In this video, released by Formula One’s governing body the FIA called ‘Mapping the Future of Formula Racing’, Single-Seater Commission President Stefano Domenicali talks about the future of formula racing and the path of growth for single-seater drivers to finally reach the pinnacle of formula racing, Formula One. The former Ferrari team principal reveals plans for projects that will change the future of formula racing in order to gear drivers for a path to Formula One.
Tag: stefano domenicali
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Luca di Montezemolo thanks Domenicali for his work at Ferrari
Luca di Montezemolo has accepted the resignation of Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali. In this short statement, he thanked the outgoing team boss for his work with the team and wished his successor, Ferrari North America CEO, Marco Mattiaci well.
“I thank Stefano Domenicali, not only for his constant dedication and effort, but also for the great sense of responsibility he has shown, even today, in always putting the interests of Ferrari above all else.
I hold Domenicali in esteem and I have watched him grow professionally over the twenty three years we have worked together, I now wish him every success for the future.
I also want to wish all the best to Marco Mattiacci, whom I know to be a highly regarded manager and who knows the company well. He has accepted this challenge with enthusiasm.”
Photo credit: Ferrari F1
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CONFIRMED: Stefano Domenicali Steps Down as Ferrari Team Principal
In a shock announcement that first did its rounds as a rumour on Twitter, Ferrari have announced that Stefano Domenicali has stepped down from his role as team principal at the Maranello based team..
Domenicali who has been the team principal for Ferrari since 2008, handed in his resignation today. Ferrari Americas CEO and President, Marco Mattiacci, will take up the role as the new team principal for Ferrari’s F1 team. Mattiacci will take over with immediate effect.
Although some would argue that Domenicali had it coming, the resignation comes as somewhat of a surprise. Back in September last year, Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo was quoted as saying that Domenicali’s job was not on the line and that should he leave, he would be missed. He also indicated that narrowly losing the last two Drivers’ World Titles was no fault of Domenicali’s. “Over the past three years, we have lost two drivers’ world titles at the last race and it was not his fault,” di Montezemolo said at the time.
This lead us to think that Domenicali was safe in his position. But it seems that things have been getting increasingly frustrating at the Scuderia with di Montezemolo’s patience wearing thin.
One cannot help but wonder whether Domenicali may have been pushed to resign by Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo. Since taking over as team principal for Ferrari, he has not had much success. He’s had a string of second place finishes in the Constructors’ Championship but no World Championship titles to boast about.Domenicali’s replacement, Marco Matiacci does not have much Formula 1 experience at all and seems a strange choice.
Before his appointment as team principal, he was the President and CEO at Ferrari North America. It does seem a bit of a curious appointment as Matiacci’s field of expertise is business development, rather than technical F1 management.
This could point toward the start of a bigger reshuffle at the Maranello based team, and all eyes will be on the Prancing Horse for future announcements.
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Australian Grand Prix: Team Principal Press Conference
Team Representatives
Toto Wolff (Mercedes)
Eric Boullier (McLaren)
Rob White (Renault Sport F1)
Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari)
Claire Williams (Williams)
Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing)
Q: A very interesting first day’s running. I’ll start with you Christian, as the defending world champion team. I guess given where you were two weeks ago in the winter testing, you must be fairly pleased with the way this first day of running has turned out. Tell us what has been going on behind the scenes in this intervening period?
Christian Horner: Well today has been a very string first day for us. It’s been our first proper test day of the season. We’ve had a very difficult pre-season with numerous issues, which have been pretty well documented prior to us arriving in Melbourne. It was refreshing for the drivers to get plenty of laps in and really get a first proper feel for the car. It’s been an encouraging start but we still have an awful lot of work to do we can still see that there is quite a gap to the Mercedes and to Ferrari but we’re starting to realise what that gap is and by the end of this weekend that should hopefully have a bit more clarity. But certainly behind the scenes there’s an enormous amount of effort of going on both back in the Red Bull factory back in Milton Keynes and of course in Viry-Chatillon with the Renault guys as well. With such a big regulation change and such is the complexity of what is nowadays referred to as the power unit rather than the engine it’s not unsurprising that there have been quite a lot of issues to deal with.Q: Tell us about managing the situation from your point of view. Does being a four-time world champion team recently – focusing on things like teamwork and morale – does it make it easier to rescue yourself from the kind of situation you were in because you’ve had some success or does it make it more difficult?
CH: Neither of those issues has been an issue. Morale is extremely high and we work very effectively as a team. It’s been a challenging winter to design, build and then obviously modify RB10, but the way the team has responded to the challenge has been fantastic. There is a real desire and inner strength within the team. We’ve achieved quite a bit over the past few years and that’s not by accident. As I’ve said there are always engineering solutions to engineering problems.Q: Thank you for that. Moving to you Stefano. Obviously Christian thinks you’re ahead of his team. Fernando was fastest this morning and third this afternoon. How do you assess the first day of term for Ferrari, and what was the difference in programme between Alonso and Raikkonen.
Stefano Domenicali: Today was an interesting day just to see if some of the issues we had during the Bahrain test were solved. We are still not on top of all the things we have to solve and this is something that shows, as Christian says, the complexity of this project. But you know, what we have to do is keep working on the things we know. We need to improve and that’s the way it is. For sure there were different things to test and to try between the drivers but that’s part of the normal programme we do. In my view today maybe you will see that some teams were a little bit hiding or having some issues for the day. Tomorrow the situation will be different again, we don’t know, we will see. If there will also be different weather conditions this will be another thing we never tested with this car so far, so the managing of the car in possibly wet conditions could be another exciting or challenging thing for all of us. But so far, it’s important that we were able to run with the programme we wanted even if we had some little issue to solve. But that’s part of the game, it’s just the first free practice of a long season.
Q: And are you happy with the structure you’ve got in place now? I know there has been a lot work behind the scenes – technical facilities, changes in the management, new people coming in, appointments and what have you. Is this the team you want now?
SD: I think the basic for sure. We’ve done a great job in the last couple of years to restructure the team, restructure the facility, that was absolutely and imperative thing to do and I think that now we are in the way that we should be to do the best we can in these conditions. So, so far I’m pleased about it.Q: Talking about restructuring, Claire, we’ll come across to you. Obviously very much a new look Williams team in more ways than one. What steps that have gone on behind the scenes with your team are you most proud of at the moment?
Claire Williams: I think like you said we’ve had a lot of effort that’s gone on behind the scenes to make sure that we entered this season in a completely different place as to how we ended it last year. So I think a lot of work has gone one behind the scenes but I don’t think you can single out one of those efforts. Bringing in the Mercedes engine has had a huge influence on our position this year and our performance. Bringing in Pat Symonds and him heading up a whole new technical team as well has been significant and played its part as has obviously bringing in Felipe Massa to partner Valtteri this season. So there has been a lot of work and we’ve had a good winter but this is only the first race of the year and we haven’t qualified yet, so we’ll have to wait and see how we do tomorrow.Q: You had the fastest time in the Bahrain test, you did the second-highest kilometres in testing, where are you today? What has today’s running revealed to you?
CW: Today’s been positive. I think the engineers are all relatively happy with what they’ve managed to achieve. It’s been the usual programme of everything you’d expect us to be running on Friday practice. I think Felipe had a bit of an issue this morning which prevented him from going out – but that was to do with his radio software rather than an issue with the car. Valtteri seems comfortable with the car, little bit of understeer that we’ve got to correct overnight but both drivers are saying that they’re happy.Q: Eric, fifth and ninth this afternoon, plenty of laps on the board. Is it about what you expected from your first day of competitive running?
Eric Boullier: I don’t know if we had any expectations today, just obviously we had a lot of plans and a lot of tests to do, to go though. Obviously first to put again some laps and miles and setup for the drivers. I think we can be happy, we went through most of the plan today so I think the team did a good job.Q: You’ve been at McLaren a few weeks now. What changes do you want to make in the team and how much autonomy are you going to be given to do that by the management group?
EB: The first part of your question, it is still in my head, on my mind, my plan. But it doesn’t have to be public. This is obviously a great team, a lot of history, the best facilities, I think, in the paddock. And obviously a lot of great individuals eager to do well and go back where the team should be. So, that’s going to be… let’s say, most of the work is going to be to get everybody on track on this. For the second part of the question, it’s a team effort as always. The idea behind the split in the team principal role is something which we have… I actually had personal experience in Lotus. I think it’s good today when you have so much travel during the season and so many people to care about at the factory, it’s obvious that you need to focus or get some different roles split over the company. I think it worked well in the past and it should work well in McLaren.Q: Toto, you came here as favourites, certainly among a lot of pundits, fastest and second fastest on the soft tyre runs, long run looked to be a step ahead of the others. Did it turn out how you expected today?
Toto Wolff: Yes. If you look after Free Practice Two and analyse that, that was quite satisfying. As you said, on one lap the pace was good and the long run was good as well. But you can see how quickly it goes. In Free Practice One, Lewis went out and after half a lap the car stopped, so you need to be very careful. It’s just enough to have a little problem and the race or the qualifying could be finished.Q: Obviously you’ve got two top drivers and clearly a competitive package. Have you had conversations behind the scenes in terms of priority, team orders, obviously thinking about what happened last year?
TW: Yes, we had those conversations, and I think it’s important to have those conversations. Both of the drivers know each other for quite a long time, they have been team-mates before – back in karting – and we got caught out by surprise last year in Malaysia and we don’t want this to happen again. It’s just very good discussions we had. They’re not only very talented and fast but also very intelligent. They treat each other in a very fair way. We went through some of scenarios and I think we’re in a good place.Q: So it depends on circumstances as to what you decide?
TW: It depends on circumstances, yes.Q: Rob, two teams getting plenty of laps on the board today, two teams in a bit of difficulty. Obviously your problems going into this season have been well catalogued. How do you feel about what we’ve seen today?
Rob White: First race weekend is always a testing time and of course this year feeling particularly anxious because we’re not as well prepared as we would have liked to have been. So, one of the things that Christian rightly alluded to is the fact that in some ways some of the race weekend scenario still needed to be practiced for the first time in P1 and also P2. So, pleased to be able to run through a normal-looking race weekend programme. That’s the big achievement of today.Q: Obviously you hadn’t done too many practice starts coming into this Melbourne weekend. I noticed there were quite a few taking place with Renault-powered cars today. Are you happy where you are on practice starts?
RW: Yeah. There was nothing magical. They were kind of towards the end of the run plan for the testing and we didn’t quite get there in the pre-season testing in several cases. We haven’t got any particular concern about them. Of course we’re now into learning about the setup parameters in order to try to get some performance into the practice starts. It is a very important phase of the race. We’re very conscious and all of our teams are very conscious of that. So, once again, we’re behind where we would have liked to be and the task now is to try and gain ground.Q: A quick line from you on that Christian, are you comfortable on the starts.
