F1 Madness

Tag: renault

  • Honda finalising development plan: We need more horsepower

    Honda finalising development plan: We need more horsepower

    Honda plan to spend some of their nine allocated development tokens on boosting maximum horsepower by looking into different concepts around combustion in the next few months.

    The engine manufacturer – who only supply McLaren – only entered the sport this season and therefore have less engine tokens compared to their rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Planning how to spend these tokens will be key to improvement throughout the season but Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai believes they have established the key areas where there are weaknesses and tokens can be well spent on improving.

    “We don’t have the complete plan yet as to how to use the tokens, which areas and when,” said Arai.

    “We have already confirmed which areas are the most effective, and I know we are making a plan to apply race-by-race how many tokens we spend.

    “One area where we are weak is horsepower – we need more horsepower.

    “So one area to use the tokens is combustion, and the MGU-K and MGU-H because energy is a very important part.

    “Combustion and energy recovery systems are very important.”

    When asked what Honda needed to change to achieve their goal, Arai said: “Maybe we need to change the combustion concept, or the turbocharger, or the camshaft, those kind of parts.

    “We should try to change the combustion concept because maybe the other power-unit suppliers are always thinking about better combustion characteristics.

    “Every day, on the research and development side they are thinking about it, working on or testing a new combustion concept to get more horsepower to immediately apply that.

    “Maybe that’s the area to use the tokens.”

    The Barcelona in-season test following a very difficult Spanish Grand Prix was quite successful for McLaren and Honda. Jenson Button had described his car has being ‘scary to drive’ during the race but he managed to complete 100 laps without any problems during the test.

    Arai also confirmed that Button and his team mate Fernando Alonso should find that they’ll experience “more controlled driveability” from the Honda engine for the upcoming races in Monaco and Canada.

  • F1 2015: Spanish GP Preview – Formula 1 To Raise Its Game In Spain

    F1 2015: Spanish GP Preview – Formula 1 To Raise Its Game In Spain

    The three week wait is over and the battle is ready to resume at this weekend’s Spanish GP. The question is which battle; will it be a battle between Mercedes teammates or will Ferrari ascend to true championship contenders?

    The Spanish GP doesn’t necessarily have the definitive answer to these questions but it will be more than indicator for the rest of the season. The first European round of a Formula 1 season coincides with the first major upgrade package of the year. It’s the first point in the season where teams can potentially raise their game.

    The Lotus F1 team is planning to up the ante by fitting a major upgrade package to its E23 while Ferrari team Principal Maurizio Arrivebene confirms that the Italian team will be arriving for the Spanish GP with its own bits and pieces. “I heard a lot of teams are coming with new things,” he said.”We are now preparing, as all the others are, some solutions for Barcelona. We are doing all of our development step-by-step but I think in Barcelona, we are going to finally take a good package.”

    christian-hornerThe three week gap will have helped French manufacturer Renault who has faced serious pressure to produce a better power unit. Since the Bahrain GP Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has made a stop at the Paris factory to urge Renault into speeding up their development plan.  “For Barcelona we will be bringing a few bits and pieces, as will all the teams,” said Horner. “The significant thing for us is what specification of engine will we have in Barcelona, because it’s a bit earlier than Renault had in their plan for the next step.”

    One of McLaren’s upgrades for the Spanish GP will include a new livery. Sadly, it’s rumoured to be rather dull shades of grey scheme, yes you read that correctly, as described by the team. The new livery is seen more as a move away from the Silver that characterised their latter partnership with Mercedes.

    More significant is the team’s progress on track and Ron Dennis’, still steadfast, prediction that they will be winning races … soon. There is something however that has been troubling about the McLaren Honda partnership. The claims that 2015 is a “development year” are complete rubbish. There can be no such thing at the pinnacle of motorsport and it is embarrassing for a company of Honda’s pedigree to say so. What McLaren could have and should have done is hold off on bolting the Honda to the back of their car until 2016 while the Japanese company offered their “development” unit to a smaller team to iron out the kinks. It would have saved McLaren more than a few awkward teething problems.

