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  • 2019 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Renault), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Robert KUBICA (Williams), Lando NORRIS (McLaren)*

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Romain, if we could start with you, please. Many congratulations, it’s just been announced that you are staying with the Haas team in 2020. Please can you give us your reaction to this news?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, good evening. It’s great, obviously great news. I will be will be with team for a fifth consecutive season. We’ve built this story since day one and it feels like the story is not yet over, so very, very happy to carry on with the team. Obviously this year has been a challenge but also it’s been a good year in terms of growing up for the team and understanding what went wrong and how can we move on in the future. Looking forward to many more races in, black and gold for now, but under the Haas colours.

    Q: You say this year has been a challenge. How confident can you be that 2020 is going to be better?

    RG: You never really know but I guess that the team has worked really hard and has made some good understanding this year from the drivers’ feedback and from what we have seen. It’s a bit of a similar situation to 2017 to 2018 where in 2017 the car wasn’t as fast as we wanted and then in 2018 we had a very competitive car. Yeah, I have got confidence that we will bounce back, to which level you never know, but hopefully to a good one where we can fight for some fun races.

    Q: Many congratulations Romain. Robert, while we’re on the subject of 2020, is there anything you can tell us about your future?

    Robert KUBICA: Yes and not. First of all, we are looking forward to the next year and looking forward to different opportunities but yeah, in order to evaluate our opportunities I have taken the decision that I will not continue more with Williams [after] this year. I will stop at the end of this year with the team. Which is a decision that I took, which opens a bit the opportunities for me for the future in different scenarios and now I will evaluate what is possible.

    Q: Do you want to stay in Formula 1 next year?

    RK: Well, I always say that I took a lot of energy, a lot of time for me to recover and come back to the sport and since I joined back Formula 1 I would like to stay. I said that this year it would be say a goal to remain in Formula 1. But yeah, of course my answer would be, yes, but not at any cost. And I think I have to first of all do what will bring me back a bit of joy in racing. Of course this season has been very tough from a performance point of view but it has also been very demanding, being back in Formula 1 after a long time is not easy – especially when you are in a difficult situation, as we are. But still nevertheless I have to thank the team for the opportunity and we will see what the future will bring.

    Q: Well, thank you and best of luck with that? Lando, it’s been a slightly frustrating period for you since the summer break. How easy has it been to shrug it off, particularly the last-lap retirement at Spa?

    Lando NORRIS: It’s not been too bad to be honest. As much as I’ve been annoyed and disappointed… (laughs)… stop it!

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I gave him 10 seconds. I knew you’d start laughing within 10 seconds.

    LN: I don’t want to! OK, as much as it’s been annoying and disappointing, especially at Spa – last lap and I was on for my best result – and at the moment for us, as a team, we haven’t had the best few weekends in a row, and especially after Monza, Renault caught up quite a bit in the championship, so it’s been tough for me because when you’re on for such a good result – I know it’s fifth and not a win and so on, but for us and for myself it’s still a big achievement – I’m a little bit annoyed. At the end of the day we’ve still been working hard. We’ve shown at points what we can do, we’ve showed it in other areas, but at the end of the day, it happens. It wasn’t in my control. It wasn’t in my engineer’s control. It’s just something that happens in Formula 1, so I just have to move on.

    Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, it’s your first experience of the heart and humidity of Singapore and what can we expect from McLaren this weekend?

    LN: Personally, I’ve been here, maybe a bit too long, but I’ve been here since last Thursday. Not for any reason in particular apart from getting used to the place. Cycling the track a bit. Getting used to the temperature, the humidity and so on. Everyone says this is the toughest race of the year for the drivers…

    DR: You’re sweating already…

    LN: I know! Everyone says this is the toughest race for the drivers physically, for the concentration you have to have on the track, and then in combination with the heat and so on, so yeah, I’ve done everything I can training wise, but I’ll find out on Sunday.

    Q: The car?

    LN: I don’t know. I want to be hopeful and say it’s going to be better than Monza, because Monza I don’t think was the best for us, even though Carlos qualified well, I don’t think it was the easier track compared to some of the others, so I’m hoping that this weekend we can be a bit stronger but at the same time I think we all know it’s going to be quite a difficult one.

    Q: OK, well good luck with it. Thank you Lando. Daniel, you scored your best result for Renault at Monza. Was that result the shot in the arm you needed?

    DR: I don’t like needles, so normally I don’t like a shot in the arm. It was definitely good for us. I think it had been a while since we had a big result like that – obviously Canada was the standout in the first half of the year. I think Spa was a pretty positive weekend for us up until the start of the race. I think we were on for a decent result there, but then to back it up in Monza, and both cars to do it, was really good; definitely strong from the start of the weekend. Obviously it’s nice as a driver to get the result, but definitely for the team to get that, I think they had been craving a strong result, from both cars as well, and to get us back in the points, or in that points battle we’re in. Obviously McLaren were running away with it but we made some good ground. So yeah, that was good. I think I made an emphasis afterwards to kind of tip my hat to the engine guys, especially the guys working at Renault in Viry. To get a big result like that on power circuit, not many would have predicted that, especially in the last few years, so to come out there and do it in Monza I think was a big pat on the back for them.

    Q: And looking at this weekend: you’ve had good results in Singapore, with four podiums, so what about the car? What can expect from you here?

    DR: I don’t know. The last few races we seem to perform better on lower downforce circuits, but going back to Monaco that’s the most similar circuit to probably here and we qualified quite well there so. I think we do have the potential to be good on this circuit as well. I don’t think it comes as natural for us or our car at the moment. But I definitely think we can put it together, so we might have to work a little bit harder for it but I think the pace is ultimately there in the car, we just have to find it. But it’s a fun one. As all the boys really said, it’s physical, it’s hot, bumpy but street circuits, they’re a good time.

    Q: Thanks. Lewis, you’re gunning for your fifth win here in Singapore and after the battles with Ferrari at Spa and Monza and Red Bull prior to the summer break, how tough are you expecting this race to be?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, this is one of the toughest races of the year, if not the toughest, physically and mentally and then we come here each year, it shifts between the Ferraris, the Red Bulls and us. Last year the Red Bulls… they’ve particularly been quick over the years and we anticipate that they they’re going to be strong this weekend. And again, I have no idea whether Ferrari will be quick, as they have been in the last races, or not. We’ll just focus on ourselves and try to make sure we extract the most we can. We’ve not really performed that well over the last couple of years but we’ve come out with not such bad results due to other circumstances so I hope that we fare well.

    Q: Any concerns about the performance of your car in the heat following the cooling issues you had in Austria earlier in the year?

    LH: I’m sure that’s definitely on the radar. It’s not really the hottest that we’ve seen so far, so fingers crossed it stays something similar to this but of course if the rain comes or whatever, if it gets hotter through the weekend it could change.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all of the drivers. What are your thoughts on the new ways you are dealing with hard racing? Second question, is the haze in Singapore a concern for you as drivers?

    LN: I think they’ve dealt with it fine. To be honest, I haven’t seen everything what happened between Lewis and Charles in Monza but I think it’s fine. Compared to some other categories, you get a lot more racing than we have had in Formula 1. Or, let’s say, in the past few years. This year’s maybe a little bit better. But when we get a chance to race, I think it’s better – everyone says it – just let us race. We can have some battles and, if a bit of contact comes every now and then, I don’t think it’s the end of the world. I think that, sometimes, part of it…  obviously you do have to look into it and if it’s anyone’s blatant fault or anything’s done intentionally, then that is unfair. I think the chances of us just racing, having fun, I think that’s part of Formula 1, so from my side, that’s fine. The haze… I don’t know. I think it’s fine…

    DR: You look a bit funny…

    LN: I’ve been here the longest out of anyone, I think, so if anyone was starting to be ill, or not feeling good… I think I’ll let everyone know.

    Q: Daniel?

    DR: On the racing stuff, actually I think Lando covered it very well. There’s a little bit of touching, and there’s pure dirty driving, or dirty racing – but I think a little bit of… I mean I obviously saw the replays of Monza. It was certainly tight and, yeah, a bit on the edge with giving room…

    Q: Are you referring to Lewis and Charles?

    DR: I think so! I think that’s where the question came from right? You were looking at Lewis the whole time so I figured it was about that! Yeah, it’s a tough one – but look, I think Lando covered it well. If we remain with a certain level of respect, it’s fine. But if you’re repeating a little bit of dirt too often, either you get payback from the driver or, I guess the stewards should intervene. For now, I think we’re doing OK with controlling it. Obviously at times as well in the car, in the race, your temper and emotions can take over, so maybe your initial feeling is harsher than maybe what you think afterwards once you’ve reflected but generally  I think that they’re doing OK. It’s hard. Unless you’re in the car, unless you’re in our position, with our point of view, it’s really hard to get it perfect every time so we have to sympathise with them a little bit. It’s not as easy from the outside.

    Q: Haze and pollution?

    DR: It’s been OK for now. No further comments.

    Q: Lewis, hard racing?

    LH: I think they both answered it pretty well, so I don’t really have much more to add to it, to be honest. The haze should be fine. Maybe we’ll see more of it on Sunday. If you ask everyone, we’re going to be here for ever if we all answer it.

    Q: But you have no further comment with what happened at Monza with Charles?

    LH: No. Moving forwards. Nothing we can do about the past. I’m down for hard racing. We’re good.

    Q: Romain?

    RG: No comment! Just the same thing.

    Q: Robert?

    RK: Exactly the same. I think what is the most important is consistency – and that’s it.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) Robert, you say you took the decision to pursue other career opportunities outside of Williams. Was Orlen involved in this decision? And also, are you looking at simulator positions next year with Formula 1 teams?

    RK: Yeah, so first one, it was my decision, so of course I know there are some consequences which then Orlen follows my decision but this is a completely different topic. It has been only, purely, my decision. Regarding simulator, I don’t want to go too much into the details but, as I said, I will evaluate different opportunities. I will be very surprised if I was doing only simulator. I will be very surprised if I will not be racing next year.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Robert, how proud are you of the job that you did to get back into Formula 1? Does that outweigh how this year has gone. And, to the other four, you know how hard it is to be an F1 driver, to be at this level. How impressed are you that Robert got back to here – and what do you think F1 loses by him not being on the grid next season?

    RK: I forgot the first bit! How proud? I’m not really the kind of guy that is proud but for sure it has been a long journey. I have repeated this for the last two years. It is always the same story, nothing changes. It has been extremely hard for me but nevertheless I still think I make the right decision. Of course, everybody from Williams, myself, we are on the same boat and we would appreciate better performance and better results this year and an easier life. In the end it is a very difficult and very tough season for everyone from Williams. But I just have to move forward and that’s how it is, and this is the outcome, the reason I took the decision. Yeah, regarding the others, y’know, you make the question to them but I think we can skip it. It will take a long time anyway.

    Q: Well, let’s ask Lewis – you’ve raced Robert the longest out of anyone here. The impact he’s made since he’s been back in F1. If he doesn’t find another seat next year, how much will Formula 1 miss him?

