MERCEDES-AMG F1 FEATURE: The in-season development race.

PHOTO CREDIT: Auto Motor Und Sport.

The 2018 Formula One season sees the closest and toughest fight in recent years. While that epic battle is fought on-track, one of the determining aspects of this year's Championship happens off-track. It's the in-season development race - the improvements the teams bring to their car while the racing season is in full swing. 

What are the main areas of the car a team develops during the season? 
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport will focus mainly on three areas: aerodynamics, the Power Unit and the tyres. The aim of aerodynamic development is to find new and better bodywork packages. For the Power Unit, the team will usually pursue two goals. The first is to bring new component designs to the PU; the second is to learn how hard we can actually push the PU. At the beginning of the season, the team wants to make sure that the Power Unit runs reliably. As the reliability has to be proved on the dyno, we will usually start a little more conservative to have a product that can run the required mileage. Once a reliable base has been established, all subsequent long runs of the engine will focus on trying to extract more power. In those runs, the team will be more willing to push the PU a bit harder on the dyno. This is a well-calibrated process as we aim to find the exact limits of the PU without overstepping them - but knowing that if we overstep the mark, there is still a proven configuration on the track. The third focus area for in-season testing is the tyres, because the teams only get to see them for the first time properly in winter testing. The tyres are a major performance factor and it takes a while to fully understand them and be able to exploit them to the maximum. This might not necessarily have an impact on the subsequent development and design of the car; it will, however, very likely change the way the team uses the car in order to get the most from the tyres. 
 

PHOTO CREDIT: Auto Motor Und Sport.

 How much time can a team find through in-season development? 

The exact amount of time a team can find over the course of the season is one of the better-kept secrets of this sport - and we aim to keep it that way. However, it is sufficient to say that in-season development has considerable impact on the season's result. If a team were to stop development of their car after the first race, while all the others brought developments for the rest of the season, that team would drop several positions in the Constructors' standings - simply by not bringing improvements to the car. In Formula One, if you don't go forwards, you go backwards. 

How is the development schedule for in-season upgrades determined? 
That depends on the components. For the Power Unit, the development course is mostly dictated by the regulations. With only three PUs for the entire season, the team wants to make sure that the mileage is split relatively evenly between those three. Other components are driven by the specifics of the circuit. Monza, for example, typically needs a lower rear wing level than most of the other tracks. So the team will develop the rear-wing and low-downforce package sufficiently in advance of Monza to be able to construct those pieces for the race weekend. For the aero programme, an outline plane will be established that says roughly when you will want to introduce new packages. It's usually spaced to a sufficient degree such that the team is confident that it will have found a decent number of gains which are then brought to the track as a package. However, those schedules are very fluid - mostly, because the team can never be sure precisely where the gains are going to come, how big they will be and how easy they will be to implement. Last but not least, there is also the opportunistic kind of development - where someone just has a good idea and the team decides to make it. So while some update packages might have been planned for months, others updates might be brought to the car as soon as the team finds them. 

How important is driver feedback for in-season development? 
Driver feedback plays an important role. While it will rarely change the fundamental performance direction of the car, driver feedback allows the team to modify its approach and make sure the car really suits the driver. This is especially true for all aspects of driver comfort, for example seat position, mirrors, steering wheel angle or pedal spacing. While those might seem like minor details, they are important to get right as a driver who is uncomfortable won't be able to get the best out of the car. While the key ingredients of a fast car are usually universal for all drivers, driver feedback still impacts the performance development of the car, as it helps the team to identify the areas of the car they should focus on in the ongoing development process. 
 

PHOTO CREDIT: Auto Motor Und Sport.

A tough in-season fight also means that teams will put a lot of effort into the in-season development of the car. How do teams find the right balance of in-season development and working on next year's car? 
A team wants to make sure that it doesn't sacrifice next year's performance for this year's points. However, the decision on when to shift more and more people from this year's development to next year's is not an easy one - especially in a hard-fought fight. If a team is miles ahead in the Championship, it's a relatively easy decision because the team can back off early, knowing that the others won't be able to catch up. The same is also true for a team that is miles behind, because no matter how hard they try, they won't be able to catch the other team. It gets more difficult when the Championship fight is really close. If it is close, a team will tend to give a bit more to the current championship than it might be otherwise comfortable with. The upcoming regulations are also a factor in this equation. They remained fairly stable for the current season, meaning that teams could change over quite late, knowing that it wasn't going to hurt anything in particular. For next year, however, the aerodynamic changes in the regulations are quite big, so it would be risky to ignore them. 

How much inspiration draw teams from the development of other teams and cars? 
When teams see something good that they have not tried before and that looks implementable on their respective cars, they will look at it in simulation or the wind tunnel and, if it is good, they will introduce it on their car as well. However, because the concepts of the cars are very different, those inspirations tend to only affect small things in a small way - and they're not easy to implement either. 

FEATURE BY: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

World RX to be televised LIVE on Germany's SPORT1 in two-year deal

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media. 

The FIA World Rallycross Championship will be broadcast live and exclusive on Germany’s leading 360° sports platform over the remainder of this season and next, as part of an exciting new agreement set to bring the sport to more fans in Germany than ever before.

In a broad offering that is set to significantly expand the appeal of World RX in the country, all six remaining rounds this year will be shown either live or as highlights across SPORT1’s range of multimedia platforms.

The Canadian and US events will be broadcast live on SPORT1’s free-to-air television channel, with three further rounds – France, Latvia and South Africa – going out as same-day highlights on the same channel. The German round will also be free-to-air, and will either be shown live or via highlights.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

All six events can similarly be viewed live and free of charge on SPORT1.de, with a selection of them additionally available to SPORT1+ subscribers. In 2019, the intention is to further enhance the offering with even more live World RX action.

World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy commented: “For SPORT1 to demonstrate such strong commitment to World RX is fantastic news for our fast-growing championship. The German market is very important to the series as well as those OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer's) currently involved, and this new two-year agreement offers fans in the country even more opportunities to experience our hugely exciting sport.”

Daniel von Busse, COO TV of SPORT1, added: "With the FIA World Rallycross Championship, we welcome the next top new acquisition to our 'Home of Motorsport'. World RX has quickly established itself since its premiere in 2014 and is very popular especially among younger motorsport fans due to its attractive format. So the series fits perfectly with our 360° approach, which focuses not only on TV coverage but also on our digital platforms."

