Tag: williams

F1 2016: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice Three Report – Vettel Quickest

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time overall in the third free practice session ahead of the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The Ferrari driver’s quickest time of 1:40:775 was a tenth and a half quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen while the sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top three some tenths adrift. The first Mercedes, in the shape of Lewis Hamilton was fourth with championship leader Nico Rosberg in fifth.

Daniel Ricciardo chose to run an alternate strategy to the rest of the frontrunners which saw not use the quickest ultrasoft tyre compound in the sixty minute session. The session ran uneventfully save for a few lazy spins and presented a potentially close battle amongst the mid-field; positions seven to thirteen were covered by only seven tenths of a second.

While Mercedes did not dominate the final practice session all expectations are that it will be Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg who duke it out for pole in the all important final quali session of the season.

Final Free Practice Three Standings:

November 26, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Stephen FITZPATRICK (Manor), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Monisha, can we start with you? Congratulations on the points in Brazil. Describe the emotions and the reaction within the team?

Monisha KALTENBORN: Well of course it was very relieving considering that it was a long race. You didn’t know are we really going to make it to the end with the points, because you could see how Manor was right behind us and it was so important that the car stays in the race and we could see other cars coming, overtaking us. Yeah, it was a bit of a nightmare. We were all extremely relieved. They are so important for all of us, these points. It’s not only financially, which of course plays a role, but also of course for the morale of the team. We didn’t want to end the season again like we did in 2014. So it was extremely relieving on the track and of course at home as well.

Q: We had your driver Felipe Nasr, who of course delivered those two points, in the press conference yesterday. He says he hopes it’ll swing things his way. If you do confirm that 10^th place in Sunday what does it do for his chances?

MK: Well, there is no direct link there you know. We have our options, we are looking at them and we know Felipe very well. We’re just going to continue our assessment and when we’re ready we’ll announce.

Q: OK, thank you. Stephen, coming to you, welcome to your first FIA Press Conference. You rescued Manor a couple of years ago from administration, what has team ownership been like in the interim?

Stephen FITZPATRICK: I can recommend it to anyone. It’s been a fascinating two years. It has been exhilarating, races like Bahrain this year, obviously Austria and then Brazil. So lots of ups and downs. But also humbling I would say. Coming into this sport as a beginner let’s say, but as a lifelong fan, but new to the inside of the sport, you don’t quite appreciate just how many things you need to get right to bring two cars home at the end of a race and I’ve learned a lot about just how difficult it is to build a car, to race the car, to put the team together. So I would say I’m full of respect for the people around me in the sport, the other teams, the other team principals. It’s been a huge challenge, but also a little bit frustrating. One of the things that makes sport great is the belief that anything can happen and we didn’t come into the sport, or I didn’t come into the sport believing that we would win races or be on the podium in our first couple of years but to be in a sport like F1 you have to believe that incredible can happen and one of the challenges we have at the moment is that that sport has become very predictable. It’s a problem for all of us here, even Toto – who’s winning almost too much – and maybe it’s even becoming a problem for him. I think that’s one of the big frustrations and I think it’s clear that it takes a long time to build a great F1 team. We’ve made a big step forward from 2015 to 2016 but there’s a lot of work still to do clearly.

Q: There are some stories in the press this week about your team being sold and you CEO appears to have confirmed it. What can you tell us about that?

SF: Well, I can’t talk too much about the specifics but we have been in discussions with several investors, well, for the last six months let’s say. One of the things I was quite clear on, right from the start, was that I accepted that in the current F1, money equals performance, so anything that was going to bring more funding to the team and help the team develop and progress I was very open and if that meant bringing another investor, even a majority investor, hat was something I was happy to do. We have agreed terms with an investor at the moment and we are still working through that and I can’t really talk more about the specifics.

Q: Thank you for that. Otmar, coming to you, another championship dogfight going on a bit further up the grid involving you. It’s looking good for beating Claire’s team to P4. How have you done it?

Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, we’re not there yet. We’ve got this weekend to go and we’ll work hard, as we usually do, to perform to the best of our ability and hopefully that will result in fourth place. That’s what we’re shooting for. But the building blocks have been put in place for the last five or six years, it’s not something that happens overnight. We’ve been working towards having a better team and a more performant car for a good six years and there’s a lot that goes in it: good decision-making; having the right tools and the right people, having the right engine partner – thanks for that, Toto – but also understanding the tyres, aerodynamically efficient car. You’ve got to do all those things and then the performance comes. Not to mention two good drivers.

Q: Esteban Ocon joins you next year. It’s been a while since you’ve had a young driver, a relative rookie in fact. What are your expectations and why did you go for him over other candidates?

OS: Well, we deliberated long and hard. We know Esteban and that helps. We ran him in two different tests and we were impressed with both his speed and his ability to learn, and also with his attitude to racing and his attitude towards learning and we thought he was a good fit for us and that’s why we chose him over some of the others.

Q: Thanks for that. Claire, you’ve not been at a race for a while, we understand that you have been with your father. How is Frank?

Claire WILLIAMS: He is good now, thank you. He is on the mend. It’s nice to be back at the track.

Q: As we were just hearing from Otmar, it’s beginning to look like P4 is slipping away from you. How did that happen from your side?

CW: I don’t think we’ve delivered where we needed to deliver this year, across a number of key elements. I’m not going to go into detail on the areas of weakness we have in the team this year, but we know where those weaknesses are and we just need to make sure that we improve upon those areas over the winter. But Force India have done a fantastic job. You asked him where they are where they are and they have just done a better job than we have and we need to look into that. We don’t want to finish fifth in the world championship. It’s a bit of a disappointment having come third in two consecutive seasons, in 2014 and 2015. We just need to do a better job.

Q: With that in mind, tell us about your expectations for Lance Stroll, he’ll be joining you next year, he’ll be 18. After all for Williams to compete for third, fourth place in the championship, he’s going to have score a lot of points?

CW: Yeah, he is. The Constructors’ Championship is really important for us at Williams and we need to have two strong drivers in our car. Obviously off the back of Felipe’s decision to retire we had a number of options available to us. Lance has been part of a development programme that we’ve run since about this time last year and I think that he’s absolutely proved that he has the credentials to come into Formula One next year and we’re delighted that we were able to make that decision. He has dominated in F3 this year and he’s won the F4 championship. He’s absolutely got the talent, we feel. As with any rookie when they come into Formula One you’ve got to give them a bit of slack in the beginning but we are going to have high expectations of him next year, but anyone that has meet Lance knows and understands that he deserves that promotion into Formula One and he’s extremely intelligent, he’s a very quick learner, we’ve learned that through the work that we have done with him in the ‘3-to-1’ programme, and he’s incredibly charming and I think he’s going to be a great addition to the paddock next year. I think it’s nice to see… as much as it’s sad to be losing a couple of the Formula One legend drivers that we have I think it’s going to be really exciting next year to have a number of rookies lining up on the grid.

Q: Ok thank you. Toto, you win too much! For the second time in three years your drivers have a title showdown here in Abu Dhabi. How do you assess their mindset and I’d be interested to know how does it differ from the first time they were in this position back in 2014? How have they matured and matured in relation to each other, in their mindset and what you see this weekend?

Toto WOLFF: Obviously the longer you work with each other the better you get to know each other and it’s the third season that we have had a car that was able to win races and win championships. I said it before, that in the last couple of races we had a great amount of serene… almost a serene environment. Very good for the team because they have worked together to make the car faster. Very productive and then it was very good for the dynamics within the team. Although, I must say that the championship was getting tougher and tougher for both of them. It was clear that they would be the greatest rivals for winning the Drivers’ title and we’ve seen that this weekend is somehow a bit different; you can see that there is pressure coming up, which I guess is pretty normal at this stage of the season.

Q: Red Bull looked fast this afternoon and earlier on in the long runs, but I’m interested, has the gap really closed up at the back end of the season or have you just done enough to keep everybody at arm’s length?

TW: We have seen over the last couple of races that the gaps between us and Red Bull and Ferrari have stayed pretty stable, for the simple reason that everybody must have switched off development of the 2016 car. Not all at the same time, there will have been teams that have done it sooner than others, but what you see now in terms of performances gaps or the difference in performance gap, is that somebody just gets it right on a particular track with a set of tyres, but generally it’s been on a similar level for the last, I would say, four or five races.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta Dello Sport): Toto, you know what Lewis said here in the press conference yesterday about the mechanics, the book and so on. I would like to have your comment and that you don’t have any regret over that decision at the beginning of the season?

TW: You know it’s always dangerous because there is one statement that is being picked out from a press conference between the two of them and as I said before I find it very remarkable how they’ve managed the relationship between the two of them for the benefit of the team, taking into consideration that it must be very intense and very high pressure for them. So that one comment was taken out and it is clear that if you change a crew that is directly involved with a drivers, such as mechanics or a number one that a driver constantly looks at when he’s pulling out of the garage, it can have a psychological effect and we acknowledged that and it was part of our thinking when we shuffled it around. But as a matter of fact we are 1,500 people in Brixworth and Brackley and it’s about developing personnel. Somebody who was working on one corner of the car today as a mechanic might be a number one next year, might be a chief mechanic afterwards and maybe has even more potential within the organisation. In a similar way we have done all through the organisation we are not keeping it static. It’s a dynamic structure and the same happens in the garage. This is a fact. I appreciate the effect on the singular driver and it was taken into consideration and maybe I’ll write a book in 10 years and we’ll put some things in there.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xero Xone News) To follow up on that question Toto. Isn’t it important to keep your number one satisfied and to give him the best of everything he needs to be successful – especially in the beginning of the season when he was aiming for a fourth world championship?