    LH: That’s definitely put me on the spot. I’ve known Robert probably the longest; we started racing together in go-karts, like 1997? 1998. For me, Robert’s one of the most talented drivers I’ve competed against. As I say, from that beginning I already saw the talent that he had, and when he got to Formula One…

    RK: It’s been a long time!

    LH: It’s been a long time. What’s remarkable is the strength and determination he’s shown. Particularly through the incident he had. Not a lot of people can come through those circumstances and come back, make it back into the sport and deliver against others who don’t have the same situation that he’s been in. I think it’s been great to have him back. It’s definitely not the same scenario as when he was obviously in a more competitive team back in the day – but I think he’s done great this year. We need the best talent in the sport and we obviously need them to be as high up as possible creating a part of the show. So I hope he stays. I understand his position and I don’t know what’s given him the reason to make the decision but I hope there’s a position for him next year.

    Q: Would anyone else like to say anything?

    RG: He’s an inspiration for anyone that had a bad experience. First time I spoke to Robert was 2009 in Abu Dhabi, I think. We were supposed to be team-mates in 2010. I was very, very much looking forward to it. It didn’t happen. Then obviously I followed Robert as the third, or reserve driver at Lotus when he had his accident and then the way he came back. In motorsport he is an example, but also in life generally, to come back to the highest level and, as you say, fight the way he fought back is very impressive.

    Q: (David Coath – Motorlat.com) Lewis, your pole position lap last year is still being talked about today. What does it take to get into a zone like that on a street circuit of all places?

    LH: To be honest, it’s a bit of a blur, the whole lap. I don’t know who was driving… It was obviously a special lap from our side. I’ve been to this track since 2008, obviously, tyre temperatures are a huge issue. You get to the last sector and the tyres are dropping off, it gets a little bit trickier, it’s obviously such a long lap. I think it was just a combination of everything. The previous sessions had been up and down, probably hadn’t put a good lap together all weekend and it just happened to be right lap at the right moment. The chances of that happening are quite slim but it just happened at the right time where the stars were aligned, I guess. But more so the temperatures and just the flow ended up right but the focus that you need here, as all these drivers will know, is just very intense, positioning is everything and timing, really getting yourself into a rhythm is really key here to maximising the width of the circuit and the potential that’s in your car.

    Q: (Wojciech Paprota – SwiatWscigow.pl) Lewis, some days ago you unfollowed everyone on your Instagram and now you basically don’t follow anybody including myself, unfortunately. Does it mean that social media has been some sort of a distraction for you?

    LH: I don’t think I was following you before, anyway, so it shouldn’t really affect you. No, I think I just wanted kind of a fresh slate. I feel like social media is such an incredible platform naturally. I just noticed that for me – I don’t know how it is for you guys – but you wake up and the first thing you do is turn on your Instagram and check what’s happening. You’re always catching up and I just decided to change… I wake up now and I have a bit of a read, I start my day differently and I’m hardly ever on it and this has made a big difference to my life, personally. I do sometimes miss not being able to see what my friends are doing, particularly. And then sometimes obviously people come up and say ‘hey, you’re not following me but you follow that person’ so now I don’t follow anybody and no one can complain. But if I want to see what my friends are up to I have to go and type their name in now and it’s not so easy to go back to follow everyone because I was following like six hundred people or something before so…

    DR: He wasn’t one of them!

    LH: No. But I still follow everyone closely, like I look at everyone’s Instagram particularly within my sport just to see what they’re up to and I still support people. I just don’t feel like you should be forced to have to follow people to show that you support them.

    Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) Robert, you’ve been here for a while so I would like to ask you what was maybe your biggest challenge in motor sport, the thing that you are most proud of, that you’ve done so far?

    RK: I think honestly, if you take out the results which for sure in motor sport, they have a big influence, probably it is the last seven, eight years, put it together. Not one single moment but it has definitely been the biggest achievement of my life, probably, to come back to achieve what I have managed to go through, what happened and still managed to race.  Being back on an F1 grid was definitely the best end of period, the best final which I could deserve and which I could imagine.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, can we talk about the haze? I know that everyone has brushed it under the carpet a little bit but what sort of measures are in place for feedback to you, just how important that air quality is? When you’ve got locals saying it’s approaching dangerous levels and it’s quite significant for them, as athletes, I just wondered how you safeguard yourself? Do you have special filters on your masks or is there anything you can do or do you just put your faith in the FIA and just assume that everything’s going to be OK?

    LH: Honestly, I’ve not… we all have doctors on hand. It’s not been brought up as an issue for us but I am conscious of it. Naturally, I don’t know how it is for the drivers but you blow your nose after a race, dirt, soot comes out of your nose. You’ve got the carbon that you’re breathing in. Clean air is naturally an important part. I’ve been told not to go for a run outside, for example, because it won’t be great for me but I don’t know how it’s going to impact us in the race but I think tonight and tomorrow I will be speaking to my team. There’s not really a lot we can do, we can’t have anything else in our helmets so it is what it is, I guess.

    Q: (Michael Butterworth – Xinhuan News Agency) To Romain, in particular, next year Formula One goes to Vietnam which is not a country with a long history or tradition of motor sport. Do you feel that Formula One should continue to go and expand in new destinations like this, where they perhaps don’t have a history of motor sport or should the sport continue to focus on the traditional heartland in places like western Europe, for example?

    RG: It’s a good question and I don’t have the answer. There are definitely tracks which you want to keep racing on, that have a lot of history, but also some tracks now that have history, didn’t have any ten years ago like Singapore. Now everyone thinks that Singapore is a normal race but it only started in 2008. I don’t know. Obviously the number of races is limited by the human factor: should we do one year more in Europe, one year more outside Europe  and mix. Obviously there are tracks where you want to race and there are other tracks where you want to race also. I don’t know the answer.

    LH: It doesn’t really matter what I think. I think it’s been great to have new circuits. I think keeping the historic ones, where we had the biggest following because those are the people who really… that crowd that really makes the atmosphere, if you go to the UK for example. We’ve got to keep those. Losing Germany I think is a bit of a painful one for example. But I think adding new circuits… I think it’s good to go to new territories for sure, to expand our reach as a sport. I prefer that they do a street circuit that can maybe be taken down, it’s only temporary rather than, for example, India where they built that beautiful circuit and we don’t get to race there any more.

    DR: Selfishly, it’s nice to go to new destinations, it’s a chance to… I think we’re quite privileged to have this job and to be able to see new parts of the world. It’s sometimes an excuse to go and check out another place so from that point of view it’s actually always exciting for me because I know that I probably wouldn’t have travelled to all these places as a holiday destination if F1 didn’t take me there. I’ve discovered some pretty awesome places around the world through the calendar. I’ve never been to Vietnam so yeah, I’m excited to go there. And yeah, it’s a chance to open new fans up to the sport and I guess give a new crowd an opportunity to see what it’s like. Right now, I don’t see the downside of it, not at all.

    LR: I think that covers it all.

    RK: Yeah, I think everything has been said.

    Q: (Joost Nederpelt – NU.NL) Sebastian Vettel is under a bit of pressure right now at Ferrari with a strong teammate. Do you think he can bounce back and should we not write him off too soon?

    DR: I’m probably a decent one to answer for it because in times he’s maybe in a similar position to where he was in 2014 and he bounced back, I think, second race in 2015, I think he won in Malaysia from memory. He definitely has the ability to bounce back. All that’s going to take is one race. I think it’s just been a bit of an effect as well. Obviously it probably started – trying not to speak for him but at least from the outside – it probably started in Canada, obviously, the controversy there. It could have been his first win of the year and if that got done differently that might have changed the whole outcome of these next few races. You never know. In the past, he’s always been strong here in Singapore, so this could be the weekend for him, where he does turn it around but yeah, I think it’s just one… he’s one race away from turning it around. Obviously there’s a lot of things to deal with in this sport, especially when you’re at the top, it’s not just talent any more, it’s pressure, it’s head space, it’s where you’re at in your personal life and all this but you don’t lose your talent so can he still drive very fast? Absolutely. I think he’s just waiting for that weekend to put it all together and get himself back. It could very well happen this weekend.

    LH: I think Daniel answered it really well to be honest.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Lewis, Daniel spoke about the importance of headspace and off track pursuits. You obviously have a very active off track life. How important are things such as your fashion line and things like that to energizing you on track as well and contributing to your performances?

    LH: If I didn’t have those I would still be driving the way I do. I think they are just other outlets that for me personally work well for me and ones that I enjoy and give me energy, I guess, to continue on doing the other things that I love such as this job, which is not really a job, it’s a hobby really. But to each their own, we all do it differently, we all prepare in a different way, but it’s only been a positive for me.

  • No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

    No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

    The FIA race stewards have decided that no further action will be taken following the Turn 1 carnage at the start of the race for the Singapore Grand Prix which saw both Ferrari’s and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen collide subsequently putting them out of them out of the race.

    After average starts from both Vettel and Verstappen, Vettel cut across the track to defend his position on the run to Turn 1. Raikkonen, who started 4th, had a better start that Verstappen who was lined up directly ahead of him on the grid. Raikkonen went down the inside of Verstappen and was almost clear of the Red Bull when Verstappen’s rear left tagged Raikkonen’s rear right, swinging the Ferrari around the front of the Red Bull and into the side of his team mate Vettel.

    The move left Verstappen with no where to go and the “pincer” like movement executed by the Ferrari’s contact looked inevitable.

    All three drivers were summoned to see the stewards after the race and after meeting with teams they decided that no driver was wholly to blame for the incident.

    In a statement the stewards said: “The Stewards examined video evidence and heard from Sebastian Vettel,the driver of Car 5, Kimi Raikkonen, the driver of Car 7, Max Verstappen, the driver of Car 33 and the team representatives.

    Singapore 2017_Start“Driver of Car 7 had a very good start and was able to attempt overtaking of Car 33 on the left hand side.

    “At the same time, Car 5 which had a slower start, moved to the left hand side of the track; Car 33 and Car 7 then collided resulting in a chain collision with Car 5 and ultimately Car 14 (Fernando Alonso) at the next turn.

    “Cars 7, 5 and 33 had to retire immediately as a result of the incident; and Car 14 retired some laps thereafter.

    “The Stewards consider that no driver was found to have been wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident and will therefore take no further action.”

  • 2017 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (conducted by Will Buxton)

    Sebastian, the crowd went crazy, the noise was huge when you crossed the line, and deservedly so. That lap was absolutely massive. You struggled yesterday, where did you find that time?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Oh, I don’t know. I struggled also this morning, or this afternoon. I shouted probably as loud as them, it was unbelievable. I’m still full of adrenalin, so maybe whatever I say doesn’t make any sense but, yeah, I love this track. The car was tricky but it came alive and it was getting better and better and better as the night progressed, so really happy we got it done.

     

    And these guys have been so quick, and there is no margin for error around this circuit. To take those kind of risks, to push… there’s a little bit down there, that’s how close you pushed, all the way to the edge and a little bit over it as well. In terms of laps you have set for pole position where does this one sit, because I can see you are shaking a little bit? 

