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  • 2016 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Ayao KOMATSU (Haas), Bob BELL (Renault), Luigi FRABONI (Ferrari), Paddy LOWE (Mercedes), Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Pat SYMONDS (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Bob, let’s start with you: How have you been getting on rebuilding the staff at Enstone, where do you still lack and what will the effect of all this be on the 2017 car?

    Bob BELL: Well, I’m only a small piece of the team that is doing the rebuilding, as you call it, but it’s certainly a big challenger. I don’t think perhaps from the outside people realise how run down the Enstone squad had become in the last couple of years, so there’s a lot to do. As well as the process of rebuilding the team of course we had to build a car for this year and start work on an even better one for next year, which wouldn’t be terribly hard. It’s been a challenge, it continues to be so, but there’s a very strong spirit in Enstone as anybody who knows the place will testify to and we’re certainly up to the challenge.

    The updates in Malaysia made the car a lot better, with Kevin 14th on the grid and Jolyon taking his first championship point, yet some are saying that Renault has not really been making progress this year. What’s happening from your perspective and what’s the short-term plan if you like, between here and Abu Dhabi, based on what you’ve learned in the past week or two?

    BB: I think it’s probably fair to say that in the last few races our progress forward other than what the Viry guys have been able to do with the power unit, on the chassis side it’s been less to do with new bits and more to do with understanding how to get more out of what we’ve already got and we’ll continue that process until the end of the season. I’m sure like most teams we’re pretty much totally dedicated now in terms of development capacity to looking ahead to 2017.

    OK, thanks very much for that. Coming to Luigi Fraboni, head of power unit operations at Ferrari. Next season will be a token free season, what will that mean in practical terms as far as the preparation pre-season and the competition we’re going to see during the year?

    Luigi FRABONI: You know, as Ferrari, we are in favour of not having the tokens, this for us is a good thing. Of course next year you will have still the four power units so we need to follow the rule, but not have the tokens will give you more flexibility on making you plan and also on changes during the season. On our side, as you know, we already used the tokens this year so this means that we had quite a strong evolution during the season and so not having this this limit for next season is good and at the moment the development of the power unit for 2017 is proceeding quite well.

    Now, earlier in the season we had a discussion in one of these sessions about starting negotiations about the post 2020 engine formula. What’s your opinion? Do you see them being hybrid turbos, similar capacity, but what other directions would you like to see?

    LF: Honestly, at the moment I’m more focused on 2017, so I honestly don’t have any strong opinion on 2020. I would say that the rules for me are very challenging and I really like it.

    Would you like to start the discussions soon though about it?

    LG: My chairman for sure will start?

    OK, perfect. Hasegawa-san, Honda has made several updates to its power units in 2016, was the result as expected and will you be introducing any further updates before the end of the year?

    Yusuke HASEGAWA: Of course we have to shift our development for next year already, so I don’t think we can have some update for the rest of the event. But, last update, which we introduced in Malaysia, and Spa was a big update… I think we made a decent level of step up with this. We are not satisfied but we can feel a little bit happier.

    Part of the new FIA agreement regards manufacturers supplying more than one team – Eric Boullier was telling us in this conference in Malaysia it would be a good thing – but the Mercedes teams seem to be locked in to 2020, Renault has commitments with its teams, so are you feeling the need to press teams who are not yet committed?

    YH: Not yet committed, but we understand the situation, so we are preparing the organisation and we are preparing resource for that.

    To supply a second team?

    YH: Yes, that’s right.

    Komatsu-san, we’ve heard Romain Grosjean on the radio quite a bit in recent races getting quite annoyed with various aspects of the car. What’s the problem been and how are you addressing it?

    Ayao KOMATSU: Yeah, I think one of the problems is with consistency. We have very small amount of resource and a limited number of people. It’s not just getting one specification of the car – each component has to be put together really well and we have to monitor the quality and that area I think we really need to improve. Sometimes you’re putting on the same parts but the performance is not exactly the same. Sometimes our diagnostics are not good enough to understand what Romain is feeling straight away, so we really need to improve in every single area but we’re really working on that. With Romain, on the radio he’s quite an emotional guy but once he comes up in a debrief he’s very, very good. He’s got a really sense, he really helps us in understanding the car and where we need to go.

    It may just be an impression from the outside but your fortunes this season seem to have risen and fallen in parallel with Ferrari’s. Is that coincidence or is there more to it and what does that say about 2017?

    AK: For us really, trying to understand the fundamental things about the car, aerodynamics, tyres, that’s what we are focusing on, but again with our team being new, slightly inexperienced and still with all the analysis processes, data processes in their infancy we just need to start improving in those area. We really got to put our systems and process in place so we don’t have the same problems next year, so we can hit the ground running from February.

    Paddy, coming to you, can you give us a bit more detail on what failed on Hamilton’s engine in Malaysia? Was it related to having to push so hard in the middle of the race, as Red Bull would have us believe, and what have you done to mitigate against a repeat?

    Paddy LOWE: So, Lewis had a failure one of his big end bearings, at a very low mileage actually, a little over 600km, because he had three new engines from Belgium, when he took all the penalties. This was the second of those, first race Malaysia, to be used properly. It was a very young failure for that bearing and not at all typical of the model. And we were operating it within completely normal bounds. There were no parameters out of their normal range. No, he wasn’t pushing particularly hard, he was running in a normal race state at that part of the race, so totally unexpected for that reason. We are trying analyse why the bearing failed. We don’t understand it precisely. It’s very difficult on these occasions, you don’t often see it – the box of bits your get back from an engine blow-up. Very difficult to analyse that forensically and arrive at a root cause. But we’ve taken a number of precautionary changes across all eight power units that are on the grid to try to reduce the stress on that bearing.

    Now Nico Rosberg looks a different driver this year, I don’t know if you feel the same way. What changes do you see in his approach and his mentality and likewise how do you see the evolution of Hamilton?

    PL: I think Nico is an incredibly strong driver and I think we have seen over the last three years that he can qualify extremely well. I think, for me, the step that he has made this year is that he has improved his race craft considerably. He’s proving himself much better able to fight for the positions. He’s come across a few points along the way, with a few incidents that didn’t quite come off how he wanted, but overall that’s where he has made the step.

    And Lewis?

    PL: Lewis, I think he gets better every year. Very , very difficult guy to beat for Nico, so in one way that’s unfortunate for Nico to have such a strong team-mate but the two together are an incredible force for the team – they push each other. That’s what is fantastic. When you have two very strong team-mates is that they actually elevate the total performance of the team, and we see that. We have races such as Monza where Lewis was incredibly string and then Singapore where Nico was incredibly strong and that’s what you need, for each driver to push each other to new limits.

    Pat, Williams are locked in this battle with Force India, just three points in it, with five races to go. At the moment, though, they are consistently outscoring you – Monza was the only time since June that you’ve outpointed them in a grand prix. What can you point to that gives you confidence you can end this season ahead of them and launch yourselves into 2017 on the front foot?

    Pat SYMONDS: Well I think it’s going to be a close fight. They have done a great job with their upgrades this year and we appreciate that it’s not going to be an easy job. I think what we must do is ensure that we have perfect reliability and in the last race in Malaysia I thin Felipe could have been in there, in the mix – of course Valtteri beat both the Force Indias in Malaysia – but Felipe wasn’t able to join the party because of an electronics problem on the starting grid. So that sort of thing is really the sort of thing that can determine these championship fights. It’s unfortunate but I think our focus is on getting the reliability and our focus is on utilisation, because we’re not bringing big upgrades to the car – we have a small change on the front wing here. It’s really now about making sure that what we’ve got we use well, we use out tyres well, we get our strategy and our tactics right, and we take the fight right to the end.

    We’ve some quite a lot of evolution in the senior technical staff at Williams over the last couple of years, will we see more changes in technical management going forward?

    PS: We’re always looking. We are still relatively speaking a small team and we need to increase our knowledge and our capability in every way, so yes, we are looking a long way ahead now at where we might pick up people, We know we are weak in some areas, we know we have to improve in those areas, so yes, we are always on the lookout for good people.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Last Sunday a driver hinted that his car had been technically sabotaged. Is it possible in this day and age – with all the telemetry, all the data, with the long life engines and components – for a team to sabotage a driver? A question to all of you but Paddy if you don’t mind starting, I think you know why.

    PL: Yeah, I can’t agree with you that the driver hinted there was sabotage. Lewis has been very clear, certainly with us, that that’s completely out of the question. I think anybody with an ounce of intelligence analysing the situation would realize that the prospect of us designing a system that would cause a big end to fail at that precise point in the race… if we were that good we would win everything and control everything at every point. We’ve had other failures in the year that are very unfortunate and if we were good enough to arrange such sabotage we wouldn’t have any failures. It’s a very tough business Formula One. The engineering is operating right at the boundary of performance and things do go wrong. The complexity is incredible and trying to engineer something to happen on purpose on a car… it’s similar to when people say to us ‘you favour one driver over another’ and the idea that we might give better equipment to one driver or another. If we’ve invented something that makes our car quicker of course we want it on both cars, because we want to win the race. We never hold back or would ever even contemplate it, even if we could engineer it, which we couldn’t. Anyone intelligent could work that out.

    Anyone have anything to add? Hasegawa-san?