TW: It’s very important. It is, in terms of keeping the performance up in the team, you need to consider what your high-performance need; what kind of environment they need, what kind of framework they need in order to perform best. And we’ve considered that. And there is not just one position like the chief mechanic that is important for the performance of the team and the drivers but we have to take decisions for many, many hundreds of people and develop them. It is our duty and obligation towards these 1500 people and the great brand to take the right decisions and not one single individual – although taking into mind what is important for the driver itself. What you are seeing here on the race track is the tip of the iceberg. And by the sheer nature there is a large block underneath that brings performance and has brought the team to where we are today. And part of that is to have the most effective organisation. Not only today but also tomorrow – and that is just part of the normal procedure.

But if you knew that was going to psychologically affect your number one driver, why would you make that decision?

TW: I’ve explained it to you already once before that weekend. There’s 1500 and we need to take care that these 1500 perform well. Not one. 1500.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Toto. You said that the pressure is coming up. Just speaking about Nico, do you think that this season he’s been able to deal with pressure better and perhaps he’s a bit more focussed and blocking things out more than he was in the previous two campaigns?

TW: Yes, he deals with it very well and there is nothing that somehow affects him. This is at least my impression. Whether it’s a difficult weekend, he has learned to assess it in the right way at the right time and move on – or whether it’s a good weekend, to stay humble, both feet on the ground and try to understand why that was. Whether spirits are high or spirits are down it was all pretty stable with him – and certainly, as far as I can see, that is one of the keys why he’s leading the championship today.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Stephen, the Brazilian Grand Prix was obviously from a personal perspective, your own perspective, rather disappointing. Can you try and tell us exactly how you felt when you realised that the cost of this could possibly run to $13 or $15million and potentially even more in the longer term?

SF: Yeah, I think the first reaction wasn’t really a financial one. It would have been a very exciting race and coming to the end of what was an exhilarating season, lots of ups and downs. We had held tenth place for, I think, ten races, Brazil was number ten and at many points during the race there were lots of different scenarios and there was a lot of furious calculations about finishing the race at different points throughout. The first reaction I had was one of real disappointment for the team. I think they’ve worked incredibly hard for the last, let’s say, 18 months since the start of last season without much reward and it looked like we were heading for a tenth-place finish which was a big step forward for us. So one of immediate disappointment for the team who worked so hard all year back at the factory and here on the circuit. But my next reaction was actually one of… I thought of the opposite feeling that must be going on in the Sauber garage and I thought that the guys in the Sauber team had been fantastic competitors for us all year, we’d enjoyed a great battle with them and I knew how much those points meant to the Sauber team and I was trying to imagine the joy they would be having and they worked so hard all season to bring it back in the end. So in the end I think the season doesn’t come down to one race. Obviously the way the points are structured that was a critical race for us. Very unexpected. But that’s racing. On that day it didn’t go our way but I think we all want to see more of that unpredictability, that excitement. So, in the end, it was a difficult night, let’s say, and then back to business.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Stephen again, and Monisha. Monisha, potentially for you, you could have tenth place locked in at the end of the season. Both teams, Monisha, you’ve got a new investor on-board already, Stephen you potential have a new investor on-board. Does the swapping of positions have any influence on the business decisions made. Obviously it’s more attractive for you Monisha but Stephen, does that put your deal in any particular jeopardy or is it going to hurt you financially? Things planned that you can’t do?

SF: It doesn’t help financially but the terms of our agreement have been… refinalised, let’s say. It was clear that in tenth place with one point on the board, two races left, that there are lots of scenarios and you plan for those in advance, so, from my point of view it’s disappointing but it’s not unexpected – or at least not a surprise.

Not a deal-breaker?

SF: Not a deal-breaker. And, most importantly, we’re not finished yet. We’re looking good today, at least, on Friday, so we’ve still got one race left.

MK: Well, in our case, the investors came in at a time when we were on P11, so the risks were very well known. So the risks were very well known. And of course we said we are going to do all we can to actually still get to P10. So, it looks better if you end the season, of course, on P10, that’s clear – but there’s not any other impact.

[off-mic follow-up] adding more staff?

MK: Well no. As I said, with the investors we have, our future is secured. There’s nothing out there that would cause us any dramas like in the past – but you simply look better if you have our business case and if you have that additional funding it’s just easier to achieve what you want in your business case.

Q: (René Hofmann– Süddeutsche Zeitung) I wanted to ask all five of you, concerning the upcoming season: what the rule changes mean for your particular team, what are your hopes, what the challenges you’re facing?

OS: Well, for a team like ours it’s a big challenge, starting over without any carryover parts whatsoever has a massive impact on us – so it’s a big challenge. We also don’t have some of the infrastructure in place of the bigger teams. We source a lot of our parts to suppliers; we don’t make them ourselves – so that adds extra time. So yeah, it’s a big challenge. Our hopes are we’ve done a good job and others have screwed-up!

Claire?

CW: We hope the same! That everyone else has screwed-up as well. No, y’know, for us, fortunately we’re in quite a comfortable financial position at the moment and with the regulations coming out when they did, we were able to start development work on next year’s car pretty early but that’s not to say we know where our performance is. Nobody does until we get to the first test and probably not until we get to the first few races where we know where everybody shakes out. But I think it presents a great opportunity for Formula One to potentially shake up the order. I hope that we’ve found something spectacular over the winter. I know that the guys back at the factory have worked really hard on next year’s car to try and find that performance and improve upon where we finish this year’s championship next year. But I think we just have to wait and see. For the sport, I think it’s pretty exciting.

Monisha?

MK: Well, we share that hope as well. We know that we have to take a very big step ahead so we see these rule changes as an opportunity because we want to be back next year in the midfield and we now also have the means to do that. Overall, we do hope that it’s going to make the sport exciting. I think everyone’s been quite critical about certain things which have been introduced so let’s just hope and see if it really mixes up the grid and we have something different next year.

Stephen?

SF: Well, interestingly in 2016 we had to build a completely new car: Manor didn’t build a 2015 car because of the administration, so we feel that we’ve been through this already. There was such a big gap between where we were in 2014 and the other teams this year, so we’ve had to make that big step already. I gave the team quite clear instructions this year they were to focus as much of their efforts as possibly on the 2016 programme until we were able to put some points on the board and try to secure tenth place. From Austria onwards the team have been working exclusively on the 2017 programme, so there’s been a lot of work gone in. We’ve really built up the resources of the team this year, we’ve moved to a great new facility; the wind tunnel facility at Mercedes and that’s led to a big step forwards in our aerodynamic development. So the team are hopeful. The thing I guess I’m not really hoping for is that everyone else has screwed-up, because like I said, I’ve developed a lot of respect for all the other teams and I think that might be too much to hope for. It’s certainly going to be a very interesting 2017 season.

Toto, you pick up where you left off do you, next year?

TW: Yeah, I tend to go with Otmar! Honestly, we weren’t big supporters of a regulation change. Not because we wanted to freeze the current situation. It’s clear that when regulations stay stable that eventually performance is going to converge. But because we weren’t sure that it is the right way for Formula One. But as it is, we are where we are and the cars, certainly in the wind tunnel, look very spectacular, very wide with the big tyres and I am personally very excited to see them on track for the first time. For the drivers it will be much harder; the cars will be pulling more g through the corners. The simulations that we have seen are very exciting. The corners will be flat that are far from flat today – and we will be breaking records in terms of lap time. So, I guess, an exciting season that will be ahead of us. I hope that overtaking is not going to be too difficult because of the width of the car and the dirty air behind it – but let’s see. In hindsight, now that we are where we are, we have to do the best out of it.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Stephen, when this investment deal happens, will you still be involved and/or in charge? Is it a buy-in or a buy-out?

SF: I’m not going to talk anything about the specifics.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To Toto specifically but if the others would like to join in please feel free. Toto, you’ve been on the strategy group since its inception basically. Do you honestly believe that it best serves Formula One’s interests? At the latest one, for example, I believe the teams on either side of you put in certain proposals. These were blocked before they could even reach the Formula One commission so therefore they can’t be voted on properly. Does this really work and is there an alternative to this because there’s been an awful lot of criticism about the group?

TW: You are a number one fan of the strategy group, we’ve found out. It is what it is. In Formula One, the difficulty is that every team has got to have an opinion and it is very much focused of course on your own performance but then we are responsible enough, within the group, to take into consideration what’s good for Formula One and most recently I’ve seen a development that even within the very big rivals on the strategy group and in the F1 commission there is consensus and we’re trying to seek consensus. Some of the things are not being accepted or not voted on. You refer to two specific proposals which, with all due respect to my friend Otmar, were on the agenda half a year ago. They were referred to the technical regulations meeting, so the competent group, not the dangerous group! The competent group decided that it was not the right way forward and for whatever reason these regulations appeared back on the agenda on the strategy group and this is why it was voted against, that is the fact. But that governance is in place until 2020 and if there is a possibility that we can improve it next time around in order to better the approval process, I’m the first one to vote in favour.

SF: I never attended this strategy group. I have no idea what happens in the strategy group but I joked earlier on that Toto and Mercedes were winning too many races and maybe it’s been a problem for him but really I know that the Mercedes team is a fantastic organisation and has earned these victories but the sport is not a level playing field, that’s pretty obvious and the structure of the F1 commission and the F1 strategy group is part of that bigger picture. And I think the sport will be much improved and speaking now, as the eleventh placed team this weekend, I know that it’s obviously what I will be saying but the sport will be much improved with a leveller playing field and how that comes about and all of the necessary components – whether financial, organisational, structurally – I think it’s something that should be looked at for the benefit of everybody on the grid but it’s a very complex picture.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Toto, there have been some stressful moments this season. If you were to give your podium of the top three between the first lap incident in Spain, the last lap in Austria and the engine failure for Lewis when he was about to win, which is the one-two-three for you?