2018 British GP: FIA Post-Race Press Conference.

DRIVERS

1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Sebastian, you’ve matched Alain Prost’s total of 51 victories and surely that was one of your more satisfying victories? What a drive.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, obviously the safety car spiced it up. It was a nice time because Valtteri was pushing like crazy. I had the advantage on tyres but it was not so easy to find a way through but then I surprised him. I wasn’t sure I’d make the corner but I did, so it worked really and very, very happy. Great thanks to the team supporting me and the people in the background because yesterday I was a bit damaged but much better shape today, it was no problem, so yeah, really, really happy.

Q: I can see you have still got a lot of tape on your neck. We were concerned you were going to struggle to finish the grand prix.

SV: I was as well going into the race but it was fine. I think with all the adrenalin going… probably I will feel it a little bit tonight. It doesn’t matter. It held up. The race was fantastic; we got a great crowd. A race I enjoyed a lot, I think the people enjoyed it a lot, really an amazing day.

Q: Eight point lead in the championship over Lewis, who I will try to find. Where is he? I’ll go to Kimi first. Kimi, you had a few adventures to be on the podium again.

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, obviously in the third corner I locked the wheel and I was behind the cars, so I ended up hitting Lewis in the rear corner, I oversteered, he spun, my bad, but that’s how it goes sometimes. It was not a straightforward race.

Q: You thought the 10-second penalty was fair enough? 

KR: It was my mistake, so that’s fine. I deserve it and took the 10 seconds and kept fighting. That’s how it goes.

Q: You had countless wheel-to-wheel fights, Red Bull, with others. You must be satisfied with how aggressive you were in the race and how it paid off for you?

KR: Yeah, for sure, without the mistakes and the 10-second penalty it would have been better, but I tried. Obviously my view is that I did the best that I could do but obviously there seems to be some awfully opposite looks on what I’m doing, unfortunately, so we’ll see.

Lewis, a brilliant comeback drive in front of your home fans.

Lewis HAMILTON: This is the greatest race of the year and this is the greatest crowd and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to bring it home for you today, but thank you for your support. It’s you guys that helped me get through today. We’ll take it on the chin and keep pushing hard, because believe me I will not give up. I will not give up.

By Turn 3 you were pretty much last and you're up here in second place but I sensed when you got out of the car you were still pretty unhappy?

LH: Well, the team did an amazing job this weekend and we’ve got so much support but so much pressure for us all. Interesting tactics, I would say, from their side but we will do what we can to fight them and improve in the next races, but I’m just so grateful for all the support we had here. This is the best grand prix we’ve had all year, look at the crowd, it’s been amazing.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Christian Menath – MotorsportMagazin.com) Seb, you said the Safety Car spiced it up a bit, but don’t you think it helped you a bit because it seemed like you had more problems with the tyres in the first stint and in the second stint Valtteri came a bit later and would have probably been able to push you a bit more?

SV: No, I disagree. I think in the first stint it was crucial to open the gap, which we did. And then in the end, I think Valtteri’s tyres were a little bit in better shape but in the second stint we were largely controlling and I think it would have been fine until the end. Obviously with the safety car then it was one or the other. Obviously we are the first car, us deciding to pit, obviously they stayed out. I think if we stay out, they pit. So he had a free pit stop and I lost a position to him but after the re-start I knew we have our chance, with fresher tyres. Obviously then there was another safety car and then you’re losing laps but it was crucial to make the move early on. He was pushing very hard and did a good job and it was difficult to get past in the beginning because his tyres were still fine and he was in free air. But I was able to surprise him and then I could control the last couple of laps, turn things down and bring the car home.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, can you just talk us through the start and what happened at Turn 3 please?

LH: Yeah, I just had a poor getaway. Too aggressive on the… just got wheelspin and lost ground to the others and then just got a tap from behind and that was that.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To both Ferrari drivers, can we say that the car has passed the toughest examination, as Silverstone has been the favourable circuit for a long time.

KR: I don’t think Silverstone is any more difficult than other circuits. They’re all tricky and obviously it depends on the layouts and stuff, that they need some special things from the car – but they’re all hard and difficult to make work. I think, maybe in people’s eyes yes – but I don’t think it changes anything.

Seb, anything to add on the competitiveness of your car?

SV: Well, this weekend was a bit different, obviously, it was very warm, which is a bit unlikely for here, compared to recent years. Also there was less wind, new asphalt, so a couple of new things but I think the main thing is that we were competitive, which we weren’t in the past. It’s a tricky circuit, you need to get the balance right, of downforce and drag. I think we have a very good car, we brought some bits, they seemed to work, so, I think we were very, very happy with the result. Obviously… yeah, it’s been a difficult track for us. This year I think we were a match. Probably there were still some weaknesses in the race at different phases. As I described, I think the end of the first stint, I think Valtteri was a bit faster to overall I think we had pace in hand, managed the second stint and managed the race well. If you have a car that is fast, I think you can make things happen, and that’s what we did today.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To Lewis. Why your team didn’t call you and Valtteri to pit, that was more or less the obvious decision to do, as the winners did and other teams also. You with medium used tyres were able to follow them with new soft tyres, in the same conditions of them, very possibly would fight for the victory, no?

LH: I can’t speak for Valtteri, I guess he was obviously in the lead and they believed that perhaps he would be able to hold on. For me, the guys pitted in front of me, that was an opportunity for me to get up into third. I think it was the right decision. If I’d followed them in I would have come out behind them, we’d have equal tyres and I would have struggle to get by them and most certainly wouldn’t have been second. These guys would have pulled away. So, I think it was 100 per cent the right decision, particularly on my car. I don’t know how many laps Valtteri had had – but most likely it was the right decision for him too – but it was very, very hard with our tyres, fighting against people with brand-new tyres for sure. And in a perfect world, I would have had new tyres – but it wasn’t that kind of day for me.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speed Sport) Kimi, tell us about those last few laps. You were charging and passing and really moving up.