    YH: I didn’t get the question. I didn’t understand.

    I think the question was based on comments Hamilton made after he retired in the last, regarding whether or not someone or something wanted him not to win.

    PL: And interpretations of those comments.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Question to Pat. Pat, there’s been some speculation about your future recently, including that you may be considering retiring. I wonder if you could shed some light on that for us please.

    PS: Yeah, I read that myself! I was quite surprised actually. It reminded me of Mark Twain. You will all know that Mark Twain was once taken ill while he was in London and a newspaper in New York picked up the story and actually published his obituary. He sent a very famous telegram to them, saying ‘rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated’. I think I’d probably take the same view on my retirement.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Question to Paddy, just returning to the previous subject. Regardless of the interpretation, Lewis did have some quite strong words on Sunday saying “I’ve got questions for Mercedes, this is unacceptable,” he said “something doesn’t feel right to me.” As the person responsible for the technical operation of the team, how hurtful is it to you and your guys even the insinuation that there may be some foul play involved?

    PL: I think the thing you have to bear in mind is that we’re all very rational people, certainly in the engineering area and we all know that you can throw three double-sixes in a row. That is possible, statistically – and yet when you see it done, emotionally you feel ‘how did that happen’. We have got a little bit of that scenario with Lewis. We have eight power units out there running around and, with the exception of one failure, they have all fallen to Lewis this year on his power unit and that is something that none of us can really understand, how things could turn out that way. But it is just the way the dice has been thrown. Things do go wrong. We understand that and it just so happens that, by pure coincidence, that has occurred repeatedly on Lewis’ car. We’re gutted about it. We just wish luck wouldn’t fall that way. Understandable that Lewis, as we all were feeling immediately after that blow-up, ‘how can that have happen again?’ Personally, I was only just getting over the idea of the consecutive failures he had in qualifying earlier in the year where already you felt the statistics had fallen very, very unfairly, and I was very happy for Lewis that he managed to recover his points back up to a place of level competition with Nico. So, y’know, it was a real blow. But we quickly try to become rational and just accept that these things happen and then you move on and look to the future.

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Question for the whole panel actually. There’s an engineering skill shortage currently in the UK which is well documented elsewhere. Is that causing problems for those of you who are actively recruiting at the moment and how do you see that developing over the next two to three years with the UK probably leaving the single market and freedom of movement and the EU, stuff like that?

    Bob, that’s a good one for you to start with, isn’t it?

    BB: What gives you the impression we’re recruiting heavily? Yeah, there is a shortage of skilled engineers, particularly if you want skilled engineers with Formula One experience and that is partially to do with the fact that most engineers in Formula One these days are locked down with long-term contracts which makes it difficult to get them at relatively short notice. I don’t think there’s necessarily a shortage of young, eager and very capable of graduates, for example, coming out of the education system. Most teams on the grid try and use that resource as much as they possibly can. And so, I think I would agree there is potentially a skill shortage but I think perhaps the difficulties that a team such as ours faces in recruiting is more to do with the difficulty of acquiring experienced F1 engineers already locked into existing teams. As for the influence of Brexit, it’s too early to tell what the consequence of that will be on the future of the supply of engineers in the UK. I think it would be great is the UK plc could develop a stronger industrial base. I think that would be good for the country and I think all of us in Formula One would be fully supportive of initiatives that helped develop that. Not only would it potentially provide more engineering candidates for us in recruitment – but I think it would be good for the country as a whole. But ultimately, what happens, post-Brexit, I don’t think any of us can really tell.

    Pat, your thoughts?

    PS: Yeah, I think I agree with what Bob said. In spite of what I said earlier about always looking for talent, we’re not a team that’s expanding rapidly in the same way that Renault are. We do run a very strong undergraduate program and I am continually amazed at the quality of the undergraduates that go through our team. They really are very strong indeed. And, of course, the undergraduate schemes are very good because they give us a chance to have a sort-of extended interview with people. We also run graduate schemes. We sometimes take on those that have been on the undergraduate scheme, sometimes others. We don’t find a problem at that level. We get very good people coming in. I do agree that getting the senior people is quite difficult. People are on long-term contracts, and we put a lot of time at Williams into succession planning. So we do try to look quite a long way ahead at where things are going. In terms of Britain leaving the European Union, I think it is too early to tell how it will be. We do employ a lot of Europeans. We have particularly in aerodynamics, there seems to be a very strong contingent from France. I hope that we still maintain relative ease of employing Europeans. It’s already very difficult to employ non-Europeans in the UK. In my opinion far too difficult. So I hope things don’t get any worse.

    Hasegawa-san, do you have a view on this? You were nodding a couple of times through what Pat was saying.

    YH: Yeah, actually I don’t know the exact situation but we have already concern about the effect of the Brexit. Maybe we can answer from the different aspect. It is obvious that we have a lot of good engineers from the UK but also the reason Honda is doing the Formula One is that we have to educate Asian engineers as well, so that we have to take this opportunity to hire more good engineers. But of course we always appreciate that the UK is very open to the world about this even. We don’t want to, I don’t want to lose this situation, so please minimize this effect of the Brexit. This is not place that we have to ask about.

    Paddy, anything to add?

    PL: I think we’re very fortunate in Formula One that it’s seen as a very attractive destination for engineers. That wasn’t the case in the past. We have things like Formula Student that have created a greater awareness of the sport and the engineering within it particularly. And I think because of that we have become increasingly international in the staff that we recruit – from Europe and also further afield. So, I see that continuing to grow. It is a great engineering activity. Formula One achieves great things and it is all about engineering. So I would like to see that develop in the future – and perhaps with Brexit we can become even more international. Maybe there’s a positive side to it. I hope that the UK would see Formula One as a particularly successful industry within the UK itself and therefore would see a way to making that work.

    Ayao, anything to add?

    AK: No. We’re  growing at the moment but so far we’re happy with our recruiting a mixture of young and experienced. No complaints really. It’s good.

    Luigi, you’re not based in the UK but anything to add?

    LF: No, nothing to add.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to Bob. Bob, obviously a global automotive brand like Renault cannot be seen to running around in tenth place and being ecstatic when they score a point – but given the difficulties you outlined earlier on, particularly the way that the infrastructure imploded, what sort of objectives has Mr Ghosn set the team regarding regular points-scoring, podiums, wins and then championships. And do you think they’re achievable?

    BB: Yeah. Of course corporately we’re not satisfied running around in tenth place and scoring single points. Actually that single point meant a lot to us. I’ve won a lot of points in Formula One over the years and that point meant more to me than perhaps any other. It’s a great motivator and it really lifted team moral so actually it was quite an important achievement. Moving beyond that, Mr Ghosn is very clear in his objectives for the team. He’s not here to make up the numbers, he’s here to see the team succeed. He also, of course, has been through this cycle before and he knows what it takes and how long it takes to achieve that and he’s set us realistic objectives that are in line with that. Next year the obvious step forward for us is to move into the midfield and be competitive there. 2018 to be looking at podiums and so on, and then out beyond that, four, five years hence, looking at a proper championship-winning campaign. No rocket science in that. If you look at history, if you look at what it took when Red Bull bought Jaguar, when Renault previously bought Benetton or when Mercedes bought Brawn it took five years in each instance for them to win a championship. That’s the sort of timescale, the sort of road map we’ve set ourselves. I think it’s realistic and it’s in line with corporate expectation.

    Q: (Gaeton Vigneron – RTBF) Question for Yusuke Hasugawa: Stoffel Vandoorne will be in your car next year; what do you expect from him and having raced this year in SuperFormula does that facilitate his adaptation to the Japanese way of working?

    YH: Simply speaking, he’s very good and he’s very clever and he’s always calm, especially in Bahrain. I was very surprised how quickly he suited to the new car. Although he was joining some tests in the winter, I think Bahrain was the first moment he drove this year’s car but he did a great job. Of course he’s a very good driver but other than that, he’s very calm and stable. It is a very great point, I think.

    Q: And on the point about him racing here in Japan this year, culturally, in terms of working?

    YH: Yes, I think so. He started to be around the Japanese culture and how do we feel and how difficult it is to communicate with Japanese people. I think it will be a great help for us as well.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you: there’s a debate at the moment about tyre testing in February, whether to go to Barcelona or Bahrain, go to both etc etc. There are also some suggestions that people are more worried about engine cooling than they are about the tyre testing because they say the tyres can’t really be changed much after the tyre test in any event. Where do your individual teams stand on this question?

    PL: Yes, so the situation is that we have the biggest change in tyre regulations probably for one or two decades and Pirelli have asked the FIA if they would support testing in Bahrain, which is outside Europe. So by regulation it requires a process to get there. So as I understand, a majority of teams support that request. For me, the important point that Pirelli were asking for is some hot condition testing of the compounds particularly. The structure of the tyre is created and tested in the lab but the compounds they can only evaluate in real circuit conditions and unfortunately the mule car programme which is running at the moment has delivered three cars which are very helpful to the process but they are not delivering the level of aerodynamic load that will be seen next year. So for me it’s a matter of supporting Pirelli’s request to contain the risk of arriving at the first race as being the first event with hot conditions and there’s real risk to the show. We’ve seen what can happen , for example, in Indianapolis 2005. We mustn’t forget that we need to put on a show, we need to run a 300 kilometers race with sensible numbers of tyres, so that’s not an inconsiderable risk and should be covered. So that’s why we particularly support that request.