CH: It’s been the least of our problems. We haven’t been out on the track doing laps, let alone starts. We’re hoping to start the race on Sunday so we’ll need a start.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Mark Fogarty – The Age) Claire and gentlemen, the reaction to the sound of the engines has been underwhelming, to say the least. You people have heard these engines during testing, has it occurred to anyone that we’ve got a real problem on our hands, just how horrible they sound, and how the fans are going to react?
CW: Personally I like the sound of the engines, but then I love Formula One and I love watching cars go round a racetrack. I think people will pretty quickly get used to what Formula One engines sound like. We’ve had so many changes over so many decades of motor racing and you very quickly forget what a previous engine sounds like and I think people just want to see a good race on Sunday and I think that as long as we can deliver that then I think that any issues that perhaps… or contentious conversations around that may fade away.TW: Well, if you like sound of engines, let’s go back to V10 and V12, let’s not do any hybrid. This is modern technology, this is where road cars are going. Downsizing is the motto and I think we just need to accept that the formula has changed. These cars are going to go quicker than the old ones in a couple of races, we’re going to get used to the sounds and I promise next year you will not notice and you will not notice any difference any more.
SD: I think that Claire and Toto summarised the situation very well.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Stefano, are you worried about the problems that Kimi seems to have had today or are you more satisfied by the performance of Fernando?
SD: I always have to see the negative side of the… or the empty side of the glass, so of course we need to make sure that all the things that are still not solved – not only on Kimi’s side – have to be solved or addressed very quickly because the competition is very strong and the time that we have available is not a lot. So I think that for me the most important thing is to address and to solve the issue very quickly and whatever it is, the driver is not really the problem because I’m sure that both drivers will be able to manage the situation in the best way that they can, but there is still a lot of work to do.Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Eric, you’ve added a new sponsor to your rear wing without much in the way of fanfare. Could you explain the significance of that and maybe shed some light on your quest for a title sponsor. Are you closer to announcing something? I think Ron said the other week that it would be in the next few events. Are we closer to firming something up there?
EB: We lately signed a new sponsor which is good news and we are happy to welcome Asos which is an on-line fashion retailer. I think it’s in nine languages delivering to 234 countries – I know my figures. It’s obviously very exciting for us. It’s a huge company selling clothes and selling all stuff like fashion stuff.Regarding the other part of the question, we will soon announce… we will hope to sign soon a title partner. We are not in a rush to announce it until everything is closed and done but it’s going to be done in due time.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action) Stefano, three questions about your power plant: what are the specific issues that need to be fixed? Within the rules of homologation, what can you now do to develop the engine and the third question is how do you rate your engine compared to your rivals?
SD: First of all, we need to wait and see because points are the things that count so the first thing we need to do is to work on the reliability of it, because that is still not clear if it’s enough, it’s never enough compared to the others. In terms of analysis, I think we need to be careful because when you address only the issue on the engine, I think that’s wrong. We need to address if there is the need, of course, to address the things on the entire car, on the efficiency of the car in a global way, not only the engine, on the mechanical side there’s also the balancing of electrical power versus the engine power itself versus the efficiency of the car as the car itself. I think the right answer is that we need to work all around the car, full stop, and we will see where we’re going to be because I already see a lot of classifications done already but I think it is better for everyone not to anticipate too much. I know that words are easy to fly away but I think we need to be very cautious and careful. That’s why I keep this position. I think that we have a good base and we need to develop on that and see when it counts to bring home the points that are the things that are more important for this championship.Q: (Ted Kravitz – Sky Sports) Christian, your cars with Daniel did more than a race distance today and Sebastian almost did a race distance across the two sessions. Is that the first time you’ve done a whole race distance in a day’s running in the whole of pre-season testing and does that mean that you can do the whole of the race distance on Sunday with a vague confidence that the car will actually do all the laps, especially as we saw a heat bulge on Sebastian’s car in the lower left hand part of the side pod during FP1?
CH: Well, I think Sebastian today has covered a third of the mileage of his total winter and obviously Daniel has done pretty much a race distance today, so that’s extremely encouraging for our guys and the guys back in Paris at Renault. So hopefully it bodes well for the weekend because the most important thing is to see the chequered flag on Sunday and that in itself is an enormous challenge. We’ve learned some valuable lessons today, an awful lot of information to look at and to be honest with you, it’s the first real opportunity that the drivers have had to drive the car properly without it being interrupted at any different part of the lap or the circuit. Really, for both drivers it’s been their first chance to really start to explore the car and for the engineers to start to look at set-up and so in many respects, this is where we would ideally like to have been at the first test but that wasn’t the case. We’ve got some ground to make up.Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you including Rob because it could affect your side of the championship, since we last met in Brazil, we’ve introduced double points at the last race which is arguably the least scintillating race of the season. Given that the structure, the entrants and drivers licence fees are basically a tax on performance, how do you feel about these double points races, possibly for the last three races? Now there’s talk about points for qualifying positions, what are your sentiments?
RW: I guess my opinion is more as a relatively independent observer and as a fan of the sport, I think that as long as the points structure is understood in advance, it’s an optimisation target like all of the rest and Formula One is a fantastic machine for getting the best out of a given set of constraints. I personally am not in favour of things that are hard to understand and therefore if it gets too complicated, I won’t like it.TW: Yuh. Is it good? I think when it was decided we didn’t put too much emphasis on it, we didn’t think it was a big drama. It’s clear that you have to support the commercial rights holder and if the TV audience is dropping, I think we have an obligation to listen. We got the reaction afterwards, it was not what we expected. You have to honour that. Nothing has changed since then, the last race remains double points and let’s see what we’re going to do next year.
CW: Exactly the same as what Toto was saying.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Stefano, yesterday your president sent a letter to the fans; could you explain to us the meaning of the letter, particularly the part he wrote about the systems and all the problems that can be grey areas in the rules. Could you explain the spirit of the letter, please?
SD: I’m not the president, first of all. You know that very well. No, I think that our chairman wanted to send a letter to our supporters before the first weekend of another season, as he always does every year, and I think that he was highlighting the challenge that we have this year in terms of new regulations for us and it’s a challenge also for the federation to align with these regulations because also on their side, it’s a big task to make all the controls that are needed to make sure that everything is running properly, so I would say it’s just for him a way to stay close to our tifosi, to our supporters because you know how much he cares about Formula One and that’s the way you always are at the beginning of the season.Q: (Heikki Kulta -Turun Sanomat) Stefano, if it rains tomorrow, does it help your drivers to challenge the Mercedes boys for the top positions?
SD: Good question – the answer is I don’t know. We will see.Q: (Will Buxton – NBCSN) For everybody, there’s rumours doing the rounds that there’s a move on to try and get a test in Malaysia next week, before the race. Is that something… by the looks of things, it’s a surprise. I was wondering if that is something you had heard and if so it’s something you would be in favour of?
CH: Well, it’s certainly a surprise. It’s the first I’ve heard of it and if it is happening, we won’t be there. I think it’s fairly unlikely.EB: I’ve never heard of it too.
Q: (Sylvia Arias – Parabrisas) Monsieur Boullier, I would like to know your opinion about Federico Gastaldi. As team principal, I saw you today saying to him ‘good luck’.
EB: Yes, I wished him good luck, obviously, but I have no opinion at all because it’s not my matter anymore.Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) What sort of progress would all of you like to see made on the cost cap or budget caps or whatever?
CH: What was the question again? You wanted the cost cap or what progress? Forget the word cost cap for the moment. Let’s just focus on saving money. I think everybody around this group here wants to see all of the teams save money. The necessity to spend money in order to be competitive is what we want to reduce and I think however we achieve that as a group, it’s something we all want to see happen. How to make it happen is obviously something much more complex. Then there’s obviously discussions about caps and this and that. You’ve got to look at the root causes for why are costs the way they are and then in my opinion, address it that way.EB: I think Ron has maybe said he’s not favour of caps – again, it’s words. Definitely he’s obviously in favour of reducing costs. Obviously competition or trying to be competitive is obviously the nature of any sport, especially Formula One, so we just need to draw the line and make sure that technically we can’t spend too much to be competitive and try to have some targets which could be reasonable and suiting everybody.
TW: Maybe Stefano wants to say something.
SD: I think that Christian and Eric have summarised the situation very clearly, so nothing to add. We are always saying the same thing.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) But there’s no progress and that as the question: what progress would you like to see made?
SD: I think that progress is on the way because we are discussing what to do at the level of the strategy group. I’m sure that you’re aware of the work that is around that. I think that at this moment it’s better to stay quiet and tell you when the thing is done and say we are doing something without going into the details of it.Q: But it is the case that it’s got to be in place by 2015, isn’t it?
SD: Yeah.CH: We’ve done an incredible job of reducing the costs for this year with the introduction of a new power train that’s probably 25 percent more so we’re doing a great job so far!
Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Rob, can you tell us a bit about the problems afflicting each of the teams; are they individual to the teams or is it a common problem and do you have a time line when you think this engine will be functioning at its principal level? Will it be KL, Bahrain, China, Europe?
RW: If we take a step back and look at the kind of troubles that have befallen us and our teams, then the first thing to say I think is that we’re behind where we should be in terms of time, in terms of our internal objectives, then independent of one’s level of competitiveness, then it’s completely unacceptable to be coming to a first race as relatively unprepared as we are and without having run through all of the scenarios that we needed to. In terms of where the trouble lies, then we remain confident that the building blocks that we’ve got in place are the right ones, that we know the level of thermal efficiency that we need for the turbocharged engine to be competitive in terms of power. We know that the regulatory constraints on the electrical machines from the battery and that mustn’t be exceeded but in order to be competitive, you’ve got to be able to be up with those limits and we are up with those limits and where it’s tough is delivering turbo to the backside of the drivers to the contact patch between the tyre and the tarmac, the sum of those parts and at the moment we’re not yet able to deliver that in a decent fashion. And this comes right back to the heart of these regulations. In order to get the performance out of the cars, the cars are going to be quicker than the old cars in a minute with substantially less fuel, there’s a lot more stuff and getting all that stuff to peacefully cohabit in the race car and to make it appear to the driver like it’s a different thing to the thing it is is where the troubles are. I guess that’s the stuff that is common to all users of our power unit and I don’t really have anything much to say about the specific differences between one car and another. We’re certainly working hand-in-hand with the teams that we work with in order to fix our problems and if we can participate in solving other ones then that’s good too.Q: (Will Buxton – NBCSN) FOTA, perhaps in the run-up to this season the perhaps inevitable dissolution of the Formula One Teams Association. How disappointed were those of you that were members of it with the dissolution of FOTA; those of you that weren’t, why didn’t it work for you? And as we move forwards with this sport and the usual talk of the need to reduce costs, how important is the unity of the teams in progressing this sport?
