Adam Cooper F1

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn is convinced that agreement can be reached on resource restriction, despite the ongoing lack of consensus.

Mercedes and other teams noted with some interest an increase in spending by Red Bull in 2011, recently revealed when the accounts of both the team and sister company Red Bull Technology reached the public domain.

Red Bull has consistently opposed key elements of resource restriction, which is one of the items expected to be discussed in a meeting between the teams and the FIA next week.

“We’re still strong supporters of an effective resource restriction, and it’s one of the topics that I hope will be discussed with the FIA,” said Brawn in Korea.

“It’s common knowledge that there are meetings coming up with the FIA and the commercial rights holder in the next few weeks, and that’s a very important topic.

“Ten teams asked the FIA to take on the resource restriction, and those discussions are still going on. I’m optimistic that we will find a solution. It will take a while, it won’t be an easy process.

“If you take our example of working with the commercial rights holder to find an agreement [on the Concorde] then that took a little while, but we got there. It’s fairly complex, it will take some time, but I think all the parties are keen to find a reasonable solution. So I think we’ll find solutions.”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali says that Fernando Alonso is still in the championship fight despite losing the lead to the on-form Sebastian Vettel in Korea.

Domenicali pointed out that two first lap accidents have contributed to Alonso losing the lead, and it’s not just been about a loss of performance.

“First of all we need to stay very cool,” said Domenicali. “Don’t forget of the last five races we have not raced in two, so the situation in the championship would be totally different if we were not out at the first corner. Don’t underestimate this important factor, in the light of the championship. Unfortunately this may have a heavy effect, although let’s see what is going to happen at the end.

“We have seen for example one of our main competitors [McLaren] very, very strong up to Saturday, and today in the race had a different pace. So things can turn up in a different way very quickly.”
He added that the team has to keep up in the development race, which Alonso has suggested Ferrari has been losing.

“For us for sure the objective is to make sure that we deliver to Fernando the best car that we have, first of all in terms of reliability, second to make sure that what we have is the right choice in terms of package, and third to make sure that the next races – as I’m sure Red Bull will try to do – to bring the developments that will let the car doing the right step in the right direction, because the Red Bull that we have seen on the last couple of Grands Prix was for sure very, very strong.

“As I said the championship is very, very long. It will be a very tough and sporting challenge up to the end, that’s I’m pretty sure of.”

Lewis Hamilton managed to finish 10^th in Korea after what team boss Martin Whitmarsh called a “heroic” effort with a crippled car – and then conceded that his 2012 championship hopes are now over.

Hamilton suffered a rear anti-roll bar failure in the first third of the race which badly upset the handling and accelerated tyre wear. Having run fourth he slipped down the order and made an early second stop, and was ultimately forced to pit a third time.

After the race he sounded a lot more downbeat than when he retired from the lead in Singapore a few weeks ago.

“I’m a little bit exhausted, it was a tough race,” said Hamilton. “I tried my best but we had another rear suspension failure somehow, I don’t understand how. The team said it was safe to drive so I kept pushing and pushing as much as I could. The balance was changing from corner to corner. A sad day, but we’ll live.

Hamilton said he didn’t know what the problem was until after the race: “I did ask, I wasn’t expecting them to tell me, they said we know what the problem is. I was just fighting the whole way with the car.

“It was a real test, but I did absolutely everything I could, but moving backwards, and fighting with a Toro Rosso – a McLaren should never be fighting with a Toro Rosso, should never be fighting with a Force India, but I put up as strong a fight as I could against Kimi without colliding.”

To make matters worse in the closing laps he picked up a section of artificial grass, which caught in the right hand sidepod.

“It was just in addition to how badly it was already handling! It was very tough at the end, because that Astroturf was stalling the rear floor. In some places I had hard core understeer, and it led me to go off trying to overtake someone.”

Regarding the championship, he said: “I guess the pressure is now off, I guess that’s us kind of out of the championship. It’s tough because there’s so much work from the team, so much work from all the people around to try and win this thing.

