Team Hansen MJP rise to the top after overcoming major setback in 2018.

PHOTO CREDIT: Slipstream SA/Junaid Samodien.

A fairytale rarely happens in motorsport but in the case of Team Hansen MJP, it's a true fairytale. In 2018, Peugeot Sport announced their withdrawal from the FIA World Rallycross Championship leaving the Hansen family without a team or program for the upcoming season. 

Countless hours of work through the winter break saw the Hansen family pushing to secure the necessary budget and cars to compete in the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship. And, after partnering with Max J. Pucher, the Hansen's finally secured a place on the grid.

The 2019 season got off to a bang in Abu Dhabi when Timmy Hansen's Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar sustained chassis damage after an incident with Andreas Bakkerud in Qualifying, but after hours of hard work, the team were able to repair the car ready for the second round of the season. While there was much sadness on one side of the Hansen camp, Kevin Hansen went on to win the season opener in Abu Dhabi. 

"To come from where we were at the end of last season to the end of this season is hard to believe. We overcame each hurdle one at a time: first, finding a way to get to the first race with two cars – one of which needed a total rebuild almost straight after! – then making sure we did all the races, all while developing the car to try and make it faster," said Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal. 

"Everyone in our team had two or three jobs: Timmy and Kevin were doing more than just driving the cars! We constantly worked to be better, to make the car better, and we could see the progress as the year went on."

“I’m so proud of Timmy and Kevin, of course not just as team principal but as a dad," he adds. "They were brilliant, very focused on the task they needed to do, very respectful and mindful of what the team as a whole needed in how they raced each other."

The FIA World Rallycross Championship finale in Cape Town went down to the wire where Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud ended the championship level on points. A countback of wins was required and after winning four events this season. Timmy Hansen was crowned the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion.

"The first title is always very special, it’s a memory Timmy will keep forever, and someday I’m sure it will be Kevin’s turn to have that too," Hansen said.

In addition to Timmy's World RX success, younger brother Kevin Hansen claimed the TitansRX and Nitro RX titles, which means that Team Hansen MJP won every title in every championship entered in 2019.  

After the most successful year in the history of Team Hansen MJP, Kenneth Hansen believes that the team should have some rest, but he also acknowledges that there is plenty of work to be done ahead of next year's title defense. 

"After crossing all over the world for World RX, TitansRX and Nitro RX we can finally have some rest! Not too much rest, of course, because we want to be back next year to defend our titles and that will require plenty of work in the off-season."

Written By - Junaid Samodien. 

FIA Post-Race Press Conference: 2019 Brazilian GP.

DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Rubens Barrichello)

Q: What a great race Max. You looked unbeatable today. Did it feel like, driving, that if you had been on any tyres you would have been unbeatable?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, Lewis was very quick, so I had to keep pushing. All the time with the strategy he pitted one lap earlier so we had to be really on top of our pit stops. But yeah, two times we had a good move with him, so all the time that brought us back into first and yeah, from there onwards I could control the race with the tyres I had. Unbelievable. It was a lot of fun out there and of course great to win the race.

Q: With the speed, whenever you overtook the Ferrari onto the last corner, did you think you had that speed to overtake Lewis at the same time?

MV: Well, I was behind so I was pushing flat out on my our lap to try to be close to him and it was my only shot. Because of that I was close into the DRS. We knew that we had great top speed the whole weekend already, so yeah, then still of course it’s a guess but very happy to get past.

Q: Well done to you and Honda, it’s a great achievement. Lewis and Pierre, how was this final move. Lewis, when you went to the inside, did you think that you had the gap to go, that you had the speed to get past him on the straight?

Lewis HAMILTON: Honestly, I didn’t, but he did a great job, he was very fair with where he positioned the car. I massively apologise to Albon. I went for a move… the gap was kind of there, but obviously it closed right at the end and completely my fault. But still, a great race. Max did a fantastic job today. They just outclassed us in terms of overall performance. We couldn’t keep up with them on the straights. Honestly, I raced my heart out,. I gave it everything. I left nothing on the table and I took a lot of risks today, as you saw.

Q: As you always do. The Brazilians love you. When you are here it’s always pure racing, so we saw pure racing today. [With] Max, do you think any strategy would have done the case with him today. He looked unbeatable today?

LH: We threw everything and the sink at it. Honestly, we could keep up with them in the corners but they were outshining us on the straights, therefore I don’t think there was anything we could do.

Q: Well done. Hey, Pierre! After a tough season, is it good to be back on that podium, the podium that you deserve since a long time ago?

Pierre GASLY: It’s my first podium in Formula 1 and yeah for sure I will never forget it. It’s such a special moment, I don’t know what to say. It’s so emotional and also to get it with these guys, with Toro Rosso; they gave me a fantastic car since I came back and I’m just so happy for Honda, for Toro Rosso, it’s amazing day.

Q: I know it’s your first [F1] podium but I meant that because you’ve been on the podium for so long in your career that it’s good to be on the podium in Formula 1 isn’t it?

PG: I’ve been many times on the podium and you kind of forget it and that’s what I love about motor sport – these emotions, the fight. I just kept believing until the end. I saw they were battling and I tried to push as much as I could and the opportunity came to us. A great finish with Lewis as well. I was like trying to get low in the car, trying to get each Kp/h I could, but no, to these guys just a big congrats and a big thanks.

Q: Well done to you and to Honda. To hold on to that last straight, that corner alongside Lewis must be…

PG: I was strained. I told me engine to give me everything it had and I think without the progress have made it would have never been possible. I am just so happy; I don’t know what to say.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max, can you just explain to us what happened there. It was an inch-perfect race from you. How do you sum it all up?

MV: Err, long summary! A lot of things happened. I think the start was good enough. I was happy about that. Then, the first stint everything looked quite good. Towards the end of that stint, yeah, just the tyres started to wear off a bit and then I had the traffic with the Williams cars and Lewis of course pitted that lap. It was not very nice. Actually, I did my pit stop and I came out also Robert came out and he almost took me out, I went into the wall. I had to brake there…

Q: Did you lose any time there?

