2018 Chinese Grand Prix: FIA Team Members Press Conference TRANSCRIPT

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Franz, can we start by looking back at the Bahrain Grand Prix. How satisfying was Pierre’s fourth place and can you give us some idea of the emotion within the team and at Honda after the race?

Franz TOST: Well, it was a very emotional race result of course, because the fourth place we didn’t expect. We expected to show quite a good performance and realistically I expected a place between eight and ten. At the end it was the fourth place. It was a big positive surprise and I’m very happy, especially for Honda after the difficulties they had in the past, and also for Toro Rosso of course, and for Pierre. Pierre drove a fantastic race, without any mistakes. He deserved this fourth position and I hope that we can continue in a similar way. Not always in the fourth position of course, because we must not forget that three cars in front of us did not finish. They were faster, like Kimi Räikkönen, then Verstappen and also Ricciardo. But nevertheless, it was a good performance.

One of your most satisfying results in Formula 1? You, personally?

FT: Of course one of the most satisfying results, especially thinking about Honda, because we last year, in December, we had many meetings in Tokyo and I promised the president that we would have a successful season and a successful future, and this was the first step. Therefore, I was quite satisfied to have this good result.

You’ve already said that Pierre drove a fantastic race, but Brendon had a more difficult weekend. What can we expect from him this weekend and going forward as well?

FT: Brendon was also quite good in the qualifying. He missed Q3 just by one tenth. The race went a little bit in another direction because he had a collision with Pérez and he got the 10-second penalty and after this penalty he was not anymore in a position to score points, although I think if the race had gone for another three to five laps maybe he could have finished in 10th position. He drove a good race. Brendon is doing a good job, because you must not forget that most of the tracks, he doesn’t know. Also here, he is the first time with a Formula 1 car, he was here in LMP1. It’s not so easy to get everything together with these real strong midfield competitors and I am quite convinced that Brendon is on a good way and he will quite soon be close to Gasly.

Thank you. Bob, turning to you, a point for Esteban in Bahrain demonstrated progress for Force India, but it hasn’t been the easiest of starts. How do you assess the opening couple of races, and the winter as well? 

Robert FERNLEY: Well, I think actually it’s probably misleading. As a team, we have actually improved race-on-race, both for Australia and for Bahrain, by quite a significant amount. In terms of the opposition, they have improved even more, and the reliability is there. Last year we probably flattered a little bit to deceive getting the points early in the season, while we were very strong towards the end of the season. And I think it’s probably the same now. We had a good baseline programme for Bahrain in FP1 and FP2, which paid off, and you could see the difference in qualifying. We didn’t have a particularly good race: Checo had his incident on lap one, which basically took him out, and Esteban had a bad re-start, and we got betwixt and between a strategy that really didn’t pay off for us. I think hopefully we’re getting back on track again and the team under Andrew Green will do a great job of bringing the car forward.

You made a reference there to the midfield closing up. Can you give some feeling of how difficult the task ahead is? Not only for Force India but for everyone in that midfield? What’s the secret for your guys to finish fourth this year?

RF: I think it’s, well, like all times it’s down to reliability and being able to maintain the pace all the time. If you look at Bahrain, and looking at two or three teams, if you look at the Haas programme, one was in Q3, one dropped out in Q1. If you look at the McLarens, they just got the set-up slightly wrong and didn’t have the pace to get to Q3. It’s literally a tenth or two and that’s the difference in making Q3 and not.

Can you remember a time when the midfield was as tight as this?

RF: Not in recent years, no. I think it’s tremendous. The battle for that fourth place in the championship is going to be extremely interesting through the year.

Thank you. Maurizio, two races, two victories for the team, it’s been a tremendous start. But first, and most importantly, how is Francesco Cigarini, the mechanic who was injured in Bahrain last weekend?

Maurizio ARRIVABENE: Francesco is fine. He went back to Italy yesterday, so it’s all under control.

And how is he? Is he in good spirits? Have you had the chance to catch up with him?

MA: Of course, as team principal I was talking with him every day. He’s at home, it’s all OK.

Fantastic news. As I say, two victories so far and Sebastian is sitting pretty at the top of the championship. He seemed happier with his car in Bahrain last weekend than he was in Melbourne. Can we expect further progress on that front here in China as well.

MA: We are at the early stage of the season. The performance of the car is changing and it is really related to the track. So track versus other track, they are changing the performance. They have different characteristics. So I think at this early stage we are happy for the results that we have. But in the meantime we know that the season will be long. Here, for example, in China we will see Mercedes and Red Bull quite strong, but we are not here to surrender.

Maurizio, can we have a quick word from you about the performance of Kimi Räikkönen this year? He seems to have hit the ground running, he’s performing well.

MA: Yeah, I’m quite happy about the performance of Kimi. He is in good physical form, which for him is very, very important, because, if you remember, a couple of years ago he has a problem with his back but now he is recovering well, he’s really fit, and focused on his job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Maurizio, can you explain why Kimi was given the green light to leave in the pit stop in Bahrain and what has changed in the procedure for this weekend?

MA: Just to make it clear, once, forever. First of all, the team was hurt. We have a person who was injured, so it was in our interest to review the overall procedure. We done our review, together with the FIA have to say, as they are caring about safety, as we are caring about safety. We went through all the procedure. We have a procedure to ensure that the pit stops during the race are done in the most safe mode. In this case we have three factor – one involves human control, the other involves mechanical, the other involves electronic device. What’s happening there is we have a mishandling of the rear left. It was not perfectly read by the electronic device that gives the green light. We went through all the procedure together with the FIA, making sure that this thing doesn't happen again, and it’s in our interest, because we care about our people, before anything else.

Q: (Michael Butterworth – Xinhua News Agency) This is to Franz. We talked just now about your fourth place last time out in Bahrain and we know that the McLaren-Honda partnership wasn’t that successful over the last three years or so. Do you think it’s a case that Honda is a better fit for a team like Toro Rosso than it was with a team like McLaren, for example?

FT: I don’t know the circumstances which happened at McLaren and I do not want to comment on this because this is past tense and I was not involved – therefore I cannot come up with any conclusions. The fact is Toro Rosso has a fantastic relationship with Honda. We work very closely together, we worked quite hard during the winter months to sort out all the problems which maybe occurred in the past and Honda worked very hard to come up with a reliable and competitive engine. The last two races they proved that this is the case and I am really optimistic for the future.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) To all three of you but particularly to Maurizio. Your comments please about the Liberty presentation last Friday and whether Maurizio, Ferrari is satisfied with what was proposed in terms of either bonus structure, financial structure etcetera. And the impact on your team of the necessary reduction in headcount.

MA: First of all Dieter, I was not commenting on the meeting that we have. We were listening to the presentation and any kind of decision related to our further strategy or decision, they are related to our CEO. That is the one that has the responsibility to take this kind of decision.

Bob, anything further to add?