CW: Yes, obviously we were a member of FOTA and it was disappointing that it did dissolve but I think that from when it was originally established – it set out with a very clear mandate – and over the years that mandate has changed for a variety of reasons. I think the most important thing in this sport is that teams come together to work together to address the issues that we face and whatever those may be. We do need some form of structure around the teams so that we have a platform to have conversations so whether that’s FOTA or whether that’s something else, that’s something that Williams would be keen to be a part of in the future but obviously we, as a team, are now part of the F1 strategy group which obviously we’re pleased about.EB: Obviously as McLaren and ex-deputy chairman, we were quite involved in FOTA. I think it’s a bit disappointing to see FOTA disappearing but it was expected in the end. First FOTA was created in a different context with a lot of car manufacturers in the paddock and it has survived over the years. There were some defections and it just ended up where unfortunately it should have been. The most important thing is to keep some discussions and some firm places between the teams, as Claire said, to address our issues if we have to.
TW: I think the mandate of FOTA was to represent all teams and that mandate got diluted over the years. Teams stepped back and at the end it was a bit of a struggle for FOTA to keep alive and I think we were either all in or no FOTA.
SD: I think that clearly at the specific moment when FOTA was created it was really a situation that there was really the need to make sure that the teams were all together and if you recall, during that time, there were situations where the championship could have gone through a different part, we were very close to being in that situation but year by year the situation changed and therefore that was the reason why we quit FOTA two years ago, because we felt that that kind of situation was not really needed any more to be effective as an organisation. I think that for sure it is important for teams to agree and speak on a lot of subjects because we are all the actors in this show but we also need to recognise that there are different actors with different weights that also have be considered. All of us do care about this business, do care about this sport and I believe that this is fundament to also look ahead in the new way that we are organised, for example with the strategy group, to make sure that we take the right decisions for the future of Formula One.
CH: I think that Stefano has summed it up perfectly. FOTA, when it was created, had some specific agendas. It was at a time of uncertainty over many issues regarding Formula One and then of course, the crisis came in 2008 and FOTA at that time achieved some good things in reducing costs and teams working harmoniously together within critical circumstances. Then the mandate as FOTA changed, and when it suddenly became involved in how you run your team and run your business and trying to police how a team is run, that’s not the role of the teams and you’re only ever going to end up in conflict when teams are trying to write regulations of how they should spend budgets etc etc. For that reason, we left at an identical time to Ferrari, because we just didn’t believe in the direction that FOTA was going. Then it was no surprise to see – ultimately – that it petered out over the last few years
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Ferrari unveils the F14-T
Ferrari has unveiled their 2014 challenger, the F14 T.
The F14-T which was named by a fan vote and will be raced by what is arguably the strongest driver line-up on the 2014 grid – Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, and features a far wider nose tip than we’ve seen in the cars launched so far.
The F14-T will be debuted by Raikkonen at Jerez on Tuesday and Wednesday, before he hands over testing duties to Fernando Alonso for the remaining two days.
The rear of the car seems very tightly packaged around the new turbo engine but due to the ‘anteater’, ‘bull’ and ‘tusk’ noses that have preceded the launch of the F14-T, all eyes are on the nose of the new Ferrari which features a far flatter design than those preceding it.Ferrari said in a statement that the new regulations presented designers with a real challenge to repackage the front suspension into a much lower monocoque.
“The front wing is regulated to be 75mm narrower per side in order to make it less vulnerable to collisions with other cars and with the barriers,” their launch statement said. “This change, perhaps one of the less noticeable visual differences to the 2013 cars, has a profound effect on the aerodynamics of the vehicle.
“The front wings used since 2009 have all featured elaborate measures to encourage the wake of the front wing endplates to pass around the outside of the front tyres in order to maximize the downforce on the car. An innocent change of just 75mm to the position of the wing tip has required us to reinvent completely the front wing aerodynamics for 2014.”Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that the new additions to the technical team and the upgrades to the wind tunnel – which is now operational at Maranello – have been crucial for Ferrari to make a step forward.
“In the last couple of years the changes and investment we have made in Formula One has been very important and significant,” Domenicali said. “Some have been spectacular in terms of names that were in the Formula One world and some others less, but nevertheless the changes were very important.
“Not only the organisation of the people, but also investment in the new windtunnel and tools of the simulation that are really important to make sure all the group of engineers can make the difference.”
The F14-T retains Ferrari’s pullrod front suspension concept in the new design and the new car is the first that will have been influenced by Ferrari’s new technical chief James Allison, who arrived late last season after switching from Lotus.
Ferrari is clearly hoping that the F14-T will have what it takes to finally bring home the championship that has been snatched away by Red Bull for the last few years. The 2013 season saw Fernando Alonso coming super close to clinching the title but just not having the car to make it happen. He compared his experience of not winning the title in his first four seasons with Ferrari to that of Michael Schumacher, who finally won his first championship with the Scuderia in his fifth season with the team.
Alonso said, “I think Schumacher won in the fifth year with Ferrari. I’m in the fifth year now so hopefully I can repeat some of the success that he had. Obviously in the last four years we had some opportunities, especially in 2010, 2012, we were very, very close to winning the championship. So this year we’ll try again and hopefully this time will be the good one.”Alonso also believes that his partnership with incoming Kimi Raikkonen will be formidable saying, “I think [with] Kimi and me as a team we should be quite strong because we’ve had some success in the past in our Formula 1 career.”
Coincidentally, Raikkonen is the last driver to have won a title for Ferrari, in 2007 but he was sent packing to make way for Alonso.
Raikkonen is very positive about the F14-T and his return to Ferrari. “It is nice to come back to Ferrari, the place I won my championship,” he said. “The aim is the same. We want to do the best I can, try to win races and championships.”
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Team and Driver Quotes – Brazilian Grand Prix
Team and Driver Quotes following the final Formula One race of the season – the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1st
“I don’t want to compare the record what we have got today; it’s not fair as it was a different time when Ascari was driving. Cars broke down more often then and teams were less consistent, so therefore it’s a different type of record that we have got today. For all of us in the whole team we love coming to work and giving it all we have. There’s a great spirit and it’s sad in a way that the year comes to an end, but that’s how it is. I’m sure everyone’s looking forward to a break to get the batteries charged and to look forward to next year. My start wasn’t so good today, but I was able to get past Rosberg. It was hard to know what was going to happen in today’s race. When we came for the second pit stop, it was a late call and then we had to wait for the tyres. We managed to recover with some laps to go. Today was of course Mark’s last race. We didn’t have the best relationship, but nevertheless we always had respect for each other on a professional level and whatever was going on off-track, didn’t make a difference to us on track and we both pushed each other very hard. I certainly learned a lot from Mark. I learned to become a better driver, due to his impressive skills; that’s why I consider him one of the best drivers on the grid.”Mark Webber,2nd
“It was nice to take the helmet off for the final lap. In this sport it’s not always possible to give things a personal touch. We have the helmets on all the time, so they fans don’t always see a Formula One driver in a car without a helmet. It was nice to get it off and see the marshals and the fans; it was just a really nice thing to experience. I heard a lot of noises that I don’t normally hear. The difficult part for me today was actually getting in to the car for the final time. I was overcome with some emotion then to be honest. That moment of the helmet going on and stepping into the car was actually the strongest emotion I’ve had all day. Then crossing the line and seeing all the guys was great. Christian radioed me and said enjoy the last lap, which I did. I did it as slow as I could; it was a very special day. Seb and I have had our challenges over time and it’s easier to have a relationship with Fernando, as he’s in another team, but to finish on the podium with those two guys – well, they have been the best of this generation. I have raced them a lot and to finish with those guys was nice for me because it meant a lot, showing that I can drive well at the end of my career and that I got the timing right. Formula One is a sport which I’ve loved. I could never have dreamt of the career that I’ve had, the tremendous highs, the tough lows – you know they have to happen and you learn from adversity. The biggest and strongest memories you have are from when you are in the car; it’s what we were tuned and trained to do. Driving on the limit is what I was paid to do and what I enjoyed doing. They are the strongest memories you have as an individual at this level.”Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
“What an incredible way to sign off not only a remarkable season, but also Mark’s career in Formula One. It was a fitting way to finish with a one two finish. Sebastian claims yet another record and has driven like a true champion this year to have won thirteen Grand Prix in one season; it’s a remarkable achievement and will be very difficult to surpass. For Mark, it was fantastic that he finished his Formula One career on the podium with a really gutsy drive. His moves on Rosberg, Hamilton and twice on Alonso showed what a real racer he is and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for the invaluable contribution that he’s made to the team, to the four constructors’ championships that we have won together and for all his hard work and efforts throughout the last seven years. As he moves on to a new challenge we wish him the very, very best to him and his family for the future.”Thierry Salvi, Renault support for Red Bull
“A perfect way to close the V8 era: winning the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships and all the races since the summer break! Congratulations to all at Red Bull for the sheer amount of work they have done this year and for helping us secure the place of the Renault RS27 V8 in F1 history. Thank you to Mark who leaves us today: we wish him a lot of success in his future role.”Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 3rd
“A podium is the best way to end this long season and finishing behind two Red Bulls almost tastes like a victory, as well as being the maximum we could have done today. It’s a real shame that the much awaited rain didn’t arrive in the end, because in the wet, we would definitely have been more competitive. I did not get away well at the start and I found myself blocked on the outside and then the inside. However, after catching Hamilton and Rosberg, I began to push and my race was all on the attack. Even if we cannot be fully satisfied with this result, because our aim is always to win, I would view the season in a positive light: we did win and get podiums, as well as finishing second in the drivers’ championship and these are figures we can be proud of, both myself and Felipe. He’s been a fantastic team mate and even if we continue to see one another in the paddock, I will miss the relationship we have had. I wish him all the best for the future.”Felipe Massa, 7th
“My race began perfectly, with a great start and then a strong pace that allowed me to immediately pull of some nice passing moves and I was having a really great race up until the moment I was given a penalty for crossing the white line. I don’t think I deserved a drive-through and I believe it was very unfair. I am very disappointed because today I could have finished fourth or third. I am sure that if I had found myself behind Fernando, he’d have let me pass. However, I don’t want this incident to ruin such a special weekend for me and all my team. In their eyes, I am a world champion and I will never forget them, nor anything about my time with Ferrari. I want to thank everyone who gave me this opportunity and maximum support all the time, including President Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali and all the mechanics and engineers who work at the track and back home, as well as all the Ferrari fans who, over the years, have rejoiced with me and also suffered with me during the most difficult moments. Thank you!”Pat Fry, Ferrari engineering director