MV: yeah, I almost caught the anti-stall, so yeah, it was very close. Then my out lap: luckily for me Lewis got stuck in the middle sector with Charles, so I pushed up to them and luckily I could get by Charles into Turn 12 and then I still had the tow and the DRS of Lewis and yeah, I was on full power and DRS open and I could get Lewis into Turn 1. From there onwards in that stint we managed the tyres quite well. I was waiting for Mercedes to react again but luckily we had enough of a gap to go one lap longer, so we did that. Good pit stop from the guys as well. I think it was 1.9 seconds, so that was incredible. And then on the medium tyre Lewis was pushing hard and I think we were quite closely matched and I think if there wouldn’t be a safety car it would have been a good fight towards the end of the race. But of course then the safety car came out and I think there the team did a really good job calling me in again for soft tyres. At the time I was a bit like, ‘is there going to work, I’m not sure’. But immediately in the re-start I had a good tow off Lewis and went around the outside. We had a good battle in Turn 1 and again in Turn 4. And then you could see that the tyre advantage really helped me of course and we could stay in first and control the race.

Q: How much did you enjoy your battling with Lewis today?

MV: Yeah, it was good. If you can battle against the world champion it’s always better than battling someone for P10 or whatever. I think it was a good battle and we gave each other enough room, just enough but I think it was cool.

Q: Can you just talk us through that last re-start as well, because you got on the power very late?

MV: Yeah, it was just the way I wanted to do it, so it worked out well. I immediately had a gap so it was good.

Q: Is that something you learn in karting?

MV: Yeah, I guess so. You do many re-starts in go-karting. Many things happen all the time. F3 as well, I guess. In F1, you know, we have done so many, not even you being the guy in the lead, but you are in the group. There are always things you can do better, things you can learn.

Q: Pierre, first podium, just give us your emotions.

PG: It’s just the best day of my life. As a kid you dream about being in Formula One, and then when it happens it becomes the best day of your life and then after you dream about your first podium. To be fair, I didn’t think this would happen, coming back with Toro Rosso during the second part of the season. I just kept working on myself, tried to push the team as much as I could, telling them, OK, we need to make the best out of all the opportunities we have until the end of the year. And today it just came to us. We had a really strong race before that in P7, behind the top teams, and then, when they started to battle. First the Ferrari, and then I was like: ‘OK, this looks quite similar to Bahrain 2018, in P4’, and then after I knew Lewis would try something. And then yeah, we just managed to get past the two and yeah, quite intense finish and just incredible to get my first podium in Formula 1.

Q: What were your expectations coming into the race?

PG: Starting in P6, I felt good in the car the whole weekend. I think we managed to get the car exactly where I wanted. I said OK, if we finish best of the rest again in the race, this will be amazing for us. So, that’s what we were doing. The whole race we had good pace. I was controlling the gap with the guys behind but we always had quite a safe margin. I could push quite nice. Even at the beginning of the race I could see that Albon and Charles weren’t pulling away so much, so I think the car was working really well. With all the safety cars it was like: ‘OK, let’s see what happens,’ and just tried to stay there and get the best out of what happens.

Q: Can you just describe the view from up on the podium?

PG: It’s crazy. These guys are used to it. You get used to being on the podium in the lower series, and then after coming into Formula One, it’s a feeling you miss. I was really missing it. My last podium was in Formula 2 when I was champion in 2016. And then, it’s something you want to experience, especially in Formula 1 and yeah, today, to be in the middle, in second place between Max and Lewis, my first podium in F1 is just… yeah, just insane, and amazing and really emotional for me.

Q: Lewis, coming to you. Such an eventful race for you. Talking about your pace specific to Max, is there anything you could have done differently, strategically or otherwise, that you think could have led to you being faster than him today.

LH: No, I don't think so. Firstly congratulations to Max and Pierre, it’s really awesome to see, especially through the experience and journey he’s gone through from being in one team then to the next. To come through is really awesome. We had a close battle right to towards the end. Ultimately, it was a very tough weekend for us, a really tough race, trying to keep up with Max. The Red Bulls have had great race pace, particularly the second half of the season, which is often the case each year. So, fighting him, staying consistent, trying to stay on his tail through the race was… I was giving it absolutely everything. And then obviously we got him through the pitstop and then I got caught up behind a Ferrari and then he just blitzed past me on the straight and there was nothing I could do. Then we had another scenario. But at the end it was kind of… it was impossible at the end with the tyre deficit that we had. I made the call to pit, as they said, I’d only lose one position and it ended up being two. So, I gave it everything. I took a lot of risk at the end and I apologise to Alex. Obviously had no intention of coming together. It’s probably the first time I’ve come together with someone for a long, long time but I saw a door open and I kind of went for it, and it closed very, very quickly. I went straight to him after the race to apologise. Nonetheless, I think it was a great race and it’s great again to see the youngsters coming and driving so well. I’m battling as hard as I can to stay in the mix.

Q: And Lewis, if you had, for example, put the Medium tyre on instead of a second set of Softs at that first pit stop, do you think it could have been any different?

LH: I don't know. I’d have to think about it. Strategy-wise, I think the team did a really, really good job with the strategy and, again, it wasn't their decision at the end, they offered it as an opportunity for me, and I didn’t think losing one place, it would be so bad considering I’d only come out having lost one place and give me a chance to quickly get past Albon – but it wasn’t the case obviously. I think, when I came out of that first stop, I thought to myself I should have been on the Medium because it generally was a relatively easy overlap – but again, he would have just overtaken me on his out-lap anyway, so I would have still got stuck up by the Ferrari. And it probably would have been hard to have kept up with him with the pace of the Soft. We gave it everything, we threw everything we could at it, and we live to fight another day and I hope we have more great races like that.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Max. As you drove earlier the Toro Rosso and Pierre was your team-mate at the beginning of the season, how did you rate this podium. And question to Lewis and Pierre: how was the battle between the two of you?

