Button remains odds-on favourite for drivers championship

Despite recent poor performances, Jenson Button remains the hot favourite for the 2009 Formula One Driver's Championship in the online betting markets.

Button goes into the European Grand Prix with 70 points, 19 ahead of closest rival and renault driver Mark Webber.

Elsewhere Lewis Hamilton has revealed he is still buzzing following his win in Hunary 4 weeks ago:

"It's great to be getting back to business after the four-week break. I'm still buzzing from the win in Hungary and I'm hopeful of being able to carry that pace into the Valencia weekend - particularly with our new upgrades to the car. It's a very demanding circuit, the kind of place that punishes any mistakes hard. It's quite tight and relatively slow, so it should suit our package. It's also very difficult to overtake, as we discovered last year - but, with our KERS, Mercedes-Benz has proved that anything can happen and I'm once again hoping that it will provide the difference in the race."

German Grand Prix Review

It all started from the outset. Webber was flying, he was aggressive (as he later showed even more) no one was going to be allowed to win that race. He was on it in true Mansell-esque form. No prisoners from the off. I think that he was spurned on by the fact that Red Bull had come out saying that they were favouring Vettel for next year with their car design. He needed to send a message that he wasn’t to be underestimated or written off… Blimey did he do that. Vettel was a solid but uninspiring throughout the weekend. An unnoticed second is probably the sort of drives he needs to churn out to win the championship however.

In qualifying there was all sorts of chaos because of the rain and it was the most interesting in recent memory. Sutil was excellent qualifying 7th and it was a shame he had a coming together with Raikkonen in the race – basically scuppering his chances of a good points finish. I have to say that I think the incident was just a racing incident and that if Sutil was a bit more experienced he would have probably not had the accident. A shame especially since Raikkonen retired anyway later on in the race.

Brawn also did well in qualifying with Ross Brawn calling the shots brilliantly to get Barrichello out on slicks at the right time. Their 2nd and 3rd on the grid was down to strategy and they just didn’t have the pace in the race to realise a good result.

On the warm up lap Alonso had an eventful spin but regained his grid slot in time. He came good at the end of the race and must be quite happy with 7th considering the ability of the Renault at the moment. Kovalainen did well to sneak 8th. He did not have all the updates that Hamilton did but was able to put in a solid performance. Hamilton on the other had using his KERS off the line had an amazing start but got a puncture from tagging Webber’s front wing. When watching replays it seemed that Hamilton moved under braking and that Webber didn’t have time to react. I don’t think it was Webber’s fault just a racing incident.

However the incident with Barrichello and Webber was something else. Webber squeezed Barrichello as we have seen many times before at a start. But instead of Barrichello reacting or moving he just stayed on his line and let him ram him. What was Barrichello thinking? The two of them could of cart wheeled into the air and had huge accidents. This is racing - expect to get squeezed like that! Has he never seen nearly everybody squeeze each other at the beginning of a race like that? Webber was being aggressive but not wrongly so. Barrichello was asleep. Then for Webber to be penalised for it is ridiculous. I’m just glad that Webber went and drove the wheels of his Red Bull and still won. He did not deserve that penalty at all.

Ferrari’s Massa was happy with third and quite rightly so. If Raikkonen hadn’t of had engine trouble then he would of finished behind Massa and Ferrari would have had a respectable 3rd and 4th. I think they are slowly getting better and realise they can nick a few podiums between now and the seasons end. Yet again Ferrari’s KERS was the only thing which enabled them to get ahead at the start and also the only thing which enabled them to stay in front. Most noticeably Massa in front of Barrichello.

It was obvious the 2 stop was the way to go and Barrichello was spitting out his dummy over the teams decisions and stuck fuel pump. But could of it been any other way? They were eating up their tyres and 3 stops was the only chance they had really. Barrichello was unfortunate but when it counted Button was good enough to jump him putting in a blinding lap that he had over Barrichello. TS Barrichello – grow up. I think the truth about him being so annoyed lies with the fact Barrichello knows his chance for the championship or maybe even any wins is gone. He is no doubt going at the end of the year, especially if he makes comments like that about his team. He needs to grow up and be professional.

Rosberg did an excellent job to come 4th and he too had trouble with his fuel pump and fuel levels like Barrichello. But he kept his head down and drove well. Williams must be happy with him and I think with the way things are going in the partnership they are likely to stay together for another season.

Jenson was interviewed afterwards and was suitably worried. He knows the championship could be lost. Brawn have updates for Hungary and he must hope they improve the car. As the problem is that McLaren and Ferrari are now getting in front of them and stealing points off the Brawn team while the Red Bulls are winning. If Button consistently finishes 5th or around there and the Red Bulls are winning then his championship advantage will be gone in three or four races and we have eight races left. I think it’s going to be close. I hope Webber really ups his game and takes it to Vettel.

It seems to be genuinely game on for the championship.

FIA post-race press conference - Germany

1st Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h36m43.310s; 2nd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h36m52.562s; 3rd Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1h36m59.216s.

Q: Mark, take you back to November. You are lying on the road in Australia with a broken leg and maybe thinking your career is now over. Here you are today a grand prix winner. Tell us your emotions.
Mark Webber: It is an incredible day for me. I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone. I thought I had a good chance there. But after yesterday’s pole position I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today. The only thing in the end that I thought was going to beat me or test me even more was the rain but even that held off. To get the victory today was a little bit testing. Obviously I lost Rubens (Barrichello) completely off the start. I thought he had gone to the left and I went to the right and I banged into him. That is not normally my style, so I got a drive through for that and had to recover. My engineer kept me calm and I pushed as hard as I could when I needed to. It is a great day for me, like you say. It was a difficult winter. Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, that kept my motivation very high when I was hurting a lot with all my rehab. I have had great people around me to recover from the injuries that I had. The team had been incredibly patient with me as well and I want to thank Dietrich (Mateschitz) and Red Bull for what they did for me over the winter as well. Everyone in Australia that has supported me on the way through and of course there are a few people who doubted me too as well, so hello to them as well. It is just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am.

Q: Sebastian, you had to work very hard today. Your thoughts on that and also on Mark’s first grand prix victory.
Sebastian Vettel: First of all congratulations to him, today he was unbeatable. He was quicker than all of us, so he totally deserved to win. I am very happy with the result. In the end it was a good recovery. It was quite a bad start and then all the KERS cars around me. I got passed by both McLarens and then even Felipe, so it was quite difficult. You start fourth and then go into the first corner maybe eighth or something. And then basically I struggled a lot in the first stint. I was in traffic and you know altogether we are four or five cars. Obviously I could have gone quite a bit quicker but there was no way to pass Felipe. He always used his special button when I was quite close, therefore I was lucky to have the right strategy and in the end that brought us back to second position but Felipe didn’t stop pushing, so it was quite hard until the end of the race, so we had to fight but obviously another one-two finish for the team. I am very, very happy. Good points today. Obviously I would lie to you if I would say I am very, very pleased with second. Of course I wanted to win but yesterday Mark did a better job and that is why he totally deserved to win. He was quicker. It is a good fight among us, so I am very happy and looking forward to the next races. I think our car is competitive, so looking forward.

Q: Felipe, special button or not, it was a fighting drive for you today with lots of wheel to wheel action to bring you your first podium of the season.
Felipe Massa: To be honest, I missed to be here, to be in top three but it was a fantastic race. I did a fantastic start, passed many cars. I was struggling a lot with the soft tyres at the beginning like most of the people but fortunately I could manage to stay in front of Sebastian and managed to put out a good pace after a while. When we put on a second set of tyres I think that was very important for the race, to have a good pace at that stage. I am very happy. I am very happy that everyone in the team did a great job on the strategy, on the pit stops, so I think having a good result like this, a podium will definitely motivate the people to keep working, to keep pushing hard and preparing a good car for the end of the championship and especially another great car for next year.

Q: Mark, you mentioned the incident at the start with Rubens. A lot of people have described it as very aggressive. It was a very aggressive drive generally but some wheel banging from you on the run down to turn one. Take us through it.
MW: I knew my start wasn’t absolutely fantastic and I just moved across a little bit and as soon as I hit him I said ‘there he is.’ It was a bit of a surprise. I think I clipped the back of Lewis (Hamilton) if that was Lewis. I am not sure which McLaren it was. I lost a little bit of the front wing endplate I think but with these KERS cars and the way the mirrors are set up on these cars now, all the aerodynamic stuff, everyone is in similar situation. It was a difficult first run to the first corner but we got away okay.

Q: Sebastian, you had a fair bit of wheel banging today not least with Felipe as you were mentioning. You could clearly see how much it meant for both of you to keep the place.
SV: Yeah, it was quite tough to get past him. I didn’t succeed and he was defending well with his button, especially downhill. I thought now I am in the tow but couldn’t get close and then unfortunately at the end of the straight I was at the limit, so couldn’t make the big difference in the braking then but he was on the inside, so it was tight and he did a good job. Sometimes it was very close. I was thinking if he wants to get my front wing off the car. I had to be very cautious as obviously it is very difficult with these wide front wings. You have to be extremely careful.

Q: What do you think, Felipe? Hard but fair?
FM: We are racing. Anyway we have the KERS, so it is a help to keep the position or maybe try to overtake. But you want to exchange the KERS for a bit of downforce. I change very quickly.

Q: Mark, you had a big pace advantage over the Brawns today. We have got a whole second half of the championship opening up in front of you. Do you think you can win both championships?
MW: Well, they are both still up for grabs, there is no question about it. The work that has gone on at Milton Keynes underneath Adrian Newey and all the guys there. They have produced a special car, no doubt about it. Brawn are leading the constructors because they deserve to be, they have got a lot of points but we are not giving up. Sebastian and I are on the top of our game and pushing as best as we can to be as consistent as possible at all venues. Renault are giving us fantastic engines. The team are gelling incredibly well. The big problem at our factory at the moment is building a trophy cabinet, so it is a very good problem for us to have. It is hard work they we are putting in but it is paying off. It is very good for us. We love fighting against teams like Ferrari and McLaren as this is what Formula One is all about. For Red Bull to take the fight to these big guys is a real credit to us. They will be back for sure but it is a special time for our team.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Mark, what is it like? Will you have a few more of those, do you think?
MW: I hope so. I hope they are like muscles, obviously. When you get one you get a few more. I have done a few grands prix now. I think this is the first year I have really had a chance to win grands prix. I have had a few second places but today pulled the win off. But what is really important to me is that it wasn’t handed to me. I had to work for it. I started on pole and it would have been a lot more comfortable obviously without the little penalty but apart from that it was still reasonably straight forward. There was still a lot of traffic and some other people like Sebastian were going to be quick but that’s the way it goes sometimes and I have been in that situation, so it was nice to be able to have a very straightforward and easy first victory. I want to thank all the team for the effort they have put into me and the patience they have shown with me over the winter to get back to full fitness and just the job they have done to produce this fantastic car.

Q: How tough was it coming back from that cycling accident? Were you up to full race fitness right at the start of the season?
MW: Well, I think I was kidding myself a little bit. I thought I was ready to go for winter testing but I wasn’t. It is absolutely clear that the leg was a long way from healed and it was still broken. It was just the metal holding it in place, so it has come a long way since then. Time has been a little bit on my side. I was lucky that Melbourne was put back a little bit in the calendar and a few things have gone my way, so along with having fantastic people around me, like Roger (Cleary), my physio. We spent a lot of time together getting back and even things like walking in the swimming pool and things like that in the first part of January was very tough for me. But there is always someone worse off and I always stayed positive and I knew that looking at the times Sebastian was doing in testing the car was going to be quick. That gave me incredible motivation to be ready.

Q: Do you see the irony of the margin you had over Sebastian today in comparison to three weeks ago?
MW: Yeah, I did. I did think that in the race. I thought now I know how Sebastian felt and it is a nice way to be able to control a grand prix. The first stint I got held up a lot by Rubens at Silverstone and that makes it difficult. But all of us know that. All of us know that it is very difficult to overtake. These cars, you know, the braking is so late and they are so even, in so many areas on the track it is difficult to stay close. Maybe in Malaysia, in Bahrain there are a few tracks where you have a chance but when you have slightly quicker corners it is very difficult and then you throw the KERS in as well. It is a challenge for us to jump people even when they are in trouble. You need free air, good quali, and that is when you can get the job done.

Q: Do you think the penalty was merited? And did you think it was all gone when you had to serve it?
MW: I thought it was a little bit harsh but maybe they wanted to spice things up a little bit. It is not really my style. I think I did definitely lose Rubens 100 per cent for a while. I moved across and then what made it worse was that I shitted myself and came back across again and I thought ‘My God, there he is.’ That’s what made it look maybe a little bit worse than it was. I had a fair idea what it was for but also I thought that when I touched one of the McLarens in turn one I lost a little bit of the front wing, so I couldn’t believe it was for that. But you know of course I was shattered when I was told I have got a drive-through. I thought ‘My God, I am absolutely cruising here behind Rubens. I know he is short. I know everything is under control.’ And a drive-through is very harsh for anyone in any grand prix, so I had to recover. Also I thought I was pretty close to getting done for speeding in the pit lane as well as I was quite frustrated. In the end it turned out okay but it could have been a different story as you say.

Q: And you were easing up at the end. Was that because you knew you had the time?
MW: Yeah, it was just staying away from the kerbs. Sebastian had a problem on Friday with the car in turn one with some issues we had there, so there were a few things I had to be aware of and make sure I kept the car in the middle of the track and brought it home. There was no reason to finish 20 seconds in front instead of 10. As Jack Brabham used to say ‘win at the slowest possible speed,’ so I was thinking of Jack today.

Q: It is interesting you mention two issues caused at turn one. Was that caused by that bump?
MW: Well, there is an elevation change for sure. But it is not just there. You have got the chicane, you have got quite a few areas where we run the kerbs on the exits and if you narrow the track a lot like I was in the last stint then for sure you drop the lap time. It is circuit specific here.

Q: Sebastian, you seemed to be involved in battles throughout.
SV: But I didn’t succeed, so… It was difficult. At the start, I thought the start was alright because none of the guys in front of me had KERS and all of a sudden the cars just kept flying past me: both McLarens and then I saw Felipe approaching me. I tried to block him but obviously he was already side-by-side, so I opened up. Approaching turn one I was feeling that I was starting from midfield and not P4. Then it was quite difficult, I lost quite some positions. Then, basically, it was the old story: you are in the pack and you try to race. I had Felipe in front of me, I was quite a bit quicker than all the pack but couldn’t get past. He used his KERS system very well to defend. All the time when I was close I could feel him pressing the button and opening up the gap which gave him enough cushion for the rest of the straight, so it was impossible for me to start a manoeuvre. I think the whole pack, led by Heikki (Kovalainen) and then Jenson (Button), who managed to get past Felipe in the beginning, Felipe and me, we were all losing a lot of time, every single lap to the two guys in front, to Rubens and Mark. I was already feeling a bit bad. Obviously I knew I had a very good strategy but still the first stint wasn’t easy because the tyres were not in the best shape at the end. I even had to defend from Kimi (Räikkönen) a couple of times. But then in the second stint we went onto the hard tyres and everything was fine – struggling with warm-up, I think, like everyone was during the whole weekend, but able to recover and come back to second position, still with Felipe behind me, so I had to keep pushing until the end. But of course it’s nice taking a lot of points. I would have loved to win this race for sure. It’s my home Grand Prix but especially because there were so many people around the track supporting me. But I’m not the oldest person on the grid, so I might have a couple of years left and some more attempts. I’m definitely looking forward to the next races and we will see what we can do. The car is working well, the team is working fantastically both here at the track and back in England. We keep pushing, so we will see.