TW: You mean number one is the worst one? Shall we start from the back? Third place, for me, of the worst races is certainly Lewis’s engine failure in Malaysia because it heavily influenced his championship. He was in the lead, solid in the lead in a race – in races – where it was going back and forth with Nico. Nico had a great race in Singapore which he dominated. Then Malaysia was very much Lewis’s weekend and it continued that way in – what was the next one? – Suzuka, Mexico. So that’s third place – and it came out of nowhere, really, so still a bit of a traumatic race. Number two? Barcelona. It’s rare that you have a complete wipe-out, one and two in the front and you end up with zero points and for the team, obviously not a nice situation. We stood in front of the screens… I remember, I had the CEO of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, next to me and he says ‘what are we doing now?’ which was a new experience. But it was OK because it didn’t happen for a long time, since Spa 2014. So number one, for me, the worst, was Austria because it came a couple of races after Barcelona. We made it very clear that we saw Barcelona as a one-off and wasn’t acceptable going forward and here we go, we’re on the last lap of that particular race at the Red Bull-ring, home turf for our great rivals and we nearly lose both cars on the last lap, being in one and two. This is where, for me, the mark was over-stepped and we made that clear, but that was my winner. Not.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) Monisha, Banco do Brasil announced today they will not sponsor Felipe next year. How much of an impact does that have on you deciding if he remains with the team?

MK: Well that’s correct that the bank informed us as well that they’ve interrupted their 2017 sponsorship programme. Our seat is still open. We aren’t choosing that in our assessments we’re making and that’s all there is to say of it.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) On that vein, Toto, your driver Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes driver, has basically only got one chance left for a seat next year. Could you see him actually racing in a car with a Ferrari engine?

TW: It’s two, two chances.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Yes, but then you’d have to provide a budget, wouldn’t you?

TW: First of all, I must say, really, having had the opportunity with Esteban and Pascal in Manor was great and the development slope of that team is impressive and it’s a great place for both of them and Manor is still very much an opportunity for next year. Well obviously Esteban is going to Force India and we are in discussion with Monisha and in discussion with Stephen and his management group and nothing is decided yet. That’s where we are.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, do you think that at this moment Lewis Hamilton fully trusts your team or if not are you doing something to rebuild the relationship?

TW: Absolutely trusts. We under-estimate the pressure under which these guys are, not only in the spotlight of a global audience. You have to deliver every single weekend, you have to race your teammate, it’s down to the last race to win the championship and it’s all coming up, all the frustrations and all the happy moments. If a microphone is being put under the nose and you’re being asked the right question, sometimes it produces a good headline like it did yesterday. For me, it’s a bit of a boomerang which keeps coming back, this odd story which internally in the team is a closed chapter and we will not come back to this so it doesn’t change anything in my approach to Lewis or an approach towards Lewis because I think it’s well understood that things are sometimes taken out of context, sometimes over-exaggerated and as I said before, sometimes you just need to allow that the drivers can express their feelings and their emotions. We don’t want to streamline them too much.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Claire and Monisha, we’ve seen a lot of history for women this year. We saw the second female prime minister elected and we also saw the first female elected for president of the United States. As two pioneers in this sport, what are your hopes for the future for women on the business side and on the track in F1?

CW: That’s a nice question! I think what you see across probably a wide variety of industries in recent years and particularly what you see in the UK with Theresa May coming in as our first female prime minister for – what is it? – three decades I think, that the landscape is shifting slowly but surely. I think there is a lot of work to do but personally – I don’t know what Monisha does – but I go out and do a lot of talks about women in industry and promoting females in not just leadership roles but throughout different sorts of organisations and I think that’s really important and I think one of the things about Formula One that you don’t necessarily… yes, you see Monisha and I in the roles that we’re in but there are so many women now who are working across different areas within Formula One, across different disciplines within teams, whether that be in aerodynamics, within engineering, not just the traditional marketing roles and I think that’s a really important shift that we’re seeing in our sport and I think that that can be used as case studies and great story telling, to go out into different businesses because I think if you can be a woman and do well in Formula One. I think that’s a very powerful message but personally for me, it’s not necessarily about gender and it shouldn’t be about gender I think. But every individual brings different personalities to the roles that they do and particularly in a sport like this, where you have to operate at your peak performance if you’re going to be successful and achieve and that’s what every team is going after, it’s the people who are at the best at their jobs. If they’re going to win in this sport then it shouldn’t necessarily be about gender, it should be about how good you are at your job and how committed and dedicated and what you can do, the team around you. But I would like to see more women come in to Formula One and I would like to see more women come into industry as a whole. I think it’s a really important conversation that we’re having in society as a whole at the moment.

MK: Yeah, like Claire said, you see that there are far more women in Formula One. It’s been happening over the last few years, actually, where you simply see more on the track. I think the most important responsibility we have here is to actually encourage people to give women the opportunity, because that’s what it’s about. You have enough women out there who have the education, who have the competence and the confidence to actually get the job done at least equally as good and usually they have to be a little bit better to maybe get the same kind of recognition, so what you really need is to give women a fair chance and opportunity.

Q: And it was a woman in charge of strategy in your team who played a part in bringing you the points in Brazil, right?

MK: Absolutely. We gave one a chance.

November 25, 2016
2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference (Part I)

DRIVERS – PART ONE: Felipe MASSA (Williams), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Felipe NASR (Sauber). PART TWO: Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Jenson, if we could start with you: officially you’re on option for 2018 but as there’s a chance this could be your last Formula One grand prix tell us about the adventure of the last 17 years?

Jenson BUTTON: Wow, we could be here for a little while! First of all I go into this thinking it’s going to be my last race. I think that’s the best way to be and at this moment in time I don’t want to be racing Formula One past this race, and that’s the whole idea. Anyway, I think of this as my last race and hopefully everyone else does as well. Yeah, it’s been a long journey. Since eight years old until now I’ve been racing in motorsport and everything before Formula One was work to try and get to Formula One. You get to Formula One with many dreams and you aspire to be something and hopefully you leave the sport with memories. That’s something I definitely do have from my 17 years of racing in Formula One. Lots of amazing memories, lots of life-changing memories – some good, some bad – and also to walk away with the world championship is a very special feeling as well. To race with two of the teams that I dreamt of racing with when I was a kid – Williams and McLaren – and when I did win the world championship it was with a privateer team, which I think is also pretty special. Obviously a very memorable year of my life and in the future it’s something I’ll hopefully be telling my grandchildren all about, how we came from nothing and we ended up winning the world championship. There are so many memories that I can’t put them all out on the table right now, but that’s a small snippet of my career. Over 300 grands prix. I will definitely step away from Formula One happy with what I’ve achieved and knowing that my life really does start now.

Q: Ok, well, huge changes going on at McLaren. Are these changes that will leave the team stronger for the future?

JB: You always hope changes that you make for that reason do work of course. I think there’s still a lot more going on before next year. But of course I will still be working at McLaren-Honda, so yeah you hope that that the change will be positive. New outlook, fresh ideas and certain things that have changed the team definitely needs and hopefully we can put that to good use next year and in the future.

Q: OK, thank you for that. Felipe coming to you: obviously in Brazil incredible emotions in the pit lane, incredible scenes, unprecedented really in Formula One. Rival teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari were coming out to applaud you as you walked back towards the garages. Describe the emotion of that moment?

Felipe MASSA: It’s difficult to describe. It was such an amazing feeling. The first moment after I crashed I was not happy because I wanted to finish the race. My last race at home… I even prepared a Brazilian flag in corner one to do the lap and I was so disappointed to finish like that. But then when I started to walk and I started to kind of talk with the grandstand I just had an amazing feeling. I started to cry, I couldn’t hold. That walk I was doing was like forever. It was an amazing feeling; it’s impossible to describe what I was feeling. And then when I get to the pit lane, I saw all the teams out, I couldn’t believe. It is still in the middle of the race and the race just stopped. For that… that feeling is just impossible to describe, how emotional it was and how thankful I am for everything that I pass through this year. The only thing is to say thank you for everybody, including you guys, including everybody that was around me for this period that I was racing Formula One. I really hope Jenson feels the same here in this race, because it’s a very special feeling and a very special emotion and I’m really thankful for everything that I passed through. And as Jenson said, I’m so happy and proud of my career, even if I couldn’t have the title like him, I was missing one point but anyway I’m so proud for everything I passed through, everything I worked with, or friends, incredible and difficult moments… it was really an amazing feeling.

Q: Two hundred and fifty and out then this weekend, you are the only driver to have finished in the points in all of your races in Abu Dhabi? How do you want to sign off on Sunday?

FM: With a good result! That’s what I wanted to finish with also in Brazil! I’m really looking forward that we can have a nice race here. I think a good result is what gives you more happiness. I managed to finish here second two years ago. I know it will be not easy to get the same this race, but if you can take the best out of the car, if you can do a good race that is when you feel happy.

Q: Thank you for that. Coming to you Kimi, how are you feeling: two of your contemporaries are leaving the scene, are you going to miss them?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: I mean I left once already so I kind of know how it feels. Obviously, it’s their choice and I’m sure they will have a lot of fun and I wish them all the best for whatever they do in their lives. For sure, things will change in F1 in the future and all of us will leave one day and that’s just how it goes. They’ve both had a good long career in it and I’m sure they will have some other things to do now.

Q: Your world title win in 2007 is a good example that anything can happen in a Formula One title showdown race. Hamilton needs something similar to what you got to win the title on Sunday. Tell us how you approach an ‘anything can happen’ mentality and what do you think will happen on Sunday?

