2019 Italian GP: FIA Post-Race Press Conference.

FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Charles, what a brilliant drive. That will go down in Ferrari legend, well done.

Charles LECLERC: Thank you so much. What a race. I’ve never been so tired. Can I speak in Italian? (Continues in Italian).

Q: The great Mercedes Benz team threw everything at you, two against one, but you didn’t succumb to the pressure.

CL: Yeah, I did a few mistakes but at the end I finished first. Very happy with this. I need to be careful with the mistakes but obviously none of them made me lose the position today.

Q: Well done, brilliant race. Valtteri, the fresh tyres at the end looked quite good but not quite enough to pass young Charles.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I think we had a good strategy with me and I was able to go pretty long in the first stint and that opened up some opportunities at the end. But I’m gutted, you know. I was trying everything I could to get him and there was no way past. Always when I was getting close enough I started left-front locking, because of the lack of downforce and they are so quick in the straights as well. But I tried and I think it was the best I could do today.

Q: He was very strong off Parabolica, the last corner, wasn’t he, and then down the straight, so difficult to overtake.

VB: Yeah, it was really difficult. We were trying everything we could with engine modes and everything, but not quite enough. Yep, we move on.

Q: Third consecutive podium here but maybe not the place you wanted to be. Thanks Valtteri. Lewis, what a dice, what a battle that was! It got a bit fruity in places.

Lewis HAMILTON: Fruity?

Q: A little bit close. His elbows were coming out here and there. What would be your word?

LH: He did a great job. Congratulations to Ferrari and to Charles, he did a great job. A lot of pressure from Valtteri and I. I did the best I could, I think, but obviously following so closely for such a long time the tyres eventually just went off the cliff. Nonetheless, they were just quicker today – much quicker in a straight line, so even if we did get close we couldn’t pass. Not our day but still strong points for the team. We pull away from Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship and ultimately that’s what really matters.

Q: And you must be homing in on your sixth title? It must be starting to come into range in your mind?

LH: Honestly, I’m just trying to do better each race. I’m not really focused on that at the moment. But of course, a healthier lead than I’ve been in in the past, so obviously I’m grateful for that. But today wasn’t a perfect race. I think this weekend some improvements to be made to my set-up and obviously within myself, so I’ll focus on that for the next race.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Valtteri, congratulations, you took second place with 12 laps to go. Another lap or so do you think you could have got the win today or did Ferrari have the pace?

VB: First of all, well done Charles. (General laughter, as CL is absent). We tried everything we could today as a team and personally I was giving everything I could for the win. For sure, it’s annoying because it’s so close – finishing less than one second behind the leader. But, yeah, at least I tried everything I could. We tried. The tricky bit was that they were so quick on the straights. It required us to be so close in the corners that it was not really possible to follow, leading the straight (sic), and also getting issues with brakes locking up once getting so close to the car ahead. I was pushing hard, so what can I say? Just not quite enough. Otherwise, it was a good race. I enjoyed it a lot, hunting for the win and the pace was pretty good especially in the second stint.

Q: Thank you and well done. Lewis, you put a lot of pressure on Charles today. How much pleasure do you get from that race?

LH: There’s not a lot of pleasure from finishing third. Going backwards is never a great thing. Still, it was a great race. He did a great job. It was nice and tight for a long time and they deserved the win – they did a better job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell - Autosport) Lewis, during the race while you were trying to hunt down Charles, we heard a couple of times that it got a bit ‘dicey’ with him. There was the move at the second chicane, where he pushed you onto the run-off, and I think there was another one at the Curva Grande where you were going around the outside and he moved to the left? Was it just heat of the moment frustrations in the car or on reflection, a bit calmer, do you still think he was a bit on the limit or over the limit at times.

LH: Uhh, that’s racing. Yeah, it’s just racing I guess. I had to avoid colliding with him a couple of times but I guess that’s how the racing is today. You just move forwards.

Q: Thanks Lewis. Charles has joined us. Many congratulations. Second race win in the bag. It was an incredible grand prix, an incredible podium. Can you just describe the last two hours of your life?

CL: It’s quite difficult – a lot going through my mind, during the race, after the race. A lot of emotions. Obviously it was very difficult during the race. Lewis was behind me. I think the biggest gap there was was maybe 1.7 or 1.8 seconds, so right behind me. I knew that Lewis rarely makes mistakes, so obviously I had to stay on it. I did a few, which never cost me a position – once was very, very close. It was crazy and then finally in the last two laps I started to believe that the win was possible. I think that with the traffic Valtteri dropped a little bit and that helped me to get a little bit of space. And then finally going on the line, I let go all my emotions through the radio. I don’t think you can understand anything that I have said on the radio, but it felt absolutely amazing, and the podium also. It’s going beyond all the dreams I’ve had since I was a child. To see so many people cheering for one team, singing all together, it’s amazing.

Q: If we were to discuss the decisive moments in today’s race, was it that choice of the hard tyre at the pit stop?

CL: I don’t know. I think the strategy was good. Obviously we were in a tricky situation because we had the two Mercedes behind and I was the only Ferrari and they could play the game of going long with one car and earlier with the other. It was very tricky but in the end I rthink we made ther right choice with the hard.

Q: (Mike Doodson - Honorary) Following up on that response from Charles, I’d like to ask Mr Hamilton if he had the choice of white tyres and if they had been available would the result have been different in your opinion?

LH: I mean yeah, if I had gone onto the hard tyre I probably would have had the pace to have finished second, with a tyre that goes longer, but I wouldn’t have changed the position between myself and Charles I think. They were ultimately just a little bit too quick today. I did ask in the morning if I could go to the hard tyres and they said no. They said that because we hadn’t run it they didn’t it was quick enough. I think the tyre we were on was quick but I did say in the meeting this morning that the tyre was potentially going to go off the cliff. It was because I was following so closely behind for so long, just really on the ragged edge, trying to get as close as I could to get in shooting distance of trying to overtake. But every time I opened up the DRS – I don’t know if you were going to a different power mode – but the gap would stay the same. It’s pretty incredible the speed they have on the straights.

Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Charles, congratulations. Speaking of cliffs, I’m just wondering how your tyres were in the last 10-15 laps and how much tyre management was involved? Car looked a bit squirrelly on some corners, had a few moments, a few lock-ups. How near the cliff were you?

CL: The hard were quite difficult to manage. From the beginning, apart from the first two laps, or, no maybe a bit more, maybe three, four laps, I felt quite good, but then there was like a drop off of grip from all four tyres and then I’ve been struggling a little bit with front locks, and towards the end I’ve started to lose the rear, and that’s where the performance started to… where I started to slow down a little bit. They were not in a very bad shape. I believe they could have stayed where they were for quite many laps still – but yeah, I was just struggling with the rear left especially.

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Charles, you said since Austria and the incident with Max, you changed your approach, being more aggressive. I think we saw that most clearly today in your fight with Lewis. Could you talk us through battle with Lewis, and do you think without this change in approach, you made that you would have won today’s race?

