2018 Singapore GP: FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Lewis, an astonishing lap – 36.0. Where did that come from?

Lewis HAMILTON: Wow, wow, that was a hardcore qualifying session. That felt like magic. I don’t really know where it came from but it all came together. Naturally I want to say a huge thank you to all the team back at the factory. Everyone is working so hard, really, really so hard to pull out all the extra bits. Today I managed, just for that one lap, just to get it right. The next one obviously I was trying a bit more, but it’s also great to see so many people here. Singapore is a beautiful track and honestly I’m super overwhelmed, absolutely overwhelmed, my heart is racing, I might have an anxiety attack in a second. I’m really happy.

Q: As the laps was unfolding, was it, were you thinking ‘hang on, this is feeling something special’?

LH: Yeah, definitely. Honestly I don’t there was a moment in the lap that we went wide or there were any problems, it was just perfectly to the limit. It felt like one of the best laps I remember feeling. Did you guys enjoy it? They’re happy, so we’re good.

Q: Second, Max. Still can’t quite be the youngest pole sitter ever but you must be so, so satisfied with that lap?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Honestly this feels like a victory. The amount of problems I’ve had today and even in qualifying with the engine, just not having a smooth run, cutting in torque, to be second is unbelievable and that just shows we have an amazing car.

Q: Yeah, ahead of the Ferraris, ahead of one of the Mercedes and your team-mate. Last year you were so unlucky in this position. You’ve got a great chance this weekend?

MV: Absolutely. We just need to make sure that we have a clean start and from there everything is possible. We do have to sort out the engine for tomorrow but at least I’m very happy with the car.

Q: Well done. Sebastian, third on the grid. Take us through qualifying for you?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well, not ideal, obviously we wanted to get pole but we didn’t. I think for us it was a bit of a messy qualifying session but in the end there was too much time missing, so no better than third.

Q: You seemed to need to attack the out lap where the other cars were going very slowly. Did it compromise your approach a little bit?

SV: Yeah, it’s never ideal if you have a mini-race on the out lap, but there were a lot of cars always around. You can’t blame it on that. In the end we had two laps and they were both not good enough. Not what I wanted and not what we wanted today.

Q: Have you got a good race car?

SV: I think so. Obviously it’s a bit more difficult further back, but, yeah, I think we have.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Well Lewis, it looked like we witnessed something pretty special out there tonight. Can you just talk us through it ?

LH: I’ll tell you this track is epic. It’s so difficult this track. It is the most challenging circuit for us in the year. It’s Monaco on steroids really, being that it's a lot longer, a lot more corners. Yesterday was looking really good for us and then we came into today, we made some changes and we didn’t have a good session. Everyone was starting on the hypersofts and they were getting the experience and we were starting on the softs and there is a huge difference compared to the hyper. Then I was a bit nervous going into qualifying because I didn't think we had the pace, we were half a second behind these guys and I was thinking ‘there is no way I’m going to be able to find half a second’. And as we were going through the qualifying session again, it was a really challenge on the ultra. Then we obviously got into that last session and it was just about pulling all the little bits you found through practice and trying to see if you could put it into a perfect puzzle and 99.9% of time it doesn’t go right, but that lap, honestly, I didn’t have a wheel spin, I didn't have a snap anywhere. The car was just underneath me and I managed to maximise on pretty much any corner. I can’t remember one where I thought I could do more. And it’s so physical here, so naturally after the session you’re shaking, your heart’s racing. The second lap I tried to obviously go that little bit more, just half a metre braking later, but it was just too much and the car wasn’t going to have it, so I really do feel I got absolutely everything possible on that first lap. I was definitely nervous when I came in at the end because naturally you want to deliver each time you have an opportunity. But I’m just so grateful; the team have been working so hard. I’m sure that everyone’s team is, but the guys have just been flat out trying to see if we can bring little bits here and there and we knew we would come to this and the Ferrrari’s particularly but also the Red Bulls would be hard to beat, so this is an incredible moment for us to be on pole here considering the circumstances.

Q: Max, your second consecutive front row in Singapore. Given all of the technical issues you had coming into this session…

MV: Have! Still have!

…talk us through, how satisfying is this P2?

MV: Totally unexpected. From FP3 onwards I was shaking with anger but now I’m just shaking with happiness. FP3, so many problems. I mean I was going into false neutral; car was stopping on the track; while driving in my fast laps just bogging down, and qualifying was exactly the same story, so we had to detune the engine – lost a bit of time there – to try and make the driveability better but it still didn’t work like it should do. So, when I was going into Q3 I felt the car was working really well. I didn’t really have anything to complain. So, when I saw second on the board I was actually quite surprised. With the problems I had. And then on my final run I tried to push a bit more, and I was another two-tenths up and then I arrived to 16-17, and when I had to short-shift again, the engine just cut out, so I had to abort. If it was going to be enough for pole, I’m not so sure – but at least it would have been closer than three-tenths. I’m already surprised to be second with all the issues I'm having. The only thing I can say is that it was a great qualifying. I think the best I’ve ever done and the car was also working really well. That definitely put us second today.

Q: Sebastian, a frustrating session for you, can you just talk us through it, and also talk about your prospects in the race and how competitive you think the Ferrari will be on Sunday.

SV: The race is a different story so I think by tomorrow things will look different but for sure not happy with how today went. I think qualifying today wasn’t as smooth as it should have been, so yeah, I think other people obviously did better than us, and that’s why we are third.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Sebastian, just to pick up on your previous comment, we saw in Q2 you tried to run on ultrasofts, it didn’t work. How damaging is it for your prospects, given that looked like you were going to go for a one stop strategy, how damaging is it for you to have to abandon that and then to qualify third on the grid?

SV: Well, one doesn’t have to do anything with the other. So obviously in Q3 is when you qualify your position and Q2 is when you qualify your tyre. So obviously it was clear what we tried to do. It didn’t work, so… but overall I think qualifying for us today wasn’t as smooth as it should have been so, difficult to get a rhythm, difficult to get a feel for the car and in the end the gap is quite big. I’m not worried about the gap because I don’t think that shows how strong we are. Just disappointing obviously today that we didn’t get the maximum out of our package.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Questions for Seb. Can you talk us through your problems? Obviously there were some problems on the car just before the start of the qualifying.

SV: No.

No problems? Because we’ve seen the floor was taken off…

SV: No problems, just final checks but no problems with the car.

And then in Q3, I think after the first try, you said you were in a ‘nasty spot’. Can you explain how you prepared the car or the tyres, for the first and the second attempt in Q3?

SV: Erm… no! Well, I think, as I tried to explain, for us the qualifying didn’t go the way I think we planned it to be. Not just in terms of result – obviously we were hoping for more than third on the grid – but I think that’s one thing. I think obviously the gap is quite big, which is one. I think Lewis had a really good lap, so congrats to him for the lap. I’m sure it was a good one. But I don’t think he was unbeatable but for us today, the way we composed qualifying, I think it was difficult to get a rhythm. I was struggling in Q1, Q2, Q3. As I said before, I think other people did a better job. That’s including Lewis’ lap as an individual but also them as a team. And obviously it’s not what we wanted today to get third.

Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Lewis, we saw Ferrari try and fail to get through Q2 on the ultrasofts. You did the same thing in Q1 but you managed to get through. Were you ever concerned that you might drop out in that session or were you always confident you would be able to get through?

LH: Yeah, I definitely was a little bit concerned but we were aware that we came here with the wrong tyre strategy in the sense that others had more hypers than us so we needed to get rid of a soft in P3 I think it was. Already from practice we weren’t best prepared. Others started on softer tyres in P1 and also in P2 and P3 is where we had that. So we definitely lost some running because the tyres are massive, massive… you could see it’s two or three seconds or whatever it was between the tyres. Then we got into qualifying and we had to start on the… We believed that in order to give us hypersofts in Q2 and Q3, that’s the tyre we went out on and we definitely didn’t expect to be on the pace that we were but the delta between the tyres was even bigger, once we got to qualifying. So yeah, and I couldn’t go quicker so I was definitely a little bit nervous, but then we went back out and I’m not quite sure why the Ferraris did the run on that tyre – I don’t know if they had four new sets of hypers, probably unlikely, so that’s probably why they had to take another tyre, probably, but you could already have seen from our run that you were not going to get through there, so that just leaves me to believe that they probably just didn’t have an extra tyre. But the Q2 was good and once we got to Q3 it was nice but the extra run that others got, I think they had an advantage going into qualifying just by having the extra run on the hypersoft.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Sebastian, you said other people did a better job, including Lewis’s lap as an individual, but also them as a team. In which area or areas do you think your team should have done better?

SV: As I tried to explain, obviously I don’t want to take anything from Lewis’s lap and their efforts as a team -  they did great and that’s why they are on pole by quite a margin so that is not for debate. I think for us, it’s clear that we could have done better and therefore we can’t be happy. Now, going into detail I don’t think there’s much point. For sure here and there we could have done better, maybe preparing the lap, the qualifying but in the end I had the laps and they obviously weren’t strong enough and good enough to be near.

Q: (Joe Klausmann – Racingline.hu) Lewis, are you comfortable with the outside line into turn one tomorrow?

LH: The racing line, you mean? Pretty happy with it. I’ll see where it goes tomorrow but it’s the racing line. Obviously starts are always a difficult one but being on the racing line that we drive past hopefully it’s equally as good as the inside starting line. You would normally chose to be on the outside for turn one.

Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Max, we heard a lot of complaints about the engine on the radio. You also said already there are still some issues to fix. Will you go to bed as a happy man because of this surprise or also as a worried man because of the engine?

MV: I think normally in the race you have to turn down the power anyway. It’s just when you go to the limit of the engine where we seem to struggle this weekend with it, with driveability and torque mapping and stuff. For example yesterday in the long runs I didn’t have the problem. And if it breaks it breaks. You can’t really change that so we will find out tomorrow.

Q: (Erik van Haren - De Telegraaf) Max, with all the problems in mind today and yesterday, when you look at yourself as a driver, does it look like a perfect lap today?

MV: Well, like I said before, I think I feel like I’ve done my best qualifying ever in F1 so far. I think it was definitely a good lap which I can be very happy with.

2018 Singapore GP: FIA Team Principals' Press Conference.

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team Principal - Fred Vasseur
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber) Guenther STEINER (Haas), Gil DE FERRAN (McLaren)

Maurizio, please can we start with you? Welcome. There have been lots of announcements coming out of Ferrari this past week. Your 2019 driver line-up is sorted, with Charles Leclerc replacing Kimi Räikkönen. Talk us through how and why that change has taken place?

Maurizio ARRIVABENE: How and why? It’s not clear? OK, I try to be clear. When you make some choices like this, that are related to the driver, you don’t have to look only at the short-term commitment but also at the long-term commitment. A long-term commitment means it’s not only for next year, it’s for the future of the team – how you are going to grow a young talent, and what you want to expect from him for the future. That’s very simple. It's not a decision taken by Mr Simpson; it’s a decision taken by me, discuss it also with the top management, that is taking into consideration many, many factors. This has nothing to do with the respect that I have for Kimi, that is great, as a human being and a driver, but if you have to do a choice, thinking about the future of the team, I think we made the right choice, for us and for Kimi. And the way that we wrote the press release was absolutely intentional. We were using a different style, breaking a bit the rules of Ferrari, that is normally going to communicate this in one line, broke the rules, giving also tribute and respect to Kimi for what he has done with us and wishing him the best for the future, and the best for the future it’s here.

Maurizio, just a second question on that: Charles Leclerc has had a huge impact on Formula 1 this year. Just tell me how excited you are by him, as a driver and what you think he can achieve in the sport?

MA: The first mistake is to put too much pressure on the shoulders of this guy. It could be, potentially, a huge mistake. I signed with Charles in November 2016 or November 2015 the first contract in the Ferrari Driver Academy. In that contract we already designed and committed and signed and wrote his future in Formula 1, as we have done with Giovinazzi, the same thing. And that means we change a bit also the way that we organise the Ferrari Drive Academy but also how we are going to develop the talent for the future. So Charles Leclerc is not a big surprise, he’s one of the talented drivers that we have in Formula 1. Thank God, it’s a guy that he grew up with us and I hope that he is going to continue his career with us, at least until 2022 for sure. Having said so, if you look at the overall situation in the paddock, it’s an important sign that all the talent they are giving to Formula… look at Mercedes. They make a choice a couple of years ago with Bottas, a young driver, nearby a champion like Hamilton. This guy of McLaren for next year: they have Carlos Sainz with a guy that is considered a rookie. Next year Sauber have Kimi with Mr question mark and if you look at Red Bull they were brave enough to have Verstappen nearby Gasly. There is nothing strange in all of this but I think the good signal to Formula 1 is that we are striving to look for, to create the future champions.

Q: Thank you Maurizio. Gil, if we can turn to you, like Ferrari, as Maurizio said, you have opted for youth, particular in one of your cars. What is it about the performance of 18-year-old Lando Norris that made him a must-have for McLaren?

Gil de Ferran: Well, a lot of thing, you know. I think, first of all, his racing record is impeccable. All the way from karting – he was the youngest world karting champion – throughout his career. And certainly what I have been able to observe every time he is in the car is… he’s a natural. He adapts very, very quickly, even in very unfamiliar conditions, with an unfamiliar car. Many times he is immediately on the pace and I think he’s also displayed a level of maturity during his Formula 2 performances this year that certainly I have been looking at more closely, that has been quite impressive and made us think that this is a talent for the future. I think we certainly believe he’s got tremendous long-term potential and we decided to go with that.