    McLaren Pit WallMcLaren has definitely made progress, taken huge steps even, since the opening round of the season. Where they were four seconds a lap off the ultimate pace in qualifying its Honda powered car is now less than two seconds off in quali trim. Here’s hoping that their upward trend continues in Barcelona.

    Formula 1 has never been an easy sport topredict. It doesn’t solely depend on a driver’s form or ability but a piece of highly engineered, but fallible, machinery. Given this, Mercedes should, and does, start the weekend as favourites for the Spanish GP win. After all, they have the quickest car with the most in-form driver behind the wheel.

    But with an aggressive strategy, a few new upgrades to play with, and higher temperatures Ferrari will be a good deal stronger than they have been at any point in the season. Given the volatility of the sport why not flirt with the forecast of a Ferrari victory?

    The three week gap has made for a long wait but the first European round of the season at Spain’s circuit de Catalunya, and all it involves, automatically doubles the keenness to see Formula 1 back in action.

     

  • F1 2015: Malaysia GP Preview – Sepang First True Test

    F1 2015: Malaysia GP Preview – Sepang First True Test

    The first race of the season around Australia’s Albert Park circuit is a highly anticipated one. It’s the keenness to kick off a new F1 season which gives the streets of Melbourne that distinctive feeling of excitement. Its twenty-five points awarded to the winner are no less important than some of the more iconic races on the calendar but it can often disguise the teams’ true form and potential.

    The second round of the season, around Malaysia’s Sepang International circuit, will highlight those who have taken a genuine step forward. Equally, the dazzlingly high-speed corners and tantalising long straights of Sepang is also going to emphasize any shortcomings a car might have.

    Not much has changed at the sharp-end of the grid which Mercedes still, comfortably, dominate. But behind the silver arrows’ Williams and Ferrari appear to have traded places in the competitive order. Much of the Ferrari turnaround is down to the notorious power unit. Not long ago the Ferrari power unit more closely resembled a slow trotting donkey than its famed emblem of the prancing horse. But the Maranello team has produced a unit worthy of its heritage with a rumoured initial 80 horsepower gain since last year. It even has Williams raising a few eyebrows and admitting that the Ferrari unit may be “a bit quicker” than their Mercedes. This has made such a big change at Ferrari that it’s even spurred to normally tacit Kimi Raikkonen into a notably bullish state. “I believe in the race, we are not far from Mercedes. I’m sure we can be up there and fight at the front,” said Raikkonen.

    Valterri Bottas, Australian GP QualifyingAt this stage no there has been no news on Valtteri Bottas’ readiness after suffering a partial muscle tear in the Oz quali session. If Bottas is not Finn he will undoubtedly be missed by Williams who will likely find themselves in a spicy fight for the podium with Ferrari. The lofty predictions for an all-out fight could not happen thanks to the temperamental weather system in the area.

    Of the things that will happen this weekend Red Bull whinging and finding fault with Renault is a given. If their problems were evident Down Under then they will be glaring in Malaysia because Sepang is a power hungry circuit and Red Bull has nothing to feed it. So unhappy is Red Bull with the competitive order that Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, has threatened that Red Bull will quit the sport because of its current regulations. Team boss Christian Horner suggests that the FIA should look into an equalising engine performance to close up the field. It’s quite ironic, and perhaps even a bit hypocritical, given Red Bull plethora of victories during Vettel’s four consecutive championship seasons.

    Christian Horner Pit WallLet’s be clear Red Bull may have won four consecutive drivers and constructors championships but it doesn’t have the legacy of a Ferrari or Williams or McLaren so its threat to quit the sport doesn’t elicit the same fear. In the meantime, they’ll do their PR image a huge favour by taking it on the chin and focusing on the track. The form suggest that their fight will be for the lower points paying positions with Lotus and Toro Rosso and perhaps on a good day they may even challenge for a top five place.

