FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari).

TV UNILATERAL

Sebastian, pole and by quite a margin as well. Your first for Ferrari and Ferrari’s first for 61 races, going back quite a few years. Your feelings?

Sebastian VETTEL: And a proper one I would say. Unbelievable. I know it’s only Saturday and the main job is coming tomorrow but I had to enjoy the moment when I heard that I made it. It was looking good right from the offset of quali and actually from this morning to be fair. The car was fantastic to drive; it just got better through qualifying. I think we got the maximum today. Surprised by the margin but I think it just came together. I really had a near-perfect lap at the end. I was very, very happy with the laps I had today, especially the last one. Around here it’s such a long, tricky lap; it’s so easy to go just a little in too deep or push a little bit too much but it just seemed to come in the end. I was very happy that I made it to the finish line because it felt like a good lap and it was a good lap in the end. Very happy, it puts us in a great place for tomorrow but, as I said, it’s only Saturday and the main job is coming tomorrow. I’m sure the Mercedes will be quick tomorrow – everything else would be a bit of surprise and it's already a bit of a surprise. And the Red Bulls of course, so tough job ahead tomorrow.

Coming to you Daniel: obviously it’s been close this weekend throughout between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari and you have the prospect of a battle with your old team-mate tomorrow,

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, firstly, it’s nice to be back up here. The front row as well… it’s been a while. It’s good. It’s a bit of a coincidence that it’s Seb and I but it should be a good race tomorrow. I think already qualifying was exciting. To have no Mercedes up here is a surprise to everyone, still a bit of a surprise. I thought they were playing a few card games here yesterday but it seems they are obviously not particularly comfortable here this weekend. It’s good to capitalise on that. Tomorrow it would be nice to be back here. I’m really happy. Really happy for the team as well. I think we’ve definitely made a lot of progress, since Silverstone but particularly for me since Budapest the car has really come alive. It's nice we can show that here. We expected it to work well and it is, so pretty happy and we’ll just try to hang in there in the long runs tomorrow and make a race of it.

Thank you for that. Coming to you Kimi: your second consecutive top three qualifying this season and how do you like Ferrari’s race pace tomorrow?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Well, we’ll set it tomorrow. Obviously we had some difficulties yesterday on my side. I think Seb has a good run yesterday. Obviously quite a good result for the team today. I was not very happy since this morning for whatever reason, so I’m a bit surprised to be in this position after how difficult it felt all day. But it was good and we have to try to do a good job tomorrow and hopefully get the two cars on the podium.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Sebastian, Ferrari’s first pole, in fact, since Germany 2012, I’m told. As Daniel was saying just a moment ago, it is against the run of form of the past 18 months really for no Mercedes driver to be up here. Can you put into words, explain why you think this is happening this weekend?

SV: To be perfectly honest I think we don’t mind for a start; sorry! I don’t know, it’s a surprise. I thought yesterday they were sandbagging and also this morning, because there’s no doubt they have the strongest package this year. They have a very good car, sorry, a very good power unit, which we know. It usually puts them very high up and difficult to beat. I don’t know, they must have some issues not feeling comfortable at all; it’s the only explanation I think. But I wouldn’t rule them out for tomorrow. It’s not the easiest circuit to overtake but if you have the pace eventually you come through, so I expect them to be strong tomorrow.

The other half of it of course is that you’ve obviously improved?

SV: Well, obviously we always try to improve. Obviously we hope that we can show the exact same result… maybe a little bit better to have both of us in 1-2, without being too greedy, next Saturday. Then you can say we have improved. We generally feel OK on this track; obviously it’s about feeling confident. I think it was fairly close the whole weekend between Kimi and myself. I the quali the gap seemed to increase. He explained that he wasn’t that comfortable and I think that’s where a lot of lap time is – if you feel confident with the car then you can attack. There is no room for error here and it can easily make a big difference. But nevertheless it’s a great day and it puts us in a very good place for tomorrow so I don’t mid at all.

Coming to you Daniel, obviously Ferrari have had some wins in 2015, Red Bull have not. You got three last year, you’ve been hanging out for a win in 2015, is tomorrow your best chance?

DR: It’s definitely our best chance. Coming into the weekend we thought it would be our best chance to back on the podium and obviously today’s result has shown that we’ve backed up the confidence I had in the car and I think the team had coming here. Tomorrow is where… that’s where the points are the champagne is, so you know we put ourselves in the best position today. Obviously Seb was out of reach. I think he did two really good laps from what it looked like. Yeah, second best today but we’ll try to get one more up there tomorrow. It’s always a challenge here: it’s hot, it’s physical, it’s long. Not only is it can the car hold up, it’s a test for the driver and I think that’s fun. Pretty happy with how the weekend has gone. As Seb said as well, you need a lot of confidence in the car here and it’s felt good out of the box from yesterday, so really pleased.

Well all three of your managed to save a set of supersoft tyres in Q1 but Kimi it was a little bit marginal for you, very brave. Were you sweating a little bit towards that end of that Q1 session with the decision to not go out on a supersoft set.

KR: Not really, because obviously the lap, you know if it’s a good lap or not. I think even with that lap we probably could have gone through, just wanted to with the first set. So it was quite OK. There’s always a chance that people start guessing and it can get more hectic but it was fine and just for whatever reason it’s been a difficult day, just lacking in grip and struggling a bit on braking and turn-in, so not in an ideal position but in the end the result is OK for how difficult it’s been today, so I’m sure we found something for tomorrow so it should be OK. It’s good for the team. Obviously we’ll try to have a strong race to finish 1-2 tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, how much pressure there is after what happened in Monza in the start and is it better to start from the cleaner side of the street? How much that helps?

KR: If it makes a difference we don’t know. There is no pressure from what happened. It doesn’t change for tomorrow.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, your team-mate was quicker than you in FP2 and FP3. What happened in qualifying? Did things maybe just click a little bit better for you?

DR: Ask him [Vettel] why I was slower than Dany in FP2! Yeah, we encountered some traffic, otherwise I think, yeah, we would have been pretty quick in FP2. This morning, we made a few changes overnight and I wasn’t as comfortable with them. I think my lap wasn’t great, as well, from my side. We went back to what we know from yesterday and yeah, obviously qualifying is where you need to really make it happen so was… yeah, felt more comfortable in quali.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Sebastian, forgive this hypothetical question, bear with me. Beautiful pole lap. If you could go back 12 months and drive last year’s RB11 as you are now, do you think you’re a better, slightly faster, more experienced driver. Do you think you’d be quicker in the RB11 now, if you could get back into the car as it was.