Q: With Carlos Sainz new to the team as well, there is certain lack of continuity on the driver front. What sort of impact do you think that will have?

MB: Certainly every time you have two new drivers it’s a more challenging situation, because you have to learn how they are, how they operate. Everybody operates in a slightly different way. Certainly as a team we aim to support the drivers the best we can, taking into account their differences. It certainly will take a little while for us to understand each other, how the team operates, how the drivers operate and tailor that support individually to Carlos and to Lando. Carlos is going into his fifth year of Formula 1 and although he is very young he is quite an experienced driver. Like I said before, he has shown quite well against different team-mates, so I think we’re very confident we have a good pairing.

Q: Thank you Gil. Guenther, with Ferrari’s line-up sorted for next year, where does that leave Haas with regard to your driver choice for 2019?

Guenther STEINER: I hope that we will announce our drivers in the next two to three weeks, so we will let you know when we are ready to announce it.

Q: Can you just give us your thoughts… I’m not asking for names but the performances of your current drivers?

GS: I think they’re doing pretty good! What more do you want to know – yeah, the money, the names, everything! I think we are performing pretty good this year, car-wise and driver-wise. We a few hiccups with one of the drivers in the beginning of the year but lately I think we are performing where we should be performing. Our drivers, at the moment, for us, looking in the future, we are a young team so I don’t think we are ready to develop any young drivers if you want to hear that.

Thank you for that.

GS: A pleasure!

Fréd, thank you for waiting. Yesterday in the press conference, Kimi wasn’t that forthcoming when asked about his move to Sauber, so can you just put a little bit of flesh on the bone for us. How did you persuade Kimi to continue his career with your team?

Frédéric VASSEUR: I don’t want to say, like my future driver, ‘why not?’ but I think for us coming from where we were last year… I had a look this morning on the FP1 of 2017, I think it is a huge opportunity to have in our car, in the Alfa Romeo Sauber, one of the three world champions who will race next year. It’s a huge opportunity for the team, for the brand, for everybody. We know that we are quite a young team also and we need to have someone leading the team with a huge experience and I think Kimi will fulfill all the parts of this.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Maurizio. How concerned are you by the errors being made by your lead driver in several races this year, and questionable race management decisions by the team – and what are you doing about them?

MA: Oh my God! Again! OK, I start from the second one and I want to be clear, once and forever. I mean, I would ask some of you, all of you, who is so crazy to give team order to a driver at the start of the race? I mean, we do our thing with the maximum professional effort. Before the race we are looking at the video of the start of the race, our team manager is giving instruction on the best line to follow to the driver. The only team order you can tell to the driver at the first corner is “guys, I would like to have both of the cars OK.” All the rest, I mean, it’s nonsense. I explain you the reason why. Kimi, in the case of Monza, was in pole position. Do we agree for once on this? He was in pole position right? Sebastian was 8m from him. How you think that Kimi can look on his side where Sebastian is? In your opinion, the order is “Kimi, please slow down when you start, and don’t worry if Hamilton and all the others, they are overtaking you.” What we are discussing about? That is the answer to your question. And then, team order, do you think the team orders, they were invented in Monza last weekend? I don’t think so. It’s 28 years that I’m in Formula One and I always heard team orders. There are many ways to give it to the team: before, during, after. That’s not important. The problem in Monza is that you have no time to give team order to anyone, because at the third corner it’s happened what has happened. So, this is the reality. I mean, don’t expect me to give team orders to the driver at the start of the race, looking forward to the first corner. It’s too dangerous and it’s crazy.

And your assessment of Vettel’s performances this year?

MA: You call it mistakes but if you look in Formula One everybody is making mistakes. Bigger or smaller. If we are a team, we fail and we win together so I don’t want to point my finger at Sebastian. I mean, nobody was happy after Monza but think about the rest of the team. If in Monza I was pointing my finger at Sebastian, think about a problem on aero, a problem on the pitstop, a problem on the engine. The guys, they are responsible for the different areas, they could think ‘OK, if he’s pointing the finger at Sebastian, next time it’s my turn.’ It’s not what I want. The only mistake you see in front of you is me. I’m responsible for the team. When the result is not coming, it’s my responsibility. Not the responsibility of Sebastian or the engineer or the responsibility of the mechanics. It’s my responsibility. If you want somebody to blame, he’s in front of you. The job was done already. I tell you, you don’t need to continue, but if you want, I’m still here! But something that is very important, I accept any criticism because in three and a half years I didn’t want anything, OK? So I accept the criticism from everybody, especially from the people who won before me – but in good faith not in bad faith. Because bad faith is not correct. I’m a correct person and I would like to hear comments that are in good faith, and then I’m accepting everything. As I said, I didn’t want anything.

Q: (Joe Saward – Auto week) Maurizio, now you’re feeling talkative, can you talk about Ferrari’s attitude to the budget cap? Who makes the decision and what is your thinking and has it changed recently?

MA: I mean, you talk in general about the budget cap. Of course the objective of everybody is to save money, to reduce costs. Then, the question is not the ‘what’, it’s based on the ‘how’. How do we want to do it? How do we want to maintain Formula One at the pinnacle of motorsport as it is? How do we want to continue to develop cars that are beautiful, also for the public. I mean, it’s not an easy equation. Everybody, they go sometimes their way but I think at the end we can find the solution. I was looking at the car presented a couple of days ago by Ross. It’s a good exercise, I was asking our engineers what they thought about this, they said it’s a bit underwhelming in their opinion and it looks like an old champ car. But, you know, it’s an exercise. Sometimes we go up here to have this kind of result. I think this is the game that everybody plays. Concerning the future, you mean the concorde agreement of course. Starting from the point, I spoke with our CEO and everybody, they want to save money, as I said at the beginning, to reduce the costs, not to save money, they are two different things. It depends how you do it. The decision, it is something that is not mine because it is going to be a strategic decision that is involving the overall group. I mean, if in somehow accepting an agreement that is not taking into consideration where the Ferrari is in the market and the DNA of Ferrari, I repeat, it’s a kind of strategic decision and it’s not under my responsibility. Of course, I give all the information we discuss about this but he is the person that is going to talk with the appropriate people.

Q: (Gaeton Vigneron – RTBF) Sorry to not be original but another one for you Maurizio. Starting from the point that Giovinazzi could go to Sauber, Kvyat could go to Toro Rosso, you could lose your two simulator drivers. My question is, are you ready for that, have you got an idea to get another one to fulfil this role – and Stoffel Vandoorne could be a driver for that?

MA: We are always ready for everything. No concern. You will see about the future of Giovinazzi I think in the next few weeks, so I’m not concerned at all.

Q: (Cheng Jin – Car and Fan) There’s a lot of rumours surrounding the future of Mick Schumacher because if he wins the F3 championship, he will get a super licence, so for Gunther and for Frederic, neither of your teams have announced their driver line-up for next year. Will you be interested in him? And for Maurizio and Gil, will you be considering putting him into your driver academy?