    Q: Pat, where’s Williams on this?

    PS: Diametrically opposed. The cost of doing a test outside of Europe is vast. Depending on exactly how you do it and how much you have to ship back to the UK, how much you can ship on to the first race – we’re talking of a minimum of £300,000, probably a maximum of £500,000 so a likely figure sitting in the middle of that. Now to a team like Mercedes, I’m sure that they can put contingencies in their budgets to cover things like that. A team like Williams simply can’t, it’s a significant amount of our budget, it is unaccounted for and therefore I think it is the wrong thing to do. Now the rules do have an anomaly in them in that I’m sure everyone knows that at this stage of the year you normally need unanimous agreement to change the rules, but there is an anomaly in that there’s just this very one thing where at the moment the rules do not allow you to test outside Europe but there is this anomaly that by majority you can agree to test outside Europe. We are opposed to that. The thing that the rules do not allow you to do is to split the testing so you can’t have some people testing in Europe, some people testing outside. Now Paddy mentioned we need to have safety and the Indianapolis situation and things like that but I think it’s very very clear in the requirements that Pirelli have signed up to and indeed that Pirelli have asked for that we’re not running cars to test the safety of tyres. That has to be done off the car, that has to be done before they ever see a track, so I don’t think that that’s an acceptable reason to go testing in the Middle East or elsewhere. Yes, there will be difficulties but you know we’re in the same boat. We are having the tyres selected for us for the first few races which personally I think is a good thing. If it does come about, then obviously people are going to have to do it because, as I say, we can’t split the testing but it’s going to make a very very serious dent in our budget. If we do it, I think we need to consider where we do it because we do act like sheep quite often in Formula One and there’s this thing of ‘oh well, we’ve tested in Bahrain before, let’s go to Bahrain.’ Personally I don’t think Bahrain’s a very good circuit to go testing. We have tested there in the winter, some people remember some years ago that there was  a test there which was effectively sand-stormed off rather than rained off. And even when we tested there as recently as 2014, the first few hours of the day were spent just cleaning the circuit up. If you accept you’re going to stop on the way to Australia, it really doesn’t matter where you stop. I think Abu Dhabi would be a much better place, maybe even Malaysia. But as a team we’re opposed to the idea.

    BB: I tend to agree with Pat from a personal point of view. I think it’s an unnecessary waste. I don’t think it will make a massive difference to the show for next year. I think it’s just money. All teams at whatever end of the grid could well do without having to spend.

    AK: Yeah, I’m in the same camp as Bob and Pat really. If we can test in Europe it’s much better for a small team like us and in terms of a logistical challenge it’s much more manageable, so yeah, in favour of testing in Europe but at the same time I see the logic for testing in more representative conditions. Again for a smaller team like us, it’s difficult to get a comprehensive set of data and to extrapolate from what you’ve got, so it’s quite good to test in the most representative conditions but overall I think if you had to chose, you’d chose testing in Europe.

    Q: Of course it’s not just tyres that are being testing, it’s power units and engines as well. Luigi, where do you stand with Ferrari?

    LF: We will see what is the final decision of course. On our side, we have to co-ordinate with all the parts because if we go to Bahrain it’s different compared to Barcelona.

    YH: I have no opinion. I basically leave it up to McLaren. From a Honda point of view I don’t care. Either is OK.

    PS: Paddy, I don’t think you got your majority, did you?

    PL: I need to correct Pat because I think you misstated what I said. I wasn’t talking about the safety of the tyre from a construction point of view, I made that clear. It’s just safety from a show point of view with the compound. If you have the wrong compounds then we will be trying to do six or seven stop races and we don’t have the tyres to do it. That was my point.

    Q: (Ken Kawakita – Weekly Playboy) It was last year here that Fernando Alonso shouted ‘GP2 engine, GP2 engine’ and this year Honda made very big progress and is fighting midfield or fighting for points at every race. How do the other power unit suppliers see the progress Honda have made since last year? Can I have some words from Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes if possible, and having heard that, can I have one comment from Hasegawa-san?

    LF: Clearly, in the races compared to last year Honda has done a big improvement, it was a good job done for them which they will continue pushing. On my side, we are doing continuing improvement and I hope that next year we will do an extra step and we will come back to the picture from the last years.

    BB: I think it’s great for Formula One if all of the power units end up being reasonably close, the so-called convergence band. I think that’s good and healthy for the sport and well done to Honda for making such progress so quickly.

    PL: I think it’s great to see. Honda had a huge challenge to come into the sport having not been in it for a few years and to come fresh in with a totally new formula in 2015. It was always going to be a huge challenge so it’s great to see Honda back playing for points and I’m sure we will see more of them in the future.

    YH: Thank you very much for the very kind social comment here in Japan. I’m really really embarrassed. I’m happy to show some progress  but it’s very clear that we are still behind but I really want Fernando to correct his comment this weekend. Still we need to push more, much harder.

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Bringing you chaps back to the subject of tyres again; for 2017, how much evolution has there been in the wind tunnel tyres that Pirelli have supplied you with over the last 12/15 months, and also, how much information are you feeding back to Pirelli in terms of the loads you expect to see going through those tyres in terms of not just aero but the full vehicle dynamic model as well?

    AK: To be honest I haven’t been really involved in the ’17 wind tunnel development so I’m not really qualified to comment.

    PS: We got the wind tunnel tyres quite late actually. I think it was towards the end of February and believe it or not, we ran our first model with rear tyres on all four corners to get some idea of what was going on because we didn’t have the tyres available. We haven’t really evolved the tyres yet because it’s a parallel programme. To answer the second part of your question about anticipated loads, we regularly – in fact we have just in the last few days… all teams have updated the FIA and Pirelli with their latest simulations and it’s an ongoing process. So as we refine our estimates of loads, as we refine the vehicle dynamics and the aerodynamics, we regularly have to feed information in a given template – all teams do the same and all confidentially – to the FIA who check it for the coherence of the data and then pass it on to Pirelli.

    PL: I would say just the same as Pat. We are regularly providing data to the FIA and then onwards to Pirelli via a prescribed process so as we get closer to the final cars we will build, the data is becoming more and more accurate, so I think we’re keeping Pirelli well-informed through that process.

    BB: Not much to add, honestly. The processes described by Paddy and Pat are being followed by all teams.

  • F1 2016: Japanese Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg On Top

    F1 2016: Japanese Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg On Top

    Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets at the end of the first free practice session for the Japanese grand prix.

    The 90 minute session got underway in brilliant sunshine with a track temperature hovering in the low 30 degrees Celsius range. Championship leader Rosberg set a quickest time of 1:32:431 on the yellow-walled soft tyres as teammate Lewis Hamilton set a 1:32:646 some .292 off first place.

    The two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top four but a scruffy lap from Vettel left him one second off the front-running Mercedes pace. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were fifth and sixth quickest while the Force India pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez ended in the session in seventh and eighth respectively. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top then.

    Spaniard Alonso had an off early in the session when he lost the rear-end of his McLaren in the Spoon Curve. The former champion clouted the barrier on the outside of the corner quite hard with the rear of the car and required a rear-wing and floor change. The only other incident came in the form of Romain Grosjean who veered off the circuit at Degner two. The Haas F1 driver complained of brakes over the radio.

    Final Free Practice 1 Standings:

    screen-shot-2016-10-07-at-4-34-17-am

  • F1 2016: Japanese Gp Preview – Dazzling Suzuka Awaits

    F1 2016: Japanese Gp Preview – Dazzling Suzuka Awaits

    At the 2015 Japanese grand prix the stories were all about Lewis Hamilton. In 2016 the headlines are still about the Mercedes driver but now has a far different context to them.

    The triple world champion arrives in Japan 23 points adrift and a little sheepish after some emotionally charged comments after his retirement from the Malaysian grand prix one week ago. It’s an interesting place that Hamilton finds himself occupying. Bar his first championship win in 2008 he hasn’t found himself so far adrift of the championship in the last few seasons. Some will say that his comments suggest that he’s feeling the pressure and they may be right. But it’s only showing out of the car and not on track where it counts most.

    Make no mistake despite Hamilton’s off track woe-is-me speech after his engine blow-up it wont have any affect on his driving in Japan or for the rest of the season. He’ll strap into the cockpit of that number 44 Mercedes and drive it fast as it will go. This is precisely the reason why the 2016 driver’s title is far from over. Of course unreliability or a clout from Sebastian Vettel could have an impact on proceedings but, as the illustrious ‘they’ like to say, that’s racing. The thrill for race fans is that we’ll now get to see how Hamilton responds and what Rosberg still has in the bank.

    Japanese Grand Prix, SuzukaThey get put on a show on one of the most challenging and inspiring circuits in the world. Japan’s Suzuka circuit commands respect and the utmost precision from the driver while throwing a technically challenging layout at the car.   A firm crowd favourite in Japan Jenson Button explains his love for the famous circuit. “The Suzuka circuit is incredible – almost in a class of its own on the calendar. It’s as close to a ‘perfect’ track as you can get in terms of having all of the different elements you would want as a driver. It’s fast, technical, difficult, rewarding, and really fun to drive, so it’s up there among the best.