CL: Obviously I think since Austria it’s clear that we can go a bit further in the way that we defend and overtake and yeah, just the aggressivity of us drivers. I believe that Austria helped me to change this approach and today it’s also thanks to this that I’ve managed to win. It was obviously very on-the-limit but… yeah, I’m happy to race like this.

Q: (Diego Sanchez – thebestf1.es) Charles, can you describe how you feel right now, just in one word – and how you chose this word?

CL: I don’t know how you say it in English: Libération.… yeah, freedom. More or less this. How many laps were there in the race? 53. 53 laps felt a lot longer than 53 laps. As I’ve said, I felt a lot of pressure from behind. So, obviously, from once I crossed the finish line until now is just pure happiness.

Q: (Godina Zsolt – f1vilag.hu) Charles, congratulations. After this race win, how do you see your chances for the next races – and do you think that this could be a turning point for Ferrari in terms of the Championship?

CL: We need to stay realistic. I think we expected that Spa and Monza would be very good races for our car but we also know that the next few races will be a lot more difficult for our car. So, we need to be realistic and, yeah, it’s not going to be easy. I think especially Singapore. I think it will be a nice surprise if we are better than what we expect – but what we expect – but we expect to struggle there. We’ll see in two weeks.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Last year Verstappen got a five second penalty for a move that looked similar to what happened at the Roggia chicane today between Charles and Lewis. What do the three of you think about the black-and-white flag being employed for that move today?

CL: I’ve been aware on the radio that I took a black-and-white flag for moving under braking but I’m not so sure of which move you are speaking about. If it’s the one in the right hander where we were flat-out or… after that. What it after that?

Q: The first one, where Lewis went slightly off the track to the right, on your outside, on the entry to the chicane.

CL: OK – to be completely honest, obviously I knew he was on the right, he braked a little bit early which I think was probably on purpose because he didn't’ want to try around the outside. I thought I had left a car width. I haven’t seen the images to be honest. But I was pretty sure there was a car width.

Q: And Charles, what do you think of the use of the black-and-white flag?

CL: As I’ve said, I think it’s good if we can race harder. Again, I haven’t seen the images so I cannot say particularly in this case but overall I’m happy if we can race harder. So… yeah… I’m fine.

Q: Lewis, can we get your thoughts?

LH: We’ve just constantly asked for consistency. So, there was a rule put in place, and then it wasn’t abided by today and they used difference consequences for the rule today but I don't really know why that was the case. It’s motor racing, I guess, and I guess the stewards woke up on a different side of the bed this morning. I don’t know.

Q: So do you not welcome the use of the black-and-white flag?

LH: Well, that’s what… Verstappen should have got that last year. We’ve asked for consistency. So the same rule should apply each time – but yeah… I don’t know what else to say about it.

Q: Valtteri, your thoughts

VB: I haven’t seen the whole thing, so I can’t say anything.

Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Question to Charles. Was it more difficult to win here or in Belgium, with all this battle?

CL: Here. I think it’s the first weekend in my life where the only thing I’ve got in my head is winning. Normally I focus on just the job I have to do in the car, which normally is more successful and it works better. But, since Wednesday, seeing the support we’ve had, was just, yeah, incredible. The only thing I wanted this weekend was to win in front of all the guys that are supporting us, for the team. So, it was very difficult because also during the race I was thinking to that win and how much it would mean to everyone in the grandstand here. So it was adding a bit of pressure, and as I’ve explained earlier, also I had quite a lot of pressure from lap one to the last laps.

Q: (Stephane Barbe – L’Equipe) Charles, could you describe especially your feelings on the podium, which is so different here from other places perhaps.

CL: Well, it felt amazing. I have never had a podium with… I’ve never been on a podium with so many people underneath it. And to see that the whole straight was full of people – mostly red – 99 per cent red – was great to see. Yeah, as I said earlier, hearing them cheering, singing was just… a lot of emotions.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, seven times a Finnish driver is second in this race. Is it an impossible place to win here?

VB: No, it’s not impossible! Not far away today, it just happens that a Finn hasn’t won here. so, maybe one day. Try again next year, obviously. Like I said earlier, I think we tried everything we could and it felt like we maximised everything with the strategy and all – but just not quite enough.

Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Charles, what are your earliest memories of Ferrari? Do you remember, for example, Michael Schumacher winning the Italian Grand Prix? Maybe just a little on that sort of background as a boy; it’s quite a while ago…

CL: I’m very bad with history and I’ve got a very bad memory for my own races so yeah. For the others races, I really don’t remember anything. The only thing I can remember is maybe one of the first Grand Prix I’ve seen in Monaco, which was at the exit of turn one, I remember looking for the red car. I was playing with the small cars that you have when you are a child – I was maybe five years old or something like this. This is the only memory I have from a Formula One car probably.

Q: Can you tell us about your first visit to Maranello?

CL: I went there with Jules Bianchi, who had to go there for some TV stuff and obviously he tried to let me in with him but they decided I couldn’t go in the factory. Now it’s a little bit easier to go inside but yeah, I remember obviously of dreaming of one day going through these doors and seeing how a Formula One team works, especially Ferrari. But I remember I was very impressed by the way as soon as you arrive in Maranello, which is a city, you can feel that everyone is just here, all working for Ferrari or completely crazy about Ferrari. That was very very special.

Q: Can you remember what year that was?

CL: No. No. I’ve got a very bad memory!

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Charles, speaking of that, you are in the Ferrari Driver Academy since a long time, in the Ferrari family so can you tell us of the importance of the programme and if that makes this podium so special and your winning here in Monza for the fans and for the Ferrari family?

CL: Well, at the end, if I’m here, it’s also thanks to the FDA. There are a few people in my career who have helped me to get there but definitely the Ferrari Driver Academy is part of these persons or group of persons. We did a lot of mental preparation, physical preparation. They also helped me a lot with the simulator work so I was on the simulator quite a lot and they have tried to give me as much experience that they had from Formula One to me to grow as a better driver so obviously I believe it’s a great proof that the Academy is working properly and there are also a lot of talents coming who are very strong and I’m pretty sure they will come very soon, joining obviously me but all of us in Formula One soon.

Q: (Joe van Burik – RacingNews 365) Charles, how much did you miss the support from Sebastian in the race today? Was it extra hard, considering you didn’t have him?

CL: Obviously it’s always an easier situation to have two cars instead of one but obviously yesterday Seb was extremely unlucky, he couldn’t do the lap in the second run of Q3 so yeah, but I’m pretty sure it will be better in the next races.

Q: (Fabio Seghetta -  TuttoMotorsport) Charles, obviously with this win you’ve overtaken Sebastian in the drivers’ standings. Do you think the next races, apart from the good or bad performances, you will stay there or do you think that together you can try to get as many points as you can to go over and maybe challenge the two guys to the left and right of you?