Q: Felipe, you were obviously overtaken by Jenson early on. What happened?
FM: Well, he passed me! I had my KERS but he had good speed on the straight, plus he was light. At that stage of the race the tyres were still in good shape, so he managed to pass me.

Q: Then you were pushed by both Sebastian and Rubens as well.
FM: Yeah, during the first stint I was in the pack behind Heikki, Jenson, myself and Sebastian followed by Kimi. Sebastian was very close, he tried to attack me sometimes. Fortunately this time I could manage to stay in front and then I think everybody was struggling massively in the first stint with soft tyres, massive rear degradation. During the first 15 laps, Sebastian was very, very close to myself but then after a while, I felt that he started to struggle as well with the rear tyres, so things were a little bit quiet, so it was easier to control the situation. After a while he stopped before me, he managed to change the tyres and his pace was much better than mine because I was struggling with the tyres. I even asked the team what the situation was because maybe it would have been better to anticipate. If we did, maybe it would have been possible to stay in front of Sebastian but we didn’t anticipate the pit stop and then I think we lost the position to him because of that.

Q: Is this the return of Ferrari?
FM: A podium is always important. Third place is a good result for us but we cannot say it’s really our return. I think we are improving the car step-by-step a little bit, so I think that’s good motivation for the people. So we know if we work we can manage to have a good car, a competitive car, so I push my team very hard because as soon as possible I want a car that gives us a chance to fight for victory and for the championship. It’s what Ferrari is able to do and we have done for so many years. But nothing is coming for free, so we need to work and push very hard to steer things in the right direction, so that we can have a car that will bring us into this place (indicates the first place position), not on the left (in third position), in the middle. I think that’s our aim and that’s what we’re working for.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) On the podium we saw you watching the flag. How important is it for you to win as an Australian?
MW: Very, very important for me to win because not many Australian drivers have reached Formula One and there are even fewer that are successful. So for me to win a grand prix and have the career that I’ve had – a long career – but for sure I wanted better results but this year has been very, very special and now we are able to say that we’ve won a grand prix, fair and square, which is nice. It’s a real message to the Australian people. I’ve always tried to represent my country as best as I can. We’re a very proud sporting nation, we have done well on two wheels, on motorbikes with Mick (Doohan) and with Casey (Stoner) but the motorbikes aren’t motor sport in general at world level, where we haven’t been amazing. It’s a great day for me and Australia and that’s why it was a special one.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Mark, how long and tense were those final laps, thinking that maybe it might rain, something might go wrong with the car or the track or anything?
MW: On lap 40, when I knew everything was pretty much in the bag, then it got a bit darker, I could feel it got a little bit colder in the car and I thought ‘hmm, we’re going to be tested once more again.’ But from lap 52 or 53 onwards I knew it probably wasn’t going to rain again and actually I was pretty relaxed. I was enjoying driving the car, it’s always nice when you have a buffer but for sure I wanted the chequered flag to come, and yes, I was thinking about the car a lot. There was a little bit of debris in the first sector, so I was making sure not to pick up any punctures and also some stones in turn nine, so lots of things like that which you start to really keep an eye on which normally you don’t care when you’re twelfth but when you’re leading it’s a different ball game.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) To Mark and Sebastian: do you guys realise that in taking points off one another as you are doing these past two races that you may be playing into Jenson’s hands a little bit? You’re not making the big leaps forward that perhaps one of you might perhaps expect to if there was just one driver going for the title?
MW: It’s a good problem for us to have at Red Bull. We probably never envisaged the season that we’re having. We knew the car was going to be good but it’s in some cases quite rare that two drivers are performing quite closely and getting very similar points. It could have been different for Sebastian today. It’s very difficult to call how the races are going to be. Strategy is always playing a little bit of a role here and there, so if you put all your eggs in one basket I think it might help but you can do that for two or three races and then that guy might have two DNFs and the guy that you took points off before is in a slightly worse position, so we’re taking the fight as hard as we can to Brawn. Either of us can have DNFs from mechanical problems or anything, so at the end of the day we’ve got a lot of points to go and that will be a decision for the team later on. We’re getting on well, we drive the car on the limit, we love getting the most out of it, our team is brilliantly strong inside and we love fighting at the front. It’s a team championship, a team sport at the moment. Maybe in the end, the last three or four or five races it will turn to one of us if we have a chance to fight Jenson but… The last two races have been interesting for them. Let’s see how we go in the hot races and maybe it’s a bit more difficult for us.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Mark, at the end when you crossed the line, we haven’t heard you shout like that for ever, I don’t think. Was that years of pent-up emotion coming out and was there ever a time in your mind when maybe you thought you were more of a Chris Amon than a Jack Brabham?
MW: I thought that but you know I think during my time at Williams it was very tough for the motivation, that’s the hardest part of it. No one likes turning up and getting your arse kicked every weekend. That would test anyone’s patience and that’s why I suppose you’ve got to take your hat off to someone like Jenson and maybe myself a little bit, where you’re still trying to stay involved and keep your motivation high to focus on other goals to keep your drive high and now it’s obviously different. We can turn up at race weekends and get very, very good results. I’ve certainly had testing times in my career with unreliable cars and being in a position to get results hasn’t happened for whatever reason. It’s happening at the moment and as you say there was a lot of emotion. What happened today is not going to change my life massively but it’s a very, very important thing. I will sleep well tonight, everything’s fine but I’m not a different person because I’ve won one race. I’m just very, very happy that I’ve won it fair and square, that I’ve beaten everyone else today, so that’s the most important thing to me.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Felipe, you told us that we couldn’t consider Ferrari back completely yet. So can we consider this podium as a victory in some way?
FM: First of all, I would like to take this chance to congratulate Mark because I know how he’s feeling. It must be a great feeling. I cannot say this is like a victory. I think this is like good work. Victory is victory. We finished on the podium, we finished in third position starting from eighth, so it’s definitely a great result but victory is always first place. I think this huge motivation, it’s a huge result for us to keep pushing, to keep working and just show the people that we can do it.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Mark, it’s a pretty good day for Australia. You will be happy to know that England are six wickets down against Australia. It’s like it’s going to be over by teatime. Have you had any contact with Ricky (Ponting, Australia’s cricket captain) this weekend at all?
MW: No, not this weekend. Obviously, we spoke before I came away here and you know the baggy green, it’s a very famous thing in Australia. They are fighting again in a very special series and that’s their war. They’re enjoying it, they love beating the Poms in that special series, so I’m very, very happy that they’re doing well. They batted phenomenally and I’m going to a dinner tomorrow night with Ricky Ponting and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the Australian players and hopefully we can have a double victory. Hopefully they can get a few more wickets and knock Monty (Panesar) and a few of the tail-enders over quickly and they can go one-nil up in the series which would be very good.

Q: (Alessia Cruciani – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, yesterday you said ‘I have to be honest, a podium is impossible.’
FM: Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect that.

Q: (Alessia Cruciani – La Gazzetta dello Sport ) What’s the reason for this good result, and how was the behaviour of the car?
FM: The reason was that I was wrong, so a podium was possible. We are here but always when you see these guys very quick in qualifying, the whole weekend these guys were very, very strong and Brawn as well, they were pretty good. I started eighth with a lot of fuel, maybe some degradation of the tyres, so I thought a podium would not be realistic. We fought so hard during the whole race, the start was also very important to manage to get the podium at the end, so it was possible.
The car was good, the pace was reasonable. When I was on soft tyres at the beginning I was not as quick as Sebastian and Rubens and Mark but that was with a lot of fuel in the car. The second stint was pretty good. I was following Sebastian, even catching him. Sometimes at the end of the stint he started pulling away slightly but in the last stint the car was good on the hard tyres as well, so the car was pretty reasonable.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Felipe, again as at Silverstone, your performance in the race was much better than in qualifying. Is qualifying the discipline you’ve got to work on?
FM: Yeah, maybe. Maybe qualifying is something that we still need to improve a bit. Also the strategy. Starting with a lot of fuel at some tracks is maybe something that pays quite a lot. At Silverstone my pace was very good but the strategy helps a lot, to pass all the cars in front. Here, as well, we had a race where many people were struggling on the tyres at the beginning, so we passed some cars at the beginning and we were heavy on fuel, so the strategy pays a lot. It’s difficult to say that we are much better in the race than in qualifying. I think in the race, together with the strategy, we manage to do a good job.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Sebastian, you were expecting a lot from this Grand Prix and your public was expecting a lot. You look a little disappointed. I don’t know if you are but can you just describe your feelings? Do you think it was not such a successful weekend for you and how do you cope with the fact that your team-mate is now a title contender with you as well?
MW: I don’t think it’s just from this race onwards. As someone said before, we are very close if you look at the points. Of course I would be lying to you if I said that second is very, very good. Of course I wanted to win but I think today after starting fourth and losing a lot of positions on the first lap, I think second was all we could do. I was basically in the group led by Heikki which I described earlier, then together with Felipe, Jenson and me, there was no way through and I lost a lot of time which allowed Rubens and Mark to disappear in front and after that I think it was more or less decided already. If there’s anything or anyone to blame it’s maybe myself in yesterday’s qualifying. In the last run I was thinking I had two laps, it turned out to be only one but in the end on the lap I had I possibly had the car to put on pole but I didn’t get the lap as perfect as usual and lost two tenths which made a big difference. The threat was there from the start, with the KERS cars behind and I was the first one to be in the shit. What are you supposed to do? I turned into the first corner, I’m P7 or P8 and I started fourth. It’s a strange feeling and after that, having quite a lot of fuel on board and the strategy brought us back to where we finished.

German Grand Prix Result

1. WEBBER Red Bull

2. VETTEL Red Bull +9.2s
3. MASSA Ferrari +15.9s
4. ROSBERG Williams +21.0s

5. BUTTON Brawn +23.6s

6. BARRICHELLO Brawn +24.4s

7. ALONSO Renault +24.8s

8. KOVALAINEN McLaren +58.6s

9. GLOCK Toyota +61.4s

10. HEIDFELD BMW +61.9s

11. FISICHELLA Force India +62.3s

12. NAKAJIMA Williams +62.8s

13. PIQUET Renault +68.3s

14. KUBICA BMW +69.5s

15. SUTIL Force India +71.9s

16. BUEMI Toro Rosso +90.2s

17. TRULLI Toyota +90.9s

18. HAMILTON McLaren +1 lap

R. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +25 laps

R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +41 laps

Fastest lap: ALONSO 1m33.365s

Weather Update - BBC

11:00

• Light Rain Shower
• Temp: 14°C

14:00

• Light Rain Shower
• Temp: 17°C

17:00

• Light Rain Shower
• Temp: 17°C

Fuel Adjusted Grid

1 Mark Webber (lap 20)
2 Sebastian Vettel +0.250secs (lap 19)
3 Lewis Hamilton +0.614 (lap 18)
4 Rubens Barrichello +0.617 (lap 14)
5 Jenson Button +0.838 (lap 13)
6 Adrian Sutil +1.474 (lap 28)
7 Heikki Kovalainen +1.524 (lap 21)
8 Felipe Massa +1.906 (lap 25)
9 Kimi Raikkonen +2.025 (lap 26)
10 Nelson Piquet +2.048 (lap 26)

FIA Post-Qualifying Press Conference - Germany

Drivers: 1. Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1m 32.230s; 2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP), 1m 32.357s; 3. Jenson Button (Brawn GP), 1m 32.473s

Q: Mark, there is only one question to ask you. A crazy, crazy session but tell us what it means finally to have your first pole position.
Mark Webber: It is a very special day for me to get pole. I have been close a few times in the past and also been on pole fuel corrected a few times but that doesn’t count. Today we are here. The team have done a great job. We have been quick all weekend. We got really tested, all the teams and drivers, in that session. It was very, very chaotic but to have still delivered the lap time when it actually counted was important to me, so to do the best time was fantastic.

Q: What made the difference today for you?
MW: I think that obviously the car is working very well here but I was talking to my engineer and I was saying we were doing two time, one time, inters, wets. It was just so hard. The track conditions looked reasonably dry but the slicks just wouldn’t take it at all. We learnt a little bit in Q2 with Rubens on that little window he had. He did a very good lap. I was out on the inters at that stage and it was just very chaotic to try and read what we needed for that last 10 minutes, so the key was three clean sectors for me in the end. That is what got me pole.

Q: Rubens, you are second on the grid but you look completely exhilarated. You loved that session, didn’t you?
Rubens Barrichello: I did, I did. It was very, very nice and it is nice when you have the right tyres at the right moment. We all went on slicks but all came back as we saw (Felipe) Massa just going out into turn 12 and I think everybody just came back into the pits for the intermediates. I was on my timed lap when I decided that is not the right tyre, let’s gamble a little bit more and I came in. I had no reply on the radio. It was really chaotic on the radio. There was a big confusion but then they were ready for me. I put the right tyres on and I was safe with the third place. It was a really nice session.

Q: Jenson, you had to abort a few laps that session. Tell us how hard it was for you?
Jenson Button: Yeah, it is great for everyone who is in the top ten. That Q2 session was madness. It was good fun and we are struggling with tyre warm up anyway but when you chuck a little bit of water in there as well it is quite difficult. It is great to see Rubens and myself up here in the top three. Mark got his first pole position, so congratulations to him. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting one. The weather is looking similar to today, so it is going to be wet dry, wet dry. It is a little bit of luck but also looking at what other people are doing and trying to make the best out of the situation, so I am looking forward to it very much.

Q: Mark, it is a fantastic performance but how do you keep your head in a situation like that and making sure you are making the right decisions at the right time?
MW: Well, obviously you call on your experience. Obviously you have got a great team of people around you as well. They are on the pit wall and making the right calls for you. They have obviously got a lot of experience at looking at what the other cars are going through. These are the best drivers in the world, so we know when people are making mistakes that it is obviously for a reason, the wrong tyre, so we have got to stick with the decisions we make and believe in them and then just go out and try and do the best you can as you know everyone is in a little bit of trouble in those conditions, so you just do the best job you can.

Q: First pole today. First win tomorrow?
MW: I hope so. I hope so. I am in a fantastic position to do it. These guys are in a strong position and there is no question that they will push us. But we are looking forward to the fight. I certainly am and I am up for trying to win my first race tomorrow if I can.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Mark, great stuff in what is Red Bull Racings 80th grand prix. But you have been competitive all weekend. What has made the difference?
MW: Well, as you say we have been quick in every session but we were tested to the limit in that session. It was a very difficult session knowing what the track was going to do in terms of how greasy it was and what tyres to use. We were having trouble a little bit in the warm up anyway in the dry, let alone having some moisture on there, so it was a very difficult session but one that our team executed well which is why we got pole.

Q: Are you looking forward to it being wet tomorrow as perhaps that might get you out of having to run the harder tyre?
MW: I think a nice boring grand prix for me would be fantastic. I am looking forward to a dry day but if it is wet we are ready for all conditions. We know we can compete and fight in all those conditions that will be thrown at us. It becomes a lot more difficult, there is no question about it. We are tested as drivers and we saw that in Shanghai and some other races. This track is giving maybe a little less grip than maybe Shanghai was just because of the temperatures, so if it is raining we have got to deal with it. The same for everyone.

Q: You have never been closer to the victory perhaps. Has there been a little bit of frustration creeping in over the last year or so?
MW: Well, this is a fantastic season for us as a whole team. I had a slightly different winter this year coming back from a few of my other little problems that I had. The extra motivation is to come back to a car that is fast. It is not very enjoyable flogging around in 10th, 12th or 13th position all the time. That test anyone’s motivation as JB knows. It is a great situation for me to be in. I can fight for podiums most of the time now and obviously to win at this level you need everything going for you. I haven’t yet done that. I am going very, very close. I have had a few seconds this year and now I have got a pole. I think the day will come hopefully and you never know, hopefully it will be tomorrow.

