March 24, 2016 · 12:52 pm

Ecclestone replies to GPDA letter

Bernie Ecclestone has wasted little time in sending a reply to the GPDA after the drivers’ organisation yesterday wrote an open letter demanding change to the governance system that runs F1.

The GPDA letter, signed by Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and chairman Alex Wurz, said that the “decision-making process in the sport is obsolete and ill-structured.”

Ecclestone began his own letter with “Dear Gentlemen,” before making clear that he was in a mischievous mood by adding, “I’m not sure this is the right description.”

He then wrote: “It is not always easy to agree with you but you are correct. We must, as you have stated, urge the owners and all stakeholders of F1 to consider restructuring its governance.

“It is easy to analyse what is wrong, so why not think and come back on this. At least it is better to think before you wish.”

 

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March 23, 2016 · 8:26 pm

Todt pushing for revised ‘hybrid’ elimination qualifying

A revamped form of the elimination qualifying format could yet be used for the Bahrain GP weekend, despite the teams voting to abandon the new system.

After the disaster of Australian GP a meeting of teams was held in Melbourne on Sunday morning, hosted by the FIA’s Charlie Whiting. It was unanimously agreed to drop the new system and revert to what was used in 2015 for Bahrain. Bernie Ecclestone was not in Australia, but backed the change, having always maintained that he didn’t like elimination.

However, at the start of the meeting both Force India and Williams had initially indicated that they would like to keep Q1 and Q2 in an elimination format, with Q3 as a ‘standard’ session with all cars in a position to run all the way through.

This idea was first suggested several weeks ago after the team managers and engineers had first had a proper chance to study the idea that the F1 Strategy Group had suggested.

Sources indicate that Jean Todt was not willing to accept this compromise and make a change to the plan that had come from the Strategy Group, and which then had to be voted on by the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council.

Ironically it appears that after the teams agreed to dump it completely Todt now supports the Williams/Force India route, and wants to have the hybrid system, rather than go back to 2015 style qualifying.

Any change at this stage has to be agreed unanimously by the Strategy Group (six top teams plus Todt and Ecclestone), then the F1 Commission (as before plus the rest of the teams, Pirelli and promoters) and finally by the World Motor Sport Council.

It would appear that Todt is hoping to force the compromise solution through in order to save at least some of the elimination format, with some tweaks to the timing of the sessions built-in as well.

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley suggested that the Sunday vote to drop the new format completely was an overreaction.

“Obviously it’s something of a knee-jerk reaction in some ways,” he told this writer. “I think we should have let the weekend go through and evaluate it. It was the whole purpose of what the changes were made for, it was about trying not only to spice up qualifying a little bit, which it certainly did in Q1 and Q2, but also from the point of view of what it was going to do in the race with the tyres and so on.

“Clearly Q3 didn’t quite tick all the boxes and needed to be looked at, but that was one element of it. I think we should have waited. A lot of thought had gone into it in the first place, and just to throw it out without following the whole process seemed to me just too hasty.”

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March 21, 2016 · 3:53 pm

Paddy Lowe: New tyre rules add uncertainty and excitement

Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe says that the decision to have three choices of Pirelli compound available this season made a big contribution to an exciting Australian GP.

Mediums, supersofts and softs were available in Melbourne, and eight drivers used all three during the race. Five different strategies were used by the top six drivers.

“Having three compounds in the race, which was a change we promoted from the middle of last year as being something that would add uncertainty and excitement to the race, I think we’ve seen that play out really well,” Lowe told this writer.

“You’ve got somebody on an old medium, and someone else on a brand new supersoft. It’s fantastic. And we’ve also pushed the spectacle of qualifying up, because we’re effectively a compound softer for qualifying. As we saw on Saturday we were 2.5s quicker, some of that’s development, some of that’s the tyre.”

Mercedes raised a few eyebrows by focussing on the medium tyre during Barcelona testing, and it was therefore somewhat ironic that the team finished one-two in Australia a crucial decision to use it in the race. Lowe says there was good reason for that testing plan.

“It was simply mileage. We had a target to do 6000kms, on a medium you can get about 100kms, on a soft you get about 30km. With the fixed quota we were given we had to take all mediums apart from four sets of softs and three sets of wets.

“We’d rather have had more tyres from Pirelli, and then we would have added a lot more softs into the mix. We were getting seven or eight sets a day, if you want to do 800kms, you need eight mediums.”

The test schedule meant that Mercedes didn’t run the supersoft on the W07 until Saturday in Australia, so the team and drivers had very little experience of it going into qualifying: “We first ran the supersoft in P3, that’s the first ever run of it on this car. The times weren’t startling, but they picked up when we got into qualifying.”

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March 21, 2016 · 2:02 pm

Lauda on Merc v Ferrari: “It’s going to be exciting…”

Niki Lauda says that Nico Rosberg’s Australian GP victory represents a huge boost to the German as he starts another season long battle with Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg ended last season on a high, but many observers felt he was flattered by Hamilton mentally stepping down a gear after winning the title. By continuing his 2015 form he’s made a point and boosted his confidence.