SV: It’s a very difficult question to answer because there’s no way I can do that. Look, it’s very simple: last year for sure I didn’t have a great year and all in all Daniel had a very good year and beat me fair and square, many times. Other times I was in front but overall it was not the best year for myself.  A lot of stuff that I learned… yeah, obviously didn’t have a good start to the season. Didn’t drive the car very often. I think I did about one day of testing, one proper day of testing, before the season, and then we had lots of issues – but still, I think I’m experienced enough to know what to do to go quick but yeah, simply wasn’t good enough. Daniel showed that he could go quicker with the car on occasions. So, to try and answer your question… I don’t know – but I think I’ve learned a couple of bits about this generation of cars, let’s say and yeah, probably the way the season went last year has helped me for this year.

Q: (Lim Say Heng – The New Paper) This question is for Sebastian. You must be quite familiar, comfortable and confident here since you’ve won here three times. How much of that comfort and confidence helped you in getting pole today?

SV: I think it’s crucial if you’re confident around the track. You need to be confident in your car. It is a street circuit and the better you feel, the closer you can get to the walls. It is a circuit where the driver can make a difference. If he feels comfortable… I don’t know, I’ve always loved this track since I came here. I had a very good result in 2008, I think 2009 was OK as well. It’s a tough one, a tough lap. It’s an extreme challenge but it’s the sort of race where you’re kind of excited. Not scared but nervous as well, before you start. There’s a lot of things happening, it’s intense, you need to keep your focus up. So, looking forwards to tomorrow.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Seb, two things if I may. First of all, it’s been a while for you and the team since you started on pole, is there anything you have to refresh tonight? Any studying you need to do to remember all what you have to do. The second bit is, are you expecting this to be a blip with Mercedes so far behind or do you think this could be the pattern for the rest of the year?

SV: Expect it to be a pattern. They’ve been way too comfortable and too strong for a long time so, I don’t know what happened today, probably we’ll here after quali what they have to say. As I’ve said, I think they will be quick tomorrow and then, the first part of your question, I don’t think so. I think it’s actually easier if you have nobody in front on the formation lap to look out for. You can do your own thing. It’s nice. Obviously hard work on Saturday but we succeeded and looking forward to have a clean run to Turn One.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, last time Ferrari was having a front row was France 2008 when Kimi was in pole. Can you see that realistic this season to happen also? To get a front row for Ferrari?

SV: I think yes. We are trying, both as hard as possible. I think obviously today could have been possible but in the end obviously I was a bit lucky that I felt really comfortable, Kimi wasn’t. It’s easy to lose some time there but for the rest of the season we go maximum attack. Anything can happen, it can rain on Saturday. There’s always the chance to do well – so we have to attack latest next Saturday if you talk about qualifying.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Question for Daniel. I think you were quickest in Sector Three. I wondered whether your tyre warm-up process was affected in any way by Bottas coming out just in front of you?

DR: It’s not ideal. You always want to have a clean out-lap and obviously it’s not his fault at all. It’s just the pattern and the way we came out was close but yeah, it’s always nicer to have your own out-lap to do your own thing. Everyone’s got their own way of warming up the tyres. You never know how much the car in front is going to back up to try and do whatever they want to do, so yeah, it probably explains why my tyres were better at the end of the lap rather than the beginning. I haven’t seen the sectors but the third one felt pretty good. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Who knows? But yeah, it’s always nice having a clean out-lap and doing your thing. It was close. Wanted to push him in the pitlane! Yeah, it’s just part of it.

Lotus F1 Team celebrates the launch of Forza 6 Motorsport

Photo Courtesy of Lotus F1 Team 

Lotus F1 Team is celebrating the launch of Xbox exclusive title Forza 6 Motorsport with special branding and bespoke Alpinestars race suits for the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix as well as Romain Grosjean setting a lap time for gamers to try to beat.

Xbox and Forza 6 Motorsport branding is appearing on both the team’s E23 Hybrid race cars as well as the race overalls of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Romain has joined Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, in setting a lap time using the 2015 Lotus F1 Team’s E23 Hybrid on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1 Team driver:
“I am extremely excited about Forza 6 Motorsport’s launch in Asia. I’ve had the opportunity to race the E23 Hybrid in the game, and the entire racing experience is absolutely amazing. The visual detail within the car is immaculate, the graphics absolutely breathtaking and the sound is incredible – it almost feels like I’m racing the actual car itself! I’m particularly impressed by the night racing and wet weather modes as they provide an added dimension to the virtual racing experience. I’m looking forward to see fans beat the timings set by Phil and I. We are tough to beat, but I am sure that they can do it if they try hard enough!”

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox:
“In conjunction with the launch of Forza 6 Motorsport, we want to invite all our fans to be part of this great partnership with Lotus F1 Team. Both Romain and I have set our best racing times and we want fans to beat us for the ultimate bragging rights in Forza 6. With tremendous improvements made to the game, including the addition of the Lotus F1 Team’s E23 Hybrid, night racing and wet weather elements, we believe that Xbox and Forza 6 will be at the centre of many epic virtual racing moments in the months to come.”

How to compete against Romain and Phil
Called the Forza 6 Motorsport #TimetoShine challenge, participating fans will need to better the race times of 1:52.703 set by Romain Grosjean, and 2:00.343 set by Phil Spencer for the ultimate bragging rights against two of the most competitive Forza Motorsport 6 racers in the world. Fans need to set their time using the Rivals mode event in Forza Motorsport 6. Fans who succeed in beating these times should post a screenshot of their race timings with the hashtag #TimetoShine, alongside the @Xbox or @XboxP3 handles on their social media pages, in order to for the result to be recognized by Phil Spencer and the Xbox team across the world.

Racing Forward with Forza 6 Motorsport
Powered by the cutting-edge ForzaTech™ engine, players can take their pick from the wide range of super cars, including the 2015 Lotus F1 Team’s E23 Hybrid that packs a powerful Mercedes Benz Power Unit alongside design and aerodynamic improvements for a superior racing experience, and race these cars in 26 world-famous locales, including Daytona, Le Mans and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps among others.

Taking virtual racing to the next level, players will also be able to compete in the all-new night racing mode, a unique race experience popularized by the Singapore Grand Prix night race. With impressive lighting effects illuminating the race track and spectator stands, players will be awed by the mix of different colours coming together beautifully against the dark night-time skyline to heighten the excitement in the heart-pumping race spectacle. Furthermore, new wet weather racing elements complete with detailed 3D puddles provide that additional boost for the most complete and realistic Forza experience ever.

FIA Team Members' Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – John BOOTH (Manor), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes) PRESS CONFERENCE

Toto, maybe we can start with you. You had Pharrell Williams in your garage this evening but are you happy with the performance of your car – fourth for one of your drivers and seventh for the other and apparently giving something away in the long runs to maybe Red Bull and Ferrari?

Toto WOLFF: Yeah that was a pretty spot on analysis. We are not with the performance today. We haven’t really made the tyre work in the way we should on the one-lap performance and on the long runs either. We have seen some spectacular laps from the Red Bulls. Yeah, just need to get our heads together and assess what’s happening.

