 |
| PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com |
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Lewis, you’ve have had some pretty epic victories and a lot of them come through sheer aggression and excitement. This one was a very different victory it seems. Looking after these tyres like you did was immense.
Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, we’ve got to applaud this incredible crowd. This is like the best crowd I think I’ve ever seen. We’ve never seen anything like this. Today is an incredible result. I have to say a huge thanks to my team – Mercedes and our partners here. The guys have continued to work incredibly hard and stay focused. We came here thinking that we were on the back foot, knowing that it’s a difficult race for us, tut we pulled through. I had a quite a bit of damage on my car, so the race was quite a bit of a struggle. I just kept my head down. It seemed like a long second stint, but ah man, I’m so grateful for today.
Q: Awesome, great to hear. It must a real mix of emotions. The last two years you come here and you haven’t been on the podium but you clinched the championship. This year, you come and dominate and win but you have to wait a little bit longer for the championship?
LH: Yeah, I don’t mind. I love racing, man, and I just take it one race at a time honestly. As I said, this is a race I’ve wanted to win for some time but it’s always been a little bit tricky for us. So, I’m incredibly humbled by today’s opportunity, for the car holding together as it did, and for the team being so sufficient and executing the best strategy. Just to hold up the Ferraris was not so easy at the end but I hope people enjoyed the race.
Q: Congratulations, go and enjoy this amazing crowd. Seb, I’m sure it’s not quite the result you were after. You looked really exciting in the first stint. You were able to put in some really good lap times. I thought you were going to pop out behind Lewis and make it happen but you didn’t quite have that?
Sebastian VETTEL: Not really. I think surprisingly the hard tyres worked really well. It was a very intense race, because there was no break and obviously I had Valtteri behind me giving me some pressure in the final stint, before I could focus on Lewis in the front. But yeah, I think Lewis, he was just cruising for most of the second stint, up to the point that the attack was arriving and then I guess he had enough tyres left so… Yeah, I’m happy, because I think it was a good race, but I think here and there maybe with strategy we could have been a bit sharper. But overall, it’s a great crowd.
Q: It’s amazing, the support these guys give you must really mean a lot?
SV: Yeah… I didn’t hear what you said!
Q: I said that these guys give you so much support. It must mean a lot.
SV: You can tell! I didn’t hear what you said. It’s incredible. It’s one of the best races for that, so looking forward to the podium.
Q: Great job. Valtteri: I’ll bet it’s a bit bittersweet after yesterday – the issue in qualifying – getting winded is never a nice feeling. But the pace today, and your aggression was really coming through.
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I enjoyed. Considering yesterday it was a good result. Very happy about the pace I had in the race. The start was quite tricky, I dropped a place there, so I had to come back a little bit. Yeah, I don’t think we could have done much more today from where I started, so looking at that it was pretty good.
Q: You seem really confident in the car. In the last few races you seem to have upped your game, which is necessary with a team-mate like Lewis. Are you feeling really good in the car? Is this promising for the rest of the season?
VB: yeah, feeling good. Definitely a lot better than the same time last year. So feeling like I have the pace and the confidence and happy feeling in the car. I just need to continue and I look forward to next weekend.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian Vettel, our second-placed finisher. Great race by you, Seb. Couple of things: first of all, at the start we saw you flexing your muscles on the run down to Turn 1 to Lewis?
SV: Not really. I didn’t see him. He came after the race as well and asked, but no intention to push him or anything. Obviously, as soon as I saw, I obviously got off and I tried to get in Charles’ tow and I checked the mirrors on the right and the mirrors on the left and that’s when I saw Lewis and then, you know, I tried to go right but before that point I didn’t see him. We see quite well in the mirrors but there is still obviously an angle that you can’t see.
Q: You said a little bit earlier to Jenson Button that you could have been a bit sharper on strategy today as a team. What did you mean by that? You pitted at half distance, do you think you left yourself too much to do?
SV: Not really. I think in the end… after the race it’s always easy to say but I think we were confident that we split the cars, we covered both options. Obviously in Lewis’ shoes and Mercedes’ shoes they had nothing to lose so they might as well from that early to make it. And Lewis did well managing his tyres in the second stint, and just cruising up to the point where we arrived. It worked finally but neither them nor us expected the tyres to last that long. We saw a lot of graining on Friday and so did they actually, they saw a bit more than us, so it was a bit of a surprise that today we didn’t have any and that made the difference. You might as well try, so it’s a brave call. In the end if it works you look great, if it doesn’t then you’ve tried. I think if it was so straightforward for them, the thinking of fitting the hard so early and easily making it to the end, then they should have pitted Valtteri as well, but you can see that obviously he stayed out with me, long, to try and make sure that you make the one stop work and you don’t fall off any cliffs. As I said, we tried everything but ultimately… yeah, maybe we could have been a bit braver, but then it’s a lot of unknown and you don’t want to do anything stupid at that point. And second, I think you could see that in the race trim we were just missing a little bit of pace. Valtteri was closing in at the end of the first stint. Lewis was fairly easily closing in during the first stint as well. So I think it’s also fair to say that they were just a bit quicker than us.
Q: Thanks. Valtteri we’ll come to you in just a moment, but we’re joined now by our winner Lewis Hamilton. Congratulations Lewis. Now, given the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend, how surprised are you to be sitting in the middle?
LH: I think probably for both of us it’s a bit of a surprise. We came into the weekend… I can only talk about my side, and not having ‘Bonno’ for the first time in seven years and the challenge of having two new engineers step up into different roles and trying to keep the balance of pressure and make sure we deliver and ultimately make Bonno proud was not easy. We come to Mexico, we always struggle here with our tyres, last year we lost by like 60 seconds or something. I think we finished like fourth but we were a long way away from these guys and on Friday their pace, particularly the Red Bulls, their pace was quite stronger than ours. Seb went like eight or nine laps further than I could make the tyres go. But we just kept our heads down and tried to work on trying to get the most out of our car and it wasn’t great through qualifying but the race pace, once we got through all the commotion at the beginning, he tried his best to…
SV: Not really. As I said, I didn’t really try, I just didn’t see you!
LH: I’m messing with you.
SV: But if I had seen you, yes, I would have tried.
LH: And then I obviously got torpedoed. I thought at some stage I’d get torpedoed by Max. And then after that trying to keep up with Seb was a real challenge. A first and third is a true showing of real strength and depth with our team and it’s a real pleasant surprise really, because we didn’t expect our tyres to go as far as they did. We didn’t think we could manage a one-stop and we made it work.
Q: You said you were expecting a bit of action from Max early on in the race. Talk us through those opening corners?