“He did a poor start in practice I have to say,” said Lauda. “Because Lewis was driving again like always. But in the race he turned it around, so for him it was really good, and for us especially. You need this to have a good start into the season, because it gives him confidence.

“If it had been the other way round, if Lewis would have won, he would have suffered, because he always suffers when Lewis is there. So for him this race was important, to mentally stay strong, and have a good baseline for the next one. It’s good for him and for us, because the more they fight each other the better it is for me!”

Regarding how close they got at the first corner he said: “It’s always close, don’t worry. That’s the way it is.”

Lauda said that the Melbourne race represented a great start to the season for the sport.

“It was an exciting race first of all, I’ve never seen anything like this in the last three years, I have to say. The race was half decided at the start, because the Ferraris did an incredible start, both of them. We screwed up in a way, and we have to find out why. And then the race took its way. I think it was the best start [to the season] ever in F1. What a race we have shown everybody.”

He expects an ongoing challenge from Ferrari: “I’m afraid we’ll see more of this, because Ferrari is quick, there’s no question about it. And it’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to the next one.”

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March 21, 2016 · 12:05 pm

Maurizio Arrivabene: “We took a decision…”

Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has defended the tyre decision that turned Sebastian Vettel’s lead into the Australian GP into a third place.

When teams had a free choice of tires at the red flag the Ferraris stuck with supersofts, while the two Mercedes drivers restarted with mediums. They didn’t need to stop again, and when Vettel pitted, he dropped back. He was unable to recover to higher than third.

“On the wall we were confident, in all honesty,” said Arrivabene. “So we were looking at the race. We looked at the gap we were gaining and at that time the radio was to go with our strategy and to keep going. Then, I don’t want to take any excuses. The red flag – the last one was in 2009 if I am not wrong, but it is part of the race so you have to accept it and that is it.

“At that stage of the race we have to be a bit more aggressive. It could be right, could be wrong. Sebastian was talking about that. In the end we were pushing like hell and Sebastian also had the chance to be able to overtake Hamilton, that was in our strategy. If you want to look at the glass not half empty – we were there. But this is the news. Of course after that, you cannot be happy after this but this is racing.”

Nevertheless he admitted it was a race lost: “Yeah. We lost… the race if you look, it is in front of everybody that we were showing a very, very good pace. We were quite comfortable and after the red flag, we took a decision. A certain decision that can be right or wrong. But…”

He remains optimistic about the season.

“The pace in the race is very good. The car is very good. So, this is what I have to say. But we don’t have to give up. We need to continue to push because every race has their own story. You have to turn the page and look forward and think about the next one thinking to do not what you have done today but to do even better for Bahrain.

“The start was super. I have to say both of the drivers, they start like two rockets and after that they were able to take an advantage, and that was good for us. This is the reason why at a certain point we were looking at the gap, looking at our strategy prediction and looking quite comfortable. But at the end of the day you have to look at the result of the race, not the provision. We have to be realistic.”

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March 20, 2016 · 1:36 am

Teams agree to revert to old qualifying system

The 11 F1 teams have agreed to return to the 2015 qualifying system from the next race in Bahrain, following a meeting hosted by the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in Melbourne today.

As previously noted, the FIA has invited the 11 team managers to attend. They were told to represent the views of their teams rather than personal views, and that they could bring their team principals along as well if they so wish. Among those in the meeting were Christian Horner, Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda, Maurzio Arrivabene and Franz Tost.

Bernie Ecclestone was not represented in the meeting, although he had made his views clear to team bosses by phone.

The two most likely scenarios for Bahrain were scrapping the whole system, or the option of a ‘hybrid’ of the old and new systems. The former received unanimous support.

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March 20, 2016 · 12:48 am

FIA calls meeting to debate qualifying changes

The fate of the controversial elimination qualifying system is set to be decided by an FIA meeting that started in Melbourne’s race control building at 12pm today, and it could lead to a change as early as the next race in Bahrain.

The FIA has invited the 11 team managers to attend. They have been told to represent the views of their teams rather than personal views, and that they can bring their team principals along as well if they so wish. Bernie Ecclestone is not represented in the meeting, although he has made his views clear to team bosses by phone.

The two most likely scenarios for Bahrain are scrapping the whole system, or the more likely option of a ‘hybrid’ of the old and new systems.

Several weeks ago the same group of team managers agreed a revision to the elimination system that involved Q3 running to a traditional format, with no eliminations and all the drivers able to run at the end, as in the past.

All parties agreed that it was a sensible solution, but FIA President Jean Todt was reluctant to change direction and not allow the full elimination procedure to go through, so it never went back to the F1 Commission in that format. This was despite the rules not having been officially written at that stage, which would have allowed some room for change before they became official.

Any decision taken today has to be agreed by all the teams. It will then go to a vote of the Strategy Group – the six top teams, Ecclestone and Todt – and then onto the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council, for formal ratification.

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March 19, 2016 · 8:51 pm

Niki Lauda: “Nobody is thinking globally what is the best for the sport…”

Niki Lauda says that F1 has lost all direction – and blames Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt for a situation where changes desired by the teams can easily be blocked.

Lauda says that the new qualifying system was a “big mistake.” He was present at the Strategy Group meeting where the system was first discussed, but only as an observer, as Toto Wolff was the official representative of Mercedes.

“This strategy meeting, Bernie stood up and said, ‘We have to make more excitement in the practice,’” Lauda told Sky F1. “The first in qualifying will have to start from the 10th position, and the 10th guy has to start from first position. Horner said, ‘Yes!’, because he thought he would be 10th and it would give him pole position.

“So it all started. We all laughed, but it was serious. And then Charlie [Whiting] came up with this new system, so to get out of this problem with first and 10th, we were led into this big mistake. And this is the way it happened.

“It was obvious that when we took that decision nobody thought of all the details. But when the team managers got together later, and Charlie, they realised there might be some up and downs.

“The funny thing was once it was voted through then Ferrari was against it, then when the team managers complained that it might not work that well it was voted again, and everybody was for it.

“So this is really wrong, and we should change it quickly, get everybody here together, have a quick discussion about changed for Bahrain. People can make mistakes, this is a big mistake.”

Lauda pulled no punches when it came to the bigger picture: “We lost I think all direction. Now it is very simple. Normally Bernie and the teams stick together because we have contracts with each other to run the business of the sport. But it has changed because Bernie and Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, try to decide things beforehand together. If the teams don’t like it they can vote together against us, or the other way round.

“So the whole system is blocked at the moment, in a situation where everybody is defending his own position, nobody is thinking globally what is the best for the sport, and therefore we make these wrong decisions.”

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March 19, 2016 · 10:27 am

F1 team bosses to meet on Sunday to discuss qualifying crisis

F1 team principals are set to meet in the Melbourne paddock on Sunday to discuss how to address the issue of qualifying after the new system made a disastrous debut.

Although he is back in Europe Bernie Ecclestone has organised the meeting, having called the bosses in the last few hours to canvas their opinions.

The intention is to come to a unanimous agreement and present a letter to the FIA outlining their views on what can be changed in time for the Bahrain GP. The rules can be changed quickly if all parties agree, although the process will clearly have to be fast tracked through.

The two possible scenarios are either a return to the previous qualifying system or a package of revisions to the elimination system which will most likely involve Q3 running to the old rules, which will ensure that cars are running at the end of the session.

“I think firstly we should apologise to the fans and the viewers because that’s not what qualifying should be,” said Christian Horner. “It should crescendo into something. The intentions were well meaning but we have to accept that it hasn’t worked, we got it wrong, and we should address it very quickly. My personal view is that we should go back to what we had in time for the next race, because what we saw today is not good for F1.

“I didn’t like the fact that the fast cars didn’t have a right to reply. You’ve got Ferraris sitting in the garage because there’s no point in them running again. Qualifying should build up to a crescendo, and everybody bolts their last set of tyres in the last couple of minutes, and you see what you’ve got.”

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March 18, 2016 · 9:33 pm

Haas can’t afford to take risks, says Steiner

Mixed weather conditions made life difficult on Haas F1’s first official day of action in Melbourne, but there were no major dramas for the new team.

The two drivers completed 34 laps, and Esteban Gutierrez finished as high as 11th in FP2, although many other drivers didn’t set flying lap times. Haas boss Guenther Steiner admitted that the team can’t afford to risk a damaged car due to a lack of spare parts.

“The thing we don’t want to take is risk,” said Steiner. “What you can learn, the possibilities to learn are very small so there is no point taking risks. The opportunity is not big enough to take risks.
We will just try to make sure the car is ready for qualifying, and be done with it.

“Because if we damage a car, or do something stupid, we can not go out immediately in Q1. You are done. There is no point taking risks; I think we’ll take less risks tomorrow than we took today – if the weather conditions are similar.”

Steiner said the team has enough parts could get through the weekend if are were no major problems.

“We have got everything before the race. When I say everything, I mean 90 per cent. We cannot have two crashes with the same car, you know. We have at least one of each part, most of them two, so for each car one set, but we cannot take big risks. If we had damage today or tomorrow… The last thing we want is to miss the race. That would be silly to come here in these conditions and take risks. That was the biggest thing today; do not take any risks.”

Steiner said that while it had been a good first day, the lack of running caused by the weather had made life difficult.

“It feels pretty good, but today was one of those days when you are happy to see two cars going out, and you know you have done what you were working a long time on, but then with these weather conditions you get to the evening and you are not happy, because you haven’t done enough. We didn’t get enough data, we didn’t test enough; I still think we are not as well prepared as we could be.

“And I’m not just blaming the weather, you have to blame yourself. There is always something. But then again we have to be honest with ourself – it’s a new team, it’s a new season. Then again, we need to aim high to end up somewhere. If you don’t aim high, you don’t want to be last.
Today the weather was not helping. I don’t want to use it as an excuse, because it sounds like an excuse. But it was not helping.

“If you’re trying to understand the car, and every time you go out there the conditions change, it’s like whatever you learn, is it real? Do I believe it, or not? Because every time the drivers say something different. Is it the car, or is it the weather? It is really inconsistent. Between wind and rain, you cannot have it worse. I hope tomorrow is better. We will try again tomorrow.”

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