RF: Not really. I think we have to remember this is work in progress. It’s not something that really is for discussion at this point. It’s something that’s presented to us. It will go another few rounds yet before something becomes more concrete. I think it’s too presumptuous to start thinking that we’ve got the process in place yet. I think it’s too early.

Franz, anything from you on that?

FT: I support all the points which Liberty Media presented and I hope that they will realise it.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Maurizio about the matter of the meeting. It’s difficult to comment but I would just like to know if Ferrari refuse totally the budget cap or if there is a door open to discuss something like this – maybe with different figures. And, about the new distribution of money, if it’s something that you don’t want to discuss at all with Liberty or there is some chance to speak about it.

MA: I have to point out that it’s not difficult to make a comment. It’s simply not my job. It's the responsibility of my chairman.

Q: (Steve Wade – AP) Forgive me, I came in late. Can you explain again the condition of your mechanic and if you’ve been to see him, been in contact with him.

MA: The first comment is that he’s back in Italy, he’s at home and he’s OK.

Are you in contact with him?

MA: Of course. As the team principal I’m in contact with him. His name is Francesco but he’s not St Francesco. Blessing the hurt who doesn’t need hero. This is Bertolt Brecht, it’s not Maurizio.

Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Question for Maurizio. Although it’s not your job to discuss the proposals, it would be your role to implement any changes to Ferrari as a result of the proposals. Toto Wolff has said a budget cap of $150million is not achievable. Could such a thing be achievable for Ferrari?

MA: I mean we are reading the overall document. We are discussing and, I mean, we will see in the future if it’s achievable or not.

Q: (Gaëtan Vigneron – RTBF) Question for Franz. There is always a technical aspect in a relationship but there is a also a human one. What did you try to do to build a respectful relationship with Honda with the kind of harmony that was maybe a little bit missing in the past years with another team?

FT: The Toro Rosso team from its nature is a very friendly team with Italian mentality. I must say that we never had any frictions from the very beginning onwards we had a good cooperation. In addition to this, we organised some workshops for our engineers and employees who are working together with the Honda people, to understand the culture, to understand the way of thinking, because the cultures between Europe and Japan are different. I must say that they found a really good way of working together without any problems and I am also convinced that this will continue in this way. From the technical side, as I mentioned before, we had a couple of technical meetings in December where we discussed different topics and where both sides started immediately to work on this and we are still quite close, cooperating together because we want to develop the car as well as the power unit also during the season. From this point of view I must say Toro Rosso is in the best situation we have ever been – because we are now much more involved in the complete design process, regarding the car and how to fit in the power unit, how to design the cooling system, the exhaust system, where to put the electric boxes and so on. I think, especially for next year, this will be a big advantage from the complete car design point of view.

Franz, are there Honda engineers based in Faenza?

FT: No, the Honda engineers are based… some of them are based in Milton Keynes, because Honda has there as well an R&D department, but most of them are in Sakura and our engineers are flying to Sakura, to Japan when there is a special programme on the dyno or wherever because we are now much more involved also in the dyno runnings. We started already in November/December with the gearbox, and engine and gearbox tests and gearshifts and all this kind of stuff and we also are currently running a programme in Sakura.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Bob, you said earlier on that this is a work in progress, this Liberty presentation. To all three of you, what is the deadline needed before it’s really firmed up and proposals are made and accepted and regulations, because we only have two and a half years left before the current agreements expire?

BF: I am hoping that most of it will be done this year, perhaps the financials will take a bit longer but I would have thought that the engine regulations would have to be out reasonably quickly. It’s more to do with the engine manufacturers than it is us. We’re a customer team so we’re not really involved in that, Dieter, but I’m sure those would have to be done this year to give everybody the right opportunity and I would have thought that early next year – this time – we should be looking at chassis regs and anything else that’s surrounding that; cost controls or whatever, should be in place as well.

MA: They give us a deadline for the end of May, I think. I hope that this deadline is going to be respected. It’s a bit early somehow but it’s far if you’re looking at the situation from another point of view, a technical point of view. Concerning the engine, we, Mercedes, Renault and Honda sent a letter a month ago explaining in detail our position. Now, it’s quite clear.

FT: I think the power unit regulation has to be finalised soon, May, June, otherwise I don’t think it’s possible for new manufacturers to come into Formula One because time is running away, ’21 is tomorrow and I think that Liberty Media is aware of this and the rest we will see.

Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) I’ll try my luck with a question to Maurizio: Maurizio how would Ferrari react if you were to lose your historic right to veto any regulation change under Liberty Media’s new governance plans?

MA: We’ll let you know as soon as we go deeper into the conversations. You can see a smile on our face or not.

BF: Veto the question.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Maurizio, Bob has said that he would like to see the engine regulations firmed up this year then the chassis in a year’s time and the money thereafter. From a Ferrari perspective, can one actually split it, given that to Ferrari all three are very very important elements which would be basically decide your way forward?

MA: All the elements are important because they are somehow linked together so soon we will find an agreement if any, related to the various topics that are into the proposals and then we can go.

BF: Just to clarify Dieter, it would be nice to have everything done in one go but I’m giving you the timelines that might be realistic rather than (those that) are absolutely necessary.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Maurizio, about the sporting situation now, I would like to ask you what makes you more proud about this season?

MA: As I said at the beginning, we have only had two races now. The season is very very long so as I said before, the car behaviour changes from one track to another. I can see here, for example, Mercedes and Red Bull are quite strong but we are not here, as I said before, to surrender. You came later, I suppose. You were not here.

Q: (Yang Guang – China Radio International) My question is about the circuit; there were a few slides in the morning practice, so how would you assess the condition of the Shanghai Circuit and what are your strategies for the following sessions in terms of the weather conditions?

MA: Talking about the strategy, can you ask this question to Horner and Toto and then you let me know? Talking about the track, yeah, it’s a fantastic track, it’s very different versus Australia and Bahrain where we competed. I think it’s great to be here because we feel that Chinese people really support Formula One and I think that in the future and I hope that in the near future they are supporting further because the infrastructure here is great.

Q: And Bob, your strategy going forward for the rest of the sessions?

BF: If you could control the wind, that would be the strategy! I think that it’s a wind related issue today, it’s very strong and gusting so it’s causing a few issues for the drivers but the track is fantastic and it’s a great facility. We just look forward to being able to optimise the set-ups.

FT: There’s not much to add. Yeah, it’s a fantastic infrastructure here, it’s a really nice racetrack, we always like to come here. Unfortunately the weather is not as beautiful as it could be because it’s a little bit cold and the wind is blowing a lot which has a big impact on the behaviour and the balance of the car and the strategy is to do as many laps as possible because our drivers need to learn the track and they will do some long runs today in the afternoon and then we will see.

MA: I would like to say something concerning Bahrain. I would like to thank our doctor, our team doctor, the medical staff of the FIA and also the authorities in Bahrain, they immediately granted to us the best doctors in Bahrain to do the surgery and they were assisting us 24 hours (a day) literally, so thanks to all of them.

