Category Archives: F1 News

October 10, 2013 · 12:34 pm

Felipe Massa: “We have nothing to lose…”

Felipe Massa admits that having his final race for Ferrari in his home country in Brazil next month will make for an emotional weekend.

He also says he has nothing to lose as he tries to finish his stint with the team with a victory.

“I think the Brazilian GP is always very emotional,” he said when asked by this writer if he’d thought about Interlagos yet. “And especially when you see that you are there and in your last race for Ferrari, after such a long story. For sure it will be emotional, and I hope I can have a great race there, a great result, because the result makes things even more emotional. I hope we can have a fantastic last race – not just the last race but all these races, and especially the last race for Ferrari, for my history in Ferrari, and in Brazil.

“I’ll keep having an aggressive approach. We have nothing to lose, to be honest. So I’ll try the best I can. I spun not to hit Rosberg [in Korea], so it happens. Sometimes you need to risk a little bit, but I mean the drive there in the last race was good, the pace was good, unfortunately this cost me some points at the end of the race.

“We can never give up, and I will try the best definitely to finish with at least one more victory with Ferrari, it will be fantastic. I will try everything I can. And I hope he helps me as well, Fernando!”

Massa also stressed that his best calling card for next season was his experience, rather than a good result in the last few races of 2013.

“I think the experience is a lot more important than anything. Definitely the result is always good to have, whatever circumstance. People always remember the last race than the ones before. But I think everybody knows what I can bring to a team, everybody knows how important I can be to a team as well. We start from zero, new rules, so I think I have a lot to give to a team, and this makes more sense than just one result.”

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October 10, 2013 · 10:04 am

It’s very easy to be misunderstood, says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton stressed today that he was keen to clarify what were perceived as negative comments about Sebastian Vettel when he Tweeted about the German earlier this week.

Hamilton used Twitter to emphasise that he has a lot of respect for the World Champion (see previous story).

“I was just in my hotel and I just looked at some of the Tweets that people were writing and stories that people had read,” he said in Suzuka. “And because we’re always doing interviews it’s very easy for thing to not necessarily be taken out of context, but misunderstood. So I just wanted to clarify, as I said.”

Meanwhile Lewis was in an upbeat mood today as he considered his prospects for this weekend’s Japanese GP.

“This is another track that I haven’t won at, and it’s definitely one that I’d love to win. The first sector is the most challenging and most critical of the lap, the Red Bull has generally been the quickest there, for the last four years. I anticipate they are going to be the quickest there again this year. But I hope that the strong showing we had in Korea in the middle sector can correlate with the first sector here. Fingers crossed I’ll get out there tomorrow, and it flows as well as I dream and we can give the Red Bulls a good race.

Regarding the tyre situation this weekend, he said: “It’s so strange, but even though you have past experiences with the tyres, when you go to a new circuit, new surface, it’s always different. So I’m hoping this weekend we’re strong. I’ve generally not had any good races here. I’ve had good races in Fuji. I really hope this is a new start for me here.”

He also had an interesting comment on why he suffered more than Nico Rosberg with the tyres in Korea.

“There is an explanation, but I’m not going to tell you! I’m going to keep it to myself. It’s not the car – it’s me.”

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October 8, 2013 · 3:27 am

Hamilton sings Vettel’s praises on Twitter

Lewis Hamilton took to Twitter today in an attempt to diffuse comments he made in relation to Sebastian Vettel in Korea.

However, in a series of heartfelt Tweets he also made a pointed reference to the German’s car, underlining his frustration at the form of the Red Bull.

“Read some of the stories/reports of my comments on Seb,” Lewis wrote. “Feel the need to clarify my thoughts. Seb is great champion!!

“Not only that, he is a great human being who is funny and humble. Deserves all the success he is having!

“I admire his dedication & ability to consistently perform without mistakes. This is the mark of a true champion.

“Regardless of what you & I may think about his car, at the end of the day he’s doing the perfect job.

“I’m just grateful I get to drive in an era with so many great drivers like him. God Bless & have an amazing day!”

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October 7, 2013 · 10:35 am

Christian Horner: “It never gets boring, winning…”

Christian Horner says a fourth pair of titles for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull would be a major achievement – and adds that winning doesn’t get boring.

Horner insists that the 2013 title battle isn’t over yet, but has pondered what a fourth success would represent.

“We haven’t allowed our thoughts to drift like that to be honest with you, we’ve just stayed in the moment, stayed focussed,” said Horner. “If we were to achieve it, of course it would be massive. To win the first one was special, to defend it was remarkable, to do a triple, we didn’t think we could surpass that. So if we do manage to defend both titles it’s something that the whole team will be absolutely blown away by.