MV: How I rate Pierre’s podium? Incredible. Of course, he anyway already had a great race. I think you were best of the rest, right? That’s already a good result and then yeah, you just stay out of trouble and other people, of course, make mistakes and you profit from that. I think it’s great to see Pierre up here. Now it’s also the second podium for Toro Rosso already this year, so I think they are very happy with this, and yeah, like I said, I’m very happy to see Pierre up on the podium. I always knew he was a very quick driver. I think this year in the beginning maybe didn’t work out the way it should but, as you can see, I think Pierre is very strong and, at Toro Rosso again, he regrouped and he had already before this race a lot of good results. So, this is even, I think, a bigger motivation.

Q: Pierre, your battle with Lewis.

PG: Intense. You see your first podium coming together and then you’ve got the World Champion behind you pushing you to the limit. I tried to defend the best way I could, and coming out of the last corner, just flat out and hoping that the engine can give you every single horsepower it can get. I was pressing the overtake button, trying to get low inside the cockpit and I could see his front wing and I was like: ‘please don’t pass me on the light’ ‘cos I’m going to be so pissed off if it happens. I really wanted to keep that second place. And yeah, I must say Honda have been improving so much over the last few months. And then yeah, without this progress it would never have been possible to hold that second place to a Mercedes. Just insane. I think the only thing we have to say is a big congrats and a big thank you to Honda today.

Q: And Lewis?

LH: I was very much the same. I was ‘snucking’ down, trying… he did a fantastic job. He put the car in the right place in every section of the track, was very fair and didn’t make any mistakes. So, hat off to him. He did a fantastic job. The Honda’s obviously made some big steps and it’s great to see another manufacturer as strong as they are now. It means that hopefully next year we’re going to have a serious three-way, four-way battle and that’s great for Formula 1.

How was your car handling after the contact with Alex Albon?

LH: I’ve had worse! It was OK. I didn’t really seem to lose anything. I never like to see damage on my car, I never like colliding with other drivers and so, naturally for a youngster like Alex, who’s been driving fantastically well, it’s not easy to be a team-mate for sure, of a well-experienced driver like Max but he’s been doing great and I can assure you I know exactly how he feels right now. And I can assure you, it’s not intentional, that’s why I went to apologise to him – and I’m sure I’ll see him shortly after this.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To Lewis and Max, I don’t know if you’ve seen the incident between Charles and Seb but the two Ferraris colliding was obviously another big story from the race. You two have both got experience of what it’s like when you’ve got an intense fight with your team-mate but one which is usually respectful – but sometimes goes over the line. With what’s going on with Seb and Charles this year, have you seen that as a weakness within that team and are you surprised that it has eventually come to blows like it has today?

MV: I think it’s always difficult to comment on that when you’re not inside the team. You don't know what happened because you don’t know all the details. I think it’s very difficult to comment on that. I also haven’t seen the footage so I can’t comment on the incident itself.

Q: Lewis?

LH: I’ve not seen it. Naturally it’s never a great one between team-mates. I’ve experienced it first hand. It’s never a great thing for a team. I’m sure it wasn't’ intentional but naturally you’ve got to… the burden is that there’s so many people behind you, it’s not just about you. When all those people are relying on you to do your job, and something like that happens. It’s not a great feeling. As I said, I haven’t seen it.

Q: (Gianfranco Papini – MomentoGP) Lewis, you’re surrounded by promising drivers, two young stars. You were young 12 years ago…

LH: Hey man, I’m still young.

Q: (Gianfranco Papini – MomentoGP) You had intense battles with other fellow colleagues like them. What is your opinion about this new generation of F1 drivers?

LH: Well, naturally when you get older you look down on the younger drivers and you think… you point the finger at the… no, I’m kidding. No, it’s inevitable that the youngsters are going to come through. There’s often a wave of young talent that manages to make its way through to Formula One and as I said, I think Formula One’s got a lot of new young blood with a lot of potential and they really are the future of the sport. And as I said, I think fortunately I feel that whilst the number shows a little bit higher, I feel like I’m able to still kick it with these guys and so I’m excited for the future racing with these guys and as I’ve said, if we can get these teams to be closer then we’re going to see more awesome battles like today and I think that would be great.

Q: (Lars Van Soest – De Telegraaf) Max, how would you rate this weekend comparing it to all your other wins and other good weekends?

MV: You can never compare weekends but it’s been very positive and I’m just very happy with the progress we have been making I think in the last few races. Just having a whole clean weekend I think is what we are always after and I think that’s what happened this weekend. Of course it’s great at the end of day to also win the race and yeah, it’s promising also for next year. I think we’ve learned a lot of stuff in the last few races so hopefully it’s a good sign to have put a start to next year.

Q: (Marcelo Teixeira – Reuters) Lewis, how do you see your move on Albon late in the race? Did you think it was not the right time to try it or just a racing incident?

LH: It’s always a big question, when is the right time to try it. We only had a lap and a half, I think it was, to go. An opportunity came, I was quicker through turn nine and I was within shooting distance so I gave it a shot. Ultimately, in my mind, I’m trying to catch Max… it was highly unlikely but that was the goal. I think I’ve got a penalty so I totally accept the blame as I was coming from behind, and as I said before, it’s not naturally an intention, you don’t hardly ever see me do that, collisions with anyone so… In hindsight, I could have waited, to come across the line but hindsight’s always a great thing. I will live to fight another day. That won’t be the last time that he’s in the position for a podium and he’ll have many more great races so I hope that as hard as it is a pill to swallow, I hope that he can learn from the experience also.

Q: (Velimer Veljko Jukik – Avtofocus) Max, we have seen quite an advantage in this race, beside your driving skill. Can you attribute this to management of tyres, tactics or was it just pure power?