It is of course the time of year when we start looking forward to next year and the future. Do you envisage making any changes in your roster of customer teams from the ones you have today?

TW: This is also a situation, which is a dynamic situation and we are looking at what is happening with curiosity. Of course we have always supported independent teams, so depending on what’s also happening with Lotus and Renault we will be looking at the situation of supply for next year.

OK, thanks for that. Claire, coming to you: 188 points on the board at the moment, this time last year, after 12 rounds, 150 on the board; third in the Constructors’ looking reasonably solid. So, are you proud of your progress or frustrated by your missed opportunities this year?

Claire WILLIAMS: Always proud of the progress our team makes. I think that we have obviously made a couple of mistakes, certainly in the past couple of races, around our pit stops. But we know the issues, we identified them and we are always very open and honest about what they are and as long as when we next come to a race track we don’t make the same mistakes then I’m happy with the work the team does. As you said, we are ahead on the number of points we’ve scored so far this season versus last year. We were fourth in the Constructors last year versus third at this point now and we believe that we can close that gap to Ferrari and that is our agenda and our objective for this weekend. We’ve got to get some more points and extend that gap to Red Bull as well.

In terms of moving forward for 2016, you’ve obviously got the same drivers, that’s been confirmed, what are you demanding from your technical personnel to make that step change you need to challenge?

CW: A quicker race car. Pat and his team do a really great job with the resources that they have available to them. We obviously have to do a better job commercially to bring in some more revenue for them, to give them a stronger budget. But they know the job in hand and obviously we have another year, a final year of stable technical regulations ahead of the changes that are coming in ’17 and we need to capitalise on that stability in order to make sure that we bring the best car to the track when we start racing again next year. This is a good opportunity for us to galvanise where we are now and the position and the competitiveness that we have and to drive it forward.

Thank you for that. Coming to you Monisha: great start to the season with those points in Australia. Then you got caught up by some of your competitors. Recently you’ve been back in the points and here in Singapore you have a big upgrade. Tell us about why your season has gone the way it has?

Monisha KALTENBORN: Well, if you as a team have certain limitations on resources, it might be finances or personnel, you have to make sure you spend it on the right things that are viable for you to implement. So we knew that we put emphasis on the start of the season, knowing very well that in the course of the season when we tried to being a package in later, [which is] what we did, the competitors are going to catch up and probably we will be passed down the ladder, which we were, so it was expected in a way. But we focused on our route and brought this package now to Singapore and what we’re seeing, as a basis, we’re happy with but we understand that we still have to work a bit more on the set-up, analyse the data better and maybe not exactly at this race but maybe at the next races we will see the full potential.

There is a lot of discussion at the moment on power units, costs and the best way forward for all teams in Formula One. What are your personal thoughts?

MK: Well, we’ve always had the view that you had to bring to the costs down. We had reached already the point with the Resource Restriction Agreement that we felt was a good basis. We’ve seen that with the new powertrain costs have hiked up that much, so we’ve always supported the idea that you try to bring a kind of cost cap on the engine prices, so we think that is a move in the right direction.

Franz, talking about engines, where are you on engine supply for next year. It’s now late September; are your engineers anticipating a change of power unit in their 2016 design?

Franz TOST: As Renault decided not to supply us anymore with engines of course we have to take into consideration to change the engine.

Can you tell us anymore?

FT: Confidential talks are continuing, therefore I don’t know at the moment which engine we will have in the car next year. I hope that we will get a result soon but currently we have confidential negotiations and as I mentioned before I hope we come to a result as soon as possible.

Your drivers have started in the top 10 on the grid on 10 occasions this season but you’ve still got just 35 points on the board. What do you have to do in the final races to improve the situation? Is it just reliability?

FT: It’s reliability, because we didn’t finish many races where we could have scored a lot of points because of reliability issues and I hope that we as a team and our partners will have it under control for the rest of the season and that we can catch up and finish races. For sure it’s not in the hands of the drivers. If we give them a reliable car they will score points.

Thank you. Coming to you John. First of all, the Alexander Rossi and Roberto Merhi decision was described as being ‘in the long-term interests of the team’, so that does imply a 2016 seat for the American, what are the considerations on that, and how was day one?

John BOOTH: Day one started out extremely well. Alex had a really good first session up until a small mistake with a big penalty unfortunately. I think Alex has proved to us over recent years that he is an exciting young talent and we are very happy to give him the chance to show that talent.

And what do you mean by long-term interest of the team?

JB: I think that’s Roberto’s words rather than my words I think. It will help us assess as we come to the end of the year and start thinking about driver line-ups for next year. Any information will help us.

Tell us about the work on the 2016 chassis. What engine is it based around and how much resource have you been able to throw at it?

JB: Well, the engine situation is very similar to how Franz described it. I think there is a bit of an engine merry-go-round at the moment and it’ll be interesting to see how it settles. We are in discussions with manufacturers and we hope to have that resolved fairly soon. Work on the 2016 car is progressing well. We are not quite back to where we were with staffing levels, but we have a very strong design team; we’ve made some good signings over recent months, and we’re moving into our new factory as we speak. So the team is back under one roof for the first time in nearly 12 months.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) A question on engines to all five please but first of all to the independent teams. There’s obviously talk about the cost-caps or price-caps on engines – but there’s also talk about two different tiers; in other words a current engine and a last year’s engine. How do you feel about that and is the discussed or proposed differential of only €4million between the two steps sufficient to make it attractive to take last year’s engine. And to Toto, what does this do to your business model? Because obviously if you’ve got three customer teams and you could recover €25million per team it was €75million per year. If it’s now down to €12million it’s only €36million. Is it an incentive for Mercedes to continue supplying engines at that sort of rate?

CW: There were a lot of questions in that! First, in general as an overview, I think what the Strategy Group have come up with is a good way of trying to control costs around what is a very expensive power unit that we now have in Formula One. I think that each team needs to make an independent decision as to what variant they go for – and obviously at Williams we have options available to us and we need to take every argument under consideration before we determine which avenue we want to go down. Obviously as Williams we want to make sure we have the most competitive power unit in our car. I think with regards to your question  about whether the delta between the numbers are great, I actually think that those numbers are significant for teams. For a team like Williams, with the budget we have, a cost-saving of €4million is always going to help because it means we can divert that spend in another area: it can go on aero or it can go elsewhere – so I think those numbers are important. You can’t get these engines down to… they’re expensive engines for the manufacturers to have to build. They’ve got to recover their costs, we’ve got to pay for them. We can’t be unrealistic about those expectations. I think your other question would be best directed to Toto.

Franz?