LH: I actually got a really good start, so I was pulling up to Charles and Seb is coming across, coming across, coming across and I’m thinking ‘I’m on the white line, I don’t have anywhere further to go’. And he just keeps coming. So I had to avoid crashing with him, going on the grass. Avoid his wheels as well, otherwise I could have caused a big collision for him. Then I was surrounded by a bunch of cars, I braked into Turn 1, and all of a sudden Max is alongside me. If you’ve seen races before, I always leave Max a lot of space – it’s the smartest thing you can do. But there wasn’t a lot of space to give him space. I think he had an oversteer moment or something and then I got a massive hit from behind. Then I nearly took him out…
SV: He hit you?
LH: Yeah. We were going through the corner, you were about to go into Turn 2, my back end came out and I nearly took you out and then we went straight over the grass. It was hair-raising.
SV: Ah, that’s why there was such a big gap and there was Albon all of a sudden…
LH: Yeah, me and Max went through the grass together, came out and there were other cars coming by. I thought I was going to get hit by other cars. But I managed to get my bearings and keep my head down. I was not expecting to have that pace and to be able to keep up with the Ferraris but it worked and even with a damaged car. Obviously Seb went a lot further and I think so did Valtteri, he did a fantastic job to come from sixth. I thought I was going to struggle at the end with Seb, with 10-lap younger tyres.
SV: More than 10. Was it just 10?
LH: Maybe more than 10. But I just managed to save enough in the early phase while he was doing that long run, which I was able to utilise. Particularly those last seven laps were the important ones and I kept him behind.
Q: Great race, thank you Lewis. Valtteri, as Lewis said, great race from sixth to third. How was the car and were you suffering any after effects from your crash yesterday?
VB: I think it was a good day considering the circumstances. And looking back to yesterday it was a pretty good contrast in a good way for today. The car felt good. It felt as good as before the crash and obviously the team made a really good in getting it back together, so thanks to the boys again for that. From my side no problem really. Small headache in the morning but I wasn’t sure if it was from the tequila or the crash. Anyway, all good. I felt good in the car and I’m pleased for today, even though I lost some positions at the start and I lost a lot of time behind the McLarens but I had really strong pace in both of the stints and as a team we maximised today for sure.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Sebastian. We heard you during the race questioning the strategy of the team two times: about the Plan C and going to box. Do you think afterwards that one of these two strategies could have been better for the victory?
SV: I think, as Lewis said as well, obviously before the race we were quite sure that you need to get to a certain lap to make the one-stop work and when Lewis pitted, that wasn't the case yet. Obviously, you know, we were one and two and the two-stop looked like the better strategy and faster strategy so we split the cars, and obviously if you go for the one-stop, you might as well go for the one stop properly and not, sort-of, half-hearted, so when Lewis pitted, I think it was borderline and probably a bit too early but, as he said, he made the tyres last well and had enough towards the end. Plus, I think we didn’t see any graining in the race, which we did on Friday, which I think made the biggest difference. So, then, after that, you can argue maybe we could have taken more risk – but at that point you’re really driving into the unknown. I think what they tried to do is fit the Hard, see if it makes it. If it doesn’t make it, you might as well fit another set at the end and there’s your two stops. When you are sitting in P3 and then having the option to finish, maybe, first or fifth. I think you may as well try. So, that’s one. The second one, I think is just the laps when Valtteri was closing through traffic. Maybe we could have boxed one lap sooner because I hit that traffic quite hard and there was Sainz – or Norris, I don’t know – one McLaren and a Toro Rosso fighting each other very hard and I lost, like, three seconds just on that lap. That didn’t help but obviously it’s also difficult to foresee that these two guys on that lap will have a major fight. So, I think nothing big. As I said, I think we tried everything. Two and One stop, and you have to give it to Lewis, he drove well, he made the tyres last and I think Mercedes in the race was maybe just a little bit quicker than us.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Lewis, after the incident with Max, was there any damage to the car and, if yes, did it actually cost you lap time?
LH: Yeah, a big part of the side of my rear floor was missing. I didn't actually know how much was missing or what was damaged but the balance was quite a lot different. The rear end was quite weak so I was particularly sliding around a lot in the high-speed, so I had to change my settings quite a lot and had to drive it a little bit differently because I couldn’t attack the same way on the entry of corners because the rear stability wasn’t the same. I’ll probably find out later on just how much we were losing but I would imagine a good couple of tenths probably, just from rear floor damage. It’s quite a sensitive area around where the tyres is. But why I’m probably even more happy that I was able to make these tyres last the way we did. And to do it here in Mexico is pretty special.
Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) Question for Valtteri. Your contact with Max in the stadium section, can you talk us through what happened there? And also, to all three drivers: Max – do you treat him differently when you’re racing against him and do you think he’s probably the most aggressive driver out there?
VB: Yeah, for me, just out of nowhere he appeared on the inside into Turn 13 and, you know, I couldn't disappear from there. He just dived in and we touched. He got a puncture from that, so… yeah, I couldn’t really avoid him, so I think he earned his own puncture, definitely. But… I don’t know, every driver is obviously different. Some are more aggressive, some are less. I haven’t raced very closely for some time with all of them, so I can’t say in detail for all the drivers.
Lewis, you touched on this earlier. Do you treat Max differently to other drivers?
LH: Err… yep. I think every driver is slightly different. Some are smarter; some are like very smart, aggressive and some are silly with it. And so, through those experiences of racing with people, you give some more space and others you don’t have to. They’re quite respectful. But yeah, Max, it’s very likely you’re going to come together with Max if you don’t give him extra space, so most of the time you do. But as I said, in my experience, I didn’t have a lot of space to give him extra space. But I don’t think it was intentional or anything like that. It was just… he’s a magnet for those kind of things but yeah, nonetheless, I managed to keep the car together and in a straight line, fortunately.
Sebastian. Max?
SV: Yes and yes.
Can you put a bit more flesh on the bone?
SV: No, just copy-paste. It’s true.
Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining) This is question for Lewis. What do you think, from your point of view, is missing from Ferrari? What is Ferrari doing wrong? They show pace. They show the speed and on the race day something happened. What do you think is missing in Ferrari?
LH: Honestly, I usually get paid for that kind of advice, so I probably wouldn’t tell you exactly what it is! I don’t know. They’ve done a great job. The second half of the season has been obviously spectacularly for them. They came with a slightly different philosophy, I think, to some of the other teams. There’s generally a little bit less downforce through corners but faster in straights – which has worked really well because in a lot of tracks, positioning is everything and you can’t get past them down the straights and they’re just about quick enough in a straight line. But we managed to… I guess we managed to overlap them, or outdo them, particularly with great tyre usage within the race, and strategy. You don’t too often see me and Valtteri, our team like falling over each other. With us, they did a great job with that but sometimes Ferrari has that and it’s been unfortunate for one – or two – of the drivers. But Seb’s been driving great recently so it’s been good to see him back up there, driving so well. Naturally we want to have closer wheel-to-wheel races but on some of these tracks you can’t get too close, unfortunately. [to Seb] You’re sticking around for a little bit longer, right? Good good.