MV: It’s a team effort today, I think. The car was working well, I was trying to be as consistent as I could be and the guys did a great job in the pit stops and strategy so I think all that together gave us the victory today. Power was very good, like I said it was a team effort and Honda is part of the team.

Q: Lewis, can we please just get your reaction to the five second-penalty?

LH: I just answered it. I fully accept the responsibility. I fully accept I was coming from behind so I’m the one that touched him, not the other way round. I’ve not seen the incident so I don’t know how bad it was but as I said, it looked like there was an opportunity so I went for it and it didn’t quite work out and I apologise to Alex and put my hand up and move forwards.

Q: (Dario Coronel – Granpremioweb.com) For Max and Pierre;  it’s the first one-two for the Honda engine in 28 years. How do you feel?

MV: Yeah, I always get reminded with the stats. The pole was the last time in 1991 here in Brazil and then… I think it’s a good time to start doing these things again. We keep relying on the results from the nineties. I think Honda is definitely on a very good way like Pierre said before. Throughout the season they have been improving massively so just very pleased with it.

PG: Yeah, a similar comment. I think all the work, not only this season but since they came back into Formula One, they have had some tough times and they just kept developing, kept working hard and bringing the upgrades, some things worked, some other things didn’t work but at the end of the day, they are the ones who have improved the most. The attitude and the work they are putting in is just unbelievable and they have been supporting me since quite a few years now, since I was in Super Formula and to be part of the journey with them is just fantastic so today I think I am really happy to be P1 and P2 with Max and really happy we can give them this result.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Pierre, when did you begin to start thinking you could be on the podium? Before the Ferrari accident, before the Albon?

PG: No, no, I’m not a crazy guy you know. I’m objective. At that time I was like… after Valtteri (retired) we were P6, I knew that we had the pace to stay there so I was like OK, I’m going to see if I could try something at the re-start but in terms of pace I knew that that’s where we were at the time and of course the Ferraris came together so we were in P4. I thought OK, I might have a chance to try something again at the re-start. Actually Lewis, I think… yeah, you pitted so I think I was third. I must say at that time I was hoping the safety car could last slightly longer, I was like I would not mind if we cross the line behind the safety car. And then after we went again and of course I knew Lewis with fresher tyres would try to go for the win and would try to pass quickly so I just thought OK, if I try to stay close, if an opportunity comes I’ll take it. Sometimes things work out the way you want and you need to be… so yeah, we were second and yeah, during that last lap, I saw Lewis was behind whereas we had a gap behind so I knew there was a podium on the cards. I was happy with that but I really wanted to hold on to that second place.

FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference: 2019 Brazilian GP.

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

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Q: Max, congratulations – pole position. It looked like the perfect driver/car combination today; nothing was going to stop you?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, our car was really good. I think throughout qualifying the track temperature was changing a bit so we had to adjust for that, but yeah, straight away from Q1 the car was flying and it was really enjoyable to drive, so very happy with this pole position.

Q: How nerve-racking was it? We saw you make a small mistake in the middle sector on your first run. It still put you quickest but you had to put the final touches on that to try to improve.

MV: Yeah, I tried a different line, but also the track was a bit warmer and that gave me a bit more oversteer and then of course I went a bit wide. The second lap, luckily, was a bit better, so yeah, all; good.

Q: And this track owes you something from last year.

MV: I will of course try to finish to the plan.

Q: Sebastian, second again, narrowly missing out on pole, but I guess you’ve got to be satisfied that you’re on the front row?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a bit of a wobble in the exit of the last corner on the first run but I think Max improved his time, so fair play and I think it’s his pole position. Yeah, happy with the front row. Now we will see what we can do tomorrow. The car has been good. I think it got better throughout qualifying, which was the target. I think we improved it and I hope that we can keep that momentum for the race.

Q: How do you see the race panning out? Do you think you are in the mix to race Red Bull, or do you think they’re too quick?

SV: It will be difficult. Both Red Bull and Mercedes look a bit stronger managing tyres, but we are there for a reason: we’ve got the speed and we’ve got the power, so let’s see what the race brings. I am carefully optimistic. I think it should be a good race.

Q: Great, have fun. Lewis, it was a great battle at the top between three of the big teams. You must be happy where you are, at the same time that you’re in the mix for tomorrow?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, definitely. Congrats to Max, a great lap by him. We seemed quite competitive in P3 and then we seemed to lose going into qualifying, or they gained. But no, nonetheless, I’m very happy that I was able to divide the Ferraris, that’s always a tough challenge. We’ve been down on power, I guess, compared to the others particularly, that’s where we lose most of our time. But nonetheless, I guess it absolutely everything that I had and I’m glad at the end, my best lap of the session was my last run – awesome.

Q: On the back of your sixth world title, Lewis, I know this is a pretty special place for you to come. You embrace Ayrton Senna and see the Brazilian fans. What’s it going to mean tomorrow?

LH: Yeah, I mean, this is such a tough race to win. The track is very, very challenging and there’s so much history here, so every time we come, of course for me… I’m often putting Senna’s helmet design on my helmet, just reminiscent… I remember watching him winning here and how crazy the crowd went. But I seem to have a lot of support here, so obrigado to everyone here.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Taking the second pole position of his Formula 1 career, Max Verstappen. Max you couldn’t…

MV: You said two; I have three. I consider myself this is my third.

SV: Mexico?

MV: Yeah.

SV: Ah, yeah.

MV: And then Hungary. So this is my third. He said second. This is my third.

Q: We can discuss this afterwards, Max! You couldn’t have been more dominant throughout qualifying. Just how good was that final lap of Q3 and how surprised have you been at the dominance of the Red Bull car around this Interlagos track?

MV: I think the last few races have already been quite strong. I think from today we changed the car a but from yesterday and it seemed to work really well and especially in qualifying it really came alive. It had really good balance. Already in Q2 it felt really good.

LH: You turned more power up?

MV: You don’t do that through qualifying? And then Q3 I think also the track got a bit warmer, so it was a bit more tricky to get the lap time out of it…

SV: Go ahead…

MV: Why are you laughing?