GS: I think there is quite a hype about Mick Schumacher and he’s doing very well at the moment in Formula Three. We haven’t looked at it, as I’ve said before. We, at the moment, as a young team, we prefer to go with drivers with experience, but I think there is a future for Mick Schumacher in Formula One so let’s see what he’s doing in the next years and what his plans are. Maybe he doesn’t want to go straight to Formula One.

FV: Yes, so far I don’t know if Mick has the 40 points for the super licence but honestly, I think there is a huge step between F3 and F1 and with the small number of test days we have during the winter, I think it’s – I don’t want to say impossible because we will see – but it’s quite difficult to do the step and it will make sense probably for him to do Formula Two or something like this. But he could have a link with a Formula One team, he could do some FP1… There are many ways to prepare for F1.

Q: One of those ways could be as a simulator driver, Gil. Would McLaren consider him?

GdeF: Look, obviously he’s doing very well in Formula Three and certainly he has a shot for the championship and the Formula Three championship is a very difficult one and I think a very good indication of how good you are so clearly he’s very good. We have not had any contact with him but we say as McLaren we are always looking throughout the motor sport arena globally, in a way. I think I would second what Frederic said: in a way I wish we had more opportunities to be able to work with young talent, perhaps more testing and different things like this, to be able to establish a relationship and help in the development of drivers like Mick.

MA: Concerning Mick Schumacher, the most important thing is to let him grow without giving pressure. The recent results were very very good and I wish to him a great career. With a name like this, that wrote the historical pages of the Ferrari history, I think the door at Maranello is always open of course, but without burning the step, that is, a Schumacher family decision but let the guys have fun. I always repeat this, being focused, concentrated but at the same time have fun and to grow up slowly but certainly. Then we will see about the future. How can you say no, in Maranello, to a name like this?

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Fred, what do you expect Kimi to bring to your team next year that you haven’t got already and can’t get elsewhere?

FV: Clearly Kimi has huge experience in F1, I think he already told that yesterday. For the team, we are building up every single department and I think he will be very supportive in the process. I think from aero to design office to track engineering, tyre management, I think everybody in the team is more than welcome to have Kimi on board in the future. It’s a step forward for us for sure. This is on the technical side and on the more marketing and commercial side, for sure it’s a huge push and if you have a look at what we had last week in terms of social media, so it was probably the first time in our lives that we have so many connections. On both sides, I think it will be supportive for us.

Q: Fred, are there still a lot of people at the team who can remember him from 2001?

FV: Some, yeah. For sure, I was not there but some guys came to my office saying ‘ah, superb that Kimi’s back.’ But I don’t want to consider the fact that Kimi’s coming back that we have to think about the future, not about the past.

Q: (Joe Saward – Auto week) Fred, talking about Mr Question Mark, can you tell us how many possible Questions Marks there are? Is it just two drivers we’re looking at or are there more drivers to be taken into account?

FV: Please, the last two weeks for me have been a bit in a rush on the driver market and if I can have some days off from this?  After Singapore we will sit down with all the persons involved in the discussions and we will take a decision quite soon because I think it’s also good for the team to have a clear answer but it will be soon.

Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) Maurizio, you said earlier that Kimi’s move from Ferrari to Sauber next year is the best thing for Ferrari and for Kimi. Can you explain why that’s the case and why the best thing for Kimi isn’t to stay at Ferrari?

MA: It’s quite simple. I also said that it’s very important to look at the situation of the team in perspective, perspective meaning two or three years. So in my opinion, that is justifying enough our choice to have a young driver for next year, to grow up and that’s it. It’s not a decision that is look on the actual situation or only to next year. My job is to look forward to the future of the team. That was the justification of the choice.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Maurizio, just to follow up on that, Kimi said yesterday it wasn’t his decision and wasn’t his choice. Can you explain how he took the decision and did he try and persuade you to change your mind? How did he feel about it?

MA: I think Kimi was funny also yesterday during the press conference. I try to be funny too. What did you expect Kimi to tell you, that Homer Simpson took the decision? Of course I took the decision but I have to say that the relationship with Kimi is so good that he understands. It’s not only a question of telling him this is the decision. If you do my job properly, it’s to take him through the process, and I took him through the process of the decision and he didn’t even try to say ‘yeah, I would like you to change your mind’ or something. He’s a professional driver. Then I heard many other things like ‘ah, you know, telling him in Monza was the wrong time.’ Think about if I had told him in Belgium and Sebastian was winning the race? Kimi was in the same position and then it was wrong to tell him in Belgium. So the right time is not written on the paper, but what is written on the paper is that when we sign contracts with a driver, we sign a contract with professional drivers. I always talk with my two drivers as professional drivers and I’m expecting from him the maximum of professional effort and to use all their professional skills and Kimi is one of them. Kimi was so nervous and so unhappy that I told him on Thursday, if I’m not wrong, in Monza but he was so unhappy that he made pole position on Saturday. We’re talking with professional drivers.

FV: I have to make him unhappy ever single weekend!

MA: Yeah, in fact that’s what I was thinking afterwards, because when I read some criticism and I said I accept the criticism, I was thinking OK, if it’s like this, I’m going to make him unhappy every weekend so he’s going to give us the pole position. Guys. We are talking about professional drivers not kids that they are driving at the luna park.

2018 Singapore GP: FIA Drivers' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS – Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Kimi, if we could start with you please. You’ve been generating a few column inches this past week. Can you just talk us through what happened and why you’re on the move next year?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I guess you know what happened. I don’t know what else you want to know. This is what happened. As we’ve said many times before, it’s not up to me, it’s not my decision in the end. Anything after that is obviously my decision but this is the outcome. At least we have an outcome.

Q: You say it wasn’t your decision to leave Ferrari, but it was your decision to go back to Sauber, so just talk us through why you're doing that?

KR: Why not.

Q: What is it about the team? On current form there is quite a performance differential between Ferrari and Sauber, so what have you been told…

KR: Yeah, but then there’s a lot of differences between all the cars, you know. If you take other teams, there are not many cars, if you take this year, that are on the same level. That’s how it has always been. I mean, see what happens in the future so…

Q: But, Kimi, what have you been told about the performance? Tell us why you want to go back to Sauber?

KR: Because I want to. Why do you try to make it so complicated? I don’t know anything more than you guys, purely where they have been finishing. Obviously I don’t know what will happen next year, nobody knows what will happen next year when it comes to the speeds of the cars and the teams and obviously we can always guess but we will see what we can do. Obviously I have my reasons and that’s enough for me. I don’t really care what others think and as long as I’m happy with my own reasons, it’s enough for me.

Q: And you’re still passionate about racing? The fire…

KR: No, I’m not actually. Just by pure head games for you guys I happened to sign and I’m going to spend two years there just not being happy.