Sebastian, I feel we should give you the right of reply. What do you feel you’ve been lacking on Sundays?
SV: Well, if you want to be just pure and honest, then I think our car is good in a straight line: one because we have an efficient car, so that’s credit to us; two because I think we’ve done a really good job on the power unit front, so compliments to Maranello. But we are lacking downforce which leads into maybe a weaker race pace, leads onto struggling a bit more on Sundays when it’s about managing the tyres and successive laps, whereas in qualifying I think we can extract a bit more from our car, cover our weakness a bit more with fresh tyres on the car. With new tyres you can mask a little bit the problems here and there. So that would be just the straightforward, technical answer. To do better, I think we need to put things a little bit more together. I think we have all the ingredients; we have the people; we have the intelligence. So I think we just need to make sure things fall into place and once they do, I think things will start to click. Obviously Mercedes have proven in the last years that it is possible. I think they just got stronger and stronger throughout, which is credit to them as a team, credit to obviously Valtteri and Lewis, and in particular Lewis over the last years. They have shown what is possible, they are the benchmark and it’s up to us to do a better job in the future. Easily said, not so easily done but yeah, I think you also have to give credit where credit is due and both Mercedes and Lewis have been too strong in the last couple of years.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Questions for the Mercedes drivers. Valtteri, you managed to catch Sebastian pretty quickly at the start of the second stint. Twice you had DRS, didn’t seem to make any difference, what would you have needed to have been able to attack. And Lewis, this is the first time you had to deal with Alex Albon in a race. In the first 15 laps you were behind him, what impression did he make on you?
VB: Yeah, got pretty good pace in the race in general, that was the feeling in general. Got close to Sebastian at a good rate. Sometimes got DRS, got close enough but I think mostly it was because of some backmarkers. Or he had a bit of a lock-up or something – but there was just not quite enough pace difference to make a move for the overtake. I was trying everything I could to get as close as I could but yeah, to get closer than 1.5s or one second is so tricky, and to overtake them, you need to be right in the gearbox, going to the main straight, because our speed on the straight is nearly the same when I have the DRS and they don’t. So, it was pretty impossible today and Sebastian didn’t really do any proper mistakes. So, that would have been needed, or massive help by backmarkers. There was no opportunities.
Lewis, Alex Albon?
LH: I don’t really remember a lot. He was obviously just in front of me for a while – and then he pitted, right? He was driving really well, not making any, or too many mistakes. I think this year has been… it’s a real challenge to go up against a driver that’s been spoken so highly of by so many people and built up onto a pedestal. And to come in so young, and with all the difficulties he’s had in his life as well – his life story is quite an interesting one – against all adversity. It was quite cool to just sit and view him for a second. He pitted very early, I’m not quite exactly sure why but they obviously then went onto the two-stop strategy and I didn’t really see him again after that. But he’s got a bright future ahead of him. I hope Red Bull give him the support over the years. It’s very, very important because they often spit drivers out pretty quick if they don’t always do the job. I hope they’re good to him.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Lewis, this sport has American owners, they’re trying to grow the sport in America. You’re very much a household name in the United States, you’ve got a lot of friends there. How big a deal is it for you to win the title in America?
LH: Honestly I hadn’t really thought about it. There is obviously an exciting market for me. The most important one for me is England. I’m constantly trying to grow with the fan base we have in the UK and I think the Silverstone Grand Prix is obviously spectacular but the US is getting more and more popular there. I’ve obviously done quite a few shows out there and definitely becoming more and more known in the States but it’s quite a diverse country. I think my story and my family’s story is something that a lot of people in different countries can relate to. America’s always a cool place to live. They do it their own way, it’s different. It’s not England with the British Grand Prix, which is so special in its own way. It’s not the Mexican Grand Prix which is … there were so many people here. It’s unbelievable. It’s its own unique amazing Grand Prix. The track is fantastic and it’s been a good hunting ground for me so very excited to go there and who knows whether we can get the job done, who knows? We’ll hopefully have a good race there.
Q: (Jack Benyon – Autosport) Lewis, where do you rank that race in terms of your best of the season and also you mentioned adversity ; obviously Ferrari have been very strong since the summer break but this weekend you’ve been without your engineer as well so a lot of adversity to face. Could have you done that earlier in your career or is that something that’s come with experience to find that resolve and dig deep in races like that?
LH: Experience naturally counts for a huge amount. Honestly I don’t remember every single race this year. I think we’ve had good races but it definitely feels like one of the better races that I’ve had, particularly with the things that were thrown at us at the beginning. And also with the build-up: knowing Bono wasn’t coming, I’m thinking, Jeez, in this intense fight for this championship… you could look at it as a disadvantage but me and Bono pulled together – he did a huge amount of work as did Marcus and Dom who’ve both stepped up into new roles. I’ve never worked so closely with Dom before and Marcus stepped into big shoes. It’s not easy to work alongside… I would say a World Champion in this sport, who generally demand quite a lot but because I have experienced him as my number two he kind of knew how it worked and he’s generally a very laid back individual. And then on top of that, Bono was on the radio, we were texting all weekend and I really just wanted to make him very proud this weekend. He’s devoted so much of his life to me for these seven years so yeah, I really wanted to do… I’m sure he’s happy with today’s race. I’d like to think that I can be really proud of today’s performance, particularly with the damaged car and the stuff we went through at the beginning. And what’s crazy is that I’ve – God knows how many races I’ve done, must be close to 300 races and it just never gets old and it always feels new. It’s a different journey each one, different emotions you go through in the gap before, you know. We had all the stuff last week with the media in terms of the stories that came out last week and then came to this week and an emotional rollercoaster and then obviously Bono’s not coming and then come to Mexico which is a very very hard race to win.. didn’t expect to win, that’s for sure but it’s a great great feeling, very humbling.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just checking what your plans are now between these two races: do you lie low, do you have public appearances, do you have all that sort of stuff to worry about as well as obviously focusing on this championship that you can win at next time out?
LH: Yeah, I head to the States. Me and Toto have an event together in Madison Square… Times Square, sorry, Times Square which is kind of cool. I think Valtteri’s going to do the thing in LA. Then I’ve a photoshoot and then I fly off to Austin, get there probably Thursday or something like that and then straight into the same kind of week but I get there tomorrow, I get into my normal training regime. Naturally I like being in the States so it’s a pretty calm build-up. Shouldn’t be a problem.
Q: (Carlos Alberto Velazquez – Reforma News) Lewis, last three years you’ve celebrated here. Are you going to miss the celebration of the championship here in Mexico or do you miss Mexico as a place to celebrate?
