Friday 20 September 2019

FIA Team Principals' Press Conference: 2019 Singapore GP.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Zak BROWN (McLaren)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Guenther, you’ve just confirmed Romain Grosjean for 2020. Can you just talk us through your reasons for that decision?

Guenther STEINER: We just woke up one morning and decided to do it.

As easy as that?

GS: Easy at that.0

Q: How close was the decision – with Nico Hülkenberg, for example?

GS: So now we have to work, you see? We have to pull more out! We talked with him and, in the end, decided to go with Romain.

Q: Just talk us through Romain’s strengths… weaknesses?

GS: Weakness as well? Where should I start! No. Romain’s been with us a long time and we looked at ourselves and in the moment the drivers are not our issue, it’s the car. So in the end we decided to focus on the car and keep the other things stable and therefore we resigned Romain for another year. We know his weaknesses – a lot of people know that he has very big highs and very big lows as well. So, hopefully it’s time to change. I’m waiting for that and maybe next year is a good year.

Q: Guenther, how can you help him be more consistent?

GS: I try to talk always. If someone’s got anything to teach me, I am here. Just make an appointment with Stuart and I’m listening very good.

Q: Fred, on the subject of Nico Hülkenberg, is Alfa Romeo a viable option for him?

Frédéric VASSEUR: We are focused with Antonio. Antonio had a very tough weekend in Spa but a strong recovery the week after in Monza. We want to help him to develop and continue to improve. It will be time to discuss about the future but I am really focused on Antonio, that I think he is doing, step-by-step, a good job.

Q: What has he got to do? What does Antonio have to do to retain his seat?

FV: Everybody is under pressure in the paddock and it’s not only the drivers: we are under pressure and Formula 1 is a world of pressure – but we have to deserve it, all of us, and Antonio also.

Q: And you feel he has the speed? Is it a consistency thing with him?

FV: The speed is there for sure, that he is matching Kimi in quali since the first one and we have absolutely nothing to complain about the speed.

Q: And so consistency with him. Is that what you want him to work on?

FV: I just want to score more points – but as does everybody.

Q: Zak, it’s been a slightly difficult period for the team since the Summer break, during which Renault have taken a chunk of points out of you. First of all, have you taken extra precautions here to improve reliability?

Zak BROWN: No. I think you’ve just got to keep going racing. Our pitstop obviously cost us in the last race, we understand why so we have addressed that so hopefully we won’t have a repeat. No, you know, the last couple of races haven’t been great but that’s racing. Still seven races to go, so it’s going to be a close fight to the finish.

Q: How important is momentum for a team like McLaren?

ZB: I think momentum in the sport is important for everyone, whether it’s drivers or race teams. It would be good to come away from here with a good result, given we’ve had two poor races. This is a tricky track; who knows what the conditions will be. I think you’ve just got to stick to what you know and put those races behind you and focus on this weekend.

Q: And given McLaren finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship last year, how important is fourth for you this year?

ZB: Well, we want to improve on last year. In reality, we were seventh, because of the points situation with Force India. So, on our road to recovery, we just want to improve incrementally, so fourth would be great but I think that’s about as much as we could realistically achieve. It’s going to be tough holding on to it but we’re up for it and we’ve got some very good competition from Renault and Toro Rosso’s not far behind.

Q: Cyril, same question to you first of all: how much importance does Renault place in fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship?

Cyril ABITEBOUL: It’s relatively important. It’s important in the sense that we were P4 last year and everyone is expecting, and everyone around us, including ourselves were expecting to be able to equal that result, if not to improve it. Improving, we know, is going to take time. So going backwards is not great. We had fantastic momentum from ninth, sixth and fourth in the last three years. We’d like that momentum to continue but, you know, it’s a sport. We’ve missed a number of opportunities for scoring big points – but we seized one last weekend. That’s good. It’s going to be an interesting fight. It’s a fight that we are also honoured to have – because McLaren is a great team, they recovered a lot, they have a very good chassis so, you know, it's a decent and honourable fight.

Q: And with the confirmation of Romain Grosjean staying at Haas next year, that’s one less option for Nico Hülkenberg. How sorry would you be if him leaving Renault was to force him out of Formula 1?

CA: It would be difficult. Because, I think I’ve said it on a number of occasions, we feel Nico has been a pillar in the team’s construction. He’s obviously also a great driver. He’s a huge professional outside of the track, has got huge experience and, for me, whether it’s between Renault and Nico, or Formula 1 and Nico, it will be unfinished business. So, I can’t do anything but really hoping he will find a way forward but it’s a bit out of our hands now.

Q: Christian. Alex Albon has had two races with the team now. How would you sum up his progress so far?

Christian HORNER: I think he’s done a very good job. I mean, obviously short notice when he got into the car but his drives in both Spa – particularly Spa in his first race, the recovery that he made to P5 was really impressive – he had a strong weekend in Monza as well. And so everything that he’s done so far, I have to say, the whole team’s been very impressed with.

Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, Red Bull has scored 12 podiums here in Singapore, which is double that of any other team. FP1 went well for you – so how do you fancy your chances looking ahead to Sunday?

CH: Impressive statistics but unfortunately Mercedes have finished ahead of us quite a few times in the last four or five years – so I think they are very much going to be the favourites here. Lewis is always strong at this circuit. We’ve got a competitive car and we hope to be able to take the fight to them. We pushed them hard last year. Hopefully we can go one-better this year. Max has been in fantastic form during the summer months and had a positive first practice – but that’s only one practice at the start of a long weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Christian, on drivers for 2020, when do you expect Red Bull to be taking a decision? Do you think this will be something that will come after the end of the season?

CH: We don’t need to be in any rush. All the drivers that are under consideration are under contract, so we’re in a unique position where we don’t need to rush anything. So, we’ll take the fullness of time to look and evaluate the progress of Alex and measure it against Dany and Pierre.

And as a follow-up Christian, it is just Dany and Pierre? Would you look at Nico Hülkenberg, for example?

CH: Nico isn’t on our list. He’s a great driver and it would be a great shame not to see him continue in Formula 1 next year. He’s a professional driver that arguably hasn’t achieved his potential in Formula 1 and I very much hope for him that he does find a seat because he’s better than some other drivers that are on the grid and he should be in Formula 1.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Fred, you mentioned with Antonio, you want to see that improvement to the end of the year. With a decision for you for 2020, will you wait until after Abu Dhabi, just to make sure Antonio gets the full season to grow.

FV: Wouldn't make sense as we are not in a rush at all. Could make sense to postpone the decision and have a look at Antonio and the improvement from Antonio but honestly I think he is on the good way.

Q: (Julien Billotte – AutoHebdo) Question to Fred and Cyril. What’s your opinion on the decision to not have Formula 2 and Formula 3 at the French Grand Prix next year?

FV: For sure it’s a shame for the French Grand Prix because it’s always two exciting races – but I think they did it for technical reasons. Last year they missed the German Grand Prix and it’s quite difficult for the junior series to do three or four events in a row. I think they have to skip one and next year will be the French one.