Well, Kimi, thanks for the insight.

KR: No worries.

Q: Let's move on. Kevin coming to you now: this weekend is your 75th grand prix, a bit of a milestone for you. Do you feel you’re part of the F1 establishment now?

Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I don’t know really. I haven’t thought of it like that. I didn’t even know it was my 75th race, so I’m just enjoying… it’s the best time I’ve had in Formula 1, at the moment. It's great fun and I’ll see how it goes this weekend and will hopefully have a good race.

Q: Have you had any further thoughts about what happened between you and Fernando Alonso at Monza and will it affect your approach to qualifying here in Singapore?

KM: I’ll try to stay away from Fernando as much as I can! I think it was a pretty extraordinary thing that happened and it’s not something that will happen too often I think.

Q: Thank you. Brendon, coming to you, it’s your first time here in Formula 1, so can you just talk us through the preparations you’ve done for this grand prix. It’s hot, it’s a long race, just talk us through what you’ve done?

Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, so everyone has told me that it’s the most physical race of the year, not only because of the heat but also the focus and stamina it requires being a long race and not many breaks on the tracks. In terms of training, not much changes. I think all of us drivers are very race fit. We’ve had a long season already and many races to warm up to a tough one like this. I’d say most of us drivers did a bit of heat training over the last week or so and for me it was just adding a couple of extra layers on when I was training on my bike. I came out a couple of days early as well, just to get used to being here. Actually, it doesn't feel as hot as I expected. I think in previous years it’s been hotter, but nevertheless it's going to be a tough old race. On top of that I spent some time in the simulator, learning the track as best I can before hitting FP1 tomorrow.

Q: Expecting a few Kiwis in the crowd I guess?

BH: Yeah I actually me a few already on the streets of Singapore. It’s reasonably close for us, it’s half way, so I’m kind of half way home. There should be a few expats around and the Aussies always seem to give me a few cheers, so I think they try to adopt me as their own as well.

Q: We’ve heard from Kimi about his move to Sauber next year. What can you tell us about your plans for 2019? Have your talks progressed with the team?

BH: Not really chatting at the moment. I have a contract going forward. Obviously there are always options and whatnot. I’ve been saying it for a while that the best thing I can do is focus on one race at a time and doing the best job I can. I know, and I’m confident about the job I’ve been doing behind the scenes with the team. I know I’ve got stronger every race during the season. The results don’t exactly show that, but I know that I am strong and I have been strong in the last five races and there have been a few circumstances which meant I wasn’t able to score points. I seem to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time a lot of the time but I’m also looking at myself, and what I can do better there. Honestly, I’m just focusing on doing the best I can one race at a time, and I hope that I’m on the grid next year, which is my goal.

Thank you Brendon, good luck this weekend. Lewis, on paper this is meant to be a bit of a bogey track for the team, but you keep winning. You’ve had two victories here with the team. What are your expectations ahead of this weekend?

Lewis HAMILTON: Honestly, I never even have expectations every time I come to a race, I must just tell you that. I guess ultimately our expectation is for us to give it our all and try to perform as well, if not better, than in the past races. Collectively, as a team, we have done a tremendous job in the past races and we want to try and keep that quality of performance.

Q: Your championship lead is now 10 times greater than it was at this stage last year – 30 points as opposed to three points in 2017. Talk us through that buffer. Is that a factor in your head and how you approach the race weekend?

LH: Honestly not. It might be subconscious but I’ve not really thought about it. I don’t change the way… at the moment there’s no reason to change. There are a lot of points still available so the approach is exactly the same as it has been all year long. It seems to be working, so we’ll just keep that up for as long as we can. But we do expect there are going to be some difficult races ahead. Obviously Ferrari have been ahead of us for the past few races, so keeping up with them, if not passing them, is going to be tough.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Abishek Takle – Mid-day) A question for Kimi. At what point did you know that you wouldn't be driving for Ferrari next season and when did the Sauber talks actually start?

KR: In Monza I knew. Obviously I know people from there [Sauber] from the past and basically it started after that.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Kimi, you said you still know people at Sauber and you’ve obviously kept ties with the team. Has it always been a bit of a thing in the back of your mind that it might be a nice thing to do later in your career, to go there, back to where it started?

KR: No. I don’t think it’s always been there. Obviously, you never know in the end what will happen. This is just how it ends up to be going actually, and yeah, I wouldn’t say there have been plans for a long time that this is going to happen, so…

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have said that you are only interested in winning. Do you have to find a new target for next year when racing with Sauber?

KR: I don’t know. I don’t think… I mean, obviously the aim is always that. I mean, is it realistic? Who knows? You can only aim for the best, best positions and see what comes up.

Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, since we last saw you in Italy, McLaren have announced that Lando Norris will be driving for them next season. Just want to get your views on having a fellow Brit on the grid – and also, as a youngster, would you seek him out to give him advice at all?

LH: I wouldn’t give him advice. Obviously if he asked for it, he could get it if he wanted. If I’m really honest, I don’t really look at nationalities. I don’t look down the order and think; ‘there’s another Brit’, or ‘there’s another German,’ or anything like that. I just… that’s not something that really appeals to me. England’s always producing good drivers. They have them; there’s quite  a lot of them. It’s not like Formula One’s never going to have a British driver, so… yeah, wish him all the best.

Q: (Beatrice Zamuner – Motorlat.com) Question to all four drivers. What are your thoughts on the idea of fielding a third car to the grid.

KM: I think it’s kind of… it sounds quite exciting. I think it would be great to see three Mercedes and three Ferraris, but then from there, I don’t know whether it would be good to have 30 cars on the grid. I think the pitlane would be quite tight as well. It could be good, it could be bad. I don’t really know.

LH: I quite like the idea of more cars. More teams maybe, rather than three drivers in a team – would be a handful.

KR: I think if would be nice to have a lot of cars but then, I don’t know. So many things that it will change. It’s pretty difficult to work it out.

BH: From a drivers’ point of view I think it would be great to have more cars. From a team’s point of view and all the other logistics that would entail, I don’t really know, it’s not my place. It would probably make 2019 contract negotiations a bit easier! But yeah, actually, from a drivers’ point of view it would be cool. I’m also used to having a few more team mates than maybe some of the other drivers on the grid.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Lewis. Obviously you went to Shanghai for your fashion launch, you went back to New York, you’re now back here in Singapore. The other drivers talking about preparing and getting in shape. Is your ability now to step off the plane and switch from fashion business to F1 business? Do you find the ability to do that easier now in your career. And is that what keeps you fresh, coming into this week?