SV: I’m in a world of my own. You go ahead.

Q: How good was that last lap though?

MV: The last lap was pretty decent. It was alright. There are always things you can do better, but it was good enough.

Q: And you’ve already touched on the track temperature. Is that how you explain how you were a tiny bit quicker in Q2 than in Q3?

MV: Like I just explained to them, I didn’t tuck in on my last run, but I did that in Q2, which gave me two tenths or a one tenth advantage. That’s why we had such good top speed.

Q: And Max, are you confident for tomorrow? Do you feel that you have a good race car under you?

MV: Yeah, I guess so. The car already yesterday was not bad. I think today it improved, so normally it should also be better in the race but I guess we have to find out.

Q: Sebastian, just a tiny bit off pole today. Were you pleased with the balance of your car?

SV: Yeah, I was actually. It was getting better. I think we were a bit shy yesterday, more aggressive this morning, which was a step forward, and in quali it seemed to go up and get better – but I think also the track ramped-up, so yeah, obviously it’s good to, y’know, get in the front row. I was having a very good first attempt in Q3, went a little bit wide in the final turn – I don’t think I was the only one – but yeah, I think Max’s second time was a bit far away so I think we have to admit that we got beaten fair and square today. It was a bit of a surprise… not to see them that quick but to see them that quick on the straights. So, a little bit suspicious…

MV: For once it’s you then!

Q: And Sebastian, looking ahead to tomorrow, do you think you’ve got a competitive race car under you?

SV: Yeah, I think so. Obviously we know the race for us is maybe not as strong as quali but I was quite pleased with the balance and we therefore did another long run this morning in practice and it felt much better than yesterday. So that gives me hope for tomorrow.

Q: Lewis, coming on to you, didn’t look like an easy session for you – only time in the top three was right at the end of Q3. Could you just give us your thoughts on your car and how the session went?

LH: It’s not too often it always goes particularly easy but it was definitely a challenging session. I think P3 was really strong for us and obviously once we got to qualifying, these guys had great pace and we were losing out to Max on the straights by quite a chunk, which is where the majority of the time was coming from but just kept chipping away at it. The last lap was as really as good as it could get really for us. The car actually felt really good, we were just lacking a little bit of pace on the straights but hopefully tomorrow that’ll put us in a good position in terms of longevity on the stints. Maybe. Who knows? But otherwise I’m happy to be able to split the Ferraris. It always puts a smile on my face.

Q: Lewis, looking ahead to the race, now that the Championship’s in the bag, can we expect any different approach from you or anything different from you?

LH: My approach is pretty much the same all year long but maybe we can try to be a bit more aggressive tomorrow, we can have some fun with these guys – but yeah, I don’t particularly see that there’s any reason to make any changes. That’s ultimately what’s got me to where I am today, so I’ll just continue with that.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchioF1.com) The question is to Max and I ask also Sebastian and Lewis to comment. Max, you were really fast in the last sector, which is 1,200m full throttle. Can you make a comment about the development of the Honda engine? Also, Lewis, Mercedes power unit and Sebastian, Ferrari, comment about development of Honda please.

MV: Well, I was not the fastest in the last sector but we were the fastest in the second sector, which is where the most corners are. I think throughout the whole year, both from the chassis side and the engine side, we’ve made good gains and yeah, we just continue to work like that. And also experiment for next year. So yeah, very happy of course with the progress throughout the season.

SV: Well, obviously there’s no progress from one race to another because it’s the same engine I support. I don’t know, I haven’t checked but I don’t think they have introduced a new spec. I think it was a bit of a surprise, usually we’ve seen a lot of qualifying sessions and we were always a bit faster than everyone on the straights, losing a bit in the corners but today we were as quick, or Max and Alex were as fast on the straights as us, so… that’s about it. I don’t know why. I don’t think, I mean I know we didn’t do anything different, so…

Q: Lewis, Honda’s progress this year?

LH: It’s obviously great for the sport that we have another manufacturer that’s starting to produce good engines and helping the third team get up there. I don’t fully understand it because we’ve only had the few engines that we’ve had. I don’t know if you can bring upgrades to the engine, I don’t know. Anyway, they’re very, very quick and we’ve got work to do, that’s for sure but my boys back home are working as hard as they can for next year.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, there seems to be a growing support for you to be knighted back at home, given your achievements. Just your thoughts please? Obviously a massive privilege. Motorsport is often overlooked in the Queen’s Honours List but obviously you’ve done something which only two people have done, winning the title six times, so your thoughts on that?

LH: Honestly, I don’t really like to think too much about it. Just the fact that people have mentioned it, it’s already an honour, but it’s not been something that I’ve been chasing in my life. If, at any point, that was to happen, I don’t particularly know how I would handle it. I have stood in front of Her Majesty The Queen before and it was pretty incredible and I think she’s just awesome. Again, I don’t think it’s going to happen, and again, it doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t. It doesn’t mean I’m not British. It doesn’t mean I’m not continuing to try and raise the flag as well as I can but I do appreciate all the support I’ve had from my fans and also from the British media.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Why don’t you think you’ll get it?

LH: I don’t know, I just don’t think about it. I don’t know.

SV: Do you get a sword? That would be cool if you get to keep the sword.

LH: It’s just not something that you grow up thinking of. I’m really grateful just to be… I’ve got the MBE next Monday. It’s cool.

MV: Is it going to be MBE, OBE, what else?

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) He will be Sir Lewis. You’ll have to call him Sir Lewis.

MV: You don’t have to, do you?

SV: We are so much older than Max, he has to call us mister, at least, and then you’ve got to call Lewis Sir.

Q: (Gianfranco Papini – Momento GP) Sebastian, what do you think is going to be the key to defeat Max in the race tomorrow?