“Today’s was a very uncertain race, for which it was difficult to make predictions because of unknowns relating to the weather and tyre behaviour. In the end, it didn’t rain and the tyres displayed linear degradation, thanks also to the skilful management of both drivers. The car was well suited to the characteristics of this circuit also in the dry and, but for Felipe’s penalty, we could have finished third and fourth. It would have been absolutely deserved because without a doubt today we were the second best team in the field. The team worked impeccably all weekend and I want to congratulate everyone for having tackled such a difficult season with maximum dedication. I am pleased the pit stop guys set the fastest times of the year and that our engineers were able to yet again deliver amazing reliability on the engine front, the systems and all car components, which is a key element when it comes to preparing for next year, for a new season when we want to return to being front runners again.”Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal
“We have ended a difficult season with our heads held high, once again front runners in a Grand Prix that had a bittersweet outcome. Today, we witnessed a very aggressive Ferrari, in a wonderful race for Fernando, while for Felipe it was over when he was handed a penalty, which honestly, I find a bit extreme and forced. Because I don’t think Felipe’s move gave him any advantage. With the points he could have scored the outcome of the constructors’ championship could have been different. However, I was very happy to see the team react and work well here in all conditions. This has to be the impetus to prepare for next season as well as possible and our engineers are aware of the results we want to obtain. The assessment of this season just ended cannot be positive, because after a competitive start, we had a second half that did not live up to our standards, as I have said many times before. Now words count for nothing, but only the work we must do back home: on this topic, I think all the decisions we have taken and the changes we made are taking us in the right direction to tackle next season in the best way possible.”McLaren
Jenson Button, 4th
“For Checo, myself and the whole Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, today was an incredible day. I’m pleased to have finished fourth: it’s almost the podium position that I came here aiming for. We really needed today’s result. The 2013 season hasn’t been an easy one – it’s been tough for all of us at the circuits, but it’s probably been even tougher for the guys back at the factory, working flat-out to make parts. They’re a really amazing bunch of totally passionate and utterly dedicated people, and they richly deserve the ‘lift’ that today’s result will have given them. I’m also pleased for Checo. He won’t be with us next year, but he drove a great race today. Well done, mate. I also want to say a big ‘thank you’ to Vodafone. Vodafone has been an absolutely incredible title partner, and we’ve also had a lot of fun together – both on and off the track. Some of the videos they made with us have been truly brilliant. I’m sad to see them leave, but I guess nothing lasts for ever. This is a great way to end the year, and now our focus turns squarely to 2014. McLaren is an incredibly strong and powerful organisation – and, believe me, we will fight back.”Sergio Perez, 6th
“What a contrast today was to yesterday, when we were unlucky to lose five grid positions owing to a gearbox-change penalty, but I think we made a very strong recovery this afternoon. I was praying for heavier rain at the end of the race, so that I could have a go at making up some more positions. But unfortunately I had to save fuel in the final laps, which meant I couldn’t really attack Nico [Rosberg] as hard as I’d otherwise have been able to. I’ve learnt so much from everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, the best team I’ve ever raced with, and I wish every single one of them all the best for the future. I wish Jenson and Kevin all the best for the future, too. I think I’ve grown up a lot this year – both as a racing driver and as a man – and I think I’ll be an even stronger competitor in future as a result.”Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“Undoubtedly, that was our best Grand Prix of the year. It’s frustrating to have to say that after a race in which our drivers finished only fourth and sixth, but it’s also true. Moreover, the manner in which those results were achieved was heartening indeed: both Jenson and Checo had difficulties in qualifying, through no fault of their own, but the way they charged through the field from their lowly grid slots this afternoon was seriously impressive. It also illustrated very creditable race pace, which was good to see. Having said all that, 2013 been a long, hard and disappointing year. Nonetheless, I want to take this opportunity to pay particular tribute to our trackside mechanics and engineers, who are without doubt the best in the pit lane. That’s not only my opinion, by the way; the stats bear it out too.As of today, McLaren became the first team in Formula One history to have both its cars classified in every Grand Prix during the season. And, also as of today, McLaren completed 99.17% of the season’s total possible race distance – 7139 miles [11,488km] out of a possible 7198 miles [11,584km] – which is not only better than every other team managed this season but is also a new world record, beating the previous record of 98.30% set by BMW-Sauber in 2008. Those two stats constitute compelling proof of the fact that our trackside mechanics and engineers possess the three D’s in impressive abundance: dedication, determination and discipline. Well done, boys, I’m proud of you. Today, Jenson broke a record, too, becoming the first British F1 driver to start 247 Grand Prix, eclipsing the previous British milestone of 246 set by our old friend David [Coulthard]. And the way Jenson drove today proves that he’s as hungry and as competitive as ever he was. Checo also drove a superb race today, surging from nineteenth on the grid to sixth at the flag, and I’m personally delighted that he was able to end his year at McLaren with such a fantastic performance. As I’ve said many times, he’s a fine driver. He’s also a lovely guy, and the way he’s conducted himself over the past ten days, in particular, in extremely challenging circumstances, has been hugely impressive. He’s a class act.
Today we also have to bid farewell to our title and total communications partner Vodafone, after seven seasons in which together we won one world championship, here at Interlagos, in 2008, perhaps the most dramatic denouement in Formula One history, and also scored 34 grand prix wins. Vodafone has been a fabulous partner for McLaren, and has contributed not only funding but also technology. Moreover, our partnership delivered all the marketing objectives that Vodafone had set for it, and gave its clients and customers a lot of fun, too. Finally, I want to say something about the future. Formula One is a relentlessly demanding sport, and next season’s new regulations are already presenting all the teams with a daunting array of technical challenges – not only powertrains but aerodynamics, too. For quite some time we’ve been working extremely hard on those technical challenges and our focus will be unstinting and unwavering from now onwards, throughout the winter. In other words, the 2014 season starts this evening.”
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 5th
“Today is a great day for the team and to finish in second place in the Constructors’ Championship is a huge step forward for us. My thanks to everyone who made our success possible and congratulations to the team here at the track and back at our factories. It was certainly an interesting race today; I had a perfect start but then I struggled a lot with my rear tyres in the opening stint and lost a few positions. We could have cleared Jenson in the pits but it was better for us to be conservative and focus on our battle with Ferrari. I’m so happy that we have achieved our aim and now everyone can look forward to a break and the new challenge of 2014. It’s a huge project and there’s a lot of work ahead over the winter. I’m very much looking forward to working with the team to put us in the best possible position for next season.”Lewis Hamilton, 9th
“Firstly, congratulations to the team today for achieving second place in the Constructors’ Championship. That result means so much to everyone and I’m so grateful to have been a part of it this year. From my side, it was a tough race today. I don’t know what happened exactly with Valtteri and will have to have a look at the replay. I thought that I had moved to the left, he outbraked me and then we touched but it happened so quickly and it was obviously judged that I did something wrong. I was having a good race until that point in fourth place and a podium might have been possible as I was closing on Fernando. That’s why I’m so disappointed with my own race but of course I’m delighted for the team. They have done an incredible job this year and really deserve this result. It’s the reward for what I know has been many years of hard work and my thoughts are with everyone here at the track and back at our factories at Brackley and Brixworth. We’ve got so much to look forward to next season so I’ll put today behind me quickly and focus on what should be a great year in 2014.”Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal
“Well, I’ve certainly got a few more grey hairs after that race! Both cars made fantastic starts but it was soon clear that we hadn’t found the sweet spot with the car balance for Nico and he was struggling for rear-end grip. Lewis was stronger in the opening stint and showed good pace before and after his first stop. Our race obviously turned on the two drive-through penalties for Felipe and Lewis. Our drivers had been reporting that Felipe was consistently crossing the white line at pit entry with all four wheels and when the FIA eventually took action, that obviously helped us. Then we had Lewis’ unfortunate incident with Bottas and we have to take that one on the chin as we should have kept Lewis better informed of just how quickly the Williams was closing, even though he was a lap down. He then drove strongly after the penalty, especially considering his floor was damaged by the flailing tyre. But the key thing today is that the team secured second position in the Constructors’ Championship, even though we made rather hard work of it. That was done on the basis of a very good step forwards and one we made for good reasons. My thanks and congratulations go to everyone at our team for all of their hard work, dedication and commitment. Red Bull have been extremely dominant in 2013, and congratulations to them. But our progress is the first fruits of the technical team we began building two years ago and I am optimistic that the trend of progress will continue in 2014.”Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director
“Our target today was to secure second position in the Constructors’ Championship; we achieved that target and that’s what counts. Ferrari, and Fernando in particular, made life extremely hard for us in the first half of the race and that kept us on our toes and gave us some nervous moments. Lewis’ incident with Valtteri was unfortunate; we must be glad that it did not ultimately cost us any positions in the standings and learn our lessons from it. Thank you to everyone at the team, both at the track and at our factories, for their efforts and please keep up the hard work! Congratulations also to Red Bull, who once again showed incredible pace and have set the standard this season. From tomorrow, our attention will be fully focused on 2014 and taking another significant step forward in performance.”Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg, 8th
“It was a good race. I had a good start and nice battles in the first few laps. Then I was by myself for most of the race. The problem today was too much understeer. Because of that the front tyres were ruined pretty quickly, which cost us time. But finishing eighth is a solid result and it puts me in tenth place in the drivers’ championship, which I have never achieved before. That is a good feeling.”Esteban Gutierrez, 12th
“Overall I feel positive. It’s been a great race and I enjoyed all the fights on track today. I had a good first lap overtaking quite a few cars. We were struggling a bit with the hard tyres in the first stint, but then managed to recover some time with the medium tyres during the second and third stints. So the way we approached everything today was good. It was still quite a challenge to manage the front graining we had and I was doing everything I could to try and compensate for that. All in all I have finished the season with a positive race. It was a season where learning and gaining experience have been the main topics for me, and I feel I did a solid job as a driver to take the next step forward for my performance.”Tom McCullough, Sauber, head of track engineering
“The rain just held off and, as planned, we had a two stop strategy with both cars. With a lot of information that needed to be processed today, our strategy engineer did an excellent job. Finishing P8 and P12 is good, considering where we started from. After a difficult start to the season, we have improved our results in the second half. This was a team effort from everyone at the track as well as everyone back at the factory in Hinwil. They have all been working very hard to improve our competitiveness. A big thank you to everyone involved in that. We start a new era in Formula One, and that is now our immediate focus.”Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber team principal
“It was a consolidating end to the season, which has been very difficult for the team. However the team has shown its morale in this difficult situation and together we will come back stronger. The foundation for a successful second half of the season was a strong performance from everyone in Hinwil and the race team, which translated into success at the track. The race today was typical of the season: despite a difficult starting point we were able to score four points and, therefore, have a satisfying end to the season.”Toro Rosso