KR: I don’t know what will happen on Sunday obviously, we’ll see on Sunday and over the weekend. When I was in that situation obviously we had nothing to lose, so we go as any other race. We had a strong weekend and a strong last part of the year so obviously that helped. I don’t think there’s a point in doing anything different than you normally do. You always come to a race and try to do the maximum. Our only chance was to try to win and then see what happens to the other guys. As a team they did a very good job of it and then obviously had some luck involved and all things fell into place, so who knows what will happen on Sunday but whoever wins deserves it.

Q: Thanks for that. Felipe, what story: the pressure on the team, no points for 19 race and then you go and score two of the most valuable points in Formula One history. Describe the emotion of the day and the emotion of the team?

Felipe NASR: Well, first of all, nice words from these two guys here. I think they both achieved a lot and I definitely… when I was younger I saw them racing and to see them going now is something hard to see. But as I say they both achieved a lot. Talking about Brazil, I wouldn’t imagine a better way of doing it, in my home race, these two points really felt like a victory for us, for the whole team. We have been going through such a difficult year and it was looking like quite an impossible way of achieving those points. But with all the rain, the difficult conditions we had in Brazil, I knew there was going to be an opportunity. It was difficult for everybody. It was a tricky race and when I crossed that finish line and I saw these two points were ours it was an incredible feeling because I know how much we put ourselves in a position… of such hard work to overcome this situation. Saying that, nevertheless we have a last race here to confirm that so we go to keep focused on the weekend and make sure we get away with those points.

Q: Has the result changed anything with respect to our future in Formula One?

FN: I would expect that it does help for sure. If anything that a racing driver can do is to contribute to a team with points and I know how much these points are valuable. Let’s put it this way, we know how much these points mean in terms of the championship the points and the restructuring the team will take for ’17, so it’s the best, the best I could have given them.

Q: Thanks for that. Finally to you Max, you were cast as the bad boy of Formula One not long ago and now you’re being billed, after Interlagos, as the new Senna. How do feel your image and the way you fit in here in Formula One has changed after Brazil?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Difficult to say. I don’t think that’s up to me. I just try to do the best possible race I can. I was definitely enjoying myself in Brazil but I’m not sure if it has changed something for me personally in terms of my reputation.

Q: Are you and Red Bull feeling fast enough and confident enough to mix it with the Mercedes on Saturday and Sunday and make those title contenders sweat a little bit?

MV: We’ll try. I think they will be very strong in the dry anyway, so it will be difficult to beat them but hopefully we can be very close. That would be very positive for us.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Kate Walker – Motorsport.com) Max, since the Brazilian Grand Prix you’ve been quoted in an interview saying that part of what gave you the skills to perform the banzai drive that we saw in the wet were your years working your way up through karting and Formula 3. Could you elaborate on how the previous racing categories gave you the skills to impress as you did last week?

MV: I think everybody here did go-karting so you always learn from that as well, but it’s just also when you are not in a competition and you are just having fun with friends, for example, you are driving on the snow or whatever. You are always trying something different; you’re sliding and you’re still competing against your friends, trying to have fun in one way but still trying to beat each other in something. That’s what I’ve always done in winter time for example and somehow in a fun way you are still improving your skills. I think that definitely helps a lot. Then, together with my dad we practice a lot in those circumstances, also in the wet, he was helping me a lot, especially when I was six or seven years old. He was even standing on the track showing me where to drive, trying to find different lines and that definitely helped me a lot our there in Brazil a lot.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Jenson you have been pretty unequivocal now about your feelings about this being your last race, but it wasn’t quite presented in the same way initially. Why the change between Monza and here?

JB: Nothing’s changed. I’ve just gone into this last race thinking that it is my last. I don’t want to go into this race thinking that it’s not my last and it is my last. It is true that I have a contract for 2018 but at this moment in time I don’t want to be racing in 2018. But the whole idea about having a contract was that in three months’ time, when I’ve eaten myself stupid and I’m thinking of things to do in the future and I feel like I need Formula One back in my life, but at this moment in time that isn’t the case. So this is my last race, that’s the way I think about it at the moment, but who knows that could change in six months, eight months, one year.

Q: (Seff Harding – Xero Xone News) For Felipe and Jenson: as you two get ready to leave the sport there are a lot of changes coming in 2017, what are your hopes for the future of Formula One as you leave the sport?

FM: Well, I hope to be honest what everybody hopes: to see Formula One more competitive; to see more than one team fighting for the championship; to see more drivers winning the races. That’s what everybody has hoped since a long time in Formula One. That’s what I hope to see when I am watching the television, to see these guys fighting, not to see only one guy winning the races or maybe only one team. So that’s what I hope.

JB: Yeah, I totally agree. I think coming up through… starting in 2000 and racing here in 2016 the sport has changed quite a lot – a lot for the positive. There are always going to be negatives, especially when you are trying new trends and technologies and what have you. But the main reason why I think people turn on and watch Formula One is the fighting, seeing different teams and different drivers fight for every race. For sure we’ve had it in the past when the have only been two drivers fighting for the championship but it’s been with different teams. Basically Mercedes are doing too good a job and nobody else is doing a good enough job right now. We are all working hard to catch up but it’s tough, because they are very competitive. I think that is what’s going to attract people more next year, if there are more teams fighting at the front, different drivers winning more races, because at the moment if nothing goes wrong with Mercedes, if they don’t have any issues, they win the race and a bad result is finishing second to your team-mate. That’s something that needs to change but obviously we will see if it does. Hopefully the rule changes, which are very big, will help other teams find a new direction and close the gap, because that’s exactly what we want to watch, as Felipe said, and it’s the only reason I’ll be watching Formula One next year.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Felipe Nasr, you’re the only one up there whose future is not clear at the moment. What is the position? Are you taking to Manor? How\’s it going at Sauber?

FN: There are still negotiations going on. The talks are with Sauber mainly. That’s our priority right now? As I said, I have a great relationship with the team. It’s been two great years. We saw the two sides of the coin. Then first year I had in Formula One I was able to do so much, to achieve so much in a very first year. The second, we had such a difficult time, the car being uncompetitive, but it was nice that we were able to get those two points in Brazil. I’m sure that has given a boost to the team. These two points mean a lot for myself, for the team and hopefully we will know it soon.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Max. Given how well you’ve raced this year, especially the victory that you got and also the performance in Brazil, what are your objectives for next season? What do you see as realistic for you to achieve?

MV: I think maybe that all depends on the package you get around you, you know? So if it’s the fastest car on track, for sure we can win races. So, we’ll see. I think we’re all very positive about next year but I think it’s important to just wait and see when the car gets to the track. Then we’ll know more. At the moment it’s a bit difficult to say what exactly what I want to achieve for next year because you don’t know what the packages are.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesport.com) To Jenson and to Felipe. With 17 and 15 years of experience in Formula One, what would you do differently to what you did in the past?

JB: It’s a good question but I think for both of us our job is not to look back. It’s to live in the moment right now. This our last race and I think we’re both looking forward to getting out on the track. There’s no point trying to change the past because you can’t. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes and move forwards. It’s living in the moment and looking forward to the future.

FM: I think it’s the same. To be honest, you do so many things in this long time of your career. Maybe one or the other you would try to do different now – but I mean, to be honest, I’m really happy for everything I did, really happy for everything I learned. Even with a difficult situation, that it happens, maybe I would do it differently yes, but I was always professional and I gained more by doing that than by doing different, so I’m really happy for everything I passed through and everything I learnt.

Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Question to Felipe. You spoke about the emotional send-off you got in Brazil. I wanted to ask you, at the end of the day, leaving with that sort of respect and regard, does it count for me than the trophies and the championships?

FM: Definitely. I think that is what you represent in the human side. That’s really than a lot bigger than a simple trophy. That really represents a lot and the respect, how you are, I think that’s really important for me as a person. Definitely. People not just looking at you only as a driver, people looking at you as a person, as a driver, as everything. It really represents me massively for everything that happened.

November 24, 2016
F1 2016: Brazilian Gp Review – Hamilton Cruises Amid Chaos

Three hours, five safety cars, and two red flags all combined to deliver a Brazilian grand prix that was high on intensity and high on emotion. But none of it fazed Lewis Hamilton as he cruised to his first ever victory in Brazil.

Conditions proved so difficult that race director Charlie Whiting ordered a ten minute delay to the start of the proceedings in the hopes that the rain would ease. This wasn’t enough for Romain Grosjean though as his Haas speared into the wall while making his way to the starting grid. The race commenced behind the safety car and it quickly became apparent that visibility up the long start/finish straight was the biggest issue.

Nevertheless, a handful of laps later conditions calmed enough to get some proper racing underway. Pole man Lewis Hamilton easily controlled proceedings and scampered off into the distance while Rosberg fended off a feisty Max Verstappen who had already made short work of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the start.

Ferrari’s afternoon got more difficult as Sebastian Vettel spun at the exit of the final corner which dropped him down to fifteenth. Several drivers dived into the pitlane for intermediate tyres despite track conditions being more conducive to the full wet tyre. The first big crash came in the form of Marcus Ericsson who clipped a white line in the run-in to the pitlane and destroying the Sauber in the process. Ericsson’s stricken car ended up in the pitlane entry which prompted its closure. However, quick thinking from Red Bull saw Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo into the box. While Verstappen made it into the pitlane before the red light Ricciardo was as fortunate and was given a five second penalty for his troubles.

The safety car once again led the field and just as racing commenced on lap 20 Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his car on the main straight which left him facing oncoming traffic in a situation with low visibility. Several drivers, including Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, reacted brilliantly to avoid hitting Raikkonen’s car. This prompted the first red flag of the race with Hamilton still in the lead.

