2018 British GP: FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference.

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Lewis, congratulations, fantastic. Your fourth consecutive pole position here, a record sixth pole position at the British Grand Prix, your adoring fans looking on. That was a very special lap you had to find there?

Lewis HAMILTON: These guys are the best.

Q: You’re shaking with emotion, literally!

LH: Oh man, I needed… I gave it everything I could. It was so close between these Ferraris. The Ferraris pulled something out when we got to Q3. I was just praying I could do it for you guys, and I’m so grateful for the support, because without you guys I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Q: Where do you think you made the difference on that last lap?

LH: I don’t even remember it! I honestly don’t remember it, man. Maybe Turn 13… love you too guys!

Q: Congratulations again. Let’s have a quick chat with Sebastian Vettel. Second place, Sebastian, you look like you’re walking wounded here, on your neck. 

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a bit of an issue in practice, but it was fine in Quali.

Q: Did you think you could take that pole position?

SV: To be honest, this morning, no. I wasn’t sure if I could do Quali. It was very close. I don’t know, the last lap I was very happy with it, but I seem to lose a lot of time in the straights, so I think I’m missing some… missing a bit of tow, but I think it was very close, so I’m happy with second and it gives us a good chance for tomorrow.

Q: Well done. Kimi Räikkönen, it’s the seventh day of the seventh month and you put car number seven in third place. Are you satisfied with that?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really. I think I had all the tools today to be faster but I locked the front wheel into 16 a bit on the last lap and for sure gave away enough time to be in front but that's how it goes.

You told me two days ago that you’re driving as well as ever, do you still think you have a chance of victory tomorrow?

KR: Yeah, I think I’ve got a good car and my car should be good tomorrow. Obviously it’s hot and it will not be an easy race with the tyres, so I think we might see a few different things happening there, but we’re aiming for the top for sure.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, it was an incredibly tight qualifying session and ended up with your fourth consecutive pole position here at Silverstone. How does it compare to the ones that came before?

LH: It feels night and day different. These guys really pulled something special into Q3. I don’t know what they did yesterday, but they’ve come so strong today. I knew we were up against it but to really put together the laps was the hardest I can remember it being. It’s such a technical circuit and such a tricky circuit and to really position the car in the right place and get the maximum from the tyres it took everything from me to get it. But the fans were there and I could see them. And I knew they were here so I really, really wanted to do it, and if anything, with the pole, give a boost to England maybe. They won’t be watching obviously, because they’ll be playing, but you know what I mean – maybe start the wave and let them continue it. Huge amount of pressure on today, but so grateful for my team working so hard. Ferrari obviously have picked up a lot of pace this weekend, but we're in the best position we can be and our long run pace was good yesterday, so I’m excited for a close race tomorrow.

Q: Thank you, Lewis, well done. Sebastian, simply, what was the difference between you and Lewis today?

SV: Half a tenth.

Q: Four hundredths.

SV: Less than half a tenth!

Q: Can you just elaborate a bit more? How did that gap manifest itself on the racetrack today?

SV: I don’t know. It’s so little time, it’s practically the same lap. I was pretty happy with the first run in Q3 and I knew had a little bit more in Sector 3, and bits around the track, which I think I got right on the second attempt, but I seemed to lose a little bit down the straights, I’m not sure why. But more or less I had two laps that were identical. Half a tenth you can always argue you find somewhere. I think he was just a little bit better in the final run, but for tomorrow I think we should be fine.

Q: Kimi, you set the fastest first sector there in Q3. Can you just talk us through the rest of your lap, because you were less than one tenth of a second behind Lewis as well?

KR: Yeah, I think we had first and last sector but in the middle obviously I think I had a small moment on the first try, the first set, into Turn 7, so I took it a bit easier. I was still gaining but I’m sure there were places to gain a tenth easily but obviously it didn’t happen today, so this is what we got. It was close but third is not too bad.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, could you just explain the problem you had with your neck after FP3 and the problem it gave you going into qualifying.

SV: It wasn’t the most enjoyable session but it’s not… nothing. I did the session, so I was fine. We had to call it a bit earlier this morning that I wanted but yeah, it was fine in quali.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Another question for Seb on the neck. How confident are you that tomorrow it’s going to be OK – and can you describe how it all started? Was it a bump the circuit or lateral forces? What was it?

SV: No, I don’t know what happened but it went a little bit stiff. We loosened it up and for tomorrow I think the night will help. I’m not worried. Also, the speed tomorrow is less than in quali, because you have more fuel and you’ll be a bit slower so it’s going to be OK.

Q: (Keith Collantine – Racefans.net) A question for Lewis. Lewis, can you tell us a little about your poll position lap please? Where are you flat out around this superfast Silverstone circuit now? What does it feel like? And also, the gap to your team-mate Valtteri is quite big today, and a very small gap to the two gentlemen either side of you. How much of this is down to the car and how much is down to the driver?

LH: This is, as I was saying before, it’s such a technical circuit and it’s about car placement and you’ve got to have, obviously, the package. Our downforce level, I think, has been good but, I mean, you see how close it is between us. This has been a strong circuit for me for years, as you can see and my job is try to make… it is to make the difference. So, I think there was… I didn’t leave anything on the table today. The lap was… I mean it was just intense. I left the pit lane, I think the first lap was OK, it was pretty good, and then I saw that I’d dropped to second. Obviously, that naturally just adds a little bit more pressure. Because you know that he’s going to improve again, so I’ve got to improve the same and a bit more. So, to push over the limit just a little bit more, without losing it is one of the toughest positions to put the car. And this is the fastest track in the world, this is. We’re flat-out through Turn One, we’re flat-out through Copse, it’s insane, to turn in there at 300-and-whatever-it-is-kilometres we’re doing. It’s flat-out into Maggotts and Becketts, all the way to 11, 12…

SV: The last one’s called Chapel…

LH: I don’t know all the names but you’re flat-out all the way into it. You have a small lift, then you have a full lift, then you’re back on the gas again. Also, Stowe is just… with the headwind that we have there, it’s incredible how fast it is. I think on the TV it doesn’t look like we’re lifting – but we are. I got to the end of the lap, I think I was up 0.17s, and I came around that last corner and it started to diminish a little bit. I think I came across the line 0.90 better than my previous lap, and you’re just praying that’s enough – that little bit… because you’re gaining and losing throughout the lap. So, yeah, I can’t tell you how happy I am, happy for the fans, and I hope that I can deliver for them tomorrow.

Q: Phil Duncan (Press Association) Congratulations Lewis on your lap. You looked like you were on the ragged edge throughout the lap, and obviously when you got out of the car, you were pretty pumped. Where does it rank in terms for you, that pole lap?

LH: I think it’s, for me, with the whole build up, with the whole intensity, with the whole spur-of-the-moment thing, knowing how close we were, for me it feels like one of the best laps that I’ve been able to produce. I would say it felt like the most pressurised lap that I’ve ever had. And then afterwards I was just… I can’t tell you how… I was shaking through the emotion, through the adrenaline rush was way above the limit that I had experienced before, which is kind of crazy for my 76th. But the 76th is so special. I’m so, so happy, and, as I said, the team have just been doing a great job and I’m really happy I have been able to deliver for them as well.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speedsport) We have a bumpy track, hot weather, extra downforce this year; will this maybe be one of the toughest or the toughest British Grand Prix ever for you guys?