SOURCE: FIA.com
IMAGE COPYRIGHT: Sutton Images 

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden begin title defense in Barcelona

The 2018 PSRX Volkswagen Sweden camouflage livery
Copyright: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden

After 153 days away from competition, the 2018 World Rallycross season is only days away. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden are raring to go but are aware that the competition is going to be fierce this year. 

"We all need to work very hard, the boys need to stay out of trouble and focus on the team strategy to defend our two FIA World RX titles. Now we’re looking forward to an exciting season with fair and professional driving. Petter Solberg will start his 50th World RX race this weekend", said Pernilla Solberg, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Team Principal.

Last year was the team’s rookie season and the three-way partnership between Petter’s PSRX squad, Volkswagen Sweden and Volkswagen Motorsport couldn’t have worked better. It was the dream start, with both titles taken with two rounds to spare and victory in eight of the 12 races. 

The first round of the season takes place at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona from 14-15 April, where PSRX Volkswagen will begin their title defense. 

Petter Solberg said: “Catalunya is a good track for me, it’s got some nice longer corners where you can bring a little bit more speed. This Volkswagen Polo R Supercar we have is an unbelievable car to drive, you know we are hitting 100kph in under two seconds; we are accelerating faster than a Formula 1 car and then we are going to gravel. Honestly, this sport is just fantastic – the thrill you have when you are sitting waiting to go is fantastic. I love it. My target for my 50th World RX race is to give them (the Spanish fans) a Petter Solberg win to celebrate!"

All eyes will be on defending FIA World Rallycross Champion, Johan Kristoffersson who dominated the 2017 season winning seven out of the 12 rounds. And clinching the title with 2 rounds to go. Johan Kristoffersson said:“Last year was unbelievable for me, winning at home in Höljes was something else and then breaking some records was amazing, but I think this year will be tougher. Last year we were able to surprise some people, but now they’re ready – and I think a few of the teams are even having some surprises for us!"

LET'S GO RACING!

Image Copyright: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden
Written By: Junaid Samodien

2018 Chinese Grand Prix: FIA Drivers Press Conference.

DRIVERS – Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Pierre, if we could start with you please. Let’s start by reflecting on your sensational result in Bahrain last weekend. How do you reflect on what happened there, and what kind of reaction have you had around the world?

Pierre GASLY: I must say it’s been amazing. First, just personally, y’know? It’s a big investment for a long time, since I’m a kid. It’s a lot of work, a lot of preparation and, of course, it’s my best result in Formula One – but just to see that all the work I’m doing at the moment is paying off and actually we are going in the right direction, so of course, I’m really happy about it. And secondly, for the team, it’s only our second race with Honda and already we can see that we are actually going in the right direction, communication-wise everything is going well and the car is competitive. So, this was really amazing, and also the support I got afterwards, after the weekend, I’m just super-impressed. A lot of articles, a lot of TVs, and media writing as well. It was something impressive but really nice, a lot of support from the people as well. So, it’s been great.

Q: You say the car is competitive. Do you think the performance will translate to a track like this one?

PG: I’ll tell you tomorrow! I really hope so. I think definitely we understood much more about our car potential, car setup, about the tyres but still we need confirmation, as you say, and I think this weekend will be a good opportunity to see if… definitely to judge our baseline and see if the potential is the same on other tracks. Definitely we need to be quite careful. Bahrain has been so good for us and I don’t know if it’s going to be similar on other tracks. So yeah, hopefully it’s going to be the same but we’ll find out tomorrow.

Q: And are you coming into this weekend feeling very confident?

PG: Yeah, definitely, we feel more confident than we were, for example, in Melbourne or for Bahrain. This is going to be my first time in Shanghai, so it’s also going to be a new track for me. We’ll probably take a bit more time to adapt myself but definitely we are a bit more confident but still we need to be careful – because we have no guarantees about the performance – we know it’s really tight in the midfield. In Bahrain, the car was just fantastic in terms of balance, in terms of grip – but we know that if we don't get everything right, suddenly if you lose two or three tenths you can be at the back of the midfield and it changes your weekend completely. So, we need to be quite careful and just make sure we do the right things.

Q: Marcus, you’re another man celebrating a tremendous race in Bahrain. How do you look back on last weekend’s events?

Marcus ERICSSON: Yes, like you say it was a great race for us, great to be in the points and also a great reward to everyone in the team. It’s been a lot of things happening over the winter. We’re coming from two very difficult years, where we’ve been always at the back as a team, and then this year we’re coming into the year with Alfa Romeo coming on as a main sponsor, and partner to the team and it’s like a new chapter for Sauber. It’s been a lot of work put in to make a step forwards and to move up the grid. And to be already at the second race of the year in the points, it’s, I think, a great result, a great team result and a great boost for everyone. So yeah, it was very nice. And also for myself personally, I was super happy to be back in the points. It’s been a long time. So, yeah, overall it was very positive.

Q: Tell us a little more about that. It’s been 50 races since you were last in the points. How much of a relief was it?

ME: Of course, it was big relief. I think I’ve had four times P11 since then. So, I was close a lot of times, and had some great races but it’s very difficult when you’re in the worst car on the grid. Some races I had a perfect race – and finished P14 or something like that. It’s frustrating, but, yeah, of course we’re all here to try to score points. So to be back in the points last weekend was a great relief.

Q: You say last year’s car was the worst on the grid. How good is this one?

ME: I think we have a very solid baseline to work from. Like Pierre said, the midfield is very, very close and I feel that we are very much in that midfield – but probably in the lower part of that midfield at the moment. But also like Toro Rosso showed last weekend, if you make a step you can really move quickly up or down in that midfield group. So, first of all I’m just very happy that we part of that group on pure speed. Now we need to work even harder to try to improve that position – but I know everyone does, both here on track and also in the factory and we have a lot of things planned for the season. We need to keep working hard, keep pushing hard and then we should be able to fight every weekend.

I’m sure you’ll keep doing that Marcus. Thank you very much. Max, coming to you now. As much as the other guys had a good weekend in Bahrain, it was a very frustrating one for you and Red Bull Racing; I think it was the team’s first double retirement since Korea in 2010. Can we start by talking about the car? You were very bullish about it in winter testing but now that we’re a couple of races in, just how competitive is it?

Max VERSTAPPEN: The car is very quick, I think especially in the race. I think we know in qualifying we are losing out a bit, just on pure performance, on top speed. But as soon as that all calms down a bit in the race, yeah, I was very confident, for example, before we went into the race to still move up a lot of positions, because I think the car was definitely capable of just driving back to the podium. So yeah, I’m just looking forward to get started again here, because we have a good package, and there are a lot of good things coming. So, yeah, ready to go.

You made a very good start on Sunday and then there was the incident with Lewis Hamilton. Just one week on how do you reflect on what happened with Hamilton? Have you seen it on TV?