LH: Honestly I prefer the way it’s happened today, I think, as the previous times we’ve won here, championship-wise, I’ve finished like eighth or 13th or something crazy so you see someone else on the podium, celebrating a win but I’ve won a championship, so you’re a bit conflicted because you wanted to do better in the race but you’ve got the overall job done. But today and this weekend, I knew it was unlikely that I was going to be able to win the championship here because Valtteri’s been driving so well but I just wanted to take it one race at a time, I wanted to try and win this race. It actually feels better than perhaps it’s felt in the past. We’ve still got more races to fight for so…
Q: (Jonathan Chora – First Drive Mexico) Seb, what do you think was the main mistake for this race? And also, were you expecting a more exciting race here in Mexico?
SV: I don’t think there were any major mistakes so as I tried to explain earlier I think we’ve done well. We tried everything so I don’t think it was a mistake that we are not as quick to make things happen and force things to happen.
I think it was quite exciting. Obviously we always knew that it’s difficult to pass and have a lot of overtakes because of the nature of the track and being so critical on downforce, up in the altitude it’s very difficult to follow, sliding the tyres is what hurts us most and then to get closer is really really difficult. But I don’t know… the top four cars at the end, within four, five, six, seven seconds I believe. It definitely was very tense, I was hoping that in the last 15 laps to go, I was hoping that in the next five laps to close the gap and start a fight; ten laps to go I was hoping that in the next five laps I’m closing the gap. It was definitely tense but obviously Lewis drove well and didn’t make any mistakes and managed his race. I enjoyed it but would have obviously enjoyed more to have a bit of a fight at the end but we were just not quick enough to do so.
Q: (Yhacbec Lopez – Motorlat) Lewis, you said last week that you thought the Mercedes power unit lacked power. Do you think the same today?
LH: We haven’t changed anything so that is still an area that we… reliability has been fantastic through the year but it has been an area of less progress for us as we know. We see the Honda and the Ferrari really stepping up their game on the engine front so we’ve got work to do in that regard but the engine has done well this weekend, considering usually this a really tricky one for our engine, it has been ever since we’ve been coming here with the altitude for our turbo but I’m really happy with how it performed this weekend.
 |
| PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com |
DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)
Q: Max, that’s an excellent pole position on a track that had Ferrari written over it in terms of top speed. You missed out on the narrow margins last year but you’ve got the job done and given yourself the best chance tomorrow.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it’s been quite an interesting day but of course to come out on top was incredible. Yeah, the last few races we know that Ferrari have been really quick on the straight but for us to come back like this and take pole position here, a big thank you to the team for that. They always kept pushing very hard. They kept bringing new parts to the car and it showed today that we are very quick.
Q: Have you believed all weekend that you’ve had a car good enough for pole position?
MV: Secretly you always hope and you always keep pushing. You try to find the right balance in the car and in Q3 that all came together.
Q: And the start tomorrow? We know these Ferraris are quick down the straight, you’ve obviously got to defend there but you know what you’ve got to do based on last year.
MV: Yeah, it will be a bit different for me, starting first instead of second on this track. We’re going to give it all. We have a good race car anyway so even if something happens in the start and we lose a position I think we are still fine.
Q: Well done Max, nice to see you battling with the Ferraris. Charles, best of the rest I guess. Looked like the lap wasn’t going too bad until a small mistake right at the end of the lap on that last one.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, the first lap was quite good. The second one, we tried to put a bit more balance in the car to have a bit more front, which helped the first sector but then the last sector was too tricky and I lost the rear, so I lost all the time I made up in the first sector. But Red Bull was very quick. Max especially was extremely quick and the race is still long tomorrow.
Q: I guess when you look in the distance there, you know you have a top speed advantage on these guys, you must be looking forward to the start and applying your strategy to try and optimise.
CL: Yeah, definitely. The start will be very important but the top speed we have is very good so hopefully we can take advantage of this.
Q: Sebastian, third place, I know you’re going to be disappointed with that. You’ve looked in very good shape all weekend, actually, and you were the king of the first sector but it looked like you struggled at the end of the lap?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a mistake on my first run, so I was quite confident that in the second run I could make up for it. But unfortunately there was the double yellow so I had to slow down. So the lap was lost. But yeah, the car is good. Obviously I would have liked to be a bit further up, I think it was possible. But let’s see tomorrow. It’s a long race and I think we have the speed, as all weekend we have been quite quick.
Q: You optimised that in Russia, which was a long run to the first braking zone. Do you still think you can get the business and do well tomorrow?
SV: We’ll see. We hope to have a good start and then take it from there. Obviously it’s a long race, a tough one on brakes, cooling in general, so let’s see. Also with the tyres, I think it will be quite an adventure tomorrow. I think all top six cars opted to start on the medium tyre, so we will see who dares to go the longest. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max, sensational performance by you, well done. Just how tough was it out there to find the limit in those ever-changing conditions?
MV: Well, I think it was just because the track is very slippery and it’s difficult to get the tyres working in the right window, so it all depends on your out lap and everybody is trying to be close to each other and in the last sector we are always slowing down but then you just hope that your tyres are working for Turn 1. This time it was all going well and from the start of qualifying the car was working like I wanted it to be. Of course very happy then in Q3 to get pole.
Q: You said this morning that pole might be a step too far. Did the car exceed your expectations?
MV: Yeah, maybe a little bit. I think compared to yesterday we even made a step forward, so that’s always good, that’s always positive, and like I said before, with the tyres, they were working well this time so that’s good.
Q: Many congratulations and good luck for tomorrow. Charles, you’re starting on the front row for the sixth consecutive race. How happy were you with the performance of your Ferrari?
CL: Very happy, especially in the first run of Q3, I think the car there was very good. In the second run of Q3 I asked for a bit more front and it was just too much for the last sector, so I lost all the time I made up in the first sector. But overall Max was just too quick today for us. But the race is tomorrow. We have got good straight-line speed, which I hope we can take advantage of at the start.
Q: Were you surprised by the pace of the Red Bull?
CL: Yes and no. I think we expected them to be strong. After FP3 maybe we thought we had a shot for pole and then in qualifying they were too quick. So a bit surprised in qualifying.
Q: Sebastian, coming to you: on pole last time out in Suzuka, P3 today. How would you describe your session?
SV: Overall I think it was good. But unfortunately in Q3 on the first run I had a mistake and the second run I was caught out by the yellow flags, so yeah, not ideal. I didn’t peak when it was time to peak in the sessions, especially in Q3. But other than that, the car felt good. I think there was more in hand. Obviously Max was a fair bit faster than us but I think with a clean lap we could have challenged him.
Q: Looking ahead to the race, how big a factor will tyre management be?
SV: Yeah, it will be the most important part of the race. Obviously we’ll see how everything gets going. I think everybody opted to start on the medium tyres. We’ll take it from there. Obviously it’s a long race around here.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, what do you think made the difference here to previous races, to have this sort of performance in qualifying and how satisfying is it to hit back after a few near misses since the summer break?