    SV: I don’t know, I think I need to calm down first. But for now, very, very happy. The car was amazing and it’s an amazing track if you feel that the car is coming alove and you can do what you want to. I knew we had it in us; it was a bit of a struggle to get there, but now I’m just happy.

     

    Huge. Many congratulations. Max, wow, it was going to take something special to beat you today and that was a special lap. But the pace you’ve shown all weekend, this has got to be promising for you?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it is. Just a shame we couldn’t put it on pole, I think the final lap was not great. But we were quite close and I’m pretty happy with that.

     

    We’ve seen how hard Sebastian has had to push this weekend to beat you guys this weekend. It’s not the first time he’s done it. Are you hoping for more of that from him tomorrow?

    MV: Hopefully for him, not. We’ll see. During the race it will be difficult to pass him so we will have to see in the first lap.

     

    Awesome. Daniel, are you asking the man how he got that lap out of the car?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m a little envious today. I will accept a little bit of defeat but I’m still confident we’ll get victory. I think we’ve got a good package. Seb turned it on in qualifying but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

     

    So better race pace then them tomorrow?

    DR: Yes.

     

    Now Max… Daniel come down. Now last time you started alongside each other, back in Hungary, there was a little bit of a ding-dong between you on the first lap. There’s going to be none of that tomorrow. Christian isn’t going to be tapping his foot is he?

    DR: What happened?

     

    Is it all forgotten then?

    MV: I mean that race happened. Now we’ve got Singapore. We’ve got great starting positions, so we don’t think about that.

     

    Good stuff, thanks guys. Seb, have managed to calm the shakes down a little bit. Lewis is starting back on the third row of the grid tomorrow.  How much do you need this win in the championship fight?

    SV: I don’t know. I’m happy that we got the car where it deserved to be and we take it from there. Tomorrow is a long race; these guys are very, very quick. We had a difficult night yesterday, a better night today and I’m sure the car will be like today, tomorrow but I’m sure it will be a very close race.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Well, many congratulations Sebastian, your fourth pole in Singapore – bit of a specialist around this place – and your 49th career pole, just one short of the magic 50. But a really open session, one of the most open sessions for a while. And one can just sense in the way you came over the radio at the end, not only a great effort but also a great emotion. Tell us the feeling?

    SV: Yeah, it’s a long lap. There are a lot of corner – a lot of things to get right, and equally a lot of things you can get wrong. No, I’m really happy. Obviously the weekend so far has been a bit up and down for us. Yesterday was difficult. This afternoon was difficult. Tonight the car really came alive and it was just getting better. These guys were extremely quick. Q1, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to find a second and a half. But then, by Q2, the car was like a switch, from off to on – much better. I knew that the track would ramp up but probably I didn’t expect it that much. But, yeah, at the end, Q3 I was very happy with both my laps. A bit lucky in my final lap, because I brushed the wall quite severely out of 19. It was not just a little brush; it was actually a hit. I thought, “OK, I have to keep going”. It was fine until I approached the last corner; I had huge vibration. Thankfully there was only one corner left but I really pushed as hard as I could. I knew in the final run that even if I had the upper hand going in, these guys… the track would come up, these guys would have something in their pocket, so I needed to get it absolutely right. I was very relieved when I crossed the line. I looked at the screens behind and I waited for the call. I knew that Daniel was behind me so… I was very, very happy obviously. I think right now I’m starting to cool off.

     

    While you’re doing that analytically, that’s the bit you can control. The bit you can’t control is where your championship rival is – Lewis Hamilton. He’s not only got these two cars between you and him, you’ve also got your team-mate as well. Just purely looking at the race, you must be pretty pleased about that?

    SV: Yeah, I mean, we have a long race and a lot of things can happen. Certainly grid position is king or crucial, but still it’s a long race. The fact that our car was good this evening I think is promising for tomorrow. Yesterday we had a scrappy car, I lost the car, I had damage, so the runs after that were compromised. But the feeling was there. I knew that the car has got it, we just needed to get it out and that’s what we did tonight. I’m confident for tomorrow. For the others? Max is next to me, so first of all I guess I’m racing him and then Daniel and so on and so forth, so not too bothered where other people are. I think there is a long race ahead and there are a lot of things we need to get right, so we should focus on ourselves.

    Q: Max, almost, almost that first pole, almost the first ever teenage Formula One polesitter. This place is all about ramping it up, as Sebastian’s just said, tell us why you couldn’t find that step in the final run in Q3.

    MV: I think I did – just not as much as Sebastian but all in all I think the weekend was a good progression, getting better and better. And qualifying also was constant improvement. Even though the whole weekend we’re a bit down on power. I don’t know why, we couldn’t really solve it. Lost a bit of top speed there. It’s not idea but at the end of the day, to be second here, on this track, I think is very promising. We are not too far off so I can be quite happy with this qualifying.

     

    Q: Daniel, we could tell by one of the radio messages partway through the quali, you couldn’t quite live with these two in the final part of qualifying. There’s clearly some disappointment there but you told us yesterday that you think you can win this race. You’re the man who takes his opportunities on a Sunday, do you still believe in it?

    DR: Yeah, I still believe so. Today I’ll accept a little bit of defeat but there’s still a lot to play for tomorrow. For sure I would love to be in Sebastian’s position today. I thought pole would be on but yeah, we couldn’t quite run with him in that last qualifying. It’s a long lap, you gain a bit, you lose a bit, you kind of say ‘I could have got more there’ but I think the gap was, in the end – three or four tenths – was quite significant. So yeah, look at what we can do tomorrow. I think it’s really on the cusp of one and two stops, so it’s going to make it exciting. You might have to carry us out of the cars tomorrow but I’m sure I’ll have a very strong race and get, yeah, get some big points.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for all three of you. How much would you say your car is developing during qualifying session – just in terms of power output. Do you have something for Q3 special in the engine or is there nothing coming once you’re in the qualifying.

    SV: Well I think it’s normal that you start off a bit more conservative and then ramp it up. If you look at the importance of the session Q1 is the least important – I mean it’s very important to get through but least important to set a really, really competitive lap time. Q2 you need to make it to the top ten, obviously I think the quick teams have the luxury that they have a very quick car and it’s not a big secret we run a bit more conservative in the beginning and then gradually progress so that by Q3 obviously yeah, we ask for maximum power.

     

    Is the same true for the Renault engine, Max?

    MV: Maybe not as much. A little bit. Fine tuning. We know that we have to still work hard to improve, so it’s still not, of course, where Ferrari or Mercedes is.

     

    And Daniel?

    DR: No further comments. I mean, once qualifying starts we pretty much put it all in, so yeah, no secrets for Q3.

     

    Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Question to all of you. This race is usually one of the most demanding of the year in terms of physical conditions. What do you expect for tomorrow with the new cars – will it be much more harder than last year and how did you prepare for that?

    DR: Eat lots of pizza, drink lots of alcohol. It’s really important to dehydrate yourself before you get here! No. These two… it’s funny, the irony is that we go from probably the least physical is Monza, all the long straights, and it’s normally a quick race in terms of time itself, so you go from the easiest race of the year to the two hardest with Singapore and Malaysia. So, all last week I was just home, training and trying to get acclimated to the hotter conditions. And yeah, how much you need to drink is something as well: so simple. Yesterday I felt like I had a bottle in my hand all day and I was still struggling to go to the toilet, you sweat it out so much, so yeah, you’ve just got to stay on top of it. End of tomorrow you’ll see it in our faces, and Malaysia as well.

     

    SV: Just to get that straight, you were struggling to get to the toilet because you were struggling to keep balance because you were drinking so much, or…?

     

    DR: ah…

     

    SV: Don’t worry, you’ll get it back.

     

    DR: So what do you do?

     

    SV: Basically I think you try to prepare the whole year as much as you can. This year’s cars are more physical, I think that’s more fun. This race has always been the biggest challenge in terms of what it demands from the driver. It’s a very long track, a lot of corners, it’s hot, humid, a night race, so no room for error. Yeah, all these things together, the race is very long, as Daniel touched on, in terms of preparation, not so much I get. There’s no big secrets ramping up to the Grand Prix, you just try to be recovered once you get here. I like the Finnish culture so I did a couple of sauna intervals. Maybe that’s something special just to get used to the hot weather.

     

    What about you Max, what did you do?

    MV: I think you always try to prepare as well as you can but it’s always going to be hard. If you train a lot – or not, when you come here you’re going to sweat a lot. It’s just very tough because there are not a lot of straights where you can just rest – because even the straights here you have to turn a lot and you’re always busy. Bumpy. Lot of concentration going on because there are so many corners here, so for sure it will be a tough race – but hopefully when I’m in the lead I can just, like, slow down a bit and we can cruise home. Right? Is that OK for you? No?

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how do you change on the car between yesterday and this afternoon and tonight? How is the balance between your effort and the effort of the mechanics?

    SV: I think it’s been phenomenal, the amount of work. Obviously yesterday we were a little bit caught off guard. The car wasn’t behaving the way we wanted it to but it’s been pretty special, I think:  the amount of effort that has gone in overnight, the support from Maranello. Charles (Leclerc) has been in the simulator – usually it’s swapping between Antonio Giovinazzi  and Charles so that’s very very important for us. They answered a lot of questions that we couldn’t, simply because we didn’t have time enough and a lot of questions remaining. And then, as I said, a lot of support from the factory, the guys down here – I don’t know when they went to bed, probably around lunchtime. The car was a lot better today but as I said, obviously with the conditions, I think it was helping us as well. The car really came alive towards the evening or throughout the evening, which I think is mostly the track. We went out very early this afternoon and very early in qualifying as well so maybe not ideal but the car was better today than it was yesterday, for sure.

     

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, you are the winning-most driver here on this track; what is the secret to win so much on this track, which is…

    SV: I guess I was lucky I didn’t brush too many walls. Usually I got it done by latest Saturday, like today. It’s a long race, anything can happen. For sure it helps the further up you start but still it’s a long race. I don’t know if there are any secrets. It’s always a place that I enjoy and it’s the sort of race that you want to go to to test yourself as well, because it’s such a big challenge, but equally you don’t want it to start because you know it’s going to be so tough. For sure I will be ready and excited to start tomorrow to see what we can do. For sure we’re in a good positon so we have lots of reasons to look forward to.

    MV: Do you think you’ll have a good start?

    SV: Yeah.

    MV: I hope not.

    DR: Your starts haven’t been that good, have they?

    SV: Yeah, they have been. Monza, no, but the other ones have been.

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) To all three of you: Seb, do you have a different risk assessment at the start in the first corner when you’re challenging against two guys who are not in the championship battle? And for Daniel and Max, the same question, just the other way around…

    MV: Am I not in? Am I not in the championship battle?

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Probably not, sorry.

    SV: I guess the answer to your question is no because I don’t think anybody on the grid has the intention to stop the race in the first corner. I think you’re focusing on the start and then you go from there. No, I guess is the answer to your question.

    Q: Max, nothing to lose? Go for it from the start?