SV: Well, we know that they are very quick in the race as well so I think… yeah, we did improve our car. The key will be to have a good start, I think, ideally get ahead and then I think we manage the tyres, we make the right call on strategy so we will see what happens tomorrow. I think in the end, we are racing here in Interlagos and for some reason there is always something crazy happening, so it might rain tomorrow, even though they say it’s sunshine but here you never know.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, including the pole in Mexico, this is the first time that Red Bull have had three poles in the V6 turbo hybrid era so how significant is it for the team and for Honda to have a milestone like that in the first year? And to Lewis, Seb mentioned that he’s a bit surprised to see their performance here, especially in a straight line. Are you surprised as well?

MV: Yeah, of course it’s good. Like I said before, we’ve been continuously improving throughout the season. Of course some tracks have been a bit better for us than others. Already last year I think here we were quite good but yeah, I think again we made a step forward this year, we learned from our mistakes in some recent races and we came back stronger and everything is working well so yeah, of course very happy with three poles but at the end of the day there are more races than that and we want more pole positions.

LH: I don’t really know what to say. Yeah, of course, didn’t expect to come here and see… because I don’t think in the last race they had a speed deficit to us so... On top of that, they were quickest in the middle sector so they’ve obviously still got the same amount of downforce but obviously more power this weekend and considering we are at higher altitude, I have no idea where that stuff comes from.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchiof1.com) Lewis, yesterday with the asphalt at 23 degrees, you and Valtteri were a little faster in the simulation of the race with the medium tyres and also hard. Do you think now, with the new conditions and the asphalt more hot you can keep this small advantage you have from both these guys in race conditions?

LH: I really have no idea. I think in general our race trim has often been quite good. I think the cars… these guys seem to continue to step it up a little bit more in terms of their performances have been improving, improving through the year. I think it’s definitely going to be a close race tomorrow, it’s not an easy track to overtake on but tyre durability has been a strength of ours or at least, I’ve found for me, so if that’s the same tomorrow then hopefully yeah, I can utilise that.

The Americas Rallycross Championship canned after two seasons.

The Americas Rallycross series will not continue next year, the series promoter IMG has revealed.

ARX was formed by the World Rallycross promoter IMG for the 2018 season after the demise of the Red Bull Global Rallycross championship, which ceased operations in April 2018 amid mounting financial issues. 

The first ARX season ran over a four-event calendar in 2018, with three of those rounds joining the World Rallycross championship as support races and the standalone round at the Circuit of the Americas. 

The Americas Rallycross championship expanded to a six-event calendar in 2019 including an event in Austin, one in Canada (support to World RX), and two rounds at Mid-Ohio. 

ARX attracted factory teams, the likes of Volkswagen and Subaru, including a privateer team, but only seven cars contested the 2019 full season.

"After consultation with a wide group of stakeholders and interested parties, IMG has taken the difficult decision to not extend the Americas Rallycross Championship beyond the 2019 season," the IMG statement said. 

"We would like to thank our passionate fans, teams, drivers, partners and event hosts for their support and participation in Americas Rallycross."

Scott Speed was crowned the inaugural ARX Champion, and in 2019, he switched to Subaru Motorsport but was forced to miss the second half of the season after sustaining a back injury at the Nitro Rallycross event. 

In an expansion plan, ARX added a third-tier ARX3 category in 2019, featuring Sierra Cars buggies, alongside the Supercars and ARX2 categories.

Tanner Foust claimed the ARX title at the Mid-Ohio season finale, while Jamaica’s Fraser McConnell clinched the ARX2 title.

John McInnes claimed inaugural ARX3 title.

The American rallycross scene faces an uncertain future following the withdrawal of the Americas Rallycross Championship and World RX dropping the American round at COTA in 2019, and the Canadian round at Trois-Rivieres for 2020. 

While the future of rallycross seems bleak right now, the organizers of the Nitro World Games is expected to run at least one Nitro Rallycross event in America next year. 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

FIA Team Principals' Press Conference: 2019 Brazilian GP

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toyoharu TANABE (Honda), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Mario, if we could start with you please. Cast our minds back a couple of weeks please, to Austin, when the 2020 tyres were tested by the teams. The feedback was mixed, what did the teams tell you, and what’s the plan going forward with these tyres?

Mario ISOLA: Yeah, as you said, the feedback was mixed. I believed that we had quite difficult conditions in Austin. It was very cold and the new tyres are designed with a different philosophy. So the plan now is to test them again in Abu Dhabi where we have a two-day test planned specifically for testing the new construction and new compounds, so we will have a comparison that is more reliable compared to Austin. We tested this new construction during the year with the teams and with their cars and we found an improvement in terms of overheating, in terms of compounds with a wider working range – but mainly the new construction was designed because every year the performance of the cars is increasing and obviously we have to follow this increase in performance. If we don’t change the construction, the only possibility is to raise the starting pressure – and raising the starting pressure is making the overheating worse and the behaviour of the tyre in general worse. So, the new construction has been designed with the target to keep the pressure as low as possible, according to the improvement in the performance of the cars. So, I hope that we can have a test in Abu Dhabi that is more representative. I fully understand during the race weekend all the teams are focussed on the race weekend itself, so they cannot adjust the set-up of the car – the aero-balance of the car – and the new tyres have a different profile. They are wider, especially on the rear, and this has an impact on the downforce of the car, as well as the balance of the car. So, we need a bit more time to test them properly on long runs, to understand if we achieve this target. After that, obviously we are very happy to accept any… not accept any decision but to discuss the result of the test and to see what is better for the sport.

Q: Looking further ahead, the 18-inch tyres for 2021 were tested by McLaren at Paul Ricard recently. What feedback did you get from the drivers and the team?

MI: It was positive feedback. They said that the 18-inch tyres were better than expected. They are more reactive, we confirmed some results that we had with Renault at Paul Ricard in September. So now we are finalising the 2020 test plan. Obviously we will have another 25 car-days of tests but I’m very positive. And in any case, what we have developed for the 2020 tyres, we have some concepts that we can transfer to the 18-inch tyres. So, it’s useful to keep this direction for the future.