KR: Yeah, obviously, the beginning was far from ideal. I locked a wheel and hit Lewis on the rear-right corner. Then we served the penalty and it was tricky with Red Bull for whatever reason. Every time we got close to them or behind them it seems to be very difficult to follow them, seems to be just different than any other car. We had some fights with them at the beginning of the race and at the end and managed to finally get past them. I think the Mercedes was somehow more easy to follow. Must less effect on my car. We got a pretty decent run out of Three every lap, got the momentum and managed to pass. So, it was OK but obviously but far from ideal. That’s how it goes.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, on the podium, you said ‘interesting tactics, I would say, from this side’ appearing to look at the Ferrari drivers. Do you in any way think that Turn Three collision was deliberate?

LH: All I’d say is that it’s now two races that the Ferraris have taken out one of the Mercedes, and a five-second penalty and a ten-second penalty doesn’t appear to feel… ultimately it spoils the race. It’s a lot of points that ultimately Valtteri and I have lost in those two scenarios. And, of course, it is a race situation. I couldn’t see behind me but we’ve just to work hard to try to position ourselves better so that we are not exposed to the red cars – because who knows when that’s going to happen again. We’ve got to make sure that we work hard together as a team to try to lock-out the front row and make sure that we’re fully ahead of these guys.

Q: (Oliver Brown – The Telegraph) In the green room there seemed to be a fair degree of frustration, not to say anger, in your body language. You didn’t appear to even be looking in Kimi’s direction. Would that be a fair analysis of your emotions – because obviously so much riding on this for you?

LH: Not at all. No. It’s easy for you to sit and watch the race. I sweat my arse off in that race. I pushed absolutely 100, 1000 per cent. Every bit of energy I had. I didn’t have anything left when I came in. People expect you to get out of the car and wave and smile and all that. I gave everything I could, I was struggling to stand. It’s so physical nowadays. It’s different when you’re in the lead and can control the pace. I was coming from last. So, I didn’t have much to give at that time and needed to take a deep breath. I don’t have any problems with Kimi.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Ferrari drivers, would you like to reply? Are you using interesting tactics? Is it your mindset to go out and take one of the Mercedes drivers out or is it just unlucky?

SV: Well, things can happen but I think it’s quite silly to think that anything that happened was deliberate, at least, I would struggle to be that precise, you know, to take somebody out. In France, I lost my wing so I screwed my race. I think it’s easy to obviously attack and have a great move and also easy to have an incident. I don’t think… I mean, I only saw it briefly on the monitor, I don’t think there was any intention and I find it a bit unnecessary to even go there.

KR: Things happen sometimes. Funnily enough you start blaming us that we did it purposefully but he locked a wheel and unfortunately we touched and both paid the price for it and that’s how it goes sometimes. It’s easy to say after the couple of races that we’re suddenly doing something against them but we’ve been hit very many times ourselves so that’s how it goes unfortunately.

Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, if you’re having concerns maybe that there are some interesting tactics going on…

LH: I’m not.

Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) OK, but if it’s something that maybe you’re going to talk to Ferrari about or take further…

LH: No. I don’t have any concerns.

Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, obviously it’s a disappointing result for you but can you take any pleasure in the fact that you came back to second place and that the crowd appeared to really appreciate you doing so?

LH: Yes. The fans have been incredible this weekend and I’m grateful for the England football team at least doing great this weekend and keeping it positive. Obviously we’re in a tough battle this year and it’s the most intense battle that I think we’ve probably all had but I’m very very grateful that the car was still in one piece after the first turn three incident. Whilst I appeared, at the beginning, to have lost something on the rear end, when I looked at the car afterwards it seems to be OK and it was driving better and better throughout the race so that was a great thing. Honestly, to get back to second it’s huge for us and I will definitely take it, of course, and I’m happy with the drive that I did and as I said, what the team were able to do but yeah, we’ve just got to work harder and er, that’s all.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Sebastian, you were having a good look at the gold trophy when you were on the podium, presumably looking at some of the great names that are on there, a trophy that Lewis almost owns. How satisfying is this win for you and how important do you see this now in the championship, given that Ferrari seem to have the measure or at least equal pace with the Mercedes round here?

SV: To be honest I had a look and the trophy obviously carries over names of previous winners but it stopped in 2005 so I was wondering where the last 13 years have been. And then when I came back to the podium room, they showed me that there’s another bit that they forgot to put on but for sure it’s a very prestigious trophy with a lot of names. I think it’s the original motor sport… racing here’s always something special, the track is phenomenal, the fans are phenomenal as well. I’m looking whether we can have something similar in Germany, that would be great. Obviously I won the race a long time ago and it’s great, it feels great to win it again. I think it’s one of the most satisfying tracks as a driver and to come out on top obviously is a great feeling.

Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Sebastian, can you talk us through that final battle with Valtteri and the move that finally got him for the lead?

SV: Yeah, it was quite intense. Obviously I had the advantage on the tyres but he had the clean air so in the high speed stuff I was able to follow, but it was difficult the closer I got and I saw sort of sniffed my chance already and the first laps after the restart out of turn four and then on the Wellington Straight down to turn six, yeah, and the final move, obviously I was able to surprise him so I think he thought that I won’t dare (go on)  the inside and the braking zone was coming quite fast but I thought OK, I have to go for it because I was obviously also struggling… the longer I spent behind him, struggling with my tyres as they got hotter, and losing that advantage that I had a little bit, and I felt great when I was side by side and wasn’t sure if I would make the corner but I did, so it was great and once I was ahead, obviously I could use that advantage to pull out a gap and control the race from there. But it was crucial, it wasn’t easy, they seemed to be very strong on the straights, the mid part of the straights but yeah, obviously with DRS and a tow, I was a bit stronger at the end of the straights so it worked. The main thing is that it worked and it felt great.

Q: (Victor Almaraz Garcia – MomentoGP.com) Lewis, you came here for your eighth podium in Great Britain, it’s a record. You have already overtaken Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher with that record. How do you feel about that?

LH: Well, I say it doesn’t mean anything to me at the moment. I’m not a record person so it doesn’t really hold much to me.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, you said that you were trying to surprise Valtteri with that move at the end but were you surprised when he didn’t react to the move and try to close the door?

SV: No, obviously you sort of imagine where you could be at the end of the straight. I had a good exit, I would have liked to have been closer but I wasn’t but I still thought it was good enough to have a shot so I gave it everything and yeah, I obviously tried the outside on the run before and he was very late on the brakes and so was I and then I couldn’t really go anywhere so I thought OK, you can’t do that again and you have to somehow surprise him and the fact that I think that I was a little bit further back and we were close to the braking zone he was covering the inside but then still gave me a little bit of room and that’s what I used to make the move happen and obviously once I was on the inside and I had clean air from the front, the car was great and I could make the corner. I wanted to win and I had to go for it. Obviously I think he struggled a little bit more towards the end with his tyres but I wanted to get by as soon as possible and that was the key.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Seb, we’ve seen on your headrest some additional parts. Can you explain what you did exactly for your neck and we also saw that you were fine tuning it on the starting grid?