KR: In which way? I don’t think it’s any different. Obviously there’s a big difference in the speed in the race, especially at the beginning of the race to qualifying. I think in the past the circuit layout was different but you could do qualifying laps every lap because you had refuelling and all these things. I think it’s less bumpy, it’s just smaller bumps; last year there were bigger bumps here and there.

LH: I think it is, yes, with the heat the track is the hottest I think we’ve driven on for a long time. The speed that we’re going through the corners, it is up and even on the long runs yesterday, the G-force we’re pulling… the car is faster than last year. I definitely think it’s going to be physically tougher and more intense, being that we’re so close as well. It’s not going to be a case of either of us pulling a big gap, it’s going to be close all the way, so I personally think it’s going to be one of the toughest, yes.

Q: Sebastian, do you side with your teammate or Lewis with this one?

SV: In the middle. I hope it will be, not sure. I think those are the fastest cars we’ve ever had and I hope it will be because next year, I guess, the cars will be a bit slower. I think it depends largely on the tyres to be honest. If they are holding up well, and consistent enough then I think we can push. If not, then obviously it takes a lot of intensity out of it.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To both Ferrari drivers: you had a very impressive simulation race Friday, especially you Sebastian, on medium tyres. You said you were confident for tomorrow. Can you give more details, explain more? It really looks like you have a really fast car in the best conditions.

SV: Yeah, it was yesterday, it was a good Friday for us and I’m confident we can be faster tomorrow. Usually… we  see today that we are able to pick up pace on Sunday as well. The race has always been better for us the last couple of races so I’m confident with everything that we have here this year, it seems we are stronger and I believe we can be faster.

Q: Kimi, do you expect to be more competitive tomorrow?

KR: Than today? Impossible to say, hopefully it’s a close fight, not easy to overtake as always but we will see what we can do and so far it’s been OK.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, in Austria you had the best start among the front runners, it’s quite a difficult track to overtake here. Are you prepared to take a bit more risk than you did in Zeltweg to try and get to the front at the start?

KR: For me? If I didn’t take risks last time then maybe. I don’t plan to do anything different. Obviously we try to make a good start as well as we can but there are things that you will never be able to plan, you do it what you think the right outcome might be different that you expect but that’s how it goes sometimes. Try to make a good start and go from there, see what we can come up with.

Q: (Sergio Remondino – Autosprint) Lewis, is it because it’s Silverstone that Mercedes and Lewis are in front of Ferrari? The circuit made the difference or what else? Was it because there is a superiority of driver and car or in your performance…

LH: Both

Q: (Sergio Remondino – Autosprint) … or was Silverstone the secret?

LH: All three, I hope. I think for sure, when you come to Silverstone it’s a home Grand Prix so just like when we go to Monza, Ferrari get a boost. It’s the same for us as a team. The team has all their families around, the support we have from the fans is there so we get lifted up from that. There’s obviously an extra push in effort above and beyond to try and make sure that we can pull everything out. Same for me as a driver. I think it’s all those as a whole come together for this race.

2018 British GP: FIA Team Members' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Zak BROWN (McLaren), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Clare WILLIAMS (Williams), Vijay MALLYA (Force India)

Q: Zak, since the last grand prix in Austria, you’ve announced some management changes at McLaren, so let’s deal with those first. First of all, why did Eric Boullier resign?

Zak BROWN: Well, ultimately you’d have to ask Eric that questions, but in my conversation with him earlier this week, you know we’ve been under an immense amount of pressure, really even before Eric started, and I think ultimately the pressure and the desire to have McLaren move forward, I think he felt that a kind of a fresh start would give us the best opportunity, so he took that decision, accepted it earlier in the week. He’s been in racing a long time, won a lot of race and I’m sure we’ll see him a pit lane soon, again winning.

Q: So, how are you filling the void left behind?

ZB: Well, we’ve done a few things. It’s the start of a journey to get back to our winning ways. It’s going to take a little bit of time and a lot of hard work. We’ve got the energy, we’ve got the support from our shareholders. We promoted Andrea Stella to Performance Director and ultimately he’s responsible for getting the most out of the race car at a race weekend. We brought in Gil de Ferran, who we worked with at Indianapolis last year and who has been doing some consulting and advisory work earlier in the year, as Sporting Director, and his role is to work with the team, the drivers, Andrea, and all of us to ultimately get the most out of the team environment at a weekend. And then Simon Roberts, who reports to me as COO, stays in charge of all the technical aspects to make sure that when we show up on a Friday at a race weekend we have as fastest a race car as possible and as many new bits to throw at a car to continue to develop it. And that’s going to be what you see here this weekend, but as I said, it’s the start of a journey, so we’re just getting started, we’re not finished.

Q: And how have the drivers received the news?

ZB: Very well. I spoke with Fernando, Stoffel and Lando just the morning before we made the announcement. I think they have got a lot of trust in the team. We communicate very well. Fernando is someone who has a tremendous amount of experience. Like with all the team members, when I walk around the factory, I seek information, draw on experience, because we have so much experience inside McLaren, so many great people who have won a lot of championships and races, and Fernando has had the benefit of being at multiple different teams. I know there has been some conversation about was he consulted. I think sometimes people take words a bit too literally. It’s my role to talk and communicate with all the team – drivers, engineers, mechanics – all throughout since I started. So I take on all that information and then work with the leadership team and the shareholders and make some decisions and move forward.

Q: Thank you. Claire, we’ve just heard about the changes being made at McLaren. Are further personnel changes needed at Williams to get you guys more competitive?

Claire WILLIAMS: Listening to Zak, it’s a very similar story that is going on at Williams at the moment. We’re in fairly similar positions. Of course in order to effect change, you need to make changes and you need to make some hard decisions and we’re going through that process at the moment but it’s not a case of rushing into it. Sometimes when you rush in you can make decisions you don’t want to make and end up regretting those decisions. We’re undertaking a full evaluation of our internal structures and processes at the moment. We haven’t completed that work yet, so we don’t have any news to announce. But it’s mostly about identifying the talent that we do have in-house. We have a lot of great people at Williams that are working really hard at the moment in this difficult situation that we’re in. So it’s focusing on that, focusing on the good that we have and then seeing whether we need to augment that talent, augment that resource we have and then move forward from there.

Q: So, promote from within – that’s the message?

CW: [Nods]

Q: OK, what about Silverstone this weekend: it’s your home grand prix, how frustrating is it for you personally to be turning up at the track where the team won its first grand prix, its 100th grand prix, with the team in such an uncompetitive state?