CL: To challenge Lewis and Valtteri will be very difficult because, as I said, I don’t think we will be as competitive as we’ve been in Spa and Monza but let’s see, obviously . I don’t know if I will keep the position ahead of Seb in the drivers’ championship. I think we need to work together and to try and have the best performance for the team. He wants to beat me, I want to beat him as much as he does but yeah, we’ll see at the end of the championship. I can’t know.

Q: (Giovanni Messi –  News Formula One) Charles, two questions: the first is, what did you think of during your final lap and if you have an opinion – I don’t know – on  Sebastian’s mistake during the first laps of the race?

CL: On the last two laps I started to see in the grandstand that there was quite a lot of agitation, that all of the fans were jumping so yeah, I was telling myself ‘stop looking at the grandstand, look at the track, focus on what you are doing as a driver and then you can enjoy whatever there is outside.’ But it was quite difficult to stay focused on driving, seeing how much movement there was in the grandstand. And then I haven’t yet seen Seb’s mistake.

Q: (Davide Russo – Russ Formula One) Valtteri, you still believe in this championship?

VB: Well there’s no point ever giving up when there’s still statistics to say it’s possible. Obviously it’s a bit of a long shot, honestly, if you’re realistic with the way Lewis is performing and the consistency he’s having. But obviously you never know. This is F1, we’ve seen crazy things happening so there’s no point giving up, I just focus as an individual, my best performance I can and for us, as a team, to keep those improvements coming, that we are doing together and by the end of the year we will see, but there’s no point in giving up.

Q: (Daniel Horvath – The Paddock Magazine) Charles, you need to beat a four time World Champion first if you want to win a race. Do you think Sebastian is the toughest teammate you’ve ever had, considering the lower categories as well?

CL: Yeah, definitely. He’s definitely the most complete driver I’ve been in the same team with. I’ve learned a lot from Sebastian. He’s an amazing driver, very quick. He has a lot of experience too so the way he works is very methodical and very detailed and of that I’ve learned a lot.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you’ve had an apparently very warm and respectful relationship with Charles so far this season, when seen from the outside. Will anything change in that as a result of your unhappiness today?

LH: I’m not unhappy; of course, as I’ve said, I don’t like to go backwards but he did a fantastic job today. I gave him as much pressure as I could and we had a couple of close moments, we could probably talk about it in private together but it’s nothing major and we continue to race. I’m looking forward to many more races together.

Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Charles, amazing that you mentioned that you were thinking during the race about winning and what it meant, and I’m just interested to know what part of the lap, given the amount of pressure you’re under constantly, you were able to think about that. Where on the circuit were you actually able to think about things like that?

CL: Maybe on the long straight for like 200 meters, I had the time to think. We were quite quick down the straight… not for the whole straight, only for part of it. I was thinking very quickly.

2019 Italian GP: FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

DRIVERS
1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

Q: Charles, you must have to pinch yourself at the moment, to come here on the back of that win in Spa, to claim pole position in front of Ferrari’s home crowd. And when you get that reception when you draw up, it must be incredible?
Charles LECLERC: It feels unbelievable. Already on Wednesday in Milan was just incredible and today to see so many people feels absolutely amazing. Happy with the pole but it’s a shame that at the end there was a big mess. I hoped for the last lap but that was enough with what happened for the pole.

Q: A pole is a pole, regardless of what happened. But tomorrow there’s a big day ahead. Do you feel that you’ve got the pace to take the win to these home fans?
CL: Yeah, I think the pace was quiet good actually during the race simulations in FP2 so it’s looking positive, better than in Spa, so let’s hope for a good race tomorrow.

Q: Lewis, I know you’re never happy unless you’re getting pole position, but I guess that at the end of the day Ferrari were always going to be strong here. You’re on the row and at the same time you missed out on the last run because of all the tactics for getting that tow. How do you sum it up?
Lewis HAMILTON: To be honest, I have to be grateful that I’m on the front row. We get to have a fight with the Ferraris tomorrow, which is nice. We’ve split them, so as a team it’s a really good position for us to be in. It is definitely a bit of an anti-climax that we couldn’t all go out and do that last final lap, that’s one of the most exciting ones we have. It’s crazy with this timing that we have, the system we have, where everyone backs up, everyone is trying to get a position and they times us out. They basically timed us out. It’s interesting – get pole position in the first run and then just time everyone out.

Q: I know normally you look for free space in qualifying but it seems like the two has been extra important this year. Is it strange as a driver to have that tactic when you go into a session, knowing that you have to be four or five seconds behind someone?
LH: Yeah, definitely. I mean on the out lap it’s dangerous for us all. There are people slowing down, you don’t know who is alongside you and that. It’s definitely risky business out there but it’s kind of enjoyable at the same time. But for us we are down on the Ferraris in a straight line, so we particularly need. I think others also do. I think it’s with this new wing, the drag is much bigger this year, so everyone is focusing on that. But honestly just to be up here on the front row, we can give them a good fight tomorrow.

Q: Valtteri, that was quite a difficult session. You almost had a lap cancelled, just before the red flag came out but it got reinstated, and luckily because that last run didn’t come off.
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I was quite unlucky there and also I had a yellow flag in the first run in the last corners so I had to lift off and I believe I lost the pole because of that. Obviously the last run was a bit of a mess for everyone. But the pace was good. Happy still to be very much at the front because it’s tomorrow that counts.

Q: How much fun are these cars to drive around Monza. Is it a place you enjoy?
VB: It’s always good fun. Definitely enjoying it and for sure I’m going to enjoy tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Charles, it was very close, less than one tenth of a second separating all three of you on the panel. But you’ve done it, you’ve got pole at Monza, so how does it feel?
CL: Obviously the feeling I got when I went out of the car, hearing the crowd cheer so loud is absolutely amazing. On the other hand a bit of a shame for the team, Seb couldn’t do his second timed lap; he was very quick. I felt like a 1-2 was an opportunity even though these two guys were extremely quick and it was very, very close. But yeah, the whole qualifying was a big mess with all the slipstreaming and having the best one. But very happy with this pole position.

Q: And throwing it forward to tomorrow’s race, do you think you’ve got a closer fight on your hands than you did last week at Spa?
CL: Yes, I think the race pace was more positive compared to what we had the Friday in Spa, so on that we are pretty confident. But the start will be very important, as always. But there is quite a long way here from the start to the first corner so the start will be very important.

Q: Well done, good luck tomorrow. Charles has described the quali session as a bit of a mess. Just talk us through what happened at the end of Q3 from your point of view.
LH: Well, it’s then same as has happened for some races now. The drag is a big issue here, the tow is a key to getting a good lap. Everyone was slowing right down and also blocking the way, so you couldn’t really get through. It was pretty dangerous. I nearly crashed a couple of times trying to stay out of the way of the guys that were braking ahead of me and then people trying to come past me. Nonetheless, Charles did a great job. I was a little bit unfortunate with Kimi spinning in front of me, so I had to lift in the last corner. That was really our pole lap lost there. It would have been nice to have obviously been able to compete on that last lap, get to really thresh out the cars and see who really had that little edge right at the end.