Daniel Ricciardo, 10th
“The conditions were very difficult with the occasional drop of rain. From the cockpit, it’s actually quite difficult to judge how much rain there is. You see a few drops on your visor, look at the guy in front of you and if he doesn’t go off, you assume it’s dry. We were not very quick from the start and I was struggling with cold graining on the front right. We did try and rebalance it during the race, but we struggled in terms of pure pace, so I was quite happy to come away with a point. At midnight tonight I become an Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver, but for now I just want to say thank you to everyone at Scuderia Toro Rosso, here at the track, back in Faenza and at our wind tunnel for two fantastic years. Thanks guys!”Jean-Eric Vergne, 15th
“Catastrophic starts for both Toro Rossos today and after that, I had a car that was very difficult to drive. I know it’s the same for everyone as it was the first time we ran here in the dry, but the balance of my car just wouldn’t allow me to push. It improved in the final two stints but it was a real struggle. As for the incident with Maldonado, I came up the inside of him at Turn 1 and he didn’t leave me any room, so we touched and he spun. This season has had more bad times than good ones for me, but we are all determined to work very hard over the winter to start next season with a better car.”Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
“Our race was compromised immediately off the grid as both cars got poor starts. This cost us most of the benefit of yesterday’s very good qualifying result. We therefore had poor initial pace, dropping down the order and it was worse for Jev than for Daniel. We decided to take Daniel out of traffic quite early, ignoring the risk of rain and he then made up some ground. In the middle of the race, everyone was holding off making the final stop because of the threat of a wet track, at which point Daniel’s tyres had done a lot of laps. He managed this situation very well and we made an early stop which got him ahead of a couple more cars, after which he looked after his tyres well enough to take the point for tenth, with both Force Indias’ and a Sauber behind us. After Jev got stuck in traffic following the start, he also complained about car balance and we only got him out of traffic for the final two stints, when his times improved to a similar level to his team mate’s. It’s nice to end the year with a point, even if we had been aiming for rather more than one at the start of the day.”Force India
Paul di Resta, 11th
“The light rain made for quite a tricky race, but it was also enjoyable with lots of overtaking. Losing six places off the line with too much wheelspin was a key moment and really put us on the backfoot, but the performance of the car in the race was consistent and we achieved the two-stop race. We chose to extend each stint but I struggled for performance on the hard tyre at the end and I wasn’t able to challenge Ricciardo for the final point. However, I think we can go away from here quite satisfied with what we achieved today and with the year as a whole. Although I missed out on a top ten position in the championship, it’s been a successful season, an incredible journey and I want to say a massive thanks to the team for the job they’ve done this year.”Adrian Sutil, 13th
“It was quite a challenging final race and I was really hoping for some points, but it just wasn’t possible today. It was drizzling with rain for most of the race, but I felt quite sure the track was going to stay mostly dry. The main issue for me was the tyre wear because we had to stop three times and that made it hard to race for points. In the final laps I was catching the train of cars ahead of me, but I didn’t get close enough to change my position. It’s been an up and down season, but I will remember the positives and the fact the team is once again in sixth place in the championship, which is a great effort by everybody.”Robert Fernley, Force India team deputy team principal
“Although we missed out on points today, we achieved the objective that we set ourselves coming into the weekend to defend our sixth place in the championship. In the end we did that quite comfortably, which is a real credit to everybody at Sahara Force India. It means we’ve finished in the top six twice in the last three seasons, consolidating our reputation as being the best non-manufacturer team. I thought Paul and Adrian both drove well today, although the ground Paul lost at the start proved quite costly. His race pace was good on the two-stop strategy, but the final point was out of reach. Adrian suffered more with tyre wear and had to stop three times. Looking back on the season as a whole I think we can be proud of our performance. The start of the year was exceptional and we recaptured our form in the final few races. We look forward to the challenge of 2014 and will come back determined to pick up where we left off.”Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, 14th
“It has been a great opportunity to drive for the Lotus F1 team and I’m upset that I was not able to score any points for them today. I think the car is great, but I was not able to unlock the pace and make the most of it. I made some mistakes – probably through lack of routine – but I was anticipating it would be easier to come back and race competitively. My starts both here and in Austin were really poor, with procedural issues both times meaning I wasn’t able to keep pace with everyone off the line. That was disappointing as it’s such a big part of the race and it’s very difficult to recover positions. I’d like to thank everyone at Lotus F1 team for all their support during these two races.”Romain Grosjean, DNF
“At this point in the season I think everyone needs a holiday, but apparently my engine decided to go on vacation early! Of course, that’s not the way we wanted to end the year but it’s been a fantastic season for the team and I think we can be really proud of what we’ve achieved together. We’ve proven this year that we are a top team, and I’m certainly proud of all the guys in the garage and back at Enstone. Today was obviously disappointing for everyone as they deserved more from this final race after all their hard work, but now it’s time to get a little bit of rest and then focus on making sure we head into 2014 and the new regulations as one of the top teams once again.”Eric Boullier, Lotus team principal
“Clearly this is a disappointing way to end what has been a strong season for the team in often difficult circumstances. Our goal at the start of the year was to improve on last season’s fourth place in the constructors’ championship, and although we may have just fallen short of that target, it has certainly not been through a lack of effort. Fourteen podium finishes and 315 points is a commendable improvement on our 2012 performance, and I am extremely proud of everyone who has worked so hard to keep us right at the front of a very competitive pack until the very last weekend of the season. In Kimi and Romain we have had one of the strongest line-ups on the grid, and I would like to congratulate them both on some fantastic performances throughout the year. From Kimi’s memorable win at the opening race to Romain’s recent run of podium finishes, they have both been superb. It’s going to be a busy winter preparing for the challenges of 2014, but for now we wish everyone a good few days of well-earned rest.”Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
“After the season we’ve had with the E21, it’s hugely frustrating that we were unable to give what has been a fantastic car the send-off it deserved. For Romain in particular – who has barely put a foot wrong over the past couple of months – we feel particularly aggrieved after his early retirement. We’ll be looking into what happened with his engine to see exactly what caused such a significant failure, as generally speaking our reliability has been pretty strong all year. After a poor start it was always going to be difficult for Heikki to climb back into the points, but we’re nonetheless disappointed to come away from this weekend with nothing on the board. We now look ahead to the challenge of 2014 aiming to maintain the momentum of the past two seasons.”Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 team support leader
“Today was the last race for the V8s and unfortunately Romain’s gave up before the end. We saw a massive drop in oil pressure in the data but we won’t be sure of the exact reason until we get the car back; it could be cause or consequence. In any case it caused the engine to seize and explode in a spectacular way, so we’ll investigate thoroughly to analyse exactly what lead to the failure.”Williams
Pastor Maldonado, 16th
“We were fighting hard today with the cars around us but the pace wasn’t quite in the car to be able to challenge for the top ten. We lost some time in the pit stops today and ultimately we couldn’t recover the places. It’s been a great three years with this team, I had a nice moment with Frank and the team this morning and they will stay in my heart forever.”Valtteri Bottas, DNF
“Unfortunately we had to end the season without finishing the race today. We seemed to be struggling a bit with the prime tyre but once we put the option tyres on we seemed to be able to catch the cars in front. We had an incident with Hamilton where I tried to keep my line overtaking on the outside and we touched. It’s disappointing to end the season like this but a points-finish may have been too much for us today anyway.”Xevi Pujolar, Williams Chief race engineer
“We planned a two-stop strategy with both cars today starting on option tyres. Valtteri pitted as planned for prime tyres but we extended Pastor’s first stint as there was a chance of rain in the early stages. As the forecast changed we brought Pastor in for another set of options, but in the lower temperatures today both cars were struggling for pace so couldn’t really fight. We continued on plan, whilst continuing to watch the weather, bringing in Pastor to switch onto the prime tyres with Valtteri back on the options for the final stage of the race. Unfortunately, Valtteri’s race ended early as he retired at Turn 4 after losing his left-rear wheel when Hamilton made contact with him. Pastor then had a spin whilst racing Vergne and eventually finished in 16th.”Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader
“Unfortunately we could not end the V8 era and our partnership with Williams in the way we would have liked but we can still hold our heads high. After a difficult start to the year everyone at Williams and Renault worked hard to come back and we showed a lot of form in the second part of the year. We’ve enjoyed our two years together immensely and wish the entire team all the best for 2014. We look forward to a clean fight on track!”Marussia
Jules Bianchi, 17th
“Well done to everyone in the team on a fantastic season and the well-deserved tenth place in the championship. Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to providing us with the best car possible right until the end. Today, I got a fantastic start once again and the opening lap was strong, but a few laps in I struggled with some graining on the medium tyre and it was really tough to drive round this, which caused me to have to yield the place. I knew it was all about the long game and just sticking with it, knowing that the balance would be much better on the prime hard tyre. I dug in and drove as fast as I could on the next two stints to make as much progress as possible and it is nice that not only have we got tenth today but we finished ahead of Caterham again. This has been a very important and rewarding year for me personally and I can’t wait for us to take that to the next level together in 2014.”Max Chilton, 19th
“It was hard finding our way today having only driven in the wet all weekend. We had just the sighting laps to the grid to make a few changes in order to try to optimise the dry balance as best we could. The middle part of the race was quite nail-biting with the constant threat of rain, but I knew that all I had to do was keep going and be ready for any scenario, especially with the weather. In the last stint I struggled with a vibration on front left tyre, which was really costing me time and that is why we pitted for an unscheduled third stop. I would like to thank the whole team for a brilliant season, with particular credit to my car crew. I am really proud of my record-breaking nineteen finishes in nineteen races and this is the result of a fantastic team effort.”John Booth, Marussia team principal
“Although we have held on to tenth place in the championship all season, we still had to cross the line at the season finale in order to get the job done. The Brazilian Grand Prix is renowned for being one of the most chaotic races on the calendar and so we needed to have our wits about us throughout the full 71 lap race, especially as there was the constant threat of rain. Although we encountered a few light showers, the way the race eventually panned out meant that no one was going to challenge our position today. This has certainly been a character-building season. At the beginning we had a clear advantage over Caterham, then we lost some ground during the middle part of the year. Over the final long-haul phase we have pushed extremely hard, caught up and enjoyed some proper racing with them, with our performance in Austin last weekend underlining our continued progress and providing the perfect prelude to the finale here. With zero dry running before going to the grid, today was a tough ask of our two young drivers, who have never driven at this circuit before and had to go out there and be on it from lap 1. They were improving at every stage of the race and towards the end, in very damp conditions, Jules was running exceptionally well on the prime tyre and pulling away from Van der Garde. Credit to the whole team – both trackside and back at base in Banbury – for an incredibly hard-fought 2013 campaign. Well done to both Jules and Max, who have performed admirably in a tough rookie season, having more than risen to the challenge. Congratulations must also go to Max for his fantastic record of 19 finishes in 19 races, which is a testament to his skill and the team’s fantastic reliability record. Finally, today’s result is about the whole package, and so credit to our powertrain partners, Cosworth and Xtrac, with whom we have worked for four rewarding seasons, as well as our team partners and suppliers who have shared the journey with us.”Caterham