Q: You might push your cricketers off the front page as well.
MW: The rain has saved the English I think there but if I can take the cricketers off the front page I am sure Ricky (Ponting) will be happy anyway.

Q: Rubens, this is your 280th grand prix. In your 280 qualifying sessions have you ever known a crazier one than this? How does that rate?
RB: I tell you I had some crazy ones in the past but it is always the more recent ones that count. We were just saying that it felt for a moment that I was not breathing for the whole session. We got out of the car now and all of a sudden we are just breathing again. You just wanted to make the right call but you needed some help as well. I called the team to see what they thought and they never came back to me in Q2. I think there was a problem on the radio but they could hear me as when I got to the pits the tyres were ready. It was a really good call at the time. My first lap in Q3 was actually fastest and I was hoping for the better. But I have got to be happy as we were outpaced by the Red Bulls the whole weekend. In fact, Lewis (Hamilton) was actually faster than us as well, it looked like it, so second for me is really good.

Q: This is your best qualifying here as well and you have won here before from lower on the grid, so what are your feelings about tomorrow?
RB: I hope that tomorrow is the experience that counts. You cannot say much. Tomorrow the prediction, they are saying, that the forecast is a bit worse than today. We didn’t predict that it was going to rain this morning but then things became a little bit worse as qualifying came. If it is a tricky race like it was a tricky qualifying you just have to be there at the end and make no mistakes and try to win the race. Myself and Mark we are trying to get as many points as possible to discount some of the points that our team-mates have on us and it is all to play.

Q: Again, Jenson it is your best qualifying here. What are your thoughts and how was it managed for you from the pit lane?
JB: Reasonably well. I had Rubens’s information and he went to slick tyres in Q2 when we went to wets and I just thought it was too wet out there at that point in time. But Rubens made them work and he got the right window and you saw everybody else piling in to the pits sticking on slick tyres and then it started raining again, so it was pretty tricky. It was a session I did not want, Q2. I think it is great getting through to Q3 and I think being in the top three, whoever is in the top three, should be happy with what they have done. We are in a good position for tomorrow. It is going to be a tough race. So much can happen with the weather here. Twelve degrees in mid July, this is worse than England. Who says English weather is bad. It is not making it easy but I think we have done a good job this weekend. We found it tough on Friday but we improved the car. But it is still going to be a tough race for us.

Q: Is there less of a problem with tyre temperatures here than there was at Silverstone?
JB: Yeah, there’s less of an issue. We’ve got the super soft tyre here and you don’t have all that high speed (track), which for us doesn’t put that much heat in the tyre. You’ve got braking here which is good for us, we’re good under braking and it’s putting heat into the tyres. It’s not too bad, it’s such a difficult weekend because it’s all to do with if you can get the tyres to work or not. On my timed laps I’m weaving on the straight to try to get heat into the tyres. It’s a strange situation to be in but it’s where we are and we’ve got to make the best of it and I think we have done that today, so I’m happy with the result.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Mark, do you think that this track suits the Red Bull better than the Brawn?
MW: Well, Brawn are traditionally sometimes not as competitive on Friday as they are on Saturdays and Sundays, so we have to see if – it’s unlikely, but you never know – if we have a full dry race tomorrow, that’s when I can really answer your question. Jenson was reasonably competitive at Silverstone in the last stint. Rubens had a very good qualifying there. It’s very sensitive how these cars are. Clearly we had an advantage in Silverstone, we were stronger as a team and as a package round there and we got the result that of course we deserved. Here, we still look very, very competitive, there’s no question about it. Maybe not as big a gap as we had in Silverstone but our car is behaving very well here. I’ve always been quick in most sessions on all fuel loads, so there’s no reason to suggest that we’re not quick here.
JB: Yeah, trust me, your qualifying lap was quick.

Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) Mark, with so much at stake and with such tricky conditions, were there a lot of nerves and tension or were you able to just banish that and just get on with job?
MW: I just got on with the job, Dan, really. I think it was a very tense session for everyone but it always is. It doesn’t matter where you are in qualifying, Q3, it always comes down to that last lap. You’re never going to be on pole with your first run in Q3. We know that getting into Q3 is generally a formality for us guys at the moment because we have a nice car. Today was a little bit more difficult but once we got into that session, then it was about controlling your emotions and just using your experience to back yourself and know what the car can do. Trust the car, trust the tyres and go out there and hit the lap. You still weren’t sure if some of the kerbs were a little bit greasy. You had to test them a little bit here and there. It’s incredibly easy to look stupid in these conditions. Us guys are pushing on the limit and it’s a very difficult session for us to push absolutely, at 100 percent. The stakes are high but it’s the same for everyone and that’s the result we got today.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) The hard tyres can be the key to the race tomorrow. How is your car with the hard tyres?
JB: With the hard tyres? It’s not just us, I think everyone’s struggling to get heat into the hard tyres. The biggest problem for us is… it’s fine when you’re in clear air, you can work the tyres hard and get a lap time out of them. The problem is when you’re in traffic, it’s very difficult, you lose a lot of downforce and I just can’t keep the heat in the tyres. I’ve never driven in this situation before, where you just can’t get heat into the tyres in traffic. Even weaving on the straight doesn’t help. It’s a difficult situation. Hopefully we’ll have a clear track tomorrow during the race. That’s going to be difficult to achieve, I think, but we’ll give it a good go.
MW: The hard tyre? As Jenson said, it’s definitely not the right tyre for these track temperatures but that’s the tyre we have. I think Bridgestone has generally done a pretty good job of bringing the tyres in a controlled fashion to the championship this year. Clearly, if the sun comes out here and you have a different type of ambient the tyre could be working quite well. If it’s 30 or 32 degrees track temperature it’s a difficult ball game. But no one envisaged… let’s be honest, who the hell thought it was going to be eleven or twelve degrees? So it’s a new ballgame and those tyres aren’t really doing much for any of the teams at the moment. So we’re going to start on that tyre tomorrow and give it a go!
RB: Well done! Well done! I agree with Mark. I don’t think it’s down to Bridgestone. No one ever expected it to be twelve degrees here and 18 or 16 degrees on the track. But it’s the first time for me too that in the middle of a qualifying lap I’m actually weaving. That’s very much the first time, you know, going from side-to-side on a qualifying lap. You just need the heat in the tyre.
JB: The thing is that the consistency on the tyre is good if you get it into the working range. The problem with the softer tyre is that you can damage that tyre. It’s a difficult position for all of us to be in and it’s who can make the best of it tomorrow. I think it’s looking good.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson - Red Bulletin) Rubens, you’ve driven almost 300 Grands Prix and you’ve got a smile on your face today like it’s your first season in Formula One. What’s your secret?
RB: Man, I enjoy it more than I used to. I think in life you learn that a few bad vibes don’t count any more, you just count good energy, good flow. I’m driving better than ever, I’ve always thought that. I’m sure Jenson had a fantastic beginning of the season and was driving brilliantly but I’m up to the task. I think the challenge is great and I just like that. I had two weeks at home, it was great to have the kids around. I had my wife there but I couldn’t wait for the time that I came back here. It was just that. So I have another two or three years for myself.

Q: (Simon Arron - Motorsport News) Mark, can you just talk us through your first inter lap during Q2? On your first flying lap you were a second and a half quicker than your team-mate and three and a half seconds quicker than everybody else. How did you get the instant feel?
MW: Well, I knew it was a crucial lap because you never know if the conditions could get a lot worse, so I was just trying to put some sort of banker in without going totally bananas. Of course you have to push but I had a good feeling for the car and the tyres straight away and when you have that confidence you can obviously do reasonable lap times. I didn’t have a clue obviously, what I could… I was catching Kimi (Räikkönen) and I think there was a BMW very easily which is always nice to see that when you’re in a similar condition on the same tyre, so you drive accordingly. I think I did a 38 or whatever it was and that was competitive for the time but I knew it wasn’t really over because I said to the guys that ‘there’s still three or four minutes to go. Don’t panic yet but we need to get ready to put the slicks on if we need to go again,’ which we did and I nearly crashed several times. I couldn’t believe I was fourth. I felt like I was 18th on those slicks. I thought ‘my God, we’re not through. There’s no way we’ve got through because everyone else is on the slicks’ and it just felt so horrible driving round. I had so many moments. At turn seven I was up with the spectators, in the last corner I was nearly in my hotel room, so I was all over the place and I didn’t think I was through but the guys said I was fourth. I couldn’t believe it.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto Motor und Sport) Jenson, you just described the downsides of the two tyre choices, so which one is the better one for the race or which has less downsides?
JB: That’s something we need to talk about this evening. It’s going to be a tough call but a very crucial call for tomorrow and we’ve got to keep checking the weather, the temperatures tomorrow and there’s a big chance of rain as well. There are so many possibilities for tomorrow that it’s going to be a very difficult call but so far we’ve been pretty good at calling the right tyres. The good thing today for us was that even in the wet conditions we could get the slick tyre working. That’s a little bit unexpected. So our pace was good with the slick tyre in the damp conditions and our pace was good on whatever tyre we put on, so that’s positive for tomorrow for sure. These guys had a big advantage in Shanghai in the wet but I don’t think that’s going to be quite the case here if it’s wet.

German Grand Prix Starting Grid

1. WEBBER Red Bull

2. BARRICHELLO Brawn

3. BUTTON Brawn

4. VETTEL Red Bull

5. HAMILTON McLaren

6. KOVALAINEN McLaren

7. SUTIL Force India

8. MASSA Ferrari

9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari

10. PIQUET Renault

11. HEIDFELD BMW

12. ALONSO Renault

13. NAKAJIMA Williams

14. TRULLI Toyota

15. ROSBERG Williams

16. KUBICA BMW

17. BUEMI Toro Rosso

18. FISICHELLA Force India

19. GLOCK Toyota

20. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso

FIA Friday Press Conference - Germany

Technical directors: Paddy Lowe (McLaren), Sam Michael (Williams), Adrian Newey (Red Bull) and Pat Symonds (Renault).

Q: A question to you all. Obviously the pace of development is very important in Formula One at the moment. Can you give us an indication of the pace of development and the new parts that you have brought to this particular race?
Pat Symonds: Well, as always the emphasis is on an aerodynamic development. The pace is high but it needs to be high for us as we try and catch the guys at the front. We have got a lot of new parts here. We have got a new front wing, a new engine cover. We have got modifications to the floor. The pace is relentless and it needs to be because when people like Red Bull put sort of 0.6 of a second on the car at Silverstone, it just makes it that much harder for us all to catch up.
Paddy Lowe: Actually we have pretty much the same package that Pat has just described although we have got a completely new floor and new front wing and top body. Yes, the same and it has been for some years now absolutely relentless. To give an example, the package we brought here, we accelerated that by more than a fortnight to get it here in time. I know of a guy that worked a machine 36 hours non-stop, without sleep, early this week on our floor. But that is the spirit of Formula One and the great competition that we have.
Sam Michael: Actually, listening to what the other guys have been saying it sounds like we are all doing the same thing. We have got a new engine cover, front wing and diffuser modifications as well. I think it is relentless but it is good for Formula One. The racing has been unbelievably close in terms of lap times, probably a lot more so than what I expected it to be with such a big rule change because all the cars are still in an early stage of development relative to the cars we finished with last year. We know how much pace we are putting on our car at every race. I would say on average you are having to put on 2 to 2.5 tenths every race just to stay where you are. That tells you everyone is developing very hard. I think that will continue all year. I don’t think it will be the same as last year as some teams gave up early to concentrate on their new cars. This year really I think everyone will be developing to the last grand prix as 95 per cent of it should carry over to next year’s car, so I think that development race is going to go all the way through.
Adrian Newey: Yeah, I feel a bit left out having put a fairly major update on the car for Silverstone. We have actually got very little here apart from a new, what we call, pod vane which is the vertical vane at the front of the side pod but other than that the car is the same as at Silverstone. On average the pace is very high as everyone has said. A big regulation change as we have had then there is a much steeper learning curve than there would be perhaps at the end of the old regulations where we had had a stable set of regulations for between five and 10 years depending when you look at the previous big change.

Q: Another question to all of you. The overtaking situation. People have talked about what more work needs to be done on overtaking from the Overtaking Working Group. What are your thoughts on that? What can be done? Can it be closed up?
PS: I think that the work that the Overtaking Working Group did was good. The evidence to support that is sparse, unfortunately. We have had some wet races and we have not had much in the way of cars that are out of position on the grid and things like that. But actually I was having a look at this very subject the week before last, well, straight after Silverstone. I think that, as I put things together, I could see that give or take a little bit we had achieved a fair bit of what we set out to do. I think that there is no doubt that the cars can follow a little bit closer. Statistically, if you analyse the races that are worth analysing this year there has been a little bit more overtaking. I think we probably didn’t go as far as we wished or wanted to. We were setting out to try and halve the time difference needed to produce a successful overtake and maybe we haven’t quite got that far. But equally I think – and I don’t know whether Paddy would agree with me – I think we set a very low target for the downforce knowing that once the teams got working on it 24/7 they would rapidly bring that downforce up but I have to say it went up a little bit further than I expected it to which is not condusive to overtaking amongst other things.
PL: Yeah, I agree with Pat. We always need the level of downforce. It was important as obviously that affects the weight more significantly than anything else and the fact that the downforce that has been achieved by the cars this year is significantly higher than anticipated means inevitably that some of the work we did has been eroded in effect. I think the other factor that is worth bearing in mind, which is quite fundamental, is that as Formula One has become, I would say, more thoroughly professional from end to end and better resourced from end to end on the grid the performances have closed up, so in actual fact the spread of lap time performance from end to end of the grid is about half what it was five years ago. Now if all the cars are that much closer it just means they will always find it more difficult to overtake, so it is quite a difficult problem to crack.
SM: I think the cars are definitely better than what we had last year. It is very difficult as Pat said to quantify that and put a number on it. I think some of the improvements have come through from tidying the cars up, so you don’t get as dirtier a wake behind the car if you look at the cleanliness of the side pods and everything now. It has definitely made a difference. When we went through all of the preparation for the court appeal on the diffuser a couple of months ago we looked a lot in CFD at different devices on the car that either made the weight better or worse and there were two or three things on there which made it significantly worse, not just because of the total level of downforce but because they were quite bad for the wake. I think it has been a step in the right direction but it is one of the things you have got to keep working on. You are not going to get to some magic solution in one step I don’t think unless you make something false and I don’t think anyone wants to do that. One of the things that have been discussed for next year is to remove wheel fairings and not have static or rotating wheel fairings and that, coincidentally, was one of things that, when we did CFD studies two or three months ago, showed quite an adverse effect on the following car. It won’t be a night and day. It is the sort of thing where you need to find three or four little things like that and that will add up to a difference, so I think it is going in the right direction but it just needs more.
AN: I think fundamentally the circuits are probably the biggest influence. Everybody keeps to conveniently forget about that as it is deemed to be easier to change the cars than change the circuits. That’s the first point. I think the second point is that people have this rose-tinted idea that overtaking used to be fantastic and now it isn’t. I think that is selective memory myself. You still occasionally get some great overtaking manoeuvres, just as we always used to. I don’t see the need to make it a lot easier to overtake really otherwise if overtaking becomes too easy the car that is quicker behind simply goes past and disappears again and you don’t even get the excitement of two cars battling each other for quite a number of laps. Personally I don’t think it is as much of a problem as people are making out.