LH: It’s not that I find it easy. As soon as I leave the races I’m able to switch off. I’ve got, obviously other things that I’m doing, and in between, trying to fit in the training, for example, in the last week, has not been easy. But that’s not really how every single week goes for me – it’s just a hectic time for me with a lot going on in the outside world for me. But yeah, I mean, I’ve travelled a lot more than I have all year long in these two weeks. But I think yeah, from experience I’ve been able to move around even more than I have these past two weeks and still arrive and be able to switch into race mode. So, there’s not a single moment during those two weeks, whilst I have those other things going on, there’s not a single moment that I’m not thinking about racing, not thinking about the championship, how I want to arrive. Make sure, knowing that we’re coming to a difficult race, that you need to see if you can bring more to. So, there’s not a moment that I don’t think about it.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Just on that Lewis, do you think it’s a bit of a gamble tying the two together? The fashion and the travelling and the Formula One and winning the Championship.

LH: Not at all. Just referring to the question before, I get a lot of energy from these different things that I do. I find it stimulating and I think you’ll see that my results have shown that for the past several years. As I’ve said, I’ve travelled a lot more than I have this year. This has actually been the year I’ve travelled the least, at least in the last five years, so…

Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari Masahiro) Lewis, I’d like to ask about the Japanese Grand Prix, a couple of weeks later. Last year you broke the course record in Suzuka. Are you confident to break it again this year? And how important is winning at Suzuka for you, and for the Championship.

LH: Naturally, it’s very difficult to say how important that race is going to be from now, because we’ve got this race to go – but every race is obviously as important as the other – but we will, no doubt, if it’s dry, break the record again this year. Our car is two to three seconds faster, whatever it is, than it was last year, so someone will break the record for sure, continuously throughout the weekend. And it’s such a great race, as we all know. It’s such a great circuit that everyone loves driving. It’s going to be pretty crazy through that first sector with the amount of downforce that we do have on our car. So, I think everyone can be excited for that.

Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Lewis, what do you think about the current Ferrari philosophy to let their drivers fight each other? It makes your life a little bit less difficult in the races. What do you think about it?

LH: Ferrari’s philosophy to let their drivers race? I honestly hadn’t even noticed it, if I’m really honest. They’re racing – it’s nothing to do with me. I don’t see how it makes my life… how does it make it less difficult? I still have to fight this guy (Raikkonen). How does it make it less difficult? If you watch the races, it’s more likely the position that they’ve put themselves in as opposed to the position we’ve put ourselves in. Valtteri’s been in the position to help in different scenarios. I don’t think you’ve seen many races where it’s been the same for them.

Q: (Candra Kurnia Harinanto – Jawa Pos) Kimi, have you already thought that you will end your career at Sauber?

KR: There’s a big chance, for sure! I’m not interested in any numbers or records, purely what I feel is right for me and that’s it. We’ll see what happens in the future.

LH: How many seasons will it be?

KR: No idea. I was two years doing holidays.

LH: Yeah, but with two more years, how many seasons will that be in Formula One? Sixteen seasons.

KR: Yeah. Not a lot.

LH: Still a lot. I think it has to be admired.

KR: We’ll see. Hopefully I’ll stay healthy and all those things.

Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Kimi, there have been some reports that you could be interested in taking up a management role at Sauber, once you’re done racing, whenever that is. Is this something you have on your mind for the future?

KR: There’s zero discussion on that. Obviously I’ve signed my contract as a driver and I hope I stay there as a driver. Who knows what happens in the future, in two years or whatever.  When it’s all said and done, I’ve no idea. I don’t know myself. There’s always speculation and everything but I don’t have any contract about that.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today NZ) Brendon, there’s been a bit in the media about what Dr Marko has said about possibly ten drivers looking for a seat at Toro Rosso. Obviously you’re one of those and that you need to improve. Have you been given any idea by him what he means by improvement or by the team, what they mean by improvement?

BH: Actually I’ve been improving all year and I haven’t really had a direct discussion about an exact result but it’s clear I haven’t finished in the points enough times, when you compare with my teammate. Some of that was out of my control, some of it part in my control but honestly, like I said before, I’m just focused - one race at a time - on doing my job and I’m very confident of the job I do behind the scenes and also I know that I’ve been improving the whole season. Yeah, just focused on Singapore this weekend. It’s a big opportunity actually for us at Toro Rosso. Historically the team’s done very well here. Last year they took fourth place with Carlos in some tricky conditions but if we take the last two races, we think this would be a strong opportunity for us. Everyone can see that I’ve been strong in certain scenarios but haven’t been able to capitalise so I think if what you’re referring to what he’s saying -  I haven’t been following the press – but probably I need some more results in the points.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today NZ) Some more luck, maybe?

BH: There’s a bit of that too but I need to try and create as much luck for myself.

Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?

KR: I can only drive one car, obviously. There’s always a lot of talk, a lot of things which can be helpful, can not be. It’s always easy to say that this and this will happen but in theory it’s so difficult to get it right in many ways so we will see what happens in the racing, if we’re close to each other and this and that. Obviously we know our rules; it’s pretty simple.

Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) Lewis, you’re obviously in a tight battle with Ferrari this season but how wary are you of Red Bull this weekend and do you expect to see them fighting for the win?

LH: Not really sure… I’ve not spoken to the team as to… they’ll let us know in the meeting we have coming up, whether or not Red Bull will play a role in this weekend’s race but they’ve been there or thereabouts in quite a lot of the races, so you have to assume this is usually a good race for them. I think they’ve stopped developing their car quite a long time ago to focus on next year’s car, from what I’ve heard, so they’re just driving with what they have, that’s what I heard. I think this weekend, it’s a downforce circuit, they’re always good on their rear tyres as well so this should undoubtedly be a strong weekend for them, as it was last year.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Kimi, you’ve made it very clear that you’re racing for Sauber and carrying on racing because you want to but, as was talked about earlier, you’re carrying on to an age where a lot of drivers will have stopped, so what is it that Formula One gives you personally that makes you want to keep going?

KR: Racing, that’s about it.

LH: Talking to you guys.

KR: Yeah. Best time of the weekend, for sure! No but honestly, I always said that I will stop when I feel it’s right for me. I don’t need to comment how I feel. Obviously the racing is the part that I enjoy most and that’s why we are here. Obviously it’s always been a big part of the race weekend, all the other stuff which is normal for us, but it’s not the reason to come here. The reason is to drive and race. It’s not the big part of the weekend any more as it used to be because obviously everything changes a bit but that’s the only reason, really. The other stuff that comes with it, it’s very normal, it’s always been there. It comes with the package. It’s not often that you get a package where you only have the good things. It’s OK. We all know each other. It’s the same answers, same questions every time so it’s not too difficult.

EKS Audi Sport prepare for a challenging weekend in Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: EKS Audi Sport

EKS Audi Sport heads to round nine of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Latvia’s capital city of Riga, Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekström will be supported by DTM star Nico Müller at the wheel of a third Audi S1 EKS RX quattro.

In 2017, Müller a rookie, qualified for the final in his second ever appearance in World RX. “In view of the guys competing there, repeating this will be anything but easy,” says Müller “But, obviously, I’ll give my best and am extremely excited about the event.”