MV: Yeah, I think the last few races we have been really hurt of course on straight line speed and on most of the tracks you can’t gain enough in the corners compared to what you lose on the straights and I think here it’s still big but this track has very low grip so it’s not only aero, it’s also mechanical grip, which is a little bit more important and good kerb riding and stuff like that and I think traditionally our car has always been very good. We just made a mistake in Singapore with the set-up, otherwise I think we could have been really quick there as well. For us it didn’t work out there. We learned a lot from it and I think we came here with a car which was very well prepared already on the simulator, where I was very happy with it and basically we didn’t need to change too much on the track and it was working.
Q: (Fréd Ferret – l’Equipe) Question for all three of you. Do you think that the first straight line will be as at Sochi and how will you deal with the tow?
MV: Well, just look at the last tow year. I guess that says enough.
CL: Yeah, this time I won’t be starting on pole, second, so hopefully I can take the tow from Max and have an opportunity, but yeah, the start will be important for sure.
SV: Nothing to add.
MV: You will have a mega tow.
SV: We’ll see.
Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) Max, it looked like you set a fastest final sector despite the accident of Bottas. Can you explain whether you backed off or if you were aware of it, if you saw the yellow flags coming into that corner.
MV: I was aware that Valtteri crashed.
Did you back off?
MV: It didn’t really look like it, did it? No.
Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal - INDIAinF1.com) Sebastian, as we know at this track, in the whole calendar it’s at the highest elevation above sea-level – 2.5km – Do you think there could be something like the thin air changing strategy for tomorrow’s race – comparing it to other circuits?
SV: Well, it is a big challenge around here because obviously it’s a very demanding track for the car. First of all we lose a lot of downforce despite running all the downforce that we have. So, as Max was saying, the cars are sliding a lot, very difficult to drive. So, that obviously leads on to tyres and tyre management. It will be very difficult to get the tyres to work and make the tyres last. The other one, obviously, with such thin air up here is to make sure you cool all of your components such as brakes, engine, oil. A bit of everything.
Q: (Jaap De Groot – Het Parool Amsterdam) Question for Max. Starting now on the pole position, new challenge according to the situation at the first turn. The last year you took a profit out of it form the second position. You see that also as a challenge to keep pole position?
MV: We’ll find out tomorrow. I’m not too worried about it. If they drive by, it’s fine – then we have a good race.
Q: Yeah, but the last two races that you won were decided in the first turn.
MV: Yep, that’s true. Let’s do it a bit different this time!
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for all three of you. Usually you all love the downforce, you all love the cornering speed here, it’s quite different. We will get a presentation of the new regulations next weekend. We don’t know exactly what we expect – but would you be happy to lose a bit of downforce in the future? Because for us as a TV viewer it looks quite spectacular to see the cars sliding a lot in the fast corners.
SV: I think as a one-off it’s nice, so obviously if we lose a lot of downforce for all the tracks it would mean that we lose a lot more up here as well. So, yeah, I think it’s always exciting to have fast cars. I think people also on the grandstand see if the cars are slow, hence, I think the trend to go towards faster cars with the regulations to go with faster cars from ’17 onwards – but I’m sure that we are all ready to go a little bit slower as long as it’s a step forward for all of us in terms of racing. If not, then obviously it’s not really what we want.
MV: Yeah, I think that the cars are really quick at the moment and I don’t think you can find a way of following in a better way with the same cornering speeds like we have now, so I think we do have to go a bit slower but, of course, I do not want to go four, five seconds slower. Maybe two, two-and-a-half maximum. Stuff like that. The car will still be very impressive through the corners. And anyway, whenever you drive on the limit, it’s always very hard, so if it’s going two seconds faster, slower, doesn’t really matter. I think at the end of the day it’s more important that we can actually race instead of just be there and can’t do anything.
Q: Max, do you enjoy the car when it’s producing less downforce, like here?
MV: Well, I enjoy this car more, of course – but for sure we’ll find a way of making that car enjoyable as well.
Charles?
CL: I agree. The feeling in qualifying with this much downforce on the cars is just amazing and I love driving that way. But yeah, as Max said, we’ll need to sacrifice a little bit of that to have better racing. We just need to find the right balance it between cutting the speeds and trying to follow.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Max, today you lost only two-tenths on the Ferrari on the first sector, yesterday it was more than double. Any explanation for that?
MV: I think we improved the car again a little bit and yeah, maybe yesterday was not the perfect sector one – but of course you always know you can improve, or you try, at least. And yeah, today it was just working a little bit better.
Q: (Carlos Alberto Velázquez – Reforma) Question for Max. It’s your second pole it will be your third win here in Mexico. Wouldn’t Mexico be your best race track in your life, in Formula One. It will be your favourite for you?
MV: No. I don’t think you can change your favourite track. Since I was a kid it was always Spa and it’s still the same. But I always love coming here. It’s different, y’know. Of course we have some tracks where we can do really fast through corners and have a lot of grip. This is the opposite. It’s still quite technical and you have to be really focussed on trying to hit the apexes well and trying to make the tyres work, which is a bit different to some other tracks, which I like. And yes, it’s been good to me in the past. It’s definitely not a bad track for me.
Q: (Fernando Alonso – motorlat.com) Charles, I don’t know if we’ll lose the chance for a really tight fight in quali and do you think this will be translated to the race, to have a very close fight between the Red Bull and Ferrari?
CL: Red Bull and, again, Max especially, was very quick yesterday in the FP2 long runs. So it’s going to be difficult but I think anything is possible if we take an advantage at the start. I think there are quite big problems for cooling for everyone, so it’s very difficult to follow around this track. So yeah, we’ll have to take the opportunity in Turn One is we have it.
Q: Sebastian, do you think you’ll be closer to Red Bull in race trim?
SV: Well, I think we were very close today. Maybe closer than the stopwatch was telling. So, I think it was a match and I hope it’s… I’m quite confident it’s going to be a match as well. Obviously it depends on how the race unfolds but also I would not rule out Mercedes.
Q (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all three please. Just to go back to Valtteri’s crash and the yellow flag at the end of Q3. Is it clear among drivers and with the rulemakers what you can get away with, with a yellow flag – and also is it realistic to expect you to back off all that much in qualifying when all that’s on the line?
CL: Yeah, of course, I think it’s clear for everyone that when there’s a yellow flag you need to slow down. On my side, the crash was behind, so I cannot judge that situation but yeah, I think it’s clear for every driver. It’s the basics.
Anything more you’d like to say on this topic Max?
MV: No, I think we all know what a yellow flag means.
Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) Why didn’t you back off then, if you saw the yellow?
MV: Well, it doesn’t matter, does it?
Q: Well it might, if the FIA look into it.
MV: Well, then delete my lap. The second. The other lap was fine as well.
Q: Not from a safety perspective? Any concerns?