    MV: Yeah, but controlled, right? I mean you always go for it if there is a gap and if it’s possible but if not you just settle down and you go into the race and like Sebastian said, it’s a very long race so a lot of things can happen.

    DR: For sure, you know my intention is always to try and go forward. I think here, a track where it’s hard to pass, obviously the start is a big opportunity so yeah, the intention is to go for it but see what happens. It always seems to tighten up at turn one but we’ll see, see how we go. I think mathematically I can still win the championship so I might just play it real conservative and settle for a top six or something!

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, you had a close look at the Red Bulls after the session, what did you find out about the cars?

    DR: He misses us.

    SV: It’s probably the best chance to… well, it looks like ours, yeah. I actually asked them yesterday already if they do the parts in blue as well because…

    MV: Yeah, we can swap?

    SV: Probably it’s the best time to look at the cars. I mean, what do I understand, basically, but it’s interesting to have a look.

    MV: Emotional.

    SV: Yeah, close to tears.

     

     

    Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

  • 2017 Singapore GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Singapore GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Zak BROWN (McLaren), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing)

    Q: Zak, let’s start with you. After much deliberation, you’ve separated from Honda. What was the tipping point, and what sacrifices do you have to make now?

    Zak BROWN: Well, let me start James, and then I’ll come back and answer that question. I want to thank a lot of people because this has been quite a public process and involved a lot of people and required a lot of cooperation to get the outcome that I think was best for the sport. So, starting with the McLaren fans, they’ve been unbelievably supportive as we’ve been through a difficult three years and looking forward to next year. We’re very excited to be partnering with Renault and all the work that Cyril and his team have put in and then it took the collaboration of Christian, to my right, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and then last but not least Honda’s been a great partner. Obviously, we haven’t had the on-track results that we’d hoped for but they certainly gave it everything they’ve got. We felt it was time to move on, and then the FIA and Ross and Chase. So, there was a lot of people that had to come together to make this happen. Ultimately we knew… I don’t think there was a specific tipping point other than we knew we were in trouble in pre-season testing and we needed to improve upon our 2016 results. So, we knew we were in trouble then. We’ve spent quite a bit of time, most of it has been in the public domain, trying to find ways to get Honda competitive with us, and we ultimately couldn’t get there in the end – but great that they’re staying in the sport. Just want to thank everyone for their assistance. I think everyone’s going to be excited for Australia next year.

    Q: So, does this mean Fernando Alonso will be staying with the team next year?

    ZB: Well, we’re going to turn our attention to Fernando now. We’ve been speaking a lot, he’s been waiting to see what technical solution we came up with. He won his two championships with Renault. He’s very happy with the racing team, we’re very happy with him, so I think in the not too distant future we should be able to get something done and that’ll be the last big piece of the puzzle. Then I’ve got to find us some sponsorship with our commercial team and get ready for next year.

    Q: Cyril, coming to you, we’ve heard from Honda and Toro Rosso in part one of this press conference, their side of the story, we’ve now just heard from McLaren. Tell us about the Renault side. The engine swap and Carlos Sainz coming to you.

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, as mentioned by Zak, it’s been a fairly long and complex process for the number of parties that this was involving but I think that the solution reached is one that is good for all parties. It’s in particular one that manages to keep Honda in the sport, and I think it’s very important to keep diversity of manufacturers involved. As far as we’re concerned, it was not an easy decision. We know that we are making a competitor stronger. We know that very well. Having said that, the activity of Renault in Formula One, since 40 years that we are in Formula One is in particular articulated around what we are doing on the engine side: we are a car maker; the engine is at the core of the automotive. That’s what we have always been doing. We have been a works team on and off, we are currently ‘on’ – but it doesn’t remove anything to our engine activity that must be sustainable. In relation to that, what we want to do is to supply aspiration teams, great teams, great drivers. We’ve done 13 years with Williams with five championships, 12 years with Red Bull Racing, four championships as constructors, so we really look forward to the start of this new association with McLaren.

    Q: Can you confirm exactly which teams you’ll be supplying with engines from 2019 onwards?

    CA: Before 2019 there is 2018. And 2018 it is very clear those two gentlemen on my right, and one thing I must stress is they will get equity, and perfect parity of treatment between the Renault works team, McLaren and Red Bull…

    ZB: You said we were going to get better stuff!

    CA: Oh yeah! Sorry! This is a public one! So, this is something that matters. And in relation to 2019, obviously with McLaren today we are announcing a three-year partnership until 2020 and the rest, obviously, is a bit of speculation at this point in time with Red Bull Racing.

    Q: OK, Christian, coming to you, what is Red Bull’s plan for engines form 2019 onwards? I understand that you alluded to this on TV earlier today.

    Christian HORNER: No, I think what you are referring to, I was asked a question about Porsche coming in Formula One and I answered that very clearly that we have an existing relationship with an OEM that don’t make Formula One engines and obviously, that will continue. We are absolutely delighted for Toro Rosso with their Honda announcement. I think it’s great news for Toro Rosso, it’s great news for Honda, it’s great that they’re continuing with Formula One. Obviously, it’s facilitated that Zak has managed to get the Renault engine that he was craving and Carlos Sainz gets to further his career obviously in Cyril’s team while also remaining part of the Red Bull family. So, I think you have a rare occasion in Formula One where everybody’s happy.

    Q: Does any of this make your job more difficult in securing the long-term commitment to Red Bull Racing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo?

    CH: Well, both of our drivers are currently under contract at least for next year and it’s down to us to produce a good car, be competitive and then, of course, why would the drivers want to be anywhere else? We’re obviously not short of options on drivers but obviously, our preference is absolutely to retain the two that we have in the car at the moment.

    Q: And just a final quick through from you, very strong performance today, particularly in FP2. Daniel was in here yesterday and he said he thought he might have a chance of winning this race. Does everything you’ve seen today – short runs, long runs – give you a bit of encouragement on that front.

    CH: I think both guys have had a strong day today, particularly Daniel this evening had a strong session – but we didn’t really see Ferrari’s true hand, particularly on the short runs, and Mercedes always hold a bit up their sleeves – but it’s been certainly a positive day. I think Daniel’s invigorated by his new haircut that he turned up with the other day and obviously been using that air conditioning to good effect.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Cyril, you described 2019 as ‘speculation’ just then but have you told Red Bull already that you don’t want to supply them in 2019 – and if you have, how do you intend to… are you confident you’ll be able to stick with that given the undertakings you have to Formula One Management?

    CA: Well, obviously Red Bull is well aware of the situation and right now we really want to focus on what’s certain – and what is certain is 2018. Any other year or situation will be looked at vis-à-vis different undertakings that we have with FIA. All manufacturers have got some obligation to supply, so the situation is fairly straight forward. I think that it’s more on the Red Bull camp to define what’s best for them medium- to long-term.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Zak, if I could just ask you, in the Renault press releases they talk about their mid-term goals and challenging for championships in 2020. This is a three year deal – do you see this as a short-term fix for McLaren – and is there any fear of Red Bull picking up a Honda power unit that has turned things around in the future?

    ZB: No, this is not a short-term fix. At the end of the day no-one knows yet what the engine rules are in 2021, so I think it’s hard for anybody to look beyond 2020 because we don’t know what ’21 looks like. We think we’ve got a long-term partnership, the foundation for it. Renault’s got a great history in the sport, won a lot of championships with Red Bull, won a lot of championships themselves, so we’re very happy where we are: we think we’ll be very competitive together.

     

    Any fear or Red Bull-Honda?

    ZB: We’ve got great competition on both sides of me right now and Ferrari and Mercedes. I think probably what we’re most concerned about is not a Red Bull-Honda combination or any combination out there. We need to get budgets under control. I think the reason you see the gaps in the field now is the gaps in budgets between the top two teams and everyone else is way too big. The gaps seem to be getting bigger I think that’s something that Formula One is going to address. That’s probably where our biggest concern is: making sure we get a more level playing field. So, many teams can win races, ’21 onwards.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Cyril, Red Bull and McLaren build very good chassis. You’ll all have equal engines next year – what are you going to do to match them?

    CA: Build a very good chassis! How? Well, frankly, if we are in Formula One it is not just to make up figures. It’s not just to participate. We are here with ambition at some point in order to challenge top team. Those two teams are top teams but there are two others in Mercedes and Ferrari. So, the problem is not just McLaren, it’s all teams that we must be able to fight against by 2020. In relation to that we are recruiting, we are investing, we are hiring obviously young drivers, we are finding new sponsors, we improve the commercial side of the business. We now have a sustainable association with McLaren, so all of these elements are playing a role in that target to be at the top by 2020.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Zak, you spoke about the inequitable budgets and pay outs and whatever else in Formula One. Your team and Christian’s team are two of the four teams that actually receive preferential payments and bonuses from Formula One management. You say you need to get budgets under control – that would tend to indicate that you’re talking about a budget cap of some type or other, as well as an equitable payment structure. All three of you, do you believe that budget caps should be introduced – and how do you feel about the figure of $150million that’s been discussed at the moment – excluding drivers, management and engines?

    ZB: Speaking for McLaren, we’re a fan of budget caps. We think it’s important. Most other sports have it and it will equal the playing field. And we recognise that means, as you mentioned, we’re one of the four teams that get special payments, that might mean some compromise – but we feel if the sport is healthier ultimately that will benefit all of us. We’re a great racing team. There’s lots of great racing teams and we want to race and have the same chance as everyone else. The $150million number that we here, that sounds in the right ballpark. You get into a lot of detail: how do you handle CapEx, executive salaries, overhead etcetera, etcetera, so it’s quite complex – but the concept of the budget cap, yes, and the number of $150million seems to be in the right ballpark.

    Q: Christian, do you and Red Bull’s owner Mr Mateschitz see things in the same way?

    CH: I think we see things slightly differently. We’re fully in favour of reducing costs. I think the problem if you just introduce a budget cap with current regulations is that we’ll end up employing teams of accountants to find smart ways of circumventing the current set of rules. So, I think the biggest cost driver are the technical regulations – and I think FIA, FOM need to get those under control: to get the chassis-side under control, to clean up the cars – they’re starting to look far too messy in terms of all the appendages that are growing on them. And, of course, a key part of that also is the engine. We’re sitting here today with enormous engine bills because of the technology that are involved in these power units. The manufacturer obviously is bearing the brunt of the research and development costs of those engines that one has to question, what is the actual road relevance of? So I think there needs to be an absolute root and branch review of the regulations. I think once that is done, then you can potentially look at a budget cap – because it becomes a far softer mechanism than if you introduce the budget cap tomorrow, then with race teams incorporated as part of larger OEMs it would be almost impossible to effectively police the allocation of resource and spend and facilities, etcetera.

    Cyril?

    CA: Pretty much the view of both McLaren and Red Bull. I would tend to agree that if there is any form of cap or cost control mechanism through the regulation it should also encompass the engine – but not just the cost of supply but also the cost to develop the engine. That’s something we fell short so far. It’s complex – but I understand something that Ross Brawn and Liberty are taking very, very seriously and will come up with some proposal in the near future.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Cyril and possibly a comment from Christian, as part of the package deal that’s been done amongst the teams, you’ve now got Carlos Sainz for 2018. There’s been much speculation that he could be in a Renault seat before the end of this year. Is that something that is potential to happen and if so, Christian, would you be behind it?