Q: Pat, Nelson Piquet has said that there is going to be no late surge as there was last year from the team. However, technically speaking, are you going to be able to keep Fernando Alonso happy?
PS: To keep Fernando happy we have got to be winning races and that is difficult. I would not accept that there is not going to be a late surge. We are working extremely hard. There are a lot of new parts here as we said earlier. As Sam said it is very different to last year. Last year we did hang on and we did have a good end to the season. We took a few risks in doing that as a lot of what we were developing aerodynamically had no relevance to 2009. This year it is a much more normal year. We switch over to our 2010 car but every now and then we see a bit as we develop it we say that that actually is still applicable to 2009, so as that process occurs we will still be trying to push things onto the 2009 car. We are working as hard as we can. We don’t find it acceptable to be in the position that we are. The grid is extremely close this year, so it makes it both more difficult to move on but at the same time it means that small changes are worth doing. It is a bit of a double edged sword. I can assure Fernando, Nelson and every employee at Renault that we are pushing hard.

Q: Paddy, I don’t know how many times since the end of the session I have been asked is this the return of Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes? Perhaps from a technical point of view you can give some indication of this afternoon’s performance?
PL: Well, it is always great to find yourself at the top of the time sheets especially at the Mercedes home grand prix. I think we all realise that, as Pat said, the performances are very close and the noise that you get within the data Friday is often higher than the differences between the cars in terms of unknown weights etc. But absolutely delighted to be back there at the top of the sheet. I think the job now is to translate that into some points on Sunday. But definitely we have made a step with the car. Lewis is very happy with it. The pieces that we brought all work. We hope to see that that will translate to a real difference. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough pieces for Heikki (Kovalainen) to have the same package, so that is why the difference is reflected between the two drivers.

Q: Will he get the same bits tomorrow?
PL: He will get some of them but not all of them unfortunately which is something we always try not to do but in exceptional circumstances which these are then we have had to do that.

Q: Sam, we were talking about the pace of development. Is it an expensive operation especially for an independent team such as yourselves?
SM: It is part of your normal budget, I wouldn’t say it was expensive. You just do what you can afford to do. We pretty much predicted that there would be an update every race. That is budgeted for and accounted for. It is part of doing F1.

Q: There aren’t financial constraints then?
SM: No, we make sure that we manage it, especially for things like updates and bodywork, that we are not restrained at all in that area because we make sure that is where we have got our most budget freedom as that is the first impact on car performance.

Q: Adrian, extraordinary performance from Mark (Webber) this morning. Mark has always out-qualified his team-mate but he has come up against Sebastian (Vettel). What is the state of Mark from a technical point of view and how buoyant is he and how obviously very determined?
AN: I think determined is the right word. Mark is a very determined person. He has been around for a while. He had a rough winter which didn’t help his preparations with his broken leg which I think, although he would never admit it publicly, probably compromised his pre-season preparation and I think it probably compromised him a little bit in the early races. But he is very determined. I think he was unlucky at Silverstone in Q3 as I think he had a real chance of putting it on pole there. He keeps trying and actually although the statistics are that Sebastian has out-qualified him every single time it is not actually quite as simple as that. He is a good guy.

Q: And this morning’s performance?
AN: It is the first session on the first day, so it is difficult to know how it will carry through. But Mark is very much on it every time he gets in the car and that was clearly demonstrated this morning.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Alberto Antonini – Autosprint) Concerning the meeting last Wednesday. With the exception of Sam, gentlemen, were you aware of the reasons why you were denied the right to vote?
PL: I think that the simple answer is no. I think the FOTA teams all felt that they had an unconditional entry to Formula One since on the press release from the World Motor Sport Council on the 24th of June the asterix had been removed from our names, so in actual fact we had prepared an awful lot for the meeting on Wednesday. The FOTA teams have been working for almost a year on changes to the technical and sporting regulations which would save costs and we have been working independent of the FIA on those measures in a group we call the TRWG which is a FOTA body. We reached a point where all those measures had been unanimously agreed by the FOTA teams and we had even taken them to a high level of details in terms of texts for the regulations next year and the meeting on Wednesday, which was confirmed once we felt our entries were confirmed, was the point at which we would bring all of these proposals to the table and vote them through for next year which in theory should have been a very easy process because we had all agreed them in advance. It was a bit of a shock to come to the meeting having got up at 4.30 in the morning or so and find that we didn’t have a vote because it really made it quite difficult to see how we would really make good use of that time, so we don’t fully understand the reason for that. That being the case we decided... firstly Ross (Brawn) sought to defer the meeting to a later date which would have really managed the matter in a softer way but that idea was rejected, so we were really obliged to just not take part in the meeting.

Q: Pat, Adrian, do you have anything further to add?
AN: I was wise enough not to come in the first place.
PS: Not really. As Paddy said, we had put an awful lot into these new rules over the past many months. We had a very long telephone conference I think on Tuesday of last week when we were trying to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. A great deal of work had gone into it and I think I was fully aware that we were a little bit in no-man’s land but I hoped that goodwill would prevail. We all understood that we had unconditional entries and while we are not naive enough to believe that press releases have any value in terms of regulation we understood that the process was well underway. We understood that a new Concorde Agreement was in preparation. I certainly hoped that we would perhaps pre-empt that and behave in a responsible manner but it wasn’t to be. I think we really had no option but to move away from the meeting. It has been said that we knew about this beforehand but I think that that is not exactly true. I had received a copy of a letter about 8 o’clock the previous evening which wasn’t explicit that we would not have a vote. It may have indicated that but it was a little bit late for us to make decisions.

Q: Any comment, Sam?
SM: I think from Williams’ point of view obviously it did seem like quite a bit step backwards on Wednesday for the eight FOTA teams not to take part in the meeting. I can understand their reasons why. I think you have got to separate into two different areas. The first one is the 2010 Sporting and Technical Regulations that were published that five teams, us being one of them, signed up for unconditionally. The first thing that had to happen was the five of us had to go through the differences between 2009 and 2010 and decide what we would be happy to change in exchange for another document that is being prepared called a cost regulation document. In exchange for that all of the references to cost regulated teams will be removed from the Sporting and Technical regulations. That is what was agreed with the eight FOTA teams in Paris in the letter Paddy referred to two weeks before. From our point of view technically and sporting wise it wasn’t going to be a big problem to do that, to go through that process. The problem was that that process hadn’t happened at that stage until the Wednesday, so that was the first opportunity for us to do that. In some ways that should have happened before. Once the FOTA teams left the meeting that is exactly what we did and we went through all of the differences and I think we pretty much agreed 100 per cent on almost everything. In fact, sorry I said I would split it into two. There is that section first. We did agree 100 per cent on that, on all the changes going back to what the regulations were before the 29th of April with the exception of the 620kg weight limit. The second part to it was all of these FOTA proposals which Pat and Paddy referred to. Now what we decided to do in order to keep the meeting productive was try and show that we are trying to come to a solution for Formula One. We knew that everything in the TWG agenda that had FOTA written on it was unanimously agreed by FOTA, so the only thing that then required that to go through was the unanimous agreement of the five other teams. We didn’t cover any of the other items on the agenda that were not FOTA. We didn’t discuss those, we left them off, because obviously the agenda probably had about 50 per cent of FOTA proposals and 50 per cent of things that were historic like a normal TWG agenda does. We decided there was no point in covering that stuff as the other eight teams needed to be there, so we would have to do it again. We went through all of the FOTA proposals and I would say there was quite a lot of agreement on almost all of it which was quite another thing which is what I thought would happen anyway because ultimately we are all racing teams, so most of the things we want to do are the same. I don’t want to go into the details of most of those proposals because that is Charlie’s (Whiting) job to communicate that to FOTA and it is not for here. But there was a high percentage of things that were agreed completely with exactly what FOTA worded. There was a low percentage of things that needed more discussion and there was an even lower percentage of things that we thought that is probably not the best cost saving overall. But what I hope happens now is that all of the things that we agreed on will get communicated to FOTA. The things that we think need further discussion – some of them were things that if there was someone from FOTA in there he may have been able to explain to the five non FOTA teams very quickly why certain things were the way they were. But we couldn’t go into that detail as we did not understand the background of some of them, so it wouldn’t mean that necessarily those things would not have been accepted with further discussion. It was just the fact that we stopped on them. So after that I thought it was quite a productive use of the afternoon, not for the eight guys that left obviously. But we did it in an attempt to get things on track. Charlie was obviously a driving force behind doing that and I think as far as I understand it, there are three things that need to be settled out of Paris: the Concorde Agreement, the cost regulation document and the regulations. I think the regulations are very close and I understand the Concorde Agreement is very close as is the cost regulation document, so from Williams’ point of view we want it to be solved and we are hopeful that barring any further hiccups it will just be a matter of days before things are tied up.

Q: (Marc Surer – Premiere) One question about the regulations: in Paris they said we go back to this year’s regulations but there was no refuelling for next year. What cars are you going to build now, with a big tank or will refuelling come back?
SM: It’s not quite clear because when it says 2009 regulations in Paris, they mean 2009 with changes that were agreed up until April 29.

Q: (Marc Surer – Premiere) But you know which cars you’re going to build?
SM: Yes. For next year it will be a no-refuelling car. There’s a lot of minor things in there that we had already agreed at TWG such as changes to front wing endplates, changes to the fuel specification. There were probably seven or eight things which are just general things that were already in there.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – Red Bulletin) Question for all of you: the FIA has positioned itself very strongly as the main driving force for cost cuts in Formula One as we go forward. Would you all accept that position?
PS: Well, I think that FOTA has delivered cost cuts. We’ve had some big cost-cutting exercises in terms of restrictions on aerodynamic testing, restrictions on circuit testing, extending the initiative, started by the FIA, on longer life engines. FOTA is very committed to making the business a more viable business, to both look at reduction of costs but also increase of income, and above all, putting on a good show. I think it’s wrong to say that the FIA is leading. I think it’s a co-operative process in which FOTA has played a very large, active and demonstrable part.
AN: I would completely agree with Pat. I think FOTA has delivered, through its association between the teams, huge cost savings. The ban on in-season testing has meant that we’ve been able to disband our test team and build less monocoques, less parts. That in itself has been a big cost-saving. As we all know, a lot of the costs of development of the car are driven by aerodynamics, be it principally wind tunnel testing but also CFD testing and the limits that the teams have come up with for wind tunnel and CFD has limited the bigger teams already and with further limitations coming in, limits all of us, so that will be a big cost cut. And not only does that mean cost cutting in terms of the number of aerodynamic model-makers and so forth that you employ but if you’re doing less research then the chances are that you will be pushing less parts on the car, so that you will have a manufacturing saving. And equally for new teams coming in it means that they can now go off and buy a single wind tunnel or indeed perhaps rent one of the ones that becomes available from one of the bigger teams that have more than one. I think that’s been a big cost saving. As a privateer team ourselves, where we have to buy our engines from a manufacturer, the engine costs have come down tremendously over the last two or three years to probably about a quarter of what they were about three years ago. So I think the FOTA teams can demonstrate that they’ve delivered a lot already in a very well thought-out and deliverable manner that has worked in a fair way. There’s no accusation amongst the teams that somebody is getting an unfair advantage as there might be with some of the other proposals.
SM: To be honest, I think a lot of the FOTA changes have come in recently because it didn’t exist twelve months ago. I think the FIA obviously started a lot of that process with long-life gearboxes, long-life engines. Four or five years ago we were using six engines a race weekend, so it went from twelve over two race weekends down to two, so the change to engines was triggered a long time ago. But I also think that what FOTA’s done, more so for us on the engine supply – the engine costs for Williams as a private team have come down massively – and that’s a direct initiative from FOTA. I think, to be honest, both FOTA and FIA are pushing for cost reduction.
PL: I think the others have mentioned all the key points. We’re all technical people and we love the product, the cars and the show that’s put on, and above all else, that’s what we always seek to preserve. I’m much more in favour of measures such as reducing the number of wind tunnels that you can use because that represents a real cost saving throughout the business, and yet, as long as you’ve got one wind tunnel, at the sharp end at the circuit, we will still see the sort of rapid development of the cars that makes a part of the spectacle. So that’s a good example. The others have been mentioned. We’ve taken out track testing. That’s actually put an onus on more testing on a Friday. We’ve all been busy today with that. In a way that’s improved the show at the race and yet the cost of the test is no longer borne by the teams. So a good number of measures have been promoted by FOTA and managed alone by them, have delivered real cost-saving without eroding the product.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) In speaking with John Howett yesterday – and his views were endorsed by Christian Horner and Mario Theissen – he said that a breakaway series was still on the backburner. I was just wondering what you all thought he meant by that? Would any one of the three FOTA teams members like to answer that, and also Sam as well?
AN: I think he probably means exactly what he says, that none of us wants a breakaway series in many ways. I think everybody’s conscious of the fact that if you have two premier series then they could end up robbing viewership and splitting viewership and the whole show is weakened as a result of that and that certainly happened in the States when USAC (CART) split from IRL. So none of us want a breakaway series and that’s why FOTA, as an organisation, is working so hard to try and come to an agreement with the other parties: the FIA, FOM, CVC. But ultimately, if that agreement can’t be reached, then the breakaway series has to be the alternative.
PS: I have a slightly different view. To say it’s on the backburner doesn’t mean that it’s not still cooking. It doesn’t mean that it’s dead, it means that work is going on. Adrian mentioned what’s happened in America and of course there’s been a lot of talk about that. Earlier on, Adrian was talking about selective memory. I think that some of the parallels in America I would call selective history because yes, it’s true, when – it was actually CART and IRL that separated – it wasn’t good for the sport. But if you go back to the late seventies which was actually when CART split away from USAC who ran the ChampCars in those days, there are a lot more parallels to what happened then to the current situation. I think the CART/IRL split had a lot to do with personalities, egos etc. The formation of CART out of USAC was more to do with issues of governance, issues of finance. I think there are a lot more parallels to what we have in Formula One and in fact, the breakaway series was CART, it was extremely successful. Everyone apart from AJ Foyt piled out of the USAC series into the CART series and for many, many years it was extremely successful. Personally, I have no worries about a breakaway series, it can be done. If the necessity is there, I don’t think anyone in FOTA is scared of the prospect.
PL: I don’t think I can really add too much to that. It is a real option that’s still being looked at. If that’s how it has to be then we will get on and do it but obviously we hope that the right agreements can be reached.
SM: I think we’ve made our position pretty clear. Publically we hope that our resolutions are achieved and hopefully shortly, so there is only one series.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Adrian, I was wondering if you could just let us know how your role has changed or is going to change with the departure of Geoff Willis because clearly he’s not going to be replaced. Does that mean you’re taking on more responsibility?
AN: I think it’s simply that my role and my daily way of operating will stay exactly the same as it is. What does change perhaps, is that we have five very senior people in the next level down and I will be expecting them to take on more responsibility for their individual engineering departments and really run that in a way which means that we don’t actually need a single technical director.

Q: (Mario Bauer – Berliner Zeitung) I struggled to understand why the working group decided to go for less wake, trying to make overtaking more feasible in that way. If you remember, back in the late seventies and eighties, cars had huge side pods and punched a real hole in the air which allowed the car following behind to catch up quickly and to attempt to overtake. Is that something that has been considered? What was the reason to go for lower rear ends and a smaller wake?
PS: I’m not sure I fully understood it (the question). I think you’re saying that in the old days the cars had a more benign wake? Is that what you’re suggesting?
AN: I think it’s a slipstreaming argument, isn’t it? A slipstreaming argument is what you’re referring to, from Monza in 1970 or whatever. It was a very different technology at the time. Cars, at that time, almost all of them, were powered by a single engine, a DFV, giving out exactly the same horsepower. The circuits have changed for a start. We don’t have a Monza-type circuit, we don’t have a slipstreaming circuit as that used to be and that only happened at that particular circuit, if my history of motorsport is correct. So I think that yes, if we raced at ovals then perhaps that would be a way of going about things. Indeed, you’ve almost had the opposite problem. I think at some of the IRL-type races everybody is changing places all the time and I’m certainly of the opinion that if overtaking is too easy then it’s actually quite dull because it just becomes commonplace. I personally don’t find NASCAR races very interesting because the whole art seems to be in about fourth place with three laps to go. So it’s personal opinion but I certainly don’t consider that’s modern Formula One and I think it would be a very artificial set of rules that came up with that.
PS: I think there’s also common misconception that the overtaking working group was just about producing a car with a constrained wake. It was really very much about trying to design rules to make a car that would operate within a wake and I think that’s something that has been misunderstood quite a lot.