    It’s not all about the Merc boys this weekend either. Red Bull’s one-two victory in Malaysia landed a big blow in the battle for second place in the constructor’s standings. Ferrari arrive in Japan far less competitive than they were in 2015 and with the layout of Suzuka will have a tough time beating the Red Bull around here. In fact, given their brilliantly performing chassis it’s not unlikely that Red Bull could push or even challenge Mercedes for the top step of the podium if they have track position. The run down the ultra quick first corner in Japan has often been quite spicy and both Mercs will surely approach it with a bit of caution, which could open the door for Red Bull to take advantage. The weather too looks set to play its part with rain forecast during qualifying and the race.

    It is impossible to return to Japan without memories of Jules Bianchi drifting into the consciousness. Two years ago the young Frenchman crashed and sustained injuries that would later claim his life. However impossibly painful the lost must be to Jules’ family, friends, and fans at the very least his death was not in vain as Formula 1 and all motorsport continue to make strides in driver safety because of him.RIP Jules.

  • F1 2016: Malaysia Gp: Ricciardo Wins Amidst Drama

    F1 2016: Malaysia Gp: Ricciardo Wins Amidst Drama

    At the start of the Malaysian grand prix Mercedes were expected to dominate on a circuit tailor made to emphasize the best aspect of their racing car and they did. However, Formula 1 isn’t called the most unpredictable sport in the world without reason. For as dominant as Lewis Hamilton was from pole position on Sunday the unpredictability of the sport hit hard.

    As Hamilton scampered off into the lead of the race disaster struck immediately off the line for his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. In a three-way battle for position into turn one Rosberg found himself pointing the wrong way down the track after being tagged by Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver’s race ended a corner later as he pulled over with a broken left-front suspension. For his too optimistic move Vettel has been given a three-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Japanese grand prix.

    While Rosberg began to make his way through the back, with remarkably no damage, Lewis Hamilton was well in control of proceedings. Despite some initial pressure from Max Verstappen and his alternate strategy there was never a true threat on Hamilton’s lead. Such was the pace of the number 44 Mercedes that he could, seemingly at will, lap a second faster than anyone else.

    GP MALESIA F1/2016Still, not even the all-dominant Mercedes can ensure a definite victory. On lap 40 Lewis Hamilton aspirations of winning the race literally went up in flames as her Mercedes engine spectacularly expired on the start/finish strait.

    After his retirement he made some comments to the media, which certainly fanned the flames. Something or someone, he said, doesn’t want him to win the championship. The team and Hamilton later backpedalled on this comment by saying that the driver was referring to a “higher power.” While Hamilton was rightly devastated with the failure it is inconceivable, and frankly absurd, that he would be sabotaged in any way. If not for any other reason than the fact that Mercedes would never want the image of an engine on fire associated with its brand. But there are many other reasons why this conspiracy theory is baseless. How do engineers ensure that an essentially new engine expire on demand? Sometimes the stars, on this case the cylinders, just don’t align.

    Though Hamilton has suffered a number of engine failures in 2016 they’ve all been confined to Friday or Saturday. While still impactful they haven’t hurt as much as this one which is likely what has amplified emotions. In fact Hamilton’s last retirement was eleven races ago in Spain after a collision with Rosberg. His last mechanical failure? The 2015 Singapore grand prix.

    The show must go on and it did with a superb and popular victory for Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie driver brilliantly held off his teammate Max Verstappen to take the fourth win of his career. Red Bull’s one-two finish is the first for the team since the 2013 Brazilian Gp and snaps a run of 10 victories for Mercedes. In a further show of his class Ricciardo dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi who sadly passed away last year after a horrible crash at the 2014 Japanese Gp.

    GP MALESIA F1/2016Despite a ten second penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen Nico Rosberg was able to recover to third and takes a 23-point lead to the Japanese Gp. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen came home in fourth but was down on power for the majority of the race, which implies that the engine has some sort of damage. It could mean an engine penalty at some point perhaps this weekend in Japan or in Texas.

    Valterri Bottas finished a solid fifth for Williams ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez. Fernando Alonso drove a brilliant race from last to finish seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth and teammate Jenson Button in ninth. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer scored the first point of his career with tenth.

    A 23-point lead for Rosberg seems a big one but with five race remaining it isn’t a done deal. After the race in Baku he had a similar advantage and it took Hamilton three race to overcome it. If nothing else the Malaysian Gp proved that it’s never over until the chequered flag drops.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2016 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Esteban OCON (Manor), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jenson let’s start with you. Your 300th grand prix, only the third driver to do it, it’s a big number. What does your place in Formula One history mean to you?

    Jenson BUTTON: That’s a good question that deserves a very long answer and I’m not going to give it to you here. It means I have been around for a hell of a long time. I remember when Rubens got to 300 – it was unbelievable that he’d reached 300 grands prix. I was like, “I’m never going to race for that long”. I remember when I started in 2000 – I’m not going to give you my life story – but when I started in 2000 I remember speaking to my dad and he said: “How long do you think you’re going to race for?” and I said: “No! I’ll be done by the time I’m 30 years old.” And here I am at 36 and this weekend I’m starting my 300th grand prix. It definitely sucks you in, Formula One. It doesn’t let go for a long time, as long as you are performing. So it’s been a great ride to 300. Lots of ups and downs, as every career will have, and the important thing is that you stay on top of those bad times and you enjoy the good times as much as you can, because you never know how long they are going to last. A very exciting career to this point, 300 races, and if any of these guys can achieve it around me, fair play to them, because it’s a long time doing the same thing.

    Now, Honda have said, going into this weekend, they’re going to review whether to use updated power units, presumably with tokens used, during the weekend at some point. What will be the decisive factors and what would you personally like to do from a strategic point of view looking at this race and at their home grand prix in Suzuka?

    JB: Obviously they don’t want to take any penalties in Suzuka, which is completely understandable. It’s basically our second home race. Here – I can’t speak for the other car – but I personally won’t be having a penalty. It will be a normal weekend for me.

    OK, that’s very clear, thank you very much for that. Nico Hulkenberg, coming to you, Force India are now fourth in the Constructors’ and have outscored Williams 39 to 19 in the last five races. Is there a belief in the team that you can beat them at the end of the season?   

    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, absolutely, of course. We’re doing well, especially since Barcelona the second half has been quite successful. The scores and the points back that up. But obviously there is still a long way to go. For us we definitely aim for and target that’s fourth place, but Sunday night in Abu Dhabi, that’s when we count everything and that’s when we have to be ahead. Now it’s a tight margin, they’re not going to give it to us for free. We have to work for it and yeah, make it work.

    Let’s throw that same question to Felipe. Is that scoring ratio causing concerns internally at Williams and how are you addressing it?

    Felipe MASSA: It’s definitely a big fight. So they are doing a very good championship. I think they improved the car a lot during the season. I believe we can fight them to the end and I believe maybe we can finish in front of them. But you don’t know. You will count race to race the amount of points we are doing compared to them, so I would say some of the tracks you have now are a bit better than some of the tracks we did, like maybe Singapore, the road tracks where they really have a very quick and competitive car. The circuits now are a little bit better for us, but the fight will be race by race and I hope we can do it.

    And back to Nico Hulkenberg: you’re both using the same engine, so what’s giving your side the added value?

    NH: The car hopefully. It is close and I think it will be a battle all the way to the end. I think good clean weekends, consistent from here is very important, maximise the opportunities we get, and yeah, that will determine at the end who will be fourth.

    We’ll move on to Dany Kvyat and come back to Felipe in a moment. You said after the Singapore Grand Prix performance that you had rediscovered your love for Formula One after a tough few months. Why? What was so special about that race for you?

    Daniil KVYAT: Well, it was an enjoyable race first of all, first time in a while, because we managed to have a good start. We were fighting all the race for quite high positions and it was a bit of a relief for the whole team to find ourselves fighting for the usual positions we used to fight for. Even though maybe the final result left us slightly disappointed, but the race itself was exciting. It was full of good fights. It was always promising pace. Our car was quite kind with the tyres and hopefully it’s a good confidence boost for the whole team, including myself.

    It’s no secret that Toro Rosso lost the way a little bit with an update introduced around the time of the German Grand Prix, which seems to have been rectified now, so how confidently do you approach the reaming races of the championship?

    DK: Well, like I said, Singapore gave us good indications. Obviously there were a lot of tests carried out by the people in the team and hopefully there was a few things discovered. Obviously we had a good Singapore but now we need a few more confirmations and hopefully they will arrive here in Sepang, even though the track layout is a bit different, maybe not as favourable as Singapore. Probably it won’t be an easy one for us but we will hope to have another confirmation that we are moving in the right direction from Singapore onwards.

    Q: You made the announcement in Monza about your retirement at the end of this season, it’ll be your 250thgrand prix in Abu Dhabi. Do you now arrive at these grands prix between now and the end of the season with a slightly different mindset? Are you determined to enjoy every experience, to take the most out of every grand prix?