MV: Do we have to go there? To safety? I think we know what we are doing – otherwise we would not be driving an F1 car. It’s qualifying and, yeah, you go for it. But like I said before, if they want to delete the lap, then delete the lap.
 |
| PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com |
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andreas SEIDL (McLaren), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Andreas, we’ve seen some strong performances by McLaren in recent races. How comfortable are you in P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, 43 points ahead of Renault?
Andreas SEIDL: Yeah… well, I wouldn’t say ‘comfortable’! It’s obviously good to be in that position; it’s good to see how we perform as a team, still getting better and better, still bringing more parts to the track as well for this year – but at the same time it’s not something we get carried away with. The targets we are having are a lot higher, so for me it’s a lot more important… of course we want to score this P4 this year but it’s a lot more important to get everything in place, let’s say, in the next weeks, months, which we think is important to make the next step also.
Q: Well, let’s talk about that step Andreas, because you’ve already announced Mercedes power units in 2021 but also a change in design philosophy for the 2020 car. Can you explain why you’re doing that, given the progress you’ve made this season? Can you stitch those two things together for us?
AS: First of all, regarding the Mercedes decision, I think we have communicated everything regarding that. Obviously, it was an important milestone, also for myself, to have clarity here as quickly as possible, so very happy to have the World Championship-winning powertrain in the back of our car from 2021 onwards. At the same time, this is 2021, so our focus is on next year, on 2020. The reality is that we are still more than a second down compared to these guys next to me, so this means, even with the regulations staying the same, we still see a lot of stuff we want to tackle with next year’s car, which means we also have to do some bigger changes also, in terms of car concept. James Key is working hard on that, together with the entire team back home. I’m very happy with the progress that I’m seeing there and the target is clear for next year: we want to somehow jump in between these… let’s say a position in terms of lap time also where we are right now and where these guys are, and hopefully we can make that step for next year.
Q: Otmar, it’s pretty congested where you are in the Constructors’ table at the minute. You’re currently lying P7 but only ten points behind Renault in P5. Looking at these last four races, do you think you have the car to take P5?
Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, we hope that we do, and we’ve made some significant upgrades recently to the car and we’re still understanding it a little bit. Our drivers and team are up for the fight. It’s not going to be easy. We are ten points behind not ten ahead, which makes it doubly difficult but we’ll do all we can to finish fifth, if that’s possible.
Q: And a quick word on Lance Stroll if we may. We saw a strong performance from him in Japan, out-qualifying Checo Pérez for only the second time this year. Do you feel he’s finally turned a corner?
OS: Lance is a very intelligent and good racer and he’s been learning all year, so I’m not sure it’s turning a corner but he’s getting better and better. And apart from the little mishap we had, here he looked pretty strong in FP1 as well but that came to an abrupt end at Turn 16. But we’ve got two good drivers. Sergio’s been with us for a long time, he knows the team, he’s great on a Sunday; Lance is learning and hopefully between the two of them we can make up that ten-point deficit that we talked about.
Q: Christian, how confident are you coming into this weekend. Max Verstappen has won this race for the last two years, what chance a third?
Christian HORNER: I think you’d have to look at season in isolation, and I think at the moment Ferrari are very much the benchmark in terms of outright, one-lap pace, and qualifying is so important here because it’s pretty difficult to follow closely other cars. Obviously, Mercedes’ form has been phenomenal across all types of circuit this year. I think coming here it’s a bigger challenge than we’ve faced previously. And, of course, on top of that, we’ve got some variable weather around on Saturday and Sunday. I think it looking pretty tight if you looked at the first session though, looking at the relative competitiveness of the cars. So, it looks like it could be a fantastic battle over the next couple of days.
Q: You were third and fourth in FP1. Quick word on Alex Albon who has out-scored Max Verstappen 48-31 in the five races that they’ve done together as team-mates. His race performances have been very strong, he’s now starting to maximise the car in qualifying. Can you just sum-up his progress.
CH: Yeah, I think he’s doing a very good job. You have to remember this is his first season in Formula One. He’s up against an incredibly tough team-mate in Max and he hasn’t had the benefit of a bunch of testing or anything like that, so I think he’s equipped himself and adapted well. His feedback shows a very strong understanding of the car – and as he gains confidence on circuits he’s visiting for the first time, he’s certainly impressed the whole team with his attitude, his application and his performance so far.
Q: Re-sign him for 2020?
CH: It’s still early days. I think the privileged position that we’re in as Red Bull with the ownership of two teams is that we don’t have to make any firm decision about who partners Max until the end of the year. They’re all under contract to Red Bull, all of the drivers, so we’ll take our time to make sure we make all the evaluations in readiness for next year.
Q: While we’re talking about the future, can you provide us with some clarity about the team’s long term future with Honda? What are the plans?
CH: I think it’s very similar to everybody else at the moment: there is no Concorde Agreement in place; there’s a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes but there’s no team with any commitment to Formula One past the end of 2020. And so I think Honda, wisely, are waiting to see how the technical regulations, the sporting regulations pan out, and the commitment of the teams to the relevant Concorde Agreement, so, yeah, I think we’re in a relatively similar position to the other teams around me.
Q: Toto, so you clinched the Constructors’ Championship in Japan, great weekend for the team. Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect, where does this Constructors’ Championship rank in comparison to the other five?
Toto WOLFF: This year has been very different, because first of all the loss of Niki is overshadowing everything we do. He was such an important part of the team and with us at every single race and there’s still this big void – and you could feel that when we won the Championship in Japan, that he was missing. On the pure sporting side, obviously we set ourselves this unbelievable objective of trying to win six double-championships in a row, which was not done before and I think achieving that is really something that we can be proud of. But, having said that, we are always sceptical about our own performances and, if Ferrari wouldn’t have dropped the ball in Sochi, and wouldn't have dropped the ball in Suzuka at the start, it would have gone much further than Japan, and for this very reason, it’s nice to have locked it in, and have it between our two drivers for the Drivers’ World Championship but it doesn’t feel as if we have been really the dominant force in those last few races. And I see the positives in that – because it helps you to not get carried away with this fantastic achievement of six titles.
Q: While we’re talking about performance, your last pole position was back in Germany. Is that stat an accurate reflection of performance, or have you missed some opportunities?
TW: No, I think it’s an accurate reflection of performance and you can see that the Ferrari on a Saturday is almost unbeatable. They are able to up their game from Friday to Saturday and once all the power kicks in that they have available, it’s very difficult to compensate for the loss in straight line. But I don’t want to diminish their performance with the rest of the chassis either. They just seem to have the strongest car on Saturday. And when it comes to racing on Sunday, the Red Bull and the Mercedes are maybe a tiny bit more competitive at some of the races. Not the high-speed tracks that we’ve seen – but all of the others. We seem to be crawling back a little bit.