Q: (Mario Bauer – Berliner Zeitung) Is it a good statement just to walk out of a meeting and not listen to what changes were being proposed instead of saying ‘we’re not having this?’
PS: I don’t think it’s very fair to say that we didn’t know what was going on. There was an engineer actually by the name of Hoover who once said that ‘words without actions are the assassins of idealism.’ I don’t really think there’s a lot of point in talking about things unless you can take action.
PL: I didn’t fully understand the question but if it was to suggest that we didn’t…. we all knew what had to be discussed, I don’t think there was anything in the agenda that hadn’t been revealed to us. Most of it had been generated by us, so I don’t think we were walking away from a useful discussion. The point of the meeting was to endorse the proposals that were on the table and if you haven’t got a vote then you can’t do that. So I think it was the right and only thing to do in the circumstances.

Q: (Tony Dodgins – Autosport) Fifteen years or so ago when refuelling was introduced, the main concern was safety in the pits. Do you actually believe that going back to before that is the right way to go back because the show’s been quite good with strategy? And could somebody put a figure on what it’s actually going to save, not to have to carry the kit all over the world?
AN: The figure I’ve heard is about €400,000 per team, which is a significant figure, but if the show was reduced as a result of that, then it would be a figure which would be the wrong way of saving money. I must admit that whether it will work or not I think we will have to see. The very obvious difference is that at the moment, because tyre degradation very roughly balances weight reduction as the fuel is burnt, then the difference in lap time before and after a stop is usually in favour of being quicker before the stop as the weight effect is more a force than tyre degradation. That can vary on some circuits where it’s not the case but it’s generally the case whereas clearly now there will be a position where the car will always be quicker after the stop because they’ve fitted new tyres for the same fuel weight and that will change strategy. Whether that will provide a better or worse show I think is a little bit difficult to answer at the moment.
PL: I think it’s a difficult one to predict. I think everybody will have their personal view on whether they prefer refuelling or no refuelling and equally, as we go back to no refuelling, I don’t believe it will be the same as it was in 1993 because the cars are different. But certainly it’s a different way of going racing and I think it has got many advantages but we’ll have to see how it turns out.
PS: I think that strategy has been very exciting. I’ve certainly enjoyed working in that area but I think it’s had its day. As we’ve developed our techniques, as always, they’ve become quite similar. I think that the excitement of strategy has gone. I think it’s a difficult thing to get across to the casual public who are very important to us, rather than the true enthusiasts. We were talking about overtaking earlier and I think there’s a little bit too much reliance now on strategy to be used for overtaking. I think this was one of things that I saw at Silverstone where people, yes, they had similar performance, but they were thinking ‘oh well, I am a couple of laps longer than this guy, so I’ve just got to push for two laps and I’ll get in front of him at the pit stops.’ But without refuelling maybe we’ll see a bit more racing. I think we’ve got to keep an open mind. Let’s try it for a few years. The important thing is to put on a good show. The savings are considerable. Our figures show even more than Adrian’s and you’ve got to bear in mind that that refuelling equipment is getting quite old now and it’s going to need replacing soon and it’s very expensive to replace. So I’m very happy to give it a try and like with most things, I want to be open-minded about it.
SM: I have pretty similar views to the other guys. I agree with what Pat said about current strategy having its day. It’s very difficult to move out of position now because everybody knows what to do. It wasn’t like that ten years ago but now it’s simulated to the nth degree and people know from experience, really, what everyone else is going to do. So it will definitely change, I’m not sure it will change completely in terms of people waiting for their stop to overtake. It will just reverse, as Adrian said. You will be faster as you come out but that will create a different game. We will see what happens.

German Grand Prix Free Practice Session Two

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m32.149s
2. VETTEL Red Bull 1m32.331s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m32.369s
4. WEBBER Red Bull 1m32.480s
5. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.511s
6. SUTIL Force India 1m32.585s
7. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m32.664s
8. ALONSO Renault 1m32.774s
9. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m32.872s
10. PIQUET Renault 1m32.992s
11. HEIDFELD BMW 1m33.012s
12. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.052s
13. ROSBERG Williams 1m33.128s
14. KUBICA BMW 1m33.161s
15. GLOCK Toyota 1m33.172s
16. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.182s
17. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m33.724s
18. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m33.903s
19. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m34.025s
20. FISICHELLA Force India 1m38.877s

German Grand Prix Free Practice Session One

1. WEBBER Red Bull 1m33.082s
2. BUTTON Red Bull 1m33.463s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.745s
4. TRULLI Toyota 1m33.795s
5. FISICHELLA Force India 1m33.839s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.840s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m33.902s
8. VETTEL Red Bull 1m33.909s
9. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m33.952s
10. ALONSO Renault 1m34.148s
11. HEIDFELD BMW 1m34.221s
12. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m34.227s
13. HAMILTON McLaren 1m34.483s
14. KUBICA BMW 1m34.694s
15. PIQUET Renault 1m34.738s
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m34.827s
17. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m34.878s
18. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m34.893s
19. GLOCK Toyota 1m34.911s
20. SUTIL Force India 1m35.092s

FIA Press Release On 2010 F1 World Championship

This press release below from the FIA... I think quite blatently shows that they are now back at war. Especially in paragraph two. Not only does it refer to Luca di Montezemolo's previous comments about the FIA - it mocks what he said. This is simply now blow for blow punches. Or it is more like a tit for tat squabble in a playground. Both sides need to grow up and get on, ultimately they are both after the same thing.

Here's the press release from the FIA:

Setting the Record Straight

Before FOTA’s decision to walk out of yesterday’s Technical Working Group meeting, the President of the FIA wrote twice to the President of FOTA to remind him that any amendments to the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship regulations were subject to the unanimous approval of the five teams that had already entered for next season under the rules as published.

This is because of the International Sporting Code and also because the entered teams have a contract with the FIA which not even the General Assembly or the World Council can abrogate. Anyone with an elementary knowledge of motor sport governance knows this. Imagine the uproar if, after the FOTA teams had entered, the World Council were subsequently to change the rules without asking them.

It follows that the agreement of the five teams currently entered in the 2010 World Championship to all 2010 rule changes is required. To suggest that FOTA were only made aware of this during the meetings of yesterday is quite simply untrue. So is the implicit claim that they were all unaware of one of motor sport’s basic principles.

As things stand, the current members of the F1 Technical and Sporting Working Groups, in relation to 2010 are the teams which have entered the 2010 Championship. However the 8 FOTA teams were invited to the meetings in order that all 13 teams could agree the 2010 Sporting and Technical Regulations which would then be the so-called ‘stable regulations’ in a new Concorde Agreement. The SWG took place in the morning on this basis and much progress was made. However in the afternoon the FOTA teams walked out of the TWG. Nevertheless the five entered teams were able to confirm the changes agreed by the World Council in Paris on 24 June, as announced yesterday.

It has always been the FIA's understanding that the FOTA teams wanted a Concorde Agreement in place before entering the 2010 Championship. Once entered, the FOTA teams could no longer threaten a breakaway because of the contractual position mentioned above.

The basis for the FIA agreeing to drop plans for a cost cap was the proposal prepared by the Williams team over the Silverstone weekend which would allow an agreed reduction of expenditure to the level of the early 1990s by the end of 2011 to be dealt with by the teams themselves. This reduction was agreed by FOTA and confirmed by them in Paris on 24 June. This would be a private, legally-enforceable contract involving all the teams, but not the FIA. The FIA confirmed in Paris that once this agreement is in place, the cost cap provisions can be removed from the 2010 Sporting Regulations.

The deal that the FIA reached with FOTA in Paris was to extend the 1998 Concorde Agreement with some minor amendments to the governance section. This would have put in place an F1 Commission to deal with future rules with any major question going to the FIA Senate.

However, on 25 June, instead of the 1998 Agreement with some minor amendments, the FIA received 350 pages of a completely new Concorde Agreement.

It being wholly impractical to involve the Senate in such detailed negotiations, the contract was handed over to FIA lawyers, who worked on it tirelessly over the weekend 27-28 June and gave comments during a three-hour conference call on Monday 29 June. Then the 350 pages of 25 June turned out not to be the final FOTA/FOA version and elements of a new version appeared, partly on 2 July, partly on 3 July.

Again, FIA lawyers worked over the weekend on 4-5 July, as did FIA President Max Mosley and FIA Deputy President (sport) Nick Craw. Further comments were then given on a three and a half hour lawyers' call on Monday 6 July and again in a conference call yesterday, 8 July, following the circulation of further drafts. Further significant progress was made yesterday evening in yet another conference call.

At present it seems probable that a final draft of the 2009 Concorde Agreement will be agreed and ready for signature in the coming days.

Thursday Press Conference

Drivers: Timo Glock (Toyota), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Nico Rosberg (Williams), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Q: It has been three weeks since the last grand prix. I would like to ask all drivers what have you done and what your team has done to make you faster for this race?
Nick Heidfeld: The team obviously did quite a lot at the factory. We will have a couple of new parts here. We have a new floor or diffuser on the car. We have a new front wing and a new rear suspension. I used the three weeks quite intensively to keep up with my physical training. I visited the team once or twice and hope that we will see another step forward.
Timo Glock: Yeah, quite similar. I was quite busy. A lot of PR stuff to do. I burned some tyres at Goodwood which was quite a nice three days at Goodwood. Overall, just tried to keep my fitness level consistent for the year and hopefully we have a nice little package, an aero package, for here to fight back again for the top five.
Adrian Sutil: I have been in the UK quite a few times with my team. It is looking really well at the moment, so they are doing good steps. It is important to push them and say well done guys and more of this. I spent a lot of time there and had a weekend off last weekend which was really good. Just at home doing nothing really and trying to save my energy for this weekend. Now I am fit and feeling happy. I am feeling good.
Nico Rosberg: For me my team has really been doing a fantastic job with development. Of course we are still not there where we want to be. We want to be even further up. But still at the moment, in the last two races, we have been the third best team in general, so that is a very nice position to be in and allows us to fight for even maybe podiums very soon. I am very pleased with that at the moment. Over the break they have pushed on again like all the way through the season and we have new bits coming all the time and it is really nice to see the speed by which they bring parts and develop the car. It is great and I follow what they have been doing at the factory and give my thoughts on everything and we have some new bits again here, various new bits on the car. They should bring us another good step forward, so I am looking forward to again being third best team and maybe challenge for the podium, maybe even this weekend. We need to wait and see but we need a bit of luck obviously as the two teams ahead, which are Red Bull and Brawn, which is four cars. But with a bit of luck we could have a shot and that’s it. From my part I have been in Ibiza and the South of France. A bit of training and a bit of having a good time and relaxing.

Q: So you are going to be fast?
NR: Yes.

Q: Sebastian?
Sebastian Vettel: We do have some small bits but nothing major. I think we had a very big update at Silverstone which worked perfectly fine, so we should have a very competitive car here again. Always the Nürburgring is very famous for its conditions, so no matter how good is the prediction you never know what is going to happen. The best thing in the morning is to wake up and have a look, so we will see. There are possibly some showers this weekend but I think we do have a competitive car in dry and wet conditions, so it will be very exciting. Obviously for all of us it is our home grand prix, so we are all very excited. The time between Silverstone and here I was mainly at home preparing. It is quite nice. On the one hand you miss the testing because the part you enjoy the most is the driving but on the other hand it is also good to come back down and use the time to train a little bit more intensively as when you are always busy, always on the road, it is hard to really follow a programme. It is more or less about stabilizing where you are. But if you have a bit of time off you can use it. Other than that I turned 22 last week. That’s it.

Q: Was that a big celebration?
SV: Not big. I don’t know if you celebrate when you turn 22. It was very quiet. We had some little BBQ with the family but nothing special.

Q: Nick, obviously you have had a difficult start to the season. But do you feel the team is still making progress and pushing hard and will continue to push hard all the way until the end of the season?
NH: Well, I would not say still. I think in the first couple of races we were going downwards unfortunately but since then we started to move up slowly. It has never been as extreme as this year in Formula One that you really see when somebody brings an update. Whenever we brought an update to the car we did move forward and were able to score points in Barcelona and Istanbul. But then as soon as we had nothing on the car we tended to fall back. That’s why I have hopes for here and that we will be able to score points again. I know that there is a lot more in the pipeline for the upcoming races. Of course, it is very unlikely to move us where Red Bull and Brawn are, that’s for sure, that’s clear. But at least it would be great if we can fight for points on a regular basis.

Q: Timo, last weekend at Goodwood I think you also had a go in a rally car? Tell us about that.
TG: Yeah, it was quite a nice moment. The first time for me in a WRC car. I think the car was around 10 years old but still a proper one and a proper rally stage through the forest. I just was really impressed the first time when I had a taxi ride to see it and then I was just pushing as hard as possible to get a ride on my own. I did four laps which was quite nice and a lot of fun. I enjoyed it and it was a nice weekend. I think at the end I was only nine seconds slower than Sebastian Loeb, so it didn’t look too bad.

Q: And your hopes for this weekend?
TG: Hopefully we will be back again fighting for the top five and for the podium. But it is quite close. Everybody is really close together and it will be a hard fight. It is quite interesting to see again which teams are bringing big updates and which teams are bringing small updates. I hope we are on the bigger side and just fight for points strongly and for the podium.

Q: Adrian, you had the big update at Silverstone. You got close, not you personally, with Giancarlo (Fisichella) in 10th place. Do you think points are a possibility? Vijay (Mallya) certainly does.
AS: Yeah, always a possibility. Difficult but it should have been possible in Silverstone already. We were a bit unlucky with both cars in qualifying after my crash, so we had to start from the back. But here we have not really something new on the car, just small things, but still an update from Silverstone should bring us quite a good performance here. Our hopes are to reach the second qualifying again and go close to the top 10. Hopefully in the race we can go into the points but it is a really hard goal to reach but I see a chance and I will go for it.

Q: Nico, talk about the progress being made by the team. It really is a development race, isn’t it, and do you think they can sustain this? They are a privateer team taking on those manufacturer teams.
NR: Definitely. The past few years have been a bit of a negative for us, the developments through the season and we always seemed to lose out. But this year we are just really going up. We are really progressing a lot this year, so I am really enjoying it and I am really confident that we can continue. I think the main point is we learnt a lot about the mistakes, especially from last year. We are doing a lot better on that this year and changed a few things, characteristics in terms of development, so it is helping us a lot.