MV: I was in the car. So I felt it, I saw it! That’s racing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You can say whatever you like about the incident. I think I had a fair shot at it. It was nothing crazy, nothing risky. But yeah, unfortunately this time it didn’t work out. Looking back, for example, in Mexico last year it did work out. This time we gave each maybe not enough space, but that’s racing as well at the end of the day. Like I said, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad.

Have you spoken to Lewis since the incident?

MV: No.

So looking ahead to this weekend, how important is it for you to get into the points and might we see a more conservative approach this weekend?

MV: It’s always important to score points and that’s always the target, but we are here to finish on the podium or win races – that’s why we’re here. That’s what I will try to do again this weekend. So, for me, there won’t be a change.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association ) Max, did you hear what Lewis had to say after the race? Do you think you will have a chat with him this weekend? And do you think that you will address your driving style going forward?

MV: No. I might have a talk with him. It depends if it’s really necessary. But why should I change something. I don’t think I did anything wrong in terms of my approach. I was just trying to overtake a car. I think it was a fair chance. I went for it. For example, last year in Mexico it could have gone wrong as well – maybe for me, maybe for another car. As you could see in Mexico it did. It’s racing; it’s very simple. I don’t understand why everybody is so on top of the topic. Those things happen in racing, you know.

Q: (Jaap de Groot – De Telegraaf) Max, reflecting on what happened last week in Bahrain and thinking back to last year here. You also started at P16 and finished third. Remember the first lap? That was fantastic. Is that also for an inspiration? You talk about Mexico but over here you even did a better than that, taking over your opponents.

MV: Yeah, it was. That race was starting on wet tyres, so it’s always easier to get past people if you have a good feeling and a good car. So yeah, always in the dry it’s a bit more tricky. Sometimes you have those first laps where everything works out perfect.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Pierre, your result in Bahrain was Honda’s best since it came back into Formula 1. It’s obviously made a clear step in reliability – the changes it introduced after Australia. Performance-wise, what are you expecting this weekend? The energy recovery system has always been its limiting factor and there is a long back straight here and a long start-finish straight as well.

PG: We expect to be quite competitive, after what we learned from Bahrain. But as I say, we don’t know if we’re going to be on top of the midfield, if we are going to be in the middle, we just know that to have a similar performance as Bahrain we really need to be on top of everything and just make everything perfectly. The track layout, for sure, is not one of our favourites, or is not going to be as easy, with the long back straight. But still you need to have a really strong car in the middle part of the track, so I think we can still expect to be competitive. But to have a clear picture, we have done only two races. We were pretty slow in Melbourne. We were very competitive in Bahrain, even faster than what we expected, so it’s still difficult for us to know for us exactly where is the performance of the car. I think we are going to be in the fight for the midfield, but hopefully on top of it.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Gasly, we heard after the race in Bahrain that you said that we are in the fight now and it seems that it was a reply to what Fernando said the week before. So I would like to know your comment on that.

PG: It was simple, it was just a little joke, that’s it. I think we need to give credit back to Honda. In the end, they have had a tough three years with McLaren and to finish P4 in the second race with them was just amazing, so it was a way to give them credit, because they are working really hard and yeah, I think they need credit for the hard work they are doing. But don’t get me wrong, I must say I had pretty tough messages after that, after the race, by some Spanish people who are actually quite crazy. I have huge respect for Fernando so I’m just making it clear. Don’t get me wrong. Fernando for sure is one of the best drivers of all time in Formula One, and one of the drivers I looked up to when I was young, one of my idols actually. No, I have huge respect for him, so it was nothing related, just a high comment for Honda because I think they deserved the credit.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Ericsson, you talked before about a new chapter with Alfa Romeo. I would like to know exactly how the situation is now, if you can compare it to last year? So what does it feel to be the first driver to collect points with the Alfa brand on the car?

ME: Like I said, for the team, it’s like a new chapter this year. A lot of things have been changing over the winter, especially, obviously, with Alfa Romeo coming on board, a lot of new people coming in to the team. A lot of things changing, completely different resources. It’s been a big change and you can feel it inside the team. You can feel the motivation is very high, people are believing again. It’s a big motivation to move up the grid, whereas it’s been more about the team surviving the last few years, so it’s not so much been pushing for performance, it’s been more pushing for trying to survive every week, every race. Having that mindset, it’s then difficult to get the results whereas now we go into the season to push, to make results and to move up the grid. It’s just a completely different mindset. For me, that’s been very nice to see. So far it’s been very good, but we still have a long way to go and we need to keep working hard but it’s been very positive.

On the second part, to score points, being the first one in this new chapter with Alfa, I think it’s something that makes me proud. First of all I’m proud to represent Alfa Romeo in Formula One again, I think it’s a very legendary brand. It’s very special to represent them in Formula One again and of course to score points with them.

Q: How much of a step forward is this year’s Ferrari power unit compared to the year-old one you were using in 2017?

ME: It’s very big, not only in power but in everything: driveability, energy management and all those things. It’s a very very big step. It’s nice not to have that handicap like we had last year because it was a very big disadvantage last year.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Max, if the way you were driving you believe was fine, why do you think Lewis was moved to have a go at you?

MV: Why? Because it’s quite easy and simple to blame the younger driver. That’s the only way I can see it. Like I said, these things happen. There’s no reason for me to change anything.

Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – AD Sportwereld) Max, if you would make a list of your favourite tracks, where would Shanghai be in that list?

MV: Somewhere!

Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – AD Sportwereld) Top five or lower?

MV: Yeah, it’s good actually, yeah, especially for racing, I think it’s a good track, so it’s definitely on that list.

Q: (Jaap de Groot - De Telegraaf) Max, in Bahrain, several things went wrong with you and the car of Ricciardo. Did the team already analyse the whole matter and could you give me some information on that?

MV: Yeah, from my side, we put a new wheel on the car, a new floor, because that was destroyed. No, I think it was mainly more from Daniel’s car of course and in the race I think we had the problem quite similar to me last year in Canada and I think in testing this year as well. So it’s definitely something to look into but what can you do about it? It’s something that Renault needs to sort out. They are of course working really hard on that. They will again try their very best to provide us with the best possible equipment here. I’m actually not too worried about it and at the end of the day, if it happens it happens. You can’t prevent it.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Very quick question to Max: did you have to change the gearbox for this race or not?

MV: Why? I retired anyway so I can do those kind of things.

SOURCE: FIA.com
Image Copyright: Sutton Images

The 2018 FIA World RX cost saving measures

Image Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross season kicks off with the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona on 14-15 April. It is set to be a thrilling championship with PSRX Volkswagen Sweden, EKS RX, Sebastien Loeb Racing, GC Kompetition etc. all battling it out for the championship title. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden were the most dominant team in their debut season winning 8 out of the 12 round in the 2017 World RX Championship. But the action is set to heat up with closer racing after changes were made by the FIA World MotorSport Council 

In December 2017, the FIA World MotorSport Council (WMSC) discussed measures for controlling costs for the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship. With a lot of discussion taking place during the various race weekends of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship where costs were said to be rising due to the increased Manufacturer involvement and development in the series, this led to talks about how to combat rising costs in World RX.