Q: Was there more time in your car?
LH: Definitely. Definitely. But I’m sure it’s the same for all of us. The track progresses so you can find little bits here and there. Also, I was quite close behind Kimi, so I was losing out a little bit through the corners, so you are trying to find the right compromise. But tomorrow there’s still a long, long way to the finish line so we’ll try to put ourselves in the best position. This is great for us to be able to separate the Ferraris and we can work together as a team tomorrow and try to overhaul him and fortunately not have the Ferrari in the way this time… Vettel.

Q: Valtteri, another quite messy qualifying session, with your first time having to be reinstated and then what happened at the end of Q3, so do you feel that the whole thing was a bit of a compromise for you?
VB: It definitely was. I think it was compromised for sure for many drivers so in that kind of messy session it’s always good to be ending up in the top three. The same for me as for Lewis, and I was actually more far back. I had the yellow flags for Kimi so I had to lift off properly and I also feel I lost the pole there. It’s annoying when it could have been possible but it could have been a lot worse today. I hope we can really learn something from the last run because everyone pretty much missed their lap. There were two cars going slow at the front and no one could get by. So not ideal but we are here, very much close to the front and it’s going to be a good fight tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) First part of the question for you Charles: could you talk us through, I think you were behind Seb at the beginning of the lap then did you decide on your own to just go flat-out and make it to the line on time? And for both Mercedes drivers, did you think about ‘OK, I have to go fast now otherwise I won’t make it,’ or is it something that you’re just relying on the team what they say to you?
CL: To be completely honest, the plan was that, in the first run, Seb was giving me the tow and in the second run, I will give him the tow. So, I actually went out of the box in front of him, and then there was the huge mess after Turns One and Two and the McLaren and a Renault – I don’t know whoever that was – they stopped in the middle of the track and we had nowhere to go. Seb overtakes me there, because of the mess, because obviously we were aware it was quite tight on time, and then I stayed, basically, behind Seb, until the last straight where I’ve heard also on the radio “you can overtake Seb,” so I overtook him – but I had no time for me either to start the lap, so yeah, it was a shame – but I don’t think I could have done much more.

And for the Mercedes drivers, how reliant were you on the pitwall? Lewis?
LH: Well, naturally, you’re listening to your delta, understanding whether you’ve still got time left but I tried to get through… I was supposed to be behind Valtteri but I overtook him, knowing that I needed to get further ahead, but I couldn’t overtake everyone, they were weaving and braking and it was like trying to avoid carnage all the time. So, we had a couple of people I think were holding everyone up, trying to, I guess, let people by but yeah, a bit of an anti-climax, I think, probably for all of you. Maybe they should have extended the session or something like that, so we could finish, or something – I’m not really sure how we’re going to get around this. Everyone’s brake testing and slowing down to let others past, just to get a tow. I’m not sure how we’re going to get around that in the future. But… yeah… in hindsight I wish I just went out earlier. Just got out there and got a clean lap. That would have been great.

Valtteri, anything you can add from your point of view?
VB: No, it’s the same. Same view for me. It was a bit of a mess and I was also just behind other cars, exit of Turn Two, and things started to go very slowly and, short on time, and everyone was pretty much in the same boat.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, we heard you over the radio after Q3, and again down on the grid, that it was an interesting tactic from Ferrari – because obviously Charles was on pole after the first run. Do you think it was intentional? A clever play from them to back them up? And how unflattering do you think the whole thing looked for F1?
LH: Honestly, I don’t know how many cars were up ahead, so I don’t know… Charles just said it was a couple of other cars up ahead so maybe it was them – but ultimately it worked out well for them. I really don’t know what else to say. It would have been nice to just finish the lap and both put the pedal to the metal but it didn’t happen and we move forwards.

Lewis, how did it look for Formula 1, just to follow up on Scott’s question?
LH: I don’t think it looks good but I’m not a fan so I’ll let the fans decide on that. I think fans get excited,  at least I remember I used to get really excited about watching qualifying and all the way down to that last minute, so it’s down for you guys to have an opinion. For me, just as a driver, I would have loved to have obviously driven more qualifying. One of the best stages of the weekend. I think some drivers didn’t even have a lap – is it true that Seb didn’t even have a lap? Is that right? Yep, it is the way it is.

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) This is the second race in a row now that this has happened. Lewis, you used the word ‘dangerous’ both at Spa and here as well. For all three of you, do you think a qualifying format rethink it required to avoid situations like this happening again?
VB: Well, these two tracks, we’ve seen this is really specific on the tows and I think Spa and Monza are the biggest gains on the straightline speed you can get really, being behind another car, and here especially. So, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue in most of the tracks, like at the next race where, for sure, everyone just tried to find a clear gap. But for tracks like this, it’s always been a bit like that, and maybe now a bit more extreme, with the cars getting more draggier and more of a gain being in the slipstream.

Charles?
CL: Yeah, as Valtteri said, it’s only on a few tracks during the season where we have this issue. I’ve got no quick fix to try and help this quickly – but maybe we can all think about to to try and understand. It has always been like this. I think slipstream has always been that way. I don’t really know what to say. We just need to analyse a little bit more, the situation. I think today was special, was definitely not the intention from our side. Obviously there was also Seb that was capable of having the pole position and we obviously didn’t want to sacrifice one car for the pole of the other so, yeah, it was quite tricky. I definitely think that situations like after the second corner shouldn’t happen when there are two cars side-by-side. I cannot go at 20kph, we couldn’t pass and I think most of the drivers behind wanted to pass but didn’t have the opportunity so, yeah, these situations have made a big mess towards the end and that’s why so many cars didn’t make it to start their laps. But yeah, that’s it.

Lewis, your thoughts
LH: I don’t really have an answer, to be honest. I don’t remember every qualifying session this year but it was similar last year, I think. We were all trying to get a gap, which continues to be key. In some places, you want a bigger gap, in some places it’s all about the tow, so each track’s specific. I always through they could do something different on weekends anyways, different weekends, depending on the track but it’s highly unlikely that’s going to happen.

Q: Do you think we’ll see such an extreme case going forwards, looking at the last seven races?
LH: I’m sure it’s going to continue. Positioning is key. If we were to… everyone going out as late as we just did there, for example, with two minutes to go, it’s going to continue to be an issue in places where you particularly need a tow. It won’t be until someone crashes that they’ll change it, most likely.

Q: (Godina Zsolt – f1vilag.hu) Charles, Sebastian is going to start from P4 tomorrow. How difficult will it be to keep behind the Mercedes cars compared to Spa?
CL: Well, it’s obviously going to be very, very difficult because, first of all, they are quick, secondly, slipstream and DRS are very important here – but I think the race pace looks better than what it was in Spa, so on that we are pretty confident – but for sure it’s going to be very difficult to keep them behind. As I said, I think a very good start from myself and also from Seb will be very important for the good result of the team tomorrow.