CW: Yeah, I think I was quoted as saying that I was dreading coming here, earlier this week, and I have been because as you said this is a track that holds a very special place in everyone’s hearts at Williams, for a variety of different reasons. This is our home race, there are a lot of Williams fans here, Finally I’m seeing some fans with Williams Martini Racing t-shirts around the place, which is great to see, and we have let our fans down. And for us that is as equally disappointing as we all feel at the moment with our performance. However, coming here and being here yesterday has been a really nice boost for everybody and for me in particular. You get to see all our great fans, who do still support us through these difficult times. They continue to support us and I think yesterday, just being here amongst the British fans, has given us a real boost. We had a good morning this morning in practice. As I said, we’re doing a lot of work to bring upgrades to the car, but really considered upgrades as well, and that’s taken a bit of time to get the upgrades here to this race. But hopefully with the result of that hard work… I’m not saying that Sunday is going to be a turnaround in our performance, it’s still going to be a long road for us, but hopefully we will do a better job for our fans this weekend.

Q: Claire, just a final word, your father was at the track yesterday. Is he in good heart?

CW: He is. He is thrilled to be here. It’s really lovely to see him back in the motorhome. I think he’s causing a bit of panic in the garage at the moment. The boys haven’t had him in the garage for a number of races now. So it’s good, it keeps everyone on their toes, but it’s just lovely to have Frank back in the paddock, he’s a real icon of the sport and this is where he belongs.

Q: Thank you Claire, good luck this weekend. Vijay, it’s the first time we’ve seen you in an FIA press conference this year, so could we just have your assessment of the team’s progress in 2018?

Vijay MALLYA: Well, we’ve not had the best start that we were hoping for. We haven’t managed to get both cars into the points. We’ve had three of four first-lap incidents, all of which contribute to where you are in the Constructors’. I have every confidence in my people across the road at the factory. They are used to punching above their weight, which is something that I truly appreciate. We find ourselves two points behind McLaren and seven behind Haas, thanks to their special performance at the last race, and we’re 20 points behind Renault. We have been 20 points behind Williams two years ago and we still managed to secure fourth. I remain cautiously optimistic that we will get fourth again in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018. We brought a small upgrade to the car here at Silverstone and FP1 has shown it. Whether I’m at the race, or at an FIA Press Conference or not, the guys are doing a great job.

Q: Certainly the two guys in the cockpit are doing great jobs – Esteban and Sergio. Both very talented, very consistent. With the driver silly season hotting up what do you feel you have to do to retain both your drivers for 2019?

VM: The drivers are very happy in our environment. They have said that several times to the media when asked. We are very happy with both Checo and Esteban. If, of course, they get a seat in a world championship-winning team it’s going to be a tough task to retain them, but if they are not offered any such opportunity, I see no reason why they should not stay with us, because we give them the opportunity of being best of the rest. We have shown that for the last two years and hopefully we will show that this year as well.

Q: Guenther, an unfortunate incident for Romain in that first practice session, what can you tell us about the state of his car?

Guenther STEINER: We need to change the chassis, so he will not be going out in FP2. As simple as this, yeah, he had some damage on it and he will not make FP2.

Q: A frustrating day for him and the team. But let’s look at the positives; if I can take you back four days to Austria, where things went better. What was the overriding emotion for you when both cars crossed the line?

GS: I think it was like… because we knew we could do this. We had a few races where we could do and for one or another reason we never got to do it. We performed at this level. For sure, we were a little bit lucky with some of the first six dropping out, half of them basically, so that’s why we ended up fourth and fifth, otherwise we would have been seventh and eighth. But we knew could do this and it’s just ‘OK guys, this is what’s possible. It happened now and let’s try to do more coming here’. It’s one thing when you have a result like this, you cannot wait for the next race to go to. It was a long wait, but now we’re back to a normal day in the office: one car we need to change chassis, the other driver is with the stewards right now. We’re just getting normal now again. I hope we can get it back together tomorrow and have a good race on Sunday, more like Austria. You cannot always think it’s going perfect because it went perfect once. We still have work to do.

Q: I asked Vijay to assess the performance of his team a moment ago. Can I ask you specifically about Romain Grosjean – the ups and downs of his season. To go from fourth last weekend… How important was that fourth place, first of all for the team?

GS: For the guys that work on Romain’s car, they were getting anxious because we had so many good moments and then we never got it home. So for finishing fourth they were very happy and I think the morale was fantastic week as you can imagine, they are back home, and plus they finished fourth – and now they have to change a chassis.

Q: And how important was it for Romain?

GS: I think very important. He knows he can drive a car. It just didn’t happen. As I said before, for one reason or another it never happened this year that got into the points. And then on his first points scoring getting 12 points was very good. I think he was relieved, I would say.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for all four of you. We’re now reaching the end of a triple-header and there’s talk of about the calendar possibly expanding next year. Could I get your respective thoughts on the possible repeat of the triple-header next season and whether you think we’re already at the limit for the number of races over the course of the season?

ZB: I think it’s been difficult, the three races back-to-back. Everyone’s tired, everyone’s powering through it. My understand is its most-likely not going to have a triple-header again next year. That’s what was discussed at the FOM strategy meeting earlier this week but I don’t think that’s set in stone. If we have to do three again, we obviously will. I think most of the teams, if not all of the team – I’ll let them speak for themselves – would probably not prefer three races. And as far as the expanded calendar, that discussion I don’t think applies to 2019. The conversation around 22-23 races is, I think, a few years out. I think we’ll probably see 20, maybe 21 again, next year. And as far as having 23 races, you have to take budget into consideration, and we obviously have budget caps coming, which we support and is going to be very healthy for the sport and the competition. We need to take into consideration all the men and women that work at these racing teams and travel and the big sacrifices they already make to go to 21 grands prix – but at the same time, commercially, if you put another two or three races on the calendar: a Miami, a New York, another one in Asia, some big markets, it’s pretty attractive commercially to our partners, to go there. I don’t think there’s a magic number. We’ll ultimately race at however many are put on the calendar.

Claire, your thoughts.

CW: I share Zak’s thoughts. Personally, for me, I’m quite enjoying it, I quite like going racing, so three in three weekends is great. Equally, it means that our season will be over quicker, if you’ve got three race weekends in three weeks that’s a good thing for us at the moment! I think the most important thing is about the people, and taking into account, the guys, the boys and girls that work for us, they put in an enormous effort, and to put in a triple-header, when they’re not able to get home, is a tough thing for them and for their families. We’ve had to do quite a lot of work around ensuring our guys can get a break and to go home. And even if that’s just for 24 hours, that’s really important. But again, that’s additional management for people that have got to cover that off and how we bring in people to cover those people to cover those people that aren’t then there for that day. Covering the work that they need to do. So it’s a really difficult logistical piece. Just moving our motorhomes, you’ll have seen in the paddock in Austria, half of us didn’t have our normal motorhomes that we have. I actually think, for the Austrian promoter, that was probably a shame that they got our test hospitality units. It doesn’t make the paddock look good over a race weekend. Just small considerations that that that sometimes we don’t necessarily think through when these decisions are made. As Zak said, I don’t believe a triple-header will appear on the calendar again. I think maybe we’ve learnt our lesson that it is quite a tough gig for everybody. And as far as more races coming on the calendar in the next few years, great from an entertainment perspective for our fans. Great to have different locations coming on the calendar – particularly for partners if they’re activating in those markets – but as long as that’s balanced and race weekends are looked at in their entirety, maybe to shorten them to mean that people are away from home as much as they possibly need to be, then I think that’s important.