Müller’s Audi S1 EKS RX quattro will sport the pink livery of BWT.

Mattias Ekström and Andreas Bakkerud will be on the grid sporting Red Bull’s colors as usual. In the previous World RX rounds at Riga, both drivers also made it into the finals. Ekström has finished runner-up twice to date and Bakkerud placed fourth on two occasions.

“Riga is one of the best organized events of the year,” says Ekström. “The track is fantastic to race on. I particularly like the big jump and the following hairpin turn – that’s where the stress level for us drivers is especially high. The only negative is that the weather in Riga can be really bad …”

Andreas Bakkerud is traveling to Riga with mixed feelings. “This is definitely one of the most exciting races of the year,” says  Bakkerud. “It’s cool that the track is so close to the center of the city and the fans from Riga are so enthusiastic. However, for me, personally, this race is the biggest challenge of the year. The track, which is really tricky, suited me neither in testing nor in the previous years."

"A participation in the final would already be like a small victory for me. As we’re battling for second place in the World Championship, this is a very important race.”

PREVIEW: Kristofferson leads the charge into Latvia.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

Two-thirds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship is complete. The next stop is Latvia this weekend (15/16 September).

Riga’s multi-functional Bikernieki National Sports Base first welcomed World RX in 2016, since when, local fans have thoroughly embraced the series and its superstar drivers. The only Eastern European stop on the World Championship schedule takes place at a state-of-the-art rallycross circuit located just 15 minutes from the Latvian capital.

The 1295-metre track comprises a number of unique features – most notably parallel jumps in the Joker Lap and standard section – and last year, it was PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson that mastered the challenge best to grab victory.

The Swede returns to the Baltic nation at the top of the 2018 title standings, having extended his overall advantage with his seventh success of the season in France last time out. Kristoffersson is chasing a second consecutive Drivers’ crown at the pinnacle of the sport – but a number of his rivals have similarly impressive records in Latvia and are determined to halt his championship charge.

Sebastien Loeb won the inaugural Neste World RX of Latvia in 2016, and following a disappointing home event for Team Peugeot Total at Loheac – yielding just fifth and sixth places in the final – the Frenchman is targeting a return to winning ways, having last reached the top step in Belgium earlier this year.

Like Loeb, former World RX Champion Mattias Ekstrom is two times a podium finisher in Riga – taking the chequered flag as runner-up in both editions to-date. EKS Audi Sport’s Audi S1 proved to be a potent package in France, but Andreas Bakkerud missed out on victory by barely a third-of-a-second at the end of a thrilling final, leaving both drivers with even more motivation to break the brand’s duck in 2018.

The remaining two members of the ‘super six’ at the top of the points table are Kristoffersson’s VW team-mate Petter Solberg and Loeb’s Peugeot stablemate Timmy Hansen. Latvia is the only event on the calendar at which 2014 and 2015 title-winner Solberg has yet to reach the final, whereas Hansen, by contrast, finished third there last year and is seeking more silverware 12 months on.

The Swede’s younger brother Kevin Hansen is enjoying a solid season in an independently-entered Team Peugeot Total 208 and is aiming to add to his three final appearances from the opening eight events – while local hero Janis Baumanis (Team STARD) will be hoping the support from the home crowd will spur him on into the last six for the second time in 2018. The former FIA European Rallycross Super1600 Champion placed fifth at Bikernieki last year, and a similar result this time around would doubtless send the partisan fans away happy.

“Neste World RX Of Latvia will be the most spectacular race weekend in my motorsport career. Ever since last year’s event, I have been looking forward to seeing the massive crowd at the Bikernieki circuit again," said Baumanis. "For me, this round is unquestionably the highlight of the year and I cannot wait to be there!”

Others to have shone in Latvia include Timur Timerzyanov – who reached the final two years ago and led the GRX Taneco Team challenge at Loheac – and wildcard entries Timo Scheider (ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport) and DTM race-winner Nico Muller, who will pilot a third 2018-spec Audi S1 for EKS after finishing sixth in the same event in 2017. Scheider endured a nightmarish weekend in France, failing to finish three of the four qualifying races – so his primary aim for Riga will be a change in fortunes.

Niclas Gronholm in GRX Taneco Team’s other Hyundai i20 has been quietly impressive all year and is currently ‘best-of-the-rest’ outside of the six manufacturer-backed drivers, which bodes well for another competitive showing in Latvia. Olsbergs MSE duo Robin Larsson and Kevin Eriksson, meanwhile, are continuing to make the most of the Ford Fiesta’s improved engine performance in recent rounds, with the latter showcasing a strong turn-of-speed at Loheac on his way to a season-best result of fourth in the semi-final.

The OMSE duo have frequently been locked in battle with GC Kompetition’s brace of Renault Meganes, crewed by owner/driver Guerlain Chicherit and – last time out – Liam Doran, who marked his return to the World RX fold in striking fashion in France as four consistently quick qualifying races earned him sixth spot in the intermediate classification and a semi-final berth. The Briton has yet to race in Latvia, but can be counted upon to produce a crowd-pleasing performance.

The 20-strong entry list is completed by former Formula 1 star Alex Wurz – rejoining the fray after making his World RX debut in Norway three months ago – MJP Racing Team Austria team-mate Toomas Heikkinen, Sebastien Loeb Racing’s Gregoire Demoustier and Oliver Bennett in a BMW MINI Cooper.

IMAGE CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

Team Peugeot Total return to winning territory in Lativa

PHOTO CREDIT: Peugeot Sport 

Less than 2 weeks after Team Peugeot Total’s home round in France, the squad heads to the Baltics, in Latvia, hoping for history to repeat itself next weekend at round 9 of the FIA World RX Championship. Specifically, the Riga circuit is where Sebastien Loeb won his 1st rallycross round 2 years ago. Timmy Hansen is also looking to make the next move up to the top step of the podium – after he has been on the final podium twice already this season – in order to confirm the performance of the Peugeot 208 WRX Evo and to reward the relentless efforts of the Peugeot  Sport technical team.

Loheac was another valuable opportunity for the Team Peugeot  Total to assess the latest evolutions to its 208 WRX EVO, introduced only 2 months ago in Sweden, with a number of areas identified for further improvement. Although the squad didn't quite obtain the result it wanted over a very tight final race on home territory, this has only made everyone even more determined to get back on the podium and challenge for wins: the stated objective for this 1st season as a factory team.

The Bikernieki circuit is located only 15 minutes from the very centre of the Latvian capital Riga, which ensures a large crowd, as rallycross is one of the most popular forms of motorsport there. The racing venue takes its name from the Bikernieki pine forest, which the gravel section of the track (that has its origins in 1962) runs through. In total, the circuit is 1.294 kilometres long, with a 60/40% asphalt to gravel split. It’s a challenging layout with a wide variety of corners: the lap record is currently held by America’s Ken Block at 45.831 seconds.