Nearly fifty minutes later the race re-started behind the safety car but the field completed only eight laps before another red flag stopped it. It wasn’t too long before drivers clambered back into their cockpits for the re-start and this time the race ran until lap 48 until the safety car was required in order to recover the Williams of Felipe Massa which had shunted in a similar fashion to Ericsson. It was an bittersweet end the popular Brazilian’s last home race. While a solid result eluded Massa it did afford him an opportunity to salute the thousands of fans in the grandstands with a Brazilian flag draped over his shoulders and a few tears to boot. As Massa made his way into the pitlane it produced one of the most emotional scenes as team mechanics and personnel from several teams, including Mercedes and Ferrari, stood outside the garage to applaud him.

On lap 55 the race re-started with the spotlight focused on a fast-charging Verstappen in 14th who swopped inters for new full wets. The teenager scythed through the field with some stunning overtakes which had more to do with his bravery than his new rubber. Verstappen eventually finished a miraculous third.

As rain transformed the Interlagos circuit into a treacherous roller-coaster every F1 driver had to ply the maximum of their ability to keep their cars on track. Several drivers failed to reach the chequered flag but others impressed. Force India’s Sergio Perez was fourth ahead Vettel in fifth and Carlos Sainz in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in eighth while Felipe Nasr scored Sauber’s first points of the season with a fine ninth place finish. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso survived his own spin to finish tenth.

Nico Rosberg wasn’t able to clinch the title but he delivered the next best thing with a second place finish. He now takes a 12 point lead to the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi.

November 14, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS – Felipe MASSA (Williams), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes).

Charlie WHITING (FIA)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Let’s start with Felipe, your last Brazilian Grand Prix as a Formula One driver, what does this weekend, this occasion, mean to you?

Felipe MASSA: Well, I think it will be a very special weekend for me, for my last home race, the place where I grew up, the place that I remember I was in the grandstand watching and supporting Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, always dreaming to be here. And then I managed to get here and managed to win two races here in Interlagos, getting quite a lot of times on the podium, so it’s definitely a fantastic place for me. I will miss, definitely, this race. When I see these guys racing next year, I will definitely miss to be here. But I am so happy and proud for everything I passed through these 15 years in Formula One, every people that I met – friends, drivers, the competition I had with these guys for quite a long time. So yeah, I will miss, definitely, this place, some nice races around the world but also some friends. It will be a very special moment for me.

Q: As you say, so many great memories from your own career here, especially the pole positions, the podiums and those two very special wins with Ferrari. What stands out, though, for you, and what were these guys like to race against?

FM: Difficult. We are talking about the best drivers in the world. Everybody who got here is here because of talent. They are here because of talent. The competition is really high, but I think I definitely learned a lot. I think it was an amazing life experience that I had. It’s definitely not easy to be a Formula One driver I would say, but I had a fantastic time and so happy to achieve what I managed to achieve and to get here after very long and yeah, I will always remember them as tough drivers on track and I would say maybe the relationship maybe in the last years gets a little bit better outside the track and it will get even better when all of us stop I would say. Just expect the best for them and support them for the future.

Q: OK, thank you. Lewis, of course that 2008 memory is still very strong. You won the world championship, your first of three world championships, that day but Felipe showed great dignity on the podium, having won the race. What was he like as an adversary?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been great driving alongside Felipe and against him. We’ve had some great times. Even before I got to Formula One, when I was in GP2, we had already become friends back then and had some good experience. But yeah, to have those great, strong battles we had, even beyond 2008, for me was a privilege and something that I will always cherish. At some stage we’ll be a bunch of oldies, replacing the older drivers that are hanging around today and we’ll be coming along, looking at the other youngsters, but yeah I think Formula One is going to miss him for sure.

Q: OK, and the other drivers, your thoughts on Felipe’s final race here as part of his Formula One career. What kind of atmosphere do we expect at this Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend?

Nico ROSBERG: It will great. I’m sure the Brazilians will go crazy to support Felipe in his last race here. He’s given a lot to F1 so it’s going to be a loss for the sport, for us, for sure.

Q: Max?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Of course, I mean the career he has had many want to achieve. That many years in Formula One as well, and being able to fight for four world championships. So I think it will definitely be a very special moment for him and I think, in general, the Brazilian Grand Prix is always very special and a great track and a great atmosphere to be at.

Q: Seb, you’ve won here a few times, you’ve had a few good battles against Felipe, your thoughts?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think… well, we don’t need to talk about his talent. I think there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most talented drivers on the grid. But apart from that, he’s a great person. He’s the kind of person you look at and smile, because he’s just smiling from the inside, so I think that will be missed a lot. So I hope he still comes around a couple of times and has a look and a laugh and in that regard I wish him the best. But for this weekend, I think it would be great to see hopefully a lot of Brazilian flags, support for him, because as everyone said, he has had a great career. So, yeah, it’s hid weekend.

Q: Daniel, final thought?

FM: Be careful what you say!

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m looking forward to the drivers’ parade on Sunday. It’s always very interesting. For as long as I’ve been doing it at least anyone who is Felipe’s team-mate gets an absolute pounding on the drivers’ parade. He’s going to get some extra love this weekend and we’ll probably get yelled some funny Brazilian names, but it’s all in good humour. The atmosphere is awesome, so I think we are going to have a pretty amazing crowd this weekend.

Q: Thanks for that. Back to Lewis and Nico then. Two races to go and Nico a win for you on Sunday and you’re world champion. Lewis, a great motivation for you to win a Brazilian Grand Prix you haven’t won before. How are you both feeling going into this? Is the tension rising? Nico, first…

NR: Yeah, feeling great, of course, because it’s awesome to be fighting for the world championship with two races to go and so, yeah, excited about the weekend, looking forward to it and of course going to try to go for the win.

Q: Lewis?

LH: yeah, I’ve had lots of great, or mixed experiences here, so it’s a real challenge to come here and try to win for the first time, something that Nico and Felipe have experienced in the past. That’s my goal and nothing really to lose.

Q: For the drivers on the back row, with the nature of this track and also the weather forecast we have at the moment for this weekend, what’s the scope for racing against these two guys at the front this? Daniel…

DR: Yeah, it looks like it’s going to be potentially wet on the weekend, which is going to make it interesting. There’s obviously a little bit less pressure on everyone else but I’m envious of their positions. I’d like to have that little bit of pressure. Anyway, if there’s an opportunity we still go for it. We race, and that’s how it’s going to be. If it’s wet it’s going to make it interesting. It’s going to be fun. We’ll see how it pans out on Sunday but hopefully we get a good race on Sunday.

Q: Seb?

SV: I think this place for some reason has always delivered special races. I don’t know what it is: I think the circuit is good fun, nice to drive, but I think it’s the atmosphere, the weather, all that coming together that has created crazy races in the past. You mentioned the one in 2008, the last race in 2012 was pretty amazing as well. I’m sure we’ll have a great race on Sunday. Obviously for all of us not fighting for the championship, we are fighting for the victory here, but yeah, we’ll see. Weather conditions and so on, as I said, there’s always room to do something.

Q: Max, a potentially winnable race for you?

MV: You always try, but I haven’t really experience a lot of mixed conditions here in Brazil. Of course I’ve seen a lot on the TV. But it will be interesting like always. I really enjoyed it last year and hopefully with some rain coming in it would be even more interesting, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Pedro Lopes – GloboEsporte.com) Ricciardo, how was you meat feast yesterday?

DR: Our meat feat yesterday was… very good. Fortunately it’s no longer with me, otherwise I would still be sweating. But yes, how do you say… muito bon?

Q: (Kevin Eason – The Times) Seb, can you tell me, do you believe… You’ve had a pretty fruitless year with Ferrari and you started with bit of a dream. Do you believe you’ll ever win a world championship with Ferrari.

SV: Yes.

Q: (Kevin Eason – The Times) Why?

SV: Because, generally I think I’m positive, looking forward. Obviously it was a big step when I decided to change, at the time when I did. It was clear that it would take some time. Obviously we had a great season last year, we got closer and closer to Mercedes, so the hopes and expectations for this year were high. I think it’s normal when you finish second in the Constructors’ you aim to finish first. We haven’t achieved what we set out to achieve but nevertheless our main target is to win the championship, fight for the championship, and I think there is a lot of change that I see, a lot of change that is going on inside the team that will make us stronger, I’m pretty confident about that. I guess it’s a question of time.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Nico and then to Lewis. You won the last two races here starting from the pole position and Lewis also I recognise that you were very strong both weekends. Can you explain if you find something special, some special way to win here. And Lewis, why you’ve said he’s so fast and you could not reach him in the last two Brazilian Grands Prix?

NR: I love the track. It’s a great track, feels good and I’ve always gone well here, so I’m looking forward to the weekend also. Great memories also from those two wins, those were very special. But at the same time, this year we all start from zero. Those past wins are not going to help me get the win this weekend. We all start from the same place and I just need to do a good job this weekend and that’s it.

LH: I don’t really know why I’ve not won here, so I don’t really have an answer for you. I try every year and I’ll try harder this year.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Felipe, there are going to be a lot emotions leading up to the red lights going out. How difficult will it be to switch off when the red lights go out?

FM: I think it’s always the same. I think when you are in the car you don’t think about other things, you just think about what you want to do in the best way that you can. I would say that maybe the whole race I will be concentrating on my job, trying to get the best race possible, the best result I can, for me, for my team, especially in this moment that it’s quite important this fight with Force India for Williams Martini. But I think that maybe when I finish the race, after the chequered flag, I think it will be very special. It will be an amazing feeling to do the last lap in Interlagos of my career in Formula One, here, you know. I think during the race you just so much concentrate on everything you need to do but after it may be quite different.