    Malaysia will provide a more realistic pecking order which will unquestionably be headed by Mercedes. It is ridiculous to suggest that the mighty Silver Arrows will face any form of pressure but it will be fascinating to see Sepang reveal Ferrari’s true progress.

  • F1 2015: Australian GP Review – Mercedes Canter to Oz Victory

    F1 2015: Australian GP Review – Mercedes Canter to Oz Victory

    If winter testing was anything to go by, then few would’ve expected the surprising war of attrition in the first round of the 2015 Formula 1 season.

    Even before the Australian GP got underway three drivers failed to make it to the grid.

    Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was deemed unfit to race by the FIA medical delegate after the Finn suffered a slight muscle tear in his lower back.

    In the event that Bottas will not be able to participate at the Malaysian grand prix the team will have to employ a reserve driver for the task. Susie Valterri Bottas, Australian GP QualifyingWolff has been ruled out of the equation as she only fulfils the role of test and development driver. Red Bull’s Danill Kvyat ground to a halt on the way to his grid slot with a suspected gearbox issue.

    The Saturday Australian GP qualifying session was far from decent for the McLaren team whose cars were the slowest qualifiers on the day. If it didn’t seem possible to get any worse Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren Honda made it all of a couple hundred meters out of the pitlane before expiring as huge plumes of smoke poured from the back before the race.

    The first corner was no less dramatic as Pastor Maldonado ended up in the turn two barriers with significant damage. A handful of minutes later the sister Lotus of Romain Grosjean pulled in to the garage with a loss of power. Grosjean was still quite chipper despite the double retirement and it has a lot to do with the car that Lotus has built for 2015. The long faces and awkward shoulder shrugs of 2014 are long gone for a team who truly have made a significant step forward. The first round of the season is always a tricky one, as RoGro rightly pointed out. It’s unfortunate that the Lotus’ weren’t able to showcase their progress but there is no doubt that will be right in the thick of the mid-team battle.

    The rookies weren’t too shabby either. Yes, only eleven cars made it to the chequered flag but managing an F1 car in today’s technological era is a rather complicated assignment. To do that while defending, or in some cases attacking, drivers far more experienced and still keeping it on the road is a job well done. Max Verstappen was set to become the youngest ever points scorer only to be felled by a mechanical issue. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jr gave Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen a bit of a punt at the first corner but apart from that lapse he was solid and brought the Toro Rosso home in ninth.

    Australian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz Jr vs Sergio PerezIn their decades long presence it’s safe to say that the Sauber team experienced one of the most challenging weeks in their existence. A menacing battle in the Victoria State court hung over the team for the majority of the Australian GP weekend as Giedo van der Garde staked his rightful claim on a race seat. Somehow, the team and van der Garde reached a sort of understanding and the focus was transferred back to the track. Rookie driver Felipe Nasr shone on his debut with a faultless drive into fifth place while team mate Marcus Ericsson pulled off a few tasty overtakes to finish in eighth. This result deserves a bit of recognition if you consider that Sauber was unable to score a single point in the entire 2014 season.

    If you were watching a television broadcast of the Australian GP you wouldn’t have seen much of the Mercedes duo but don’t be disappointed because neither did the rest of the field. Hardly bothered Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg strolled towards the chequered flag for yet another dominant one-two victory. Hamilton’s race was dotted with a few trivial threats from Rosberg on occasion but the German never got close enough to really make the reigning champion bat an eye. It is early days yet in the Hamilton/Rosberg battle but it was a decidedly effortless drive from Hamilton who simply managed the 58 laps towards inevitable victory.