FT: I think it started in the wrong way from the beginning onwards because when it was decided to come up with this new regulation, FIA or whoever should have told the manufacturers, “look, you have Formula One, you can use this as a marketing tool – but you have to invest the money to develop the engine and to provide some teams with engines to a fixed price.” Then it should have been negotiated and the manufacturers could have said yes or no. Now, after this new power unit is running for the second year already, to say to the manufacturers “you must come down with the cost” is a little bit late because the development is quite expensive and it has to be. The different manufacturers have to develop the engines and the power units because otherwise they will never close the gap to Mercedes. Therefore it’s difficult. I’m totally against the usage of a one year old engine because then we have a two class team on the grid and this will not close the gap. This will even increase the gap. Then we have, I don’t know, five, six, seven cars which are running away. They will have after ten laps 30 seconds open the gap and races will become totally boring. It’s difficult but I think it’s too late. The power unit from the beginning onwards is very, very expensive. What we’re bringing here, it’s high technology, the development and the research costs a lot of money and now, of course, we have to pay the price.

John, you have a bit of experience of running older generation engines. Do you have a point on that and answering Dieter’s question.

JB: To answer Dieter’s question, we’re in favour of any type of cost control in Formula One, whether it’s engine or other forms of regulation that keep costs under control. We’re in favour of any steps in that direction – but I don’t think F1’s the correct arena to have two tiers of performance.

Monisha, you half-answered this question with your previous answer but do you have anything more to add to the specific points raised in this question?

MK: I agree with what’s been said, that we would not support anything that leads to a two-tier system – and I think there’s a danger in it as well, that it sets a precedent for other areas. If you do this on the engine now, what if then you come up on the chassis or parts that you could also save costs there? A team can very well be in a situation where you take up this option before you have to close your team – but nevertheless it’s a dangerous route and we should make sure it’s not a precedent for other areas.

And the final word to Toto, on the question raised by Dieter first of all, and then the second part which is specific to you about how this affects your business model as a manufacturer.

TW: First of all, as Mercedes we take costs very seriously. We understand that it’s difficult times for most of the teams and that we should, all together, try to get the cost level down – that is clear. As to the specific question Dieter, I would like to throw a question back: where do you have your information from? Because I have never seen any sport or any business where price-sensitive information or competitive information is being discussed in public. So I wouldn’t want to comment on any of the discussions. What I’d like to comment is that the Strategy Group discussed possible avenues of reducing the costs for customers and making the model feasible. That will go into the F1 Commission, it’s going to be voted on. So whatever’s out there in the public is pure speculation. Borderline nonsense.

And the subject of the business model, is that covered by your answer?

TW: That’s covered, yeah.

Q: (Joe Saward – Grand Prix Special) This is for Toto only. Car manufacturers across the world are spending US$20million a day on research and development into various things. Why are you charging anybody in Formula One? You don’t need to, this is R&D work, you should actually be doing it for nothing, shouldn’t you?

TW: Yeah, we’re all here for nothing, because we love the sport and we enjoy ourselves. Joe, there is a commercial reality out there. Whoever is in the sport does it because he hopes to have a sustainable business model. The same for car manufacturers. We are operating – and it is along the lines of what Franz says –on a set of rules. We have developed an engine and we have developed a car looking at regulations and trying to do the best possible job. If we find out a couple of years later that, oops, we’ve forgotten to set the framework right, this is not how you operate today. So, like any other business, you will try to work on your P&L and optimise where it is feasible but again, as I said in my answer to Dieter, this is our joint platform, and we need to have that discussion, and it important to not be hard line and close yourself up and say “well, I need to optimise on the profit.” On the contrary, you need to look at it in a sensible way but these discussions need to be reasonable and need an outcome which is feasible for everybody.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, your question gets answered by the financial statements that you publish every year at Company’s House in the UK, £120m odd. It’s very easy to have a look at it. I know you do R&D work for other people – for the group -  but a lot of that – 80 percent  of your work roughly – is Formula One, so it doesn’t take rocket science to work out exactly what you’re charging per customer team. Plus people do talk in this business, as you know. But my question is that if it’s nonsense, as you termed it, are you saying then that the price cap would be exactly what you’re charging at the moment and if so, how seriously are you taking cost-cutting then?

TW: So, I haven’t questioned your information about our official accounts which you’ve researched and it’s absolutely right but there are numbers flying around with two tier engines of eight million or 12 million and what the gap would be on our bottom line and I think this is just wrong. We shouldn’t discuss prices. I have my opinion on fixing any price and there’s a pretty simple legal view but that’s going much too far for a press conference after Formula One free practice. Nevertheless, the governance is like it is, there have been discussions around that and you should take them seriously, that’s absolutely clear. We are serious about cost-cutting but let’s take it to another level, let’s take it to the F1 commission and let’s discuss possible outcomes.

Q: (Kate Walker – motorsport.com) Toto again on engines, I’m afraid. If the F1 commission and WMSC do end up approving a year old, second tier engine scenario as has been discussed, would that enable you to open up greater supply routes to other teams that were only interested in the older engines?

TW: Personally, I’m not a fan, I think, like anybody in that room, of two different engines because you don’t want to have two classes of competitors and that’s one thing, but if you can supply an engine for a much cheaper price because you can run it longer on less harder power levels, and the difference in price is considerable, you can give somebody a choice. You can give a team a choice in saying that I would like to be in there just to ramp up my organisation, for example. You’ve seen like Manor came out of the ashes and it was reasonable to opt for a reasonable price model on the engine, without wanting to speak for John. But I think if you have that second option, why not? I don’t think that many teams are going to take that up but we just wanted to throw another possibility into the game, not expecting that it would generate lots of interest.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and SpeedSport Magazines) A question to all of you about the ban on wind tunnels: if it is going to happen, will it save money and why throw away something that is used in the automotive and aeronautical industries and could be related to F1 as well?

MK: Well, since I’m not a member of the F1 strategy group there’s not really very much I can say on that. I’ve heard different views. Some say they have been banned, some say they haven’t. I personally think we should not be banning anything like this, not because we have a wind tunnel which we think works very well. I don’t think it’s the right way. Whatever we’ve banned in the past has always come back and it’s always been more expensive, so I think you rather have to find a sensitive balance between the different tools you have or create some kind of another borderline and be free actually to do things within that cap or borderline and why should we ban wind tunnels?

Q: John, your team when it first started didn’t have a wind tunnel, just used cfd back in the day, if you remember. Is it time to go back to that model?

JB: Probably not. Reference the gentleman’s reference to the use of wind tunnels in automotive and aerospace, I think you will find that aerospace in particular is using wind tunnels less and less and relying more and more on cfd. I can see a time in the future when wind tunnels are banned totally but maybe not for the next two or three years.