The FIA WMSC then announced the following measures for the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship to better control costs where there are new limitations on the following components:

Engines: 

• Reduction from three to two engine seals per year

• Introduction of a Technical Declaration form, to supplement the Technical Passport, which will be used to identify items that are restricted to remove development opportunities and costs

• Restrict brakes to the declared specification for the year

Turbos:

• Reduction from six to four turbochargers per year

Tyres: 

• Tyre usage: in the first two events a maximum of 12 new tyres (wet and dry) may be registered per car.

• From the third event, a maximum of eight news tyres (wet and dry) and four used tyres (wet and dry) registered in a previous event may be registered. Only registered tyres can be used in the event [this represents a reduction in the number of tyres available as it removes the possibility to use unregistered tyres in practice and warm-up].

Gearbox Ratios:

• The make, model and location of the gearbox.
• If a central differential is used (transmission specification is locked for the year with or without a centre diff.)
• Restrict gear ratios to two declared sets for the year.

Aerodynamic Devices:

• Restrict the rear aerodynamic device to the declared specification for the year

Source: FIA.com
Image: FIA World Rallycross

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden - The hunters become the hunted.

Petter Solberg testing the 2018 PSRX Volkswagen Polo R Supercar.
Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

After a hugely impressive debut season, the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team have to take on the challenge of defending their 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship titles. The team won 8 out of 12 championship rounds with Johann Kristoffersson being crowned World Champion. 

The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team will be supported by Volkswagen Motorsport: the world champion team from 2017 will receive technical support from Hanover and Wolfsburg in the form of the carefully enhanced 419 kW (570 HP) Polo R Supercar. 

“Winning titles is one thing, but it is often more difficult to retain them,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. “We are proud of what we have achieved together with the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team. However, every team is starting from scratch in the new season, and the competition is extremely strong this year. But Johan Kristoffersson is the defending champion and Petter Solberg is a two-time world champion – we have a great driver line-up. At the first race in Barcelona this weekend, we will see who did their homework best.”

The car behind the championship success of 2017 has undergone some detailed development during the winter break – the Polo R Supercar for the World Rallycross Championship. The most obvious changes to the 2018 Polo for the WRX can be seen in the aerodynamics and the front cooling concept. The completely new rear wing provides engineers with more set-up options. The new front skirt provides improved cooling and airflow, compared to its predecessor.

“Just over twelve months ago, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden was formed from two world championship teams – one from the WRC, responsible for technology, one from the WRX, responsible for logistics,” explains Pernilla Solberg, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team principal. “It has been a pleasure to follow this development along the path to the World Championship titles. Everyone shares the same drive: to win. We are looking forward to the new season and intend to give our all to continue this success story.”

The 2018 World Rallycross championship roars into action at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona

Image Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship roars into action this weekend as the opening round of the eagerly-anticipated 12-event season kicks off with the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona on 14-15 April 2018.

A field of 15 permanent Supercar entries will battle it out for the coveted World RX Drivers’ title this season, with reigning champion Johan Kristoffersson facing a renewed challenge from a high quality line-up as he bids to hold onto his hard-earned crown.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya once more sets the scene for the World RX season opener, its fast sweeping curves and undulating sections renowned for challenging drivers and thrilling spectators equally. Furthermore, the F1 and MotoGP venue is complemented by its Joker Lap sequence, which has led to memorable moments in previous years as drivers tackle the parallel, off-camber track sections. The start line has been repositioned ahead of this year's event with turn one now a left-hander leading uphill and into an unsealed section. Race strategy may also change now the Joker is located mid-lap.

Sweden’s Kristoffersson heads up the permanent Supercar entries alongside PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team-mate and two-time World Champion Petter Solberg, the pair getting their hands on a revised VW Polo R for 2018 in the manufacturer's quest to keep hold of both the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles.

EKS Audi Sport brings an all-new Audi S1 to the start-line for Mattias Ekstrom – the winner in Catalunya-Barcelona – last season and new signing Andreas Bakkerud, while the rebranded Team Peugeot Total outfit reflects the French manufacturer’s factory commitment for 2018 with Sebastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen leading its challenge.

Olsbergs MSE returns to World RX with a pair of latest specification Ford Fiestas for Kevin Eriksson and Robin Larsson, while GRX Taneco expands to include Timur Timerzyanov alongside Niclas Gronholm in two newly-constructed Hyundai i20 Supercars.

The World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona will also herald the much-anticipated race debut for the GC Kompetition Renault Megane RS R.X. Developed by legendary engineering house Prodrive, the cars will be campaigned by Guerlain Chicherit and Jerome Grosset-Janin.

Kevin Hansen (Team Peugeot Total), Janis Baumanis (Team STARD) and Gregoire Demoustier (Sebastien Loeb Racing) will compete for the Drivers' title as permanent individual entries.  

As well as the 15 permanent World RX drivers, two round-by-round entries will compete in the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona; Oliver Bennett will debut the Team XITE MINI Cooper S and Herve "Knapick" Lemonnier will race a Citroen DS3. 

In addition to the headline World Championship, the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars (Euro RX) joins an action-packed bill of racing for the first of its own five-round campaign. The Supercar class will see 26 drivers fighting it out for victory, with defending champion Anton Marklund bidding to get the defence of his Euro RX title off to a strong start against a new wave of rivals, including Reinis Nitiss, “CSUCSU” and Thomas Bryntesson. The highly-competitive FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 machines will also kick off in Catalunya-Barcelona with 25 drivers out to succeed last year’s title-winner Krisztian Szabo. 

Monster Energy Super Charge Award

The Monster Energy Super Charge Award will once more reward the driver with the fastest reaction to the starting lights in the World RX final this season. Emphasising the importance of getting off the line quicker than the competition, this coveted award from the World Championship’s presenting sponsor will serve to ramping up the tension further ahead of the crucial final. 

World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy commented: “With new teams, updated cars and driver shuffles up and down the order, the stage has been set for what promises to be another fantastic season of World RX racing. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the perfect venue to kick things off with its tricky layout keeping drivers on their toes after the long winter break, while the decision to move the start and finish lines is bound to create a few exciting moments and shake up the Joker Lap strategies. The local fans have shown tremendous enthusiasm towards World RX ever since the Catalunya-Barcelona round was included on the calendar in 2015, and this year will surely be no different as we wait to see who will top the podium in round one. Here’s to another memorable World RX season.”

The 2018 World RX season will comprise of 12 events with the field moving from Catalunya-Barcelona to Montalegre in Portugal, Mettet in Belgium and for the first time Silverstone, which will host the World RX of Great Britain as part of the all-new Speedmachine festival on 26-27 May. From here, the series heads to familiar rounds in Norway, Sweden, Canada, France and Latvia, before the inaugural World RX of USA at the Circuit of The Americas on 29-30 September. The 2018 season wraps up with Germany and the Cape Town finale on 24-25 November.