Q: Fred, coming on to you. We’ve asked you this question for a while now and you’ve finally got an answer for us: Alfa Romeo have re-signed Antonio Giovinazzi. Can you tell us your reasons for that?

Frédéric VASSEUR: I think he did a very strong second part of the season, he improved a lot. He is now matching Kimi in quali and I think the issue is not on the driver side. We have to stay focussed on this and keep a consistent line-up, and it will be the best thing to do.

Q: You say the issue isn’t with the drivers. Let’s turn our attention to the team. How well has this year gone for you and what are your plans for the team in 2020?

FV: The plan is to do a better job next year for sure. We started pretty well this season, we were P4 after five or six races and then we started to have an issue. Different issues, not always the same, but we didn’t score a point in the second part of the season – or one or two points – but it’s not an issue always with the pace and, at the end of the day, we are doing too many mistakes collectively and this is the big issue.

Q: Otmar, Checo told us in the press conference yesterday that 2019 has been a difficult and disappointing year for Racing Point. Would you agree with him?

Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, it’s not what we wanted. We definitely wanted to be a little bit further ahead. We’re just one point ahead of Toro Rosso and 18 behind Renault, so yeah, we were hoping to be fifth or fourth this year, so from that regard, it’s a bit disappointing. However, having looked back at what happened the year before this, when this year’s car was in development, we were in a bit of turmoil, especially financially, so it’s not surprising – although as a team we always want to do better.

Q: As you say, you’re 18 points behind Renault, two races to go. How do you fancy your chances of catching them and even beating them?

OS: Well, we’ll do our best. If we can mind the weighbridge and not start from the pitlane, that should help. Collectively, if we do a good job… but I think it’s not just up to us. I think we’ll need a bit of luck to be able to catch them – but we’ll do the best we can.

Q: Tanabe-san, has this been a better first season with Red Bull than you expected?

Toyoharu TANABE: So far, after 19 races in this season with Red Bull, we achieved positive results compared to previous years. And then two wins, one pole position and then, additionally, both teams on the podium in German Grand Prix. We made considerable good progress in the year. We want to do our best in the rest of two races in this season and then we want to carry over this positive progress and the momentum for next year.

Q: As you say, lots of progress but has it been better than you expected, coming into the relationship?

TT: In terms of the relationship, I think very good. And then, so far the results of the race depends on the performance compared to other competitors. It’s not easy to say good or bad. As a result, as I said, we got wins and a pole position. It’s good progress in the relationship.

Q: Thank you. Christian, perhaps I could bring you in on this. How would you sum up progress with Honda during this first season together?

Christian Horner: I think it’s been really positive. It’s been a great relationship. The two companies are working really well together. In our first year we have achieved seven podiums to date, two grand prix victories, two pole positions – albeit that we only started from pole once – but yes, the progress that has been made with the introduction of each engine has been great to see. Reliability has been strong. This year was always going to be a transitional year in this first year of this new partnership but it feels like momentum has built through the year and with stability of regulations in all areas for 2020, we’re really looking to take the positive momentum from RB15, the current car, into RB16, which will be our 2020 contender.

Q: Better than expected?

CH: I think in many respects, yes. I think if you look at… there were a lot of questions as to why we had made the move to Honda. I think very quickly, at the first grand prix, we achieved a podium. We’ve scored more points than we had at this time last year. All around, reliability has been strong, performance has been getting better and better. I think on the chassis side we were affected more than we thought going into the year by the front wing regulation change and Honda have certainly exceeded our expectations in all areas. So, it has been a really very positive start to this partnership.

Q: Christian, just one more question for you. You’ve re-signed Alex Albon for 2020. Just your reasoning behind that?

CH: Obviously Alex has done a very good job in his first year in Formula 1. He started the year at Toro Rosso and we then took the opportunity at the summer break to promote him into the senior team. The reason behind that was to have a look at him within our own environment. And since stepping into that seat he’s finished in the top six at every grand prix, sometimes having to start from the back of the grid or even the pit lane. So, he’s driven exceptionally well. He’s given great feedback; his pace is improving and improving, at many circuits at which he’s never been to before or countries he’s never been in, like here in Brazil this weekend. He’s earned the seat on merit. We’re excited about his potential for the future. It was a relatively straightforward decision to come to, to extend his relationship with the team as the partner for Max in 2020.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Christian, on Alex: he’s had a pretty rollercoaster 12 or 13 months from thinking he’s racing in Formula E to getting his F1 opportunity, driving an F1 car for the first time just before pre-season testing in the shake down and then obviously the Red Bull call–up. Now he’s going to be going into next year in a car you hope is going to be fighting for the title. Have you ever seen a turnaround like this in someone’s career and how well do you think has Alex handled that? 

CH: What it demonstrates from Alex’s side is great tenacity. Originally he was part of the junior programme, he was released from that early on in his career and he really had to fight to retain a career in motorsport and rely on his talent, tenacity and never-give-up attitude. And the way he applied himself, you know, driving for Fred’s team in Formula 3, he pushed Leclerc hard that year. Formula 2 he graduated to and he had a strong career in Formula 2 and then, as you say, he was off to another discipline and then, ironically, trigged by the events created by Daniel’s decision to leave to Renault created this opportunity for him to join Toro Rosso and then very quickly you could see that he had a decent talent and great race craft and that’s continued and grown. And then the opportunity came for us to have a look at him within Red Bull Racing. It just shows that if you have the right commitment, the right attitude then things can turn around and talent does always rise to the top.

Q: As a follow-up to that, can you compare and contrast Alex with Pierre Gasly?

CH: I think that obviously for Pierre it was very tough for him coming into the start of the season off the back off two accidents in pre-season and that I think definitely affected his confidence and of course being the team-mate to Max Verstappen is a very tough job to have, having that reference point. For Pierre, it was a difficult first half of the season for him. Obviously we felt that with the pressure building on him, the public pressure, the media scrutiny, it was right to remove him from that and put him into the slightly less pressured environment of Toro Rosso. And since that switch I think he has driven again exceptionally well. You can see his confidence is growing. He’s driven some very strong races and his pace is getting better and better. He looks happier in that environment, which is good to see.