SV: Yeah, it felt good on the laps to the grid so I took some off. Obviously yesterday was a different day. Qualifying wasn’t very enjoyable. I did as little runs as possible and I had the padding just to support in the corners where you don’t… like turn eight that is easily flat so I was resting my head yesterday and today it wasn’t necessary so I had a good feeling and the race was no problem.

2018 British GP: FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference.

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Lewis, congratulations, fantastic. Your fourth consecutive pole position here, a record sixth pole position at the British Grand Prix, your adoring fans looking on. That was a very special lap you had to find there?

Lewis HAMILTON: These guys are the best.

Q: You’re shaking with emotion, literally!

LH: Oh man, I needed… I gave it everything I could. It was so close between these Ferraris. The Ferraris pulled something out when we got to Q3. I was just praying I could do it for you guys, and I’m so grateful for the support, because without you guys I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Q: Where do you think you made the difference on that last lap?

LH: I don’t even remember it! I honestly don’t remember it, man. Maybe Turn 13… love you too guys!

Q: Congratulations again. Let’s have a quick chat with Sebastian Vettel. Second place, Sebastian, you look like you’re walking wounded here, on your neck. 

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a bit of an issue in practice, but it was fine in Quali.

Q: Did you think you could take that pole position?

SV: To be honest, this morning, no. I wasn’t sure if I could do Quali. It was very close. I don’t know, the last lap I was very happy with it, but I seem to lose a lot of time in the straights, so I think I’m missing some… missing a bit of tow, but I think it was very close, so I’m happy with second and it gives us a good chance for tomorrow.

Q: Well done. Kimi Räikkönen, it’s the seventh day of the seventh month and you put car number seven in third place. Are you satisfied with that?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really. I think I had all the tools today to be faster but I locked the front wheel into 16 a bit on the last lap and for sure gave away enough time to be in front but that's how it goes.

You told me two days ago that you’re driving as well as ever, do you still think you have a chance of victory tomorrow?

KR: Yeah, I think I’ve got a good car and my car should be good tomorrow. Obviously it’s hot and it will not be an easy race with the tyres, so I think we might see a few different things happening there, but we’re aiming for the top for sure.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, it was an incredibly tight qualifying session and ended up with your fourth consecutive pole position here at Silverstone. How does it compare to the ones that came before?

LH: It feels night and day different. These guys really pulled something special into Q3. I don’t know what they did yesterday, but they’ve come so strong today. I knew we were up against it but to really put together the laps was the hardest I can remember it being. It’s such a technical circuit and such a tricky circuit and to really position the car in the right place and get the maximum from the tyres it took everything from me to get it. But the fans were there and I could see them. And I knew they were here so I really, really wanted to do it, and if anything, with the pole, give a boost to England maybe. They won’t be watching obviously, because they’ll be playing, but you know what I mean – maybe start the wave and let them continue it. Huge amount of pressure on today, but so grateful for my team working so hard. Ferrari obviously have picked up a lot of pace this weekend, but we're in the best position we can be and our long run pace was good yesterday, so I’m excited for a close race tomorrow.

Q: Thank you, Lewis, well done. Sebastian, simply, what was the difference between you and Lewis today?

SV: Half a tenth.

Q: Four hundredths.

SV: Less than half a tenth!

Q: Can you just elaborate a bit more? How did that gap manifest itself on the racetrack today?

SV: I don’t know. It’s so little time, it’s practically the same lap. I was pretty happy with the first run in Q3 and I knew had a little bit more in Sector 3, and bits around the track, which I think I got right on the second attempt, but I seemed to lose a little bit down the straights, I’m not sure why. But more or less I had two laps that were identical. Half a tenth you can always argue you find somewhere. I think he was just a little bit better in the final run, but for tomorrow I think we should be fine.

Q: Kimi, you set the fastest first sector there in Q3. Can you just talk us through the rest of your lap, because you were less than one tenth of a second behind Lewis as well?

KR: Yeah, I think we had first and last sector but in the middle obviously I think I had a small moment on the first try, the first set, into Turn 7, so I took it a bit easier. I was still gaining but I’m sure there were places to gain a tenth easily but obviously it didn’t happen today, so this is what we got. It was close but third is not too bad.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, could you just explain the problem you had with your neck after FP3 and the problem it gave you going into qualifying.

SV: It wasn’t the most enjoyable session but it’s not… nothing. I did the session, so I was fine. We had to call it a bit earlier this morning that I wanted but yeah, it was fine in quali.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Another question for Seb on the neck. How confident are you that tomorrow it’s going to be OK – and can you describe how it all started? Was it a bump the circuit or lateral forces? What was it?

SV: No, I don’t know what happened but it went a little bit stiff. We loosened it up and for tomorrow I think the night will help. I’m not worried. Also, the speed tomorrow is less than in quali, because you have more fuel and you’ll be a bit slower so it’s going to be OK.

Q: (Keith Collantine – Racefans.net) A question for Lewis. Lewis, can you tell us a little about your poll position lap please? Where are you flat out around this superfast Silverstone circuit now? What does it feel like? And also, the gap to your team-mate Valtteri is quite big today, and a very small gap to the two gentlemen either side of you. How much of this is down to the car and how much is down to the driver?