Q: (Carlo Ferraro - Fuoritraiettoria.com) We saw more than half of the Formula Three field getting grid penalties for driving unnecessarily slowly on their warm-up lap. Do you think this may or should happen today as well?
LH: Honestly I don’t know. It’s not our… it’s the system probably needs to shift a little bit maybe. I don’t think they should start handing out penalties. We just need to look upon it and reflect a little bit and see what we can do to make it better, make it better for the fans and make it less dangerous. Like they already made a change today that we have to finish the out lap within a certain delta time but even that’s still too slow. There’s improvements we can make, for sure, for safety but also for the spectators to watch.

CL: Yeah, I agree and today actually is quite difficult. If you put the penalty to one, you put the penalty to the 10 drivers that were in Q3 because we were all together.

VB: Nothing to say, really.

Q: (Simon Istvan Janos - V4NA) We have seen a very nasty accident this morning in Formula Three at the Parabolica. There was a very high kerb. It has been removed by Formula One qualifying; what was your impression of the accident, very close to Anthoine’s accident, within one week? And my other question is if you, as drivers, were consulted before removing it today?
VB: Yeah, obviously a big accident. I saw it afterwards. At least from me… no one asked me if the kerb should be taken off or not but my view would have been for sure because we’ve seen an accident like this so for sure and it was actually not making any difference to the track limits because people were going off the track before the bump so it was in the wrong place and wrong height obviously. I’m sure there’s a lesson learned. It’s a super high-speed place and if you hit it at the wrong angle obviously those kind of things can happen so… Definitely not so good for safety that one but I’m sure something learned today.

CL: Yeah, I think it was maybe a bit pointless to put a kerb like this, once they said they would look at the track limits there, because anyway if you go out, you have your lap and the next lap deleted. But I was quite a fan of gravel there in the past. I think that was quite a good fix for every track limits.

LH: Did you drive here with the gravel?

CL: Yup, in Formula 3.

LH: Yeah, I agree with him. It was much better when it was grass and gravel on the exit there because I remember you used to come into that corner, you kind of… you were a bit nervous going in too deep because you might end up in the wall. The grass would pull you out wide and you’d pay the price for pushing beyond the limit. So now you can go beyond the limit and that’s the biggest – for me – the biggest problem with all these run-off areas that are tarmac now. We didn’t need to be consulted about the kerb. It’s a band-aid on the issue of putting tarmac there in the first place. I don’t think they needed tarmac round there.

Q: (Joe van Burik – Racing News 365) Lewis, on Instagram you shared an image of an article featuring Max responding to quotes from Nico Rosberg, being a critic of his driving style in Spa. What do you think of a former World Champion being so explicit about how modern day F1 drivers talk?
LH: I don’t really think much of it, to be honest. I thought it was really funny – I think Max is generally a really funny guy so I was cracking up when I saw it. It’s interesting because obviously we know what it’s like – all the drivers have all been here and know what it’s like being criticised from the public and when [they are] in the sport moan about being criticised by people from the outside and then when drivers retire they become those critics, so it’s an interesting dynamic. And also some of those… unfortunately drivers become irrelevant when they retire and ultimate have to hang on to utilise other people’s light to keep them in the light and so… but that’s the way of sport, I guess.

Q: (Fabio Seghetta - Tutomotorsport.com) Charles, did you think that you had more advantage over the Mercedes cars during free practice or do you think that this gap has been reduce during qualifying?
CL: I think they’ve been quick all weekend, to be honest. I expected them to be very quick today. The straightline speeds are not as different compared to Spa. I think we were surprised to see them so quick on the straights during free practice. I think it was the same in qualifying, so yeah, I think it’s been the same from free practice to qualifying.

Q: (Giovanni Messi – News Formula One Italy) Charles, do you think that here Ferrari can be better race pace than in Spa, looking also at the time that we see in free practice yesterday ?
CL: Yeah, as I said earlier, I think in FP2 the race pace was a bit more positive compared to the race pace that we had in FP2 in Spa. It looks a little bit better but again, here the tow and the DRS has a bigger effect, so it’s going to be difficult to lead.

Q: (Christian Menath – MotorsportMagazin.com) Considering the weather forecast for tomorrow, for rain, did any one of you change the set-up for the rain, raise a bit more wing than you would usually have gone for for qualifying?
LH: Position is everything, so you want to go quick on the straight so no, you want to take absolutely everything off as possible to go as quick as you can.
CL: Same for us.
VB: Yup.

2019 Italian GP: FIA Team Principals' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli), Aldo COSTA (Mercedes)

Q: Question to all of you to start with. There was confirmation this week that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar for at least another five years. How important is it to for the sport to retain races and tracks like this one?

Mattia BINOTTO: Obviously we are very happy with the announcement at first because the Italian Grand Prix – and we believe this obviously as Ferrari but for the sport and the fans – having one race in Italy is key. Fundamental. We’ve celebrated this season the 90th season of Scuderia Ferrari but as well the 90th year of the Italian Grand Prix – so it is something which is part of the F1 history and we cannot miss it.

Franz?
Franz TOST: I think it’s very important and really good news that Monza stays in the calendar because, as we all know, Monza is an essential link to Formula 1, to the history of Formula 1 with highlights but also with tragedies. For me, Monza is one of the most important tracks regarding the history, like Silverstone – there should also be one race in Germany – like Monaco, Spa. These are the tracks where, in Europe we have to have races because the history matters to us.

Claire?
Claire WILLIAMS: I would totally agree with what everybody has said already. Monza is a historic race; the Italian Grand Prix should remain on Formula 1’s calendar. As much as it’s great to have all these new tracks we’re going to in lots of far-flung places across the world, Formula 1 having races remaining in its heartland is absolutely critical to our sport. It’s a wonderful track. The fans here are fantastic – as much as predominantly they’re Ferrari fans, I know there are a few Williams fans in the crowd as well, and that’s great. There’s nothing better than racing in places where you have so many fans turn up to cheer you on.

Mario?
Mario ISOLA: I cannot add a lot more. Monza is our real home race because the company is half an hour from here, so on top of the reasons mentioned by them, I fully agree. It’s feeling at home, it’s great for the fans, great for everybody, so happy to have Monza in the calendar for a long time.

Feeling at home – stay at home as well?
MI: Yes, sleeping at home, not at a hotel. Fantastic.

Aldo?
Aldo COSTA: I can give you the petrolhead answer. It has been my first circuit as a fan, where to see a Formula 1 race, and then, yeah, career has developed with Minardi, Ferrari, Mercedes, a lot of memories. It has been an incredible story around this circuit, and I’m very happy that it will be kept for the future.

