Category Archives: F1 News

November 21, 2013 · 3:51 pm

Hockenheim 2010 my toughest Ferrari moment, says Massa

Felipe Massa is heading into his final race for Ferrari on home ground at Interlagos, and the weekend is bound to be full of emotion for the Brazilian.

Intriguingly when reviewing his Ferrari career he cited Hockenheim 2010 – the day of the infamous ‘Fernando is faster than you’ incident – as the low point, along of course with his accident in Hungary the previous year.

“It’s a fantastic place to race and to finish an incredible time with Ferrari,” he said. “It’s a very long time. It’s our eighth championship but I’ve been inside Ferrari even before Formula One, so it’s a long time and I need to say thank you to all of them – everyone who worked together in Ferrari. Stefano as well. You know that he is a big friend and he did a lot for me as well, Domenicali. Everybody, everybody I worked with together. I hope we can enjoy the last race here in Ferrari and having a lot of fun and having a good result as well to have even more emotion at the end.

“I think Ferrari is a dream for all the drivers. I remember, one of the first go-karts I had was red. My first overall was red, so I was always supporting Ferrari as a kid. So racing eight years for Ferrari is definitely a dream come true. So, getting old as well! But also it’s another re-start for my career. I’m really happy and looking forward to my future in Williams, a different team. So really, a lot to do still in Formula One.”

Massa said the highlight of his Ferrari career was his win home win seven years ago.

“I would say the happiest moment was, I think, the first time I won in Brazil, 2006, with the green and yellow overalls. I think that was definitely the best moment for me. You know how important it is for a Brazilian to win at home. If you remember well, Senna was more happy to win in Brazil than to win a championship so you can see how important it is for a Brazilian to win here.

“It was a very special moment, not just that time but even 2008 was a special moment. I won the race here, it was Sao Paulo, quickest lap. It was other championships, not here in Brazil, you know, before. I think the toughest moment was… definitely the accident was not a great moment, and maybe the race in Hockenheim, 2010.”

Looking ahead to next year he said: “First of all, I really believe I can do a lot with Williams. Everything is changing, brand new rules for the championship so I think it’s also a good time that we start something new, different. You never know, you’re doing a good job in a team that has also all the infrastructure to do – like Williams has – everything inside the company to do a good car. So everything is possible. They believe in me so I’m really happy and motivated to drive for them, to work and to do everything I can to help the team to be competitive again, which I’m sure everything is possible.”

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November 19, 2013 · 5:27 pm

Fernando Alonso: “I’m World Champion of the rest…”

It was a case of mixed fortunes for Fernando Alonso in Austin as he secured second place in the drivers’ championship but saw Ferrari lose ground to Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors’ version.

Alonso had a typically feisty race in Austin, eventually finishing fifth.

“The main goal of the weekend was to beat Mercedes, to fight for the constructors’ championship,” said Alonso. It was not a good weekend from that aspect, we lost some points again. Lotus is getting closer, and for whatever reason we are losing a little bit of pace in the last Grands Prix. We need to find something for Brazil, because I think it’s going to be a tough weekend again.

“Entering Q3 is difficult, entering the points is difficult, so we need to improve for the next race. But in a way I secured second place in the drivers’ World Championship today, which I think with the actual car we have is World Champion of the rest.”

Alonso just managed to hold off Nico Hulkenberg in the closing laps.

“It was difficult I think, a very difficult race for us. From the start we knew that we could lose one position with Perez, starting on the wrong side of the grid. Unfortunately we lost it. I wasn’t able to run so close in the first stint, because I was damaging the tyres, I stepped back a little bit and then I recovered a little bit of pace around the pit stop time.

“With the hard tyre we were maybe a little bit more competitive, we were able to attack Perez, we were able to attack Hulkenberg. But I finished the tyres in the last two or three laps, so Nico was coming back, attacking again. I was lucky, one more lap and I would lose the position with Nico.

“When you are in free air you can manage the tyres a little bit, and control the wear of the tyres and control the pace, but when you are in traffic you never know how much you need to push. You would like to overtake, but you stress more the tyres, and it was a difficult race.”

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November 18, 2013 · 7:49 pm

Clock ticking as Lotus still awaits Quantum funds

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier says that Quantum has promised to confirm its eagerly awaited funding in the next week.

Many paddock observers remain sceptical about the prospects of the deal finally coming together.

“I hope so, it’s what I’ve been told,” said Boullier. “For the team itself, for Genii, for everybody it would be great to have this completed. We have to put in place, obviously, all the plan for the team. And that’s going to be the deadline.

“That would first be a great reward for the team, and a great reward too for Genii Capital, who believe in our team and pushed very hard for the last four years. And with this completed we would be let’s say money-wise safe for more than a couple of years, and you can then work on a proper strategy to establish your team and make everybody and all the people in your team reassured about the future. And obviously rebuild the trust and confidence in everybody as well.”

Meanwhile Nico Hulkenberg’s prospects of joining the team remain tied to the Quantum funding.

“I think he wants to join us, or he would like to join us, and we would like to have him on board. I believe having Hulkenberg and Grosjean would be one of the best pairs in the pitlane, and actually a very affordable one, if may say this. I understand his position as well. He had a very bad experience when he was dropped by Williams, he doesn’t want to be in the same situation. I cannot blame him to sign or to commit somewhere else if we have failed with the timing.”

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November 18, 2013 · 5:46 pm

Lewis Hamilton: “I was doing a lot of soul searching…”

Lewis Hamilton has faced a few frustrating races in 2013, but in Austin the Mercedes driver was delighted with his drive to fourth place.

He’s had better results this year, but the key was that he felt able to push hard through the afternoon in the wake of a particularly frustrating race in Abu Dhabi.

“It felt great, I’m so happy that I was able to have a race where I was going forward, and I was able to stand my ground and look after my position,” he said. “It was finally great to just have a real race.

“At this point of the year I’m the fittest I’ve been through the last seven years. The last seven years have been so draining, all the stuff that I had going on. This year I feel the best, and unfortunately although I feel the best I wasn’t able to give the results. We’ve had some problems in the last races, and to come here and get a decent result and stay ahead of Ferrari, I really am so proud of the team. And I’m proud of myself today.”

Hamilton was relieved when the team found a crack in his chassis after Abu Dhabi, and replaced it with the spare. It’s impossible for the team to quantify any gains that may have resulted, but there was definitely a psychological boost.

“Naturally when you have bad races like the last one… I personally really don’t like to blame anything else on the car, especially if you can’t see anything, or you can’t feel it so much. Naturally for me I was doing a lot of soul searching over the last couple of weeks, do I need to train more, do I need to pay more attention to something, do I need to work harder?

“We came here and was just going to try and work even harder if I could, and then we found that big crack, and the car has been night and day different this weekend. I’m pretty happy with that.”

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November 18, 2013 · 4:56 pm

Christian Horner: “Mark wouldn’t want to be gifted a win…”

Christian Horner accepts that Red Bull’s current dominance will be almost impossible to repeat in the future, not least because of the rule changes for 2014.

On the radio after the race Sebastian Vettel urged the team to “enjoy it while we can,” reflecting his own take on future prospects.

“In sport as we see whether it’s Roger Federer or Ferrari or Williams or McLaren you get phases of sportsmen or teams being dominant,” said Horner when asked by this writer. “And at some point that does come to an end, and then you’ve got to regroup and go again. Sebastian’s right, it’s important to savour moments like today. It’s our 46th win and it’s easy to become complacent, and you’ve got to appreciate every moment.

“You’ve only got to look in the eyes of every member of the team to see the motivation and desire that still exists. Even though we won the championship in India, we’ve been pushing flat out, and as I’ve always said, we will continue to do so all the way to the chequered flag in Brazil next weekend. The target now is to try and get Mark that third place in the drivers’ championship and see out the season in style. There’s nobody lacking motivation or complacent in any way.”

Vettel’s desire to continue his run of success makes it highly unlikely that he will feel like helping Mark Webber win in Brazil, but Horner says that will make no difference.

“Mark wouldn’t want to be gifted a win. It would be great for him to win his final race, what a way to sign out, but Sebastian will be going for that record as well. As usual it will be a straight fight between the two of them.”

 

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November 18, 2013 · 1:33 am

Impressive Grosjean makes it four podiums in five starts

Romain Grosjean continued his run of strong results with a superb second in Austin. The Lotus driver passed Mark Webber at the start, and survived intense pressure from the Australian in the closing laps.

It was Grosjean’s fourth podium in five races, but his first second place of the season. He clearly thrived after being handed the de facto team leader role, in the absence of Kimi Raikkonen.

“I think the strategy was pretty clear,” he said of his efforts to stay in front. “We were copying what Mark was doing. When he was pitting for hard tyres, we pitted for hard tyres, if he was pitting for prime or option. Then in the race I was just trying to make as much gap as I could before the DRS zone, so turns eight and nine are pretty hard to follow another car.

“I think we had a pretty good balance around there, and then use all the power we could on the back straight, trying to avoid the DRS, and then I know that by turns 17,18, 19 it was very difficult to follow me, so he was very close every time into turn one, but never had a go. I think the closest he was into turn 12 was probably ten meters. He pushed me wide once because I outbraked myself, but as long as he didn’t seem to be too big in the mirror, that was fine.”

He added: “One year ago my wife sent me a picture of a pregnancy test saying that ‘well done Champion, you’re going to be a Dad!’ So America brings me a lot of bliss and pleasure and I’m looking forward to come back here.”

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November 18, 2013 · 12:58 am

Vettel beats Schumacher as he makes it eight in a row

Sebastian Vettel achieved yet another career landmark when he beat Michael Schumacher’s record to become the first man to win eight straight races in a season.

Alberto Ascari won nine times in a row over 1952-’53, but until today nobody has won more than seven consecutively in a single season. The achievement clearly meant a lot to the German ace.

“I think it’s one of those records that you never expect to be beaten, so it’s very difficult to find the right words,” said Vettel. “I didn’t really answer the questions the last couple of days because at the end of the day what makes me jump into the car is not a certain number. But certainly today, when you realise that you’ve done it, it makes you very proud in that moment and, yeah, I think it’s very difficult for all of us to realise what it actually means. If you look back, and if you look those names who had similar records or outstanding performances in the past, I think it’s impossible to understand.

“People look back and they talk about that time and about certain drivers and one day people might look back and talk about our time and what we’ve done as a team. I said it on the team radio, the spirit is fantastic. Everybody’s just happy to turn up, give it everything he has and I think – if there is one – that’s the secret.

“Yes, we have a phenomenal car; yes, the car has been mostly very, very reliable but I think it’s the mindset we have going in, really trying to give it everything we have, not miss a single step, wow to, after the race, not to turn around and think that there was a little bit left here, a little bit left there. Another very, very, very strong weekend. I think people tend to forget that every single weekend is a challenge on its own. It’s not eight weekends as a whole. It’s every single weekend. And to have such an incredible run, it’s very difficult to realise.”

Vettel made some interesting comments about Schumacher.

“Well, in a way I think I have the same approach as him, as probably every sportsman. I don’t think we are jumping into the car to beat certain records. At his time, he was breaking a lot of records and many of them will last forever, I think. To come even close and today to beat one of those is exceptional. I think, as a sportsman, you don’t jump into the car to break records and equally you don’t expect them to last forever.

“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and generally, I think he’s very happy with what he has achieved and seemed fairly relaxed. I think he’s riding a lot of horses lately so he’s quite happy to go karting with his kids and enjoying his life after Formula One. There’s a huge part of our lives if you consider that there’s a lot of years left once we retire. It’s good to enjoy those as well.”

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November 16, 2013 · 11:57 pm

Nico Rosberg: “I knew it was going to be a bit difficult…”

Nico Rosberg was one of several drivers to find himself struggling for grip in qualifying in Austin having shown good pace earlier in the weekend.

Rosberg qualified only 14th, although penalties for Esteban Gutierrez and Jenson Button have gifted him two places.

“It was a very unusual day,” said Rosberg. “Very hard tyres and very cold conditions and very smooth asphalt. The combination of all those three meant the tyres weren’t gripping properly and they weren’t working properly, and that’s why there’s surprises. If the car works the tyre better then even if it’s fundamentally a slower car you get so much more grip from the tyre itself, and that’s why you are able to go really quick. And that’s why there are surprised like Sauber and Williams being very far up the grid and beating me.”

Rosberg said life was made harder because the Mercedes was set-up to protect the tyres in the race.

“I knew it was going to be a bit difficult, the qualifying. The problem is that tomorrow is supposed to be very hot, and we have to try and do a one-stop to make it happen tomorrow in the race. So I couldn’t really afford to do much to work the tyres more in qualifying, but anyway I got caught out, because it was a lot colder than predicted in qualifying, and I didn’t expect to be that far down the grid.”

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November 16, 2013 · 10:37 pm

Gutierrez and Chilton land impeding penalties

Mexican fans in Austin will be frustrated to learn that Esteban Gutierrez has received a 10-place grid penalty for impeding Pastor Maldonado in Q1.

Gutierrez was weaving to get heat into his tyres, and the FIA noted that he was “performing manoeuvres that the stewards considered dangerous.”

The Sauber driver had done a good job to get into Q3 and qualify 10th.

Meanwhile Max Chilton has been a given a drive through penalty to be served in the first five laps for impeding both Maldonado and Adrian Sutil in Q1. The drive through is used by the stewards when they deem there is no point handing a grid penalty to someone who is already at the back. Charles Pic received one earlier this season.

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November 16, 2013 · 8:16 pm

Fernando Alonso: “The nights were very difficult…”

Fernando Alonso says he suffered with headaches in the days after his off-track incident in Abu Dhabi, but he no longer has a problem.

Alonso went to hospital for a check-up before being allowed to fly home. Since then he has been allowed by the team to avoid media activities in order to rest.

“After Abu Dhabi I was fine, especially three or four hours after the race I was fine,” he explained when asked about it by this writer. “Then I finally passed the anti-doping, because I waited four hours to pass it. They said we need to check you because we had the alarm of the chassis, and when they did a normal control they saw some problem maybe, some lack of [sensitivity] in my left arm and my left leg, and because of that they were a little bit worried and they put in this thing and I went to the hospital for the MRI or I don’t know what we did.

“And after that all week I had a big headache, because the nerve I think is compressed, and I didn’t have enough blood pressure in the head. I was often in a lot of headache, and the nights were very difficult. Slowly the inflammation was coming normal, and I recovered the feelings.”

Alonso said he wasn’t having any issues in the car this weekend.

“No, not a problem. A little bit of pain yesterday night, and this morning when I woke up, but driving with all the adrenaline and warm-up is good, so maybe tonight again still some pain. But in the race when you are in the car, you forget everything.”

Meanwhile he was happy to qualify as high as sixth today after what looked like being a tricky weekend for Ferrari.

“I think the car was working better in qualifying. We keep struggling in the first sessions in the early morning with the cold track, we are not making the tyre work mainly, we’re struggling to put temperature in the tyre. In the afternoons yesterday and today the things improved a little bit.

“It was very windy this afternoon, and it was time also to interpret a little bit also the wind direction and drive differently corner-by-corner depending on the wind intensity. It was a tricky qualifying and maybe we had a good one, but obviously this doesn’t mask the problem of the weekend, which has been not enough pace.”

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