LH: This is, as I was saying before, it’s such a technical circuit and it’s about car placement and you’ve got to have, obviously, the package. Our downforce level, I think, has been good but, I mean, you see how close it is between us. This has been a strong circuit for me for years, as you can see and my job is try to make… it is to make the difference. So, I think there was… I didn’t leave anything on the table today. The lap was… I mean it was just intense. I left the pit lane, I think the first lap was OK, it was pretty good, and then I saw that I’d dropped to second. Obviously, that naturally just adds a little bit more pressure. Because you know that he’s going to improve again, so I’ve got to improve the same and a bit more. So, to push over the limit just a little bit more, without losing it is one of the toughest positions to put the car. And this is the fastest track in the world, this is. We’re flat-out through Turn One, we’re flat-out through Copse, it’s insane, to turn in there at 300-and-whatever-it-is-kilometres we’re doing. It’s flat-out into Maggotts and Becketts, all the way to 11, 12…

SV: The last one’s called Chapel…

LH: I don’t know all the names but you’re flat-out all the way into it. You have a small lift, then you have a full lift, then you’re back on the gas again. Also, Stowe is just… with the headwind that we have there, it’s incredible how fast it is. I think on the TV it doesn’t look like we’re lifting – but we are. I got to the end of the lap, I think I was up 0.17s, and I came around that last corner and it started to diminish a little bit. I think I came across the line 0.90 better than my previous lap, and you’re just praying that’s enough – that little bit… because you’re gaining and losing throughout the lap. So, yeah, I can’t tell you how happy I am, happy for the fans, and I hope that I can deliver for them tomorrow.

Q: Phil Duncan (Press Association) Congratulations Lewis on your lap. You looked like you were on the ragged edge throughout the lap, and obviously when you got out of the car, you were pretty pumped. Where does it rank in terms for you, that pole lap?

LH: I think it’s, for me, with the whole build up, with the whole intensity, with the whole spur-of-the-moment thing, knowing how close we were, for me it feels like one of the best laps that I’ve been able to produce. I would say it felt like the most pressurised lap that I’ve ever had. And then afterwards I was just… I can’t tell you how… I was shaking through the emotion, through the adrenaline rush was way above the limit that I had experienced before, which is kind of crazy for my 76th. But the 76th is so special. I’m so, so happy, and, as I said, the team have just been doing a great job and I’m really happy I have been able to deliver for them as well.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action & Speedsport) We have a bumpy track, hot weather, extra downforce this year; will this maybe be one of the toughest or the toughest British Grand Prix ever for you guys?

KR: In which way? I don’t think it’s any different. Obviously there’s a big difference in the speed in the race, especially at the beginning of the race to qualifying. I think in the past the circuit layout was different but you could do qualifying laps every lap because you had refuelling and all these things. I think it’s less bumpy, it’s just smaller bumps; last year there were bigger bumps here and there.

LH: I think it is, yes, with the heat the track is the hottest I think we’ve driven on for a long time. The speed that we’re going through the corners, it is up and even on the long runs yesterday, the G-force we’re pulling… the car is faster than last year. I definitely think it’s going to be physically tougher and more intense, being that we’re so close as well. It’s not going to be a case of either of us pulling a big gap, it’s going to be close all the way, so I personally think it’s going to be one of the toughest, yes.

Q: Sebastian, do you side with your teammate or Lewis with this one?

SV: In the middle. I hope it will be, not sure. I think those are the fastest cars we’ve ever had and I hope it will be because next year, I guess, the cars will be a bit slower. I think it depends largely on the tyres to be honest. If they are holding up well, and consistent enough then I think we can push. If not, then obviously it takes a lot of intensity out of it.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To both Ferrari drivers: you had a very impressive simulation race Friday, especially you Sebastian, on medium tyres. You said you were confident for tomorrow. Can you give more details, explain more? It really looks like you have a really fast car in the best conditions.

SV: Yeah, it was yesterday, it was a good Friday for us and I’m confident we can be faster tomorrow. Usually… we  see today that we are able to pick up pace on Sunday as well. The race has always been better for us the last couple of races so I’m confident with everything that we have here this year, it seems we are stronger and I believe we can be faster.

Q: Kimi, do you expect to be more competitive tomorrow?

KR: Than today? Impossible to say, hopefully it’s a close fight, not easy to overtake as always but we will see what we can do and so far it’s been OK.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, in Austria you had the best start among the front runners, it’s quite a difficult track to overtake here. Are you prepared to take a bit more risk than you did in Zeltweg to try and get to the front at the start?

KR: For me? If I didn’t take risks last time then maybe. I don’t plan to do anything different. Obviously we try to make a good start as well as we can but there are things that you will never be able to plan, you do it what you think the right outcome might be different that you expect but that’s how it goes sometimes. Try to make a good start and go from there, see what we can come up with.

Q: (Sergio Remondino – Autosprint) Lewis, is it because it’s Silverstone that Mercedes and Lewis are in front of Ferrari? The circuit made the difference or what else? Was it because there is a superiority of driver and car or in your performance…

LH: Both

Q: (Sergio Remondino – Autosprint) … or was Silverstone the secret?

LH: All three, I hope. I think for sure, when you come to Silverstone it’s a home Grand Prix so just like when we go to Monza, Ferrari get a boost. It’s the same for us as a team. The team has all their families around, the support we have from the fans is there so we get lifted up from that. There’s obviously an extra push in effort above and beyond to try and make sure that we can pull everything out. Same for me as a driver. I think it’s all those as a whole come together for this race.

2018 British GP: FIA Team Members' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Zak BROWN (McLaren), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Clare WILLIAMS (Williams), Vijay MALLYA (Force India)

Q: Zak, since the last grand prix in Austria, you’ve announced some management changes at McLaren, so let’s deal with those first. First of all, why did Eric Boullier resign?

Zak BROWN: Well, ultimately you’d have to ask Eric that questions, but in my conversation with him earlier this week, you know we’ve been under an immense amount of pressure, really even before Eric started, and I think ultimately the pressure and the desire to have McLaren move forward, I think he felt that a kind of a fresh start would give us the best opportunity, so he took that decision, accepted it earlier in the week. He’s been in racing a long time, won a lot of race and I’m sure we’ll see him a pit lane soon, again winning.

Q: So, how are you filling the void left behind?

ZB: Well, we’ve done a few things. It’s the start of a journey to get back to our winning ways. It’s going to take a little bit of time and a lot of hard work. We’ve got the energy, we’ve got the support from our shareholders. We promoted Andrea Stella to Performance Director and ultimately he’s responsible for getting the most out of the race car at a race weekend. We brought in Gil de Ferran, who we worked with at Indianapolis last year and who has been doing some consulting and advisory work earlier in the year, as Sporting Director, and his role is to work with the team, the drivers, Andrea, and all of us to ultimately get the most out of the team environment at a weekend. And then Simon Roberts, who reports to me as COO, stays in charge of all the technical aspects to make sure that when we show up on a Friday at a race weekend we have as fastest a race car as possible and as many new bits to throw at a car to continue to develop it. And that’s going to be what you see here this weekend, but as I said, it’s the start of a journey, so we’re just getting started, we’re not finished.