    FM: Yes, definitely! I’ll just enjoy massively doing what I’m doing – since I always did in my life. In a way you can say I have less pressure now – but we do have a lot of pressure with this fight with Force India. I just want to give everything I can to finish well, to get the fourth place in the Championship and enjoy every race, enjoy every moment. I’m still really happy with my decisions so I’m sure there’s a lot to do in life for this second step so, as Jenson was saying before, it’s a really long career, so even if we are pretty young… y’know you stop pretty young, he’s 36, I’m 35 and you’re like, retired! That’s why there’s still a lot of things to do in life. I’m really ready for that and happy. I’ll have a little bit more time at home as well. So, yeah, just thinking… so many things for the future and enjoying every race, every moment in different countries, different places. Really it’s fantastic to see all the support from the fans. From everybody around the sport. Enjoying the moment.

    Q: Esteban, you’ve finished all of your grands prix so far. How do you assess your performance in qualifying and race compared with your team-mate?

    EO: Coming into the season with less experience, of course, it’s not an easy thing. We had some ups and downs I think. We are pretty happy with the first grand prix we did. I improved quite a lot during the weekend. Of course it was my first grand prix so the pace was not great but we were pretty happy with that. Then unfortunately in the second qualifying in Monza we had a problem so we couldn’t show our pace, but I think we could have done a great result there. And in Singapore it has been a bit more difficult. So, we have to put all the details together and come back stronger for this race.

    Q: If you look back through recent history, Alonso, Ricciardo, they all started out in a similar level team to the one you’re in at the moment, to learn the ropes in Formula One. Do you think another year at that level would be good for your development – especially, as you say, given that you came in, in a difficult situation quite late this year?

    EO: For sure. The more you drive, and more you take experience. Any year, any races would help me. For sure. Getting in, after three races, you start to discover everything and start to build up a strong relationship with the team and see how they work. It’s a lot of details that you have to put right and once they are right, you can start to see some performance.

    Q: Nico, Mercedes can wrap up its third consecutive Constructors’ Championship this weekend. How does this year compare from the team’s point of view to the two previous ones. What’s stood out for you about this year?

    NR: It’s been another incredible year really. Every time we think it can never repeat itself and be as good as that again, and yet we manage to do it again. And this year as well now, so early in the season we have the opportunity to clinch the Constructors’ Championship, which is phenomenal. Everybody’s done an unbelievable job. Very impressive.

    Q: It’s an open secret that the Mercedes team feel that your qualifying lap in Singapore is the best that you’ve driven since you’ve been with them – and Toto Wolff said it was the most complete, I think, performance he’d seen from you across the whole race weekend. What can you take out of that Singapore weekend that will make you a consistently strong competitor to the end of the season?

    NR: I don’t need to take anything from the Singapore weekend. It was a great result, great weekend and all, so I’m very happy about that, but now it’s in the past. Now I’m here in Sepang and ready to go. Of course I believe that I have a great chance to win here as well. Just going to try to go for that.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, you are all the time insisting that you are not thinking about the championship. How can you avoid it when you are leading the championship?

    NR: It’s not that I don’t think about it – I’m aware of the situation, I’m aware of the points and whatever else – that’s fine but I try and focus on the race weekend I have in front of me because that’s been working really well for me to do that and not think about anything else. That’s it. I want to win here in Sepang and I’m going to go for that.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Daily Telegraph) Another one for Nico. You guys leave no stone unturned in trying to beat each other – just out of interest, does that extend to things like the event you and Lewis were doing at the mall the other day? Are there silly little games that go on? Do you try and unsettle each other, nobble each other, anything like that?

    NR: It’s not quite that extreme, that we’d be doing stuff at the mall, no. It’s not. But yes, for sure, we’ll be pushing each other very hard on the race track and even off the race track in many different areas, yeah, definitely. It’s a great battle and everything counts.

    Q: (Chris Lyons- AP) Felipe, the calendar for next season came out with an asterisk next to Brazil saying it’s to be confirmed. Are you disappointed with the state of things in Brazil and how confident are you that it will stay on the calendar?

    FM: Well, to be honest, I think it’s very difficult to answer in a proper way. We are just racing and we don’t know what’s happened behind (the scenes) with the contracts. Sometimes you just see some pressures over a country because maybe something’s not working like Bernie –  or who decides – is thinking. We know that you always have pressures around. It’s not nice, definitely. Brazil is part of this sport, it’s part of Formula One since a very long time so it would be really disappointing to lose a race in Brazil even if I will not be there. But I will be supporting my country for new Brazilian drivers, so I know the situation in Brazil is not really easy for the moment economically, so this is maybe some fact around this. But you never know, maybe this is just some pressure but maybe this can happen as we saw it happened last year in Germany. I hope it will not happen to Sao Paulo, Interlagos. It’s also one of the most fun and great races to watch so I hope the best for them, for my country, for Brazil and I hope these guys will still enjoy their race in Brazil.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) To all of you, how will the new tarmac affect your way of driving during the Grand Prix?

    Q: Let’s start with Jenson; have you done your track walk yet?

    JB: Er, no, but I’ve seen lots of pictures. It’s dark so that’s a major difference. I think it’s going to…  with the temperatures that we see here anyway are very high, so if it’s clear then the temperatures are going to be very high on track, which obviously has quite a big effect on the way the tyres work. It’s very smooth, from what I see. Obviously we’re going to try and watch every practice session that runs today. You get a better understanding. What else? And the last corner is obviously very different with the off-camber but yeah, I don’t know if it’s similar to Sochi or not but it seems like it, the bitumen, the way that the asphalt is. So it might be a completely different circuit, but we won’t know until tomorrow, probably get a bit of an understanding from watching GP2 and GP3.

    NR: It will be a big challenge because it will be very different and we all need to adapt to the new asphalt, which we don’t know how it’s going to handle here.

    EO: I have been around on a track walk but it will be my first time on this track so I come here as I don’t know how it was before.

    NH: Neutral, same for everyone but generally the smooth tarmac…  we’ve seen recently we perform quite well on that so hopefully again here.

    DK: I think I just copy and paste Jenson’s answer. It was perfect. It’s enough.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) For the five drivers who raced here before: what is your best Sepang memory?

    JB: I’m the oldest. Yeah, I won here which was a pretty good memory, back in ’09. It was also quite a strange race. The rain was so severe that we had to red flag the race and it wasn’t restarted. I won the race but I got half points which was a bit of a pain. It’s always been a great circuit to race on, it’s also the place where I scored my first podium in 2004. I was running in third place in 2002 as well. On the last lap my suspension failed and handed the third place to Michael Schumacher. So that would have been my first podium. So this place… I’ve got lots of memories from here.

    FM: Well, actually I always love this place, the circuit, the layout. I never won but I twice started on pole position, 2007, 2008. I will keep those memories but I was never on the podium here. Amazing. But I really love the circuit. I’ve had some great races, even if I wasn’t on the podium. Hope this one will be a better one.

    NR: Just the track which is a really cool track to drive on. That’s it.

    NH: I think my best or favourite memory would be qualifying 2010, coming here in my rookie year. I think it was only my second event, qualifying went  pretty well, like full wets. In the conditions it was going pretty well, I think I qualified fifth or something so that was good fun and probably my best memory here.

    DK: Yeah, actually quite a special track because I did my first ever race here in Formula BMW and won my first ever race in Formula BMW in single seaters, so it’s quite cool memories.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Esteban, you started in the Formula Three European championship when you were very young, you won the championship, you beat future Formula One star Max Verstappen. Then you moved to GP3, in your first season you won the championship. Now you’re in Formula One, the reality is very different. Can you make a comment on the main difficulties you are facing, the challenge is maybe higher than you expected or less?

    EO: No, I don’t think it’s harder than I was expecting. I was expecting it to be hard, coming after eleven Grands Prix or twelve Grands Prix. It’s never easy if you come in any championship at halfway through the season, all the drivers have had time to work on everything, on all the points and you arrive, you have to catch up everything again, so of course it’s tough. But at the end, you are working for the same thing and the important thing are the tracks. For sure there is much more things to do in F1 and you work with many more people. But at the end, it’s the same thing and the track is the important bit.

  • F1 2016: Malaysia Gp Preview – Mercedes vs Ferrari?

    F1 2016: Malaysia Gp Preview – Mercedes vs Ferrari?

    Usually by this stage of a Formula 1 season the Malaysian grand prix had long since played its part in the championship as the second round of the year. However, in 2016 the dazzling challenge that is the Sepang International circuit hosts the 16th round of the championship.

    The grand prix circuit, just outside of the Kuala Lumpur city centre, was designed by F1’s favourite architect Herman Tilke and made its debut in 1999. Of the current crop of drivers Sebastian Vettel is the most prolific in Malaysia with four wins while Ferrari is the most successful constructor with seven victories.

    The 5.5 kilometers of the Sepang circuit is one of the most technical on the calendar, which will highlight or expose aspect of a Formula 1 car. The long straits either side of the enormous main grandstand is a test for the combustion engine and presents genuine overtaking opportunities.

    The flowing and twisting complex of corners in sector two will provide the biggest test on a car’s aerodynamic competence. In other words it’s a circuit tailor made to highlight the best of what Mercedes has to offer. Despite this, since the start of the Mercedes era they’ve taken only one victory, in 2014, and have, surprisingly, not dictated proceedings here.

    However, in 2016 the Sepang International circuit could be a journey into the unknown. Since last year’s race the track has been significantly resurfaced. Most the work was done to improve drainage but several corners were also smoothed out to “make it easier to drive”. The result is that several of the corners cambers have been adjusted which could lead to a different racing line being adopted.