Vijay, can we have your thoughts please.

VM: I agree with what Zak and Claire have said. My major concern is, of course, for our race team personnel. Triple-header is hard, 21 races is hard, but as Zak said, more races means more revenue, and if I can have one and a half or two race teams and I get paid by Formula One Group, I’d certainly consider it because we want the revenues to improve and we want to certainly get more money. But if things stay the same, then I think more than 21 races and these triple-headers are just too taxing for our engineers and mechanics and all those involved in the race team.

Guenther?

GS: Nothing to add. I agree with everything. I think we all agree on what we said.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Question for Claire. You mentioned the situation with your situation and McLaren. McLaren have had a couple of years thinking they had the best chassis but blaming it on the engine. You’ve known you’ve had the best engine in the sport and have done for several years. So how’ve you got into this predicament and what are the financial implications of it?

CW: There are a variety of reasons as to why we found ourselves in tenth. You don’t get to tenth without having a number of issues. I think it’s probably clear to see that our aerodynamic package is probably the key to that, and unlocking the issues we have around the aero performance of our car is going to be critical to moving us forward. As we’ve gone through this recovery programme, we’ve identified a number of other weaknesses within the car and the team itself. I think as you go through that analysis invariably you always find other fires that you’ve got to put out. To be fair, it’s probably been a very useful exercise from that perspective, to go through that process and identify all your weaknesses, which we decided we were going to do when we realised the car wasn’t where we needed it to be after testing. And that’s going to give us an opportunity to actually make greater steps forward for us. But it is a long road. I think Zak was talking about two to ten years earlier. This isn’t going to be the work of a moment for us, unfortunately. With the environment, as well that they’re operating in, in Formula One at the moment. The teams that were weaker than us last year have suddenly catapulted ahead of us, and they’ve made great in-roads for a number of reasons. And those are challenges to us, being an independent team now in this sport is a very different world now to face than that which we were facing a few years ago. From a cost perspective, inevitably, this situation in which we find ourselves is going to have ramifications for us financially. Not least the prize-fund money we’ll receive for taking home tenth place will be considerably less than our forecasted P5. We lose Martini as our title partner at the end of this year. As much as we were expecting that and can budget for it, it still leaves a hole and finding sponsors when you’re in P10 is not going to be an easy piece of work for us. We had to spend additional money as well, in order to activate our recover programme. It’s not easy but we’ve got some very clever people working within that realm at the moment. We have a great CEO, we have a brilliant CFO who are doing everything they can to make sure we have a strong and healthy budget to go racing and compete successfully next year – but it’s not an easy world at Williams at the moment.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – F1 Racing) Claire, obviously your name is above the door, as a Williams. Could you just explain what Williams mean to you?

CW: I’m Harris now! Is that a good excuse, not above the door anymore? For me personally, this is very difficult, it’s heart-breaking and it’s a little bit soul destroying. This is mostly my family’s team and it’s been within our family for four decades now and the sacrifices our family have made for the team over the years have been great – but we’ve also had an enormous reward and feel enormously privileged as a family to be involved in this amazing sport. And I took on this role as DTP back in 2013. I felt that I could contribute and I think we’ve done some good work to turn the team around and take us back to where we wanted to be. This year hasn’t been great for us but it is a blip. We had in 2014 and 2015 two third places and in 2016 and 2017 two fifths, and we must look at this is just a trough. Every team in any sport goes through those moments. Personally for me it’s incredibly difficult to see the team go through this. We all hold our hands up and take responsibility and not least I have a part to play in that and we must all look at ourselves and make sure we’re doing the best job that we possibly can for this team because this team deserves to stay in Formula One. This is all we do. We’re in Formula One because we love going motor racing and we have to make sure that we create a world at Williams that keeps our team viable in this sport and relevant in this sport and still maintains our status in this sport. That’s hugely important to me.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Zak, on Wednesday you announced that Eric had resigned the previous evening, yet you were almost immediately able to announce a complete restructure including the appointment of two directors, both of whom have very close ties with your drivers. This implies a flat-pack resignation so was Eric pushed or did he jump?

ZB: No, Eric resigned but as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got really good communications with everyone in the team and so I’ve been working with Eric now, the last year and a half and there’s been a lot of pressure on him, really ever since I joined him before then. So this wasn’t something that was a surprise, it was something that we had started to discuss previously as we were working together on what was the best way forward for McLaren.

Q: (Abhishek Tackle – Mid-day) Vijay, I know you get asked this every year but there has been renewed speculation about your future ownership of Force India. How do you respond to that speculation that the team is for sale?

VM: In your question, you said renewed speculation, right? People have been writing about the ownership of my team for years now. I’m proud that we finished our 200th Grand Prix in Austria. It’s a big milestone for me, since I owned this team. I’m sure you will not see anybody in Force India, or indeed myself, walk around with a For Sale sign. And as far as all these rumours are concerned, and all the statements that keep appearing in the media, all I can say is if there is a credible offer with cash on the table, I will be the first one to discuss with my shareholders, see what they feel, and if, in the unlikely event we wish to sell the team, if there’s an offer that we cannot refuse, I will be the first one to announce it. Until then, speculation remains speculation.

Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) To Mr Steiner, you seem very supportive and understanding towards your drivers so my question is what are your requirements and what qualities does a driver need to have to drive for Haas F1 team?

GS: In the end, what I expect is that they make points and bring results, that is what I expect. With Kevin, he’s doing very well this year, so everything is achieved. Romain had a little bit of a difficult start to the season, the first third of the season, but Romain is with us now for the third year and he did very well the first two years. He did take a bit chance when he joined us because we were not given a lot of chances to succeed in Formula One as a new team, because some of the teams before us didn’t make it, so I think out of respect we need to give him the support to give him the chance to make points and he did in Austria, so I hope he’s doing the same here but I expect points from the drivers with a car like ours every weekend.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, MotorsportWeek.com) You represent typically the lean, independent teams and Zak, you spoke about the cost cap that you wholeheartedly support. There’s been much speculation that the leading three teams have got more money than they actually need and they are prepared to spend it and spend as much as they need to win. You actually don’t have that luxury. How are you going to breach that impasse where the big teams keep threatening to walk away if they are told to spend less?

GS: I think that’s a job FOM has to manage because it has to do a balance with payouts and budget cut and so on. I think we as Haas F1 have no influence in these negotiations, to keep them on board, so we support it and I think that there is positive talks going on even with the big teams that this will happen. We just have to find a compromise that the big teams are happy and that we are happy and FOM is doing a good job in doing these negotiations with us and with the big teams and I hope later in the year we come to a conclusion to it and we move forward in 2021 with a little bit of a level playing field.

VM: I wholeheartedly support the cost cap concept. I have also repeatedly appealed to the Formula One Group that the lopsided payments must be corrected and that independent teams such as ourselves deserve a lot more money. The basic concept is that money should not buy performance. We have to level the playing field and independent teams should also be given a fair opportunity to win a race. But if the manufacturer teams have an unlimited budget with the singular motive of winning races then we are being defeated not because of lack of technological skill or driver skill, we are being defeated by money power which shouldn’t be the case in any sport.