With 4 rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship to go, Team Peugeot  Total is currently 3rd in the Teams’ Championship. In the Drivers’ rankings, Timmy Hansen is 4th and Sebastien Loeb 6th, with only 9 points separating 3rd to 6th places, while Kevin Hansen is 8th.

Sébastien Loeb

“My 1st victory in the FIA World Rallycross Championship was in Riga in 2016. So naturally, it’s a place that I like a lot with plenty of good memories for me. We showed some good performance on this track in the test we had previously this summer, and we saw then that our Peugeot 208 WRX Evo was doing very well there, which is encouraging. But I can’t really say any more than that. At Loheac, we had the speed, but things didn’t turn out too well for us. I didn’t have a single clean race apart from the semi-final. In the final, I again had the speed, with the quickest lap in front of Johan Kristoffersson, but I wasn’t able to get a good start and so I found myself 6th at the first corner. That sums up the whole difficulty of rallycross: you need everything to go smoothly from start to finish. I’m hoping that Riga will work more in our favour, starting right from the initial draw.”

Timmy Hansen

“I’m really looking forward to Riga: you race close to the city and you’re always surrounded by loads of passionate rallycross fans. It's a track that I always enjoy: as a team, we've had some good success in the past on this track, so let’s see how it goes. The main feature of Riga is that there’s really high grip there and it’s a very technical circuit: a proper challenge for the drivers and teams to make the most of it. The setting is very beautiful too, in a park. We’ve had a lot to analyse as a team since Loheac, and we’ll be trying to put the lessons we learned from there into place. I know that we have all the ingredients to succeed.”

Kevin Hansen

“After the craziness of our home race at Loheac, with so many fans and media sessions, I think Riga will be a bit more of a calm and normal race weekend for us. But that doesn’t make it any less special. I feel I’ve been learning and improving all the time at every round with the yellow 208 WRX, and now I am starting to feel very much at home with it. Again at Loheac I was close to the final and I felt that we achieved the maximum we could. We need to continue this upward curve, and that’s the goal here. I was already very close to getting in the final in Riga last year, so I feel we have some very good possibilities next weekend.”

FEATURE: Human Performance in Formula One.

With 21 races, the 2018 season is one of the longest Formula One seasons ever. This year's calendar has also featured the first ever triple-header in F1 history. Such a long season can make it quite challenging for teams to keep energy levels up and fight fatigue. Therefore, teams do a lot to keep their members fit and healthy. 

Why is it challenging to keep people energised? 
Maintaining people's energy levels over the course of a season is not as trivial as it might seem. The season is still in full swing with another seven races to go, but the teams have already worked very hard at 14 races. By this point in the season, many team members will have spent close to 100 days away from home and travelled close to 100,000 kilometres; the pit crew will have performed about 1,000 pit stops (most of them practice stops). Some of the longest journeys, however, are yet to come: Five of the next seven races will take place over 7,500 kilometres away from the team's two factories in Brackley and Brixworth - with Singapore almost 11,000 kilometres away. Over the next two and a half months, team members will spend over 100 hours on planes, travelling to and from races in different time zones and different climate zones. Maintaining energy levels can therefore become quite challenging. 

What are the key components to keep the energy levels up? 
Energy levels depend on a number of different factors and the importance of those factors varies from person to person. However, there are four key components that have a big impact: health, fitness, sleep and nutrition. 

How does the team look after the health of the team members? 
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport travels with a doctor and a physiotherapist to all races. They are at the track every day from Wednesday before the race until late Sunday evening. Many team members spend 150 days or more away from home, so for many of them the team doctor becomes almost like their family doctor. Over the course of a race weekend, the medical team does about 40-60 consultations. The vast majority of those are for common ailments like musculoskeletal issues, a common cold, the flu or gastroenteritis. The medical team keeps records of all the medication distribution and there is a clear trend; towards the end of the season, the medical consumption increases by 20 to 25 percent. The explanation is simple: in autumn and winter, seasonal spikes in common diseases like colds are a typical phenomenon throughout Europe. Add to that the high number of flyaway races, which puts an additional strain on the body, and the fact that the team members have already done 14 races, and the need for medical support increases. However, treating diseases is only one part of the job, preventing ailments is another one. For that reason, a physiotherapist is present during pit stop practice to focus on the individual members of the pit crew and watch their movements. Is everyone moving in a way that is optimal for the musculoskeletal system? Depending on the findings, the physiotherapist will work with the pit-crew members to improve their movements or even suggest rotating people from one position of the car to another to better suit their physique. 

How does the team monitor fitness levels? 
The medical team will pay particular attention to team members whose tasks require them to work physically. Various measurements are taken over the course of the year - from basic clinical measurements like blood pressure to physical tests to assess health and fitness levels. Blood samples are checked for blood markers like haemoglobin, blood counts and electrolytes as well as dietary markers such as lipids, glucose and cholesterol. Physical tests include exercises to measure strength, mobility and flexibility levels. The results of pre-season tests are compared with those taken during the season, to make sure that health and fitness levels have increased and not deteriorated. Individual training plans are set in place to make sure that everyone has a tailor-made programme that fits his or her needs. Fitness coaches at the Performance Centre in Brackley monitor the individual development plans and help team members to achieve their fitness goals. 

What role does nutrition play? 
Nutrition is very important to sustain high energy levels on race weekend. The team is monitoring the quality of the nutrition in hospitality and the garage and have improved it over time. Today, food choices at the track fit the dietary needs of the team - from healthy meals to high-energy snacks. 

What exactly does an ideal diet look like? 
Well, that's not an easy question, as it can vary quite a bit depending on the individual. Someone who wants to lose weight will require a very different diet than someone who tries to build up muscle mass. The individual constitution and metabolism also play a role - as does their job description. Someone with a desk job will need a different diet than someone working physically for the majority of the day. For that reason, nutritionists shy away from giving general guidelines on macronutrient contents and will rather give you a personalised plan on how much proteins, fat and carbohydrates you should take in. 

Singapore is known to be one of the hottest races of the season. What are the specific challenges in this kind of climate? 
Temperatures in the garage in Singapore can easily reach 40 degrees and more. Those conditions bring about certain risks, especially dehydration and heat stress. Consuming liquids is therefore important, although the ideal amount varies from person to person. On a hot day in Singapore, the ideal amounts can range from three to five litres per person. Drinking is also important for the drivers: studies have shown that cognitive performance starts to deteriorate when a person loses 1.5 to 2 percent of his or her bodyweight in liquids. So, when a driver weighs 70 kilos and loses 1.05 to 1.4 kilos due to heavy sweating, his cognitive function is likely to go down - which will in turn have an impact on their ability to hit apexes and braking points precisely. To counteract this potential performance loss, our cars will the fitted with the biggest drinks bottles of the season, which hold 1.3 litres of fluid.

FEATURE BY - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport