Monthly Archives: November 2012

Fernando Alonso remains upbeat about chances of beating Sebastian Vettel, despite fortune not favouring Ferrari in qualifying in Austin.

Alonso failed to match team mate Felipe Massa as he struggled for grip, and finished Q3 in ninth place.

He has at least picked up a spot from Romain Grosjean’s penalty, although it puts him onto the dirty side of the track.

“It’s the same as the last race, we were position seven in Abu Dhabi and here we are position eight so it’s more or less the same,” said Alonso. “We will try to recover good places on Sunday, that is normally our strong point.

“I still believe that tomorrow we can score more points than Sebastian. The race is long, anything can happen, and we need to keep confidence and be optimistic because the race pace normally improves a lot.

“If everything goes smooth for Red Bull they should win this and Brazil. Sometimes it doesn’t go smooth for everybody, so we will try to do our race and take benefit of other’s mistakes.”

Drivers who have qualified for the even numbered slots on the grid in Austin are anticipating a difficult time at the start on Sunday.

The left hand side of the track is particularly dirty at the new venue, and practice starts at the end of FP3 this morning confirmed the drivers’ fears.

Those starting on that side are led by Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

“It was really poor,” said Hamilton when questioned by this writer. “I barely went anywhere when I let the clutch out. That’s why I’ve been saying they need to clean the inside because it’s just as slippery as when we started driving yesterday.

“While the rest of the track is bedding in and getting much, much better, that part of the track is untouched. It’s going to be very much the same as the pit lane for example, it’s got no grip at all. So I don’t know what they’ve got to do – at least clean it is one way of doing it.”

“One thing which won’t be easy is the start,” said Massa. “I start on the left hand side. I’m seventh but Grosjean is changing the gearbox, and I go to the left. This morning on the left it was slower than in the wet, so you can imagine how it’s going to be to start on the left.”

Michael Schumacher could enjoy one of the best races of his season after qualifying fifth for his penultimate F1 start in Austin.

Schumacher took sixth place on merit and then gained a further spot from Romain Grosjean’s gearbox penalty. Crucially he is on the clean side of the track.

“We were anticipating just to get into the top 10,” he said when asked  about qualifying by this blog. “That’s what we were thinking could be good for maybe seventh or eighth as a max. For it to be six and then five for the known reason is welcome, particularly being on the right side of the grid.”

Schumacher says that he got the tyres to work in qualifying, when drivers had to run several laps to get them into the operating window.

“The point is that the tyres are very crucial, we’ve known this all year long. Here they are maybe a little bit more peaky, because of their behaviour because of the track conditions and the circumstances.

“It was clearly going out for that lap, because I tried already the lap before, or two laps before that, to set a time, and it wasn’t yet ready. Just everything was switched on and was there. The balance then fitted as well in that circumstance.”

Pole man Sebastian Vettel will start the US GP seven slots ahead of title rival Fernando Alonso – giving the German a real chance of securing his third World Championship on Sunday.

However Vettel beat main qualifying challenger Lewis Hamilton by only a tenth of a second at COTA.

“We started off on the right foot I think yesterday,” said Vettel. “The first practice was very good for us. It was extremely slippery to be honest to start with. Obviously the circuit is brand new, the asphalt is brand new and it takes a while for the track to come in but it’s also quite a lot fun to slide around a couple of corners and it just got better throughout. I think you can see the lap times just got quicker.

“Through qualifying I think we were very happy. In the last section I would have loved to go a little bit quicker. I think I lost a little bit in the first and the last sector. It was a little bit closer than I wanted with Lewis. But overall, fantastic.”

Vettel said he wasn’t focussing on what title rival Alonso – who will start eighth – is doing.

“Obviously we have to look after ourselves, and as I said I’m very happy. We had a smooth session, no issues. Yesterday afternoon was not ideal, we lost a little bit of time. These things can happen, and they might happen again. So you never know and therefore it’s the best strategy to keep your down and try to get the best, which I think was the target in qualifying.

“As I said I’m very happy with the result but so far nobody has scored any points. I think we have seen at the last race how quickly things can change and even starting at the back does give you opportunities, so we need to wait and see. But for us we focus on our race and tomorrow we have the chance to seal the Constructors’ Championship for the team, so that’s what Mark and I will probably be looking out for.”

F1 team bosses were unanimous in their praise for COTA today as the sport attempts to create some momentum in the USA.

Although the slippery track and hard Pirelli choice made life difficult for the drivers, the facilities have received positive reviews.

“I think we have to congratulate everyone, Bernie and the organisers, for putting together not only a great circuit with great facilities,” said McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh.

“And also it’s great to see how many people were here on a Friday. So we’ve got to make sure that as Formula One as a whole, we put on a show this weekend; that we reach out over the coming year and we build this into a fantastic event.

“The topography is great and there’s something about hills and dips and blind corners that make it very challenging for drivers but also make it look great and spectacular to drive on.”

“It’s incredible to see what’s been done in the last 18 months,” said Red Bull’s Christian Horner. “We came here 18 months ago when it really was just a construction site and we ran a car with David Coulthard on just dirt and rubble that existed here.

“And to see what’s happened and how the track’s been built and the undulations and the corners, the way it’s been incorporated – just hats off to the Circuit of the Americas and to Bernie for convincing them to take up this race and so on. It’s a great challenge and a great spectacle and hopefully we can put on a good show for the American fans and public and it will be a race to remember.”

“To get this event on the calendar is fantastic,” said Mercedes boss Norbert Haug. “The US is so important for Formula One. A race here belongs to a world championship, a true world championship. We have been here before and after a five-year break we are back again. The circuit is very, very demanding, very challenging.

“The track is developing currently, getting better and better, more rubber on the asphalt. But I think it has huge, huge potential. I think it will be televised worldwide of course, like usual, and make a big impact. So, this is a race with enormous potential and kind of a milestone in Formula One’s history I would say.”

Fernando Alonso finished Friday in Austin in third place, and the Spaniard pronounced himself happy with Ferrari’s latest update package.

“The updates, they seem to work,” said Alonso. “We are still analysing all the data from today, but the first impression is that it’s all going good, so I’m happy. Obviously if we introduce a little step every race the others do the same, so we keep the gap more or less consistent.

“Starting third would be fantastic, but we were third many Fridays, and then on Saturday McLaren, Lotus they seem to use the potential that maybe on Friday they hide. It’s possible that we’ll have a tough qualifying. But we were seventh and ninth in Abu Dhabi, and we scored three points more than Vettel. If we are better than seventh I think we can score even more points.”

Alonso said he wasn’t concerned about the apparent pace of the Red Bull today.

“No surprises for us, they are the quickest out there, they have the fastest package, they do first and second in all the practices, first and second in all qualifying, and if everything goes normal, first and second in the race.

“In the race sometimes everything is not going normal, and we put more pressure on them on Sundays, we will take out opportunities, we will fight every lap in the race.

“We know the strong point of them, we keep repeating this every race, is the speed of the package. They are very quick. Our strong points are the united team, a very strong team, the driveability of our car. We try to use each of our strong points, and the important thing is to score 11 points more than them in these two races. I’m still convinced that we can do it, but we are not surprised when they are first and second in practice and qualifying.”

Mark Webber gave COTA a thumbs-up after finishing the first day of practice in second place.

After a troublefree Friday Webber lost out only to his team mate, Sebastian Vettel.

“It’s a pretty good track,” said the Aussie. “Obviously it was very slippery to start with. That was quite frustrating probably for all of us, but the track rubbered in pretty well at the end. We got into a pretty good rhythm. As usual with all new circuits you’ve got to work out where you can prioritise your time, and the compromises around the lap. It’s got a bit of everything, really.

“It’s fun, it’s a new challenge for us. It can be demanding and a bit frustrating at times, because we want to learn faster, that’s the way it always is with is guys, but in the end I think we executed a pretty clean Friday.

“We know that the tyres are pretty high maintenance, that’s something we’ve got to look into tonight. The rest of it was pretty straightforward, no huge surprises, I suppose the grip level of the track, but that’s always improving.”

Turn 19, near the end of the lap, has been the scene of many off-track excursions.

“It’s quite blind on the apex, so it’s difficult for is to see the exact apex point, and then it just seems to be very, very slippery from apex to exit. A lot of us look like we’re pretty amateurish. We just refuse to believe that that’s the grip that’s available, that’s why we keep making mistakes!”

Regarding prospects for overtaking, he said: “It’s not the easiest track, especially off line it’s very slippery. It’s a good circuit, let’s see what the racing’s like.”

Webber also cautioned that the even numbered side of the grid will be very slippery.

“I think first of all the left hand side of the grid will be a joke, so you want to be on the right hand side if you can, pole or third or fifth or something like that, that will be the first thing. I think the first corner is a bit like La Source at Spa, and we all know that.”

Lewis Hamilton denied recent suggestions from McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh that he already regrets his move to Mercedes.

Whitmarsh made the comment to the official F1 website last week.

“I was a little bit surprised to hear that,” said Hamilton today. “It’s clearly absolutely not the case. I’ve got a great team and I’ve been with them such a long time. So, I’m sure everyone has emotions within the team but I’m still here giving 100 per cent to them for the last two races. Of course it’s quite emotional for me but I’m very, very happy with the decision I’ve made.”

Meanwhile Hamilton says that he has no reason stay clear of the championship battle this weekend as he has his own race to run.

“We have no means to try and get in the way of anyone, but we want to beat them, we’re still fighting for position in the championship, even though we’re not fighting for the top position so we just have to focus on our job. Kimi did a great job in the last race. I think we were very strong as well, hopefully we will have less reliability issues this weekend and hopefully we can compete right at the front with all these guys.”

Lewis impressed by what he’s seen of COTA so far: “It’s quite an interesting track. It’s quite difficult to learn initially but it looks fantastic to drive. I really started to enjoy it once I got used to it, which took perhaps a little bit longer than some of the other circuits to learn but it’s going to be very interesting this weekend.”

Fernando Alonso says its business as usual for himself and Ferrari in Austin as he tries to take the World Championship battle to the final race in Brazil.

Alonso says he simply wants to have a troublefree weekend and then see what results from it.

“Nothing really changed in terms of preparation and approach for the weekend,” said Alonso. “Maximum concentration, maximum effort from everybody in the team. Preparing some new parts that we are bringing every grand prix and hopefully that we can test them tomorrow and have some feedback about that.

“Try to do a very good, smooth Friday, good test and here, maybe more important than some other circuits, to do a lot of laps, to learn the racing lines, the possibilities and maybe some tricks that the circuit can have. And a good Saturday, try to be in the best position possible for the race and 58 or 60 or whatever laps, qualifying laps, Sunday try to score as many points as possible. Exactly the same as every other weekend.”

Alonso said the fact that Austin is a new circuit won’t necessarily level the playing field in terms of the fight with Red Bull.

“I don’t think it’s an advantage for it to be a new circuit. I think we all will adapt very quickly in first practice and we all have simulators and everything that we use to prepare for the race, so I think that’s more or less the same as every other race.

“I’m very confident, I trust my team, I trust myself. We are honest with ourselves, we know that we don’t have the quickest package out there and we’ve qualified an average of sixth or seventh this season, so if we see that on Saturday we are sixth or seventh, people will say ‘maybe you say bye bye to the title’.

“I think it’s our normal position but even with this normal position, we were leading the championship until three races ago and we are ten points behind the leader, so this is not our strong point. Our strong point is to score more points than the others on Sunday and I’m sure we will do this in the next two races.”

No stranger to championship battles, Alonso made some interesting comments about his past experiences.

“I’m much more relaxed, much more focused. In 2006, I arrived at the last race fighting with Michael in Brazil. It was quite stressful, quite an intense weekend and not easy to get focused or sleep or things like that because it was a very emotional weekend.

“The year after, 2007, it was also a very stressful last race, three of us fighting for the World Champion:  Lewis, Kimi and me and it was also a stressful weekend and not easy to do things. In 2010, we arrived in Abu Dhabi, again fighting for the World Championship at the last race. I was much more calm there, I was more confident and things in the race, in the weekend were quite good for us and we did more or less – in terms of preparation and approach – it was much more calm and more mature, I felt, in 2010.

“The race was what it was and we didn’t win in the end but feeling-wise we were much more prepared. In these last two races, I feel, as I said before, completely normal. It’s good experience.

“It’s the fourth time we have been fighting for the World Championship up to the last race – hopefully – and you really feel the difference, being much more focused, concentrated, trying to do the job and understanding that if you do everything perfectly you have a chance; if you make a mistake you will lose the chance, so let’s focus on us.”

Bernie Ecclestone says he’s happy with the way COTA has turned out and is full of praise for the new venue.

“I think the circuit itself is absolutely fantastic,” said Bernie. “Everything they’ve done is unbelievable, everything we asked for they did. I think everything is fantastic. Everybody seems happy. I had a complaint about the weather not being hot as people were expected! They’ve done a super job, couldn’t ask for anything better.

Regarding the best way to grow the sport in America, he joked: “Have maybe 10 races like we have in Europe – same population, same size.

“I think America can probably last without F1, and I suppose F1 can probably last without America. But it’s good to be here.”

He also had some tongue-in-cheek comments about another race on the continent.

“I’ve been asked this morning about – what’s that place next door, Mexico isn’t it? I said this all you’ve got to build, and we’re in business.”

Bernie confirmed that F1 would not return to the old Mexico City circuit: “Definitely not.”