FT: I’m against banning wind tunnel usage because there’s always a reason behind it. Some teams are pushing to ban anything, whatever it is, because maybe they don’t have the proper infrastructure or maybe they have an advantage with another tool. No, we should keep a balance. I think if we reduce the wind tunnel running time, also reduce cfd like we do currently, maybe to go a step forward, then this is the right way, but not to ban anything because there is another way to compensate for it which is much more expensive in the end.

CW: I think everyone is fully aware of Williams’s position on wind tunnels. We’ve made huge investments over our time in Formula One in our... we have two tunnels at Grove and we place considerable importance on them as a tool for developing our race cars, verifying the parts that we develop at the factory before bringing them to the track. We believe that there’s a safety element in there as well and we absolutely do not and will never vote for the banning of wind tunnels in Formula One. We’re very clear on that. And I think they’re relevant. How can you operate at the pinnacle of motor sport and not use one of the finest tools in aerodynamics. It doesn’t make any sense to us.

TW: Absolutely, I can only agree with what Claire said. We are a road car manufacturer and we have just commissioned a brand new wind tunnel in Stuttgart because a wind tunnel is needed today to put a car on the street, verify what’s being done in cfd and to get correlation. It’s a safety aspect and certainly Formula One shouldn’t be the playground for funny experiments for opportunistic reasons and following Claire’s argument, whatever is being said or is being heard from any vote in the strategy group about wind tunnels is just... I don’t want to use that word again but...

Q: (Joe Saward – Grand Prix Special) Wind tunnels: can anyone up there tell me what Formula One wind tunnels give to the world apart from making the cars go faster and secondly, those who have wind tunnels, can you rent them out and make more money? Is not cfd a much better way to go forward?

CW: I’ll answer your second point first about the costs involved, which I forgot to mention earlier. We’ve actually done a deep analysis of the costs involved in running our tunnel and how much it would actually save if we closed it and the numbers are not... they don’t correlate with the numbers that are currently in circulation at the moment. It is minimal, the amount that you would save. Again, the compensatory elements... you would just save that money elsewhere as F1 teams, any cash that you would save somewhere, you would go and spend somewhere else.

The relevance of wind tunnels? I think Toto answered the questions of relevance. In the world that we operate in, to be able to verify what you’re developing at the factory in the tunnel is hugely important before you get it to the track and we’ve streamlined what we do development-wise at the factory and the fact that we can bring the upgraded parts of the car that we do now and that they work straight away when we get to the track is because of the work that we undertake in the tunnel. If we didn’t have that tunnel capability we would be bringing thousands of parts to the race track at huge expense, wasting a huge amount of money when we realised when we came to Friday practice that they weren’t effective and that they didn’t work.

FT: The correlation between the race track and cfd – at least at Toro Rosso – has not reached the level that you get valid results; you need the back-to-back tests with the wind tunnel, to know which direction to go, therefore I think they are necessary.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To the back: Franz, if I recall your words correctly, you said next year Renault will not supply us with engines. Is that official?

FT: I can only say what I read in the newspaper, what Ghosn said in Frankfurt and I think this is serious. I haven’t got it in a written form from Renault so far. I’m quoting rumours, yes.

Q: (Graham Caygill – The National Newspaper) Franz, as James mentioned earlier in the press conference, Max and Carlos have shown some great pace this season. Do you and the team feel vindicated because there were a few eyebrows raised at the start of the season on going for a such a young line-up and do you think maybe the FIA, in hindsight moved a little bit too quickly changing the superlicence rules so that people like Max in future can come through?

FT: Yes, as we know, the FIA changed this regulation. You must now be 18 years old to come into Formula One. I personally don’t think this makes sense because if young drivers can start to race in single seaters aged 15 or 16 years old, then earlier or later it was quite clear that one of these drivers will be in a position to come into Formula One and once more, it’s not a decision how old someone is, it’s a decision how fast and skilled someone is. I know a lot of old drivers who are simply too slow but I know as young drivers they are much faster therefore I take the younger drivers. Anyway, that’s the decision that was made by the FIA, in future that it’s no longer possible who is younger than 18 years and I’m more than happy that Red Bull decided to bring Max into Formula One, because, as we all can see, he is showing a fantastic performance and up to now, he has made less mistakes than other much more experienced drivers.

FIA Drivers Press Conference - TRANSCRIPT

DRIVERS – Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Sergio Pérez (Force India), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Roberto Merhi (Manor), Pastor Maldonado (Lotus), Felipe Nasr (Sauber).

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Let’s start with you Romain, back on the podium this year. Do you see many opportunities for getting up there again in the remaining races of 2015.

Romain GROSJEAN: Well, let’s put it this way: we didn’t think any podium was possible this year – we did it. So, yeah, I think we’re always eager for more, always trying to do our best. Spa was a beautiful opportunity for us and hopefully there will be much more coming. The best we can do is try to work hard and do the same.

Q: Looking ahead to 2016, your thoughts on that? Obviously you’re wanting to see what’s going to happen with Renault and the Lotus deal that’s been discussed a lot – but if that didn’t happen, would you consider… your name has been linked with the Haas team, for example, is that something you would consider.

RG: I think the other thing I can tell you is that my decision is… I’ve made my decision, everything is clear in my head and I know what’s going to happen for me in the future – but if you don’t mind I won’t tell you any more.

Q: Sergio, coming to you, on the same topic of 2016, Robert Fernley in the press conference in Monza alluded to the fact he was hoping to conclude things with you for next year by Singapore. Have you got any progress report?

Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, definitely progress has been made but we are not yet in a position to announce anything.

Q: Two consecutive top six finishes for you, for the first time in your career, at the moment on a good role, in a good way, coming to a track where you’ve always been in the points in the past. So you must be feeling fairly good about life I would think…

SP: Yeah, definitely. I’m really optimistic. As you say, we’ve had a really good run up until now and hopefully we can continue. The car is improving. We just getting better and better so hopefully we can have a strong finish again. As you say, every race I have done here I’ve been into the points. I hope I make it again and in a better position.

Q: Valtteri, your 50th grand prix start this weekend. The result in Italy was your best for some time. I guess from the outside one might say that this season has been something of a missed opportunity for Williams in one sense: a struggle for consistency. Is that your assessment as well, or are you please with what’s been done?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Well I have to say I’m not really that pleased for the results. Of course we aim to make a step forward. I think we’ve improved from last year but, compared to others, not really. So, as a team, I think everyone in the team is expecting more and we are aiming to do better in the future and obviously I’m staying with the team so it’s very nice to start building from this because I still think we’re not yet at a peak and we can definitely do better. From my side also, it’s been a very mixed season. A lot of things have not been going to my side, so unlucky races, unlucky results. That’s how it is sometimes. Always need to look forward.

Q: You mentioned you are confirmed already for 2016 so what are you telling the team you want for next season to kick on from where you are now.