    CA: Yeah, you know I want to talk about realities. The reality is that Carlos will be in the car in Melbourne in 2018. Obviously your question makes reference to the situation of Jo, Jolyon Palmer. It’s a speculation that we – him and the team – have had to live with for… I don’t know how many races and frankly it’s really difficult on Jo and a bit unfair on Jo and the team and to a certain degree, it maybe has had a negative impact on his ongoing performance. Right now, what I see is that we have a car that is capable of scoring points in Singapore. That’s the focus and we have an ongoing contract with Jo until the end of the season.

    CH: We’ve lent Carlos out to Renault from 2018. We’ve retained him within the Red Bull family because obviously we rate him as a driver very highly. We will be very interested to see how he performs against Nico Hulkenberg. I think any speculation prior to that is very much Renault’s business.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Zak, Honda brought a significant amount of investment to McLaren which won’t be there now. You spoke about going out and having to raise sponsorship; how do you plan to plug that shortfall and how confident are you that that shortfall can be plugged relatively quickly?

    ZB: Well, I’m very confident. We have control of our finances. We’re a big team, we’re fortunate in that we have very committed shareholders, that the remit is ‘go win races, make the right sporting decisions and then the business will follow.’ It’s certainly going to be a lot easier to find sponsorship partners running towards the front of the field. It’s something that we’ve invested a lot in, the commercial team. It’s a big area of my background, I’m certainly not responsible for the speed of the racecar. And so I’m confident. It will take some time but our shareholders are very committed, very aware and we wouldn’t have made this decision if we weren’t prepared to work through short term economic loss from the lack of Honda income.

    Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Mr Abiteboul, could you please sum up the strengths of the two drivers you will have in your team next year, and could you please also precise the expectations you will have in terms of results?

    CA: In terms of expectations, maybe it’s a bit too early to talk about expectation for 2018, apart from the fact that it has to be a year that we will continue the construction of the team and the progress toward… from the midfield to the top team. This season is not completely dead. We already have a big job ahead to try and finish better than where we are currently and where I think…  the car is capable of doing much better than eighth in the championship where we are today. As far as the drivers are concerned, I think we will have a perfect combination and balance between experience with Nico – lots of seasons – but also something to prove. He’s still yet to score a podium and we hope to be able to provide him with a car that’s capable of that, starting next year. And Carlos, still young, but already lots of experience in a good team, good organisation, good academy, three years with Toro Rosso. We can also remember the years that he was against Max Verstappen and actually the gap was not huge. I think everyone sort of wondered… the decision of Red Bull which obviously I’m not challenging… of going for Max rather than Carlos, which says something about Carlos’s pace and abilities and also the fact that Red Bull wanted to retain him as a driver and only be prepared to let him go as a loan does say something about the pace of Carlos. And he’s also not well (un)known to the family. He was racing with Renault in junior categories. He won Formula Renault 3.5 and Formula Renault 2.0 so it’s also to a certain degree some form of a return on somethings that we have invested in because sometimes people question why Renault is investing so much in these younger categories and this example is a good example as to why we are doing that.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Cyril, Christian, I’m confused. The story is out there, you’ve not denied it but you’re not confirming it either, so on behalf of everyone who wants a straight answer to a straight question: are Renault supplying engines to Red Bull in 2019 or not?

    CH: Well, look David, anything that is beyond ’18 is speculation, so it’s neither confirming nor denying. So the situation for ’18 is absolutely clear. Anything beyond that will be dealt with behind closed doors, not through the media in terms of what will be the future, so I think the situation post ’18 is very clear. Our focus at the moment is on designing the best car we can for ’18. We will have a TAG Heuer Renault-provided engine and that will be the case for next year. Anything beyond that is speculation, conjecture, and there will be all kinds of rumours, I’m sure, between now and then.

    CA: Nothing to add.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Do you want to supply engines?

    CA: Do we want to supply an engine? We are an engine supplier. Frankly I think Christian has provided the best possible answer. I think that you must appreciate that there are a number of things that need to be considered and discussed. I think, frankly, you can infer from the answer of Christian what is the contractual situation which we have no obligation to disclose at this point in time. We’ve got a number of obligations towards the FIA. There was a reference to the obligations towards FOM; as an engine manufacturer our business Is obviously to supply engines, not under any terms, not under any sort of circumstances and it has to serve a strategic interest which I guess is what will be discussed in the future.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Christian, when McLaren-Honda partnered, I think it was Ron who said that the only way to win championships was to have a works partnership. Do you think that’s going to be the case, going through to the end of 2020 and how difficult is it going to be to change beyond the end of 2020?

    CH: As I said earlier, I think everybody’s genuinely happy and excited about Honda remaining in Formula One. I think it’s great news for Toro Rosso, I think it’s great news for Honda and we’ll certainly be paying very close interest to that. I think that the engine is too much of a performance differentiator in Formula One as it currently stands and it’s wrong that manufacturers and teams find themselves in this situation. I just hope that moving forward… Ross seems to have a really good group of people around him. He seems to be working very well with the FIA to come up with a sensible set of regulations that control costs, of development that controls effectively the spread of performance, controls the supply price to customers and creates a more level playing field than we’ve seen since the introduction of these regulations that have been – really since they’ve been introduced in 2014 – have been extremely divisive and haven’t really added to Formula One that I can see in any way.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) With reference to the answers that I got earlier on regarding the budget cap and also what you’ve just said, Christian would you be prepared to accept a cost cap or budget cap linked to regulations from 2021 onward when the current regulations expire, so that the two get introduced simultaneously?  And then to Cyril, Cyril, does it make sense ramping up your team, knowing that budget caps could actually be in place by then?

    CH: Answering the first part of your question: we’re all in favour of reducing costs. Now the reason that we were previously against budget cap was because, as a team that was just a Formula One team, we were concerned, compared to our rivals that were part of OEMs, that costs could be hidden, could be contained. I think if you deal with the root source of the problem which is the regulations that create the expenditure, then bringing in a cap on top of that, if the two are done hand-in-hand, that’s acceptable to us but they have to go hand-in-hand. If you put all the pressure just on a budget cap, as I say, we’ll end up in a World Championship of accountants and who can hide the most money.

    CA: No, it’s a good question. Anything we are doing, right now, obviously is with the current set of regulations, so it’s very difficult to assume a different set of regulations when you make strategic decisions like investment, like recruitment. Having said that, we really put at the top of our priorities the cost efficiency of the organisation. We accept that the cost efficiency actually… if you want to be a very competitive team in Formula One, you need to accept right now to be very low in terms of cost efficiency. And that’s something we try to see from a different angle. Right now, our commercial structure is slightly different from the top teams. There was reference made previously to the CCB status and others coming from FOM; we do not enjoy that status, so actually, to a certain degree, a cost cap would not hurt us to the same degree as the other teams and we believe that it’s good for the sport. So we are still at that position where we can adjust what is our lending platform in terms of recruitment, so we don’t feel that there is any risk related to that.

    Q: (Michael Lamonato – Class Act Media) Question to all three and to Cyril in your capacity as an engine manufacturer rather than a works team: there’s been a lot of talk about grid penalties all year and particularly after the Italian Grand Prix Ross Brawn said he would perhaps like to see a future without grid penalties. Have you had those discussions with Ross about what those alternatives might be and amongst the three of you, do you have any solutions you believe would be fairer than what we currently have?

    CA: There is a solution which is to have an engine that is reliable or a car that is reliable and that’s our priority, frankly, and we come short of that objective right now. Clearly it’s going in the right direction in the sense that there will be even fewer components alone next season. Having said that, most of the penalties that we have this year are related to the fact that we were very late in the development of our engine this year and we have all the confidence to be much more reliable next year, despite the fact that the life of the engine will be increased. Having said that, I think that grid penalties do not make sense. When you already have a problem on track, there is already a pain. To a certain degree it’s a double hit, a double impact which I think we could easily lose but we will still need, given the cost of the engine, to have some form of limitation in the number of engines that are used. Right now, we are making plans for the regulation and we need to have some form of stability we’ve invested in order to make the move from four power units (to three) per driver per season, I would hate having to go back and having this situation to be changed for next year. Having said that, I guess the penalty could be changed.

    ZB: Well, I consider us to be grid penalty experts and we need to get rid of them. I think it’s confusing for the fans, 65 grid penalties here, we start here, we start there. There’s got to be a better way. Haven’t yet really thought through what the best solution is but I think when fans show up to races they want to see the best drivers set the fastest times sitting at the front, where they belong. So certainly, there needs to be some sort of penalty but I think it’s gotten to the point now where it’s not easy for people to understand what those penalties are so there’s got to be a clearer way to do that.

    CH: As Zak said, I think most importantly for the fans… I mean who on earth could understand what was going on on the grid at Monza? I mean that was just nuts. I think the penalties are inelegant. Why should the driver be penalised? Maybe it should be a team thing as opposed to the driver or maybe the manufacturers should just be fined a disgustingly large amount of money for every failure that there is so that could be another way of… Dieter’s point of wealth distribution.

  • 2017 Singapore GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Singapore GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Masashi YAMAMOTO (Honda), Katsuhide MORIYAMA (Honda), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Moriyama-san, today the new partnership with Toro Rosso and also the separation with McLaren was announced. Can you make a comment from Honda’s point of view?

    Katsuhide MORIYAMA: Yes, good afternoon gentlemen, my name is Moriyama and I am the operations officer for Honda and today I am here representing Honda. Well, first of all, before we start, I would like to show my deep appreciation to the FIA and to Liberty Media for giving us such a huge support in order to conclude the deal in such a short period of time and in providing us such a special stage to announce our new start. So now regarding McLaren: it is very disappointing that we have to end the partnership without achieving our target, which we had set at the beginning of the project. Also it is a shame, the fact that we were not able to reach our performance target, that affected a lot the relationship. However, it also my pleasure that we can start a new relationship with Toro Rosso, a team with a very youthful energy and a history of nurturing the stars of the future. I think this is the start of a new chapter for Honda F1 and I’m already looking forward to seeing the opening race in Melbourne next year.

    Moriyama-san there have been suggestions in the past few months that the Honda board actually discussed pulling out of Formula One, and if so why did the board decide that Honda would remain in the sport?

    KM: For Honda, Formula One has started with the dream of our founder Mr Soichiro Honda and we already have a 50-year history in Formula One and for our company obviously Formula One is a very important culture as well as the DNA of our company. It is true that we have gone through a very tough situation now and nobody was satisfied with the current board, especially the board. It is true that we have gone through many discussions due to the dissatisfaction of the present and we discussed the project with the company and how to improve the situation. Quitting F1 was never an option for us. It is out goal to overcome this tough challenge and get back to fighting with the frontrunners of the sport. Our spirit, Honda’s spirit, is going to come back and for next year our goal is to fight for the top three at the front of the grid.