Q: And how have the drivers received the news?

ZB: Very well. I spoke with Fernando, Stoffel and Lando just the morning before we made the announcement. I think they have got a lot of trust in the team. We communicate very well. Fernando is someone who has a tremendous amount of experience. Like with all the team members, when I walk around the factory, I seek information, draw on experience, because we have so much experience inside McLaren, so many great people who have won a lot of championships and races, and Fernando has had the benefit of being at multiple different teams. I know there has been some conversation about was he consulted. I think sometimes people take words a bit too literally. It’s my role to talk and communicate with all the team – drivers, engineers, mechanics – all throughout since I started. So I take on all that information and then work with the leadership team and the shareholders and make some decisions and move forward.

Q: Thank you. Claire, we’ve just heard about the changes being made at McLaren. Are further personnel changes needed at Williams to get you guys more competitive?

Claire WILLIAMS: Listening to Zak, it’s a very similar story that is going on at Williams at the moment. We’re in fairly similar positions. Of course in order to effect change, you need to make changes and you need to make some hard decisions and we’re going through that process at the moment but it’s not a case of rushing into it. Sometimes when you rush in you can make decisions you don’t want to make and end up regretting those decisions. We’re undertaking a full evaluation of our internal structures and processes at the moment. We haven’t completed that work yet, so we don’t have any news to announce. But it’s mostly about identifying the talent that we do have in-house. We have a lot of great people at Williams that are working really hard at the moment in this difficult situation that we’re in. So it’s focusing on that, focusing on the good that we have and then seeing whether we need to augment that talent, augment that resource we have and then move forward from there.

Q: So, promote from within – that’s the message?

CW: [Nods]

Q: OK, what about Silverstone this weekend: it’s your home grand prix, how frustrating is it for you personally to be turning up at the track where the team won its first grand prix, its 100th grand prix, with the team in such an uncompetitive state?

CW: Yeah, I think I was quoted as saying that I was dreading coming here, earlier this week, and I have been because as you said this is a track that holds a very special place in everyone’s hearts at Williams, for a variety of different reasons. This is our home race, there are a lot of Williams fans here, Finally I’m seeing some fans with Williams Martini Racing t-shirts around the place, which is great to see, and we have let our fans down. And for us that is as equally disappointing as we all feel at the moment with our performance. However, coming here and being here yesterday has been a really nice boost for everybody and for me in particular. You get to see all our great fans, who do still support us through these difficult times. They continue to support us and I think yesterday, just being here amongst the British fans, has given us a real boost. We had a good morning this morning in practice. As I said, we’re doing a lot of work to bring upgrades to the car, but really considered upgrades as well, and that’s taken a bit of time to get the upgrades here to this race. But hopefully with the result of that hard work… I’m not saying that Sunday is going to be a turnaround in our performance, it’s still going to be a long road for us, but hopefully we will do a better job for our fans this weekend.

Q: Claire, just a final word, your father was at the track yesterday. Is he in good heart?

CW: He is. He is thrilled to be here. It’s really lovely to see him back in the motorhome. I think he’s causing a bit of panic in the garage at the moment. The boys haven’t had him in the garage for a number of races now. So it’s good, it keeps everyone on their toes, but it’s just lovely to have Frank back in the paddock, he’s a real icon of the sport and this is where he belongs.

Q: Thank you Claire, good luck this weekend. Vijay, it’s the first time we’ve seen you in an FIA press conference this year, so could we just have your assessment of the team’s progress in 2018?

Vijay MALLYA: Well, we’ve not had the best start that we were hoping for. We haven’t managed to get both cars into the points. We’ve had three of four first-lap incidents, all of which contribute to where you are in the Constructors’. I have every confidence in my people across the road at the factory. They are used to punching above their weight, which is something that I truly appreciate. We find ourselves two points behind McLaren and seven behind Haas, thanks to their special performance at the last race, and we’re 20 points behind Renault. We have been 20 points behind Williams two years ago and we still managed to secure fourth. I remain cautiously optimistic that we will get fourth again in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018. We brought a small upgrade to the car here at Silverstone and FP1 has shown it. Whether I’m at the race, or at an FIA Press Conference or not, the guys are doing a great job.

Q: Certainly the two guys in the cockpit are doing great jobs – Esteban and Sergio. Both very talented, very consistent. With the driver silly season hotting up what do you feel you have to do to retain both your drivers for 2019?

VM: The drivers are very happy in our environment. They have said that several times to the media when asked. We are very happy with both Checo and Esteban. If, of course, they get a seat in a world championship-winning team it’s going to be a tough task to retain them, but if they are not offered any such opportunity, I see no reason why they should not stay with us, because we give them the opportunity of being best of the rest. We have shown that for the last two years and hopefully we will show that this year as well.

Q: Guenther, an unfortunate incident for Romain in that first practice session, what can you tell us about the state of his car?

Guenther STEINER: We need to change the chassis, so he will not be going out in FP2. As simple as this, yeah, he had some damage on it and he will not make FP2.

Q: A frustrating day for him and the team. But let’s look at the positives; if I can take you back four days to Austria, where things went better. What was the overriding emotion for you when both cars crossed the line?

GS: I think it was like… because we knew we could do this. We had a few races where we could do and for one or another reason we never got to do it. We performed at this level. For sure, we were a little bit lucky with some of the first six dropping out, half of them basically, so that’s why we ended up fourth and fifth, otherwise we would have been seventh and eighth. But we knew could do this and it’s just ‘OK guys, this is what’s possible. It happened now and let’s try to do more coming here’. It’s one thing when you have a result like this, you cannot wait for the next race to go to. It was a long wait, but now we’re back to a normal day in the office: one car we need to change chassis, the other driver is with the stewards right now. We’re just getting normal now again. I hope we can get it back together tomorrow and have a good race on Sunday, more like Austria. You cannot always think it’s going perfect because it went perfect once. We still have work to do.

Q: I asked Vijay to assess the performance of his team a moment ago. Can I ask you specifically about Romain Grosjean – the ups and downs of his season. To go from fourth last weekend… How important was that fourth place, first of all for the team?

