June 7, 2014 · 7:30 pm

Alonso hoping tyre strategy will help Ferrari in race

Fernando Alonso says he’s not surprised to have qualified only seventh in Canada, despite Friday suggesting that Ferrari was in the mix with Red Bull and Williams.

“Obviously we always hope for the best and try to improve race by race,” said Alonso. “But to be honest also in the seven races of the championship we’ve been constantly in the top three on Friday, and we’ve never been in the top three in qualifying, so we know that our way to approach the weekend is a little bit different on Fridays, and we knew that it was going to be tough on qualifying. It is true that Red Bull and Williams, they’ve been surprisingly good on this circuit, and we were not fast enough.”

Alonso says he hopes to use strategy to take the fight to the cars immediately ahead.

“Probably the best thing is to study the temperatures and see which tyres work better with these temperature. Yesterday it seemed quite clear the soft was the tyre for the race, but today with the hotter temperatures the supersoft is performing quite well, so if that is the case tomorrow, we may switch to the supersoft in a race situation, and try to add one extra pitstop. But we need to do something because we need to finish in front of them.”

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June 7, 2014 · 6:59 pm

Lewis Hamilton: “It wasn’t a great lap, to be honest…”

Lewis Hamilton had to face being beaten to pole for the second race in a row after a great effort by Nico Rosbeg secured the top spot in Montreal.

Hamilton was fastest today in FP3, Q1 and Q2, but he lost out when it mattered.

“It wasn’t a great lap to be honest,” said a frustrated Hamilton. “And to be honest I really should have got the banker lap in before, a bit like in Monaco, and I didn’t. Nico did a great job today.

“Ultimately I know I have good pace here, I just didn’t do it, basically. I was behind traffic on the first lap, at the last corner, and then generally I was behind people and had to back up, so it was not the best preparation for a lap. But that’s OK, we’ve got a long race tomorrow.”

Despite his obvious disappointment Hamilton remains upbeat about his chances for the race.

“We’ve got a great car. Tomorrow’s a race between me and Nico. I think it’s strategy, we’ve really got to work on looking after the tyres, nurturing the car. I have to speak to my engineer and find out what strategy can work for me, but I’m hoping that I have a chance.”

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June 6, 2014 · 9:01 pm

Nico Rosberg: “We were expecting to be strong at this track…”

Nico Rosberg was satisfied with his first day of work in Montreal, despite losing out to Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton on overall times.

Rosberg was 0.175s down on Hamilton at the end of FP2 at a circuit where the Briton has won three times.

“I’m very satisfied, it was a great day really today,” he said. “The track was great, consistent conditions, I felt happy with the car. Of course there’s still work to do, but I generally felt comfortable in the car. It was a really good day, and also for me it was a pleasure to drive the car.

“Some good long runs, we have some good pace here, so it’s looking very promising. We were expecting to be strong at this track, and it seems to look like that at the moment. So it’s all going the right way.”

Rosberg said that keeping the supersoft tyre alive will be important, although it remains to be seen to what extent.

“Strategy will be important, definitely. There was quite a lot of tyre degradation. But then again I think there’s not that much flexibility with the strategy, so even if you do make your tyres last longer I’m not sure you can really make a big difference there. We’ll wait and see now. Now they’re going to measure the tyres and see how much rubber is still on them. They have five different points where they measure, and each point they have a look, and then they judge how many laps I could have done in theory.”

Meanwhile Rosberg has not been entirely comfortable with his brakes this year, but at a track where they play such a big role, he was a little happier.

“It’s going to take a lot of time to get on top of that, because it takes a long time to make changes and produce new brakes, like four months or something. But in general today it was a positive day on that front. I’m not sure why, but I felt more comfortable with them, which was nice. We tried something different with them this morning, but that didn’t work. This afternoon was a lot better.”

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June 6, 2014 · 4:42 pm

Ricciardo form a “positive surprise,” says Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has often been overshadowed by Daniel Ricciardo this year, but the German insists that he’s been happy to see his team mate do well.

Vettel admits that, like the RBR team management, he’s been surprised by Ricciardo’s form.

“It’s a positive surprise,” he said when asked by this writer. “It’s good to see that he’s getting along well with the team, and he fits in. We have I think similar preferences about the car in terms of set-up, there’s not much difference that we’re running. It’s good to see that he’s doing a good job. Obviously I’ve been struggling a little bit in the first couple of races, with lots of different things, but it’s good to see that the other half is doing well, and it shows the potential of the car.”

Vettel said he’d learned from comparing their data.

“Obviously he’s been fairly quick so you can imagine that there have been corners where…. he’s been fairly quick! It’s good to see that, and as I said it’s good to have a reference. It shows you what the car can do. If you look at myself, it hasn’t been the smoothest year, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Vettel said there was no pattern as to where Ricciardo gained: “Not really. You can’t say that in a certain type of corner he’s gaining time, and losing in another. I think with Mark it’s fair to say that he was very quick in high speed corners, and showing me the limits sometimes! Let’s say it’s fairly even around the lap with Daniel.”

Meanwhile with reference to Hamilton/Rosberg he said that team mates don’t have to be friends.

“I think you shouldn’t be at war with your team mate, because it hurts the team atmosphere. But you don’t have to be best friends.”

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June 5, 2014 · 10:19 pm

Kimi Raikkonen: “I guess it can only get better…”

Kimi Raikkonen remains confident that his 2014 season can turn around after his recent run of frustration.

Raikkonen has been involved in a series of incidents and has struggled to get the F14 T to his liking.

“I guess it can only get better, what happened lately on my side,” said the Finn today. “Sometimes it’s your fault, sometime not, but that’s how it goes in racing. Obviously I think we are going in the right direction, but the results haven’t really shown that. But we know what we’re doing, so step-by-step we’re going to go where we want to be.”

Regarding the prospects of anyone beating Mercedes he said: “It’s very hard for anybody to challenge them for the championship. I might be wrong, but I doubt that. That’s how it goes. We’ve seen the past some years how it can change when one team is winning and it’s hard to beat. Our aim is to fix the things that we think are the issue and get better all the time, and obviously do the best that we can every race, and hopefully win races or be on the podium. We have to get stronger and sort out things for the future and upcoming races.”

Raikkonen says that the team can still tailor the car for him.

“The things people say are not always the true things. We have issues and we’re not as fast as we want to be. We just have to fix those, and obviously if we would be happy we should be winning races, and we’re not, so obviously there are things that we have to fix. It’s just many small things, and hopefully once we’ve fixed those we’ll be where we want to be. It’s a long process, it’s not going to happen in a few weeks.”

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June 5, 2014 · 8:10 pm

Nico Rosberg: “It’s me against him, and there’s nobody else…”

Nico Rosberg says that the tension with Lewis Hamilton is recent weeks is to be expected given that they are both fighting for the World Championship – and he adds that their relationship has has its ups and downs over the years.

“I didn’t see it as too unusual, we’ve always had periods when it was more difficult,” said Rosberg today. “We have that base respect that goes back 15 years, and that’s the important one, and as a result we always then discuss things and move on. And that’s how it’s been this time.

“It’s not changed in any way, it’s still the same as it used to be, so it’s not different. Of course, it’s more difficult, that’s clear. We’re fighting every single race weekend, it’s me against him, and there’s nobody else. That definitely makes it more difficult. There’s more at stake, there is the opportunity of winning the championship this year, and that’s the ultimate goal in racing. So there’s a lot at stake.”

Asked if he was surprised that there were flashpoints so early in the season, he said: “Am I surprised that we are having certain difficulties early on when we’re fighting for every race win? No. They’ve always been there, even back in go-karting we’ve had difficulties, because even then we were racing every time for the race wins. So I’m not surprised, no.”

He also admitted that the psychological aspect to their battle was important: “In sports the mental [side] is always a part, it’s always like that. It’s always there, and I do think about it. In sports that is a big factor, the mental side to it.”

Meanwhile Nico downplayed any comparisons with the Prost/Senna battle at McLaren.

“I have heard that, and in a way I’m honoured or whatever to hear those comparisons, because that was an extremely high level and big battle, leading the way at the time. But then I leave it at that. I don’t really compare myself at all to that era, I want to do my own thing and go my own way, and that’s it. I don’t read too much into it.”

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June 5, 2014 · 6:40 pm

Fernando Alonso: “We must not compromise next year’s project…”

Fernando Alonso says that Ferrari should not compromise next season by getting too bogged down with improving this year’s car.

Although there are no rule changes, and thus in theory any 2014 development carries over, Alonso stressed there is a bigger picture.

“We need to keep fighting for important goals and we have targets to achieve this year,” he said. “However we must not compromise next year’s project this year. We need to keep developing in 2014, because many things carry over for the following year. But if there is something fundamental for next year, obviously we mustn’t take any time away from that. I am not worried about this.”

He also praised his new boss: “Since Marco Mattiacci arrived, everything is moving in the right direction. He has good vision and a very clever approach and we are going to be stronger and stronger.”

Meanwhile Alonso said that Montreal won’t be easy for Ferrari, but he’s confident of scoring points.

“It’s going to be tough on a track where once again the dominant factor is the power effect, not like Monaco or Barcelona. It’s not going to be easy but I like the track and we have performed well here over the past four years, so I expect to have a good weekend, scoring good points.

“We have some updates that we have been working on for some weeks, testing them in the simulator. It’s a short lap so the times will be very close which means that one or two tenths can equate to six or seven positions.”

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June 3, 2014 · 3:39 pm

Toto Wolff: “Your only enemy is your team mate…”

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says that tension between the drivers is to be expected given that they are fighting each other for the World Championship – and have a significant advantage over the opposition.

Inevitably all eyes will be on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Montreal this weekend.

“The tension is normal,” Wolff told this blog. “You have a season where you can really rewrite history, win the World Championship with a Silver Arrow, and your only enemy is your team mate. And if you get beaten by your team mate you have reasons to be emotional. One weekend it goes in one direction, the other weekend it goes in the other.

“They have a car which is capable of winning the World Championship, both of them are absolute Alpha animals, and I guess it’s going to stay emotional, it’s going to stay intensive, throughout the season. This is the philosophy we have decided and opted for.”

Meanwhile Wolff says he was pleased to emerge from Monaco – a race where the power unit counted for less – with a one-two.

“Monaco is not a circuit where you can really play the engine, it’s downforce, so I’m relieved that that one is done, and with a one-two. I’m pretty confident about Montreal, because again it’s a power circuit, and we have very powerful Mercedes engines in our back. So I’m looking towards Montreal being carefully optimistic.”

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June 3, 2014 · 11:11 am

Adrian Newey: “Seb has a very particular way of driving”

Adrian Newey admits that Sebastian Vettel has struggled to adapt to the loss of the blown diffuser in 2014, and says that RBR is trying to adjust the car to suit his style.

Vettel was the master of the art of driving with the extra rear downforce that was generated until the use of exhaust gases was completely outlawed for this year.

“There’s a fair bit of that,” Newey told this writer. “Seb has a very particular way of driving, and if we can get the car to suit that driving style, then he’s very effective. If we can’t then he’s not able to exploit that. So it’s a work in progress.

“We can’t replace the blown diffuser obviously, but Sebastian was quick before they came along. It’s a re-learning curve.”

Meanwhile Newey says that he’s been hugely impressed by Daniel Ricciardo.

“He’s been right on it really from Day One. So often a relatively inexperienced driver coming to a new team, it takes a while to settle, and he seems to have adapted straight away to the new engine regulations and the slightly different characteristics of the car as a result of that. He’s been very good.”

Newey concedes that while the RB10 was closer to Mercedes in Monaco, that might not be the case in Canada.

“It was encouraging, but the circuit flattered us, let’s say, so it may not be the same at some of the circuits coming up. Montreal may not be our strongest circuit.”

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June 2, 2014 · 11:10 am

FIA grants entry to Romanian FRR F1 project

The FIA is understood to have finally granted an entry to the Romanian-backed FRR F1 Team project, although no official announcement has been forthcoming.

The FIA’s last public reference to the bid came on April 11, when the World Motor Sport Council granted an entry to Gene Haas but said it was “in the process of conducting further investigations for Forza Rossa,” using the name that forms part of the official FRR identity.

For reasons unknown this extra vetting process dragged on for more than six weeks. However, the governing body appears to have finally acknowledged last week that the project is financially viable.

While Haas has admitted that a 2015 start is highly unlikely FRR is believed to still be aiming for next year, despite the entry delay making life a lot tougher than it would be had it been granted alongside that of Haas on April 11.

However, FRR has a lot more elements in place compared to Haas. It is planning to use a Renault power unit, while the car will be built and run by a team put together by former Force India and HRT boss Colin Kolles at his base near Munich.

Front man for the project is Ion Bazac, a qualified doctor and former Romanian health minister. The 45-year-old has a number of business interests and is the country’s Ferrari importer, under the name Forza Rossa.

Bazac is also the president a consortium of private and state funded investors whose motive is to promote the interests of Romania, and who have the support of the government. Indeed, the Romanian sports minister met with the FIA early in the bid process.

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