    Thank you very much. Yamamoto-san, you are the person who is actually dealing with all the negotiations with McLaren and with Franz and Toro Rosso. Tell us how it all happened from your point of view.

    Masashi YAMAMOTO: It’s true, because we have been struggling with the goals that we had, it’s true that from the beginning of the season there had been discussions with McLaren about dissolving our relationship. Honda always wished to continue with McLaren towards a good result. Therefore, it is, for us, a shame and a pity, a disappointment, that we have to separate. But as you know, since the Italian Grand Prix the results haven’t been famous and so our thoughts have started to change. So, as you know, in fact from the US Grand Prix last year, we work with Super Formula in Japan and from last year in the US we met with Dr Helmut [Marko] and we have been having conversations regarding the Red Bull [Junior] Pierre Gasly, who races in Super Formula in Japan. So I’ve had many opportunities to speak with Dr Marko since last year regarding the Super Formula and after the Italy Grand Prix, Dr Marko actually mentioned Toro Rosso. In fact, Mr Franz Tost has lived in Japan and knows Japan well, and as you know Toro Rosso is a very young team and I think we have many things in common and we are very much looking forward to working with Mr Tost.

    Yamamoto-san, Honda has obviously had a very difficult in coming back to Formula One, so what makes you confident that you have can success with Toro Rosso?

    MY: Although we do not have much time until the start of the next season, I feel that we are going to have a very good season, a good relationship between Honda and Toro Rosso. I believe that Toro Rosso is a pure racing team. The spirit of Toro Rosso is very similar to the spirit of Honda and in the short time we have I believe we can work smoothly and successfully for the next years.

    Franz why is this the right move for your team and who is going to make the gearbox?

    Franz TOST: First of all, thank you very much to the Honda management, to Moriyama-san and to Yamamoto-san to trust Toro Rosso. We at Toro Rosso are very proud and happy to work together with such an exclusive partner like Honda is and we are convinced that we will have a very successful future. The gearbox will be made by Toro Rosso, like the year before.

    OK, what happens this year and next year with drivers? Dany Kvyat, Pierre Gasly we’ve heard about and also Nobuharu Matsushita. What are your thoughts on the drivers in this situation?

    FT: Well currently we have two quite successful and competitive drivers with Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz and I assume that they will finish the season with us and regarding the drivers for next year and then Red Bull will decide who is driving with us and of course we will also take into consideration any request from our partners.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto week) A question for Yamamoto-san. What have you learned from your experiences in F1 during the past few years?

    MY: Well, I have joined this project last April and I have realised that Formula One is indeed, as it’s said, a top-level championship – quite different from the domestic championships that we have. To keep a good relationship and to keep everyone satisfied is very difficult. As a manufacturer I realise that Formula One’s technology is very high and for Honda, that joined a year later, it has been a struggle for us to keep up with the new technology.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Yamamoto-san it’s not secret that Honda haven’t managed to make a success of Formula One for the past three years, so why should it be more successful for the next three years? For Mr Tost, why do you believe that Honda can actually make a success of Formula One until the end of 2020?

    MY: It’s not that I’m more confident for the next three years but it is that when we compare our policies, Mr Tost’s and Honda’s, Toro Rosso policy and our policies are very similar and so we think we can work in harmony and move forwards for the next three years until the change of the regulations.

    FT: Four years ago, it was in October, before the Suzuka Grand Prix, I visited the Honda factory. They have a fantastic infrastructure and I think in the meantime I think they have learned a lot about the new power unit and I am convinced within the next three years, also within the short term, Honda will improve their performance dramatically. They have already come up with real good upgrades during this season – unfortunately, because McLaren is very close to us – and I am 100% convinced that Honda will make big steps forward in the near future and within the next three years and therefore, once more, as I said before, we are more than happy to work together with such a fantastic partner. I am looking forward to next year because I think that Honda and Toro Rosso will have a successful season.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) A question for Moriyama-san. Now that Honda has committed to come back with Toro Rosso and stay in Formula One for the next three years, what do you think Formula One needs to do to attract more Japanese automakers to come into Formula One as manufacturers?

    MY: One important thing at the moment is that in Japan at the moment Formula One is not broadcast on free-to-air TV. So we believe that the most important factor is that at the moment the fans can only watch through satellite/pay TV, so that is maybe the biggest issue to increase the number. Obviously, us as Honda, it would improve our promotional ways of improving our Honda F1.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For Franz: Getting a works engine was always one of your targets for Toro Rosso. Now that’s done, do you think that your team has what it takes to fight with the other works teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault?

    FT: Toro Rosso is not Ferrari, Mercedes; we have another infrastructure. But I can promise you that we, within our possibilities, will do the best possible job and then the rest we will see. It is not always and only the money which is decisive for the success. I hope at Toro Rosso we will work efficiently, because this is our slogan, and to get the most out of the package and then the rest then we will see. The future will show. If necessary, then of course, maybe we will bring in more people, increase even the infrastructure, whatever is necessary to have the success that Honda wishes, but this is too early a stage to talk about the details of the infrastructure. But I am convinced we are in a position to fight successfully within the midfield or the forward part of the midfield and the rest then we will see. Then future will see.

    Q: (Sandor Meszaros – Autosport ES) A question for Franz. Congratulations on the Honda deal, but I wanted to ask you about Sean Gelael, who drove today in one of your cars. We saw him, he performed in a very mature way in the Monza F2 races and he was very calm today. How do you see his performance and how do you see his future?

    FT: Sean Gelael was testing with us two times. The first time was in Bahrain after the grand prix. He showed really a very, very good performance there. We were surprised, because I didn’t expect that he would be so fast after I saw his Formula 2 race the day before. The second time he tested in Hungary. There he showed a real good performance, especially in sector one. In Sector two he was matching the times of our drivers. And now today he was out in Free Practice 1. He will do another Free Practice 1 and then we have another test in Abu Dhabi and at the end of the test in Abu Dhabi we will sit together and we will discuss further steps for the future. He will do next year Formula 2 as it looks like and then we will see. It depends always on the driver. If he is doing a fantastic job and improving his performance then of course there are always doors open. But first of all he has to perform really well next year in Formula 2 and then we will see. Today he did a fantastic job, we were really happy with him.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Yamamoto-san, I believe that McLaren Applied Technologies, a sister company to the Formula One team, supplied a lot of the hybrid componentry. Will that continued going forward despite the split?

    MY: For the time being we will continue with that company. Meanwhile, we are already producing most the parts by ourselves, so in the future it will be all produced by Honda.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Auto week) Moriyama-san. The President of the Honda company says that you need to take more risks to get back to how Honda used to be. Do you think that is one of the problems you have had in Formula One?

    KM: No, we don’t think so. We don’t think that the problem was not taking enough risk. As Mr Yamamoto said earlier, we had a gap when we returned to the Formula One and closing the gap has been the biggest problem. And so to shorten the gap, Honda has done the best we could. We reached everything, we sped up as much as we could to reach a compatible level. Therefore, I believe we have been able to catch up and shorten the gap quite a lot but we understand there is more to be done.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) A question for Franz. You mentioned the driver line-up for the rest of this season, saying you hope to keep Dany and Carlos until the end of the year but does there remain a possibility that your could lose Carlos from the next race onwards and how keen are you to avoid that sort of disruption?

    FT: I’m not aware about this.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) So there is no possibility?

    FT: No.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) A question to Yamamoto-san. It’s well known that Honda contributed a significant amount to McLaren’s budget. Will that amount now go into Toro Rosso’s budget? How do the financials work out under this new agreement you have with Toro Rosso?

    MY: Well, you probably read a lot of news on the internet. As I want to express here: our relationship with Mr Tost, with Toro Rosso is very amicable and is very leveled. Therefore we are not planning or thinking of having to pay a big budget to keep a position or anything like that.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Yamamoto-san, there were rumours before this deal was announced that Honda was considering purchasing Toro Rosso. Was this ever considered as a possibility and if not, would it be something you would consider in the future?

    KM: Well, me too, I read it in the news. We never discussed that in our company and we haven’t discussed future possibilities either. Anyway, our relationship with Toro Rosso is very good and our ideals and our goals is to get both our strong points, match them together and bring that into a great performance, so it is 50-50.

    Q: (Joe Saward – Autoweek) Yamamoto-san, are you going to supply Red Bull with engines in 2019?

    KM: Well, our main goal now is to absolutely concentrate on 2018 and Toro Rosso, We are going to give our best to achieve our best performance together as a team. But if there is a chance in the future to supply engines, why not. But at the moment track performance is our main goal and that’s what we are focused on.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Yamamoto-san, Moriyama-san, I don’t who can answer this question best, but in the past to Honda Formula One was always a technical exercise but one gets the feeling that since the 2000s or thereabouts it’s actually become a marketing or communications exercise. What is Formula One actually to Honda – is it marketing or engineering, and if it is both, what is the split?

    KM: Well, as I earlier mentioned and as Mr Moriyama mentioned, Honda’s DNA is motor sport and in anything we do work under the racing spirit and therefore it plays a very strong performance in our production, in our challenge, so our workers they have in mind this racing spirit, motor sports as DNA whenever they produce anything. Therefore, we don’t divide it into percentages of marketing or technology. It’s the mentality, the philosophy of motor sport, DNA, racing spirit into creating anything we do.

  • 2017 Singapore GP: Friday Practice Round Up

    2017 Singapore GP: Friday Practice Round Up

    It was all Red Bull on Friday for both Free Practice One and Free Practice Two at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Daniel Ricciardo topped both sessions leading the way for Red Bull and sending an early warning to Ferrari and Mercedes.

    Free Practice 1

    FP1 got off to a bit of a damp start after some afternoon rain. Early runners were caught out at a few places where the track was still damp but that did not stop Lewis Hamilton from setting the early pace in the session.

    The session was topped by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo with a session best time of 1:42.489. Splitting the Red Bull’s was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel 0.109s off the pace with his session best time of 1:42.598. Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull was 3rd fastest of the session with a a best time of 1:42.610.

    Although he set the early pace, Hamilton could only manage 4th fastest ahead of Sergio Perez in the Force India in 5th and team-mate Valtteri Bottas in 6th. Bottas struggled for pace for most of the session. Fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen finished 7th fastest in the second Ferrari 1.245s off the pace.

    Finishing 8th was Fernando Alonso in the McLaren. While he should be happy that McLaren will be running Renault power from next year, he just cant seem to resist taking a few pot-shots at Honda over the team radio. “For info. We could be P-1,” quipped the Spaniard sarcastically  when told he was 7th fastest on the time sheets.

    Nico Hulkenberg was 9th fastest for Renault with Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso rounding out the top 10.

    As usual in Singapore and with a street track, there were lots of lock ups and off track excursions with a few spins thrown in for good measure.


    Free Practice 2

    Free Practice 2 takes place under the lights in Singapore and the session is more representatives of the times teams will set during qualifying and the race.

    Once again the Red Bulls dominated the session with Daniel Ricciardo once again outpacing his team mate to finish fastest. Verstappen finished 2nd fastest, just a touch over half a second off the pace. Ricciardo set a new track record around the Marina Bay Street Circuit of 1:40.852. Ricciardo’s time blitzed last years FP2 time by 3.3s.