Q: (Jesus Balseiro – Diario AS) Christian again, also about your drivers. Carlos Sainz used to be a Red Bull driver. What’s your opinion about his performance this year. And also, at any point did you regret losing him, just considering him as a good option for the second Red Bull this season?

CH: Well, I think it’s been good to see Carlos get into a good car this year and he has done a very good job. He has done a very good job. He has driven well. He has very much been the best of the rest after the group of the top three teams and he’s driven some very strong races this year. We elected to go our different ways but we are still proud that we gave him the opportunity to come into Formula 1 and that he’s managed to use that opportunity to carve himself our a career, albeit now with another team.

Q: (Marcel Teixeira – Reuters) I would like to know from the three team bosses how useful was this first session, because of the climate conditions, of course? It seems we’re going to have wet weather again this afternoon.

OS: We didn’t do much running so… We did a little bit of running on the intermediate tyres so it was useful to do that. We gained a bit of understanding and a bit of data on what to do here on the intermediate tyre but we’ll see what the rest of the weekend holds. I believe tomorrow and Sunday will be dry.

CH: Well, for us it was quite an expensive session. It started good. Alex, first time in Brazil, first time on the track, went fastest on the intermediates and then as the circuit looked like it was starting to get dry, I think there were ten cars that went out on slicks and Max went off at turn two – but on his own this time…

OS: On his own last time too, by the way!

CH: And Alex unfortunately, with cold brakes, he locked up into the last turn and did a bit of damage so it’s dented the mechanics’ lunch break to get the car ready for the next session.

FV: For sure it’s not an easy session, it was much less expensive for me than for Christian, but he has much more money also. But no, at the end, the evolution of the track was so huge that it was difficult to do comparison. You had some cars on track with slicks, with wets, with inters [so] I’m not sure it was the best session of the season.

Q: (Emerson Furkim – Car Magazine) I would like you to talk a little bit about the new regulations for the 2021 season, so I have two short questions. The first one: do you think that the budget cap will really close the gap between the teams? And the second question is will the fans really see more overtakes on track with the new cars?

TT: For the PU manufacturers, we don’t have a budget cap. In the regulations, we have a testing time limitation, big reduction required and in terms of the teams, I need to hear from the other people. Also that area of chassis development required (for more overtaking) we will see. From a PU point of view, we try to make a strong PU and then make the race more fun.

OS: Well, the budget cap… we’re going to be nowhere near it so it will not have a big impact on us but some of the bigger teams that will have to perhaps downsize I’m sure it will have an impact in the short term and then they’ll hit some type of equilibrium where they’ll continue to be strong but I think it will have an impact at the beginning. Will the new regulations help overtaking? I can’t predict that. We thought that the new front wing this year was going to do that and it didn’t so I’m unsure. Hopefully the work that’s been put in with creating a different wake of the leading car will have an impact on the following car but whether it allows more overtaking, I can’t predict that.

CH: Well the budget cap question… what you have to remember about the budget cap is that it’s fixed for a five year period so for certainly the top three teams it’s a considerable challenge to get into a position to obviously get under that cap for 2021 onwards. And then obviously once we are there we have to stay there for five years, so whilst there may still be some divergence between the smaller teams and the larger teams over a period of time and hopefully as revenues continue to grow within the sport with the plans that Liberty… and the growth that they expect to see during the next five years I think things will naturally converge. I think the frustration about the regulations are it makes next year very expensive because we have effectively three things going on: we have the current car to develop, we have tyre testing on behalf of Pirelli with a sort of an interim car and then we have the development of a new car to a new set of regulations, so next year is a big challenge. And in terms of the outcome to the rules, do they achieve the target? Only time will tell. I think the intention is great in what they are wanting to achieve with this high wake concept. Whether that’s achievable only time will tell. The cars are going to look a lot different, it’s very much a clean sheet of paper, the regulations, so with that you tend to get divergence rather than convergence and obviously the cars are a little simpler, there’s not as many aerodynamic influencing elements all over the car so it’s certainly going to be interesting and hopefully the intention is to get it to be more driver influenced which I think is only a positive thing.

FV: Yeah, the situation is a bit different compared to the teams but for sure the budget cap won’t affect at all the six or seven teams on the grid. It will affect the top teams but on the other hand they will have more resources to develop the new car next year as Christian said before, but the most important thing for me is the stability of the regulations of other period but if we change the regulations another time in ’23 or ’24 but it will be very difficult for the small teams to have an advantage on this. And then on the overtaking, I think the target is clear but the FIA and the FOM worked pretty hard to reduce the wake of the cars and to have a better understanding of this but now we will see only in Melbourne ’21 what is the situation.

MI: To reply to the question, we are not subject to the budget cap. About the regulations, I want to be positive because if it is true that the cars that are following are losing a lot less downforce, obviously this is a big help for the tyres not to overheat and to keep the performance and this should help overtaking, then obviously we will know in Melbourne 2021 but I want to be positive. I think we are taking the right direction.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Christian, you mentioned Alex’s off in FP1. Obviously the conditions were quite a significant factor in that, so can you just sort of brush this one aside or has he got a little bit of a nasty habit of this, because we’ve seen a few times in practice this year he’s had quite costly accidents?

CH: I think today wasn’t… you can’t put on Alex’s account. I think maybe we were a little bit too optimistic getting out there, trying to get him laps in on a track that was still pretty damp in the middle sector. Max, as I say, he had a moment at turn one, turn two. There were other cars that were running wide so I don’t think today we can blame that on Alex but he has had a few little incidents this year. Thankfully they’ve all been on Fridays and Saturday mornings. When it’s come to it in qualifying and the race he’s absolutely delivered.