want to be and definitely we have the ambition to be. If you want to be the winning team you need to have all the best elements and if you have the best drivers before the best chassis or the best engine it’s a risk but it’s also a challenge than for the chassis and the engine to be the best. I think that as far as we are concerned, in terms of money, we have signed three new sponsors this year: Chandon, Richard Mille, Volvo Trucks. We have renewed another three sponsors. We are part of the McLaren Group which is profitable this year so I don’t think we have any issues on this part of the business. After that, it is just to be the best combination to catch Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull and others.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, amongst all the announcements and personnel movements and promotions, one name wasn’t mentioned at all and that’s Rob White. Is he still with the company, what is he doing, is he involved?
CA: Yes, he’s involved, he’s part of the company. There will be more announcements regarding the exact management structure in Enstone and in Viry but in particular in Viry after the appointment of Remy Taffin as our new technical director, so there will be more coming, so I will invite you to the staff meeting that we will do in that respect.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport Magazines) Christian, in this room yesterday, Dan Ricciardo was asked about these rumours of Ferrari and among the things he said was that he’s completely focused on Red Bull and this season and then “not exactly out of contract either.” I realise these things are confidential but can you enlighten us a bit?
CH: Yeah, he’s under contract, so I think he was pretty accurate with his comment. Red Bull invests in these guys at a young age, they develop them, they give them the opportunity through the Junior team and Toro Rosso. Sebastian Vettel was a prime example of that, Daniel Ricciardo is doing an excellent job, Dany Kvyat and the two exciting talents we obviously have in Toro Rosso. The contractual situation we have with Daniel Ricciardo is extremely clear. How long? That’s confidential.

March 18, 2016