“It never gets boring, winning. To win races takes so much effort from all the departments behind the scenes, all the guys and girls back in Milton Keynes are working flat out at the moment. We had Adrian [Newey] in the operations room supporting the team through all of the sessions this weekend, so he was a virtual attendance at the Grand Prix, as if he was on the pit wall, but he wasn’t sitting there. So it’s down to that kind of team work and the effort that goes in behind the scenes that we’re able to achieve the kind of results that we’ve managed to achieve over the last 4-5 years.”

Meanwhile Horner says that Vettel could have done a two-stop in Korea even without the safety car making things easier.

“Yes ultimately, but it would have been right on the edge. The tyres that came off Sebastian’s car and had done very long stints in the first and second stints compared to other cars were pretty much through their wear life. He should have just been OK to get to the end of the race. It was certainly marginal.”

Regarding criticism of Pirelli he said: “I think that at the end of the day we’ve been driving around with the same issues that we had 12 months ago. Here the tyres were too marginal, last week they were fine. For sure it’s a challenge meeting the different criteria of the different tracks that we go to. I think this weekend arguably while having produced a great race they were a bit too much on the limit.”

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October 6, 2013 · 10:10 am

Lewis Hamilton: “We should be fighting with the World Champions at the front…”

Lewis Hamilton says that both he and Fernando Alonso are too good to be fighting over fifth place at the end of a Grand Prix.

Hamilton just held off his former McLaren team mate in Korea, but was unable to do anything about Nico Hulkenberg up ahead.

“It’s strange, you know,” he said. “Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end, and having our own little race, we are of a higher calibre than that, we should be further ahead, and fighting with the World Champions at the front, and with Sebastian. I guess that just shows where the sport is today.”

Hamilton was clear frustrated with the way his race unfolded.

“It wasn’t that exciting for me. Going backwards and defending for a position is not so much fun, and when I was behind Grosjean at the start, that was it, there was no way to get past him. Those guys up ahead of us just had too much traction today, that’s really where I was losing out to everyone.

“The car was feeling pretty good, I was quick. If I was in the lead for example, I think I would have been able to stay there, apart from the graining phase that I went through. We were just not that quick on the straight, and things just didn’t go our way today.”

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October 5, 2013 · 1:26 am

Teams agree 2014 in-season test schedule

The F1 teams have come up with a provisional test schedule for 2014 that includes two sessions in Europe and two in the Middle East.

Having agreed to four two-day tests the teams had to wait for the race calendar to emerge before focussing on when the tests could be slotted in. They will now take place in Bahrain, Barcelona, Silverstone and Abu Dhabi – in each case on the Tuesday and Wednesday following the race weekend.

Logistically Bahrain is the most challenging as it follows the double header with the Malaysian race, making for a long trip for team members. Abu Dhabi however is a stand alone race.

Bahrain is also hosting the second and third pre-season tests, ensuring that F1 folk will be spending a lot of time in the country next year.

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October 4, 2013 · 12:43 pm

2014 Monaco-New Jersey trip “almost impossible,” says Ferrari

Ferrari sporting director Massimo Rivola said today that the 2014 calendar will cause problems for the teams.

Like many F1 insiders Rivola, who still expects the final tally to drop from 22 to 20 races, believes that the unprecedented triple header of Monaco, New Jersey and Canada is a logistical nightmare. It’s the first time that a flyaway has ever been scheduled back-to-back with a European evemt.

“To be honest I’m still hoping we come back to the 20 races as per the current sporting regulation,” said Rivola. “We will see. At the moment the calendar is not the best calendar possible in terms of logistics. Even the first race in Australia, alone, is not ideal. From the logistics side I would prefer to stop and do a race in a back-to-back coming back from Australia. For sure there are some good commercial reasons behind this that I am not aware of but we will see. When the calendar is 100 per cent fixed we will manage it.”

Regarding the Monaco-New Jersey trip he said: “I can say that even for a top team it’s something almost impossible, to be honest, to be done. But as I said, we will see the real calendar and then we figure it out.”

Meanwhile Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder said: “Technically, it will be very difficult to have a back-to-back from Monaco to Jersey, because normally the freight will leave for Canada, let’s say, on the Saturday before the race. And so that’s why, if you’re only able to send your freight on a Monday or a Tuesday, it compromises your weekend quite a bit.”

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October 3, 2013 · 9:32 am

Christian Horner: “You’d be fairly stupid to introduce traction control…”

Christian Horner has refuted suggestions that Sebastian Vettel’s performance in Singapore was aided by a form of traction control.

Inevitably since the German’s dominant win paddock gossip has suggested that Red Bull has found an advantage, with former team boss Giancarlo Minardi recently adding to the debate after observing the cars on the Asian street track. In Korea today Lewis Hamilton dropped a less than subtle hint about his thoughts on the subject, while a clearly frustrated Vettel opted to joke about it being a feature on his car.

“The electronic controls on the car are so tightly governed,” said Horner. “It’s an controlled box that we have, the settings in both of the cars were absolutely identical, they fully comply with the FIA rules. The FIA should be able to verify that. It’s a standard unit which all of the teams are using. Any suggestion of traction control is either purely mischievous on behalf of the others, or wishful thinking.

“I think the problem is Sebastian’s performance was so dominant in Singapore it inevitably raised questions of how is that possible? Other teams will be looking inwardly, and the easiest conclusion to come too is they must be cheating. As I say these things are so tightly controlled that it’s impossible. The facts are he drove an incredible race in Singapore, he had incredible pace, he maximised the most out of the car, and was a driver on absolute peak form. Is it a distraction? No. Will we lose any sleep over it? Absolutely not.”

Horner denied that Renault has made a breakthrough with engine mapping that has aided RBR.

“Again that’s very restricted on what you can do with torque maps and torque curves. It’s something that all of the engine manufacturers are doing within the parameters allowed. I think that this engines are so optimised, they are so far into their life cycle, that all the engine manufacturers are pretty close. I don’t think one particularly has an advantage over the other.

“You can argue the same about a Ferrari start. Bottom line is that they get it all together and get everything right at that point, and you don’t hear any accusations of traction control. And I don’t believe it is.”

He added: “You’d be fairly stupid to introduce traction control onto a car that was governed by a single ECU that is through a tender of the FIA that is scrupulously checked by the FIA. I can’t imagine any team in the pitlane would entertain it.”

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October 3, 2013 · 1:15 am

Marussia confirms Bianchi for 2014

Marussia has confirmed that Jules Bianchi will stay on for a futher season in 2014.

The news comes as no great surprise given that the team will use a Ferrari powertrain and gearbox package next year.

“Jules joined us at very short notice at the end of pre-season testing, with only two days of running under his belt,” said team boss John Booth. “He rose to the challenge of his debut season exceptionally well and since that time has clearly demonstrated his ability and potential. 2014 heralds a new era for the sport and continuity and consistency of line-up will be important in helping us to navigate the transition.

“We look forward to confirming our full race driver line-up later in the season. Until then we have an important job to do to ensure we retain our 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship and this is where our full focus will lie in the intervening period.”

“I couldn’t have wished for a more supportive environment in which to make my F1 debut and from the very beginning I have always felt completely at home with the team,” said Bianchi. “We started the season very well and while the challenge has increased as the season has developed, we have learned important lessons together that will place us in a much stronger position next year when there are a lot of changes for the sport and the Team to get used to.

“I am very excited to be part of the team as we all enter this new era of F1 and I look forward to achieving some rewarding performances together. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Ferrari Driver Academy for their continued support for my career.”

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October 1, 2013 · 6:51 am

Mallya in no hurry to decide 2014 Force India line-up

Dr Vijay Mallya insists that he’s in no hurry to confirm Force India’s driver line-up for 2014.

Along with Lotus the team is among the most attractive with seats potentially available, and the likes of Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg have been linked with a drive.

“People have come to me, but I’m notorious for making the decision at the very last minute.” Mallya told this writer. “The reason is because I think that if one was to announce a change now – if I intend to make a change – I tend to believe it will demotivate a driver who’s leaving, which I don’t think is very fair. Be that as it may, I have been approached, and I’ll consider all our options.

“There are people who believe that we have an excellent driver line-up today. Both are very talented youngsters. We’ve always tried to have a solid driver line-up, and we’ll continue that going forward.”

Asked if he was interested in Massa – who potentially has some backing – Mallya said that money was not the key issue.

“The decision will be made on the driver’s competence and potential contribution to the team. None of our race seats has ever been for sale, and I’m totally against that concept, because I will not compromise the hard work of the design team and the engineers by putting in a driver whose sole criteria is whether he brings in money or not.

“I have to admit that Massa is not just a Grand Prix winner but a damn good driver. I think even this season he’s outqualified Alonso a few times, so there’s no question about his competence. But we’ll see as it goes along.”

He also didn’t rule out bringing back Hulkenberg, even if it meant having two German drivers should Adrian Sutil stay.

“Why not? For me if nationality were to ever matter all other things being equal it would probably tilt the scales in favour of an Indian, but there are no Indians around. Beyond that, as long as there is no Indian on the horizon, I don’t care.

“To me the focus is on a driver who’s talented, can get the most out of the car, can give proper feedback, can help the engineers develop the car, and make us as a team more competitive.”

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