Q: Staying with you, Aldo, news broke today that you’re joining Dallara next year. Can you just tell us why you’ve made that change, and tell us about the new role as well?
AC: Yes. It has been, of course, a difficult decision. I have spent, until now, eight years in England at Mercedes and it has been really a fantastic experience: a fantastic experience with the people, with the team. In the team you should see which harmony is there and how great is working for the team. Unfortunately my family stayed in Italy and for us it was quite tough, and at the end, I decided to take an opportunity that will allow me to further develop as an engineer and, in the meantime, to stay closer to home. So, coming back to my land and try to develop the Dallara Group to the next step, and try to develop new talents – something that I love. And, I love as well, working on different cars and not only Formula 1. So, fantastic opportunity combined with a different lifestyle and yeah, was a perfect choice for me.

Q: Eight years at Mercedes, as you say, but more than 30 years in Formula One. How do you reflect on your career so far – your Formula 1 career?
AC: yeah, it has been amazing. I have done three big, long cycles. This is what I like. Minardi; Ferrari; Mercedes: building up a team; building up an organisation; building up processes; building up design capabilities. So, yeah, it has been a career, wonderful for me and a lot of nice memories in all the three environments. And now, yeah, I’m starting the fourth long cycle – I hope.

Q: Franz, you spoke last weekend about how you were going to manage Pierre Gasly on his return to Toro Rosso. So, how do you assess his performance at Spa?
FT: He showed in Spa a very, very good race. A very good performance. I think that Pierre is back underway and he will also come up with good results – hopefully here in Monza as well and I am quite positive. Unfortunately here he has to start from the back of the grid because we change the power unit on his car but nevertheless – and Daniil showed it last week in Spa – it’s possible as well, scoring points and starting at the back of the grid. He gets more and more familiar with the car. The team, he knew already. There’s nothing special. And he is making the progress which we expected.

Q: Monza hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Toro Rosso in the last few years – in the hybrid era. Pierre is at the back but what you do you think you can achieve this weekend with that car?
FT: It depends which weather it is. If it’s wet, I think we’ve a good chance because Daniil was quite happy today with the car and the wet conditions. I hope that we can show this performance as well under dry conditions as it looks like tomorrow – Saturday – will be dry but Sunday could be wet. If we get the set-up together, especially from the aerodynamic side, I think that we are quite competitive because, with the Step 4 engine from Honda, we made a step forward, and therefore I don’t think that we have any disadvantage.

Q: Claire, coming onto you, while we’re talking about performance, we saw your team take a step forward in Hungary a couple of races ago. What can we expect from you this weekend on a very different type of circuit?
CW: I think probably similar levels of performance to that which you saw in Spa. These circuits are particularly penalising when you’ve got quite a lot of drag on car, which unfortunately we do at the moment. So, it’s going to probably be another tough weekend for both George and Robert. I think, probably, long run pace in Spa was better than we expected it to be. The guys had a vaguely decent race. They were able to fight with somebody else rather than just themselves. But, again, Sunday’s going to be difficult for us. Maybe depending on the weather, we might be able to capitalise, is there’s a bit more of a lottery going on – but I think we’re probably more looking forward to Singapore than racing on Sunday afternoon here.

Q: And where are you at in your understanding of this year’s car? In terms of, do you understand the deficiencies enough to be able to implement the correct changes into next year’s car?
CW: I think we’re probably pretty – very – clear on where the deficiencies are. We need more downforce, we need less drag. And obviously the aerodynamics team are working really hard on that. As you all know, we bought a significant package to Germany. We’re still trying to capture a lot of data to truly understand how much that performance did bring for us – and we continue to bring test items to each and every race to dial out some of the issues that we have across other issues that we’re facing at the moment around some of the mechanical areas on the cars. So, we’re doing all of that. We’ve got a very clear pathway moving forwards. A lot of that work will continue to ensure we improve this year’s chassis but also so that we bring performance items this year that will have an impact on the FW43 – the 2020 car.

Q: Mario, coming to you. It’s the Temple of Speed this weekend. The cars exceed 200mph on four occasions around the lap here at Monza. How do those speeds affect tyre performance?
MI: Yes, Monza is a circuit where you need a lot of traction, where you need to protect the rear tyres. There is not a lot of downforce on the cars because they need the speed, so there is an additional stress on the tyres, I believe. We have a good  tyre choice, then a lot will be on weather, because the weather forecast is, for the moment, on a wet race, and maybe we will see a lap record tomorrow in qualifying. That should be dry – but I think it’s not easy for the teams to understand the weather this weekend, so the stress on the tyres is quite high – but more on that is how to understand the condition of the circuit.

Q: Now, looking further ahead than this weekend, big week for you next week when you begin testing the 18-inch tyres with Renault at Paul Ricard. Can you just enlighten us a little bit more about what the programme is for that test?
MI: Yeah. We are ready. We start with a baseline, obviously. The test will be more on construction. That is what happens usually, when you have a new size, a new challenge. I have not a clear idea what to expect. We started already the F2 tests with 18-inches. That is going quite well, so hopefully we have the same result with Formula 1. It’s obviously more… I don’t want to call it a ‘shakedown’, because we are going to test for two days and we have a programme that is quite big. We want to test different solutions to have a better idea. We have these three sessions to understand and assess the baseline for next year and then, obviously, we will have a full year of development next year to finalise. The challenge is big, as I’ve said many times, and happy and excited to start very soon.

Q: Mattia, wonderful celebration of Ferrari’s history on Wednesday evening in Milan. What was it like from your point of view – lots of former team-mates there?
Mattia BINOTTO: It was fantastic to see so many people there, our fans, the passion. The number of people, the guests, was very, very high. The entire square of the Piazza del Duomo was full of people. I think it was a great celebration, because firstly we hoped people would come after such a bad start to the season I would say, but then here it’s where you can really feel the passion of the tifosi of Ferrari. It was incredible. We had many drivers of Ferrari of the past. We got people who somehow had been part of the Ferrari history and I think to see all these people on the stage was something impressive. And from my personal point of view as well being there on the stage and to see so many people it is something that is giving you a boost of energy. After Spa as well it was a great way as well to somehow celebrate the very first victory of the season but certainly a big boost for this weekend as well here in Monza.