CA: It’s never good news for the promoter who’s concerned. So, for the French Grand Prix, they’ve had a hard time on year one because of some accessibility aspects. They’ve had also a hard time year two because of the show. So, I think we need to try, as Frenchmen in the sport to come up with some kind of offer for support. Last year we also tried to create some racing from Renault, like Clio Cup. We could also be considering Formula Renault to go there. So, we have a number of things that we could do to help and make sure there is a busy weekend and value for money for people buying tickets – because we all know tickets are quite expensive. We need to make sure there is not a vicious circle, and we are all here to make sure this event is sustainable. We still believe it is a great thing to have a Formula 1 race in France, being a French carmaker. With a French driver.

Q: (David Coath – motorlat.com) A question for Zak. Lando was at McLaren Shadow yesterday doing esports and I’m just wondering how esports is impacting on the team, if at all?

ZB: The esports, our Shadow programme, has been very successful. We were the first Formula 1 last year to really launch our own esports platform. I think esports in general is really good for motorsports. I think it become the new grassroots. Historically, it’s been karting, which is quite expensive and unobtainable for many people and I think esports can put a steering wheel in the hands of men of women around the world of all ages. It talks to the younger generation to help our fan base, so it’s been very successful, our partners like it, I think it’s good for McLaren, and I think esports in general is a good thing for motor sports.

Q: (Joe Klausmann – racingline.hu) A question for Fred and Guenther. What is your opinion about the coming budget cap? Do you need it? Is it enough? Will it help you?  

FV: We can come back on this topic. For sure the budget cap is far away from our current budget but it’s the first step of the financial regulations. For sure, for us it won’t have a huge impact. I don’t know for Guenther, but at least for us, but that’s life.

GS: I agree with Fred. Once we agree, not many time but… We are well below the budget cap, but it’s in the regulations now and now we will see what is coming.

Q: (Joe van Burik – RacingNews 365) – A question to all. How do you feel about the fact that Nyck de Vries, who is about to be the Formula 2 champion, won’t be racing in F1 next year but will be heading to Formula E?

ZB: I think it’s great he got a topline ride in Formula E with the Mercedes team. Nyck’s an excellent driver. He was part of our junior programme some time ago and you know, there are not a lot of seats in Formula 1 available at the moment and I’m just glad he’s landed somewhere where he can continue to shine and have a career in motorsports.

CA: The only comment is that, we’ve said on a few occasions, we are still under the impression that there are not enough seats in Formula 1. Ten teams is really the minimum number and probably 11 or 12 would be better for accessibility to Formula 1 for young drivers, the Minardis of this world. Obviously Toro Rosso/Red Bull has done its own arrangement but that’s really something that is very exclusive to a happy few top teams. As Renault we would like to see more teams joining in and in particular to have a more dynamic system for younger drivers.

CH: It’s good for him to have a professional career. Obviously he had been around a long time – He’s been in Formula 2 I don’t know how many seasons now – and that’s always taken into consideration, in probably what has not been one of the most stellar Formula 2 seasons, this year. Good for him that’s he got a professional contract with a manufacturer in Formula E.

GS: I would say the same. Good for him that he got a contract with a very good team and he can make a career out of it. Not everybody can land in Formula 1. I think we have to see the good side, that there are other opportunities other than F1. It is what it is, but he has got a future and that’s the most important [thing].

FV: I have nothing to add. He’s a fantastic guy. He was flying in go-karts, he won the GP2…. [phone rings]… It’s Romain Grosjean!

GS: He’s calling after my comments!

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) A question to Christian. A couple of stories after the last race about changes to qualifying on a Saturday coming next season. Is there any update you can tell us about? And is it a format that needs changing?

CH: There’s been lots of discussion about qualifying. For me, I actually think personally that qualifying works really well - the three sessions, it’s easy to understand, it’s not too complicated and it builds to a crescendo. For your relatively passive viewer it’s relatively straightforward. The problem we have at the moment is that obviously as a result of the qualifying the fastest cars is starting at the front. At a track like this, if it’s a one-stop race, then the grid position is pretty much dictate, bar reliability, where cars are going to finish. There needs to be the ability to have other strategies in a race that creates a little bit more jeopardy, creates more risk and reward, because we have seen some of the most exciting races, like Hockenheim, where all analysis goes out the window and you’re just reacting on instinct to what’s happening at that point in time, because you can’t strategise something like that. I think grand prix teams these days are so good at analyzing the data and maximizing the performance from the start to the finish of a grand prix, I think if we can add more variance to a race, but not doing it artificially, I think I would certainly be in favour of.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question to all five, please. Another one on potential changes. Grid penalties have been a sore subject for a few years now. One of the suggestions that has been detailed a little bit recently is about potentially adding ballast to cars instead of having grid penalties for engine changes. Are you a fan of that? Do you think that is likely? Or do you think there is another option that might be a better alternative to grid penalties?

FV: I’m not a big fan at all of the ballast – not ballast success, but ballast penalty. I think it would be even worse for the race. At least when you have the penalty you start from the back it could spice a little bit the race but if you have the ballast penalty it would be even worse.

GS: I agree. The ballast is more difficult even to explain to spectators, all of a sudden when a car goes slower than the other ones. I think ballast is not my preferred view. We need to find a penalty system that is severe enough that they start at the back or the position to find out. But at the moment I think it isn’t working too bad, so I think I prefer this one than ballast by all means.

CH: I’d certainly agree on ballast. I think we’ve seen in other categories that it doesn’t work. It screws your whole weekend, not just the qualifying. The only shame about what we have at the moment is that it potentially robs the fans on a Saturday of seeing drivers going for a qualifying position. If we look at Monza, Max taking part for a couple of laps in Q1, not wanting to progress past Q2. I think if we could find a more balanced penalty than just straight to the back of the grid we should consider it, so that you are still encouraging drivers on a Saturday to be going for a qualifying position.

CA: Our position has not changed for a while. We are suggesting a time penalty by position to grid penalty. A time penalty you could serve under your pit stop or that would be added at the end of the race and that would just encourage better racing without altering the starting position, without altering also qualifying. And frankly I don’t understand why, I don’t understand the unintended consequences, I don’t understand why it’s not more commonly supported, but there must be a good reason.

ZB: I agree with Cyril, so you got one vote. I think a time penalty is pretty clean to understand. It doesn’t mix up the grid, you serve it at your pit stop. Strategy comes into play – when do you pit, tyres etc – so that I think would be the simplest, least disruption, the easiest to understand and would add some excitement to the race.

Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Christian, Red Bull’s been known for the strength of its aerodynamic department over the past decade. With what you know of the 2021 regulations, are they a bit too prescriptive or are they exciting your aerodynamicists and people like Adrian Newey? And then for everyone else a similar question: how are your aero departments looking at that?

CH: I doubt there’s any aero department that’s read those rules and got particularly excited about them. For any aerodynamicist, prescriptive design is not in their DNA. Some of the regulations were released yesterday I think and there’s probably a few long faces in the aero department today, but that’s not just unique to Red Bull and our strengths over the last few years hasn’t purely been solely down to aerodynamics. It’s more digesting those rules, they raise some questions which will no doubt be put forward in the coming meetings which we seem to have endless amounts of and yeah, we will see where they end up.