Q: Sebastian, winner of the last race and the only other winner this year apart from Jenson (Button). Adrian Newey thinks it will ebb and flow. Sometimes it will be them and sometimes it will be you. What are your feelings about that?
SV: I hope that in the future that it will be only us. But I think it will be a hard fight. As Nick said in the beginning of this question round it is very unique this year to see that as soon as someone brings an update, whoever it is, is able to make quite a big step. We brought quite a big update at the last race and it seemed to work. I think on top of that we had a perfect weekend. Maybe Brawn GP was struggling a little bit here and there. In the end it is all about getting your things and getting the job done. I think you have to focus for every single race. Each circuit is different in a way, so in general I think the most important thing is to have a good, fast car which we do, but they also have (one), so it will be a close fight to the end of the season. But as I said you have to keep working, bringing the bits even if it is just a couple of bits you put on the car. They are helping. Everyone is developing like crazy and trying to improve. Both teams are in a very strong position. We have a good car but in the end little things can make the difference.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, how do you feel this year coming to Germany as a star?
SV: I don’t consider myself as a star. It is always nice to come here. It is very special for all five of us to take part in the German Grand Prix being German you know, it is our home grand prix. It is similar for an Englishman to drive around Silverstone, I think as it is special. I have had a lot of races here at the Nürburgring in all different categories, Formula BMW, Formula Three and Formula Renault World Series. I like the circuit and it will be my first time around here in an F1 car, so I am definitely looking forward.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Question to you all: there’s this big legend about the Nordschleife here. I want to know your experience driving around it with any car and if you have a wish to one day have a Formula One race here, even if the safety standards would be a little bit different?
NH: Yeah, I think I have quite a lot of experience around there. I said earlier, when they opened the new park that the first lap I did here was together with my father, not being able to reach the pedals but just steering a bit. And I would say it ended two years ago when I had the chance to drive around the Nordschleife in an F1 car which was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had here. I have to say I was surprised how well the track suited the F1 car. Of course it’s too dangerous, the run-off areas are not big enough but the corners themselves are great and it was fantastic doing those three laps. Unfortunately, on each of those laps, I had to follow a camera car, so I couldn’t go at full speed but I would love to do it any time again.
TG: Yeah, so far I didn’t have the chance to go around in a race car or in a Formula One car. It would be a dream to do it in a Formula One car, definitely, but I did a couple of laps, privately, with my road car when I was here the first time in 2000/2001 and I have to say it took quite a bit of time to learn the track. It’s not an easy one and still now I have no idea about the corners, only when I’m on the track do I know what I have to do. If you talked about a corner, right now, here: no chance. And this makes it the best track in the world and it’s just unbelievable and so far I’ve only done it in a road car with a couple of journalists. I think they had quite a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to doing it in a proper race car.
AS: Yeah, a fantastic circuit. I would say it’s my favourite, the best in the world. I think it’s the biggest circuit, there’s so much history here but once you go on it, it doesn’t matter which car you’re in: a slow car, a road car or whatever, it’s thrilling and it’s incredible to drive these corners, up and down, so many corners. It doesn’t matter which car, as I said. I’ve come here quite a few times, just to do the Nordschleife, sometimes with my road car with some friends. I was here last weekend. I drove down in my own car, did some laps, met up with a friend, another race driver and he was taking me around in his touring car. It was a good experience because he knew the track really well. I know it well but I have never done a race here, so it’s a different area. I try to go on it all the time and every race that I’ve done here I’ve normally gone for a couple of laps on the Nordschleife on the Wednesday.
NR: For me, there was just one really nice experience with my dad in 1995 when he was doing DTM. He took us round in an Opel Calibra Turbo, which at the time was the car he was racing and he drove a road car but it was still a very, very fast car and I remember his best friend was sitting in the back seat and my dad knows the track like the back of his hand, he knows every jump, every corner, in his mind, he knows it exactly. So we were going absolutely flat out and I just remember that the guy in the back was shouting so loudly. I think he would have preferred to open the door and jump out at 250kph rather than stay in the car. So it was quite a fun experience.
SV: As soon as I got my licence, I used the opportunity (to come here) and I did a lap with a road car. I was completely lost but followed a friend and around half a lap I completely lost the brakes and I was lucky not to crash, so I had totally underestimated the performance of normal road car brakes. Then a couple of years later I had another opportunity with a friend who lives just down the road here close to Nürburgring and the Nordschleife. He has an old BMW 3-series, not very powerful but modified, so proper tyres and the chassis tuned a little bit. When there were normal tourists around the track, then it was quite big fun to chase them in this little car and even though you have no power on the straights, you were much faster in the corners. It was fun. I think I had five or six laps. First of all you are surprised how many corners there are and how long one lap really is but I think then you quite quickly get into the rhythm and you kind of recognise the corners more and more, so after five laps you roughly know where you are but it has been a few days and I think I have forgotten most of it but it would be nice to come back and do a couple of laps.

Q: (Asen Stoyanov – Monitor Daily, Bulgaria) I would like to ask everybody what is your opinion about the possibility of having a Bulgarian Grand Prix in the next two or three years because tomorrow there will be negotiations with Mr Ecclestone?
TG: I think you will get the same answer five times over but in the end, I think we all welcome a new track, a new race and I think last year we already had a couple of really good events. I think we welcome new tracks every time, new countries to visit, and I look forward to it.
NH: It’s very hard to judge because I don’t know where it would take place, how it would be, but as Timo said, it’s always great to go to new tracks, but not only that, but also to new countries, new cities but very hard to judge from where we sit, not spending a lot of time focussing on that.
SV: I think it’s all been said. As long as the circuit is nice, this is what we all enjoy most and if the spectators are great, if the atmosphere is great, so if there are plenty of Bulgarian race fans, it would be nice to go there.

Q: (MC) What would you want from a new circuit like this? Changes in elevation? Overtaking places?
NH: Nordschleife with more run-off. It would be nice to have overtaking opportunities but normally if you try to build those in, that doesn’t make the track very exciting. What I found is that, as you just said, that elevation changes normally make it quite exciting. I think there are some or a lot of old tracks that have their own nature and are good fun but there are also some new tracks that are good fun. I don’t think it’s an easy job to build a track that is exciting to drive but I think the guys who are doing it have so much experience now that they should come up with a pretty good solution.

Q: (Peter Lausmann – Rhein-Zeitung) Question to Nick: you mention physical fitness and you worked very hard before the beginning of the season, you even lost weight which is quite easy for a chubby guy like me but very hard for an athlete like you. You did all this stuff and now the car isn’t that competitive. How frustrating is it and would you subject yourself to this torture again before a season?
NH: Yeah, of course I would do it again. I assumed that we would be in a good position to really fight at the front but now, as we have cancelled KERS, I will go back to being fat!

Q: (Sarah Holt – BBC) Question for you, Sebastian: I guess that a third win this season might make a nice birthday present for you and if it continues to be quite cold that could make life more difficult for Jenson. What are your feelings on those two things?
SV: First of all, I think Germany is usually hotter than in the UK. I think this place is quite special, so we should be used to the heat, much more than an Englishman! No, as I said, it will be a very, very close fight until the end of the season and obviously they are in a better position than we are if you look at the championship placings. We will try everything we can. We will try at every single race, our target is to win, that’s why we are here, to beat not just the Brawns but to beat everyone, because in the end, if you want to win, you have to beat every single person. A lot of things can happen quickly in sports. You never know what is going to happen, basically. Maybe they didn’t have such a good race in Silverstone, we had a great race and all of a sudden people are talking more about a closer fight and so on. If it is the other way around here again, then people will have a different opinion and if it continues to go in our direction it will be closer. There is still a long, long way. Right now we are more of less at half time, halfway through the season. Every single race is important. We didn’t always do the best job possible in the first couple of races but we are still in a very strong position and there’s a long way to go. We are here to fight.

Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) A quarter of the grid is German; don’t you think that sometimes there are too many German drivers? And, especially for those at the back, is it good to have people talking about Sebastian right now? Nick and Adrian, you must suffer from that a little bit, or not?
NH: I guess you’re not German, asking this question! I think if you look at the last twenty, thirty, forty years of Formula One there have not always been five Germans. There were times when there was nobody and maybe a third or quarter of the field was Italian or French. That’s just the way it goes. I think most of us sitting here were lucky that Michael had such a strong impact in the world of motor sport, in the world of F1, which maybe made it a bit easier for us to come here. Nobody knows how it will go in the future but I think the teams always try to get the quickest driver and their nationality is not that important. Your remark about there being more attention on Sebastian at the moment than on most of us sitting here is just very natural, I think. He’s had a very good season, he’s still in a position to fight for the championship with Jenson. Who would expect anything else?

Q: (Mario Bauer – Berliner Zeitung) Nick, you’ve been in Formula One as long as Jenson has been. Does seeing him win now, having a car to do so, while you’ve both had ups and downs in your careers over all these years, does it make you a bit frustrated to see that you still don’t have a car to win or does that give you confidence that you could do it as well, as long as you get the car?
NH: I like to see him winning, it rather gives me confidence, although it’s not only because of that. I believe in myself anyway but I think all the people I speak to and know are happy for him to win because he was fighting with not a good car and now he’s able to show what he can do and it probably shows people that are not so much into Formula One how important the car is, but that’s just the way it goes.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, as it is your home Grand Prix, do you feel that it is an advantage, do you have more things to do as Jenson lost his home Grand Prix last race?
SV: I don’t see this as a disadvantage. I think it’s always nice to come here, as I said, for all of us. It’s nice to see a lot of people mainly cheering for us. If anything it gives you more power and maybe that extra little you need but in the end, of course there are more people and maybe more attention but the thing that matters most is the racing, so you have to sometimes forget everyone and everything around you and just focus on what really matters. It might be a bit more difficult to keep the focus but that’s the most important thing, the key I think, to focus on racing. In the end, you can get ten points, you can get ten points in England, Silverstone, or you could get ten points in Australia. It doesn’t give you more points if you win here than anywhere else. Of course it’s nicer to win your home Grand Prix but it’s a long, long way and the race is on Sunday. First of all there is Friday, tomorrow, to prepare and then the qualifying. It’s always a long way.

Q: (Carole Capitaine – L’Equipe) A question for all of you: what about your future? Do you know where you will be next year, in which team and are you already working on that?
SV: I know.
NH: As you probably know, at BMW we don’t speak about our contracts, so there’s not much I can say.
TG: Quite similar for me. These questions are sometimes quite difficult to answer but let’s say the future doesn’t look too bad.
AS: Same for me. It’s too early to talk about it, half the season is over and so many things can happen. Things still haven’t been solved, the talking about where Formula One is going and I think that as soon as it is decided what happens with Formula One, then we can concentrate on the drivers. I can’t say anything about my position anyway.
NR: I’m looking at my options at the moment and that’s it. There’s not much more to say than that, other than I’m very, very happy with where I am at the moment. I’m very pleased with my team and it’s working really well, working together with them, so that’s the most important thing for now.
SV: I’ve said it already. I’ve said I know. I can also now say…. whatever you want to hear. I think everybody knows about my situation next year. I’m very happy. We are very, very strong this year which may be a surprise for some people but I think maybe the last couple of years weren’t the best for the team but I’m very pleased that at the moment that I arrived we had the right car to finally be where I think we deserved to be.

German Grand Prix Preview

Round nine of the 2009 Formula One calendar takes place at the Nürburgring circuit in Germany. The circuit, which was originally known as the Nordschleife, is located in the Eifel region of Germany and is 60 kilometres north-west of Koblenz and 90 kilometres south-west of Cologne. Alternating with the Hockenheim circuit, the last event at the Nürburgring track took place in 2007.

The modern Nürburgring circuit has a mix of high and low-speed corners with heavy braking areas. The characteristics of the Nürburgring track mean the cars have a tendency to understeer. Drivers will be challenged to achieve the correct aero balance and the circuit’s slow and medium speed corners will require strong measures of downforce. The track offers good levels of grip which will allow teams to run soft tyre compounds. The track features a fast section where drivers can reach speeds of up to 300 km/h and two short straights. About 60 percent of the track is run under full throttle and it is especially demanding for the aerodynamic efficiency of the car, as well as the engine.


NÜBURGRING CIRCUIT – INTERESTING FACTS

• Over 340 highly trained volunteer track side marshals will be on duty at the circuit. 19 scrutineers and 39 medical staff will also participate in the event.

• The circuit’s fastest corners are turn 5 at 190 km/h, turn 8 with 240 km/h and turn 9 with 250 km/h.

• The circuit’s new grandstand will provide space for 5,000 additional spectators. The Nüburgring circuit also features a new state of the art event centre, a theme park and a covered all-weather boulevard which is home to a TV and radio studio and the largest
interactive video wall in the world totalling 48 metres in length.

• The Ring Arena, a new air-conditioned facility that can seat upwards of 3,000 people, will feature a world championship boxing
match on the Saturday of the Grand Prix weekend.


CIRCUIT DATA

Length of lap: 5.148km
Offset: 0.017km
Total number of race laps: 60
Total race distance: 308.863km
Speed limits: 60km/h during practice sessions; 100km/h during race

FOTA Walk Out Of FIA Meeting

All 8 teams in FOTA walked out of a meeting with the FIA.

The meeting was at the Nurburgring to discuss next years rules and budgets. However the FOTA members left during the meeting when the FIA cheekily told them that they had not entered the 2010 championship so they had no voting rights on any of the technical and sporting (money) issues.

FOTA said in a statement that it "puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy". The eight FOTA teams - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - say they have entered the 2010 championship and assumed all was well. Which is what the consensus was in the pit lane before the FIA dropped this bombshell.

"It will be remembered all eight active FOTA members were included on the 'accepted' entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and communicated by FIA press statement on 24 June," stated FOTA. FOTA also "requested a postponement of today's meetings".

FOTA went on to say: "This was rejected on the grounds no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved. However, it is clear to the FOTA teams that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was already established in Paris. As endorsed by the World Motor Sport Council and clearly stated in the FIA press statement of 24 June 'the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April, 2009'. At no point in the Paris discussions was any requirement for unanimous agreement on regulations change expressed. To subsequently go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy. As a result of these statements, the FOTA representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation. The FOTA members undertook the Paris agreement and the subsequent discussions in good faith and with a desire to engage with all new and existing teams on the future of Formula 1."

The FIA added: "Unfortunately, no discussion was possible because FOTA walked out of the meeting." Formula 1's Williams and Force India were present as well as the three new teams, Campos Grand Prix, Manor and US F1.

What a mess! The FIA seem unable to stop annoying the FOTA. You imagine being invited to a meeting in which anything you voted on or suggested could not be used. Why go? Why be invited? It seems the FIA want to destroy the peace between the FOTA and the FIA. Lord only knows why the FIA are doing this. The only thing I can think is they are stalling the FOTA so they don't have time to set up a separate championship and have to go without racing or join the FIA's Formula One World Championship.

Sadly my hunch that the war was not yet over has proven correct. Watch this space for all sorts of goings on! The odds of FOTA actually leaving and going through with their threat of a different championship has just gone up several fold!

German Grand Prix BBC Coverage

Friday 10 July
First practice: 0900-1030, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Second practice: 1300-1430, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Inside F1: 1830-1845, BBC News Channel, then repeated on the Red Button

Saturday 11 July
Third practice: 1000-1100, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Qualifying: 1210-1415, BBC One/BBC Red Button/Radio 5 Live/online
Qualifying re-run: Times TBC, BBC Red Button

Sunday 12 July
Race: 1210-1500, BBC One/BBC Red Button/Radio 5 Live/online
Race re-run: Times TBC, BBC Red Button
Interactive Forum: 1500-1600, BBC Red Button/online
Highlights: 1900-2000, BBC Three/BBC Red Button/online

Fuji Speedway Pulls Out Of Formula One

Fuji Speedway has decided not to host the race in 2010. The track is owned by Toyota and they have blamed the economic downturn on pulling the race. Toyota have had a record £2.8bn loss last year and suspects it will be worse this year. No doubt the huge fees Bernie Ecclestone demands to host a race have not helped the decision.

Fuji has hosted the race for the last two years and was meant to host it in 2010 after starting a deal with Honda-owned Suzuka, (its previous home) to alternate between the two.