    It was a challenging session for Ferrari with Vettel unable to set a fast time on the ultra soft after being blocked somewhat by the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. Vettel abandoned those plans after slapping the barrier with the rear right of his Ferrari. Thankfully for the German, his Ferrari came out of the incident unscathed and he was able to complete the rest of the session without much fuss.

    Mercedes looked to have got things together by finishing behind the Red Bull’s in 3rd and 4th with Hamilton leading Bottas. The Silver Arrows have quite a lot of work to do as Hamilton’s time of 1:41.555 was 0.703s off Ricciardo’s best time.

    There were offs from Hamilton, Alonso and Sainz. The latter got into a sticky spot when reversing out of the run of area. An at speed Sebastian Vettel nearly made contact with the reversing Toro Rosso.

    Drivers were clearly testing the limits of the track with Romain Grosjean, Lance Stroll, Max Vesrtappen, Kevin Magnussen and Vettel tagging the walls. After Vettel tagged the wall, the VSC was deployed to allow marshals to repair the advertising board Vettel had ripped off.

    Red Bull looked top of the pops in the long runs with what looks like a significant pace advantage over the Ferrari and Mercedes. If Red Bull lock out the front row in qualifying on Saturday the pair could cruise home to a 1-2 victory.

    There’s still FP3 to go and a lot can still happen.

     

    Photo credit: Red Bull Racing Formula One Team

  • 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Lance STROLL (Williams)

    Q: Kevin, a good record here with points on your previous two visits. You and Romain both looked good in Monaco as well so is there some optimism at Haas this weekend, especially given the tight midfield points battle that you’re in?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: Yeah, I’m quite positive about the weekend but to compare with… Monaco was quite OK for us but a lot of things have changed since then. Other teams have been developing, so have we but it’s difficult to say that we’re going to be as competitive. But we’ll see. I’m positive.

    Q: We talked in part one of the press conference about the importance of qualifying here in Singapore. Amazingly, you’re the only non-Sauber driver yet to reach Q3 – without engine penalties I mean – so presumably that’s a massive priority for you this weekend?

    KM: Yeah, it is. We’ve had the pace a couple of times but just had some issues with the car and reliability problems that meant that the times that we were actually strong enough to do it we didn’t do it. It’s not something I think about too much, it’s more the points that count for me. It is something that I would like to happen. I’ll let it happen when it does.

    Q: Daniel, coming to you: new go-faster haircut is it?

    Daniel RICCIARDO:  It’s pretty aerodynamic. I won’t take the top off. It’s a bird’s nest up there!

    Q: Front row of the grid the last two years here at Singapore, last three years on the podium; does the car you have this year allow you to dream of more than that?

    DR: I think so, I believe so. We’ve certainly got stronger and stronger and I think (that on) the high downforce circuits we’ve been pretty good but getting better. I think, also, looking at the last race, on the low downforce circuit we had really good pace on the Sunday which was a little surprise to us. With that, coming here, with a few updates as well, we should be there. It doesn’t seem like these sort of circuits, this year, are a strength of Mercedes either so I think it could bring Ferrari and us really into that battle. I hope, at least, it’s going to be a tight and exciting one.

    Q: And looking ahead to 2018 and the question of progress, what progress will satisfy you next year?

    DR: You know, we want to win, want to win and win more. We’ve fortunately got one this year. I believe we can win another and then obviously next year to start accumulating more and obviously fight for a title, that’s what we really want. Yeah, we’re certainly going in that direction, particularly since if I look back at Melbourne, that feels like another season ago. We’re in a completely different position so progress has been good, I think we’ve got to keep that going to Abu Dhabi and then make another step across the winter to start strong for 2018.

    Q: Lance, youngest ever front row starter in Monza last time out and a solid run to seventh from there, how did you enjoy life in the fast lane and was seventh the maximum?

    Lance STROLL: I enjoyed the weekend, it was a really solid weekend, Saturday, Sunday, especially Saturday, that was really the highlight of the weekend, if you ask me. In the wet was a good opportunity. We really pulled it out of the bag and that was great. I enjoyed that. I don’t think seventh was the maximum, no. I think fifth was possible with the pace we had. Unfortunately I got squeezed by Lewis at the start so I had to back out and I was kind of boxed in and Esteban managed to get around the outside of me so that wasn’t perfect. Again, the pit stop took I think 4.4 seconds so mathematically we were supposed to get in front of Esteban or at least have a shot, side by side, coming out of the pit exit but that didn’t happen and on top of it we lost a position to Kimi so it wasn’t a perfect race, we were pretty compromised being stuck behind Esteban throughout the whole race but again, that is racing, you do face adversity so it was still a great result and if we could continue scoring solid points like that, P7s, P8s until the end of the year I think we will be really happy as a team.

    Q: On some tracks this year you’ve been right there from the get-go; is that just a question of feeling or is it something more technical than that and from what you know of Singapore, do you think this is likely to be another one?

    LS: It’s a bit of both. It’s a combination of driving, feeling and the car as well. I don’t know here at Singapore. It’s a bit different everywhere. Generally, yeah, I quite enjoy street circuits: Monaco, Baku. It’s fun when there’s a consequence when you make mistakes, I think it makes it a bit more exciting. Obviously it’s frustrating when you do hit the wall and stuff, I’m not saying that but I quite like the buzz of being close to walls and the whole rhythm you have to get into on a street circuit. It’s always good fun so I’m looking forward to driving round here. Hopefully the car can be competitive this weekend. I know it’s not exactly our kind of track. We’ve seen over this season that low downforce, long straights, slower corners – that’s really been our strength and higher downforce we’ve really really struggled. But I’m positive that with the whole team and everyone we’ve thought of solutions to improve that for this weekend. We’ve just got to what we do and see what happens.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – Algemeen Dagblad) What challenges and difficulties does a night race bring to you and do you prefer it over daytime racing?

    DR: It doesn’t really change too much in terms of… you know the visibility here is really good. Some areas, maybe the light is a tiny bit more dim than others but it’s fine. Actually, I think during the night here it’s cool with all the city, the lights and all that, it makes quite a spectacle so… I think if we did the race in the day it would probably lose some of that so I’m happy driving here at night and I don’t think you’re compromised with visibility anywhere. It’s pretty well lit.

    KM: Yeah, same, not a big difference.

    LS: My only experience under the lights was in Bahrain and I didn’t do too many laps in that Grand Prix. No, it should be really cool under the lights and the city all lit up. I think everyone really gets into it so I’m really looking forward to it.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Daniel, earlier this year, at the beginning of the year, you released a clothing line of yours that you designed for the Australian Grand Prix and I’m wondering how’s it going? Can you give us an update on it and do you plan to expand on it? And you two, have you ever thought about the aspiration of the avenues of clothing, fashion design, to expand upon as athletes?

    DR: Thanks for mentioning it, I’ll give you a free hoodie if you want one. We’ve kind of seen, over the last – whatever – couple of years, call it, there were a few requests coming in, I guess, from fans: will we ever bring out something for some fan merchandise, away from team stuff as well, more personal for a fan? We decided to do kind of a basic range for now and just keep it simple and see how it goes and so far it’s going good. I’ve got some fans, which is nice. We’ll see. Obviously if there’s demand we’ll expand it and create some more,  different, unique, probably more fashionable items but it was just to kind of keep it pretty simple for now and see how we… a real entry level and see how it goes. It‘s cool, today I saw some guys wearing the T-shirts and the hats and it’s fun so… What colour do you like? I’ll hook you up, it’s alright.

    KM: Could do something. I see a lot of Danish people at the tracks always. I recently had an interview that some people created T-shirts with a quote from that interview and…

    DR: What was the quote?

    KM: I can’t even remember!

    DR: You don’t remember it? Sure?

    KM: Do you? OK. I’m not going to produce any of those T-shirts but could do something different.

    Q: And Lance, what about you? There’s a fair bit of clothing knowledge in your family, isn’t there?

    LS: Yeah, I don’t think so. Maybe, down the line. Play it by ear. Right now I’m good with my Williams fashion. It’s good at the race track but we’ll see, play it by ear. You never know.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Liberty are starting to engage much more on a digital basis and their own digital platforms; coming to social media for drivers, to the three of you, how heavily are you involved in social media? Do you do your own tweets, are you actively involved and do you see it as a way to engage fans and bring new, younger fans into the sport in the future?

    LS: I’m not on Twitter. I’m all about the fan, don’t get me wrong, but I try to stay out of some of the noise in this world but for sure, I like Instagram and stuff, post a picture, people get to see what you’re getting up to, that’s always nice, but for sure, to expand Formula One across the world and give a bit of a view to the fans of what’s going on is always nice. It’s about balancing it out, I guess.

    DR: It’s been good. I agree, I think it’s a balance. The good thing about it is we control it, I control my pages and we can put out what we want and keep what we want so that’s a good thing. We do control it. Some are doing more into their personal life than others. I think it’s good to keep some mystery still as well, not show everyone everything. I did something in Spa, like a time lapse of the race day, in my driver room so I’m sure hardly anyone had even seen my driver room before so that gave them a little insight. It’s not giving away anything but it’s just something unique. I like what F1 did in Monza; I think they put the GoPro on Lewis’s champagne bottle and sprayed that… so that was like a driver’s point of view of what standing on the podium’s like so little things like this. Even for me watching it, I was like that’s really cool so I can imagine a fan watching that, it’s pretty awesome. I think they’re doing great things and I think it’s only going to get better. For us, personally, as long as we stay in control of our own things then I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it or any danger of it getting out of hand so I think it’s pretty good.

    KM: Yeah, I agree, I think there’s been a change for the good in what F1 is giving to the fans on social media etc and I think that’s very good.

  • 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Jolyon PALMER (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Fernando, these 2017 Formula One cars were intended to be more physical. Everyone seems to have coped fine so far, but is this the race that the drivers are expecting to be really tough?

    Fernando ALONSO: Probably, yes. I think this one and the next one, Malaysia, will be the two races that will be more demanding physically, but as you said, I think there was more news in the winter than what actually we got when we went in the cars, so I think it’s going to be OK and no problems for anyone.

    And what news of you? Are you happy with the direction things are going with the McLaren? What have you been telling the team this past month or so?

    FA: Not much.

    Any idea when we will have some news from you?

    FA: As I said, I will think what is the best option and as I have said many times, whatever I do next year is because I want to win. I will not be around in any series to be fighting for top 10 or top 15, nothing like that. There are many options out there that I am studying, that I’m looking at. As I said, Formula One is my first and only priority and I will wait and make a decision on that before making decisions on other series. And at the same time, I want to give time to my team, after the last three years, with some struggles we went through together, to have time for them to make decisions, to see the future, next year’s car and after they take their decisions I will take mine. I want to stay loyal at least to that and not make any decisions without them making first their decision. So relaxed, happy and we’ll see what’s going on in the next weeks.