“We were still in the fight up until now, but it’s too far away now. We’ll keep fighting to get as we can in the constructors’ and I hope me and Jenson can have some stronger races in the next ones.”

Asked if the dangling Astroturf was somehow symbolic of his bad day, he said: “It’s a day to forget. This is a year to forget I think as well. I’m looking forward to a fresh start next year. I didn’t give up the whole race, I tried my hardest, but it was a real disaster. Three stops, what could I do?”

A fourth win of the season for Sebastian Vettel in Korea has moved him into the World Championship lead and given him the momentum he needs to clinch his third title.

Vettel has now gained 75 points from the last three races, with Korea following his earlier successes in Singapore and Japan.

Crucially the German relieved team mate pole man Mark Webber of the lead on the first lap, and never looked back, despite some serious concerns over the right front tyre in the latter stages of the race.

“Obviously now we can say that the start was very important,” said Vettel. “In my case obviously we started from the dirty side. I think the right side generally we saw last year, usually is a bit better but I had a very good launch and yeah, could see that Mark was struggling a little bit in the first bit of the start and I was able to get side-by-side and obviously then had the inside into Turn One, which was very good for us.

“But it wasn’t over at that stage because there’s still a long straight, and quite a big headwind all race from Turn Two to Turn Three. I could hear him coming, and obviously he was side-by-side, but fortunately I had the inside and after that I focussed on having a very good exit out of Turn Three, which fortunately I had and then I was able to stay ahead. I think it was then that Mark was side-by-side with Fernando, going into Turn Four.”

Vettel said that everything went to plan in the early stages of the race: “It was a perfect start for myself and after that a perfect first stint. I think towards the end I was able to pull away a little bit and open a gap to Mark which helped to stay out a little bit longer and I think after that we had a very good stop, a very strong second stint opening the gap again.

“Only at the end of the second stint I had a mistake, braking for Three, locking up the right front. I think a lot of people suffered issues with the front today so the last stint I tried to control a little bit more and I had more juice in the tyre until the end.

“Obviously we had the gap and were controlling that towards the end, but I think once you reach the point where the front tyres are gone, it’s sudden death, so there’s no point of return. We were talking a lot over the radio, trying to stay on top of the problem and manage the front tyres quite well, which I think we did until the end.

“I’m very happy with the result and have to say thanks again to the mechanics, the team, they have been working more than what we should ask them for. Every night, flat out, the whole team and I hope now they get a bit of a break, some sleep finally. But obviously it’s a nice reward to finish first and second today for the guys in the garage.”

As ever he remains cautious about his championship hopes.

“I think we can have a couple of drinks tonight before heading back. It’s difficult to predict the next couple of races. The first 1-2 this year, I think it shows how difficult the season has been for everyone. Ferrari was extremely competitive today, probably more competitive than everyone expected in the race. Both of them, Felipe I think was only a little bit off Fernando, so yeah, quick in the race, we know their car works in all circumstances, so we have to stay on top of our game, focus on ourselves and do what we can.

“We are pushing very hard but I think if you look at this season, it has been pretty much up and down and it was very good for us in the last couple of races, but we also know how little it takes to maybe end up in a different position in the Grand Prix. I think we can take nothing for granted, we have to look after ourselves.

“Whether we have a mental advantage or not, psychological advantage or not I don’t really care. I’m not into those kind of things. As I said, we look after ourselves. There’s a lot of things we have to focus on to do a perfect job and that is the target every weekend.”

Fernando Alonso maintained a brave face after losing the World Championship lead in Korea today, and insisted that everything is still to play for with four races to go.

Nevertheless he was also keen to point that Ferrari’s has not developed the F2012 sufficiently in recent weeks.

The Spaniard now has 209 points to the 215 of Sebastian Vettel.