    799px-Sepang_international_circuit_pit_laneIn 2015 Sebastian Vettel took his first win for Ferrari in Malaysia and underlined an incredible turnaround for the Italian team. 2016 hasn’t been an extension of last year however as the Italian team has failed to build on the solid foundation of 2015. Nevertheless, the team and its drivers have the potential to do deliver this weekend. Ferrari are expected to bring several new aerodynamic parts to Malaysia in the hope of improving on downforce and in the hope of challenging Mercedes this weekend.

    The other team in the equation is Red Bull Racing but it is likely, at least initially, to be a weekend of damage limitation for Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. The Sepang circuit, with its long straits, is not a Red Bull friendly one but it isn’t only pace, which can determine the outcome of the race. The weather, although forecast to be hot, has a tendency to produce random thunderstorms which could impact the result.

    Nico Rosberg has forced the momentum in the race for the driver’s title firmly towards himself with several stunning results including a victory two weeks ago in Singapore. In contrast, Lewis Hamilton looked decidedly off-colour in Singapore. For once it is Lewis Hamilton in the unaccustomed position of needing to deliver in order to inject some energy into his bid for a fourth world title.

  • F1 2016: Singapore Gp Review – Nail-biting Victory For Rosberg

    F1 2016: Singapore Gp Review – Nail-biting Victory For Rosberg

    There are twenty-three corners crammed into the Marina Bay circuit and the Singapore grand prix delivered nearly as many talking points.

    Nico Rosberg dominated Saturday qualifying while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo beat an off-colour Lewis Hamilton to the front row of the grid. It was a weekend in which Hamilton never looked comfortable or close to matching the pace of his teammate. He had no reason for it either, choosing to say that it just didn’t come together at the important moments.

    Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean never made it to the start of the race as he suffered a brake-by-wire failure and start-line incident ended Nico Hulkenberg’s race in a shower of carbon fibre before it even began. The Hulkenberg crash demanded a short safety-car period but because it was at the start of the race it had no impact on the race.

    Nico Rosberg, who had a clean getaway from the line, re-started the race with Ricciardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen in close attendance. The Red Bull driver was able to keep the Mercedes of Rosberg honest with a gap of four seconds while Hamilton came under increasing pressure from Raikkonen in the Ferrari.

    GP SINGAPORE F1/2016The dominance of Mercedes over the last while often disguises what finely tuned machines they are and just how much they flirt with the edge at most races. In Singapore both Rosberg and Hamilton were required to manage their brakes from early on. This and relenting pressure from Raikkonen forced Hamilton into a mistake that allowed the Finnish Ferrari driver to pull off a great overtake for third.

    By the second round of pitstops Rosberg still held an advantage over Ricciardo while Raikkonen was holding off Hamilton for third. However, Mercedes opted to switch Hamilton to Plan B, which meant an extra stop. Ferrari opted to cover Mercedes and Raikkonen dropped to fourth behind Hamilton. The mistake however wasn’t that Ferrari covered the Hamilton pitstop but the fact that they reacted too late. Had the pitted Raikkonen a lap earlier, or even on the same lap as Hamilton, he would’ve emerged in third place. But when a team is reacting rather than pre-empting you end up with a season, which, for Ferrari, has been littered with strategic errors.

    While Rosberg stayed out Red Bull brought Ricciardo in for a fresh set of boots. The Aussie closed down a 26 second gap to the race leader but ultimately fell an agonizing 4 tenths of a second short. Behind Hamilton and Raikkonen Sebastian Vettel earned the driver-of-the-day tag by recovering from last to fifth overall. Max Verstappen finished sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso in seventh. Force India’s Sergio Perez finished eighth ahead of Daniil Kvyat in ninth and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in tenth.

    GP SINGAPORE F1/2016Since being demoted from the Red Bull team Kvyat has been missing in action and has often appeared demoralized after races. But the Singapore Gp felt like a turning point for him as he shone in a feisty battle with Verstappen, the man who took his place at Red Bull. F1 isn’t like other sports where you can glean information from an athlete’s body language or facial expression in the heat of battle. But as Kvyat fought tooth and nail against Verstappen, and kept him behind, the pride and passion were evident and very much welcome.

    In the last few weeks Nico Rosberg has accomplished something he’s never done before. He has taken first-time victories in Belgium, Italy, and Singapore. He heads the table by eight points with six race remaining. If he carries his methodical approach through the remainder of the season, and doesn’t slip against Hamilton, he could accomplish something else he’s never done before, the driver’s world title.

  • 2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Jolyon PALMER (Renault), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Congratulations on your marriage last week. While your private life is settled, clearly you will be looking for a new partner in a professional sense next year, as a team-mate at Williams. What kind of driver would suit, a rookie or someone more experienced?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you very much. The one thing is it is a fact that I’m going to have a new team-mate next year and it’s still not obviously confirmed if I will be with Williams or not, but yeah, new team-mate and I’ve always said and that’s how I feel, the quicker team-mate you have, it doesn’t matter who it is, as long as he’s quick it always boosts the performance of both drivers and helps the team, so that’s always good. And a team player would be nice, but obviously I have nothing to do with choosing the team-mate, it’s completely up to the team who I will be racing with so I hope everything’s OK.

    The battle with Force India in the championship is very tight: they were ahead on points, you moved back ahead after Monza. Where do you think your relative strengths lie as teams?

    VB: I think it’s going to be a great battle between us and Force India, we been have really close the last six races, really depending on the track; some tracks they have their strong points and some places us. So I think overall we are very, very equal in terms of how quick the cars are so it will be just depending race by race and trying to maximise everything, getting the strategy right every time and having a good qualifying, trying to be ahead of them. I’m looking forward to the end of the year and it’s going to be a good fight.

    Marcus, coming to you: congratulations, 50th GP start this weekend, only 4th Swede to make that mark. Sauber is now hiring again, some solid signings the last few weeks, how is the team evolving??   

    Marcus ERICSSON: Thanks a lot. Yeah, 50 sounds like a lot of race, but it’s nice. With the team I think we are definitely moving in the right direction. Like you say, we got some new signings, new personnel in the team, and it’s good, with fresh ideas, it’s positive for everyone I think. Also on the car side we got some updates going in the last couple of races and it’s interesting, we’re trying them out, trying to optimise them, and coming here to Singapore will also be very interesting for us because it will be the first time we really run the full new package we have introduced after the summer break, so it will be a very interesting weekend for us to see how far it gets us really.

    What weaknesses were you working on with that update package and what are you expecting this weekend from the sort of test that Singapore provides?

    ME: I think for sure it’s just general downforce that we have been lacking and hopefully from the signs we have got so far is that we have gained quite a bit on that side. Like I said, it’s been both Monza and Spa, the last two races that we have had this package; it’s not been high downforce tracks. It’s a bit of an unknown, so hopefully here in Singapore it’s obviously a very high downforce track so we will see then how this update package is working.

    Felipe, coming to you: In points here last year. It’s always a complex race strategy wise as Valtteri was alluding to earlier on, but with three different tyre options this season, how do you see the variables playing out, Saturday and Sunday?

    Felipe NASR: Well, yes it is, it’s normally a very challenging track, very demanding for both the car and the drivers and I feel the tyres will play a big part on it this weekend, you know having such softer compounds. I will be curious to see how many stops will be going in the race and I think the key really is to understand the tyres, how much you can make them last, understand how the car is reacting on track, with the temperatures here being very high. So it’s always a challenging weekend and Singapore always brings some surprises in terms of the racing always being exciting. A lot of things can happen so hopefully we are in a position to take any profit.

    The driver market is in gear now, you’ve been linked with a possible move to Williams, there may be openings at Renault, obviously Sauber has had investment. What’s your personal objective regarding next season??

    FN: Well, it’s difficult to say. Right now I don’t have any news. Hopefully soon but right now I don’t have much to say realty. All I can say, at Sauber things are moving forward. I can see the team really stepping up a lot of new people coming in, so as I said, it’s still a very attractive place to be, but it’s still and unknown. Hopefully when I have some news I’ll bring it in.

    OK, thank you very much for that. Sergio, 23-race finishing streak, scored points in all five of your appearances here in Singapore. What do you like about Singapore and do you see this as a weekend where you’ll get the edge back over Williams?

    Sergio PEREZ: Yeah well, that’s the target coming here. We obviously want to close up the gap. We lost out in the battle last race. We knew they were going to he strong there, so hopefully here we can close up and hopefully beat them. Singapore is a great place, it’s a very unique race, starting from racing at night, the way you get your routine; it’s totally different to any other race, waking up so late, going to bed also. Yesterday I was running at the track at 1am in the morning. Things like that are just not common in any other race. Also, the track is a very big challenge – mentally, physically, it’s just very difficult to finish the race, not having a contact or a crash. So it’s always important to make it until the end of the race. So hopefully I can keep my good score in Singapore with the points on Sunday.

    You seem to hold the key to the driver market at present. Force India say you are definitely with them next year, when will we know for sure your plans for 2017?

    SP: Well, I tried. I was hoping to be able to be in a position to announce my plans for this weekend. Obviously we got some delays. But I really hope that bef0re the next race we can definitely announce where I’ll be racing.

    Any little hints?

    SP: Well, I always say I’ll be very happy if I can stay, if everything is fine for me to stay where I am.