PRESS CONFERENCE PART 2: QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE MEXICAN GRAND PRIX

[Note: Charlie Whiting refers to video clips of the Mexican Grand Prix that were shown in the press conference room to illustrate his answers]

Q: Charlie, obviously there are several key areas of interest. Firstly, can we talk about the incident with Lewis missing Turn Two at the start and the one later with Max at the same spot and the differences between them?

Charlie WHITING: Yeah, sure. I think the principal difference between the two was simply that, in Lewis’ case it was felt that he didn’t gain any lasting advantage and it Max’s case, he did. We can show you a couple of videos here just to refresh everyone’s memory: perhaps that will be a help. The first… I think you’re all pretty familiar with it. You can see that Lewis makes a small mistake at the beginning, cuts across, gains significant track advantage but then sets about giving that back immediately. You can see on the straight – or we can see – on the straight between Turns Three and Four he backs off to 80 per cent throttle to give that advantage back. Because obviously he’s got a significant advantage there. Then, about a minute later, the Safety Car’s deployed and that advantage is gone completely. So, the stewards felt no lasting advantage. On the other hand, the case with Max and Sebastian, if Max had done the same thing on the straight between Turns Three and Four, he would certainly have lost the place. I think that’s why the stewards felt that this deserved a penalty because the driver had gained a lasting advantage. That’s the fundamental difference between the two incidents in the eyes of the Stewards.

Let’s bring the drivers in on this. Max, you had a comment there. What’re your thoughts on what you’ve seen here and what Charlie just said?

MV: Yeah, well of course I don’t agree with the decision but it doesn’t really make a lot of difference, does it? I’ve got a penalty. I think if you give penalties, give it to both or you don’t give any penalties. But I think what we maybe need to change for the future is that once you go off it should be a penalty on its own instead of the stewards interfering with that to decide a penalty. I think we need to come up with a solution that, once you go off, that should be the penalty on its own.

Lewis, your thoughts on what we’ve just seen and what Charlie just said?

LH: I relatively agree with Charlie’s explanation. I don’t really have a particular opinion about it. I think ultimately the stewards have a very, very difficult job because every single scenario is different, as he was mentioning. For example, the Safety Car came out immediately after my incident, for example. Every scenario is a little bit different; it’s not that easy to apply the same rule to every single thing. I also agree with Max that we should work with Charlie – as we have been, I think, through the year – to try and make it easier for them to make decisions and for it to be more clear.

OK, moving on to another topic of great interest. The moving under braking obviously has been widely discussed throughout the season. You issued a clarificiation at the Austin weekend. Can you tell us about Sebastian’s defence from Daniel at the last race in light of that?

CW: I think it might be helpful to just go back a little bit to Hungary where there were two incidents involving Kimi and Max. This got thoroughly discussed during the drivers’ meeting in Germany and the consensus of opinion was that moving under braking was something that should not be done. We agreed with this and then we had the incident with Max and Lewis in Japan where the first think that Lewis said on the radio was “He moved. He moved when we were braking.”We looked at it after the race. The stewards, as you know, felt that there wasn’t a case to answer there, which gave rise, of course, to a lengthy discussion in the drivers’ meeting in Austin. I then issued what was a clarification of existing regulations to say exactly what we felt should be reported to the stewards. With that as the backdrop, so to speak, Mexico was really the first race where that rule was applied.

There are three fundamental points there within the rules. Firstly, if a driver has to take evasive action; if a driver makes an abnormal change of direction in the braking zone; and if it could be potentially dangerous to another driver. If those three conditions are satisfied then the stewards felt that was a dangerous manoeuvre and should be penalised. That’s how the stewards looked at it and they felt Sebastian had moved under braking; that was very clear from the data, and also pretty clear from the video, of course; it was potentially dangerous and it was an abnormal change of direction which could have led to an accident. So I think it we look carefully at some footage here, you’ll probably… there’s one view I doubt anyone has actually seen. This is from the track camera. I think you can see very clearly that both cars are on the left of the track; Sebastian moves to the right and then, in the braking zone, moves to his left and then you can see quite clearly that Daniel had to take evasive action. And then the onboard [footage]. I think you can see very clearly that, had Daniel’s right front hit Sebastian’s left rear it would have been a significantly different scenario. That’s, I think, what the stewards really looked at was that it was a potentially dangerous situation. It’s close, and I think that’s what the stewards looked at. As I say, those three conditions were satisfied as far as the stewards were concerned and that’s what they felt they should act upon.

OK, let’s bring the drivers in on this, Daniel first.

DR: yeah, I think it’s obviously been explained and we were in the stewards’ after the race and, from an outside point of view, for fans – and for drivers – you don’t want to wait so long after a race to then have an outcome but that was that. I felt like the move was as Charlie explained. It’s just when you’re in that braking zone, once you’re committed, and especially when you’re overtaking. You know, we’ve discussed this, drivers, that you’re putting the car on the limit because you’re trying to out-brake someone, so you’re already on the edge, so any sort of move then, you’re not really in control, I guess. Hence why I lock up the brake and it all turns into a bit of a mess. It’s the only real part where we’re not in… it’s not that we’re not in control but we can’t really get out of it much, once we’re on the brakes. When you’re down the straight, if someone defends, if they move one way you can obviously move the other, or whatever, but then once you’ve committed to the braking then it’s hard to pull out of the move. Yeah, so obviously I felt that was the right decision. As I said, from an outside point of view, from I guess fans and that it’s probably a bit hard to understand and digest it all after the race but yeah, obviously we’ll try to keep it… I won’t say clean: I like the hard racing, but we’ll just try to avoid these moving-under-braking things in the future and then these things won’t need to be addressed.

And Seb, your thoughts?

SV: Well, obviously I don’t agree with the decision that was made. I think I moved over once to defend my position, after that yeah, I think I gave Daniel enough room on the inside; I kept the car straight for more than the majority of the braking, so I think the reason why, from my point of view, why Daniel locked up so bad is because there was no grip on the inside and it’s something that… yeah… I think we all knew. There were people locking up on other corners when they were offline, so I think it actually looks a bit worse than it was. I don’t think it was actually dangerous for Daniel at that point but OK, I have to deal with the decision.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Charlie, we understood perfectly but the main question we see if that you have different stewards in each race and we are not sure all of them have the same criteria to interpret it. Even why it’s also an interpretation question what we have been seen. Don’t you think it’s a problem? If in one race they follow one criteria and then in another race another criteria. And also, the drivers I believe had complained about that.

CW: Well, needless to say, I disagree. As Lewis pointed out, every incident is different. Some can look at first sight to be very similar to another incident from a previous race but when you examine then more carefully… You must remember also that the stewards have an enormous amount of images available to them, data, all manner of things available to them which you don’t see. I think it’s easy to say decisions are made inconsistently but more often than not, in my opinion, when you look into it in detail, you find that, in fact, Incident A wasn’t the same as Incident B. They have small differences and that’s where I think further explanation is sometimes needed.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Charlie, one of the things you haven’t addressed so far is the issue of language being used over the radio and specifically what Seb said about you. Could you give us your take on that and your views on driver language and what was said about you?

CW: I’ll give you my views on what was said about me. I think bad language… it’s not the first time that bad language has been used, of course, and the fact that it was directed at me was unfortunate and I think there are a number of mitigating circumstances that led up to Sebastian’s obvious frustration but the fact that he sought me out very shortly after the race to apologise, for me that was enough and I’m prepared to just forget it and move on. I think that’s really what we should do. Things happen in the heat of the moment. I think you’ve seen what the FIA’s position on this is; and I personally feel that’s enough.

Sebastian, you have the right to reply if you wish.

SV: Well, I think it’s all been said but I have no problem saying it again. I’m sorry for what I said. Obviously when we are racing, when we are fighting… I think you can understand why I wasn’t so happy at that point but yeah, for sure I regret what I said and certainly didn’t mean it but yeah, it was very clear for me to look for Charlie right after. I wrote a letter as well. I’m happy that Charlie accepted the apology and happy to, as he said, move on.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) A follow-up. One of the things the FIA said was the impact swearing might have on the younger generation. So perhaps Max could also comment on that.

MV: Thank you! Thank you very much. I think when you’re in the heat of the moment and you have a radio available you can say bad things. But it’s the same if, let’s say you give a microphone to a football player. Imagine how many words are coming out there during a game. Or another sport, it doesn’t need to be football… rugby, whatever. So I think it’s just, yeah, with the radio around you it’s pretty dangerous. So, I think maybe you shouldn’t broadcast it. That’s another solution. Because you know, we are driving on the limit, in some good fights and then, you know the adrenaline is going really high. So maybe in the future, if it’s bad for the younger generation, just don’t broadcast it.

Lewis, you’re nodding. Do you agree with Max’s point?

LH: Someone’s nodding to me in the crowd.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Charlie, what do you think… how often would a guy like Donald Trump, because of the language, after a race, to the stewards? I asked because he’s now the president of the United States. Do you think it’s the right way to show the youth, OK, maybe it’s not the language you have to say it but it’s the language of everybody in the world, in the universities and everywhere?

CW: To be honest, I’m not sure what Donald Trump’s got to do with this. I think I’ve already answered what I feel about the language that was used there and I think the question of whether or not it should be broadcast is something that needs to be discussed really. I really don’t understand exactly what you’re asking, if I’m honest, but I think my answer to the previous question said what I feel about the actual incident that occurred in Mexico.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, don’t you think that in the last two Grands Prix you needed to revise your image a little bit, your reputation, because of the accident that happened during the race was followed by other accidents… I mean bad languages by other drivers. And the second question is if, when you lose your temper during a race, do you also lose your commitment to attack Verstappen? In that case, do you penalise yourself, losing control of yourself during the race?

SV: I’m not sure I understood this. First, what happened in Austin then, because you said the last two races, accidents? Well. Can you repeat the question, I’m not sure I….