Q: And the Drivers’ Championship is now a straight fight between your guys. Are the orders from the boss going to be a little bit different this weekend?
TW: Well, Japan was a very complicated race for us in terms of strategies. I think we have an obligation to do our best, to give them a car that is reliable and fast for them to fight it out on track, give them equal opportunity, and if you look at the points, the probability is probably much better on Lewis’ side to win the Championship, but nevertheless, we don’t want to interfere in their fight and will do our best to stay neutral as we’ve always been.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Otmar, regarding the protest you filed against Renault in Japan, was that an issue you’d been looking at for a few races, or is it something you’ve been looking at for a long time?
OS: Well, we started looking at it after Silverstone. We, ourselves, had some issues with our brake bias actually failing, with I think resulted in Checo I think running into Hülkenberg at the restart after the Safety Car. That’s when we started looking at making our system a little bit more robust. As I’m sure everyone does, we started looking at our competitors to see what they do better than we do, and that’s when we noticed that Renault had the system that we really wanted. So it started in Silverstone. We then wrote to the FIA asking if we could do the same, and the FIA wrote back saying we can’t. So that’s how that all came about.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport-Total.com) A question to all four gentlemen: with the budget cap kicking in in ’21, is there an element of danger for sort of a spending war going on now and in 2020 for those who can afford to get a head start into ’21, as happened in 2014 with the hybrid formula?
TW: The truth is that we are all within the same financial reality and none of us has unlimited resource, unlimited financial resource behind us to just pour money into the system. It’s still about efficiency. I can tell you, and you know very well, that in the auto industry things are not looking easy. Nevertheless, having said that, it is clear that the big teams are the ones that are very restricted from 2021 onwards. We need to look at our structures, change process and maybe also the organisation in a way to adapt to these new challenges, which will hit us hard in 2021, because we will be doing things differently to the way we are doing them today. This is why it’s a clear in 2020 that we have to adapt and change and all this change is costly and will be happening in 2020, so 2020 will be a year of more financial expenditure in order to get ready for 2021.
AS: From my point of view I don’t see this big risk. The big teams or the top teams still really have a head start clearly for the ’21 regulations. I would say not just because of budget but because they are simply in better shape and are doing a better job. For the ’21 regulations the aerodynamics will still be a key performance differentiator. There are limitations also in place for next year, in terms of CFD and wind tunnel hours that you can do, so in the end everyone has to decide how much hours you want to spend on the ’20 car and the ’21 car, so that’s how we see it. On our side, on the budget side, we have a given budget so this will not be affected by the ’21 regs coming in, in ’20.
CH: I think we’ve missed a bit of an opportunity, in fact I raised it at the meeting last week, where, if you look at it, we have the budget cap, which in principle I think is pretty much agreed. It’s painful for the bigger teams and obviously will prevent the bigger teams from spending beyond that 175 million cap. I think with hindsight we would have been better bringing the cap in first for ’21 and then taking more time to develop these regulations and evolve them and bring them in in time for ’22, so that any development that the big teams undertake would be under the umbrella of the cap. I think it’s impossible to bring that cap forward to 2020 because you will never achieve agreement on it. So therefore, my feeling is that a budget cap is ultimately a sensible thing for Formula 1, but the interim period of 2020 with the current regulations we have as teams gear up for 2021 with unrestricted spend makes it a very expensive year and I think it will create a broader gap between the teams going into 2021 as those teams with more resource will simply spend more time in the research and development phase before the cars hit the track at the beginning of ’21. So, as I said, I think an opportunity has perhaps been lost to have that process more controlled under the cap and delay these regulations and evolve them, because there is some great stuff going on, but the car and the concept looks very underdeveloped at the moment and I think if another 12 months was taken to develop that concept and bring in something that works and perhaps addresses some of the other issues like weight and so on, I think would have been perhaps a more beneficial approach.
OS: From our perspective we’ll be way under the cost cap this year, next year and in future years to come. As Christian says, if next year there is a tendency to spend more to prepare for 2021, we certainly won’t be doing that, because we just don’t have the financial resources to do so and that might give the bigger teams that do have those resources an advantage going into 2021. So perhaps the sensible thing to be done, as Christian says, is to move the rules out so that you are faced with the umbrella of the cost cap when you’re developing for the new rules. I don’t know if that opportunity is completely gone but if it isn’t then it’s a sensible thing to do, because for us, we won’t be anywhere near the cost cap.
Q: Just before we move on: Toto, your thoughts on what Christian has just suggested?
TW: I think Christian said it in a very right way. I think in Formula 1 we are very ‘actionistic’ (sic). Things need to be done immediately and everything is so bad and we can’t continue without deploying a more strategic long-term vision. There are arguments that said ‘well, why don’t we put the cost cap forward, why don’t we implement it one year earlier and then start with the technical and sporting regulations in 2021’, but as Christian said, I think they are not very mature, the regulations will need some more input around the cost cap. The single most important factor is the auditing and policing process and none of that is in place for 2020 and obviously if you can’t police it in the right way it makes no sense to implement the rule. In general it’s a situation that we need to see a ramp-up in resource, in the way things are being policed, on the financial side and on the technical side. This is something that we need to address and therefore I think that the idea of pushing it one year out looks logical and strategically well thought through, but it didn’t gain the traction and didn’t trigger enough appetite with the ones that decide.
Q: Andreas?
AS: Yeah, not a lot more to add really. I think our position is clear. We like what is on the table now, what we have seen last week also, in terms of what’s coming in on the technical side, the sporting side and on the financial side ands just waiting now for the 31st of October to see the publication of these regulations and we all know what we have to work to from ’21 onwards.
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports News) Toto, we read some very powerful words today about your understanding of the racism Lewis suffered as a young boy. You also talked about how he’s not perhaps appreciated as he should be or has the honours he perhaps deserves. We see all the furore about making some comments about the environment recently. Do you have any lingering worry as his boss that there is an unconscious racial bias against him still?
TW: I don’t want to step too much into personal experiences and things that he made aware to me, because this is a discussion we had in private, but look at the room here, it’s not very diverse. I think for us it is very difficult to understand that if you are one of the very few that you are faced with these kind of situations. I can tell you that from my personal perspective, racism is not something that is out there and in a more educated environment and very into the face it’s more the subtle side that is very painful and hurts and this is why we sometimes need to put ourselves into a different perspective and I have very much learned to do that because of him and his perspective. I have never seen things in that way before he had explained it to me and I realised them. In terms of things that have been said around the environment, I think it is very important that each of us tries – and this is my personal opinion – tries to the best of his abilities to be conscious about things and help in reducing emissions and our own personal bit to the whole story. I have seen Lewis doing that. I have seen him changing in his behaviours, be it reducing his own flying, and he has done that, and I think we need to acknowledge that and respect rather than criticize. It’s the power… how can I say, almost like the economies of scale – if everybody changes we will have nine billion people changing and I think it needs to start with yourself and he has done that and I think he is right.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all four please. To pick up on the comments about the 2021 rules and what could have been done in terms of the cost cap. To be clear, do you think there is any scope to delay the wider introduction of new rules for 2021, would you support that, and what shape are 2021 rules in in general after last week’s meeting?