Giedo van der Garde, 18th
My start was really good, I passed my team mate and was fighting with Bianchi through turn one, but had to lift slightly to avoid one of the Force Indias which let Jules through. The car felt good at that point so only a couple of laps later I was past him and immediately put clear air between me and him, pushing on to Kovalainen ahead in the Lotus. We went until lap 24 on the first set, at one point running as high as 14th, but the main aim was to put a gap between us and the Marussias, and when I re-joined on another set of mediums we had the gap up to about seven seconds. My second set of tyres weren’t performing as well as the first and about halfway through the planned second stint I was given the command to change positions with my team mate. That set of mediums had started to go off but with the possibility of more rain coming we had to stay out. We were still pulling away from Bianchi which meant we were covering his plan, but it was a struggle to keep up the pace we needed on those tyres as they were pretty much gone by lap 42. The second stop was on lap 47 when we went onto the primes. I came out ahead of Bianchi again but had to serve a drive through a few laps later which put me about 15 seconds behind him. I was pushing really hard and closed the gap a lot, down to seven seconds by lap 65 but that was as close as I could get. It’s obviously not how I wanted the season to end, but I think, overall, I’ve learnt a lot. There have been quite a few highs and a few lows but this is a great team, a good group of people who work so hard and are determined to succeed, just like me.”Charles Pic, DNF
“My start wasn’t great but by the end of lap five I was past Bianchi and closing the gap to my team mate. We put in a long first stint on the mediums with one eye on the rain that could have come, and boxed on lap 25 for another set of options, coming out clear of Bianchi which was obviously the first target. My pace in the second stint was good – the car felt great and Giedo and I switched positions just after the halfway mark as I was on a different strategy and pace to him at that point. My lap times on that second set were good – running in the 1.18s which was close most of the midfield, but at that point it was all about hanging on to see if the rain would come. The tyres held up really well and I was in seventeenth when the rain was just starting to fall a little more heavily, but then, on lap 58, there was a suspension problem on the car and that was the end of the race for me. It’s obviously a real shame that my race ended like that as the plan was working well and if the rain had fallen harder we’d have been in a really strong position, but sometimes it’s like that.”Cyril Abiteboul, Caterham team principal
“It’s obviously disappointing to finish the season like this and to end in eleventh place in the championship. We started with last year’s car which was slower than our rivals for the first three races and it was in the second race in Malaysia that we lost the tenth place that we then ended up chasing all year. It’s particularly frustrating because our development strategy paid dividends in terms of outright pace from Bahrain onwards, but we had to balance our 2013 campaign against the need to focus on 2014 and that was always going to be a challenge. Despite the position we ended up in I want to thank the drivers and the whole team for the work they put in this year. We have experienced people in every department and a lot of young talent throughout the team, on track and at Leafield, and everyone in the team needs to be thanked for their hard work throughout 2013. Our shareholders and our partners have continued to support us unequivocally and the investments they continue to make, in infrastructure, resources and, most importantly, people, put us in a good position for the future. Now we’ll regroup, recharge and come back fighting in 2014 in an all new Formula 1.”Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“The fact that there was no dry running prior to the start of the Grand Prix meant that formulating the right tyre strategy was a matter of educated guesswork for all the teams. And with no rubber having been laid down on the track previously, it was extremely hard to calculate the wear and degradation levels. The weather forecast remained uncertain throughout the race to complicate matters even further, with different teams interpreting the information in various ways. However, they had to bear in mind their obligation to run both compounds if conditions stayed dry – which turned out to be the case. This race has marked the end of an era and now the cars, along with the tyres, change completely for next year. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for a record-breaking season, and best of luck for the future to Mark Webber, who ends his distinguished Formula One career here in Brazil.” -
Domenicali Plays Down Ferrari Team Orders Issue
Ferrari Team Principal, Stefano Dominicali played down the team order instruction that was ignored by Felipe Massa during the Japanese Grand Prix
The Brazillian ignored the team order which was given to him in a coded message by his race engineer, Rob Smedley. The instruction, “multi-function strategy A, now please”, was a apparently a coded message to allow Alonso through.
Massa, however, chose to ignore the message and carried on racing. Alonso eventually passed him using DRS on the run down to Turn 1.
“At the end of the day Fernando overtook him on the track. For sure Felipe is trying to be as quick as possible and I understand his feelings. He will find the team totally supporting him up until the end of the season with no problem” said Dominicali.
After the race, Massa had this to say: “But I was happy today. It was unfortunate for the race the drive through and what has happened in the race. It was not over any instruction, he overtook me on the track.”
With Massa leaving Ferrari at the season, and with him declaring that he will be racing for himself, there’s not much the team can really do. Although he may have been given a serious dressing down after the race.
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Korean Grand Prix Team & Driver Quotes
Sebastian Vettel edged ever closer to the championship title in a thrilling 2013 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix. The Lotus drivers enjoyed a double podium and Nico Hulkenberg had the race of his life. We hear from them, and the other drivers and senior team members after Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1st
“It was a long race today, but it’s really great to win the Korean Grand Prix. The start was crucial, it’s always tricky here as you’re nervous about the long straight when you start from pole. Fortunately we had good traction off the line and I had a strong exit out of the first corner. We kept the lead and tried to control the race from there. I think Mercedes had more range than us today, but we were able to win which is great. It was a very strong performance from the whole team and I’m happy. We’re just focusing on continuing to take one step at a time and trying to get the best out of the car at every single race.”Mark Webber, DNF
“The incident with Sutil was obviously the end of my race today. It was in Turn 3 on the restart, everyone bottles back up and I was looking for a big exit on the next straight to use some KERS on Daniel (Ricciardo) and the Williams. Then Sutil, I don’t know what happened, but obviously he hit me from the inside and that was that. There was quite a lot of damage at the back of the car and I hope it hasn’t gone towards the chassis – we will have to see before the next race. Before that I was very happy with how I drove and we’d got back to a very good position before I got the puncture. After the Pirelli tyre failure on Perez’ car, I was very lucky to miss the tread of the tyre that came off and then unbelievably I managed to get a puncture from going through the debris.”Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
“A really disciplined drive by Sebastian today to win his third consecutive Korean Grand Prix. It was a race dominated by tyre preservation and Sebastian managed it extremely well. It was a great shame to lose Mark who would have been on the podium today after he picked up a puncture from the debris from Perez’ incident. Then, after that he was the innocent victim of the incident that saw Sutil losing his car and hitting him, which caused a fire. It was somewhat frustrating to see our car on fire for what seemed to be an age.”Thierry Salvi, Renault support for Red Bull
“A win that was not as easy as it looked for Sebastian! With two safety cars, Seb had to do the job twice to increase the gap with the competitors and he’s did it very well, again showing his talent. It was a shame for Mark as he was really on for a very strong result in spite of his starting position. The collision with Sutil damaged the car and caused the fire. It’s too early to tell if we can re-use the engine yet – we will have to look at the damage. There is plenty to study in the week before Japan now, particularly with the strong position Sebastian is now in the championship.”Lotus
Kimi Raikkonen, 2nd
“Second place is okay and a good result for the team, but we’re here to win and having to fight your way to the front from a bad starting position is not ideal. Qualifying was pretty awful for me, but it’s difficult to say whether a better grid position would have made the difference. Sebastian was faster than us at the end; not massively, but a little bit for sure and his tyres were fresher too so I think it would have been tough to catch him in any case. We were closer to the Red Bull today than we have been in some races, but not close enough. People might say it was good luck with the safety car, but sometimes these things go with you and others they go against you. We made up some places even before that happened, and if we hadn’t had the speed then we wouldn’t have been in a position to take advantage. You could see at the end that we had more than enough pace to keep the others behind, so I think it’s deserved.”Romain Grosjean, 3rd
“It’s a fantastic result for the team. Of course, one step higher on the podium would have been better for me and two steps better would have been superb, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Our battle with Lewis (Hamilton) was good and our pace was great, but the two safety car periods hurt our attempts to battle for the win. After the restart I should have been in front of Kimi on the road, but it was my mistake which let him past. I went a bit wide in Turn 15 and got on the Astroturf – which is very slippery – and that let him get a run on me. Then there were yellow flags into Turn 3 so I couldn’t take the place back straight away. Of course, I was asking the team to let me past Kimi as I was on fresher tyres, but they left us to race which is our philosophy of fair play. You lose so much downforce in sectors two and three and obviously our cars are pretty close on performance so it’s pretty hard to pass, but we have to be very happy with a double podium.”Eric Boullier, Lotus team principal
“Another double podium for the team is a fantastic Korean Grand Prix result and it tastes like a race win this late in the season. Credit to everyone back at Enstone for delivering us extra performance from the long wheelbase car, as any gain towards the end of the year is especially beneficial as we fight for position in both championships. The race team delivered a great strategy and pit stops, whilst both drivers drove exceptionally well. We have a lot of promise for the remaining races and podiums are certainly on our agenda.”Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
“A great result for the team. We thought we would be competitive coming into this weekend, and in the end we qualified well and raced extremely well. Romain drove an incredibly strong race, and without the safety car would have taken a very comfortable second place. There was an element of luck for Kimi with the safety car and he certainly made the most of that, before once more demonstrating that he never stops pushing by capitalising on the one mistake made by his team-mate all weekend. It was close between the two, but we let both drivers race to the end which was the right thing to do. All signs look positive for Japan.”Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 team support leader
“It was a fantastic race from both drivers. Romain was very strong in the first part of the race, controlling the pace and managing the fuel and tyres very well. We reused his engine from Singapore and everything worked perfectly. We were on the limit with Kimi’s engine with some of the richer fuel mixes to help him get through the field and maximize performance. A great result all round.”Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg, 4th
“Today I drove one of the best races in my career so far. I have had cars in the mirrors before, but today there were a lot and it was a bit annoying. Lewis (Hamilton) really put the pressure on at the end, especially in the last sector. I knew I needed to get out of Turn 1 well. The car’s traction was very good today, so that kept me alive against Fernando and then Lewis later on. We were also very fast on the straight. I had a good start, although on the outside into Turn 1, which was a loss at first, but then I had a real good slip stream and was able to get past on the outside. A big thank you to the entire team for providing such an excellent car today.”Esteban Gutierrez, 11th