As of yet Suzuka has not said whether it would be prepared host the race in 2010 or every year. However I suspect they will if a deal can be struck with Bernie Ecclestone.

Fuji Speedway released a statement. "It has become extremely difficult for us to host the F1 Grand Prix as we face the deteriorating economic environment and see few signs showing a swift economic recovery." A spokesman added: "It is not clear at this moment whether a 2010 race in Japan will be hosted by others or if a race will be held in another country."

Japan is one of many Grand Prix which is under pressure with Bernie Ecclestone looking to go to new markets willing to pay his extortionate rates to host Grand Prix. South Korea is one of the nearby places which is looking to get a Grand Prix and the demise of the Japanese Grand Prix would be an ideal opportunity to get their slot.

It’s a big shame that yet another great and historic Grand Prix is probably falling by the wayside for heartless, soulless races to empty stands. With the British and Italians the Japanese are the most well informed and passionate fans. Not to mention having a huge car industry. But above all we need a Japanese Grand Prix, where else do you get history like it or races like it. Prost and Senna made it their own and iconic images or them battling and taking championships there make up Formula One’s history. Which in turn makes Formula One what it is today. Bernie needs to remember that and stop thinking about his bank balance. Formula One is still a sport afterall.

German Politician Cancels Meeting With Bernie

Bernie has categorically shot himself in the foot over the Hitler comments and made himself look completely inappropriate to run Formula 1. It also appears he has scuppered chances for the future of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

After the crazy comments about Hitler in the British Times Newspaper a top German politician, Baden-Wurttemberg state premier Gunther Oettinger at the Nurburgring has refused to meet Bernie Ecclestone this weekend to discuss the German Grand Prix being held at Hockenheim. Not surprising really, thanks for that Bernie. Yet another historic race track lost forever more.

To German newspaper Bild, Ecclestone has insisted that he did not want to put Hitler in a positive light but meant to say "before his dreadful crimes he worked successfully against unemployment and economic problems." – Too little too late. As if a man who is renowned for his negotiation skills and ability to bond people would make a simple mistake on what he said in a controlled interview situation.

Also the Central Council of Jews in Germany joined the chorus of condemnation. "One must not negotiate with fascists. One must condemn them and spurn them," the Council's deputy head Dieter Graumann said. Pretty harsh words.

What is for sure; Bernie’s comments have annoyed a lot of people. In a multicultural and diverse sport such as Formula 1 it cannot be run by someone who is so right wing and a Nazi sympathiser. FOTA must be slapping their fore heads in disbelief… this is the sort of stupid thing they are fed up with… Just as they were fed up with Max Mosley and his Nazi themed S&M sex with prostitutes. That’s two great fascist moments for the sport in little over a year!

Failed New Team Entrants Claim Required Cosworth Engines

F1's governing body reportedly selected only new teams with no ties to car manufacturers to make their Grand Prix debuts in 2010.

Britain's Daily Telegraph has quoted annoyed team bosses who missed out in the FIA's selection process for 2010. They’re alleging that there was a unwritten condition to commit to independent engine supplier Cosworth to ensure a spot on the grid.

US F1, Manor and Campos, who have been granted entry into next years Formula One World Championship are all to be powered by Cosworth. However more established teams including Prodrive and Lola also applied to race and were turned down. Which to be honest surprised me, I thought the FIA would like other teams, enough even for pre qualifying to boost ratings… Especially if they did the pre qualifying on Friday so there was something with some meaning to watch. Instead of what has essentially just become a test session.

It’s thought the rejected teams planned to get engines from Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, as F1's car manufacturers warred with the FIA about the future of the sport.

"We were told that if we wanted to take up the 2010 grid slot we would have to sign a three-year engine contract with Cosworth," one unsuccessful team applicant told the newspaper.

Another wrote in a letter that he "had a real possibility of obtaining a Renault, Mercedes or Ferrari engine. It was made very clear to me that it was considered a mandatory condition from the powers that be that Cosworth was the engine supplier."

Remember that at the time the FIA and FOTA were at war and the FIA wanted to ensure these teams could race in Formula 1 if the car manufacturers pulled out. The thing is however the teams logically want the best engines they can get (not a Cosworth). I’m sure if they couldn’t get an engine off Ferrari for example they would of gone to Cosworth, as the bottom line is they wanted to race.

An FIA spokesman explained independent engine supply was a ‘priority’ for the new teams, otherwise "the whole grid would be at the mercy of the car industry and no new team would be able to enter without their permission."

However one 2010 applicant says the new teams were "hand-picked for political, rather than sport criteria." And I would have to agree with them. It seems pretty obvious what the FIA were doing – covering themselves in the very real possibility of FOTA creating a split away championship. Alas I think it is to the detriment of the sport.

Cosworth stated it "in no way, shape or form requested that the FIA make demands on its behalf of potential entries to the Formula One world championship."

Whatever went on it’s sad that the sport missed out on some extra teams which is what the sport could do with. Yet again politics got in the way of sport.

Bernie "Hitler Got Things Done"

Bernie Ecclestone has had an interview with the Times. In it he goes on to speak well of Adolf Hitler and seems fairly supportive of right wing politics and dictatorship. So no surprises he is in cahoots with Max Mosley (son of fascist black shirts movement leader Oswald Mosley) when it comes to running Formula 1. Also it goes to show what Bernie's world views are like are in my opinion a bit odd considering if he was living under a dictatorship and not in a lovely free country like this (Britain) he would not be able to do what he does. It also shows what type of person Bernie is and how fed up with this kind of thing FOTA are. You don't need this kind of publicity when your trying to run a world championship.

Have a look for yourself. Personally I think it just makes him look like a sad, angry, old racist git who has height issues.

You can read about it on the Times website here. There is more on the website with the actual interview here.

There is also a news bulletin available by ITN in their sports section here.

Six Of The Best!

Goodwood Festival of Speed is set to be a great event this weekend. Brawn, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Toyota and Red Bull are all going to be there. Not to mention the fact that 40 years of Williams is going to be celebrated there. Which is great because let’s face it Williams are in desperate need of something to celebrate. Their last Formula 1 wins were back in 2003 when Ralf Schumacher won at the Nürburgring and the following race at Magny-Cours.

I can highly recommend the Festival of Speed – which is the hill climb event. However it does get very busy nowadays and you need to get there early. It’s expensive for what it is but if you’re an F1 fan this is a good year to go as usually not as many teams are represented. It isn’t like it was when it first started and has become quite corporate. Personally I go to the Revival meetings if I can where they actually race.

If you visit email me about it and let us know what it was like. I’ll post it here to share with everyone!

Ask David!

BBC pundit / quiet mumbler will be answering questions. This is all done through the BBC all you have to do is email 13 times grand prix winner David Coulthard at F1@bbc.co.uk with 'Question for DC' marked as the subject. The BBC assures us they will sift out the best questions which he will answer in his regular column… Great.

Now what I was thinking was what questions do you really want to ask him? Ones which you just know won’t get answered. I was thinking along the lines of:

1. How and why did you crash in the pit lane in Australia in 1995?

2. Did you fall or were you pushed from Williams? (Do questions 1 and 5 answer this?)

3. How embarrassed were you to stand on the podium at Monaco in a superman cape?

4. How did you only win 13 grand prix when you had one of the best cars on the grid every year for nearly your whole career?

5. Silverstone 1995… Gutted you didn’t press the speed limiter button?

6. Why did you do the after you sir two step and move over for Hakkinen in Australia 1998? Didn’t that pave the way to be walked over and to always be McLarens number two?


There are plenty more you could ask so why don’t you? Or post a comment here if you think they won’t get answered!

Bulgaria After A Race

Bulgaria are after a race... Yes that's right you read it correctly... Bulgaria are trying to get Bernie Ecclestone to sign them onto the F1 calendar. Looks like it will be from 2011 onwards.

So us Formula 1 fans are going without a race in Canada, with the race in Belgium under threat and no grand prix in the USA. Looks like were probably going to loose the British Grand Prix too if Donnington plans do not come to fruition. So where is the F1 supremo looking to place another Grand Prix? Bulgaria... A land steeped in Formula 1 history - and heaps of cash obviously.

Oh please Bernie stop messing around with the calendar. Keep all the traditional tracks. Where fans actually turn up to watch unlike Turkey and most of the fly away races! How about we return to Imola? Instead of getting Hermann Tilke to design another characterless track.

Now am I just over reacting but I really think we need a nucleus of good fans races in europe, australasia, asia and a couple in north and south america. Don't get me wrong Bulgaria have got just as much right to apply for a race... and perhaps they will occasionally along with other nations host one but there was and should be a set of traditional tracks used. By Bernie making all these tracks around the world and dropping the traditional ones he is robbing Formula 1 of it's soul.

We all know why you do it Bernie... You do it to make huge amounts of money... How much do you need? Or are you just paying for your divorce?

F1 Rejects British Grand Prix Review Podcast

British GP Edition
30th June, 2009

Funeral for Formula Elaborate Bluff / Discussion of British GP / News from Other Categories (Superleague)

(MP3 format, 12.0mb, 34 mins) Click here to download.

Raikkonen In WRC Debut

Kimi Raikkonen is to debut in the World Rally Championship at his home round in Finland. He’ll be competing in the July Neste Oil Rally. While this is not his first rally it is his first rally in a WRC event and more notably his first outing in a gravel race. Whereas previously his rallying had been limited to much less serious snow rallies.

This is an interesting departure for the 2007 F1 champion and may indicate his desires lay elsewhere now his Ferrari is uncompetitive and that it is rumoured that Alonso will be announced the next Ferrari driver at Monza this year. If so that leaves no room for Kimi Raikkonen as he will not want to be a number two driver and Alonso will not want a driver of the calibre of Kimi Raikkonen as a team mate.

Mosley Unhappy With FOTA’s Conduct

Mosley has been stated as saying "A fundamental part of [the deal] was that we would both present a positive and truthful account to the media. I was therefore astonished to learn that Fota has been briefing the press that Mr (Michel) Boeri (president of the FIA Senate) has taken charge of F1, something which you know is completely untrue; that I had been forced out of office, also false; and, apparently, that I would have no role in the FIA after October, something which is plain nonsense, if only because of the FIA statutes [which grant former presidents a place on the senate]."

Basically Max Mosely is upset that FOTA are rubbing it in his face in a public manner. This thinly veiled threat is nothing but hot air. However it may be that FOTA are doing this on purpose and winding up Mosley so as to get a reaction out of him and thus be able to break off the deal again. One thing is for sure it seems the political posturing of the two sides is not yet over and the dust has yet to settle.

New Star Grand Prix Competition Ended

The competition for one of five copies of New Star Grand Prix has ended. The five lucky winners will be contacted in due course.

Thanks to all those who entered. Remember to bookmark and return to www.formula1-blog.co.uk for more competitions in the future.

Special thanks to Simon at New Star GP.

FIA / FOTA Resolution

After the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) have had their meeting on Wednesday the below press release was issued regarding the Formula One World Championship and the situation for 2010 and onwards between the FIA and FOTA. I think this clears up the FIA FOTA dispute effectively with Mosley standing down. I would imagine that Jean Todt is now the main contender to take Mosley's place at the FIA. A statement about the whole situation from Max Mosley is available from the BBC here.


- - - - - - - - -

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

All currently competing teams have committed to the FIA Formula One World Championship.

There will be no alternative series or championship and the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

As part of this agreement, the teams will, within two years, reduce the costs of competing in the championship to the level of the early 1990s. The manufacturer teams have agreed to assist the new entries for 2010 by providing technical assistance.

The manufacturer teams have further agreed to the permanent and continuing role of the FIA as the sport’s governing body. They have also committed to the commercial arrangements for the FIA Formula One World Championship until 2012 and have agreed to renegotiate and extend this contract before the end of that period.

All teams will adhere to an upgraded version of the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement.

The following teams have been accepted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

TEAMS

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM
RENAULT F1 TEAM
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
RED BULL RACING
AT&T WILLIAMS
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM
CAMPOS META TEAM
MANOR GRAND PRIX
TEAM US F1
CONSTRUCTOR


In view of this new agreement and with the prospect of a stable future for Formula One, FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed his decision not to stand for re-election in October this year.

Peace Between FIA & FOTA?

Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris Today cost reduction measures have been agreed between the FIA and the FOTA and they’ve dropped plans to start a breakaway championship.
This is what Mosley has claimed and it waits to be seen if FOTA really do agree and that peace can break out. Interestingly Mosley has said he will stand down in October when his presidency finishes.

A BBC article on the matter is available here.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Max Mosley has resisted calls for him to resign and is adamant that he will remain in power at the FIA. That is until the FIA re-election in October unless called early, when I have a hunch, he will be out on his ear. However it may well be too late by then to save the Formula 1 Championship - unless that is Luca di Montezemolo takes over – I know that sounds outlandish but he is desperate to run Formula 1 if it’s in it’s current form or a breakaway. It’s not beyond the realms of fantasy he ends up taking over.

After all the issues with FOTA and the FIA Mosley thinks he’s in with a chance at staying at the head of the FIA he is quoted as saying “I must now reflect on whether my original decision not to stand for re-election was indeed the right one.” The FIA will have to make a crucial decision to either stay with consistency in the form of Max Mosley or appease FOTA with someone different who will bow to their requests.

A good article about it all is available on the BBC F1 website here.

British Grand Prix Review

It was quite possibly Silverstone’s last Grand Prix ever and I want to wax lyrical about how it was a classic etc, etc. However it wasn’t the most exciting race of the season and wasn’t certainly a classic.

Jenson Button lost the race on Friday. Throughout practice he was struggling to set the car up and couldn’t get any pace out of it. This followed onto Saturday’s qualifying and he was unable to get a decent grid slot. He got boxed in at the start and pushed down even further. Then only a good final stint saw him elevate himself to his final position of 6th. Even though he was quite possibly the second or third quickest man at times Jenson simply didn’t have the consistency in the race to make it stick. I wonder if after he struggled so much on Friday if the Brawn team gave him Barrichello’s setup as they have done in previous races or if Ruben’s has now got wise to that and left Jenson to flounder. No doubt Ruben’s enjoyed beating Jenson on his home turf. Even if it was only 3rd Vs 6th and not a win.

Vettel seemed in a class of his own for the majority of the weekend and after Webber got caught up behind Rubens in the first stint Vettel was able to force home his advantage. Leaving Webber too far behind to launch a proper attack on the lead later on. However if Webber had not been held up in qualifying he may well of got pole and the outcome of the grand prix could have been quite different and more interesting. The Red Bull’s developments have made the car more competitive. There is no doubt about that. If they can consistently beat the Brawns awaits to be seen. But ultimately I don’t think they will be able to consistently beat the Brawns and for that matter Button. But most importantly there isn’t anyone else good enough to rob Button of points so he will be able to minimise any points loss when he has an off day and is 2nd or at worse 3rd. I still think the championship is Jenson’s to lose.

Massa qualified badly but was outside the top ten so was able to fuel up and do a one stop stint. He executed it as well as possible and he had good pace for a one stopper through the duration of the race so his strategy paid off. He didn’t get caught behind anyone slower as he was one stopping anyway and was fast enough to keep people behind him. His team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand suffered. He qualified in the top ten and had to run the fuel he had meaning he had to have a two stop strategy. Even though he made an amazing start and gained 4 places it was still not enough. After his first stop he got stuck behind the slower Toyota of Glock and his race was done. He couldn’t get past and he couldn’t make the strategy work. He thus lost loads of time to the drivers he was racing around him and lost out. If he hadn’t got stuck behind he would have been 4th and possibly pushing Barrichello for a podium. Ferrari must be buoyed by their performance and Massa has gone on record as saying such. But ultimately Kimi must be kicking himself for not making more of it all.