SOURCE: FIA World Rallycross
Image Copyright: FIA World Rallycross

The Moment of truth for Audi factory backed EKSRX.

Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekstrom pose with the 2018 EKSRX Audi S1 Quattro RX Supercar.
Copyright: AudiSport

The fifth World Rallycross Championship season commences at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on April 14–15. Finishing second in the FIA World RX championship last year, Mattias Ekström hopes to have a stronger 2018 season. To start the World RX season, the EKS Audi Sport squad must assert itself against the teams from Volkswagen, Peugeot and Co. The event also marks the first race as Audi driver for Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud.

At the final tests for all World RX teams in Silverstone, Ekström set the fastest time with the new Audi S1 EKS RX quattro. “That was great confirmation for the entire team that has worked extremely hard over the last few months,” says Ekström. “However, we’ll only really see exactly where we are in Barcelona. For this reason alone it is the most exciting weekend of the year.”

The track in the Spanish metropolis is Ekström’s favorite. On his premiere in 2015, he made a mistake in the semi-final at the extremely fast first corner, which cost him a possible win. In both 2016 and 2017, the Audi driver was however unbeatable in Spain. “Barcelona is the highlight of the year for me,” says Ekström. “When you charge towards Turn 7 – former Turn 1 – and see the many fans in the grandstands you get goose bumps. You take this corner almost flat out in fifth gear at around 150 to 160 km/h. I love the general layout of the track.”

Ekström’s new teammate Andreas Bakkerud also has fond memories of Barcelona. “I finished third there last year and was on the podium,” says the Norwegian. “The track is fantastic, fast and flowing. I travel there with a good feeling. We still have snow on the ground in Scandinavia, which is why I’m really looking forward to some sun and warmth.”

“We are all intrigued to see how the new Audi S1 EKS RX quattro performs in its first race,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “Rallycross is still our smallest project and the competition is very strong. Even so, everybody at EKS Audi Sport is fully motivated in 2018 to fight for wins and the World Championship titles.”

Source: Audi Sport
Image: Audi Sport 

2018 Bahrain Grand Prix: FIA Team Members Press Conference TRANSCRIPT

Guenther Steiner (left), Zak Brown and Claire Williams (right)
Image: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Zak BROWN (McLaren), Guenther STEINER (Haas)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Guenther, we’ll start with you: that looked like an encouraging first session, with Romain up in sixth place. Does that help you move ahead from the disappointment of Australia and start to put it behind you?

Guenther STEINER: Yeah, absolutely, it will help. It keeps the morale up with the guys, from the disappointment of Australia. But then again, FP1 doesn’t mean a lot. But it’s better to be there than to be last. It helps the guys to keep going and I hope we keep going in FP2, FP3 and Qualifying. And then hopefully in the race we have a flawless race.

And how did you pick up the guys after Australia?

GS: I think we just regrouped and said ‘these things can happen; they shouldn’t happen, we all know that’. You don’t have to beat anybody up; they all feel bad about it. Nobody does this intentionally. It was a series of things that went wrong and it just happened in one race and when we were in a good position. But you always have to take out the positives. We learn, it seems like we have a good car, we just have to keep pushing and we will be fine the rest of the year.

Thank you. Claire, Melbourne was quite a difficult weekend for Williams, certainly in the race. Was that race a fair reflection of where the team stands in the pecking order at the moment?

Claire WILLIAMS: Yeah, you’re right – it wasn’t our finest hour in Melbourne. I think we probably came into the season following testing knowing that we wanted to be. I think we would have hoped that we made some greater inroads into the performance delta to the frontrunners, however that didn’t transpire in Melbourne. But I’m not necessarily convinced that Melbourne was particularly representative, I hope it wasn’t. We know that there are three key areas of weakness that we need to focus on, which we’re doing now. We certainly believe we have more performance to extract from the car and that’s what the team are working on at the moment.

How do you move forward from here to improve the car in those areas?

CW: As I said, we know the three key areas of weakness and we just need to focus on those. The team needs to a good job trackside to make sure that our race ops are where they need to be. The drivers need to ensure that they’re doing what they needs to do from the start of the weekend. And then we need to make sure that we’re improving the performance of the car race to race. Probably it’s the car that’s our greatest weakness at the moment, so everybody at Grove is galvanised to make sure that we bring the upgrades that we need to bring and that we keep working on it. It’s just about keeping our heads down and not getting too stressed out but the first result in Melbourne. I think that’s really important – this is a long season and we need to look forward rather than back.

Thank you. Zak, coming to you, it’s a home race of sorts for McLaren and you had a strong result on the first race weekend, but was the pace where you expected it to be at the start of the season?

Zak BROWN: Our pace was there or thereabouts. It was a good race for us. We wanted to get both cars home, reliably and in the points. It was a good weekend. The drivers did an exceptional job, the pit stops were good, we’re in the rebuilding process, it’s a long season, but that was a long season for us.

Yesterday, Fernando Alonso said that the next two months are crucial for McLaren. Is that a sentiment that you share?

ZB: I think the next two months are crucial for every Formula 1 team, with the pace of development. No one is sitting still. This race is important, the following race is important, every race is important, but we need to build on Australia, find some more speed, make sure we continue with the reliable and good team work, and I think we’ll have a good season.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Kate Walker– New York Times) This week we saw the results of the gender pay gap figures published – I know Guenther your team was exempt – but what sort of efforts are you guys making to rectify any imbalances in pay in your workforce and to what extent are the existing imbalances down to people of different gender being in different roles, rather than any deliberate effort to underpay women?

CW: I can get on my soapbox now! Gender equality at Williams, and I’m talking on behalf of our team, is obviously an issue that we have been looking at and addressing for a number of years now. It’s hugely important as part of a wider societal conversation that we’re having and it’s really important that we tackle and we address these issues. I do think the report that came out this week is misleading. I think the criteria by which we have to report has been particularly misleading. You look at the tables of teams that have had to report and Williams is pretty far down the bottom, but they are looking at the mean and the median. And actually the most important thing when you’re looking at gender pay is that women are paid the same amount as their male counterparts for doing the same role. That’s the most important thing. At Williams we tackled that issue a while ago, probably 12-18 months ago. We know, and I can sit here with total transparency, saying all women at Williams are paid for doing the identical roles that men are paid. I think that’s the most important issue that we have to address. I think that these reports that have come out this week can be extremely misleading, because they are comparing situations where actually there are far fewer women in our roles in our teams, because this is a very male-dominated sport and always has been. However, we’ve done a huge amount of work to tackle that over the past 12 months and we continue to do so. I think at Williams we probably do more work than most of the teams in the paddock, and I’m really proud to say that, either through the initiatives we’ve set up over the past two years to address the situation, or through the work we do with external parties such as F1 in Schools and Dare to be Different. And we will keep plugging this conversation and keep doing this work to ensure that we have more females coming into our team and into motorsport as a whole. It’s so important when we’re looking at a shortage of engineers coming up. We have to be talking to all students, male and female, in secondary and tertiary education if we’re to make sure that at the end of the day this sport survives. But it is also really important to say that we recruit on merit. Sport has to be done on a meritocracy, it’s not just a box-ticking exercise for us to make surer that we have more women in. It’s to make sure that we have quality people coming into our racing teams to work.