“I had a very good start, then I arrived at Turn 3 and saw what was going on. I tried to protect my position, my rears locked and that’s why I lost a couple of positions. To recover from that was quite a challenge. I had some good fights with Massa and Checo (Perez) coming from the back. Of course, I wanted to score points today, but this is racing. It’s a great experience and will help me to improve my race craft. We had good pace today and are definitely able to fight in the top ten.”Tom McCullough, Sauber, head of track engineering
“This is a fantastic result for the team, and we have picked up some very important points in the constructors’ championship. Looking at what happened in the race, today was a right front tyre management exercise, knowing where to be quick and where to protect the car, and Nico executed that exactly as we wanted. He withstood some immense pressure from a lot of very good drivers behind him. Esteban had a great start and Turn 1, but was unlucky into Turn 3, losing track positions due to other peoples’ mistakes. From that point on he came very close to scoring his first points, so can take a lot of positives from this race. We aim to carry this momentum forward to Suzuka next week. This is proof the hard work being done in Hinwil is delivering on the track.”Monisha Kaltenborn Sauber team principal
“I am very relieved we were able to keep up our level of performance throughout the whole weekend. We went into the Korean Grand Prix with high expectations and it is a great feeling that we were able to meet these through our own strengths. Nico put in a superb performance and, once again, great fight, as it definitely was not easy to keep those cars behind him. Esteban had a difficult start, so struggled a bit more. However, all in all it is a great step ahead for the entire team and shows we are working well together at home in Hinwil and on the track.”Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton, 5th
“That was not a great day for us and it feels like we deserved more as a team. After Grosjean got ahead of me at the start, there was no way past and it seemed that we were losing out to others on traction cars all day. In my second stint, running the prime tyre, my right front was just destroyed all of a sudden. When that happens, you start losing temperature, understeering and locking up under braking, so it was really hard to maintain the pace in those laps. It was a really difficult part of the race but I had to get to a certain target lap before I made the final stop. After the safety car, we were just losing out in traction to the Sauber. Our car was really strong through the middle sector but not quick enough on the straights to stay ahead. It was a nice battle with Fernando but it’s hard to take when it’s only for P5 or P6. It was just not a good race for us today but we have the chance to bounce back in Suzuka.”Nico Rosberg, 7th
“That was another very tough race for me. I couldn’t believe what happened with the wing: I was on course for a podium finish after overtaking Lewis and two seconds later, the front wing just broke. It was pretty scary because that could have been a dangerous situation but the engineers told me over the radio that it was under control and I could carry some speed back to the pits. It’s a shame because the car felt great today and I found a good balance and how to get the most out of the car, which I hadn’t managed until this point of the weekend. It’s been a real up and down season so far for me but it’s good that we have another race in a week’s time. Our car is very competitive and I had good pace compared to the cars on the podium. So I’m looking forward to the next races.”Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal
“It proved a very challenging race for the team and one which leaves us with the rather bitter taste of “what might have been” after finishing fifth with Lewis and seventh with Nico. The cars settled in third and fourth positions during the first stint and both looked very competitive compared to those around them. However, Lewis began to struggle around 13 laps into his second stint when he reported that his right-front tyre was no longer performing properly. At that point, we had a difficult decision to make: an extra stop at lap 22 would have committed us to a much slower three-stop strategy, or we could leave Lewis in clean air to tough it out and try and reach the target lap to make our two-stop strategy work. We chose the latter option but it was a pretty painful few laps as Lewis battled to minimise the time loss. On the other car, Nico’s tyres were in much better shape and he was running at the same pace as the leaders and well on course for a podium finish when he suffered a structural failure on the front wing assembly which forced him to make an immediate pit stop. The safety car phases ultimately made the final part of the race more comfortable in terms of tyre life but neither driver was able to make up much ground against the cars around them which had a traction advantage. It’s been a tough day and we will aim to deliver a stronger performance in Japan.”Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 6th
We knew this would be a difficult race and unfortunately the results confirmed the concerns we had already experienced on Friday, when we had a few problems with tyre degradation on the long run. It wasn’t a surprise to be off the pace in qualifying, as that’s been the case since the start of the season, but the fact that we didn’t have the pace in the race was one. Unfortunately, at the start, I couldn’t keep the Sauber behind me and that meant I had a particularly stressful race in terms of the tyres. What happened to Felipe at the third corner was not a problem for me: there were a lot of us there at that point and someone must have touched him. I tried to avoid him and continued without it affecting my race, because by then, I was already behind Hulkenberg. Now we must think only about Suzuka and try to get back on the podium, rediscovering the form we usually have on Sunday, that allows us to fight at the front. Vettel is a very long way off in terms of points, but above all in performance terms and we cannot expect miracles between now and the end of the championship. Second place in the constructors’ championship is probably a more realistic target, but one thing’s certain, we are not giving up now and we will give it our best shot right to the very end.”Felipe Massa, 9th
“Today’s Korean Grand Prix was really very complicated, because my chances of getting a good result evaporated right from the first lap, when I found myself in the middle of a group, all of us fighting and I decided to go down the inside to try and brake later. Unfortunately, some of the cars were slower and in order to avoid driving into one of the Mercedes, I was forced to move over to the right, ending up in a spin. Luckily, the car was alright, but at that point I was contemplating a race from the back of the pack. Thanks to a few nice passing moves I still managed to bring home some points, which was a good thing compared to how it looked after the start. Today, we weren’t competitive and there were at least three or four teams quicker than us, including Sauber, but I hope this was mainly track dependent and that our car will be better suited to the Suzuka track.”Pat Fry, Ferrari engineering director
“Today the top places were out of reach, in what was a very tense race for both our drivers, caught in traffic behind the Saubers from start to finish. On this track, their two cars were able to make the most of better traction on the exit to the corners and their high top speed made life difficult when trying to overtake them. At the start, Fernando managed to close on Rosberg at the first corner, but had to back off so as not to go off the track, which helped Hulkenberg get past on the straight. Once he was behind, he had to deal with tyre wear and it was a real shame, because our pace was not lower than that of the Mercedes. As for Felipe however, the spin going into Turn 3 dropped him to the back. On lap 15, after a climb up the order that took him to 14th place, he found himself behind Gutierrez. Both Fernando and Felipe did their utmost and fought hard all weekend against tyre degradation and graining, which was particularly high, because of the characteristics of this track. For Suzuka, we will try and improve and get back to aiming for a podium finish, because we certainly don’t want to be fighting for sixth and ninth.”Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal
“After positive results in Belgium, Monza and Singapore, there’s no use denying that today’s result doesn’t make us happy. We were hoping to be able to attack the two Mercedes on the opening lap, as we knew we could deal with their race pace. Unfortunately, that was not the case and the incidents just after the start affected our race, wiping out any chance of getting close to the podium. In these conditions we didn’t manage to get the most out of our car and now the only thing we can do is keep our concentration high for the next round in Japan, where we get an immediate chance to redeem ourselves. Even if the drivers’ title is now an almost impossible target, we still have an obligation to continue to give our all to the very end of the championship, because we are still fighting for second place in the constructors’ championship.”McLaren
Jenson Button, 8th
“Turn 3 was always going to be something of a mess on the first lap. And, sure enough, there was an incident; a car got hit, went wide and hit me. That contact damaged my front wing endplate. It didn’t really cause me too much of a problem in terms of staying with the cars in front, but it really started to hurt the temperatures, so we had to pit for a new nosebox on lap four. That cost me a bit of time. Our pace on the prime tyre was very good, however, and I was able to run two strong stints on the prime to stay in the hunt. During my second pit stop, the (pit-release) lights went green then went red again, so I briefly stopped as a precaution straight after I was released. I had a quick look behind me to check that everything was okay – everything seemed fine, so I continued. Considering those delays, eighth place wasn’t a bad result. Still, I was a bit gutted to lose seventh right at the end of the race. As soon as I lost the DRS to the bunch of cars in front, that was it for me: I couldn’t get any temperature back in the tyres. It was always going to be difficult with Nico (Rosberg) at the end: his tyres were almost 10 laps fresher than mine. I did 33 laps on my final set, whereas the previous set did 18! I’m really happy to have picked up those points – four points were about as good as it was going to get today.”Sergio Perez, 10th
“We definitely deserved more today – we were very unlucky. With regards to my tyre delamination, although that particular set was already quite old, I braked at the same point as normal and got a flat-spot from the lock-up. I’d done 21 laps with that set, when, all of a sudden, the front-right just exploded, destroying the front wing. It was lucky, because there weren’t any other cars around me. Still, from a team point of view, it’s very disappointing for a single incident like this to destroy the good progress we’d made all weekend. Regarding Felipe, we were racing very hard trying to get some points – on one occasion, I thought he was going to leave me more space, then he turned in, I tried to brake and we touched a little bit. On the second incident, I thought I had the corner. I’m pleased that the stewards felt there was no need for any further action – it was just racing.”Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“Sometimes, it takes a difficult race to bring out the strengths of our people – and I’m pleased that, despite our drivers enduring a puncture and two nosebox changes this afternoon, we still managed to get both Jenson and Checo into the points. That was achieved through a combination of great tactics – our strategists worked on the fly to ensure Jenson recovered superbly from an earlier-than-planned stop to replace a damaged front wing; well-executed teamwork – our mechanics performed brilliantly under pressure to replace two broken front wings and a severely delaminated front tyre; and great driver focus – Jenson drove a scarcely believable 33-lap stint on one set of tyres, effectively turning his race into a one-stopper, and Checo showed great racing spirit to take the battle to those around him after a delamination destroyed his right-front tyre and his front wing. To incorporate all those setbacks into a single afternoon, yet still run competitively, is a great bonus to the team. And while the final classification may only show we finished eighth and 10th, those bald facts cruelly fail to do justice to the way we overcame adversity on our way to those positions. Although fighting for minor points finishes isn’t really what we expect at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, today’s results were greatly deserved after a day of extreme difficulty.”Williams
Valtteri Bottas, 12th
“I was a bit unlucky with the incident on the first lap as I was blocked and lost a position whereas others were able to make up places. The first stint was difficult as I was struggling with the supersoft tyre, but the pace improved a lot in the second stint on the mediums and the safety cars allowed me to close in on the top ten. In the end it was all about making sure we still had the grip in the tyres to fight for some points in the final laps, but I think 12th was a fair result as the cars that finished ahead of us had better pace all weekend.”Pastor Maldonado, 13th
“I had a very good first lap, moving up to ninth after an incident at turn three allowed me to make up a lot of places. I tried to maintain my position in the top ten but the safety cars hindered my race today as the cars behind were able to keep closing up behind me, and after the second restart they just had too much pace and were able to overtake. It’s disappointing not to finish in the points but the end result is a fair reflection of our performance this weekend and we need to work hard to find some gains for the race next weekend in Japan.”Xevi Pujolar, Williams Chief race engineer