VB: Downforce! And power! That’s what keeps you going. I think as a team we really need to improve in all areas like we’ve seen we’ve had quite a few issues still with pitstops and some mistakes from us, as a team. We’re still just getting stronger in all areas. Unfortunately, sometimes the way to improve is to do that mistake and then learn from it. I’m sure that soon there will be no more mistakes we can do. We can always just make sure we learn from those and improve. Like I said before, I think we definitely can be stronger than this year.

Q: Roberto, the news that you’re driving two more races for the rest of 2015, shared with Alexander Rossi. Can you explain the situation to us.

Roberto MERHI: At the beginning of the year when I came to Melbourne with Manor, they gave me a great chance to be part of the team and to be a driver of the team but for sure I didn’t know how long it was going to end up. At least I did 12 races, that is really good, I think, for a driver in Formula One that is quite difficult. And they gave me a good chance to be there in the car for 12 races and I want to say thank you for them but obviously I think they have taken a decision that is better for the team in a long-term result. We hope that I am still competitive for the last two races I have this year and I will try to prepare now all the weekends that I go together with the team, from now to the end of the year, and try to improve and learn as much as I can, to get ready for the race in Sochi and in Abu Dhabi.

Q: The team’s been doing some wind tunnel development work. Is this with an eye on 2016 as much as on 2015 do you think?

RM: The main focus already is on the new car in ’16 because now it’s quite the end of the year and for sure the target for the team is next year to be a competitive team fighting for a good result, for points and I’ve sure they’re going to achieve. And yes, sure, I think they’re trying to put all of their effort into 2016. It’s the best thing to do for them and is the thing they are doing.

Q: Pastor, happy memories of qualifying second here back in 2012 but this year, astonishing record, you’ve retired from eight out of the 12 races and on many occasions you’ve been the first car to go out. How much bad luck can one man have? What’s been going on?

Pastor MALDONADO: We’ve been having a bit of problems and yeah, it was not, maybe from the really beginning of the season, the best start for us even if we improve the car compared to last year.  It is how it is. We cannot change the past, we just need to work harder for the future and try to get better and better every race.

Q: As discussed with Romain a minute ago, there’s obviously a lot of discussion around your team for next season, possible Renault takeover. How are you approaching discussions on next season? Do you think you’ll still be racing with this team in 2016?

PM: I hope so. We’ll see.

Q: Felipe, Sauber has been slightly more competitive in the last few races, qualifying just outside the top ten, consecutive points results. What’s been going on, on the technical side, that’s facilitated this?

Felipe NASR: Well actually I think the last few races it was clearly some circuits that was coming more to our, let’s say, advantage, looking to our car and how it performs. I think those races, they clearly helped us in some ways – the likes of Spa and Monza – by having the long straights. Unfortunately I had bad luck in these last three events. If you look back at Monza, I started just outside the top ten, was running into the top ten into the early laps and then I got a puncture. It’s one of the missed opportunities but this is racing. Sometimes it goes like this, so I wasn’t able to get the points out there but this weekend we’ve got something to look forward. It’s our first proper update in the year, since Australia, so we’re getting the car all around being updated. It’s one to look forward.

Q: Same question I put to Valtteri a moment ago, you’re already confirmed for next season. What are you telling the team? Your objectives for next year – what are you asking for?

FN: Well basically what we’re having now, this update, it will important to validate these numbers on track and this will guide us for the 2016 car. We know the areas we have to improve. It’s all-around improvement, mainly on downforce I would say but it’s not like a specific point, it’s a general overview of the package. This weekend and how we take it onwards to the end of the season will be important to understand how the car is reacting.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Manuel Franco – Diario AS) Questions for Roberto: the first one is how Manor told you that you will not drive in this race and the second question is what options you have for next season?

RM: Obviously I came here... I flew on Monday and when I arrived the team give me the news that I would not be driving and Rossi would be in my place for the four or five races of the remaining seven. For next season, we still don’t know yet. We are looking for a Formula One seat and we will try to find the best option possible but obviously these days I think a budget is really important and at the moment it’s hard to find.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, never points for you in Monaco or in Singapore; are street circuits some kind of weak point for your team?

VB: No, we’re going to fix it this weekend. Definitely. Monaco was a big struggle last year and this year and Singapore – I think we’re going for points, we were trying for a mega-long stint to keep the position last year and then in the end my tyres were finished and I think it was on the last lap I dropped out of the points. It is possible to get points and for sure maybe the luck has not been on our side but we need to improve the car so that it’s also quick in these kind of places. Actually we do have some updates on the car here for the front wing and for the rear brake ducts so it’s there and hopefully those create a bit more downforce.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and SpeedSport Magazines) Sergio, in Monza you told us you were getting quite close to a deal with Force India. Are you any closer to finalising things?

DK: Yeah, I think we are just in the final bit. I hope very soon we can finalise everything. The team is happy to keep me and I’m happy to stay so I see no reason why it shouldn’t happen soon.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Pastor, James mentioned your run of bad luck this season. Given that there isn’t a huge amount of run-off at Singapore and I don’t imagine there’s a huge amount of spares at the Lotus team this weekend either, is this a weekend for caution to be exercised or will you be giving it full beans as you often do on street circuits and often to great effect as well? How do you approach this weekend? You’re a very good street circuit racer but do you need to back off a little bit?

PM: I think we need to approach the weekend as normal. We are looking forward to doing our best and to get what we deserve is to push very hard and to try to put the car in the best position we can.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and SpeedSport Magazines) Romain, we go to two very different circuits: Monza, high speed, almost no downforce; here, a lot of downforce. How do you switch gears as a driver and is one track more difficult to the other or is it just a different challenge?

RG: I think it’s a different challenge. Most of the people think Monza is fairly simple, it’s a straight line and chicanes and another straightline and then a chicane, but it’s quite hard to keep the rhythm in the car and braking in the right place and then taking the corner well. You kind of lose concentration in a straight line and then you come back whereas here is more intense. The first sector is quite long and fine but then you get to sector three where it’s corner after corner, where you need to think about your rear tyres, your braking point, the throttle is a big issue and you slip and so on so they are both very challenging in different ways but I don’t think there are any tracks which are easy nowadays in Formula One.

Q: (Ben Edwards – BBC TV) This could be a question for anyone, but Valtteri, maybe I could ask you: is there any further understanding from your point of view about Pirelli tyre pressure checks? Have you talked to the team about what might be different in terms of procedure this weekend and is there anything there?

VB: Not really fully aware of what’s been decided. I heard something had been decided but I’m not sure.

Q: Have any of the other drivers already had a briefing ahead of that, can you add anything on the tyre pressures? Sergio?

SP: All I know is that the FIA is thinking of changing the procedure but we will have more information as a team about that.

Q: (S’. Dipak Ragav – The Hindu) Sergio, you are now 13 points ahead of Lotus and I believe you have an update package for here and one more at Mexico. Do you think this is Force India’s best chance of finishing fifth in the Constructors’ title, considering McLaren’s troubles this year? How confident are you?