ZB: I agree with everything Gunther and Vijay said. I think my build would be and I’ve commented earlier on the recovery plan for McLaren and I hedged my bets at between two and ten years for not wanting to get into the same mistakes we’ve made in the past couple of years of making predictions and statements that ultimately hadn’t come true. What I meant by that is the budget cap and until that comes in it’s fiscally almost impossible to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. If we had an unlimited budget or their size of the budget we’d be doing the same thing, so they’ve done an outstanding job, but now they’re spending so much more than the rest of us, then they also have partner teams which not only benefit the partner teams who are doing an excellent job but it’s also benefitting Ferrari and Mercedes having alliances with multiple teams. So I think, as Gunther said, it’s Formula One Group’s responsibility to bring a better balance to the sport and let the best team win, so that’s why the next couple of years we’re going to be fighting very hard to get down to our championship fighting weight, if you like, and then be ready that when we’re all playing with the same size bat, which we aren’t today, that may the best team with the best technology, the best people, the best teamwork win and I’m excited and I think that’s coming and I think it’s coming in 2021.

CW: I think whatever the rest of the panel have said, I would echo. I think that what we need to achieve in this sport now is absolutely fundamental for the very survival of certain teams in this sport, and I don’t think that that should be underestimated or taken for granted, the challenge that some of us are facing at the moment because of the circumstances in which this sport has arrived at over the past few years. It is incredibly tough for teams like ours and it shouldn’t be underestimated how important these new regulations for 2021 are in the influence that they could have over our teams’ survival.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Vijay, you said earlier on that if your drivers got an offer from the front running teams, obviously it would be very difficult to retain them. Does the same not apply to your key personnel as well, because you’ve obviously had a very loyal staff but there are teams looking around, restructuring etc. Are you concerned that you may be losing some key personnel?

VM: I have to admit that that’s something that I will not ignore but having said that, I have a fantastic team who love working for Force India. The culture across the road in our factory is very unique, very motivational and I have a passionate team of people. Yes, money is important and I guess people work to earn better but other teams have tried to tempt our people away in the past. They have not left us because there’s more to it than just a pay check, working at Force India. Great team, great leadership and they’re doing a wonderful job and I’m very proud of them. But, if people wish to leave, I obviously have to take action to replace them with equally good talent.

2018 British GP: Drivers' Press Conference.

DRIVERS – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Charles LECLERC (Sauber)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Charles, what a season it’s turning out to be. You’ve scored in five of the last six races, Q2 in the last six races. Clearly you’ve found a sweet-spot with the car. How much confidence do you have coming into this weekend?

Charles LECLERC: Well, as I’ve said before, the confidence is not so high because I'm always looking at the negatives after each grand prix and yeah, there’s still plenty of negatives. I did some mistakes in Paul Ricard, and again in Austria but yeah, we’ve been in the points consistently, which is great. We definitely did not expect it. Q2, six times in a row now I think, which is, again, quite crazy. I expect a bit more of a difficult weekend here, especially with high speed corners but we’ll try to push and hopefully we’ll have a very positive weekend again. 

Q: You’ve told us about the negatives but let’s just reflect on the positives of the last few races. You’re clearly getting on very well with the car. Have you surprised yourself at how quickly you’ve got up to speed?

CL: To be honest I had very difficult first three weekends this season but then we really did a step in Baku with the approach of the setup especially. I was asking something completely wrong to the engineers in these first three weekends, and then it went a lot better. So, yeah, for now it is going very, very well, and we just need to keep working like that. 

Q: It’s not easy to be in a team that’s rebuilding, as is the case with Sauber, yet you seem to be dealing with it very well. How much are you enjoying that process and what are you learning?

CL: It’s great to see the hard work of the team and that it pays off on the track. It’s not like we’re having a revolutionary change  and upgrades – but any time we’ve put something on the car it went in the right direction. And yeah, we’ve seen that on track and it’s not always a given in Formula One. Sometimes you bring something and it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do on track. So, yeah, the team’s doing a great job on that, and they are giving me a car that is easy to drive also. So, everything is going good.

Q: Max, a quick moment’s reflection on four days ago, that victory for the team’s home race in Austria and those crazy scenes with those Dutch fans after the race. How do you reflect on it all, four days on?

Max VERSTAPPEN: I think it was a little bit of an unexpected victory but, of course, I think they’re very nice to take, especially after Friday and Saturday where we didn’t look fantastic. Then, going into the race, I immediately felt I had a bit better balance in the car, I could at least push it a bit more in the fast corners where we were losing out before. And then yeah, of course, the Mercedes cars in front of me, with Valtteri having a problem, disappearing and then, with the Virtual Safety Car, I think the team did a good job to anticipate that and make the pitstop. And then from there onwards it was all about tyre management and I think we were on top of that. Or course, at the end the Ferrari’s same close but we managed it well, with the whole team and yeah, of course we’re happy to win. 

Q: One of your best victories?

MV: Yeah. I keep saying that. I think they’re all nice if you win. This one was very unexpected and I think that makes it a little bit more special. 

Q: You’ve had three consecutive podiums now, you’re building some momentum – so where do you feel Red Bull Racing sit in the pecking order among those top teams?

MV: Difficult to say. I think it depends on the track. If the straights are pretty long, then we are third. If they’re not too many straights, I think we have the best chassis, so we are very competitive. But yeah, to make a win in Austria is good because normally we’d expect to lose points on the others – and we didn't, so that’s good. Let’s see what we can do here. 

Q: Let’s talk a little bit more about that. There are some long straights here at Silverstone but there are some fast corners as well. How do you see it panning out this weekend?

MV: I think the problem is that some corners now, they became flat-out and then it basically becomes a double straight, and that’s just very painful. Like Turn One, you’ve got Copse which is flat. It’s a bit of a shame for us. I’m not expecting us to be, like, super-competitive but we’ll there. More or less. So, let’s see what’s going to happen during the race. 

Q: Lewis, you’re going for record win number six here at Silverstone; your fifth in a row. You know coming into this weekend there’s going to be a huge amount of support in the grandstands for you. Can you give us your thoughts coming into your home grand prix?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s the same as every year really: the British Grand Prix is obviously the most special, in the sense of all the races that we get to do – for me. It’s a real privilege. I was just watching some of the replays of last year, and if you look at the end, and it shows you all of the positions and obviously to see the Union Flag up there is always a great feeling. The fans here are just incredible and the weather is the best it’s ever been. We’re fighting for a World Cup, so I think it’s just a really great time for sport.

Q: Why is this race different for you?

LH: Just because of the fans. 

Q: We talked about last weekend with Max, just to reflect on your race in Austria. What follow-ups have there been in the factory? Is there anything you can tell us about why you retired – and are you confident you’re not going to have any problems this weekend?

LH: Obviously, we know it was a difficult weekend and of course we have all wished it wasn’t the way it was but what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Honestly, the spirit within the team is stronger than it’s ever been. These experiences we’ve been having and how we’ve been handling them, have really united us more than any other year. There’s a great energy within team. So, while it was a painful experience, it actually brought us closer. I think it made us stronger. I think coming here there’s been some fixes already, immediately after the race, as soon as they got the car back, I think that evening there was a fix that was designed and put into test mode. So, the team was super on it and I’m confident we’ve done everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Hans Straus – Media Group Limburg) Max, how do you feel about the triple-header? Is it business  as usual or is it extra-difficult for you?