Q: The basic gist of the question is about losing your cool.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta Dello Sport) Your reputation in the last two races, if you want to rebuild your reputation…

SV: I think we actually had two very strong races. I think we started seventh in Mexico and we were fighting for the podium at the end which I think is a great achievement. We had a great race so there’s a lot of positives. Obviously, I think… similar to all other drivers, when you’re fighting, for sure the adrenaline goes up, you’re excited and I was not happy with sitting in fourth which is still a good result coming from seventh. I wanted to attack for the podium because the opportunity was there. I think I tried everything I could. Obviously circumstances weren’t helping but from my point I think I did everything I could at that time. I think we’ve seen many times that overtaking is not so easy. I think I put Max under pressure and then I think we all know what happened but in the end I think it was actually two good races. If there’s anything to criticise, I think it was the performance on Saturday which wasn’t much in the performance that we could show on the Sunday.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Charlie – initially – a lot of the problems that arise from drivers going off track come from the fact that there’s no penalty for going off track. You can rejoin and keep your position. Are you looking at changing tracks to make that not the case and would drivers like to see that happen?

CW: Yes, I think we’ve done this in fact in a number of circuits where you have a situation similar to the one that occurred in Mexico: second chicane in Monza; last chicane in Montreal; Sochi, first corner or turn two in fact. So we’ve developed systems, if you like, that drivers have to take a certain route back onto the track and thereby are automatically slower. This wasn’t a problem last year in Mexico because I think simply because the grass was all new and it was wetter and it was more difficult to drive across. This year, quite clearly, it was quite easy to drive across and hence we had a problem, but it’s very easy, I think, to rectify that and do a similar sort of arrangement to come back onto the track, which will mean that drivers will come back on slower and hence there will be no discussion whether or not they gained an advantage. I think that’s what Max was saying earlier.

NR: For sure, I think it would be good if somehow we can automatically get some kind of slowing down system on all run-off areas so that would solve the issue, definitely

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Charlie, the incidents in turn one; was the safety car decisive for not giving Lewis a penalty, because you said ‘not gaining a lasting advantage’ and from what we see from the video, he had a one car length advantage under braking and at the braking at turn four, even though he lifted, a four or five car length advantage. If the safety car hadn’t happened, would it have been alright for his race to continue? And the other drivers who didn’t comment, what do they think about this?

CW: We were going to ask Lewis to back right off to ensure that he maintained the same distance he had when he went in to the corner but we could see from the data that he had already backed off significantly and then the VSC was deployed followed by the safety car so there was no need to take any further action but had that not happened, yes we would have done that, yes.

Q: (Erick Gabriel – motorsport.com) To Lewis and Nico, of course Max Verstappen has been a great topic – I think we’re discussing a lot of things because of his driving style. I want to know what do you think about his driving style and if you have any fear that he could interfere with the outcome of the championship?

NR: Fear? No, definitely not. And driving style? I think it’s just important that we keep on discussing because I think there’s still room for progress in terms of getting continuity in the decisions and that’s it. So it’s something we need to keep going on with, keep discussing to see if we can make improvements there and that’s it. It’s not depending on one specific driver or not, so that would be good to do that.

LH: Well, firstly I think you should move your phone from down there because it’s kind of dangerous. It’s not healthy to have it there – just so that you know. Radiation, yeah. I’m helping you, seriously. I can only really comment on Max’s driving as I have through the year. He’s obviously a very talented kid and he’s come in and… I’m calling him a kid because he’s a kid to me, he’s still below 20 and he’s still got a lot to learn but he’s obviously done a great job up until now and he’s going to continue to grow and be a force to be reckoned with in Formula One.

MV: I’m still negotiating with them, who’s going to pay me the most. Yeah, so we’ll see, we’ll see on Sunday.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) To all of you apart from Lewis and Nico, will you be more careful during the last two races, when you attack Nico or Lewis because they’re contesting the World Championship?

DR: Honestly no, because I think that every race is like it’s the start of the season: in Melbourne, you race hard and now it’s the end of the season so I think the championship will work out how it should work out. I don’t think we should… if you like, assist in the outcome if that makes sense. Just because they are fighting doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still try and make an overtake if there’s a door open. I’ll always race, I think, with respect but sure I’ll race hard and if there’s an opportunity… normally if we are fighting with them it means we’ve got a chance to probably win a race. If there’s an opportunity to win, for sure I’ll go for it. I just feel that the championship will end as it probably should. The winner will be the winner and we shouldn’t affect it by staying out of the fight, if you know what I mean.

SV: First of all, it’s clear that the fact is that you race to see the chequered flag, so you never try to do something that doesn’t allow you to see the chequered flag. Equally it applies when racing against people who are racing for the championship, but for sure, I think it’s something you have to have in mind because credit to them, they did the best job of the season for whatever reason, to put them in that position and I think it’s for the others to respect the fact.

MV: For sure. Imagine you tell your team like ‘now I’m going to stay out of the fight, I’m just going to cruise round behind them.’ They wouldn’t be happy as well. You always treat it with respect, you never try to hit each other but that’s already the whole season when you try to pull a move on them or when you are in that position. There is the same approach.

FM: Well, I would love to be fighting with them, to be honest, in the race. If I can be fighting with them, then I think they need to be careful with me because I will try everything I can.

Q: Nico and Lewis, what you’ve heard from the other drivers is presumably what you expect on Sunday and again in Abu Dhabi.

NR: Of course, they’re not going to take it easy just because one guy’s fighting for the championship. He’s a competitor like everybody else and that’s completely normal for all us drivers to approach it in that way.

Q: (Bruno Vicaria – Bandeirantes Radio) Charlie, what’s your opinion about this new Interlagos? Are you satisfied with the structure here?

CW: Absolutely. It’s given the teams more space, I think it’s a lot better for all. I think the working conditions are greatly improved and I think it’s improved the whole place massively.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Charlie, you started in the seventies as a mechanic and then track engineer and we are discussing here, until now, drivers’ behaviour. Do you think all these rules, concerning drivers’ behaviour, are a step forward in motor sport or not? And what do the drivers think about this subject?

CW: Unfortunately I think the whole sport has become more complex and there are continual requests to make things clearer and the clearer things need to become, the longer the rules and the more detailed the rules become. For example, all the rules on driving could be summed up in one sentence: drivers must drive safely or something that simple. But when you have a simple rule like that, you are continually asked exactly what does that mean? Can we do this? Can we do that? And then the rule becomes longer and longer and longer, there’s always the request for more detail and more precision and it’s not just in driving, it’s throughout the whole rules, sporting and technical. They naturally become more complex because everyone’s trying that much harder to get everything out of every situation. So I personally don’t see any likelihood of the rules becoming simpler, because we do have a complex sport, that’s really how it is and that’s how it’s developed over the last twenty or so years, I would say.

DR: Obviously I was in a position last weekend where I was in a way protesting a move but on the flipside of that, I think that was a specific move as we discussed, under braking, but apart from that, I think that we should be allowed to… and I think they’ve eased the rules over the last couple of years or so. We did make a conscious effort to give us a bit more freedom to race and I think it’s been more fun and better since then. So there’s always going to be incidents where you feel this or that but I definitely feel that we should be allowed to still put it all on the line. I think that’s what makes the sport exciting, it lets out emotions as we’ve heard and it gives us our own personality, I guess, as well. Fans can attract to a driver on the way he races or the way he responds. Yeah, we should definitely… I mean all of us love racing. I’ve said it: you come here to win but if you can’t win you don’t want to drive around on Sunday afternoon by yourself. You want to have a fight and have a battle. We can always make improvements here or there but you don’t want the rules to become that tight that we’re afraid to do anything, but I think we’re OK as we are.

LH: I agree with what Daniel said. We’re here to race hard but of course we all have different opinions about different rules that are set and how we go about them, obviously, because we have two different opinions for every one scenario and that’s why we need people like Charlie in the middle who really helps, with no bias, to make sure the right decision is made. I think also they allow us to race but of course we can’t be led down the wrong path, the incorrect way.

MV: It’s normal that you don’t crash or make the other driver lose a lot of positions. I think you can race pretty hard.

Q: (Ralf Woodall – L’Equipe) Charlie, could you explain or clarify regarding the penalties: why Seb had a ten second penalty and Max a five second penalty?

CW: I think that in every set of circumstances where a penalty is applied, the stewards have a range of penalties they can choose from: a five second, ten second, drive-through or a ten second stop-and-go. It’s just simply a matter that the stewards felt that it was more serious hence ten seconds was necessary

November 10, 2016
F1 2016: Brazilian Gp Preview – Sao Paolo Ready For Drama

There is something about the Brazilian grand prix that brings out the very best that Formula 1 has to offer. For years the South American circuit has delivered some of the most memorable races and visuals in the sports history.

The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace has immortalised itself by crowning five world champion in the 21st Century, so far. In 2005 and 2006 Fernando Alonso wrapped both of his titles here and in 2007 Kimi Raikkonen won the championship by one point over then rookie Lewis Hamilton. In 2008 one of the most dramatic endings to any championship season culminated in Hamilton’s first title. The unlikely story of Brawn resulted in Jenson Button’s title at the end of the 2009 season. The last champion here was crowned in 2012 as Sebastian Vettel swept to his third driver’s crown.

In 2016 the opportunity for another champion to be crowned has once again come to the fore. Nico Rosberg currently leads his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by nineteen points with a maximum of fifty still on the table. For Rosberg the equation is clear – win the race and he will become the world champion. It sounds like a simple enough task but there is of course one rather large obstacle in way – Lewis Hamilton. Granted, Hamilton doesn’t have the greatest of records in Brazil but he must throw caution to the wind in order to stop Rosberg. This weekend there is no percentage game to be played, no damage limitation. It is the type of situation where a true champion thrives and one that, arguably, all F1 fans relish.