ZB: I think I too would like to see more freedom expressed so when you have the budget cap then you’re fixed on how much you can spend and if the rules were a little bit more opened up, whether it was aerodynamics or others, then you’d have some more choices to make and you might see cars coming out looking a little bit more differently than they do today, because you could chose where you think you’re going to get your competitive advantage. That being said, all the engineers in this sport are pretty clever people and so they will figure out areas where they think they can make a differences, so I think it will still be a strong engineering exercise but opened up rules – because the budget cap kind of stops you from just spending – maybe doesn’t require that same level of restrictiveness, because you’ve got that seal that is set for you.

CA: Looking at 2021, it’s going to be such a step change I think it’s not bad to start with some things that are fairly prescriptive and according to the result that we see, then to progressively open up because the world is not going to stop in 2021, there will be years after that, we will have to come up with evolution like always to the regulations and it will always be the time to free up a bit. We still have our aerodynamic capacity and departments’ strengths and weaknesses so it will still be a possibility but I think we need to be careful because last time there was such a massive change to regulations – it was 2014 – and that created a cycle that I understand people criticised a lot for the fact that it locked up a performance differentiator so that’s why I think it’s not bad to do that initially and open up.

GS: Too prescriptive. Yeah, I would say so. The budget cap should regulate that the budget cap and the aero development, they can probably use the wind tunnel and CFD just for a limited time should be so it’s a little bit close but maybe in the beginning it’s good that we’re not going too far. I think we wait a few weeks until the aero people have got their proper comments because now they act emotionally about it but they will find a way around what they are doing anyway. My opinion is not set yet.

FV: I’m just a bit scared that if the room of freedom is too small at the end we will end up with like a monotype but it won’t be a monotype and we will have to spend millions for this.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Mr Horner, do you agree that this is your best chance for a third victory this season or is the progress you’ve made as a team so big, so huge that every remaining race is a big chance now?

CH: Well, certainly I think we’ve had good pace the last five races. If you look at our performance since Austria, Silverstone we were strong, we obviously won the race at Hockenheim, we qualified on pole and came pretty close to winning in Hungary, the race pace in Monza, if you look at Max’s performance from the back of the grid in clean air, he was as quick as any of the leaders, so that’s certainly encouraging across a cross section of circuits so hopefully, in the remaining seven races some will be better for us than others but hopefully we can be strong at all the venues coming up in the remaining seven Grands Prix.

Q:  (Gaeton Vigneron – RTBF) A quick thought about insurance: it seems that quite a lot of young drivers in F2, in F3, are not covered by insurance. Do you not think it would be an obligation organised by the team themselves to avoid a serious problem?

FV: Honestly I don’t know that we are taking care about the insurance for all drivers. ART, for example is doing the same in Formula Two and Formula Three but probably with some other drivers it is not the case but probably we have to take care of this, that’s right.

GS: I wasn’t aware that some people are not insured, I wasn’t aware of this. For me it’s logical to get insurance basically, doing this sport. I don’t know why they are not insured. I don’t know about it so I cannot make a comment.

CH: Are you talking about life insurance or car insurance? When I was driving it was obviously down to the individual to take out a policy, because everybody’s circumstances are different. I would say it’s really something that sits with the driver to take out the policy that’s appropriate for them and their circumstances.

CA: As far as we are concerned, all our academy drivers are insured, that’s part of what they need to fulfil in order to qualify. Obviously there are different types of insurance, like everything in life. Maybe we need to be more drastic about the level of the insurance but we make sure that this is the case with our drivers.

ZB: Yeah. I think all racing drivers need to have insurance. It’s ultimately the responsibility of the drivers. In Formula One, all of our drivers have insurance, it’s super important, it’s not also inexpensive and there’s a lot of drivers coming up through the ranks that may not be able to afford it but it’s certainly very, very important, especially when you need it. I guess the FIA could look at or the individual countries that issue licences, that would maybe be an area that the race licence issuer could maybe insist on some level of insurance but then how much and is it enough and is it the right type of insurance? I think the big message is every racing driver should have insurance.

Q: (Joost Nederpelt – NU.NL) Christian, we saw in Monza that Ferrari has a very strong engine. Are you confident that Honda can close the gap any time soon?

CH: Well, I think that Ferrari are very much the benchmark in Formula One at the moment. We see that their straightline speed is truly impressive. I think the rest of the manufacturers are converging to a pretty close ground. It’s just Ferrari that has that outstanding performance, so it’s down to the rest of the manufacturers to ultimately catch up. They are the current day benchmark.

Q: (Oliver Davies – Sportskeeda.com) Just a bit of an insight for the weekend: obviously being a night race, what’s it like for teams to start later on in the day, what’s it like for it being a longer weekend, is it a long day?

ZB: Most of the drivers – well, I’m sure all the drivers stay on European time so I think for them they adjust, just like it’s any normal Grand Prix. Most of that is the case for the racing team. I think for the executives in the race team, such as myself, it becomes a much longer day. I got started this morning at about eight o’ clock and we’ll do that each morning, so I can tell you, I’m more tired than normal, but I think for the majority of the racing team they just adjust the clock accordingly.

CA: Nothing really to add because it’s a bit strange for your body because you try to stick to a time zone but everything around you is telling you something a bit different. It’s difficult not to either eat five times in a day or not at all in a day, so I’m trying to find a proper balance. No, but it can look like long hours and what’s a bit sad is that we are completely detached from the city. Sometimes, when after work, we like to walk into the streets and get a feel for the city in which we are racing and here, if you walk out at three or four o’ clock… I’m not finishing that sentence.

CH: First of all it’s a great atmosphere to race at night. I suppose the benefit for Zak is that he gets to have two breakfasts. It’s a bit weird when you come in at four o’ clock and you see people saying good morning and having a cup of tea and breakfast, and then seeing drivers milling around the hotel at four o’ clock in the morning, in the evening. That whole shift of staying on a different time zone, it seems to work and I think the spectacle here is fantastic. I think the race is always a highlight on the calendar. From a corporate point of view, it’s one of our biggest races of the year. We have more guests here than 90 per cent of the other Grands Prix that we go to, it’s the race that everybody wants to be at and it’s something you just adjust to and try and deal with.

GS: I agree. You deal with it. I think it’s a fantastic race at night and I think everybody’s doing it differently. There is not one thing everybody does the same. Everybody gets up when he wants and has as many breakfasts as he wants so you shouldn’t pick on Zak, Christian, that’s not fair! I think that atmosphere is good and it’s different, so there’s something to talk about and that creates interest, racing at night. Yeah, for sure, you’re a little bit confused, therefore I’m confused talking today so I’ve got an excuse for that as well and now I hand over to my friend Fred.

FV: I’m OK with Gunther!

Thursday 19 September 2019

FIA Drivers' Press Conference: 2019 Singapore GP.

DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Renault), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Robert KUBICA (Williams), Lando NORRIS (McLaren)*

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Romain, if we could start with you, please. Many congratulations, it’s just been announced that you are staying with the Haas team in 2020. Please can you give us your reaction to this news?

Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, good evening. It’s great, obviously great news. I will be will be with team for a fifth consecutive season. We’ve built this story since day one and it feels like the story is not yet over, so very, very happy to carry on with the team. Obviously this year has been a challenge but also it’s been a good year in terms of growing up for the team and understanding what went wrong and how can we move on in the future. Looking forward to many more races in, black and gold for now, but under the Haas colours.