GS: For the guys that work on Romain’s car, they were getting anxious because we had so many good moments and then we never got it home. So for finishing fourth they were very happy and I think the morale was fantastic week as you can imagine, they are back home, and plus they finished fourth – and now they have to change a chassis.

Q: And how important was it for Romain?

GS: I think very important. He knows he can drive a car. It just didn’t happen. As I said before, for one reason or another it never happened this year that got into the points. And then on his first points scoring getting 12 points was very good. I think he was relieved, I would say.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for all four of you. We’re now reaching the end of a triple-header and there’s talk of about the calendar possibly expanding next year. Could I get your respective thoughts on the possible repeat of the triple-header next season and whether you think we’re already at the limit for the number of races over the course of the season?

ZB: I think it’s been difficult, the three races back-to-back. Everyone’s tired, everyone’s powering through it. My understand is its most-likely not going to have a triple-header again next year. That’s what was discussed at the FOM strategy meeting earlier this week but I don’t think that’s set in stone. If we have to do three again, we obviously will. I think most of the teams, if not all of the team – I’ll let them speak for themselves – would probably not prefer three races. And as far as the expanded calendar, that discussion I don’t think applies to 2019. The conversation around 22-23 races is, I think, a few years out. I think we’ll probably see 20, maybe 21 again, next year. And as far as having 23 races, you have to take budget into consideration, and we obviously have budget caps coming, which we support and is going to be very healthy for the sport and the competition. We need to take into consideration all the men and women that work at these racing teams and travel and the big sacrifices they already make to go to 21 grands prix – but at the same time, commercially, if you put another two or three races on the calendar: a Miami, a New York, another one in Asia, some big markets, it’s pretty attractive commercially to our partners, to go there. I don’t think there’s a magic number. We’ll ultimately race at however many are put on the calendar.

Claire, your thoughts.

CW: I share Zak’s thoughts. Personally, for me, I’m quite enjoying it, I quite like going racing, so three in three weekends is great. Equally, it means that our season will be over quicker, if you’ve got three race weekends in three weeks that’s a good thing for us at the moment! I think the most important thing is about the people, and taking into account, the guys, the boys and girls that work for us, they put in an enormous effort, and to put in a triple-header, when they’re not able to get home, is a tough thing for them and for their families. We’ve had to do quite a lot of work around ensuring our guys can get a break and to go home. And even if that’s just for 24 hours, that’s really important. But again, that’s additional management for people that have got to cover that off and how we bring in people to cover those people to cover those people that aren’t then there for that day. Covering the work that they need to do. So it’s a really difficult logistical piece. Just moving our motorhomes, you’ll have seen in the paddock in Austria, half of us didn’t have our normal motorhomes that we have. I actually think, for the Austrian promoter, that was probably a shame that they got our test hospitality units. It doesn’t make the paddock look good over a race weekend. Just small considerations that that that sometimes we don’t necessarily think through when these decisions are made. As Zak said, I don’t believe a triple-header will appear on the calendar again. I think maybe we’ve learnt our lesson that it is quite a tough gig for everybody. And as far as more races coming on the calendar in the next few years, great from an entertainment perspective for our fans. Great to have different locations coming on the calendar – particularly for partners if they’re activating in those markets – but as long as that’s balanced and race weekends are looked at in their entirety, maybe to shorten them to mean that people are away from home as much as they possibly need to be, then I think that’s important.

Vijay, can we have your thoughts please.

VM: I agree with what Zak and Claire have said. My major concern is, of course, for our race team personnel. Triple-header is hard, 21 races is hard, but as Zak said, more races means more revenue, and if I can have one and a half or two race teams and I get paid by Formula One Group, I’d certainly consider it because we want the revenues to improve and we want to certainly get more money. But if things stay the same, then I think more than 21 races and these triple-headers are just too taxing for our engineers and mechanics and all those involved in the race team.

Guenther?

GS: Nothing to add. I agree with everything. I think we all agree on what we said.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Question for Claire. You mentioned the situation with your situation and McLaren. McLaren have had a couple of years thinking they had the best chassis but blaming it on the engine. You’ve known you’ve had the best engine in the sport and have done for several years. So how’ve you got into this predicament and what are the financial implications of it?

CW: There are a variety of reasons as to why we found ourselves in tenth. You don’t get to tenth without having a number of issues. I think it’s probably clear to see that our aerodynamic package is probably the key to that, and unlocking the issues we have around the aero performance of our car is going to be critical to moving us forward. As we’ve gone through this recovery programme, we’ve identified a number of other weaknesses within the car and the team itself. I think as you go through that analysis invariably you always find other fires that you’ve got to put out. To be fair, it’s probably been a very useful exercise from that perspective, to go through that process and identify all your weaknesses, which we decided we were going to do when we realised the car wasn’t where we needed it to be after testing. And that’s going to give us an opportunity to actually make greater steps forward for us. But it is a long road. I think Zak was talking about two to ten years earlier. This isn’t going to be the work of a moment for us, unfortunately. With the environment, as well that they’re operating in, in Formula One at the moment. The teams that were weaker than us last year have suddenly catapulted ahead of us, and they’ve made great in-roads for a number of reasons. And those are challenges to us, being an independent team now in this sport is a very different world now to face than that which we were facing a few years ago. From a cost perspective, inevitably, this situation in which we find ourselves is going to have ramifications for us financially. Not least the prize-fund money we’ll receive for taking home tenth place will be considerably less than our forecasted P5. We lose Martini as our title partner at the end of this year. As much as we were expecting that and can budget for it, it still leaves a hole and finding sponsors when you’re in P10 is not going to be an easy piece of work for us. We had to spend additional money as well, in order to activate our recover programme. It’s not easy but we’ve got some very clever people working within that realm at the moment. We have a great CEO, we have a brilliant CFO who are doing everything they can to make sure we have a strong and healthy budget to go racing and compete successfully next year – but it’s not an easy world at Williams at the moment.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – F1 Racing) Claire, obviously your name is above the door, as a Williams. Could you just explain what Williams mean to you?