OS: Well, it was discussed at last week’s meeting. We had a bit of discussion, a debate on delaying the rules by a year, just for the reasons Christian mentioned. I think it’s just a bit more equitable between the big teams that can afford to spend more now if we delayed it by a year, but I think there is a small chance of that happening. As far the regulations go, we’ll know in a week’s time. They are a bit more restrictive than what we have today but it’s financial, technical and sporting, so it’s three different publications that we will get.
CH: As Otmar said, there are three elements that are going to be passed through at the end of the month. The sporting side is arguably the easiest. I think the technical regulations, they are immature and there are still a large amount of questions being raised. So I think what does get published there will be inevitable TDs and refinements before we get to the 2021 season. Likewise with the financial regulations, there has never been a policed budget cap in Formula 1 previously and obviously having all the tools and the infrastructure to police all the different corporate entities that exist and subsidiaries etc within Formula 1 is no small undertaking. It’s a very complex business and everybody’s structure is different. So there is a lot of ground to cover and even though I think regulations will come out on the 31st, I think there will still be financial directives, technical directives that see adjustments happen before we actually get to the 2021 year.
TW: Yeah, maybe only one point to add, because it’s pretty much my point of view too, is that I don’t think these regulations are going to be stopped. It’s been made very clear that this is moving forward. There will be tweaks and changes in detail and interpretations but broadly I think this is moving forward.
AS: Nothing to add really.
Q: (Christoph Becker – Frankfurter Allgemainer Zeitung) Coming into the year it looked like this was going to be Brexit season. Now it’s most likely not, it’s going to be in the future probably. Could you elaborate a little bit as to how much this issue has affected your teams this year, and how much it will continue to affect you, since the political situation seems to be a little bit unclear still?
AS: I obviously have also heard what’s going on there in detail….
TW: They’re going to kick him out first!
AS: … in the newspaper, but I’ve got the guarantee that I can stay at least, whatever happens. I think as a team we simply did our homework and prepared for every possible scenario which is on the horizon and I’m sure whatever happens in the next weeks and months there will be solutions in place and we will keep going racing.
TW: I think you need to prepare as in every company out there, for a potential impact. It’s clear that it will harm us in a way because our business live with the just-in-time concept of product supplies, but we are going to get our head around it and as a team I think we have put a lot of effort into understanding what the potential impact could be and we are ready for whatever outcome.
CH: Likewise we’ve done our research, as far as you can do, as to what is the potential impacts of a Brexit, if there is a deal, if there’s no deal, if there’s extensions, and I think it’s been a bit of distraction this year in certain respects. I think people, as a whole, are fed up with it. They just want it done, one way or another and whatever it is we’ll deal with and get on with it. It’s a little bit of a comedy show, British politics, at the moment in the way that the whole issue has been handled with obviously different agendas being covered. But whatever it is, we will deal with it and I think we’ve done our due diligence whichever way it goes.
OS: We’ve been planning for the worst case, the worst case being a no deal Brexit so I think we’ve put some plans in place to cope with that and we’re hoping for the best case. But only time will tell, but I think we’re well prepared to keep going if Brexit does happen sooner rather than later and there is no deal.
Q: (Bart van Dooijeweert – Nu.NL) Christian, Max Verstappen is driving the 99th GP of his career this weekend, making one hundred in the US. Obviously he’s not a rookie any more. You’ve been very positive about his results the last 18 months. On the other hand, in this sport, nobody’s perfect, there’s always room to improve so what can he still do better do you think?
CH: Well, I think you’re always learning in any sport. I think that it’s incredible to think that Max has only just turned 22 years of age and he’s about to celebrate his 100th Grand Prix, which is a remarkable record already. I think he’s doing a great job. You can see that the experience of those 99 races is really serving him well. I think he’d probably only done about 25 races in cars before he arrived in Formula One so all his learning has been very much under the scrutiny of the media and I think he’s dealt with that incredibly well. He’s extremely well rounded now; he’s almost a veteran!
Q: (Fernando Alonso – Motorlat.com) Toto, there’s a subject about the upgrades on your engine, that there are a lot of worries, precisely in the site of Racing Point and the problems that the car that Checo has in several races. Do you think these problems are more about the hard to develop this season or is it because the development is taking as high as possible or is more about the configuration for the other teams?
TW: I think you have no differences between the configurations. As per the rules, you need to have the same hard and software on every car and our philosophy has always been that the learning that is happening across a multitude of cars is very important to improve the performance. On the Racing Point cars, we’ve been unlucky this year, in the same way we’ve been unlucky with Robert (Kubica), I think it was Spa and these have been incidents that are not down to pushing performance but more things that we haven’t seen before on the dynos, so things still break, this is a mechanical sport and with all the best simulations in the world you still sometimes find out while running them in anger that things break and this is what happened to us and this is something we need to keep under control, also for the future races. Certainly it’s something that we need to be on our toes for the last few races in order to give equal material to our two drivers and next year we just need to get better in terms of reliability as well.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Toto, Lewis traditionally turns up in the second half of the season but this year he has won just one race since the summer break and then Ferrari have come back as well. Lewis spoke the other day about how he’s had quite a lot going on his life and I just wondered if you’d noticed anything different with him this season or is it perhaps just very draining going for his sixth title?
TW: There is a reason why this is a record. I think it’s very difficult to keep yourself in the right spot, motivated, energised, passionate about things and we certainly are but it’s not trivial. I don’t think this has really played a role in his second part of the season. I think that Valtteri has upped his game which is good for the team, it’s good for Lewis, it’s good to see. The Ferrari has become very strong and has resurged after the summer break and has become the benchmark and the result is that we’ve not been able to score the results that we had in the first half of the season, so I wouldn’t put it down to him as a driver, I think he’s still in a very good place. It’s more that he didn’t have the car that was able to give him these kind of results.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Toto, I was wondering that when you get the new regulations signed and sealed, will you then sit down with Lewis to discuss a new deal and how strongly do you believe that you will be able to keep him away from Ferrari?
TW: I think that this Ferrari thing has maybe been blown out of proportion. Lewis has a clear opinion where he sees himself in the future and we are and have always been very loyal to our drivers. This is taking it ordinary cross of business, 2021 everything is different and the drivers in the same way as the teams will be looking at opportunities and their future evaluate options that are on the table, benchmark the team’s performance and at the end of the day the cars’ performance is what counts the most for the top guys. These discussions have slowly but surely started but I don’t see this coming to any closure in terms of the 2021 line-up any time soon. That will be going into the next season, is my opinion.