Q: You say this year has been a challenge. How confident can you be that 2020 is going to be better?

RG: You never really know but I guess that the team has worked really hard and has made some good understanding this year from the drivers’ feedback and from what we have seen. It’s a bit of a similar situation to 2017 to 2018 where in 2017 the car wasn’t as fast as we wanted and then in 2018 we had a very competitive car. Yeah, I have got confidence that we will bounce back, to which level you never know, but hopefully to a good one where we can fight for some fun races.

Q: Many congratulations Romain. Robert, while we’re on the subject of 2020, is there anything you can tell us about your future?

Robert KUBICA: Yes and not. First of all, we are looking forward to the next year and looking forward to different opportunities but yeah, in order to evaluate our opportunities I have taken the decision that I will not continue more with Williams [after] this year. I will stop at the end of this year with the team. Which is a decision that I took, which opens a bit the opportunities for me for the future in different scenarios and now I will evaluate what is possible.

Q: Do you want to stay in Formula 1 next year?

RK: Well, I always say that I took a lot of energy, a lot of time for me to recover and come back to the sport and since I joined back Formula 1 I would like to stay. I said that this year it would be say a goal to remain in Formula 1. But yeah, of course my answer would be, yes, but not at any cost. And I think I have to first of all do what will bring me back a bit of joy in racing. Of course this season has been very tough from a performance point of view but it has also been very demanding, being back in Formula 1 after a long time is not easy – especially when you are in a difficult situation, as we are. But still nevertheless I have to thank the team for the opportunity and we will see what the future will bring.

Q: Well, thank you and best of luck with that? Lando, it’s been a slightly frustrating period for you since the summer break. How easy has it been to shrug it off, particularly the last-lap retirement at Spa?

Lando NORRIS: It’s not been too bad to be honest. As much as I’ve been annoyed and disappointed… (laughs)… stop it!

Daniel RICCIARDO: I gave him 10 seconds. I knew you’d start laughing within 10 seconds.

LN: I don’t want to! OK, as much as it’s been annoying and disappointing, especially at Spa – last lap and I was on for my best result – and at the moment for us, as a team, we haven’t had the best few weekends in a row, and especially after Monza, Renault caught up quite a bit in the championship, so it’s been tough for me because when you’re on for such a good result – I know it’s fifth and not a win and so on, but for us and for myself it’s still a big achievement – I’m a little bit annoyed. At the end of the day we’ve still been working hard. We’ve shown at points what we can do, we’ve showed it in other areas, but at the end of the day, it happens. It wasn’t in my control. It wasn’t in my engineer’s control. It’s just something that happens in Formula 1, so I just have to move on.

Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, it’s your first experience of the heart and humidity of Singapore and what can we expect from McLaren this weekend?

LN: Personally, I’ve been here, maybe a bit too long, but I’ve been here since last Thursday. Not for any reason in particular apart from getting used to the place. Cycling the track a bit. Getting used to the temperature, the humidity and so on. Everyone says this is the toughest race of the year for the drivers…

DR: You’re sweating already…

LN: I know! Everyone says this is the toughest race for the drivers physically, for the concentration you have to have on the track, and then in combination with the heat and so on, so yeah, I’ve done everything I can training wise, but I’ll find out on Sunday.

Q: The car?

LN: I don’t know. I want to be hopeful and say it’s going to be better than Monza, because Monza I don’t think was the best for us, even though Carlos qualified well, I don’t think it was the easier track compared to some of the others, so I’m hoping that this weekend we can be a bit stronger but at the same time I think we all know it’s going to be quite a difficult one.

Q: OK, well good luck with it. Thank you Lando. Daniel, you scored your best result for Renault at Monza. Was that result the shot in the arm you needed?

DR: I don’t like needles, so normally I don’t like a shot in the arm. It was definitely good for us. I think it had been a while since we had a big result like that – obviously Canada was the standout in the first half of the year. I think Spa was a pretty positive weekend for us up until the start of the race. I think we were on for a decent result there, but then to back it up in Monza, and both cars to do it, was really good; definitely strong from the start of the weekend. Obviously it’s nice as a driver to get the result, but definitely for the team to get that, I think they had been craving a strong result, from both cars as well, and to get us back in the points, or in that points battle we’re in. Obviously McLaren were running away with it but we made some good ground. So yeah, that was good. I think I made an emphasis afterwards to kind of tip my hat to the engine guys, especially the guys working at Renault in Viry. To get a big result like that on power circuit, not many would have predicted that, especially in the last few years, so to come out there and do it in Monza I think was a big pat on the back for them.

Q: And looking at this weekend: you’ve had good results in Singapore, with four podiums, so what about the car? What can expect from you here?

DR: I don’t know. The last few races we seem to perform better on lower downforce circuits, but going back to Monaco that’s the most similar circuit to probably here and we qualified quite well there so. I think we do have the potential to be good on this circuit as well. I don’t think it comes as natural for us or our car at the moment. But I definitely think we can put it together, so we might have to work a little bit harder for it but I think the pace is ultimately there in the car, we just have to find it. But it’s a fun one. As all the boys really said, it’s physical, it’s hot, bumpy but street circuits, they’re a good time.

Q: Thanks. Lewis, you’re gunning for your fifth win here in Singapore and after the battles with Ferrari at Spa and Monza and Red Bull prior to the summer break, how tough are you expecting this race to be?

Lewis HAMILTON: Well, this is one of the toughest races of the year, if not the toughest, physically and mentally and then we come here each year, it shifts between the Ferraris, the Red Bulls and us. Last year the Red Bulls… they’ve particularly been quick over the years and we anticipate that they they’re going to be strong this weekend. And again, I have no idea whether Ferrari will be quick, as they have been in the last races, or not. We’ll just focus on ourselves and try to make sure we extract the most we can. We’ve not really performed that well over the last couple of years but we’ve come out with not such bad results due to other circumstances so I hope that we fare well.

Q: Any concerns about the performance of your car in the heat following the cooling issues you had in Austria earlier in the year?

LH: I’m sure that’s definitely on the radar. It’s not really the hottest that we’ve seen so far, so fingers crossed it stays something similar to this but of course if the rain comes or whatever, if it gets hotter through the weekend it could change.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all of the drivers. What are your thoughts on the new ways you are dealing with hard racing? Second question, is the haze in Singapore a concern for you as drivers?

LN: I think they’ve dealt with it fine. To be honest, I haven’t seen everything what happened between Lewis and Charles in Monza but I think it’s fine. Compared to some other categories, you get a lot more racing than we have had in Formula 1. Or, let’s say, in the past few years. This year’s maybe a little bit better. But when we get a chance to race, I think it’s better – everyone says it – just let us race. We can have some battles and, if a bit of contact comes every now and then, I don’t think it’s the end of the world. I think that, sometimes, part of it…  obviously you do have to look into it and if it’s anyone’s blatant fault or anything’s done intentionally, then that is unfair. I think the chances of us just racing, having fun, I think that’s part of Formula 1, so from my side, that’s fine. The haze… I don’t know. I think it’s fine…

DR: You look a bit funny…

LN: I’ve been here the longest out of anyone, I think, so if anyone was starting to be ill, or not feeling good… I think I’ll let everyone know.

Q: Daniel?

DR: On the racing stuff, actually I think Lando covered it very well. There’s a little bit of touching, and there’s pure dirty driving, or dirty racing – but I think a little bit of… I mean I obviously saw the replays of Monza. It was certainly tight and, yeah, a bit on the edge with giving room…

Q: Are you referring to Lewis and Charles?

DR: I think so! I think that’s where the question came from right? You were looking at Lewis the whole time so I figured it was about that! Yeah, it’s a tough one – but look, I think Lando covered it well. If we remain with a certain level of respect, it’s fine. But if you’re repeating a little bit of dirt too often, either you get payback from the driver or, I guess the stewards should intervene. For now, I think we’re doing OK with controlling it. Obviously at times as well in the car, in the race, your temper and emotions can take over, so maybe your initial feeling is harsher than maybe what you think afterwards once you’ve reflected but generally  I think that they’re doing OK. It’s hard. Unless you’re in the car, unless you’re in our position, with our point of view, it’s really hard to get it perfect every time so we have to sympathise with them a little bit. It’s not as easy from the outside.

Q: Haze and pollution?

DR: It’s been OK for now. No further comments.

Q: Lewis, hard racing?

LH: I think they both answered it pretty well, so I don’t really have much more to add to it, to be honest. The haze should be fine. Maybe we’ll see more of it on Sunday. If you ask everyone, we’re going to be here for ever if we all answer it.

Q: But you have no further comment with what happened at Monza with Charles?

LH: No. Moving forwards. Nothing we can do about the past. I’m down for hard racing. We’re good.

Q: Romain?

RG: No comment! Just the same thing.

Q: Robert?

RK: Exactly the same. I think what is the most important is consistency – and that’s it.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) Robert, you say you took the decision to pursue other career opportunities outside of Williams. Was Orlen involved in this decision? And also, are you looking at simulator positions next year with Formula 1 teams?

RK: Yeah, so first one, it was my decision, so of course I know there are some consequences which then Orlen follows my decision but this is a completely different topic. It has been only, purely, my decision. Regarding simulator, I don’t want to go too much into the details but, as I said, I will evaluate different opportunities. I will be very surprised if I was doing only simulator. I will be very surprised if I will not be racing next year.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Robert, how proud are you of the job that you did to get back into Formula 1? Does that outweigh how this year has gone. And, to the other four, you know how hard it is to be an F1 driver, to be at this level. How impressed are you that Robert got back to here – and what do you think F1 loses by him not being on the grid next season?

RK: I forgot the first bit! How proud? I’m not really the kind of guy that is proud but for sure it has been a long journey. I have repeated this for the last two years. It is always the same story, nothing changes. It has been extremely hard for me but nevertheless I still think I make the right decision. Of course, everybody from Williams, myself, we are on the same boat and we would appreciate better performance and better results this year and an easier life. In the end it is a very difficult and very tough season for everyone from Williams. But I just have to move forward and that’s how it is, and this is the outcome, the reason I took the decision. Yeah, regarding the others, y’know, you make the question to them but I think we can skip it. It will take a long time anyway.

Q: Well, let’s ask Lewis – you’ve raced Robert the longest out of anyone here. The impact he’s made since he’s been back in F1. If he doesn’t find another seat next year, how much will Formula 1 miss him?

LH: That’s definitely put me on the spot. I’ve known Robert probably the longest; we started racing together in go-karts, like 1997? 1998. For me, Robert’s one of the most talented drivers I’ve competed against. As I say, from that beginning I already saw the talent that he had, and when he got to Formula One…

RK: It’s been a long time!

LH: It’s been a long time. What’s remarkable is the strength and determination he’s shown. Particularly through the incident he had. Not a lot of people can come through those circumstances and come back, make it back into the sport and deliver against others who don’t have the same situation that he’s been in. I think it’s been great to have him back. It’s definitely not the same scenario as when he was obviously in a more competitive team back in the day – but I think he’s done great this year. We need the best talent in the sport and we obviously need them to be as high up as possible creating a part of the show. So I hope he stays. I understand his position and I don’t know what’s given him the reason to make the decision but I hope there’s a position for him next year.

Q: Would anyone else like to say anything?

RG: He’s an inspiration for anyone that had a bad experience. First time I spoke to Robert was 2009 in Abu Dhabi, I think. We were supposed to be team-mates in 2010. I was very, very much looking forward to it. It didn't happen. Then obviously I followed Robert as the third, or reserve driver at Lotus when he had his accident and then the way he came back. In motorsport he is an example, but also in life generally, to come back to the highest level and, as you say, fight the way he fought back is very impressive.

Q: (David Coath – Motorlat.com) Lewis, your pole position lap last year is still being talked about today. What does it take to get into a zone like that on a street circuit of all places?

LH: To be honest, it’s a bit of a blur, the whole lap. I don’t know who was driving… It was obviously a special lap from our side. I’ve been to this track since 2008, obviously, tyre temperatures are a huge issue. You get to the last sector and the tyres are dropping off, it gets a little bit trickier, it’s obviously such a long lap. I think it was just a combination of everything. The previous sessions had been up and down, probably hadn’t put a good lap together all weekend and it just happened to be right lap at the right moment. The chances of that happening are quite slim but it just happened at the right time where the stars were aligned, I guess. But more so the temperatures and just the flow ended up right but the focus that you need here, as all these drivers will know, is just very intense, positioning is everything and timing, really getting yourself into a rhythm is really key here to maximising the width of the circuit and the potential that’s in your car.

Q: (Wojciech Paprota – SwiatWscigow.pl) Lewis, some days ago you unfollowed everyone on your Instagram and now you basically don’t follow anybody including myself, unfortunately. Does it mean that social media has been some sort of a distraction for you?

LH: I don’t think I was following you before, anyway, so it shouldn’t really affect you. No, I think I just wanted kind of a fresh slate. I feel like social media is such an incredible platform naturally. I just noticed that for me – I don’t know how it is for you guys – but you wake up and the first thing you do is turn on your Instagram and check what’s happening. You’re always catching up and I just decided to change… I wake up now and I have a bit of a read, I start my day differently and I’m hardly ever on it and this has made a big difference to my life, personally. I do sometimes miss not being able to see what my friends are doing, particularly. And then sometimes obviously people come up and say ‘hey, you’re not following me but you follow that person’ so now I don’t follow anybody and no one can complain. But if I want to see what my friends are up to I have to go and type their name in now and it’s not so easy to go back to follow everyone because I was following like six hundred people or something before so…

DR: He wasn’t one of them!

LH: No. But I still follow everyone closely, like I look at everyone’s Instagram particularly within my sport just to see what they’re up to and I still support people. I just don’t feel like you should be forced to have to follow people to show that you support them.

Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) Robert, you’ve been here for a while so I would like to ask you what was maybe your biggest challenge in motor sport, the thing that you are most proud of, that you’ve done so far?