The Autodromo is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar but still provides a specific challenge to drivers. “The track is quite a technical layout, especially sector 2, it’s important to get this right for a quick lap. Like many of the circuits we race at it has had a lot of history and great moments over the years, this makes it one of the ‘special’ ones on the calendar,” says Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Red Bull could be in with a good chance this weekend as despite the long start/finish strait the layout should suit their car.

Sebastian Vettel is likely to lay off the radio commentary this weekend after his rather colourful Mexican grand prix. The German driver apologised to all parties involved and will most likely opt to do his talking on track where Ferrari should be able to deliver a turn of pace which could make proceedings quite interesting.

The track surface is quite an abrasive one for which Pirelli have brought the hard, medium, and soft compound. This doesn’t provide any profound insight as to what will happen in the race though. In truth, over the years the Brazilian grand prix has been one of the most unpredictable races of the year with a tendency to err towards the dramatic. Naturally, the expectation is that Mercedes are the favourites going into the weekend but at this history-laden South American circuit nothing is a given.

It’s already primed to be a weekend of high stakes but it’s likely to be an emotional one too. Brazilian driver Felipe Massa will contest his final home race ahead of his retirement from the sport. The image of Massa winning this grand prix amid the euphoria of the crowd is a special memory. What’s more, few will ever forget the gracious manner in which Massa conducted himself as he fell agonisingly short of winning the 2008 title. While his star may have waned slightly over the last few seasons we will never forget Felipe Massa’s prodigious quali speed, his glorious wins in Brazil, and the grace he showed in 2008. Obrigado Felipe.

November 9, 2016
F1 2016: Williams Driver Announcement

The Williams Formula 1 team has announced that Lance Stroll will be one of its drivers for the 2017 season.

In a statement released my the Williams Martini F1 Team it was confirmed that Canadian teenager Lance Stroll will take over the vacant seat of retiring Brazilian driver Felipe Massa at the team for the 2017 season.

Stroll got his racing start in his native Canada in 2008 and was crowned Canadian Champion in the same year. In 2010 he netted four titles before moving to the Italian Kart Championship in 2011 where he finished eighteenth. In 2015 Stroll became the second youngest driver to be signed by a Formula 1 team as he became a development driver for Scuderia Ferrari. Towards the end of 2015 it was announced that Stroll would move to Williams as a development driver for the 2016 season.

In addition, the 18 year old driver raced for the Prema Powerteam in the 2016 season of the Euro Formula Three Series. Stroll scored eleven victories and claimed the title in Imola more than one-hundred points clear of his closest rival.

Ladies and gentlemen our 2017 driver line-up… #WeAreRacing #F1 pic.twitter.com/jMfwyxmvYk

— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) November 3, 2016

“To be racing in Formula One in 2017 is incredible, I can’t thank Williams enough for showing faith in my ability,” said the newly appointed Stroll.

“Racing in F1 was something I dreamt about as a young kid. When I began karting seriously, F1 was then the ultimate goal and especially when I started racing cars in 2014,” he added.

“2017 is going to be a big learning curve for me, but I’m eager to absorb everything Williams can share with me so that I improve.

“I’ll be taking things on a race-by-race, lap-by-lap basis and hopefully progress with experience like I did when I entered Formula 4 and then Formula 3.”

Stroll is under no illusions about the immense task of driving in Formula 1 and he feels that by racing in the European Formula 3 Championship has given him a good base to work off.

“I believe contesting the FIA European Formula 3 Championship for the past two years has prepared me well for the step up.

“There are many elements for me to learn and I’m still young. I’ve been experiencing a 2014-spec Williams FW36 since August, which has gone very well.

It was also confirmed that Valtteri Bottas will remain at the team for the 2017 season providing some stability in the team going into the 2017 rule shake up.

“Firstly, I am very happy that I will be starting my fifth season racing for Williams in 2017,” commented the Finn.

“It’s going to be an exciting year with all the regulation changes and a great opportunity for the team to get closer to the front. I’ll be giving 100% as always to the team.

“Thank you to Frank, Claire and the whole Williams Board for their continued trust in me. Also, thank you to everyone at Williams, as it will be nice to continue working together with everyone both at the factory and the track.

“I’d also like to extend a very warm welcome from myself to Lance on joining the team. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, said; “I’m delighted to confirm that Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again next year, and be joined by Lance Stroll.

“Valtteri is a much-loved member of the team and his talent is unquestionable, so for him to use that experience to help lead the team forward is exciting. He has played a pivotal role in the team’s turnaround since 2014 and we are looking forward to continuing the strong relationship we have with him into the future.

“Lance joined the Williams Young Driver Programme at the end of 2015 and has impressed our engineers with his maturity, talent and enthusiasm.

“We are pleased to be able to offer him the opportunity to step up and show what he can do in Formula One, after proving a dominant force in all the categories he has raced in so far.

“He is still young, and we looking forward to seeing him develop as a driver. Williams has a great record of introducing young drivers to Formula One, who have achieved great results, and we hope this will be the start of a long successful career for Lance as well.

““As a team, we continue to push forward in our goal to win races and championships, and believe this exciting fresh combination will put us in a strong position to deliver on our future targets.”

November 3, 2016
F1 2016: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton Conquers Mexico

A crowd of nearly one hundred thousand fans looked on as Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory in Mexico and the 59th of this grand prix career.

For the Mercedes driver the 71 laps around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez went exactly to plan. Despite a bit of a messy start he was able to control proceedings and notch up a second win in seven days. It was a vintage Hamilton weekend in many respects. He dominated from the first session on Friday, through qualifying and never came under pressure in the race. For his part he did all he needed to keep his championship hopes alive. Nevertheless, Nico Rosberg finished an omnipresent second to maintain his points advantage. He didn’t sail through to second though and had to withstand a few dicey moments with Max Verstappen and the start and later on in the race.

Most of the drama was reserved for the battle between the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. For the majority of the race Verstappen was running third and extolling pressure on Rosberg for second. Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo opted for alternate strategy by taking a second tour through the pitlane and emerging with soft tyres for his final stint. This promoted Vettel into fourth and onto the gearbox of Verstappen. Under significant pressure from the Ferrari driver Verstappen took the grass in order to maintain his position. The fact that the Dutchman gained an advantage by doing so was evident however he did not cede the position. This refusal from Verstappen didn’t settle well in the paddock where is already facing backlash for his debatable technique.

There is no question that Vettel’s drive was a good one but it was soured by his foul-mouthed tirade over the radio. While well within his right to be upset with Verstappen he profanity-laced rants were shocking and unacceptable. While not an excuse by any stretch of the imagination his exaggerated reaction is telling and reveals the effect and pressure that a subpar season has exacted on him.

Subsequently, Verstappen was, rightly, slapped with a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This promoted Vettel to third but a few laters this too would be undone as he was given a ten second time penalty for erratic driving in defense of his position. The rejigging of the order promoted Daniel Ricciardo to third with Verstappen fourth and Vettel in fifth.

The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen came home in sixth with what could only be described as a odd pit stop strategy. The Finn was holding his own ahead of teammate Vettel on the medium tyre when he was called into for a second stop. The strategy call from Ferrari, who have had their fair share of dubious calls this season, made little sense as several other drivers, including Vettel, ran the race on one stop.

The Force India of Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in eighth and Felipe Massa in ninth. Local hero Sergio Perez was embroiled in a race-long battle with Massa but his inability to overtake the Williams consigned him to tenth. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson deserves an honourable mention for his eleventh place finish in what has been a dire season for the Swiss-based team.

While Hamilton didn’t face any pressure from behind there were some concerns on his car. An overheating turbo and sky rocketing exhaust temperatures had the team a bit nervous and eager to avoid any sort of failure. As a result Hamilton was instructed to tune down his power unit performance towards the end of the race. It didn’t cost the reigning champion anything who has now closed to within nineteen points of Rosberg with two rounds of the 2016 season to go.

October 31, 2016
F1 2016: Mexico Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Seizes Pole

Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole position for Sunday’s Mexican grand prix.

A ninety thousand strong crowd looked on as Mercedes locked out their eleventh front row of the season. Crucially it was Lewis Hamilton who took the team’s 18^th pole of the season ahead of championship rival Nico Rosberg.

Max Verstappen was best of the rest in third and will share the second row with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg delivered a brilliant fifth for Force India ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Sebastian Vettel in seventh. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa secured eighth and ninth for Williams with the ever-impressive Carlos Sainz in tenth for Toro Rosso.

Pascal Wehrlein underlined his credentials with a fine sixteenth place for Manor while Fernando Alonso, in eleventh, will the first driver with free tyre choice. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer missed out on the qualifying session as the Renault team uncovered a crack in his chassis.

Final Qualifying Standings:

October 29, 2016
F1 2016: Mexico Gp Free Practice Three Report – Verstappen On Top

Max Verstappen has set the quickest time for Red Bull in the final free practice session ahead of the 2016 Mexican grand prix.

The Dutchman’s quickest lap of 1:19:137 was roughly one tenth quicker than the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who set his quickest time at the third time of asking after encountering traffic earlier on. The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was third ahead Nico Rosberg in fourth and Valterri Bottas’ Williams in fifth.

The first of the Ferrari’s was sixth with Sebastian Vettel ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in seventh. Neither driver delivered their best on the the first laps of their quali sim runs but will nevertheless be disappointed with the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull. Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.

All eyes now turn to Nico Rosberg as the leader of the championship. Can he find the pace to secure another pole position or will teammate Lewis Hamilton strike a crucial blow. Will Red Bull find the pace to take them to the front row of the grid?

Final Free Practice Three Standings:

October 29, 2016