    F1 Australian GP, Sebastian Vettel on the podium for FerrariHalf a minute behind, or eons as it’s known in F1 terms, Sebastian Vettel held off Williams’ Felipe Massa in his scarlet Ferrari to finish third in his first race for the prancing horse. Throughout the weekend Vettel’s absolute delight at being a Ferrari driver was almost palpable. The way he got down to business and the general joviality from the German is especially obvious.

    Alas, a combination of issues ensured that Kimi Raikkonen’s Australian GP race did not go according to plan. The hit from Sainz into turn one sent the car into anti-stall dropping the Finn down the field and later on a slow first pitstop lost the former champion roughly fifteen seconds. Raikkonen was making his way back through the field, at quite a clip, only to be forced into retirement with a loose left-rear wheel following his second stop.

    It was a disappointing turn for the team who has now confirmed their resurgence. Even though the Albert Park circuit is unique from the rest of the tracks on the calendar the Ferrari is a quick car. It isn’t Mercedes quick, nothing is, but the team will be buoyed by the pace that both drivers were able to turn. No one was sure whether the dramatic overhaul of the team was going to make a positive difference. It hasn’t just made a difference, this team seems completely transformed. There is real sense of optimism and dare I say even happiness from the Ferrari garage.

    Australian Grand Prix, Jenson Button vs Sergio PerezThe days of championship glory seem inordinately far removed from the 2015 McLaren team. Where previously nothing less than victory would have sufficed, now they see getting to the end of the race as “a massive step forward”. Jenson Button finished eleventh but that is stone dead last and even if tyre performance is taken into account he was still four seconds off the pace in qualifying. If there is a shred of a positive to the weekend for McLaren it’s the fact that they have gained valuable information about the car’s performance.

    Even more surprising than McLaren’s Honda woes is Red Bull’s downturn in form and Adrian Newey is placing the blame squarely on Renault’s shoulders. “We’ve got an engine which is quite a long way behind with no obvious light at the end of the tunnel with all sorts of failings,” said Newey. Daniel Ricciardo is already using the second of his four allotted power units and complained throughout the Australian GP weekend of bad driveability. “In terms of pace we’re not one second off, it’s more 2s, 2.5s off,” said Ricciardo.

    christian-hornerThroughout the past twelve months team principal Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey have vilified Renault. To question the manufacturer’s commitment and to call its power unit rubbish every chance you get doesn’t seem like the way to encourage a good working relationship.

    Realistically speaking Red Bull were roughly two tenths a lap faster than Toro Rosso in Australia who share the same power unit. Whereas Mercedes were 1.4 seconds a lap quicker than Williams who also run a Mercedes engine. For that reason it couldn’t be all evil Renault’s fault but they are a convenient scapegoat.

  • Renault expect “significant performance step” before Australia

    Renault expect “significant performance step” before Australia

    According to Renault’s chief technical officer Rob White, the engine manufacturer is on course to make considerable performance improvements with their 2015 Formula One power unit before the season-opening race in Melbourne, Australia.

    Renault have made sweeping comprehensive changes to their F1 power unit over the winter break in an effort to reduce the performance deficit to Mercedes which they experienced during the 2014 F1 season.

    Despite reliability issues hampering running in this year’s first pre-season test at Jerez for both the Red Bull and Toro Rosso F1 teams, Renault are certain that we’ll see big leaps forward before before March 15 when F1 returns to Melbourne.

    White spoke to F1’s official website saying that, “First and foremost we need to run reliably, be quick and closer to front.

    “Our honest expectation is that we will make a decent improvement but it is difficult to quantify the gain relative to our competitors who will also progress.

    “What we can say is that we are on course to make a significant performance step and resolve the principal reliability weaknesses by the time we get to the first race.”

    According to White, Renault has also opted to use the majority of their engine development tokens prior to the 2015 Australian Grand Prix in order to deliver these big performance gains, but added that the decision making around when Renault will use the remaining tokens for future upgrades during the course of the season, will be “juggling act”.

    “We have used the majority of the tokens for the first race and our use of tokens during the course of the season will be relatively modest,” he explained.

    “It then becomes a matter of strategy about when you introduce the remaining tokens; whether to introduce at the start of the season when the technology is relatively immature but could give greater relative performance, or later in the season when the part has had more testing miles but the impact on performance will be potentially less.

    “Clearly the juggling act we need to perform is which areas of the power unit are the most worthwhile to attack for performance reasons. We have therefore prioritised token spend to make as much headway as possible with performance.”

    Photo Credit: Renault Sport F1

     

  • FIA Turn Around on Honda Engine Development

    FIA Turn Around on Honda Engine Development

    The FIA have reversed their decision to allow in-season engine development for McLaren’s new engine partner, Honda.

    The 2015 rules for engine homologation were left open after Ferrari’s James Allison pointed out that nowhere in the 2015 rules does it state that teams have to submit their homologated engines for the 2015 season. The deadline for the teams last year was 28 February 2014. The FIA conceded that the rules were open to interpretation and allowed engine manufacturers, namely Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, to develop their engines up to 32 development tokens.

    Honda were left out the equation as the FIA felt that since all teams had to homologate their engines last year, its only fair for Honda to do the same this year despite it not stating this anywhere in the rules.

    As to be expected, Honda were not pleased with the decision and met with the FIA this past week. The result of the meeting was that Honda are now allowed to develop their engine during the season but with a few caveats.

    Honda will be able to develop their engine calculated by the average number of unused tokens by the other manufacturers before the first race of the season on 16 March 2015.

    It is unclear how many tokens Honda will have but it is believed that they will have a considerable amount to develop their engine throughout the season.

  • F1 2015: Engine Rule Game Changer?

    F1 2015: Engine Rule Game Changer?

    It has always been recognised and celebrated that Formula 1 has some of the most complex and advanced engine technology in the world. It’s a sport of innovation after all and the introduction of hybrid engines for 2014 well and truly proved that. Last year, Formula 1 went racing on a third less fuel than in 2013 with a 1.6 litre turbo engine and still it produced quicker cars.

    It didn’t quite go to plan as far as it being an all-out nail biter between the teams. Instead the rest of the field watched forlornly and from a considerable distance as Mercedes thrashed the lot of them and strolled to both championship titles. Mercedes’ enormous 2014 advantage emanated mostly from an exceedingly superior power unit which left rival manufacturers shamefaced.

    Throughout the year Ferrari and Renault fought hard for permission to introduce upgrades during the 2015 season.  As a change of rules can only be achieved through a unanimous decision by the teams Mercedes’ refusal to yield seemingly put an end to Ferrari and Renault’s hopes. Yet, for as much as F1 is known by its advanced technologies, the rules that ‘govern’ the sport seemingly has an infinite amount of grey area. You would think that for as long as these experts have been sitting around shiny boardroom tables they’d by now have an idea of how to create a rule that leaves no wiggle room for the infinitely brighter teams. Instead the engine homologation rule is saturated with enough grey area to make you cringe.

    Pascal Wehrlien Abu Dhabi Test 2014At a meeting with the FIA in Abu Dhabi Ferrari technical director James Allison pointed out that the lack of an exact date by which the final 2015 engine must be lodged. Subsequently, and to appear less dense, the FIA have told teams that the “most logical and robust” way to proceed would be to assume that there is no homologation date for the 2015.

    Honda has been purposefully left out of the equation because according to the rule a new manufacturer must homologate its engine by 28 February 2015. The Japanese manufacturer in partnership with McLaren feels it is “unfair” to allow its opposition to make progress while its own power unit will remain unchanged throughout the season.

    You would think that this means Renault and Ferrari powered cars will have a good and proper shot at the Mercedes. Few things have ever been that uncomplicated in Formula 1 and this is no exception. This is a win for Ferrari and Renault but it’s a relatively small one. Bear in mind how the development of the engine is divided and that in-season development and upgrades are not a free for all. On its introduction in 2014 only 92 % of the hybrid engine was open for development. From here, manufacturers selected 48% to develop. This 48 % is split into 32 tokens which are assigned to various parts of the engine. The various sections each carry a value of one to three tokens depending on its influence on performance.

    fiaNow there is the regulation surrounding the homologation which itself has led to several wordless moments of some pretty hefty squinting and head-tilting. Rule 28.5 states that “only power units which have been homologated by the FIA…may be used at an Event during the 2014-2020 Championship seasons.” This rule makes no explicit mention of how many engines can be homologated per year. It is clear however that for an engine to be used during a race weekend it must be homologated. Should this rule be applied as it’s read it would mean that teams have several opportunities throughout the year to bring upgrades to their engines, to homologate as they go. Keep in mind that each driver will only be allocated four engines for the entire season which brings into play the certainty of a grid penalty with each engine change after the allotment.

    On the other hand, if the rule is to be interpreted differently it means that once an engine has been homologated for 2015 no changes can be made to it at any stage. By this understanding the advantage of the loophole is only a few extra weeks of development before the start of the season in Australia. Furthermore, up until an engine has been lodged with the FIA, for homologation, the 2014 engine will be the only option to run with. New rules are created to bring clarification, they said.

  • FIA Concedes 2015 Engine Regulation Loophole

    FIA Concedes 2015 Engine Regulation Loophole

    A loophole in the 2015 technical regulations means that teams will be allowed to update their engines during the season.

    The loophole only exists because the regulations do not mention when the final engine for 2015 must be homologated as it stated in the 2014 regulations. An FIA spokesperson has said that the FIA was always under the impression that the teams will have homologated their engines before the first race of the season. The FIA have however conceded that the regulations do not stipulate a due date and that teams will be allowed to bring updates to their engines during the season.

    Going forward for the 2015 season teams will be allowed 32 development tokens which means that teams will be allowed to bring 32 updates to the engine, but will be limited to 4 engines per car for the season instead of 5. These updates, according to Charlie Whiting in a note sent to the teams, can be carried out at any point during the season.

    This is good news for Ferrari, Renault and to some extent Mercedes, who fought hard to prevent the engine updates during the season. Honda on the other hand do not have the benefit of developing their engine during the 2015 season as they are a new manufacturer.

    The current regulations do not specifically state when Honda must submit their homologated power unit. The FIA, however, are standing firm by its view that the Japanese manufacturer must submit their homologated power unit by 28 February 2015 as the existing manufacturers were obliged to submit their power units by the same time last year.

    McLaren and Honda are not taking this lightly and will meet with the FIA to discuss the situation. Honda feel that the changes that will be brought by teams during the season wont make much of a difference. But we all know that in F1 any small change can make the world of difference.

  • Video: Brazilian GP Memories: 2003 Brazilian GP Mayhem in the Rain

    Video: Brazilian GP Memories: 2003 Brazilian GP Mayhem in the Rain

    Here are some of the moments during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix that made it one of the craziest races we’ve seen. The same race where Giancarlo Fisichella won his first ever Grand Prix after Jaguar’s Mark Webber crashed heavily at the exit of T12. The crash resulted in parts of the tyre barrier being strewn out on track. What followed was very scary. A very young Fernando Alonso in his Renault exited T12 with a great amount of speed and slammed into a tyre that was lying in the middle of the track.

    The race was then red flagged and medical personnel attended to Alonso who managed to get out of his car but collapsed back on to the ground at the side of the track.

    It was truly the craziest of races where everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

  • 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    Team representatives:

    Pat Fry (Ferrari)

    Andy Cowell (Mercedes)

    Remi Taffin (Renault)

    Paul Monaghan (Red Bull Racing)

    Yasuhisa Arai (Honda)

    Jonathan Neale (McLaren)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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