RK: I think honestly, if you take out the results which for sure in motor sport, they have a big influence, probably it is the last seven, eight years, put it together. Not one single moment but it has definitely been the biggest achievement of my life, probably, to come back to achieve what I have managed to go through, what happened and still managed to race.  Being back on an F1 grid was definitely the best end of period, the best final which I could deserve and which I could imagine.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, can we talk about the haze? I know that everyone has brushed it under the carpet a little bit but what sort of measures are in place for feedback to you, just how important that air quality is? When you’ve got locals saying it’s approaching dangerous levels and it’s quite significant for them, as athletes, I just wondered how you safeguard yourself? Do you have special filters on your masks or is there anything you can do or do you just put your faith in the FIA and just assume that everything’s going to be OK?

LH: Honestly, I’ve not… we all have doctors on hand. It’s not been brought up as an issue for us but I am conscious of it. Naturally, I don’t know how it is for the drivers but you blow your nose after a race, dirt, soot comes out of your nose. You’ve got the carbon that you’re breathing in. Clean air is naturally an important part. I’ve been told not to go for a run outside, for example, because it won’t be great for me but I don’t know how it’s going to impact us in the race but I think tonight and tomorrow I will be speaking to my team. There’s not really a lot we can do, we can’t have anything else in our helmets so it is what it is, I guess.

Q: (Michael Butterworth – Xinhuan News Agency) To Romain, in particular, next year Formula One goes to Vietnam which is not a country with a long history or tradition of motor sport. Do you feel that Formula One should continue to go and expand in new destinations like this, where they perhaps don’t have a history of motor sport or should the sport continue to focus on the traditional heartland in places like western Europe, for example?

RG: It’s a good question and I don’t have the answer. There are definitely tracks which you want to keep racing on, that have a lot of history, but also some tracks now that have history, didn’t have any ten years ago like Singapore. Now everyone thinks that Singapore is a normal race but it only started in 2008. I don’t know. Obviously the number of races is limited by the human factor: should we do one year more in Europe, one year more outside Europe  and mix. Obviously there are tracks where you want to race and there are other tracks where you want to race also. I don’t know the answer.

LH: It doesn’t really matter what I think. I think it’s been great to have new circuits. I think keeping the historic ones, where we had the biggest following because those are the people who really… that crowd that really makes the atmosphere, if you go to the UK for example. We’ve got to keep those. Losing Germany I think is a bit of a painful one for example. But I think adding new circuits… I think it’s good to go to new territories for sure, to expand our reach as a sport. I prefer that they do a street circuit that can maybe be taken down, it’s only temporary rather than, for example, India where they built that beautiful circuit and we don’t get to race there any more.

DR: Selfishly, it’s nice to go to new destinations, it’s a chance to… I think we’re quite privileged to have this job and to be able to see new parts of the world. It’s sometimes an excuse to go and check out another place so from that point of view it’s actually always exciting for me because I know that I probably wouldn’t have travelled to all these places as a holiday destination if F1 didn’t take me there. I’ve discovered some pretty awesome places around the world through the calendar. I’ve never been to Vietnam so yeah, I’m excited to go there. And yeah, it’s a chance to open new fans up to the sport and I guess give a new crowd an opportunity to see what it’s like. Right now, I don’t see the downside of it, not at all.

LR: I think that covers it all.

RK: Yeah, I think everything has been said.

Q: (Joost Nederpelt – NU.NL) Sebastian Vettel is under a bit of pressure right now at Ferrari with a strong teammate. Do you think he can bounce back and should we not write him off too soon?

DR: I’m probably a decent one to answer for it because in times he’s maybe in a similar position to where he was in 2014 and he bounced back, I think, second race in 2015, I think he won in Malaysia from memory. He definitely has the ability to bounce back. All that’s going to take is one race. I think it’s just been a bit of an effect as well. Obviously it probably started – trying not to speak for him but at least from the outside – it probably started in Canada, obviously, the controversy there. It could have been his first win of the year and if that got done differently that might have changed the whole outcome of these next few races. You never know. In the past, he’s always been strong here in Singapore, so this could be the weekend for him, where he does turn it around but yeah, I think it’s just one… he’s one race away from turning it around. Obviously there’s a lot of things to deal with in this sport, especially when you’re at the top, it’s not just talent any more, it’s pressure, it’s head space, it’s where you’re at in your personal life and all this but you don’t lose your talent so can he still drive very fast? Absolutely. I think he’s just waiting for that weekend to put it all together and get himself back. It could very well happen this weekend.

LH: I think Daniel answered it really well to be honest.

Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Lewis, Daniel spoke about the importance of headspace and off track pursuits. You obviously have a very active off track life. How important are things such as your fashion line and things like that to energizing you on track as well and contributing to your performances?

LH: If I didn’t have those I would still be driving the way I do. I think they are just other outlets that for me personally work well for me and ones that I enjoy and give me energy, I guess, to continue on doing the other things that I love such as this job, which is not really a job, it’s a hobby really. But to each their own, we all do it differently, we all prepare in a different way, but it’s only been a positive for me.

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Q2 disqualification a "kick in the teeth" for Chicherit after pace shown in Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.
It was a weekend of ups-and-downs for GC Kompetition in Latvia. On the opening day, Rokas Baciuska claimed the overnight top qualifiers spot, while Anton Marklund finished third overall. 

Team owner Guerlain Chicherit displayed good speed straight out of the box in Q1 when he finished in P1 and set the fourth fastest time overall. Q2 then saw Chicherit finish in fifth place.

After post-Q2 technical inspections, the Steward's received a report from the FIA Technical Director and launched an investigation into Chicherit's Q2 race. It was deemed that "the driver of car #36 [Chicherit] was found to push the launch button when the car was in motion." The Frenchman was disqualified from Q2, pushing him down to 18th overall. 

On day two, rain fell which made a fightback a little bit more tricky. In Q3, Chicherit held his line into the first corner and come out in second place. He took the joker on the last lap to finish second with the 3rd fastest time. 

In Q4, Guerlain had a slow start. He jokered on the first lap and finished in fifth place, bringing him up to fifteenth overall but still dropping him out of the semi-finals.

"I’m disappointed - our pace was absolutely there and losing out on a top spot due to a mistake in Q2 was like a kick in the teeth, especially as our speed in the following races in the rain was super competitive also," he said.

"Both Anton and Rokas deserved spots in the final as well, so it’s been a frustrating weekend for GCK but we know we are well capable of fighting for the top podium spots and will come back for more."

Written By Junaid Samodien

Tuesday 17 September 2019

'Happy and disappointed' as GRX Taneco thought win was possible in Latvia.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
GRX Taneco had two of its three drivers in the World RX of Latvia final and claimed a second-place finish with Niclas Grönholm.

The Finnish squad worked hard to perfect the setup of its cars on the Bikernieki circuit, with race wins for Grönholm and Timur Timerzyanov in qualifying.

It was a weekend of mixed weather conditions, with dry conditions on day one turning to heavy rain on Sunday, but all three drivers battled the conditions to qualify in the top 10. Niclas then finished second in his semi-final and the final, Timerzyanov made a brilliant start in the final, recovering from rolling his car in Q1, and finished fifth.

“Things were a little up and down for us this weekend, but in the end we can be happy to have two cars in the final and to be on the podium, even if we are a bit disappointed that we didn’t manage to pull off the win," said GRX Taneco Team Manager Jussi Pinomäki.