ZB: I echo Claire’s comments, I think she laid that out very well. What I would say is that it is a very important issue for McLaren. It’s something that we speak about frequently. It’s something that we are doing something about, so we recognise its importance and there is definitely room for improvement.

GS: After Claire, what she said, I don’t know what to say! It was so good. Even if we are exempt, we are equal, it’s the job position, we don’t look at gender. It’s very transparent, we are very new, so we never had any history there. When we started it needed to be equal anyway. That is the position and that is the pay. It doesn’t matter whoever it is that is what gets paid. So we are very fair on that one. Even if we don’t have to report, we have no issues with that and we just keep it fair.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) Liberty presented its broad outline for the future. It’s going to require co-operation from the teams. You’ve all observed Formula 1 for a long time and you know that teams rarely agree unanimously on everything. What’s different now than it has been in the past 30 or 40 years?

ZB: I can’t really speak to the last 30 or 40 years because I haven’t been around that long… but I have watched it. Yeah, I look like it! Thanks! I think we all recognise that the sport starts with the fan and that’s what Liberty are focused on – putting on a better for the fan. And if the fan wins, we all win. The sponsors win, the m4edia wins, television ratings win. I think we all recognise that the sport is not where it needs to be today so it’s in our collective interest to improve the show. That means we’re all going to have make varying degrees of compromises but I think we’ll ultimate get there at the end and I’m excited about the future of Formula 1.

CW: I was extremely positive about today’s meeting, I have to say. I think we’ve all hoped for change under our new management and I think today they presented change. I think for a team like ours, based on what they presented, it was an extremely good day for us. I came back thinking let’s crack open some champagne, because from our perspective if we can get these new regulations through, and if Liberty/FOM do everything they say they are going to do, that they presented this morning, then from our perspective I know that Williams’ future is safe. That’s not to say that we were on the brink, or anywhere close, but with today’s sport and the way it is structured and with the financial disparity between teams then the likelihood of Williams’ survival into the medium and long-term was looking pretty bleak. Everything they presented from revenue redistribution to cost caps is absolutely everything that we want to see from 2021 and beyond, so I’m personally delighted with the proposals that they laid down. I know that in the past you can have these conversations and they come out and not necessarily anything is ever done about it, but I’m not sure these discussions are negotiable. That’s not the message I got anyway.

GS: I think I echo what Claire and Zak said. We are looking all positive after our meeting. But to answer Dan’s question, there’s a different owner of the sport in place so they will do things differently. We knew what was before, there was always the same tactics. With the new owner that is what you have got the chance to make it happen different this time. That’s my opinion about it, to answer Dan’s question straight. I think it was good today. The presentation went well. For sure, everybody goes away and comes back with questions but I think as Claire and Zak said we are at the point where we need to change something to attract people, to attract new fans to do what we need to do to make the sport the leading sport in the world.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, is there anything – for all three of you – that you had any reservations about regarding the proposals? Any particular point?

ZB: I think we’re going to avoid getting into specifics of what was discussed this morning. That was what was agreed amongst the teams, Chase and Ross. But, as Claire and Guenther have said, I would say overall the impression is very positive and I think the direction they’re taking is the right direction. There’s obviously a lot of details, questions – but we’ll do that behind closed doors.

Guenther, anything to add?

GS: No. Nice try to get more information. But no, nothing more to add. The detailed discussions are behind closed doors, we all agreed on that one, and so we should keep it like in any other business and hopefully we bring back a better sport that is better for all of us.

Claire, you’re very happy but I assume you’re going the say the same?

CW: Yeah, the same. Thank you.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Sorry to continue along the same sort of line but referring to this morning’s meeting, is it not… the presentation was more a Liberty wishlist rather than proposals for the future, given the fact that they aren’t actually the regulatory body. So, do you actually see this as a blueprint for the future or a discussion point?

CW: I believe it was a proposal rather than a wishlist. It was presented as such and I think that everyone felt it was a blueprint for the future. There are obviously elements in that proposal are under FOM’s control and others which fall under the FIA’s control – but I believe that FOM and FIA are working together and, as I’ve always said, if we’re going to protect the future of this sport then we need to work collaboratively. All three stakeholders.

Zak, did you see it like that?

ZB: Yep. I was in the same meeting.

Guenther?

GS: Yes – but there is something between a blueprint and a wishlist, which is called a proposal. That’s what it was. It’s not a blueprint but it’s not ‘oh, let’s try to do this’. It’s something in between but it’s a good starting point. A very good one, actually.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy - Daily Mail) To Zak. As you’re chairman of McLaren and non-executive director at Motorsport Network, do you think it’s right that one of your drivers advertises a link to the magazine and the website.

ZB: Yeah, it was a free offering. I think some other drivers are going to be doing it. So yeah, it’s a free opportunity for consumers and hopefully more drivers will help share accordingly.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Just a quick one back on the topic of the meeting this morning. One of the things that was pointed out was a reiteration of the need for a cost cap. So, how much do you think is a sensible target for that and how to you think it would be employed?

ZB: I think that falls into the realm of items that we’re not going to discuss. I think there’s a lot of detail of what goes into a cost cap and what doesn’t. I think at the end of the day we’re trying to get the sporting field levelled so wherever we land on cost caps should be based around what makes a race car fast on the track – not necessarily some of the other items that go around a Formula One programme: marketing, things of that nature. What you see in the paddock – I think that’s quite special and unique to Formula One.

Guenther, do you have a figure in mind that you think would be good?

GS: No. I think as Zak said, it’s behind closed doors and we have to go back to that one because we agreed on it. It will come out when the deal is done. Or maybe it never will – but it needs to be reasonable that we can put a good show on, the technology still to showcase it, and what we put in and what we take out, we have to still obviously decide on it but again it will be done behind closed doors.

And Claire, if I could ask, if a figure was given, was it one that would actually affect many of the teams at the moment, or was it quite a high ceiling?

CW: I don’t know whether to say it was behind closed doors or not – because that’s what everyone else keeps saying. I think it’s a balanced figure. I think obviously whenever you talk about cost caps there are going to be winners and losers, aren’t there? And it’s about compromise at the end of the day.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Question to Guenther – and I won’t ask what you could do with a $150million cost cap – but you’ve obviously played the listed parts regulation to the absolute limit and your performances and commercial performances to date in your last two years prove that it’s actually worked for you. Is this how you intend continuing going forward? To actually continue still getting all the listed parts from your favoured team supplier – or do you intend changing that model? And to the other two, do you believe that this is the way forward for Formula One? To basically be a semi-customer team acquiring as many parts as possible.