Q: Now talking of Spa, Sebastian spoke yesterday about his tyre difficulties. Are you able to explain why he suffered more than Charles in that race?
MB: Obviously after Belgium we did some analysis. I think at first we all had quite high degradation on the medium. That’s true not only for Ferrari but looking as well to our competitors. We believe the degradation was similar but unexpected at least for us that degradation was high on the medium compared to the soft. Obviously also we had a very early pit stop on Sebastian, so let’s say that he got a disadvantage on tyre degradation by the time he was on the track with the other guys on the same compound. Most of the difference between him and the others was simply tyre degradation and not his own pace. Obviously we had to pit him very soon to protect ourselves to Hamilton but that somehow as well put him in a bad position, trying to compete and be on the same pace as the others.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) A question to Mattia. Is being the team principal of Ferrari as difficult as you were expecting and what kind of difficulties have you already met since you became the boss?
MB: I would say it is more enjoyable than what I was expecting, rather than difficult. The reason why it is enjoyable is because I think we have got a great team and a great team spirit and that is somehow giving to the team principal the right confidence and boost and again our tifosi, as I just mentioned before. I think these are circumstances where you may somehow play your role in a proper manner. I would not say difficult but certainly the pressure is there. The first part of the season has been difficult and somehow to manage the situation is never easy. It’s true with the fans, with the media and it’s true within the team. But somehow that will make us even stronger in the future by making sure that we have been able and capable of managing the start of this season.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/racefans.net) To the four team representatives: Guenther Steiner this week in his team’s preview questioned the need for standardized or prescription parts and a budget cap – basically saying ‘don’t tell us how much money we can spend and then tell us how to spend it’. Would you agree with that?

CW: I think I’ve made Williams’ perspective on this very clear. We very much agree with the cost cap and you know standardization of part again all talks towards cost saving or cost efficiency in Formula 1 and again that’s something we are very much in favour of.

FT: I am also very much in favour of what the FIA and FOM suggest, what hopefully will come within the regulations and I think for me it’s clear and there is nothing more to say.

MB: What Guenther said is not, let me say, a new position for Ferrari since the very starts. We were arguing the standardisation at first because, as he said, there is a budget cap somehow to control the costs and whatever you may do at the end you may standardise but the budget cap, at least for the top teams, will be the level of expenditure for the season. We believe that standardisation may even be a risk for Formula 1 in the future, because at first you don’t know what is the reliability on standard parts at the very start. We had a situation as well, if we look back at F2 for example, on a standard clutch, for many races they simply had to start behind the safety car because the clutch was not reliable enough. So we may accept standardisation but we need to make sure at first that it is reliable, that the level of quality is the right one, that the level of performance is what you may expect for an F1. And more than that we need to make sure that we do not have extra indirect cost by simply developing a standard component. We believes that for most of the standard components that we are proposing currently for 2021, we will all needs to redesign our car, we will need somehow to make sure that whatever is the new component is properly functioning and that’s extra cost. That maybe it’s not costs that you have from 2021 onwards but it will be extra cost from now until 2021.

AC: We are in a similar position. We accept the cost cap. It is a measure that will for sure impact how our teams develops thing, as Ferrari, Red Bull for sure, I don’t know who else. So we accept the challenge. In terms of standardisation, the same concern Mattia was expressing. We need to make sure they are reliable. They will require a lot of redesign around, so we are not convinced that they will be a real cost reduction. The cost reduction can be negligible. But the cost cap will definitely be something quite big for the big teams.

Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) – A question for to the three team principals and Mario, if you have an opinion. When Michael Masi took over from the late Charlie Whiting he naturally had very big shoes to fill. He’s been in the role now for six months, so I just wondered if you could give me an idea of what you have come to expect from Michael and the role he has done so far?
MB: I think Michael is doing very well since Australia and if you look over the first races I don’t there have been, from a race director’s point of view, any mistakes or big mistakes. And as you said it has not been easy for him, obviously in Australia first, because it’s, let me say, with no advice he had to jump into the role. But since then he’s doing really a pretty good job and I’m really happy.

FT: I can only agree with Mattia said. Michael is doing a fantastic job because it was not easy for him because as you said they were big steps he had to go in and he fulfilled it and he is doing the best possible job he can do in this position and so far I would not say that the made any wrong decision we are quite happy with him.

CW: I don’t have much to add. I agree with what Mattia and Franz have said.

MI: I agree. Our position is probably slightly different compared to the teams. We are working with the FIA every day on many subjects. We have different reference people now. Obviously it’s difficult to replace Charlie and Michael has probably a slightly different role compared to Charlie – Charlie was a bit everywhere. He was our… I don’t want say unique reference, but every time we needed something we went to Charlie, and now in the FIA there is a slightly different organization so we have different people but I believe Michael is doing an excellent job.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question to Mattia and maybe Aldo as well if you feel you would like to comment. With what needs to be resolved with the 2021 rules, do you expect that it will be resolved within the time that has been set or do you think it could rumble on beyond that either by the bigger teams delaying it or by veto or anything like that?
MB: Well, by the end of October we need to vote and I’m pretty sure that regulations will somehow be somehow voted and accepted by that date. I think obviously the current effort is that when we come to the end of October we are in the best position in terms of compromise or agreement. But regs will be voted and obviously later as well, as they can still be discussed and eventually modified if we may find let me say at least if not unanimity but a majority on what can be the intent. I’m not expecting anything wrong by the end of October. It’s only a matter of collaborating as much as we can from now to there to have to have the first set of regulations which are as best as we can and continuing on them for the future.
AC: Nothing else to add.

Q: Franz or Claire anything you’d like to add?
FT: The major topics must be fixed until the end of October. This is what we agreed. We can’t delay it anymore, because discussions are going on without any results then. I think that currently the different working groups are doing good jobs. We have next week another meeting in Geneva where we hope we will fully decide some important things and as I said before the end of October it must fixed. Maybe afterwards there will be some small fine-tuning but the regulation must stand.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Claire, we all know how much Frank loves to be at the race track; he was at Spa, first time out of Britain at a race (sic). How much of a thrill was that for him and how much of a good medicine for him?
CW: Yeah, it’s always great when Frank’s at the track, I think not just for our team – our team thoroughly enjoy having him there. He is our leader, he is our inspiration and just to have him there gives everybody a really boost - but I think for a lot of people in the paddock as well who know Frank, I think they, as well, find it a real joy to have him around. Obviously because he can’t fly any more, Silverstone is invariably the one race that he can get to but we obviously saw how much he enjoyed being at Silverstone, put a plan in place to have him driven over to Spa and he loved the drive. If nothing else, it was great for him to get out of the office and it was great for him to be at the race track, I think. As everybody knows, Frank lives and breathes Formula One. As he says, this is his oxygen, it’s what keeps him going and I think if we can put a plan in place to bring him to more races by car then we will. I think he’s talking about driving to half the races next year. I think that means he’s going to have to set off pretty early for a lot of them. It’s great for him and I think it’s great for Formula One as well.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Mattia, the Ferrari’s got a very different performance profile from the Mercedes this year and I think it’s fair to say it’s only competitive at certain types of tracks, so far, anyway. Is that something that’s going to continue for the rest of the year? Is it something that you can’t change without a philosophy change on the car? And are you doing a philosophy change on the car for next year?
MB: Certainly there is quite different characteristics or let’s say that as Ferrari we are certainly lacking in grip-limited areas and this is where we need to improve, and whenever we may got to circuits where there are a lot of corners and where grip-limited is important or maximum downforce will be required to be fast, we are certainly showing our main weakness. How we are addressing that by the end of this season? I don’t think so because the gap is too big in that area. Can we improve the situation? Certainly we are working to address it. And are we putting too much effort into this season or should we concentrate on next year? We are trying to address the issue. Being that the regulations are now stable from now to next year, we believe that whatever we may do this season will be useful for the next one. So yes, there is a gap, it will remain; hopefully we may close it.