    Jolyon, you won GP2 feature race here in 2013 and you’ve outqualified your team-mate Magnussen in 3 of the last 4 races, do you feel it’s an important moment to show what you can do with an eye on securing a seat for next season?

    Jolyon PALMER: I think so, yeah. Still obviously the seats are in doubt, or up for grabs, so every race from now on is a chance to show what I can do. It’s a track I really like here and I feel like I’m driving the best I’ve driven all season at the moment. The results haven’t really shown in the last couple of races but I feel good within myself. Yeah, it’s a track I really like, I’ve had some good success here before, so hopefully keep on the good form at the moment and I think this one will suit our car a little bit more as well. Hopefully we will be able to challenge a little bit higher and I can show what I can do a bit more.

    That leads on to my next question: Renault have been rather erratic in qualifying, between row seven and row 11 of the grid depending on which race track, so is this more of a row seven weekend than a row 11 weekend?

    JP: I think it’s more of a row seven. Row 11, Monza was pretty much everything that we don’t want from a track. It was high speeds; Renault has made good steps with the engine but we’re still behind Ferrari and Mercedes, and then slow-speed corners and kerb riding, so it was everything we don’t want. Here, the straight-line speed is not so much; the corners are more suited to us. Even though it’s a street circuit, it’s reasonably smooth, so I think this could be one of our best of the year.

    Coming to you Daniel: twice on the podium here, front-row starter last year and Monaco pole sitter this year, that adds up to making you many people’s favourite for this weekend, Do you share that view?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I think I’ve got a pretty good chance of the top 10, absolutely. That’s about it.

    Come on, you can do better than that!

    DR: I hope so, but top 10 is pretty safe you’d think.

    The narrative for this weekend seems to be a chance to put right what went wrong in Monaco, to take the win that was snatched from you in the Principality, do you have a sense of unfinished business and are you asking the team for perfect execution this weekend?

    DR: It’s obviously the next closest track to Monaco, so sure we look at it as a good chance to try to get the victory I’ve been after this season. With the team, since Monaco, a lot of things have been working better, in terms of I think we’ve executed a lot more on a Sunday and I’ve left Sundays feeling a lot happier the last handful of races, so that’s been good on both sides. I feel I have executed as well good things on Sunday. Let’s see. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself or them for this weekend but I think deep down we obviously want to win. I believe we are a group of winners, so if there is a bit of pressure on us to get it done then I think we will thrive off that. Let’s see what happens. I’m definitely prepared and excited. I don’t know what I’m paying for a top 10, but it’s safe money.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Question for Valtteri, Monza was supposed to be a very good circuit for your car – and it was, you could compete with Red Bull. This, on the other hand, shouldn’t be as good, so what are the expectations for this weekend?

    VB: Yeah, definitely. Monza was a lot better than what we’ve seen in the few races before that with high speed circuits really suiting our car. Definitely had Red Bull had a bit of an upper hand but definitely we could keep them behind for quite a long time. And yeah, this is a completely different circuit. You need so much more downforce from the car, you need good mechanical grip, you need good tyre life. Last year it wasn’t too bad for us actually, coming to the weekend slightly carefully but then ending up fifth in the race with reasonable pace all weekend. So I think there are still good opportunities here, even though it’s maybe in theory the best – but I always see every weekend as a new opportunity, especially here where with a good qualifying, and if we can get a perfect strategy, very strong points are still possible.

    Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Question to all of the drivers, a simple one. Do you think it’s the hardest race of the calendar?

    ME: Definitely. I think it’s for sure the hardest race of the year. It’s probably similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but just the fact it’s a street circuit and not many places to rest makes it the hardest one. But I like it, it’s a good challenge and you need to be really on top of your fitness. For me it’s the toughest – but it’s also one of the most enjoyable.

    Jolyon?

    JP: I’ve never raced it in Formula One but in GP2 it was hard. It was the hardest of the year in that so I believe these guys – I’m sure they’re all going to say it’s the hardest.

    Felipe?

    FN: I agree. I think it’s an amazing event. Night race, very demanding as I said, for both car and driver. Really it’s an endless track, you’re just doing corner by corner and to get everything precisely correct, it’s a challenge. The race itself, normally it brings a lot of surprises here so I’m looking forward to the weekend, as I said, we’ve been fighting to get, to sneak into those points, so why not this weekend? Let’s try it again.

    Valtteri, you find this the toughest?

    VB: It is, at least physically at least it is the toughest. Mentally, I think it feels a bit like Monaco. It’s very intense and needs to be zero mistakes during the race.

    Daniel, bit of tiredness, fatigue coming in, affecting concentration towards the end? Always a bit of an enemy there I guess?

    DR: Yeah, when you’re a high performance athlete… it is, it’s the toughest, sure. I think they touched on it, it’s similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but you’re surrounded by just the city and a lot of concrete, so it’s the one race I feel where you open your visor to get some air and you’re not getting any reward for that. It’s just heat and stale air. In Malaysia there’s a bit of circulation: even though it’s hot you get a bit of a breeze but here, no. It’s a track that you can’t… if you come here unprepared, then you can’t luck into a good result. You’ve got to come ready to go.

    Sergio?

    SP: I don’t feel the heat at all! I think it’s just a normal race. No, just kidding. I think it’s a really hard race out there. The last ten laps, twenty laps, you’re really praying for a safety car because it’s just really hard to finish the race, physically. And mentally as well. Mentally it’s a very big challenge because every corner, most of the corners, if you do a mistake you just touch the wall and it’s a puncture or something like that. I would say for me it’s definitely the most demanding race of the year.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, the last couple of times on the podium you’ve poured the sparkling wine into your shoe and drank it. What’s the background for all that?

    DR: I didn’t start it! Well, as far as I know I started it in Formula One but not worldwide. It was a few loose Aussies, from what I saw, the Mad Hueys, they’re surfies and fisherman and just loose guys, they travel the world fishing, surfing and whatever and they like to drink a bit of beer and whatnot, and that’s where the shoey began. On their travels they’d get people to do it as well and it’s just a bit of a laugh. I know Jack Miller knows a few of the guys from the Mad Hueys, so when he got his win in Assen, I suspected he was going to do it, and he did, so I thought I’d keep the Australian tradition going – and now Valentino’s got in on the mix, I saw he Instagrammed it yesterday and he said “everyone loves a shoey”, and “delicious”, and all that. A few words I used for it. I think it’s just a bit of fun now – everyone’s enjoying it.

    VB: How does it taste?

    DR: Honestly, if the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good. Normally it’s cold on the podium, if it’s warm then sure, you’d get the sweat and that through it – but the cold taste kills the bad stuff, so it’s delicious, as we said!

    So we can expect a shoe on Sunday if you win?

    DR: If I win, sure! If it’s just a second or third probably not now. For a victory, I’d expect to see a few people do it with me!

    Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for Dan, bit different tyre strategy between Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend in terms of allocation of super soft and ultra soft. Do you think the tyre strategy will be the key factor here or will there be something else?

    DR: I think it can maybe decide a few things, whether it’s on Sunday I’m not sure, obviously we’ve got freedom to use any of those tyres during practice. Maybe us or Ferrari  for example, will change our practice runs now and use a different compound to try and have something similar for the race – but yeah, it can, here because it’s so hot, the tyres do normally get a hard time and it’s low speed corners, a lot of traction and the rears can get a hard time for sure so I think if you’ve got too many softer compounds, you might run into a bit of trouble in the race but we’ll see. It’s been quite exciting this year, being able to use three compounds over a weekend and having been forced to choose them months in advance. Sure, if we could have picked the tyres this week, we all probably would have done something different. It’s a bit more of a lottery, makes it exciting and makes our practice runs perhaps a little bit more calculated.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Obviously since Monza, gentlemen, some quite seismic news in Formula One, new commercial rights holders, new owners in Liberty Media. As drivers, you keep saying that you’d quite like to have more of an input in the sport so if the new owners came to you and said what would you like to see in the future, to maybe make the sport better, to put a bigger smile on your faces, what would your advice be to them?

    SP: I think I would love to see Formula One a lot closer, the competition a lot closer, closer teams, giving the midfield teams the opportunity to be capable of winning a race, fighting for titles. I think that would be just something great for the fans to see one race Williams on top, another race another team, that would just be very good and for that you need to change the system, how you divide the money because there’s obviously a massive difference, so I think that would be a very good thing for the sport.

    DR: Nothing springs to mind; obviously we always talk about bits and pieces but nothing, I guess, that anyone’s heard before. Saturday races, like a Saturday race as opposed to Sunday, just so we can plan a bigger night on Saturday. That would be good fun!

    VB: Yeah, I think we need to see first of all how next year is going to be with all the changes already fixed for next year with the new cars, bigger tyres, more grip. I think we need to see how it goes then.

    FN: I would say a bit of what they have already said I agree with but I think the most important thing is to see closer competition between the cars, I think that’s what I hear from people or from fans – they always like to see more fighting on track between car, between teams. I think the closing line is what were looking for but also next year we have a big change in terms of the cars being different. I think everything will be a bit more aggressive in terms of the racing itself so let’s wait and see how it goes and we’ll take it from there.