“We didn’t bring to the last six or seven races anything new,” said Alonso. “So we are doing what we can at the moment, and we are trying to save points which I think we are doing perfectly every Sunday. Again it was a perfect Sunday for us: good start, good strategy at the right time and in the right moment, and then finishing again on the podium.

“I think it was a very strong Sunday, but we hopefully make a little bit of a step in terms of performance, and then we can fight for bigger things. But anyway, I’m very, very happy with today’s race, very happy with the performance. We saw Sunday again move us a little bit closer to the top guys, and also with the position in the championship.

“Obviously we lost the lead by six points but if we think how it went for us the last four or five races, with two retirements, nothing to do with the team, no mistakes from the team, not mechanical problems or anything like that, just some people flying over us and things like that. With all these problems, being six points behind leaves open a lot of possibilities for us in the last four races.”

Asked if he was frustrated by the lack of new parts, he said:“The last five years of my career has been like this. I’m good, I’m confident, used to this situation. We have normally one set of tyres in Q3, there is not time for mistakes, no time to lock up a tyre or go over a kerb or anything like that on Saturday or on Sunday. We are always on the limit, but we feel comfortable, let’s say, like this.

“We seem to extract the maximum from the car when we are under pressure and as I said, four beautiful races to come with good possibilities for us to fight for the championship, but in the end, I’m sure there will be some circuits where we are a little bit more competitive, and some circuits where we are maybe not competitive enough, but overall, in the last four races, as we said, now we need to score seven points more than Sebastian, that will be extremely tough, but we believe we can do it.”

Regarding the circuits to come, he said:  “It will depend obviously on the updates in the car. I think we will see in India if there are any new parts. If there are, we will need to test them. For sure, the other teams will also bring new parts, maybe more than us, so we need to see which of them are working, which of them are not working and for who they work.

“I think the performance of the car will depend on that. I think in Singapore and Suzuka and Korea we felt competitive. In Singapore maybe not so much, but we were able to be on the podium. In Suzuka we saw Felipe finish in second and here both of us were third and fourth, so overall they have been more or less good races for us, apart from the puncture in Suzuka, so in terms of performance I think we are there.

“Obviously Red Bull have made a step forward and they won three races. They were one and two in qualifying in Suzuka, one and two in qualifying here, one and two in the race here so it’s something that is not in our hands.”

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali all but confirmed tonight that the team will soon announce that Felipe Massa is staying on in 2013.

Massa had another strong race in Korea, shadowing Fernando Alonso to the flag in fourth place.

“Very good, I’m very happy,” said Domenicali of Massa’s Korean race. “He did an excellent race, and an excellent qualifying. But I have to say he’s doing an excellent job since a couple of races, so this is really very promising for the end of the season.

“And if I want to anticipate the next question that I’m sure someone will ask, very soon you will know what will be our position on that respect.”

Asked about Massa’s recent resurgence, he said: “I think that for sure he’s understanding now better the car, he’s understanding better the tyres. We believe that he’s a very, very strong driver, there’s no doubt, because otherwise we would already have taken a different decision.

“I feel that now when Felipe has under control his understanding of the tyres on the car, he’s performing at the level he should.”

Jenson Button was frustrated not to make it out of Q2 in Korea, but the McLaren man will at least have a free choice of tyres from his 11^th starting spot.

Button made a mistake on his first run and then came across yellows on his second, and thus wasn’t able to improve.

“On the option tyre the balance wasn’t as good as the prime,” said Button. “The prime was working really well, and obviously the pace was really good yesterday on the long run on high fuel. It’s a bit frustrating because it was so good yesterday. But we’ve still got that pace and from 11^th you still have a lot of options, because you still have new tyres, both compounds.

“I made a little mistake – or quite a big one – at the start of Q2 in the last sector, and then the last sector on the last lap was yellow, so I wasn’t able to go quicker. Disappointing, but I’m still looking forward to an exciting race.”

Button is confident that McLaren has a good package for the Sunday.

“The long run on Friday was great, I was very happy with it. We didn’t really know what to expect on that tyre. Obviously the supersoft on a circuit that’s very demanding, there’s normally very high degradation, but we were able to look after the tyre very well, and be consistent with the lap times, but it’s very tricky because it’s not just the rear tyres, it’s front and rears that you are struggling with in terms of wear and degradation.

“It depends on what balance you have on the car. We found a good balance yesterday, and I hope we can carry that through to tomorrow.”

Mercedes has been fined €10,000 for an unsafe release of Michael Schumacher during Q3 in Korea.

Schumacher pulled out of his garage into the fast lane while Lewis Hamilton was approaching, forcing the McLaren driver to take the inside line to avoid him.

Both drivers played down the incident, although the FIA decided that the team was culpable.

“I noticed only when suddenly it got a bit noisy around me,” said Schumacher. “Because with the cockpit sides you don’t really see much of what happens on your left. It was one of those misunderstandings that can happen. The pit lane is wide enough, so I guess no big deal.

“Everyone’s trying to get out as soon as possible and that’s what they did,” said Hamilton. “He wasn’t in my way, I was just able to get by him.”

Mark Webber surprised team mate Sebastian Vettel and earned his first genuine pole of the year with a superb performance in Korea.

Webber inherited the top spot in Monaco – where he won – after Michael Schumacher’s grid penalty was taken into account.

The Aussie admitted that it had not been an easy session.

“We had a few plates spinning, to be honest, with some little background issues that we were managing as best we could on the lap,” said Webber. “But the lap was very good, apart from Turn 15, I made a mistake there, so probably got in OK but the exit wasn’t great but apart from that it worked well. I think I got 11 and 12 as good as I could get.

“So, yeah, take the rough with the smooth. I think it was a tight session, I think, for all of us – up and down, scrubbed tyres, new tyres. Fernando did a pretty solid lap time on the scrubbed at some point there. So that’s just the way it is. With the old Pirellis, things can move around quite a bit.”

Webber was hampered by a software issue that cost him priceless track time in FP3.

“We didn’t get to run anywhere near as much as we would have liked to in P3, so our information on the option was limited. So there was a bit of catch-up going on for sure.

“After my first run on the option in Q2, I had not the best sector two and three for balance issues and also some other things that Ciaron was working on to get the car to finish the lap better – so that’s what we focussed on in Q3. And got the job done.”

He agreed that the team had made good progress since the August break: “We have been making small developments at each Grand Prix, that’s the way it is. If you look at where the car is from Spa, obviously it’s a different aero package for Spa and Monza, but to where it is now, the base of the car for sure is probably a decent step but it’s always… every Grand Prix, we try to just put little bits on the car to help.

“At some Grands Prix we don’t put anything on, we miss and at the next one we catch up a bit more, and also, you have to bear in mind that it’s circuit-specific as well. You have to understand what each track needs and those type of things, so the last two venues have probably been pretty good for us in terms of layout, especially the last one.

“Yeah, happy drivers are drivers at the front so when you’re towards the front it makes you satisfied but we can still improve the car, there are always areas to improve. That’s what we’ve got to keep working on.”

After a frustrating qualifying session in Japan Felipe Massa earned a solid sixth place in Korea, although he was 0.3s off team mate Fernando Alonso.

Nevertheless the Brazilian was pleased with the outcome after failing to get out of Q2 in Suzuka.

“I think it was more or less OK,” said Massa. “Sure it was not really a perfect lap, I made some little mistakes in a few corners, but anyway it would not be much better than how it was, maybe one or two positions better, not more than that.

“But anyway I’m looking forward to the race, the race is what counts, so I hope we can have a more competitive race compared to what we had in qualifying. We saw two teams quicker than us, so now we need to concentrate on the race.”

Massa hopes to gain some ground at the start: “The start here, corner one, is a bit tight, but I’m looking forward to that, and also for the pace. It’s important to have a good pace in the race, and I think that can be quite important for us to recover some positions.”