GS: We are doing it until 2020. We were waiting for this proposal and see where we get with the proposal with Liberty Media. And then we decide what we are going to do in the future. We haven’t taken this decision yet, what we are going to do but, for sure, it seems to be working and I don’t see any point to do it different at this moment in time. But it was this morning, the meeting, we have still have not the decision of what will be done with the sport for 2021. How the new contract looks. As soon as we have got that one, we will take a decision in the months after that one, how we continue there.

Zak, is this a future direction that you think Formula One should be exploring?

ZB: Yeah, I think it… Haas has done an outstanding job. Gene Haas is a very smart businessman, he obviously saw an opportunity to enter the sport and get competitive with less resources than a lot of the other teams out there and I think it does point to future regulations where you do talk about some standardisation of some parts that maybe aren’t visible to the race fan – therefore it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the sport, the customisation. So, I think it is something that they’ve done a very good job on and I think we need to look at some of that, or all of that, some of the basis on which we move forwards as we try to drive cost down.

Claire, your thoughts.

CW: Yeah, I think Haas have done a fantastic job. They’ve come into the sport and are now a hugely competitive. Obviously we are not very happy about that – but as a model I think certainly it is not one that Williams subscribes to. I think everybody knows our philosophy around being a constructor in our sport. For us, personally – I wouldn’t criticise the way other people want to do it – but we want to retain our constructor position. So it’s not something that I would want our team to subscribe to – to go and buy a whole load of another team’s parts. For me, success for us is us designing, developing and building our race car, ourselves, in-house. And success has to come from us doing it our own way. But, as  a philosophy for other teams, we totally accept that.

Q: (Arjan Schouten – Ad SportWorld) Zak, Formula Two is also starting this weekend. Last week, Nyck de Vries told on Dutch television that you said to him that he will definitely get a chance with McLaren in Formula One in 2019 when he wins the championship. Two questions: is that true and what does a chance mean?

ZB: That is not an accurate reflection of the conversation but Nyck’s a very good driver. McLaren will always look to put the two best drivers that it can in the car and no one has any promises from McLaren verbally or contractually as to who is going to be in our car in 2019.

Q: Indistinct

ZB: We won’t comment on our contracts but I can tell you that no one has a guarantee to be in our seat for 2019, regardless of any race results.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Do you think the Liberty plans secure the future of the ten teams?  For instance, will it keep Ferrari on board?

GS: I cannot speak for Ferrari so I think we need to ask Dr Marchionne that one but I think there is… I’ve no idea. Mr Marchionne wasn’t present and nobody committed this morning, nobody made any comment if they would join or not. I hope they stay on board, obviously, because Ferrari’s a big part of Formula One. I hope everybody stays on board because I think they’ve got ten good teams at the moment and we should try to all work together to keep it going like this.

Q: Claire, you said you came out very happy from that meeting. Do you think every team came out very happy from it?

CW: I’m sure that some people aren’t going to be very happy. If you hear the intricacies of that meeting then, as I said earlier, there are always going to be winners and losers in this situation and sometimes it’s about compromise if we’re to protect the future health of this sport. Like Guenther says, I can’t comment on Ferrari’s feelings around the proposals that were laid out. All I can comment on is our team and if their proposal is blue-printed then it does protect the survival of Williams and at the end of the day that’s all that matters to me. I want our team to be competing and hopefully winning in this sport for the next two, three, four decades.

ZB: No, nothing to add, I think we’ll find out soon who’s on board and who’s not. Hopefully everyone will be on board, that’s what’s going to be best for the sport and I believe for all the teams as well.

Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Claire, you mentioned key areas of your car that need progressing, improving. Can you be more specific? Is it a case of lack of downforce, issues with stability or something else? And regarding the updates, do you think you can have them ready perhaps for Baku or will you have to wait for the start of the European season?

CW: Yeah, we don’t really like airing our dirty linen in public at Williams. It’s not fair. We know the areas and that’s half the battle, to make sure that you understand the weaker areas of your car. Clearly everyone always wants more downforce, that’s certainly something that we need to work on. But it’s across the whole car. We do believe that there is more performance to find, that we didn’t manage to get it out in Melbourne and so that’s the work moving forward. We do have some significant upgrades coming in the next few races and I’ll be really looking forward to seeing how those perform on the track but as I said earlier, it’s a long season but we have work to do. We’re not happy finishing where we finished in Melbourne, we’ve got to make progress but unfortunately a lot of the other teams that we thought we’d be fighting with have made greater progress than us and really we haven’t done a good enough job and we need to really dig deep if we’re going to make progress this year. It’s going to be a really tough year which is great for the fans, just not so great for us at Williams.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Zak, the new regulations post-2020, whatever is in the public domain and other stuff that we’ve heard etc, would this incentivise McLaren to actually become a complete manufacturer and provide their own engines, because obviously the manufacturers will receive bonuses and with you sourcing an engine from a French production car company doesn’t qualify you for that yet you are also a supercar manufacturer?

ZB: You know it’s very early days, hours into understanding directionally which way this sport’s going to go with engines, so it is something that we discuss from time to time but with all that we have to accomplish right now, our heads are focused a little bit more on tomorrow and Sunday. As things become clear, then we’ll have that discussion.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) We heard a lot about 2021, there’s a couple of years to go. Isn’t it frustrating that nothing much can be done to get more attractive races in the short term?

CW: Yeah, I think we’re probably all slightly disappointed by the race in Melbourne, that it didn’t bring the track action that we’d like to hope for. I think there are probably circuits coming up where we may see some more interesting racing. Melbourne’s not necessarily an easy circuit to overtake on. I hope that improves. I know that the TWG have been talking about means by which to improve the racing, to overtaking, in the coming weeks, so I think we probably have to wait and see the outcomes that they discuss to hopefully effect change for the next couple of seasons, because probably we can’t wait and our fans certainly can’t wait until 2021 for us to improve things.

GS: I would go back to the comment that we didn’t have a lot of interesting races; we’ve had one, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. I think we should wait a little bit longer to see if it is interesting or not. As Claire said, Australia’s not the easiest circuit to overtake on anyway. I would wait a few races before we jump to

conclusions but in the meantime, again as Claire said, the TWG has started its own ideas to make overtaking better and to see what’s coming out there. I stay calm. We didn’t have three years of uninteresting races, we had one this year so give us a little bit of time.

ZB: I agree with Guenther, it’s been one race. I they’re also talking about some modifications of that particular circuit and then hopefully we can have discussions. We’ve got an upcoming strategy group meeting where we will discuss things for 2019 so hopefully we don’t have to wait until 2021 to impact some change but let’s see what’s necessary after a few more races.

SOURCE: FIA.com
IMAGE: FIA.com