"Timur had the chance to be on the podium with a brilliant start, but the final didn’t go his way. We continue to look forward."

"Again we worked hard as a team to find good pace and we can go to South Africa for the last round in good form."

Written By Junaid Samodien

De Ridder hails positive weekend in Latvia.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition
Guillaume De Ridder is happy with his maiden World RX of Latvia, despite failing to progress to the semi-finals. 

The 26-year-old Belgian has had his fair share of bad luck this season. 

The GCK Academy driver's best result of the season came in Spain when he claimed an eleventh place finish, but his luck would take a turn for the worse for six consecutive events were suffered from mechanical issues and incidents with other drivers. 

In Latvia, he claimed a twelveth-place finish on day one. 

The rain came on day two which would make track conditions quite tricky. Despite a third-place finish in both the Q3 and Q4 races, De Ridder was unable to progress to semi-finals. 

"It was a very positive weekend overall as it was my first time here in Latvia, and I improved my lap times both in wet and dry conditions," he said. "My times were relatively good compared to gaps we’ve had at previous races, and the work done on the launch strategies have clearly paid off!"

"I think we had the speed to be in the semis, and it's very encouraging for the last round in Cape Town."

Written By Junaid Samodien

Monday 16 September 2019

Robin Larsson will not get bogged down by disqualification in Latvia.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
New-crowned European Rallycross Champion Robin Larsson made a World Rallycross return with JC Raceteknik in Latvia.

The Swede had one aim in mind to test his Euro RX speed against the World RX field. He showed good pace throughout the weekend but got involved in a number of tangles with title contender Timmy Hansen. 

In Qualifying 1, Larsson was sixth fastest but tangled with Timmy Hansen as they went side-by-side across the finish line.  

That battle continued into Q2. The Euro RX champion started on pole position with Timmy Hansen alongside in P2. While Liam Doran took the lead with the best start. Larsson took a tight line on the inside through turn one and into the turn two right-hander. While taking a tighter line Timmy Hansen and Krisztian Szabo had nowhere to go and the pair hit the tyre wall at turn two. Hansen later retired with broken rear suspension.

Despite crossing the finish line in third-pace, Larsson was disqualified from Q2 for the incident. 

The Swede aimed to fight back on Sunday but finishing seventh in Q3 and thirteenth in Q4, which was not enough to progress to the semi-finals.

"This weekend we clearly had the speed and were among the top six or seven without major problems," he said. "If you want to keep up with the guys in World RX, you really have to push, and I think we have stepped up the pace further compared to how it was in France."

"Then there was the disqualification in Q2. It's a tough first corner and we got tight into it. There was some contact but I was first and held my line, while the other drivers held the gas and wanted to go through. Everything happened so quickly and from my point of view I could not have done different, but the judges thought otherwise."

"It’s frustrating that it cost me the semi-final spot, but it’s nothing I will get bogged down in."

Larsson took to Instagram on Sunday to voice his dissatisfaction for the disqualification.



Written By Junaid Samodien

REPORT: Recovery drive sees Timmy Hansen regain championship lead.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media.
Timmy Hansen won the Neste World RX of Latvia, claiming his fourth win of the season and regaining the lead of the drivers' championship by just one point over Andreas Bakkerud, who finished third at the Bikernieki circuit.

Andreas Bakkerud led the drivers' championship standings by two points at the start of the weekend and finished third in the final behind Niclas Gronholm. While Kevin Hansen has dropped to third in the drivers' standings behind his older brother and Bakkerud after finishing the final in fourth place.

The 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship has been awash with drama since the opening round in Abu Dhabi in April and will have its grand finale in Cape Town on November 9-10.

Timmy Hansen was in recovery mode on Sunday after dropping to 15th place overall after Q1 on Saturday. But the Swede responded to top Q3 and was untouchable in his semi-final.

“It was tough yesterday because I know what is on the line in terms of the championship so we came here wanting to do well. But to have a start like that was tough," he said. 

"The whole team came together. At first, we were really disappointed but you need to make the decision if you are want to be angry or if you want to be happy and we came together and had a nice evening dinner. This morning, we play some nice music and everyone in the team was pumped up because we kept believing that if we have the perfect day anything is possible."  

"I tried to focus on what I needed to do, and just drive my best despite all the circumstances that I found myself in with the championship and the wet track conditions after being so low down the order yesterday."

"This win really came from the heart. I think its a massive win for the team. To sit here after where I sat after day one feels amazing. It shows that we are honestly strong and that we can perform." 

"Now we go to Cape Town. I hope all three of us Andreas, Kevin and myself, have a clean weekend," he adds. "Then the best man will stand on top at the end. Whoever can stay strong and keep their head in the game and it's about driving well in South Africa."

Bakkerud started from pole position in the final but did not quite have the pace to match Timmy Hansen after his Swedish rival had the better launch and lead at turn one.

"I definitely feel that we had the best pace this weekend but at the end of the day that is not good enough if you want to beat these guys who had the control on their launches and they were flying away today," he said.

"I tried my best and was chasing down both Niclas and Timmy but when you are driving on the edge, it's very easy to make a mistake. I overshot the jump a little bit and ran wide at turn eight and that was my chance gone."

"Credit to Timmy (Hansen) I think it was a strong fightback from yesterday (Saturday)."

"This is good for the fans as they get to see a good show in Cape Town. I don't think the fight will be over until the checkered flag," Bakkerud said. 

“Anyway, it is good for the fans as they get to see a good show in Cape Town. I don’t think the fight will be over until the chequered flag (in the final) in Cape Town. Now I have the job to chase and Timmy is the leader so he will be thinking of me for the next eight weeks. So, sleep well! [Just kidding]."

GRX Taneco's Niclas Gronholm felt that he had the speed to win in Latvia. 

"The first lap wasn't that good, but the second lap was good and I felt that maybe we can challenge for the win and so did the guys in the spotter's tower," he said. "Then they said: 'okay, we are fighting for the win' and I knew that I would need some more pace. Then something went wrong in my head and I started to overdrive a little bit. Not big mistakes, but small ones and in the end, it cost me quite a lot."

"The result is okay. It was a difficult day with bad launches and really struggling and then in the final, we had a decent launch."

Despite dropping eight points behind his older brother, Kevin Hansen believes that Team Hansen MJP has made progress with start launches in Riga.

"We definitely made some big steps on the launches this weekend," he said. "That was the key to staying in front and being fourth at the end of qualifying, then second in the Semi Final."

"We knew that we were too weak in that area and we knew that if we want to win the championship, we would have to improve there."

Timur Timerzyanov had a very good launch on the back row of the grid in the final but ran wide and nearly hit the tyre wall at turn one. He then opted for an early joker lap and would finish in fifth place ahead of Monster Energy RX Cartel's Liam Doran. 

There was no fairytale ending for Latvia’s Reinis Nitiss and Janis Baumanis both failed to progress from semi-final two. It was a similar story for Krisztian Szabo in the EKS Sport Audi S1 who was fifth in the same semi-final.

On Instagram, Nitiss said: "I had the pace for the final (fastest lap of SF2), but the other Latvian driver had a different agenda and that left me frustrated."