MV: It’s a little bit busier but I think as a driver, yeah, we don’t really feel the issues. I think it’s mainly just the mechanics with families and stuff. It’s getting quite busy, for them especially.

Q: (Beatrice Zamuner – Motorlat.com) Question to Charles: given the fact Sauber has been on the way up technically and also in terms of competitiveness, would you like to continue being part of this project next year?

CL: Well, it’s obviously very interesting to be part of this project, as I was saying. We are growing races after races. They are bringing packages and we keep going more and more to the front, so that’s good to see. Then yeah, we’ll have to see for next year. We’ll have to see what other opportunities I get. And then we’ll see. For now, I’m really focussing on this year. Trying to develop the car, like we did. I think we are… yeah, it’s above expectations, what we are doing for now. As a team I don’t think we thought we would develop as good as we are now. So, that’s great to see, and then we’ll see next year. 

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Lewis, do you believe in this circuit, the new spec of your car, used first time in Austria, can appear more? It’s a more real circuit than in Spielberg?

LH: I think the two tracks actually hold some similarities in corner speed and corner pace. Like if you look at the middle and last sector of the last race, as opposed to here. But this is a more demanding circuit, particularly with the temperatures we have here. All the high-speed corners. Copse is most-likely going to be flat; Turn One is going to be flat. It’s going to be one of the hardest races on the tyres, I would imagine. But in terms of car performance, yeah, for sure, we’ll be able to extend… spread the legs of the car more here – but that’s the same for everyone. And high-speed is not really a problem in the cars for us nowadays. We’ve got these big wings, massive tyres, so it should be… it’ll be the fastest we’ve ever driver here so it’s going to be pretty good fun. 

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speed Sport) Charles, as you say, the team is improving the car, bringing upgrades. How much better are you, compared to the beginning of the season? You yourself, at just getting more speed out of the car?

CL: As I said earlier. I think it’s a combination of what I was asking of the car, that was completely wrong in the first three races, and then you are in quite a negative spiral where the car is very difficult to drive, so you try to push more, and you do more errors, and everything is going quite badly. Then, when I understood which balance I wanted in this car, when I arrived in Baku and went with a much more stable balance, especially for the city track, and then we kept that for the rest of the season. And that went in a good direction, also for me, because I could push the limit. It was easier to feel the limit. And then we worked on that and it made a big step for me also because it was just easier to drive. 

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you’ve had an up and down season so far. You’ve had some great weekends and some weekends where you have struggled a bit more. How would you describe the way it’s been for you, yourself, and do you have any indication that it might be like last year, where you developed an incredible momentum in the second half of the season, after you had spent time getting used to everything? 

LH:I think it’s impossible to say how the rest of the season is going to go. What I can say, as I said just a minute ago, from experiences like we had yesterday, the team are very, very reactive. We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s great to be able to be reactive as well. We have been making a lot of improvements in the car, my feeling for the car, my understanding – that just naturally grows for a driver throughout the year and for a team as you become more aware of the tyres, the strengths and weaknesses of the package you have. I think everyone is going to continue to shift and get a bit better, but ultimately we want to be improving faster than the others if possible. But it has been an up and down season and I can’t really explain it. Part of it is tyres, part of it is that it is a much more competitive year than last year, that we’re fighting two teams. It’s a lot closer, there is a lot more pressure on. It’s how the sport should be, in the sense that you’re squeezing more out of the cars and out of the drivers as well. I think it’s not a bad thing. 

Lewis, I asked Max to give his thoughts on the pecking order at the front of Formula 1 at the moment, what’s your take on that? 

LH: The pecking order among teams? 

Yes. 

LH: I don’t really know. [Max] what did you say? 

MV:That sometimes I guess we have a good chance and sometimes we’re still third. It depends on the track, for us at least. 

Who has the fastest car at the moment? 

LH: Like Max says, it’s up and down from track to track, but I still feel we are the best team, and I truly believe that we will remain that for the rest of the year. 

Q: (Phil Duncan - PA) Lewis, we’ve seen your Mercedes team make a few strategy mistakes this year. What do you put that down to and do you think it could end up costing you points and ultimately the title? 

LH: I think if you look at the season, it’s been like that for other teams, I think all teams. If you look at Ferrari, they’ve lost points, I’m pretty sure the Red Bulls have lost points. The amount of pressure, the amount of simulations that go on, the information… there are a lot of tough calls for each team to make. Some of them for sure are easier than others. Maybe the easier one sometimes… it could be one weekend the easier one is the wrong decision and vice versa. That’s just how it is. I hope it’s not a title decider, but, as I said, I can’t predict what’s going to happen going forwards. All I know is that we are constantly getting better and improving. What I can say is that I really do feel like I have the best strategist team behind me. I mean look at how many wins I’ve had within this team. We’ve had far, far more success than we’ve had failures and nobody is perfect. It’s just the way the sport is. There is no way to be perfect. It would probably be boring if that was the case.

Q: (Scott Mitchell - Autosport) Lewis, you talked about having fixes in place for the problems last weekend. Is there any concern at all that these reliability concerns happened on the second weekend with an upgraded engine, particularly after it had been delayed for reliability reasons in the first place? 

LH:We’re human, so naturally every single individual in the team will have that a little bit at the back of their mind, that nervousness. But as a driver, as an athlete and as a competitor I personally cannot allow that to interfere with my weekend. You go in with the same mentality as the last weekend – hoping for the car to be reliable. You can never predict what’s going to happen but that’s not getting in my way and I’m pretty certain that for the majority of people in the team they’re not letting that get in their way either.

Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you’re one point behind Seb in the world championship. Would it be particularly satisfying if you could retake the lead in front of your home crowd? 

LH: Yes, it would be great. Just taking the lead in general, it doesn’t matter where it is, would be good. I think coming into this weekend there’s obviously talk of historic number of wins and all those kind of things. If I’m honest it’s been a really incredible journey since 2007, coming here and just to be riding this positive wave every time you come to this grand prix. I’m really grateful to be in the position to fight for a win here at Silverstone for the sixth time… not many drivers get to do that. So I’m very privileged in that respect. And the support is unlike anywhere else. No driver… you could say that Max is probably getting close, but we don’t have a Dutch Grand Prix. If we did it might get close. But the atmosphere here is just incredible throughout this weekend, particularly when the weather is good. The hope is always that you can deliver, arrive in good form and perform and that’s what I’m going to try and do. 

Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, it’s only been four days since Austria. The race wasn’t, I think it’s fair to say, wasn’t a great one for Mercedes. Is four days enough? Is the car reliable again? Have the problems been fixed? For yourself, it sounded like on the radio you were becoming increasingly frustrated. Have you moved on and you just reset and you go again for your home race? 