    JP: Yeah, I would agree with these guys. I think the main thing is closer competition. At the moment, we turn up for a weekend and we pretty much know maybe it’s two, four, maximum six drivers can win the race but it would be nice to turn up here and think maybe, you know, Williams can win or maybe Force India or maybe someone can put in a big surprise. I think that’s the biggest thing which would change a lot of fan involvement and make it a lot more interesting to watch.

    ME: Not much to add, I agree with these guys: closer competition throughout the grid and more teams getting involved in race wins and podiums. I think that will make a big difference for the attraction to fans. That would be the biggest thing for me.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For the three drivers in the back row: not so long ago, you were fighting for championships and winning them and fighting for victories but you get to two thirds of this season and you have no points probably for the first time in your careers. Does that play a little bit on your mind when you go into a race weekend and how do you cope with it?

    FN: Well, I guess I’m experienced at this. Last year I had plenty of opportunities to score points and it’s very rewarding when you can come into a weekend knowing that you have something to fight for. As I said, most of it is the reward you get back but coming to this year, you’re facing a lot more difficulties but on the other hand, you try to explore areas that you’re not really giving a hundred percent attention to so I think that as a driver I feel a lot more complete this year. Any opportunity counts so when it comes to a race weekend like this in Singapore, we know that there are a number of facts that happen in the race, you must be ready because they can come any time so let’s see. Three of us here, we don’t have a point so let’s see who gets it first, if we can…

    JP: I’m not massively focused on it. Of course I want to score points but if we don’t have the car to score points then there’s nothing we can really do. I’m focused on my own job, basically doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got. The last two races have been quite difficult. Hungary was the better chance to score, I think this one will be a better chance to score but I think for me it’s all about improving as a driver, doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got and then I’m sure… I know in the future Renault will be fighting for points. If I can do a good job with what I’ve got at the moment, then the points will come further down the line.

    ME: Yeah, of course it’s different to when we were in junior categories like I said, fighting for wins every weekend or at least aiming for them. Now it’s different. When you’re in a smaller team and you know you’re going into a weekend when even scoring points is a big challenge – it’s a different mindset but it’s something you have to accept and that’s how it is in Formula One. I think it’s always been like that as well, that different teams have different strengths so you need to accept that and try and maximise the car that you’ve got and that’s all you can do, focusing a lot on your own performance and maybe not look so much at the results because it’s more important to try and maximise what you’ve got. But of course, it’s a lot nicer if you can fight for points.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have scored only 26 points from the last seven races since Canada; what number of points would have satisfied you from the last seven races?

    VB: Yeah, it’s not quite as many as I was hoping for after being on the podium in Canada but it is what it is at the moment. I can’t say the exact number of points but the absolute maximum we can… I hope as a team we can leave every single race weekend at the end of the year feeling that we maximised the weekend, that we got everything out of it and the same for me personally. As a driver, that’s the main thing and hopefully that way we will be ahead of these guys (Force India).

    Q: (S. Dipak Ragav – The Hindu) Sergio, for the last two years, Force India have had a slow start to the season. Do you think it’s a concern for you, going into the next year with the regulations? And the second part of my question is if Force India finishes fourth, do you think it has the ability, in terms of resources and infrastructure, to take the leap to beat the top three like Red Bull did in 2008, 2009?

    SP: Yes, I think the team, especially this season, now that the rules are more consistent, I think we started with a competitive car. We just needed to figure out some set-up options on the car to improve the tyre degradation but the car straight away in qualifying was capable of achieving Q3s in the early part of the year so that makes a good difference. And when you look at the past, when we had the massive regulation change for 2014, on my third race I was on the podium for the team, so it shows that Force India is capable of adapting well to new regulations so I think we have the potential to do so. I believe that we are going to be in front of them (Williams) at the end of the year so I really hope that we move up and hopefully next year we can do another step forward which is going to be very tough. Now you’re fighting Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, so it’s going to be very tough but I fully believe in the team and I think if we manage to finish fourth it will be a massive bonus for everyone in the team.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Jolyon, have you been given any indication by Renault when you’ll get a decision for next year?

    JP: No, nothing yet, so yeah, nothing changes for me really: just keep doing the job, I’ll know when I know but yeah, if I just keep doing what I’m doing. I know I’m in the mix but we’ll just see how things pan out.

  • F1 2016: Singapore Gp Preview – Spectacular Singapore

    F1 2016: Singapore Gp Preview – Spectacular Singapore

    The Formula 1 paddock leaves Europe behind as it sets off the final push for the 2016 season. First on the flyaway schedule is the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore.

    As the first ever night race on the calendar the 2008 debut of the Singapore grand prix will forever be shrouded in controversy. It was during this grand prix that the infamous ‘crashgate’ scandal was born as Renault ordered then driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash in aid of teammate Fernando Alonso.

    Luckily this incident didn’t mar the reputation of the Singapore Gp which has become a favourite on the calendar for drivers and fans. For fans the spectacular vista of Singapore presents a cosmopolitan destination while the novelty of a night race hasn’t yet worn off. The light skimming across the sculpted bodywork of a Formula 1 car continues to be one of the most visceral experiences of the year.

    For the drivers, the Marina Bay Circuit is as a demanding a track as they are likely to face in the entire season. In layman’s terms this circuit would be described as busy. Throughout just five kilometers drivers are bombarded with 23 corners with barriers and walls lying in wait to punish the smallest of errors. The level of concentration required is second to none along with the added factor of weather conditions. Though are supremely fit athletes drivers easily point out that the level of concentration required and the dense humidity make Singapore the most physically demanding race of the year.

    Lewis Hamilton Singapore 2014It’s not a dawdle for the cars either. The nature of this street circuit demands a high downforce setup and it’s tough on brakes too. Here horsepower isn’t as important as a good chassis, which will bring more teams into the mix for the ultimate prize on Sunday.

    Twelve months ago Mercedes arrived at the Singapore grand prix with the expectation of fighting it out for the front row and ultimately the win. This expectation was completely decimated as both Hamilton and Rosberg struggled through the weekend. While Hamilton eventually retired from the race Rosberg could only manage a distant fourth.

    At the time several conspiracy theories swirled around Mercedes sudden loss of pace but in reality it was a change in tyre pressures that stumped Hamilton and Rosberg twelve months ago. While the team is likely to have solved this issue for 2016 victory this weekend isn’t a done deal.

    Singapore 2014The biggest challenge for the top step of the podium is sure to come from Red Bull. The Austrian team should excel this weekend given its aerodynamic prowess. Ferrari too will have an eye on a better performance, as it was Sebastian Vettel who won the 2015 Singapore Gp. However, despite the fact that Vettel is a bit of a Singapore specialist the 2016 Ferrari isn’t quite the car the team delivered last year.

    Mercedes has utterly dominated the 2016 season but despite this, and however preposterous it may appear, Red Bull will be the team to beat this weekend.

  • F1 2016: Italian Gp Review – Rosberg Romps to Italian Win

    F1 2016: Italian Gp Review – Rosberg Romps to Italian Win

    When Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on Saturday by half a second over his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg looked a beaten man. But little did he know that he would be gifted the lead of the Italian grand prix mere seconds after the red lights went out.

    A mistake from Hamilton on the starting grid dropped him down to sixth and presented Rosberg the perfect opportunity to make it two wins in two weeks. Hamilton’s trouble promoted the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen into second and third but the red cars weren’t a match for Rosberg’s Mercedes.

    As Rosberg strolled to career victory number 21 Hamilton recovered to second overall. The two Ferraris ran a two-stop strategy, as opposed to Mercedes’ one-stop, and put on a descent show for the Tifosi. Though they were never in contention their third and fourth place finishes were not as far off Mercedes as many feared it would be. Both drivers reported that the engine upgrade introduced in Italy worked well.

    GP ITALIA F1/2016 - MONZA (ITALIA) 04/09/2016 © FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA (© COPYRIGHT FREE)

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a stunning move into turn one on Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finish fifth. It was a weekend of damage limitation for Red Bull on a circuit where it always going to be difficult for the Renault engine to stand up to the Mercedes and Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas delivered solid points for Williams in sixth while the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen came home in seventh. Force India’s Sergio Perez had a quiet afternoon, which eventually netted him eighth place. Felipe Massa, who announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2016 season, scored two points in ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India in tenth.

    Though it didn’t deliver a spectacular result the Italian Gp proved vital for Williams. The sixth and ninth place finishes by Bottas and Massa has allowed Williams to take back into fourth in the constructor’s standings from Force India. This battle is likely to endure for the remainder of the season and has serious financial rewards for whichever teams comes out on top. Jenson Button, who will be taking a sabbatical in 2017, finished twelfth while teammate Fernando Alonso was fourteenth.

    rosberg-podiumRosberg’s first Italian Gp win puts him only two points off the championship lead. Rosberg remarked in a post-race interview that the battle between himself and Hamilton will carry on for the rest of the season. Rosberg has done a perfect job since the summer break and, as it stands the battle has been as close as it’s ever been on points. But it’s on the track where we are still waiting to see that wheel-to-wheel battle between the two championship contenders.

    The 2016 Italian grand prix wasn’t the most exciting in recent memory. However, the scene from the podium, which stretches partly onto the start/finish straight, was something to behold. For as far as the eye could see were adoring racing fans waving their flags, cheering their favourites, and sharing their passion for this sport. That is why Monza can never be left off any F1 calendar.