Q: (Daniel Horvath – The Paddock Magazine) Claire you touched earlier on the improvements you are working on. That’s your view, how much of a re-set does the team need and what changes can we expect considering 2020?
CW: Yeah, there’s been a huge re-set at Williams which I’ve talked about a lot this year and a re-set invariably takes an inordinate amount of time and time that you wish could go a whole lot faster but we have put in a lot of change in the business and a lot of change that unfortunately a lot of people when they tune in on a Sunday afternoon, they don’t get to really see, but change does take time to bed its way in. But we’ve made those changes, we’ve made a lot of changes over nine months, not just to what we do from a performance perspective on the car but also to how we operate and function as a business, to make sure that Williams really is set up to be prosperous in the future and that’s been really important to us and something that we’ve put a huge amount of energy and time into. I think we’re starting to see the results of some of that work that we’ve done but it is a journey for us, this is going to take us a long time to get ourselves back into the midfield and I suppose we just keep asking for patience and for people not to expect that suddenly the light switch will come on and we will suddenly find ourselves back fighting for P4 and P5, particularly when you look at the competition out there at the moment. The guys ahead of us are doing a fantastic job and it’s up to us to keep taking that fight. And we will. The ambition at Williams is still there. The spirit within our team is probably stronger than it’s ever been. I think we’ve really galvanised our team this year into knowing, understanding what the vision, what the mission is for Williams moving forward and put a timeline in place so people know and understand what they’re working to and I think that’s probably a critical part of what we’ve been doing over the past few months at Williams. We’ve clearly still got some work to do on some personnel issues and we’ve obviously still got to find the performance and that’s the work that the guys across the engineering functions are working really hard on at the factory at the moment, and I’m just hoping that next year’s campaign is a whole lot more successful for us than this year’s one, because this is the second year of pain for Williams and we don’t want to find ourselves at the back of the grid next year. We’re doing everything to make sure that we don’t. Certainly ’21, hopefully, will be a whole lot brighter for us as we continue that campaign of work and then with the new regulations that we’re hoping will be signed off at the end of October will all contribute to making or putting Williams in a better place and giving us greater opportunity moving forward.

Q: (Thomas Maher – FormulaSpy.com) Claire, Jamie Chadwick is here this weekend. Can you outline more about what her role is here this weekend and over the next couple of months and whether there is the possibility we might see her maybe in some older Formula One machinery at some point?
CW: Yes, Jamie joins us tomorrow. She’s actually in an F3 test today. I hope I’m allowed to say that… She’s doing that today. She’ll join us – this is, I think, her third race weekend that she’s joined us at and it’s all part of the driver academy programme that we have in place at Williams, that we established this year and it’s working really well for us. It’s all about obviously taking young talent that we can find and helping develop them, but also for them to help Williams develop. Jamie has been an instrumental part in that this year and when she come to the races with us, when she’s trackside she shadows basically, she watches what’s going on in engineering briefings, she listens to the drivers, she obviously watches all the track action and she just learns how a Formula One weekend operates. I think she’s yet to announce her plans for 2020 but I know she’s got a lot of offers on the table, not surprising considering the job that she did in the W Series this year and just the personality that she has and the ambition and the drive that she has as well, I think it will take her a long way. As for our plans for Jamie, moving forward, we’re obviously working out what we’re going to be doing from a race driver perspective for 2020 at the moment, and once we’ve resolved that then we will start looking and thinking about the plans for the driver academy and who we have in there.

Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Mattia, you planned to put your new power units back here in Monza. Did you use it already today and in this case is it working as you expected?
MB: Yeah, we used the new power already in FP1, that’s normally our normal way of proceeding so on the Friday to make sure everything is working properly and making sure that we are at least tuning the mapping in the best way for Saturday and qualifying and the race. Yes, so far so good. Obviously we had very little running this morning apart from in the wet which are quite different conditions compared to the top speed we may expect for the rest of the weekend and certainly for tomorrow but yeah, we’re all good.

Q: (Davide Russo – NewsF1.it) Mattia, it’s your first time here as Ferrari team principal so what’s your expectation and sensation for the race?
MB: Ok. At first, I didn’t realise it, I didn’t think about it because it’s not my very first time here in Monza which is even more important. Expectations? No doubt that after Spa the expectations can only be high. This is a circuit with long straights and we know that our strengths are on the straights but we know as well from Belgium that we just finished the race a second ahead of our competitors and so there is no margin there. It has been a great and perfect weekend for us in Spa. We know that we can do well here in Monza only if we have a perfect weekend.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Mattia, I wonder if you can clarify a comment that you made earlier on when you said that the regulations will have to be voted for by the 31st of October? We were under the impression that the international sporting code was being used which is why it was deferred from 30th of June to the 31st of October. Has that changed?
MB: No, no. We all agreed by a meeting to postpone it because some more time was required but we are all aware and fully aware that we cannot postpone it even more so that will be the deadline by when we need to vote. To postpone it further would mean not to be ready in 2021.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) … vote side, because the international sporting code doesn’t make provision for a vote.
MB: We should have that to the FIA and F1 but I think their intention is to vote to make sure that somehow all the teams are agreeing.

Q: (Alessandro Bucci – ItaliaRacing.net) Franz, about the aerodynamic content of STR14, how is the ambivalent state of that part after the summer break?

FT: After the summer break. All the new upgrades we’ve decided to put on the car before the summer break, because in the summer break they don’t do anything, and OK, here in Monza a new aero package so all the teams with a different rear wing configuration and also front wing some changes and then we will come up with smaller upgrades to Singapore and some changes on the floor for Suzuka and Mexico we will see then. This is still in the wind tunnel. Don’t know yet.

IMG to reveal electric series Projekt E Supercar at World RX of Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

The FIA World Rallycross Championship series promoters IMG has today confirmed that the first 2020 Projekt E Supercar will be unveiled on Friday, September 13 at the Neste World RX of Latvia.

The electric development series, codenamed 'Projekt E' will use Austrian firm STARD’s [Stohl Advanced Research and Development] “REVelution” EV powertrain systems which will produce up to 450kW (613bhp) combined power, 1100Nm of instantaneous torque and produce a top speed of 240km/h.

Projekt E will showcase electric-powered cars on the same event schedule as traditional World RX Supercars at selected European rounds of the championship in 2020.

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

“The official reveal of the Projekt E racecar at the Neste World RX of Latvia is an important milestone in our path to introducing electrification to the FIA World Rallycross Championship,” said Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of IMG Motorsports.

“Projekt E racecars will be an exciting addition to our World RX race weekend at selected events next year. The automotive world is changing and we are ready to embrace that change.”

TEXT - Junaid Samodien