    Thanks. Lewis, world championship leader at the moment and also like Fernando a two-time Singapore Grand Prix winner, you’ve had four years without this guy in your face at grand prix races, battling you for the wins. Is it too strong to say that you have missed those battles and do you believe that he might be battling with you again next year?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I hope that he has got a car to fight with us next year, I think that only adds to the spectacle and the challenge. We want to see the best drivers and the best teams up there and it’s been a shame not to have McLaren where they have historically have been. So I hope that whether it’s with McLaren or wherever Fernando happens to be next year that he has the chance to be fighting with us.

    Obviously massive weekends for you in Spa and Monza and particularly that win in Monza and the all-time record on poles. Speaking of poles, pretty critical here. I think it’s seven of the last eight Singapore Grands Prix have been won by the polesitter and the only exception is you, when you broke down that time in your last race here with McLaren. So would it be too strong to say that your focus this weekend is on that single lap and perfect execution on Saturday?

    LH: I’ve not really put any thought into it yet; the work goes into it today. I think qualifying, of course, if that is the case… you can’t really overtake here, plus the cars are wider, so positioning is going to be very important, so getting the car set up right so you can execute in qualifying I guess is one of the key matters.

    And there is the feeling that you might be up against it a bit more here compared to Spa and Monza from the Ferrari side, and possible Red Bull as well?

    LH: I think Red Bull will be fast this weekend and it’s knowing that it’s not going to be easiest of weekends potentially, but man I’m coming with positivity and with the plan of winning this race. This is still regardless of if that is the case, the others potentially have a little bit more downforce, whatever it is, we have worked as hard we can to understand the car and we come here with full attack.

    Thank you for that. Jolyon, there has been a fair bit going on behind the scenes in Formula One in the last few weeks particularly around Renault and the teams it’s going to supply in the future. What does it all mean for you?

    Jolyon PALMER: Well, firstly, I’m just focused on doing the job I’m doing, so I try not to pay any attention to that sort of thing. For me, I have seven races this year to try to do the best that I can. Yeah, obviously it has been a bit of tough year. The last two races were much better, even if they didn’t show in the end. The performance has been there or thereabouts, so hopefully the car will be better on these tracks and we can finally get some points.

    Your role is pretty critical now in that very tight midfield Constructors’ battle. You’ve had, I think, five retirements, and four times this year you have been the first car to retire in a grand prix. Has it stopped you from showing what you can do in Formula One?

    JP: Yes, because clearly when the car is not working you can’t drive it, you can’t try to score some points. I think there have been a few places, Silverstone, for example, I didn’t even start the race and that was quite a strong race for us. Baku, I think 11 cars finished, I think a Sauber got the points and we broke down after, again, five or six laps. So definitely it’s not been ideal to have that level of reliability problems, but also in the practice sessions, to lose so much puts you on the back foot for the weekend. But the team has been working very hard at the same time in trying to fix it. Every time something happens we are finding out why, learning from it and we keep getting different problems. But hopefully we have put a stop to that now and I think, like I said, the car is going to be strong, especially in these next few races. So we’re going to have a good car, good reliability, good performance and finally I can show what I can do and score some points.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) A question for Jolyon. Much has been said about your possible future, although nothing has been announced. Would you car to say something about it, and if what is being said in the paddock happens, so you have a Plan B for an alternate drive next year?

    JP: I don’t care too much to talk about it. I know what’s happening. I think there will be announcement at some point in the future, not too long. For me, I’m excited about the future. I haven’t thought too much, but I’m excited for what’s to come.

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – Algemeen Dagblad) A question for all three of you: driving at night, what challenges or difficulties does that bring to you, and do you prefer it over day racing?

    FA: I don’t think it makes any difference to us to be honest. We get used to the night driving quite quickly and the vision you have at that moment, so it makes no difference on driving. Probably this race it’s nice to have it night. It looks good on television. It’s a very unique event. So, probably in my opinion I prefer to race at night because we have been racing at night all the time. In different circuits, maybe in hot places, hot countries, maybe at night is also a good idea.

    LH: Not really much more to add to that. I just feel the same way about it.

    JP: Likewise.

    Q: (Candra Kurnia – Jawa Pos) Lewis, in the last race in Monza, you said your Mercedes was a dream car to drive, and Valtteri also said that Mercedes found a different kind of stability. Do you think this would be a big advantage going into this weekend to fight Ferraris and Red Bulls?

    LH: I don’t think it’s going to be a big advantage. Our understanding of the car will potentially help this weekend. But you never really know where you are going to be able to place the car. So if we can get the car in a place where are comfortable and a bit like where we were in the last two races then we will definitely strong in the fight.

    Q: (John McEvoy – Daily Mail) Fernando, you obviously went to America to race and enjoyed the experience. Are there are options from America, maybe from Indy, if things don’t work out in Formula One for you?

    FA: There are options everywhere. And they are all very good. You just need to be patient and wait a couple of weeks.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Jolyon, there are some suggestions that you won’t be in the car in Malaysia and that you will be replaced by Carlos Sainz. Has the team told you anything about that, are you expecting to be at the car at the next race?

    JP: Yes, I have contract. I’ve got seven more races this year. There have been suggestions for the past 35 races that I might not be at the next one, or in the next few, so this is nothing new for me, it’s water off a duck’s back now. It’s the same, I think at probably most races this year it’s been the case and nothing has changed.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, five years ago you had to retire from the lead because of mechanical issues – can you still remember the emotions on that day and the days after – because I think it was the period when you made the final decision to switch to Mercedes. Do you consider this to be the best decision of your life?

    LH: I do remember the time. I can assure you it didn’t have a bearing on the decision. Obviously, I’d been with McLaren for many, many years and lots of success – so one race doesn’t mean that you make a decision that’s going to affect your whole life. So, still at that point we had one of the best cars, I was leading, it was an unfortunate scenario because the team worked so hard to deserve that win, so it was really unfortunate. I think I was pretty chilled afterwards, as far as I can remember, but… yeah, it was a long time ago. The following days… I was already part-way through negotiations and still weighing up my odds but negotiations were looking good so I was already halfway probably to my decision.

    The other part was: is it the best decision you’ve ever made?

    LH: Yeah. Formula One is like a game of chess and it’s really about picking your moves at the right time and hopefully you have enough options. We always have some options and we all have a decision to make. You hope you make the right ones. Of course, I felt strongly about the decision I made and felt fully confident in it. I could never have dreamed of it being as good as it was, or has been, but that was the hope. Again, another dream came true. It’s been a really great experience and one I wouldn’t change for the world, of course.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Lewis. Yesterday Mercedes announced Bottas for next season. It was not a surprise, of course, but how is it important in this final part of the Championship to have a team-mate that is sure for the future, so that maybe he can help you – or fight with you?

    LH: In all honesty, it doesn’t make any difference to this season: doesn’t change my job, doesn’t change his job, so it has zero impact on that for me personally. I think maybe for him, I can only assume it’s a good feeling to have your next year covered. So yeah, I’m sure he’s… but again we knew it was going to happen so it’s not changed anything.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Question for all three of you to follow-up on an earlier question. Of course, the new F1 game shows Monaco at night. I’d like to know from you guys what other tracks can you think of that would be great to run at night?

    JP: I prefer Monaco in the day, to be honest, because it’s a spectacular place. You’ve got the harbour there, obviously, so I think it’s pretty iconic in the day. This is a nice one to race at night, also Abu Dhabi: you’ve got the lights, got a lot going on there, and Bahrain as well. It was super-hot there this year, so it was even nicer to race at night – but the day’s fine also, I don’t have a big problem with that. I think the race where we race at night there’s a lot of infrastructure, a lot of lighting, a lot of great, iconic things that work at night but I can’t imagine Silverstone, for example, looking so spectacular, there in Northampton. But I think some races are good in the day, some are good at night.

    Fernando, any you think might work?

    FA: Ah, I don’t have a strong opinion on that. It’s hard to image some circuits that historically has been at night, like this one, changing for daytime. And vice versa. I think it’s OK as it is. I don’t imagine any current races at night.

    How about you Lewis? Any thoughts about where might work?

    LH: Not really put much thought into it. I think this track is great being at night. I think it makes a big, big difference. I think the day it would be a lot less exciting. Being at night time makes it a real spectacle. If you look at places like Bahrain, which is a beautiful place and a fantastic circuit, in the daytime, firstly it was just too hot to race really, and then, I don’t know, just wasn’t… when it’s at night you really get to see the sand dune kind of things that are the real features of the surroundings of the circuit. So, I think there are some circuits we could do at night time that would be a bit better. I’ve not really thought of which ones. I think it’s quite cool. Maybe a race where you have it one year in the daytime and one year it’s in the night time. I think it’s a cool feature.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Jolyon, if I understood you correctly earlier on, you said that you knew what was going on with your future, that there would be an announcement soon, and then you said you also had a contract for another seven races but we know that in Formula One contracts are negotiable. If you know exactly what’s going on with your future, then you must know whether you’ll be in Malaysia or whether it’s negotiable. Which is it?

    JP: I said I’ve got seven races to do. I’ll be in Malaysia. I’ll be racing until Abu Dhabi. I’ve already said the same.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Fernando. In Spa I asked Zak about your participation potentially next year at the Indy 500, assuming that you stayed at McLaren, and he was emphatic and said no. He said you would be required to be in Monaco next year because they expected to have better performance and it wouldn’t be a situation like this year. A) does that affect your decision in whether you stay or whether you go to another team and B) does that mean, if you do stay at McLaren, temporarily the dream of the triple-crown is put on hold for a while?

    FA: The triple-crown is a clear target for me in the future and there are three races there, so if one of those, the Indy 500 is together with Monaco, as we know, there is another one still to complete, so triple-crown is still on going at the maximum speed but yeah, I agree the same thing that Zak said: if I remain in Formula One it’s because I believe I can win next year. So, that will ease the decision a lot because I will be in Monaco because I don’t want to lose any points there. So, priority if Formula One, as I said before, and winning here, and triple crown is in the background. As I said, there are three races, not only Indy. So, there are many possibilities to do a fantastic 2018.

    Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel Four) Fernando, at Monza you were a bit unhappy that Jolyon didn’t give you the place back in the battle you two guys were having…

    FA: Not with him. That was your theme the week later and the news, that they changed… with all the engine saga. The news turned a little bit. I was not happy with the stewards and the FIA.

    Did you talk to the stewards any further, and will you talk to them more in the drivers’ meeting?

    FA: I will talk tomorrow but there is not much to talk, y’know. I mean, they make a mistake, they know already so there is not much to talk.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Fernando, just following on from what you were saying about Indy next year, not being able to do it, does that mean you’re focussing on maybe doing Le Mans next year instead – because I don’t believe that does clash with a race?

    FA: There is nothing as yet confirmed. As I said, my plans didn’t change. I’m waiting for my current team to make up their decisions and after that to negotiate whatever possibilities I have here, which is my first priority, and the triple crown, to win it one day, I think that will put me in a good level of a complete driver that can win in any series at any time. So those objectives are still there. As I said, for my fans and for motorsport lovers, they will have a fantastic 2018 season, so the plan is ongoing and very good news is coming.