CW: I’m Harris now! Is that a good excuse, not above the door anymore? For me personally, this is very difficult, it’s heart-breaking and it’s a little bit soul destroying. This is mostly my family’s team and it’s been within our family for four decades now and the sacrifices our family have made for the team over the years have been great – but we’ve also had an enormous reward and feel enormously privileged as a family to be involved in this amazing sport. And I took on this role as DTP back in 2013. I felt that I could contribute and I think we’ve done some good work to turn the team around and take us back to where we wanted to be. This year hasn’t been great for us but it is a blip. We had in 2014 and 2015 two third places and in 2016 and 2017 two fifths, and we must look at this is just a trough. Every team in any sport goes through those moments. Personally for me it’s incredibly difficult to see the team go through this. We all hold our hands up and take responsibility and not least I have a part to play in that and we must all look at ourselves and make sure we’re doing the best job that we possibly can for this team because this team deserves to stay in Formula One. This is all we do. We’re in Formula One because we love going motor racing and we have to make sure that we create a world at Williams that keeps our team viable in this sport and relevant in this sport and still maintains our status in this sport. That’s hugely important to me.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Zak, on Wednesday you announced that Eric had resigned the previous evening, yet you were almost immediately able to announce a complete restructure including the appointment of two directors, both of whom have very close ties with your drivers. This implies a flat-pack resignation so was Eric pushed or did he jump?

ZB: No, Eric resigned but as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got really good communications with everyone in the team and so I’ve been working with Eric now, the last year and a half and there’s been a lot of pressure on him, really ever since I joined him before then. So this wasn’t something that was a surprise, it was something that we had started to discuss previously as we were working together on what was the best way forward for McLaren.

Q: (Abhishek Tackle – Mid-day) Vijay, I know you get asked this every year but there has been renewed speculation about your future ownership of Force India. How do you respond to that speculation that the team is for sale?

VM: In your question, you said renewed speculation, right? People have been writing about the ownership of my team for years now. I’m proud that we finished our 200th Grand Prix in Austria. It’s a big milestone for me, since I owned this team. I’m sure you will not see anybody in Force India, or indeed myself, walk around with a For Sale sign. And as far as all these rumours are concerned, and all the statements that keep appearing in the media, all I can say is if there is a credible offer with cash on the table, I will be the first one to discuss with my shareholders, see what they feel, and if, in the unlikely event we wish to sell the team, if there’s an offer that we cannot refuse, I will be the first one to announce it. Until then, speculation remains speculation.

Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) To Mr Steiner, you seem very supportive and understanding towards your drivers so my question is what are your requirements and what qualities does a driver need to have to drive for Haas F1 team?

GS: In the end, what I expect is that they make points and bring results, that is what I expect. With Kevin, he’s doing very well this year, so everything is achieved. Romain had a little bit of a difficult start to the season, the first third of the season, but Romain is with us now for the third year and he did very well the first two years. He did take a bit chance when he joined us because we were not given a lot of chances to succeed in Formula One as a new team, because some of the teams before us didn’t make it, so I think out of respect we need to give him the support to give him the chance to make points and he did in Austria, so I hope he’s doing the same here but I expect points from the drivers with a car like ours every weekend.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, MotorsportWeek.com) You represent typically the lean, independent teams and Zak, you spoke about the cost cap that you wholeheartedly support. There’s been much speculation that the leading three teams have got more money than they actually need and they are prepared to spend it and spend as much as they need to win. You actually don’t have that luxury. How are you going to breach that impasse where the big teams keep threatening to walk away if they are told to spend less?

GS: I think that’s a job FOM has to manage because it has to do a balance with payouts and budget cut and so on. I think we as Haas F1 have no influence in these negotiations, to keep them on board, so we support it and I think that there is positive talks going on even with the big teams that this will happen. We just have to find a compromise that the big teams are happy and that we are happy and FOM is doing a good job in doing these negotiations with us and with the big teams and I hope later in the year we come to a conclusion to it and we move forward in 2021 with a little bit of a level playing field.

VM: I wholeheartedly support the cost cap concept. I have also repeatedly appealed to the Formula One Group that the lopsided payments must be corrected and that independent teams such as ourselves deserve a lot more money. The basic concept is that money should not buy performance. We have to level the playing field and independent teams should also be given a fair opportunity to win a race. But if the manufacturer teams have an unlimited budget with the singular motive of winning races then we are being defeated not because of lack of technological skill or driver skill, we are being defeated by money power which shouldn’t be the case in any sport.

ZB: I agree with everything Gunther and Vijay said. I think my build would be and I’ve commented earlier on the recovery plan for McLaren and I hedged my bets at between two and ten years for not wanting to get into the same mistakes we’ve made in the past couple of years of making predictions and statements that ultimately hadn’t come true. What I meant by that is the budget cap and until that comes in it’s fiscally almost impossible to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. If we had an unlimited budget or their size of the budget we’d be doing the same thing, so they’ve done an outstanding job, but now they’re spending so much more than the rest of us, then they also have partner teams which not only benefit the partner teams who are doing an excellent job but it’s also benefitting Ferrari and Mercedes having alliances with multiple teams. So I think, as Gunther said, it’s Formula One Group’s responsibility to bring a better balance to the sport and let the best team win, so that’s why the next couple of years we’re going to be fighting very hard to get down to our championship fighting weight, if you like, and then be ready that when we’re all playing with the same size bat, which we aren’t today, that may the best team with the best technology, the best people, the best teamwork win and I’m excited and I think that’s coming and I think it’s coming in 2021.

CW: I think whatever the rest of the panel have said, I would echo. I think that what we need to achieve in this sport now is absolutely fundamental for the very survival of certain teams in this sport, and I don’t think that that should be underestimated or taken for granted, the challenge that some of us are facing at the moment because of the circumstances in which this sport has arrived at over the past few years. It is incredibly tough for teams like ours and it shouldn’t be underestimated how important these new regulations for 2021 are in the influence that they could have over our teams’ survival.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Vijay, you said earlier on that if your drivers got an offer from the front running teams, obviously it would be very difficult to retain them. Does the same not apply to your key personnel as well, because you’ve obviously had a very loyal staff but there are teams looking around, restructuring etc. Are you concerned that you may be losing some key personnel?

VM: I have to admit that that’s something that I will not ignore but having said that, I have a fantastic team who love working for Force India. The culture across the road in our factory is very unique, very motivational and I have a passionate team of people. Yes, money is important and I guess people work to earn better but other teams have tried to tempt our people away in the past. They have not left us because there’s more to it than just a pay check, working at Force India. Great team, great leadership and they’re doing a wonderful job and I’m very proud of them. But, if people wish to leave, I obviously have to take action to replace them with equally good talent.