SP: Yes, definitely. I think we are already fifth. I mean 13 points is nothing, really. It can change from one weekend to another. It’s not like we have a huge advantage. I think we are obviously going to fight really closely with Lotus. Toro Rosso are also in contention. The next one is 50 points ahead which is Red Bull and as well, if we have two good weekends and they go back then there’s every opportunity for us to do even better so right now, what we can do is just maximise everything with both cars and try to score as many points as possible with both cars.  

[Courtesy of the FIA] 

'Token Aussie' - By Jake Davis

This fantastic weekly F1 Toon was designed and created by Jake Davis Creative. Prints are available in sizes A4, A3 and A2. Commissions are also available. If you would like to order a PRINT of this fantastic F1 Toon feel free to contact him via:
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TRACK PROFILE - 2015 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX

'Alternative Power' - By Chris Rathbone

Weekly Formula 1 cartoons by Chris Rathbone... Get your hands on prints, mugs and t-shirts of your favourite drivers from the world of Motorsport.
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Williams Advanced Engineering announces and increase in Formula E Battery Power

Williams Advanced Engineering, the sole supplier of the batteries for the FIA Formula E Championship, can confirm that the maximum power output of the batteries will increase to 170kW during each race in season two of the Championship.

The batteries were initially designed to meet season one technical specifications from the FIA and operated during a race at a maximum power of 133kW. Following successful pre-season testing this was increased to 150kW for the start of season one to increase the performance of the cars.

The batteries showed excellent reliability during season one, with only one on track failure during the eleven races when operating at 150kW. Both Williams Advanced Engineering and Formula E are keen to test this new technology to its limits and to use Formula E as a vehicle for technology progression. Following a number of tests in recent months to assess the feasibility of a further power increase, it can now be confirmed that all teams will now be able to race with a maximum power of 170kW during each ePrix. Season two of the FIA Formula E Championship kicks off in Beijing on 24th October 2015.

Commenting on the power increase Craig Wilson, Managing Director of Williams Advanced Engineering, said; “Formula E is all about pushing electric vehicle technology to its limits and showcasing its evolution to the public. Williams Advanced Engineering is working on a diverse portfolio of electric and hybrid vehicle projects and the learnings from Formula E are invaluable in developing our technology. During season two the batteries will now be operating at 30% more power than they were initially designed for and we have upgraded certain components and worked closely with the teams to make sure that this is sustainable without significantly affecting reliability. With this development the cars will be travelling faster during each race which will help keep Formula E as an exciting racing series.”

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag added; “The development of future battery technologies is fundamental to the ethos of the championship. Formula E is all about showcasing the progression of electric vehicle technology and thanks to the battery development from Williams Advanced Engineering we will see faster, more efficient and exciting racing this coming season.”

'Bottled Blonde' - By Jake Davis

This fantastic weekly F1 Toon was designed and created by Jake Davis Creative. Prints are available in sizes A4, A3 and A2. Commissions are also available. If you would like to order a PRINT of this fantastic F1 Toon feel free to contact him via:
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FIA Post-Race Conference: TRANSCRIPT

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)



PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by George Lucas)

This is amazing, simply amazing. Congratulations Lewis, you did a great job. You told me earlier when I was kidding you about these close call races of one or two seconds, I said ‘why don’t you win by 20 seconds?’ and you said ‘I could do that, I think’. Well, you did it in spades; I bow to you, you did a great job.

Lewis HAMILTON: Thank you. Today… look at this crowd, it’s incredible. Unbelievable fans here. I couldn't have done it without my team. I couldn’t have done it without my team. I don’t know if anyone can hear us. This team is just remarkable and what we have achieved together is so special, so I’m incredibly grateful to them for really working so hard through the weekend, through the last weeks, through the whole year to give me the car I had today. These guys also did a great job.

Sebastian, I’ve been to the factory a few times and everybody has been talking about the new engine. Did the new engine live up to your expectations?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well look at this. I think this says it all. Grazie a voi! Grazie tifosi! Questo anno è incredible… Grazie, a tutta la squadra dico ancora grazie.

Felipe, how did it feel when you were coming up to the finish line there and your team-mate was only inches away from you?

Felipe MASSA: It feels very tough! I’m getting old for that! I even said to the team I’m getting old! The last three laps of the race I was fighting with my team-mate. It was very difficult but we managed to be here. Grazie mille a tutti. Sono molto contento di essere qui con voi. Questo podio é meraviglioso. Questo rettilineo è fantastico. Grazie davvero. Siete tutti nel mio cuore.

So Lewis, one last question: Do blonds have more fun?

LH: I hope so! Thank you everyone. Thank you to all the fans. You are the greatest fans here. Grazie a tutti.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Lewis, the technical delegate has referred the team to the stewards saying that “the minimum measured tyre starting pressure of the left-hand side rear tyre of car number 44 was 0.3 PSI below the specified minimum tyre starting pressure” and a representative of the team is asked to go to the stewards. Do you have any comment to make on that?

LH: Not really no.

You’re not aware of it?

LH: I wasn’t aware of it, so…

The team was asking you at the end of the grand prix to build a gap. You weren’t sure what that was for, presumably that was linked to this issue?

LH: Maybe.

They still haven’t told you?

LH: No.

Lewis, your 50th grand prix start for Mercedes, your third win here in Monza, seventh of the season, 40th of your career, now one short of Ayrton Senna, who I know was an idol of yours growing up. Really, obviously, the start was always going to be decisive. You took a defensive line, Sebastian had to go round the outside and from there on you seemed to be completely in control of the afternoon. Tell us about that and also the emotions of the afternoon from start to now?

LH: Yeah, this weekend has been just fantastic. It has been a perfect weekend for me. I don’t know if I have ever had a weekend like this. This circuit is such a special one for… I think it’s the same for all the drivers. When you stand on top of that podium you feel incredible pride and incredibly proud to be amongst the greats that have stood up there and when you see a sea of fans – a lot of them in red – but the sea of fans is just unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s very emotional when you are up there. The race was fantastic. I got a good start. I think we all probably got a difficult start and managed to hold ground. Sebastian was really fair into turn one and after that it was really just chipping away, looking after the tyres, trying to look after the tyres whilst chipping away… trying to take time away, increase the time, the gap behind. I was generally able to control it really after that. I felt comfortable. The car balance I really got perfect for the race. Perhaps not so much for qualifying but perfect for the race. It was actually one of my favourite balances I’ve had through the year, in the actual race. The last few laps I was told to push and I’m thinking I’ve got quite a big gap already, so, for me, I was a little taken aback by it, but nonetheless I still managed to pull it out and do what they asked me to do. Big congrats to Sebastian and Felipe. I know these two have been pushing hard for a long, long time, so I feel proud to be up here with them as well.

Q: And you were 29 points behind coming here last year. You’re 50 points ahead going away, over 50 points ahead going away this year.

LH: I don’t understand…

Rosberg retired

LH: I wasn’t aware of that. Oh. Wow. I think our performance, my performance today, I have to really take my hat off to my team: they’ve done a remarkable job the last two years and I can’t thank them enough. The constant attention to detail. Improvements they’ve been doing back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth is just… I’ve never seen it before. Incredibly grateful for everything they’ve done.

Q: So Sebastian, you “were very fair in Turn One,” says Lewis. You gave it a go. Did you think it might be on?

SV: I had to! Obviously I was on the outside so it was going to be difficult. I was a bit deeper on the brakes but yeah, I mean I have to give way, he’s on the inside, the first corner goes to the right. It’s a tricky one. We’ve seen across the various years you can get it wrong so I was quite happy. Tried to focus on the exit. He got a magnificent exit out of Turn Two so I couldn’t really get a run on him. I was trying – but I couldn’t get a run on him into Turn Four. After that I though, after the first couple of laps, I think at some points we were similar in lap time, he was only a tenth quicker for one or two laps, I thought that maybe now we get a chance to close the gap but then he just seemed to… in football you call it the second lung. I don’t know – that’s a German saying, it makes no sense in English – but he just seemed to find an extra switch and he was pulling away. I think myself, Felipe and the cars behind, we seemed to struggle with tyres, so we’re losing pace whereas Lewis just kept doing what he was doing in the first couple of laps. So it was quite incredible to see and no chance to stay close to him. After that our race was pretty isolated but I knew I had to keep pushing. Seeing the pace that Lewis had, I knew that Nico eventually will have the same pace. He did in the end, he was closing the gap, it was getting quite tight but I think we could have managed and get the place even with Nico not retiring. So, in the end, to sum it up, it’s fairly simple, it’s the best second place I ever had. The emotions on the podium is incredible. If we take this away from the calendar for any shitty money reasons I think you are basically ripping our hearts out. We are here, we are racing and this makes it so much more worthwhile. It’s what we’re here for. You stand on the grid, you look to the left, you look to the right, people are just happy to be part of it and it makes our day. So, simple as that. It’s incredible. So, thanks for this emotion on behalf of all the Ferrari team. Thank you.

Q: Felipe, on the podium here in Monza, second year in a row. Start obviously decisive for you as well because Kimi just didn’t get away, you were very, very quick on to that and at the end you had a little bit of a tussle with your younger team mate once again, which you seem to be enjoying.

FM: Yeah, it’s really emotional to be here. It’s a fantastic race, very difficult from the beginning to the end, just trying to make the gap and then, the start was OK. It was not really that fantastic a start I had but it was really good to overtake cars and to manage to be in the position compared to the guys behind, so happy for that. But also, just the pace. Trying to open the gap against Valtteri. I went to the pitstop a little bit early and he stays on the track for a few other laps which helps a lot his tyres for the end of the race. Maybe I opened the gap anyway and we were doing good lap times to maintain the gap but at the end I started to lose performance on the rear tyres and he was catching me with better tyres as well. So, in the last three laps it was pretty difficult. He was catching me a lot, he was quicker than me. The only problem was the traction: he has better traction. So, I managed to fight, and getting to the podium was tough, three laps but I’m so happy for the position, so happy for the team. I think we managed to score great and fantastic points today. And also in this amazing place. Being on the podium here, with the whole straight of people so we cannot even see any asphalt, y’know. Even in Corner Three, from the podium. So it’s really, I mean, definitely the best podium and very human. A very hot, human feeling when you see all these people.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, as you have said, there was a phase early in the race when you were just a couple of tenths slower than Lewis but then it has increased quite a bit. Why do you think this was? Was it just that your tyres didn’t hold up so well because it was the end of the stint or was it because you weren’t able to use the same engine modes as yesterday in qualifying?

SV: No, I think it’s pretty simple. I was falling asleep! No, I was pushing as hard as possible and Lewis, I think, to some extent, did the same and yeah, I think you could see on my lap times also Felipe’s – I got updated by radio that the lap times kept dropping so I guess we were struggling more with the tyres than Lewis was because he was able to do the same lap time on lap 22 as he did on lap four which is quite impressive. Obviously we had run down some fuel but tyres are 20 laps older. I think he said he felt well with the balance of the car which makes a huge difference so that’s that. They were quick on race pace, quicker than us but potentially they had a bit better tyre wear or tyre degradation, let’s put it this way, so I think that made the difference. On the first three laps I had a bit of hope and then, to be honest with you, I saw them going away, so yeah, that was that.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, have you already received an explanation, either before or after the podium, because you had to push, because there was a problem with the investigation of the tyres. Had they already explained to you or was it something else?

LH: As I just said, I don’t even know about it.

Q: What was the second question? There wasn’t one.

FM: He’s amazing, he never asks one question, always two! I think he has a fever.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis and Sebastian, what kind of help could you get with lower tyres pressures?

LH: 0.3 lower? Not really a huge amount on one rear tyre.

SV: Well, it’s difficult to judge now because  I don’t know what was going on. I think it’s not fair to hand that question to Lewis because he doesn’t know what’s going on, so that’s that. In principle, the tyres last a bit longer, but as I said, I don’t think... In a lot of respect and fairness he did a very good job today and you have to accept that.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) To all of you, after such an emotional podium ceremony, what are your feelings when you hear that the future of Monza on the calendar is uncertain?

Q: Well, Sebastian has already made his feelings very clear on that one...

LH: I think we all have really. As I said on the podium, I said at the beginning here, this is one of the best tracks in the world. This has to stay here for moral reasons. As Felipe is saying, all those fans out there who come every single year. Are you going to take this Grand Prix away from us and put on another one, that would not have the same feeling, or would not have the special impact so we definitely have to keep this.

FM: I don’t think they can take it out. The history of Formula One, this is history here, here is part of what is Formula One... everything that Formula One grows is a lot thanks to these races as well, to these people. We race for the people and when you see the podium with a lot of people like that and they’re screaming and crying, I don’t think we can lose that. This is part of our blood and we cannot lose this type of races. I really like to go to new countries, we go to amazing countries, countries that I even didn’t know what they meant before and then I love to go there, many different countries and I’m really in favour to go there but you cannot lose something which is inside the blood as well. 

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think it’s highly unlikely because Lewis finished more than 25 seconds ahead of you so even if he gets a penalty I don’t think it will change the order but if he would lose the victory and you would win the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari like that, what would be your emotions?

SV: Well, it doesn’t change anything, emotions. I was second on the podium and that’s the emotions I got and I’m grateful for them. I had a great car today, not good enough to win but good enough to just finish second.