LH: Yeah, I felt OK after the race. I think you probably could see that after. I think ultimately I look at is as a positive. It reminds me how passionate I am. Everyone in the team felt the same thing. We really do win and lose as a team. As I said, what’s really happened over the last few days, with the team reuniting, and seeing the guys here, just how energized everyone is, we’re like ‘we’re back’. Just that confidence, that will to win is still there. There are fixes for everything and the guys have worked really hard over these past days and what’s mind-blowing for me is how quick people can react and produce things and I’m just excited to get in the car tomorrow. 

Q: (George Bolton – The Sun) Lewis, you mentioned the World Cup. Are you hoping to give more celebrations to your home nation by having a good weekend too? 

LH: Yeah, we always come into this grand prix with some kind of epic sport surrounding it, be it Wimbledon or whatever, so… I was actually going to ask what is the penalty for missing he press conference on Saturday? Is it negotiable? I want to be watching the game so… I had to watch on my phone the other day but at least I got to see it. 

Q: (Alan Baldwin  – Reuters) Lewis, there’s been an assumption that you and Valtteri are fighting a Ferrari team whose main focus is Seb. In Austria we saw Kimi finish ahead of Seb, with everyone else lapped. Were you surprised that Seb has in effect missed the chance of getting an extra three points in the battle? I know you gave a place back to Valtteri in the past, but you wouldn’t expect Ferrari to have done that.

LH: Am I surprised? There have been scenarios this year, at least one or two, where I though they would have reversed the cars, because that’s the philosophy they’ve had. If I’m really honest I’ve not really put any thought into it. I don’t really care. They do what they do. I literally put all of my focus on what we do and make sure that we remain correct and we deliver 100%. And I truly believe that if we do that we will outperform the others. So that’s what I put my energy towards.

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports News) One last one on the World Cup for you, Lewis. Is it coming home, do you think? A big psychological barrier crossed by winning a penalty shoot-out; you know how much psychology plays a part in top level sport? 

LH: I can only imagine the boys are definitely on a high at the moment, and they just need to continue to try to… I hope they’re sleeping well, I hope they’re eating well because that’s a large part of it and ultimately just going out there and they’ve got to go and enjoy themselves. There’s so much pressure on them, obviously, being that it is the World Cup but there’s so much support for them. England is just known as… they’re such excited fans. There’s so much passion in England for sport, that’s why you’ve experienced it here, you see it at the stadiums, particularly in football and even myself, watching just the other day, I don’t watch enough football. I played it as a kid and I was massively passionate as a kid and I used to collect all the stickers and stamps, magazines, books that they used to do etc and I used to remember playing with Ashley [Young] at school but just watching on the edge of your seat, the passion is crazy for everyone that’s watching their country play. It’s like it’s in your DNA, it’s crazy and it’s so exciting. I’ve booked my day off… is it next Sunday? I think it’s next Sunday. Yeah, I’ve booked that day off, like keep it free because I wanna be in Russia for that day, supporting them. 

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) The subject now is tyres: hard, medium and soft and the new kind of tyre with less rubber. Did the director of your team accept this kind of tyre, suits more Mercedes? In a circle where the track is very hard on the tyre, can you all make a comment on the high temperature they also expect here? 

CL: I think in Barcelona when we first had them then for the test after the race we tried them and for us it was definitely a good move because we had some problems with the other ones, the normal ones. I believe Pirelli knows what they are doing and if they put these tyres for here, it’s because they believe that it might bring issues with the normal ones. For me, it’s fine for me with these ones. 

MV: Yeah, I tried both but I didn’t feel a lot of difference. I’m not too bothered. 

Q: Do you think they suit Mercedes more than anyone else? 

MV: I don’t know. I think if I drive a Mercedes car I can tell you but I don’t so it’s always a big question mark. We’ll find out. 

Q: And Lewis, do you feel the car performs better on these tyres than the other ones? 

LH: I honestly don’t. I don’t really notice the difference, they feel pretty much the exactly same except they are not as easily prone to blistering but we don’t suffer from blistering. I think the last race we had that… if you look at last year, other teams, I think you (MV) had a failure on tyres blistering, right? 

MV: On a few tracks. 

LH: I don’t think we had any tyre… we don’t have tyre problems in general. The last race, obviously, I was pushing the tyre way over the limit, trying to recover position and that was just down to me, not down to our car being worse on that tyre or anything like that. Ultimately that’s an excuse that an engineer would look to if you’re not doing well enough, they’ve got to find something to point at and so in my mind they’re just using that as an excuse. 

Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportswereld) Max and Lewis, just to know your opinion: when you’re 53 points down, halfway through the season, do you still have a chance to win the world title, are you still a serious title contender? 

LH: If you’re 53 points down? I’ve been 40-something down in the past. I’m pretty sure in Barcelona at one stage I was 40-something down. Did I come back that year, was it that year that I came back? It is possible, it can swing around. 

MV: We don’t have the package to fight on every track. For example in Monza it’s just going to be difficult so it depends in what position you are. If it’s compared to your teammate then I think you still have a chance to come back but I don’t think we are in a position to do that. For sure, there are some tracks where we will be really competitive and we can definitely challenge for victory but not on every single track so to come back like that, you need to be winning almost every weekend. 

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) You’ve got the opportunity this weekend to have the DRS open through turn one. What are your thoughts on that and do you think it’s going to be possible in qualifying? 

LH: I doubt it but probably everyone will try. Max will be the first to try, I’m sure! We’ll all follow Max and see what happens with him! But it’s usually quite bumpy into turn one. I think it’s highly unlikely. But it’s going to be even quicker anyway so these tyres… you just slide… it’s quite a quick corner and a lot of pressure and a lot of energy goes into the tyres so I don’t even know if it’s going to be better anyways but we will find out. 

Q: So Max, flat through turn one, DRS open? 

MV: I think not every team. I will definitely try it but we’ll find out. I don’t think you will gain massively after that corner and like Lewis said, probably you will use the rear tyres a bit more as well but we will find out, I think. And also it depends a bit on what kind of wing level you are using. 

CL: From what I’ve heard, it was already quite difficult last year without DRS so yeah, we will try to make it flat out first and then we will see but I don’t think it will be flat out with DRS. 

LH: Actually I have a question for you guys. How am I doing? I notice I’ve got two 20-year olds next to me. The oldest driver here by a long way. I’m nearly one of the older drivers here. 

MV: I think it’s alright. You’re doing fine. 

LH: Thanks, man. Appreciate it!

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Max and one for Charles. For Max, I would like to ask you if now you are sometimes fighting for victory, I would like to know if with the performance all is showing now, if you are confident for next season to fight for the victories, or do you believe that next year you have to have a harder life? 

MV: It’s difficult to say at the moment. It’s quite a long way away and they are in a good way, they are progressing. I’m honestly not thinking about that yet. Of course, it gives a lot of motivation for the team for next year but we have to wait and see how it’s going to be until pre-season testing. 

Q: Did the team consult you prior to making the decision to go with Honda? 

MV: It’s something for my career as well, the steps, so we definitely talked about it but at the end of the day I’m not deciding that. I think it’s a positive move. 

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) And for Charles, if you aware that this is the track where Alfa Romeo won the first ever Grand Prix, so what does it mean for a guy like you, that you have the brand of Alfa Romeo on your overalls? 

