Tag Archives: F1

November 25, 2013 · 2:02 pm

Stefano Domenicali: “We need to recover from the mistakes…”

Stefano Domenicali admits it was frustrating to lose second place in the constructors’ championship in Brazil after Felipe Massa’s drive through penalty cost vital points.

The team boss says there was much good to come out of the season, although he stressed that some areas have to be improved.

“We’re frustrated in a way,” said Domenicali when asked by this writer, “because retrospectively of course without the penalty, which was a little bit too hard to Felipe, it would have been a different position. So that’s unfortunate.

“I’m happy at least that we finished a championship that was tough this year in the second half of the season with this result, happy for the team has always acted very, very well at the race track, with the pit stops, the strategy, no blow-up of the engine, I think the only manufacturer that did that. So I’m pleased to hear that. There are positive signs in a season that was not really very good and positive for us. At the end of the day we need to recover from the mistakes and the problems we had this year. I told to my engineers, heads down in the work, not a lot of words to say.

“The changes that we’ve done are the right ones to make sure that next year we’re fighting not for second position but to fight for the first, as we were here last year. And don’t forget here last year we without events that were out of our control we would have been in a different position.”

Domenicali stressed that it’s not that long ago that Ferrari was at the front of the field.

“We have a very short memory, because we were winning in May, not three years ago. Last year we were fighting to be first in the championship, because without the hit out in Japan and Belgium we would have won the title last year, so we need to be thoughtful about it. And we are second once again with the drivers’ championship. So the situation has to be considered for sure not positive, but F1 is made by details, so if you are able to improve certain things…

“And I think we have taken the right action in terms of organisation, in terms of people, in terms of things that have to be improved. With the new regulations the situation hopefully will be better, but we don’t have to throw away the positive things that we have done during this year, because strategy wise, pit stop wise, I think we were the best, so we need to keep these things as a positive side, and grow in the areas, mainly in the development of the car and understanding of the tyres, that were the real problem this year.”

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November 23, 2013 · 9:56 pm

Mark Webber: “If the Kleenex is out, I’ve made the wrong decision…”

Mark Webber will start his final Grand Prix in Brazil from fourth on the grid after struggling to get the best out of his intermediate tyres on a drying track in Q3.

Meanwhile Webber is playing down the emotional resonance of the weekend, having said on Thursday that it was business as usual.

“The drivers’ briefing was interesting,” he said when asked by this writer if it was now hitting home. “Just because the guys gave me a very good reception, and I had a little chat with them. Obviously your colleagues, they’re the ones that you work so hard to compete against over 17 years, and that means a lot to you, so that was quite touching.

“So, good to get a good reception off those guys, a lot that have obviously raced for all of my races, that was good. That was a bit of wake-up call, and tomorrow, but other than that, completely normal to be honest, mate.

“I’ll come in, I’ll do my normal prep, I’m not going to change much now. We’ll do what we can tomorrow, and if it’s like this it’s sensational for the neutral at home, but obviously on the pit wall and in the car it’s a super testing venue, as we saw today. Sergio dropped it obviously, so it’s easy to have some problems with this track.”

Webber’s former RBR team mate David Coulthard’s last race finished on the first lap at this very venue.

“Of course, it will be nice to finish well. DC was very unfortunate. Most of the time statistically a Grand Prix driver in his last race it’s his last race for a reason, it’s not because he’s at the top! Or he didn’t know it was his last race and got sacked over the winter. In my case I do know it’s my last race, I’ll go out there and do my best. Obviously there might be some things creeping into my mind here and there, but I’ll keep those out as much as I can, and just focus on the job at hand.

“Maybe tomorrow when I get into the car for the last time and step out of the car for the last time, that will be the most extreme case of emotions. If the Kleenex is out, I’ve made the wrong decision…”

He admitted some frustration about qualifying.

“I never felt comfortable on the last set,” said the Aussie. “It was better on the extremes, inters I was in the shit the first lap, tried to get them in the second lap, third lap… I thought we’d be worse off, to be honest. That was that.” He added: “I’m not going to talk about, it’s a non-event for me, tyres and the conditions.”

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November 21, 2013 · 10:46 pm

Perez on 2014: A 95% chance I’ll be in F1…

Sergio Perez says his prospects for 2014 are looking up – and he says that he has a “95%” chance of having an F1 seat next year.

Like everyone else Perez has been linked with Sauber, Force India and Lotus. The Swiss team would appear to be the main candidate at the moment, with Carlos Slim discussing the possibility of Checo teaming up with Esteban Gutierrez – although the alternative scenario is that the two drivers are in effect fighting for the same backing.

“It’s definitely looking better than it was seven days ago,” said Perez this afternoon. “We have made some progress in that respect, which is positive. But as we all know in F1 if you don’t have the contract, there’s still nothing there. I’m confident that I will get a seat that will keep me very motivated to achieve my dreams in F1.

“There are some options, and one of them is going back to Sauber. But there are other options that we are looking at at the moment. Force India can be another option as well, but nothing really deep in discussions. All the teams that haven’t announced a driver, for sure we are looking to see what can be the best option for my future.”

Asked to quantify his chances of being in F1 next year, he said: “Very high, I will say 95%, but the other five is still high, and to have 5% is still a lot. I might be here, I might not, but I’m pretty confident that I will be here.”

He made no secret about the role sponsorship will play in proceedings.

“We all know, there is no secret that if you are not in the four top teams all the rest are struggling financial-wise. It obviously helps, but also my talent helps, and at the end of the day I believe I’m a very strong package, so I should be in a good position to find a good seat.

“I’m very fortunate my country is behind me, they are really supporting me to stay in F1. That definitely helps.”

Asked by this writer if he was in competition for backing with Esteban Gutierrez, he denied that was the case.

“I think we’re in a fortunate position, both of us, that we can get a good financial package. When I left Sauber he came to my seat, and it was a fortunate position for him. But everything was pretty much said and done. I don’t see him as competition to see who gets more backing. I think we’re in a fortunate position, Mexico is a strong country, and Mexico is very passionate about F1.”

Perez says the door to return to Sauber has always been open.

“I always try to leave my teams in the best possible terms, just as I’m leaving McLaren. Life is very long in F1, and you never know where you are going to end up. I just try to be a professional driver, and a good person.”

He also made an interesting comment about the role engines might play in his choice: “I think the engine is going to be important, but more is the team. How the team is doing financial wise, how much they have prepared the car for next year, there are certain aspects. They might have done a great job this year, but you never know how they’ll do next year. It’s very important that we look at all the factors together and try to decide the best possible option.”

There has also been some contact between Ganassi and the Perez camp, but the driver denies that he’s been directly involved.

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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 · 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 · 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 · 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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November 15, 2013 · 11:35 pm

Heikki Kovalainen: “I was pressing the wrong buttons today quite a few times!”

Heikki Kovalainen enjoyed a good first day with Lotus in Austin, finishing FP2 in fifth place.

His only real issue was that he was moving around in the seat, which was based on Kimi Raikkonen’s, but the team is making a new one for him overnight.

“I didn’t really have any objectives other than too lean on it as soon as possible, trying to be on the edge as soon as I feel comfortable,” said the Finn. “I think we achieved that reasonably well today. The car was well balanced almost straight away, so we didn’t have to chase the set-up too much. Perhaps the tyres here as well they are not going away straight away, so they give you a few more laps to try That worked quite well, I was able to get a feel for it quite quickly and push it and lean on it.

“We had a good day today, but it could be different tomorrow. The margins are still very small, so if you’re a little bit off the pace, you make a small mistake or you’re slightly out of the balance or you don’t get the tyres in the right window, you could be out of the top 10 quite easily. We need to wait and see what happens tomorrow, and on Sunday. Whatever happens tomorrow it doesn’t mean that Sunday is going to be good or bad, if we are right at the front it doesn’t mean that we are going to finish the race right at the front.”

Kovalainen is reunited this weekend with his former McLaren engineer, Mark Slade. Asked by this writer how much that helped he said: “I think it’s a significant factor. It was relatively easy to start working with him because I know him from McLaren days, and I know how he works. He knows what I need as well, I think if I get lost he can actually make suggestions just by looking at the telemetry, so it’s really helpful. I’m really enjoying working with Mark. I had a good time at McLaren with him. That side is really good, it’s given a smooth landing.”

Heikki admitted that he did a few problems adapting to the Lotus steering wheel.

“I was pressing the wrong buttons today quite a few times! I don’t find always the right button, but it was to be expected, to be honest. Nothing too dramatic, but it’s some fine small details, some KERS patterns, this kind of stuff, that I didn’t quite get right today.”

However he’s not worried about the start on Sunday: “Start wise it’s quite familiar. We had reasonable starts today, and in some ways the procedure is more simple than Caterham, so that’s not too difficult to get used to.

“A few more buttons and paddles we use a bit more around the lap than we did at Caterham, and they are quite significant. They affect the balance of the cars and you need to have the correct settings when you go into certain corners. I was a little bit out-of-synch today a couple of times, but towards the end of the day I had a better hang of it and I was pretty much where we need to be.”

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