Rokas Baciuska was poised to pick up where he left off in Loheac, France by again finishing as the top qualifier after day one. However, for the second successive event, Baciuska tangled with the Timo Scheider in semi-final one.

Scheider dropped to fifth place as a result just ahead of his Lithuanian rival.

GCK's Anton Marklund led the charge by putting his Renault Megane in P2 overnight, launched a last-gasp charge in semi-final one but lost out in the battle to the line with Doran.

It was a mixed bag for the rest of the GC Kompetition squad. Guerlain Chicherit had a promising start and reached P3 after Q3 but was subsequently disqualified from Q2 for “pushing the launch button when the car was in motion”. He eventually finished 15th overall.

GCK Academy's Cyril Raymond incurred a five-second penalty for hitting the track limits markers in Q4 and would finish in 13th, while Guillaume De Ridder had a much better outing in Latvia challenging for victory in a few qualifying races and finished 14th overall. 

Oliver Bennett had his share of bad luck in Latvia with clutch failure in Q2, and his luck was no different on Sunday when the Briton had set-up issues in Q3 and finish 16th overall.

Russian Matvey Furazhkin made his second World RX appearance in Latvia in the ES Motorsport – Labas and finished in 17th. Pal Try finished in 18th.

Newly-crowned FIA European Rallycross Champion Robin Larsson had an eventful return to World RX with JC Raceteknik. The Swede made contact with Timmy Hansen and Szabo in Q2 and was disqualified from the session after he was deemed by the stewards to have “caused a collision”. He would end his return to World RX in 19th overall.

All attention now turns to the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship title decider at Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town on November 9-10.

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Written By Junaid Samodien

Saturday 14 September 2019

Baciuška claims overnight TQ in Latvia


PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.
GCK Academy's Rokas Baciuška has claimed the overnight TQ (top qualifier spot) on day one at the World RX of Latvia.

The Lithuanian was on form straight out of the blocks in Q1 and with an early joker lap, he was able to charge to victory ahead of Andreas Bakkerud and Robin Larsson. In Q2, Baciuška finished fourth overall and would lead the overnight standings by five intermediate points.

"The day was quite good. I’m really happy to be here again P1 overnight, and together with my teammate, GCK is P1 and P3, it’s amazing," said Baciuška. "Last year Anton tested here and did a good setup for the car."

"Tomorrow rain is coming and I hope the Megane will also work well, but it’s another day so it’s difficult to speak about that now. All of these drivers have a lot of experience, it’s unbelievable that I’m in this position." 

Niclas Gronholm found pace in Q2 after a bad start in Q1 that saw him finish in ninth overall. Monster Energy RX Cartel's Liam Doran had the best launch off the line in Q2 Race 2, but the Finn was hounding the Briton and by opting for an earlier joker lap. The pair came out of the standard lap and joker merge neck and neck. While Doran defended the standard line, Gronholm switched to an inside line and clinched the race win and in the process set the fastest time of the session.

"I had a bad launch in Q1, then took some hits in turn one and two, so it was difficult to do anything better," Gronholm said. "I felt the driving was okay, the car wasn’t perfect but we fixed it for Q2 and I had quite a clean run to get the undercut in the end on Liam. I could have been faster I think, but anyway it was enough."

GCK’s Anton Marklund, who finished ahead of Baciuska in Q2 ended day one in third overall. 

Andreas Bakkerud is the highest place championship contender after the opening day in Riga, holding fourth overall in the intermediate standings, one place ahead of rival Kevin Hansen with teammate Liam Doran in sixth.

Timmy Hansen had a day to forget in Latvia. The Swede got pushed off the circuit at turn two, and despite opting for an early joker lap he lost time to the leading pack. The last corner melee in Q1 with Robin Larsson did not help his chances either as he ended the session in seventh overall. 

That battle continued in Q2, while Doran took the lead into turn one, Larsson took the inside line through turn one and into the turn two right-hander, where they made contact. To add to Timmy Hansen's frustration, he also made contact with EKS Audi driver Krisztian Szabo and the pair ended up in the turn 2 wall. 

The Swede was able to continue briefly but moments later after the jump, his rear right suspension broke and he would retire a lap later. 

Following the race, Larsson was disqualified for “Causing a collision in T2 with #21 (Hansen) and #123 (Krisztian Szabo)”.

Rain is expected in Latvia for Sunday’s action and after the random draw, the slowest drivers from Q2 will start in Race 1 of Q3 tomorrow morning.
Written By Junaid Samodien

Friday 13 September 2019

Projekt E all-electric rallycross car unveiled.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media. 
The first all-electric rallycross car has been unveiled at the Riga Motor Museum in Latvia.

Projekt E will showcase electric-powered cars developed in collaboration between IMG and Austrian company STARD (Stohl Advanced Research and Development) which will race on the same event schedule as traditional World RX Supercars at selected European rounds of the championship in 2020.

"Today we reached a tipping point in the future of production-based motorsport with the unveiling of the racecar which will feature in the electric support series in 2020, codenamed Projekt E," said Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of IMG Motorsports. 

"The car we revealed today is the result of months of collaboration with our technical partner, STARD. That work has centred on developing electric technologies, charging and safety systems for the Projekt E racecars."

"The advanced technology which powers the Projekt E racecar will produce torque levels we have never seen in rallycross before.

"It’s an exciting time for the sport of rallycross. Our aim with the new-look race weekend format for 2020, with the inclusion of Projekt E, is to allow rallycross fans to enjoy the traditional internal combustion engines – and be given a flavour of the future at the same time."

Projekt E will use STARD’s “REVelution” EV powertrain systems which will produce up to 450kW (613bhp) combined power, 1100Nm of instantaneous torque and produce a top speed of 240km/h.

The plan is to use current chassis technology such as the 2019 STARD World RX Ford Fiesta. The concept allows for the conversion of current cars or new builds to current chassis regulations using the REVelution drivetrain.
The STARD "REVelution" EV powertrain.
PHOTO CREDIT: STARD.at

And, in a first for motorsport, Projekt E will enable the use of road car electric motors in racecars.

"There is a lot of activity in hybrid and electric racing at present but what sets Projekt E apart is the fact that the Projekt E race car can utilise road car electric motors," Manfred Strohl, President of Stohl Group, said.

"The performance of the racecar will be impressive when you consider that in terms of torque, the power unit is capable of 0-90% in about 32 milliseconds. The motors rotate at up to 14,000rpm. Projekt E will add a whole new, innovative dimension to rallycross in 2020."

STARD's CEO Michael Sakowicz told Motorsport.com "the powertrain has such a high flexibility, especially the transmission which is an exclusive development, that we can run practically any road car electric motor and use it in the Projekt E kit." 

Motorsport.com has also learned that teams can buy a complete powertrain kit, retailing at €194,000. In addition to purchasing a complete powertrain, STARD have also created an initiative where teams will be able to provide their own motors from road-going electric cars.

The aim of Projekt E is to evaluate electric racecars in a World RX environment in accordance with the roadmap for electrification of the FIA World Rallycross Championship which was has been ratified by the FIA World Motorsport Council.

Written By Junaid Samodien