Q: Charles, Alfa Romeo won the first Grand Prix here at Silverstone, May 13, 1950. Are you a man who appreciates the history of the sport? How does that make you feel given your association with Alfa? 

CL: Yeah, definitely. I learned this news from the team this morning, I didn’t know it from myself only but it’s a special Grand Prix for the team, then on the other hand we are not in a space at the moment to fight for the win yet but yeah, I hope to bring a very good result to the team, hopefully again in the points. But we will not bring a win this weekend. 

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, we’ve seen you crowd surf after your victories over the last couple of years. Have you got anything up your sleeve this year which may triumph that or go even better? 

LH: Honestly, those are all kind of spur of the moment things. I definitely think if…for anybody to pre-plan something, you’re allowing karma to… not karma but negative things to potentially happen. It’s like if England starts celebrating before they get to the actual game it’s probably not a good idea. No, those experiences were just incredible and I was just watching some footage of the experience in the past. I think the best picture I’ve ever seen was when Kimi and I think… was it Kimi? A couple of drivers were sitting here and I was outside. I need to re-post that, because that was pretty cool. Just engaging with the fans here is just electric. So I hope to get to do that all weekend and naturally you want to make everyone proud, you want to complete the weekend. They’re going to have a great weekend regardless. It will be the cherry on the top of the cake if you’re able to pull something special out of the bag. 

Q: Lewis, how much do you feel your support here at Silverstone has grown since 2007 or has it been huge since the outset? 

LH: No, I think it’s continued to grow. I think it’s… and as years go on, you appreciate it more and more but 2007 was already pretty cool, I think from that qualifying lap. And then 2008 was just… I really will never forget that day. And then it’s just been growing ever since really. I hope that continues. Who’s the next Brit that’s coming? After me? I won’t be here for ever. 

CL: Russell probably. 

LH: Yeah, well. I hope I can wave the flag for a little bit longer. 

FEATURE: Steering a Formula One car.

The evolution of the Mercedes F1 steering wheel.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

FEATURE BY: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Formula One cars are incredible machines; they're fast, they're beautiful, they're the result of hundreds of people working together - and they are very complex. Yet, the drivers only have three ways of influencing the behaviour of the car - the throttle pedal, the brake pedal and the steering wheel. In a way, the term "steering wheel" has become a bit misleading as "steering" is just one of many functions the device can perform these days - and it's not shaped like a wheel either. In this week's feature, we're taking a closer look at the complex command centres called steering wheels. 

What are the main functions of a Formula One steering wheel? 
In addition to the actual steering function, a Formula One steering wheel serves many purposes. One of the main functions is shifting, as the shift paddles and the clutch are mounted on the backside of the steering wheel. It's also a hub for information and communication. The driver can access crucial information on the central display, such as his engine speed, delta times to other cars or sensor information, for example tyre temperatures. He can also confirm that he is coming into the pits with the press of a button and activate his radio. A total of 25 LED lights on the steering wheel inform the driver of different situations - from his shift points to a rendering of the marshalling flags. The steering wheel is also used to influence certain car settings, for example change the brake balance or adjust the differential (the amount of torque transfer between the rear wheels). Power unit settings, such as the all-important strategy mode, which determines the power output, are also selected on the steering wheel. 

How can the team make sure the driver doesn't hit a button by accident? 
When driven in anger, a Formula One car is subject to violent speeds and heavy vibrations - not exactly ideal conditions to manipulate small buttons on a steering wheel. To make it even more difficult, the drivers have to operate the steering wheel while wearing gloves. To reduce the risk of accidentally hitting a button, the team has installed small plastic rims around certain buttons. Those guards can change on a race-by-race basis. They are particularly important for tight turns like the hairpin in Monaco when the drivers use the maximum steering angle. In addition to the guards around the buttons, the team uses high reliability buttons that are also used on aircrafts, which require quite a strong tactile force. That way, the driver feels a solid click when he presses a button even with the gloves on. 

How many steering wheel inputs does a driver make on a lap? 
The amount and the type of inputs a driver makes depend on both the layout of the circuit and the situation in the session. On a "regular" race lap around Silverstone a driver will typically do around 40 gearshifts (the quickest sequence in about 1.2 seconds for five downshifts going into Turn 3), two brake balance adjustments, two changes of display page and three differential adjustments - all of that in addition to the actual steering, of course. 

How many potential combinations of settings are there? 
There are 16 buttons, six rotary wheels and three rotary switches on the steering wheel - in addition to the shift pedals and the clutch. This means that there are hundreds of millions potential combinations. But don't worry - our drivers don't have to test them all... 

What does the development process of an F1 steering wheel look like and how involved are the drivers in that process? 
When the main structure of today's wheel was designed, the drivers were heavily involved in the design process - both in the ergonomics of the wheel and in the physical layout (from the overall shape of the wheel to the way the grips form at the bottom). The carbon structure is a long-term component that usually carries over for one or two years. If a new structure is introduced, the team will run a number of prototypes and bring them to the track for the drivers to try out in Friday practice. During the season, the team will change the grips, the button and the switch layout and the guards around the buttons - based on the individual demands of the driver and the track layout. 

The functions of the Mercedes-AMG F1steering wheel.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

How important are ergonomics in the design process? 
Very important - both in terms the feel of the steering wheel as well as certain elements of comfort. Because a Formula One car is extremely tightly packaged, there is not a whole lot of space in the cockpit. The bigger the steering wheel, the more it will cut in on the clearance of the knees underneath it or the clearance of the knuckles on the side of the tub. 

How long does it take to build a new steering wheel? 
The actual build process takes about two weeks of working hours (i.e. 80 hours). The majority of the parts are build in-house, with the central display and the underlying circuit board being the only exception as those are common parts shared by all teams. All other components - the circuitry, the circuit boards, the steering, the carbon enclosure, the quick release, the electrical connectors - are custom build in the team's factory in Brackley. The main materials used in a steering wheel are carbon fibre, fibreglass, titanium, silicon and copper. Over the course of a season, each driver will get three to four wheels. Mechanical designers, electrical designers and wiring technicians are involved in the design and build process. 

What is the biggest challenge in designing and building an F1 steering wheel? 
The steering wheel is a safety-critical component (internally known as a Class A component). As such, it has to undergo rigorous testing - similar to, for example, a suspension element or a piece of the survival cell. However, at the same time it is a highly customised element, which can be changed on a race-by-race basis depending on the requirements of the drivers. The combination of these two requirements - highest level of diligence and constant changes - makes the design and build process very challenging. 

How are steering wheels serviced? 
Steering wheels go through a service every two or three races - and just like every other component on the car they have a certain maximum mileage. In the car, steering wheels are constantly vibrating and because they are considered safety-critical components, they undergo non-destructive testing (NDT) to make sure they don't suffer from any sort of cracking. To check for cracks, the wheels are submerged into a low viscosity dye penetrant and left the soak. The dye penetrates any cracks, which when dry will show clearly under ultraviolet light. The steering wheels also undergo electrical testing, ultrasonic inspection and checks for water tightness. The grips and buttons are also checked on a regular basis because every button only has a certain number of actuations it can survive.