“It was a busy first lap with Valtteri losing out in the incidents that happened ahead on track, whilst Pastor was able to gain from them and moved from 18th to ninth. Pastor had a good opening stint but graining on the front-right tyres of both cars was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. We still stayed on target for a two-stop strategy with both cars but after we moved from the supersofts to the mediums for the second stint tyre management was still difficult. Valtteri was able to manage the front-right slightly better because Pastor was pushing harder further up the field and we ultimately had to cut Pastor’s second stint slightly short. We used the two safety-car periods to help manage tyre wear to get to the end of the race but we knew it was going to be tough. With more laps on his tyres than those around him, Pastor was unable to defend from Gutiérrez, Perez and Massa in the closing stages. We were close to fighting for points but the car pace unfortunately wasn’t quite good enough.”Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader
“A chaotic Korean Grand Prix but one that almost worked out in our favour. Pastor did a good job to stay clear of the trouble and ran in the top ten for parts of the race. With a bit more luck we could have scored a point, but the conditions were just so unpredictable that it didn’t go our way in the end.”Caterham
Charles Pic, 14th
“That was a good race for me I had a good, clean start but into Turn 3 I had to go off track to avoid Massa who’d spun and lost a couple of places. I made them up and for both the first and second stints the car balance felt good. We’d started on supersofts and they held up well for the first stint so we pitted on schedule and re-joined on a set of new mediums. As I say, the car balance felt good and I was on plan when the first safety car came out so we boxed right away for the second stop and at that stage we were looking at a long final stint to the flag. However, then the second safety car was brought out almost immediately and that obviously helped with the tyre management for the final stint. I did have some issues with the front right for the last few laps but nothing too bad so I got the car to the flag in 14th which is a decent result for us – not quite where we want to be but almost!”Giedo van der Garde, 15th
“My start was great, really strong and when everyone was moving to avoid Massa in Turn 3 I had to push out wide to avoid contact with a few cars around me. I really don’t think I’d pushed any other cars out on purpose on lap one but I was told to box for a drive-through penalty because of what the stewards saw and from there my race was pretty much over. I served the penalty and then had to box again immediately as the supersofts I’d started on were done, so even though I was up as high as 12th in the first stint I re-joined in 22nd and set about catching up Chilton and Bianchi. I was up close to Chilton just when the safety car came out and the team did a great job to help me get past him with a really quick stop on the first safety-car lap. That sort of teamwork needs to be mentioned as it plays such a critical role in the overall race, so the boys deserve a thank you for that.The second safety car came out almost immediately when Mark’s car caught fire and then when we restarted I had a bit of a lock-up at the end of the main straight and Bianchi got past, but within a couple more laps I regained the place and was back behind Charles in 17th. I had a flat spot from that point in the race but kept pushing and finally finished in 15th, just behind Charles. Without the drive-through I’m sure I could have finished higher, maybe not up in 13th, but close and while that’s obviously frustrating today, it shows how close it’s getting and that’s good for my motivation and the whole team.”Marussia
Jules Bianchi, 16th
“I was hoping to be able to have a good fight with the Caterhams today and despite the setback of the grid penalty I was in a good position after the first couple of corners of the opening lap. It wasn’t too long before we had to focus our efforts on tyre management and the first two stints were pretty tough as we were not able to push. In the third stint, when there was less to lose, we could give it more of a shot but it was not enough to try to take a position from them. We have a tough job on our hands in these next five races and it will require every bit of our focus and concentration, but we know what we have to do and everyone is working very hard for that. My thanks to the team as it is not just tough in the cockpit!”Max Chilton, 17th
“Overall, a good team result today as we achieved the right outcome for our bigger picture. I think we were lacking a little in terms of our expected race pace but also we were unable to really push because of the need to manage our way through each stint with the tyres. The opening lap melée set me back a little but then I caught back up to Jules and the two safety cars meant that we never had the blue flag situation to worry about. The pit stops were really slick and I think we did everything we could. We are much closer to the Caterham cars, we know that, but we need to be able to carry that through into the race to make things a little more comfortable. ”John Booth, Marussia team principal
“It was a tough race today but one that the whole team has done a fantastic job to manage. Indeed, ‘management’ was really the word of the day. We knew it would be tough to complete a two stop race, but we felt that this gave us our best opportunity of being in a position to take advantage of any safety cars that came along. The starts were very good this week and we have definitely made progress in this area. The rest of the race was really quite difficult in terms of continuous lap by lap calculations to determine the pace we should run at in order to make our two stop strategy work. This is quite labour intensive for the engineers and drivers but I’m pleased with the job we did with this. We are still a little way off where we need to be in terms of outright pace, however we can take some comfort that on a couple of occasions today we were racing our nearest competitor. We are hopeful that with a few smaller developments we have coming over the next few races, we can take a further step forward to ensure we are best placed to deal with any further races of attrition which may arise in the remaining five races, given our objective.”Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne, 18th
“At the moment, we’re not quite sure what happened in the end. I felt the car pull to one side and something was clearly not right, so the team called me into the pits. Starting from 16th, this was always going to be a difficult weekend and after I made up a few places in the early stages, I began to suffer with tyre degradation, so I agreed when the team decided to switch me from a two to a three stop strategy. I just want to get to Suzuka and start again now, but we will need to do a lot of work if we want to return to the performance level we should have had here.”Daniel Ricciardo, 19th
“I think we did all we could today in the race. I had a decent first stint and tried to run as long as possible on the Prime tyre. The car wasn’t perfect but it was good enough to be in a points position with a few laps to go and I was hanging on nicely to ninth. It’s deja vu, as I had the same scenario here last year, when I came down to Turn 3 with a few laps to go, I braked and the car immediately shot to the left. That time it cost me one place. Once I got out of the cockpit this time, I could see there was a mechanical problem at the front left corner. Personally, I was really pleased with my performance in the car today. Maybe we didn’t have a top-ten car but I was able to fight in the top ten. But for myself and the team it’s frustrating to get no reward. Now all we can do is look ahead to Suzuka.”Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
“Daniel was the only driver to start on the medium tyre as we wanted to try something different on the strategy front to make up some places. It seemed to work well, as he made up a few positions by mid race. However, the safety car came at the wrong time for him, but we had to bring him in, knowing he would have a tough final stint on the supersofts. He did a good job of managing his tyres and defending his ninth place quite comfortably. Then with two laps to go, we had a mechanical issue on the car which we will investigate when we get it back and he had to park at the side of the track. Jev had a harder afternoon, starting from further back and, after making up a few places, the heavy traffic in the back of the field meant he had higher tyre degradation. We decided to switch him to a three stop strategy, but in the end we had to retire him with what might be a similar problem to Daniel’s car.”Force India
Adrian Sutil, 20th
“I was quite unlucky on the first lap because after Massa spun everybody headed for the inside and somebody hit me on the side of my front wing. The damage was not too bad but I still had to pit for a new one. As the race went on I was able to fight back quite well and after the safety car I was in P12 and not planning to pit again. At the restart I lost the rear of the car under braking for Turn 3. I really don’t know why because I was not braking late and the car just snapped. I hit Webber so I apologise for ending his race. It’s a disappointing end to the race because I believe there was still a chance of a point.”Paul di Resta, DNF
“I have to hold my hands up and apologise to the team. Maybe I took a little bit too much kerb and that sent me off the track. The way we’ve set the car up means it has been quite edgy and difficult to drive, and that’s what has caught me out today, although whether it has cost us points is hard to say. The performance in the race was not where we wanted it to be and the front tyres were wearing out too quickly. So we need to have a rethink ahead of Suzuka and go there determined to have a clean race.”Robert Fernley, Force India deputy team principal
“It was not the easiest day in the office for anyone at Sahara Force India and we leave Korea feeling disappointed. Paul was pushing hard after his second stop and just made a small mistake at Turn 12. It was a fairly gentle tap against the barrier, but it was enough to damage the right rear corner and end his race. Adrian also had an eventful time, being a victim of the opening lap incident at Turn 3. Pitting early for a new wing dropped him to the back of the pack, but he battled back and was in contention for some points. Unfortunately the damage to his rear wing led to his eventual retirement. After a tough race like that it’s important we try and bounce back in Japan next week.”Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“With the medium compound proving to be the ideal race tyre, most drivers aimed to get onto it as soon as possible, with teams reacting from the start of the race to the strategies that had been put in place by their immediate rivals. We had a tyre choice that may have been aggressive, with the supersoft being a perfect qualifying tyre and the medium optimal for the race, but this was in accordance with the requests of many of the teams. Regarding Sergio Perez’s front-right tyre issue we have been able to determine very quickly that it was the result of a flat spot caused by a lock-up under heavy braking. We’re obviously on exactly the same construction as we raced here last year, so there’s no underlying problem, while flat spots or punctures have just always been an integral part of racing. The two safety-car periods had an important effect on the race strategy, which meant that all the finishers apart from one completed the race with just two stops. Without safety cars, we probably would have seen more people stopping three times, but it was always going to be within the two to three stop window, which has been our target since we came into Formula One.” -
Raikkonen happy to be returning to Maranello
Following the announcement that Kimi Raikkonen will be returning to drive for Ferrari in 2014, the Finn has said that he is very happy to be returning to Maranello saying that he can’t wait to be driving a “Prancing Horse car” again.
Speaking to the Ferrari.com website, Raikkonen said, “I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years.”
“I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the World Championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable,” Raikkonen said. “I can’t wait to be driving a Prancing Horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves.”
Today’s announcement came after Felipe Massa announced his departure from the team last night.
Ferrari team principal, Stefano Domenicali said that he is very pleased to “welcome Kimi back to the Scuderia, the team with which he won his world championship title.” He went on to say, “I sense he is very happy to be returning to Maranello and very determined to tackle the work that awaits him in the best way possible.”
Fernando Alonso echoed the sentiments of his team principal, saying, “I’d like to welcome my new travelling companion: together, starting next year, we will have to tackle a very demanding technical and racing challenge.”
Domenicali and Alonso both paid tribute to Felipe Massa today and thanked him for his tenure with the team.
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No points? No biggie – Ferrari
Despite an operational failure on Fernando Alonso’s car Ferrari are keeping things in perspective.
Although the Spaniard is thirty points adrift of championship leader Sebastian Vettel after only four races of the 2013 season Ferrari see no reason to drop their chins. “The gap is 30 points now, but if he has zero points next time and we win, it will be five,” explained Domenicali. “With only four races gone, there is plenty of time. Don’t forget, we had a 50 points [advantage] last summer, so it is easy stuff.”
The Italian squad has started the 2013 in much better shape than the last few season and barring any issues at the Bahrain GP Alonso was the most likely to challenge for victory. Ultimately, Alonso’s eighth place finish may not appear spectacular on paper but three points could be telling towards the end of a very long championship season.