The Toyota’s of Glock and Trulli, as always had a pretty uneventful race. Toyota seem to be able to churn out the also run points paying places with such a lack of panache it almost doesn’t seem possible. I suppose that’s how a formula one team should operate; getting the most from the car in a controlled manner. But I cannot recall one dice or dramatic moment for either of the Toyota cars.

Williams converted their practice pace and did pretty well for themselves. Rosberg must feel that his hard work got paid off – at least partly with 5th. Nakajima looked like he was in the running for a good points haul but his poor second stint scuppered him and I was disappointed to see him end up languishing in 11th. Williams must be happy with their upturn in performance at Silverstone but as it’s their home track I don’t think they will continue the form they found. However look out for Rosberg nicking a few points here and there throughout the rest of the season.

Another noticeable thing happened… Piquet ended up in front of Alonso at the end of the race… What?! I hear you cry Piquet finished in front of his team mate Alonso! That must be some mistake alas it isn’t. It simply proves (as happened at Ferrari) that having your one stop strategy was the way to go and if you want to be higher than 10th off the grid you have to have a two stopper. Also Alonso had a real ding dong battle with Hamilton for part of the race and Piquet got involved at one point. It provided much of the good racing after the initial couple of laps. It was great to see the two world champions still going for it even though they were fighting over places at the back of the pack.

The only retirements were from an accident between Bourdais and Kovalainen. Which was a cock-up from both of them really. It was 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. The incompetence of the pair of them contributing to the accident. Both of them must be under threat of being asked to leave their respective teams as both of them simply aren’t delivering and for once Piquet wasn’t there to make them look good.

There is a small break now between Silverstone and the German grand prix of three weeks. In this time Ferrari will be hoping to claw back more of their gap as will McLaren who are still desperately uncompetitive. Vettel will be desperate to make the most of his new Red Bull at his home grand prix. Webber will be looking for his maiden victory and to quieten his critics and start to launch his own championship campaign before Vettel gets too far in front. Button will no doubt want to get back on top.

In the mean time we’ll see how the FOTA Vs FIA fight goes between now and Germany…

FIA Vs FOTA Breakdown

Max Mosley has said that he will not be continuing his legal proceedings against Ferrari and other teams. However Ferrari have said that they will be taking legal action against the FIA however what exactly they are taking legal action against them over is not clear. I speculate that it is regarding the FIA changing the rules for 2010 without consulting the teams. Also on Thursday the FOTA are set to meet and plan further their break away championship. Not to mention the fact that the FIA have said that FOTA have not been in any further talks with them.

It would appear that talks have irreparably broken down between the FIA and FOTA. The only resolution may come if there is a major change of heart from the FIA or Max Mosley is removed as head of the FIA – which would enable a face saving change.

The Stig Is Revealed

BBC Top Gear has revealed the identity of the Stig, the mystery driver
who tests high-performance cars, has been 'revealed' on the show.

The Stig removed his helmet to show his face in a moment that shocked
and stunned viewers....

The clip is available from the BBC here.

British Grand Prix Official Race Classification and Lap Chart

Official Race Classification is available here.

Official Race Lap Chart is available here.

British Grand Prix Result

1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. WEBBER Red Bull +15.1s
3. BARRICHELLO Brawn +41.1s
4. MASSA Ferrari +45.0s
5. ROSBERG Williams +45.9s
6. BUTTON Brawn +46.2s
7. TRULLI Toyota +68.3s
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +69.6s
9. GLOCK Toyota +69.8s
10. FISICHELLA Force India +71.5s
11. NAKAJIMA Williams +74.0s
12. PIQUET Renault +1 lap
13. KUBICA BMW +1 lap
14. ALONSO Renault +1 lap
15. HEIDFELD BMW +1 lap
16. HAMILTON McLaren +1 lap
17. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
18. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +23 laps
R. KOVALAINEN McLaren +24 laps

British Grand Prix Post Race Press Conference

1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h22m49.328s; 2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h23m04.516s; 3rd Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP), 1h23m30.503s.

Q: Sebastian, your first dry grand prix victory. Fantastic start. In the first stint you are pulling away at a second a lap from everyone else. You were told to calm down by your team in the middle stint but was it really as easy as it looked today?
Sebastian Vettel: You know, it is never easy. It is a long, long race and I think particularly at this fantastic circuit everyone of us is enjoying it a lot. Fast corners. it is a dream, really, so you have to stay focused and keep your eyes open all the time. It is not easy. But as you say the start was very important, then in the first stint I tried to push as hard as I could to pull away and make a gap which I knew would be crucial as then I would benefit basically the whole race from it which worked perfectly well. I had a fantastic car. I mean it was unbelievable. I was able to push, push, push more and more and more and the tyres were very consistent, so very good tyres as well. I am very pleased. The second stint wasn't easy at all when the team said to me 'be careful'. I had a lot of traffic and a lot of lapped cars at that stage and they were battling each other, so it was quite tricky you know when you come from behind and you can’t really get close. They are fighting between themselves. It was anything else but easy. You had to stay patient and it was difficult as I knew I had a big gap but I couldn’t see, so I was always asking and checking ‘how much is the gap, how is the pace, how are we doing.’ It was great and in the last pit stop I was in clean air. From then I think the last 10 laps I was counting every single lap down and I had quite a big gap to Mark, so I was controlling the race from that point onwards. You could say the last 10 laps were quite easy but before that obviously it wasn’t. I was pushing very hard and in the second stint it was more like a slalom. I had to pass a lot of lapped cars but after that obviously it was fantastic. I am very, very pleased with the result. I mean fantastic. It shows that we are on the right way. Every single one has been working hard and it doesn’t matter whether here at the track or back at the factory. Bringing the car to where it is just now is fantastic. It was all kind of last minute but we did it and we proved both of us that it is a step in the right direction, so I am very pleased. Also I want to thank Silverstone. It is only my second time here but I enjoyed it so much and when I looked left and right in the last two laps the people were already standing up and clapping and cheering. It was fantastic. The emotions then especially as I crossed the chequered flag. Every single person in the grandstands I have to thank. It was fantastic. The atmosphere was great. This is what I was dreaming of when I saw the first grands prix here in Silverstone in the era of Mansell and so on, so it is kind of unreal now to think I am here and I have made it. I have won this grand prix, so I am very, very happy.

Q: Mark, where was your chance of victory lost? Do you think it was yesterday in qualifying or today in the first stint behind Rubens?
Mark Webber: Probably yesterday. I mean we needed to get on the front row at least and I think then the first stint today we knew the way that Sebastian was pulling away and Rubens was doing his best, his car did not look that easy, and I was just sitting in behind. It is so difficult to get close here, so the race was virtually lost in that first stint. From then on Sebastian had such a gap after the first 20 laps of the race that it was absolutely no chance for me to bridge that gap. It was way too big. As he said we had a lot of traffic in the second stint. Then in the last stint it was just a question of getting the car home. The guys reported that I had some damage at the back of the car, so from the second stop we had to use a different gear pattern for the last stint but in general I want to echo Sebastian’s words. This team, the guys have absolutely buried themselves, at the factory. The night shifts, the attention to detail now they go into, is an absolute credit to them. They have been led very well and they are responding to that. And results help. It is an incredible injection for them to get these top results, a one-two on the home turf. The factory down the road is the ultimate result for them. It is the best I could have done today. I don’t think I could have got much more from that result, so congratulations to Sebastian, he did a good first stint and that is what laid the foundations. That was really my race. I enjoyed it and again Silverstone what an amazing track. We love driving these Formula One cars here. It is just incredible to go through that first sector lap after lap after lap. It is a brilliant place for a Formula One car and certainly destroys a lot of the other venues we have been picked in the last few years of our careers if you like. And the British fans are always fantastic, so it was great.

Q: Rubens, a lot of pressure on Brawn GP this weekend. It has been a difficult weekend for the team. What do you take away from this and how much pride do you personally take from your performance today?
Rubens Barrichello: A lot of pride because at the end of the day it was very difficult. I mean yesterday as I said we were thinking that third was the best we could have and we knew that if the track didn't change a little bit it was going to be difficult to beat them. They were the class of field this weekend. I am proud of the achievement I had. The second stint was very, very difficult on the harder tyres. It was difficult to hold on to people and with the winds crossing the track which sometimes would throw you onto the marbles. In turn one I had a couple where I was running off the track and it was very, very difficult to know if the wind would hit you or not at that time, so it was difficult to follow the lines. Unfortunately they were really, really fast but I did what I had to do. My target to the end of the year is really to close the gap on Jenson and I think we all did today. Also I want to thank all the doctors that helped me this weekend because I was in terrible back pain and Doctor Cecarelli and the doctors at Toro Rosso and my friends there that helped me and my physio as my back really hurt the whole weekend and they helped me big time, so I could finish the race in good feeling.”

Q: Sebastian, was this dominance this weekend all about the track and the conditions or are you and Red Bull really on a roll now which is going to say something about the second half of the season?
SV: I wouldn't mind if we could continue like that but I think it is a bit of everything. This circuit is fantastic and suits our car. A lot of high speed corners. Mark was saying the first sector is just great every single lap and I have seen our car is behaving fantastically well in all these sorts of corners, medium speed, high speed, so the rhythm is really nice here, so I think that is one reason. On the other hand I think we have made a nice step forward. I think it helps us of course in medium speed and high speed corners but also in low speed, so I think we have improved the car a bit everywhere. Therefore I think it all came together and we did a good job, the whole team was working perfectly fine and therefore I think if you want to say it in that way we were quite dominant today.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian, give us an idea about how different the tyres were. Did you have any problems with the different types?
SV: No, I mean looking at the result I wouldn’t say problems. I am very, very pleased obviously. To sum up the race the most crucial stint was the first one. I knew I had to have a good start and then defend first position and then I tried every single lap to push as hard as I could to build up a gap. I knew that it would only help me for whatever comes in the second and third stint. It worked perfectly well. I could see on the board every single lap nearly a second more, a second more, a second more, so it was fantastic to see. The tyres were, I have to say, very consistent, both compounds, the soft ones and the hard ones. We were not 100 per cent sure before the race which was the preferred one. You never know on Sunday. The conditions can change and so on, so it wasn’t that easy but I think in the end we did the right thing. Then obviously towards the end you feel a little bit the tyres starting to go off, so it becomes a bit more difficult out of the low speed to control the traction but I think the car was fantastic today. As I said in the first stint I was able to open up a very big gap. The second stint was quite difficult because there was a lot of traffic, a lot of lapped cars, and it was sometimes quite tricky and also my engineer came on the radio and reported to me to be patient enough as obviously they were fighting between themselves and I was catching up. The only thing you want is to pass, so you want them to let you by. On the other hand they are fighting themselves. I have been in the other position and saw the leader behind me, me in the middle of nowhere and fighting against the others. Then the last thing you want to do is pull over and let the car behind you by to lose time. But I have to say very good behaviour by all the drivers. Of course you are losing time. But still I think it was a very, very good for every single one. Then in the third stint obviously I could see on the board again and I was all the time in radio contact with the team asking for pace and how we were doing and so on. In the end we were just about saving the car and bringing the result home. Fantastic here; one and two. The factory is down the road, so as I said yesterday I can only make huge compliments. Every single one, it doesn’t matter here in the factory or at the track, has been working very hard and it has been tough to get this car where it is now so, especially the update we had for here was pretty much on the edge but we made it and I think it totally paid off. Results are the best way to say thank you to every single one. Also a lot of people were here at the circuit. Apart from all the spectators, I have to say the atmosphere was great. I regret a little bit I am not an Englishman as the fans are fantastic. Already in the last few laps I could see the people standing up and cheering. At the time I wanted to wave and say ‘thank you’ but then I said there have been stories in the past where it didn’t look too good with drivers doing it and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Then when I crossed the line it was unbelievable. Also the whole podium ceremony was fantastic, so thank you.

Q: At half distance you lost three seconds. Was that because of traffic?
SV: Yes, as I said the middle stint – pretty much the middle of the race around lap 30 - I caught three cars. Fernando (Alonso), Lewis (Hamilton) and Nelson (Piquet) and it was quite tricky. As my engineer said to be patient I tried to be. I knew I had quite a big gap and I wasn’t in a rush to pass. The last thing I wanted was to have a collision or anything. Also with the debris at some stage I was quite cautious but I think that was the main reason. I had no issues from the car. It was working perfectly fine from lap one to lap 60.

Q: Rubens has mentioned the winds affecting his car. Did they affect yours?
SV: Yes, it did. He is totally right. I think the best example was turn one. I think from the beginning of the race to the end of the race the wind turned roughly 180 degrees. You could feel on the speed you were simple able to have going into Maggots and then Becketts. It was quite tricky. You arrive there and you are always on the edge and sometimes the wind is just taking you and then you end up in the marbles. You try not to lose too much time but I have to say the car was very, very good today especially in sector one, so I was very pleased, so we were able to cope very well I think even with the windy conditions.

Q: And Nürburgring next.
SV: Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s my home race, we have had this home race for the team, kind of, strictly speaking not! I think as everyone noticed the anthem this time, the national anthem for the team was the right one (Austrian) but the factory is down the road, so it’s a fantastic result here at home. And the next one is for me at home, which is great. I hope to continue and try to repeat what we did here, which won’t be easy but for sure, that’s what we’re aiming for.

Q: Mark, when you were behind Rubens, how much were you bottled up, how close could you get, was it just a matter of waiting for him to make a mistake?
MW: No I wasn’t worried about… I think it’s Rubens’s second or third Grand Prix, so he’s quite experienced and I knew that he was doing the best he could and that was the case. It’s very hard to get close at Silverstone, it was a question of me saving fuel. I was just saving fuel and more fuel and then just making sure I jumped him at the first stop. Obviously it was disappointing to see Sebastian disappearing because I knew how important that situation in qualifying was which happened to me. But anyway, I don’t think I could have got much more out of today. I said before the race, the first race is with Rubens and if that happens quite quickly then maybe I can have a race with Sebastian. If my first stint was behind Rubens then Sebastian was going to have a boring race; that’s what I said before the race and that turned out to be the case. He had quite a straightforward afternoon and so did I, actually, in the end. As Sebastian said there was a lot of traffic in the second stint and in the end it was just controlling throughout the stint. There was no way, ever, given how close we are, that I was ever going to close twenty seconds in two stints, it was never going to happen. We’re pushing the car together, the development is in the same direction, so all this stuff is good for us. The guys have buried themselves at the factory, including Renault with the engines. Obviously Dietrich (Mateschitz), the big boss back in Austria, is very proud of us today, getting a first and second again this year and I’m looking forward to my day when I can jump into the seat next to me. But today I’m actually happy with what I got out of it. Sebastian deserves to win today, so we’ll take it to another day.

Q: You mentioned a gear problem just now, you didn’t seem to lose too much time with it; could you just explain what happened?
MW: The guys said I had some damage to my bodywork. I don’t know if it was from the Bourdais/Kovalainen shunt at turn eight because I was quite close to that and it just happened in front of me. I don’t know where the damage was to the car but the guys asked me to… actually it wasn’t a gearbox problem. I had to use a different rev profile for the lap, so we needed to use different gears in different corners, so that was always a new challenge for the driver to work out exactly what the engineers want you to do. Then they said ‘don’t do that too long because now the engine’s getting another problem,’ so we had a few little things bubbling away but it didn’t really affect… I’m sure I’ll find out a bit more about it later but it was a case of me getting the car home.

Q: Rubens, when you were ahead of Mark, did you know you were probably in trouble?
RB: Yeah, we knew from yesterday the car that they had, so it was going to be a difficult one. It was close actually. When I came around the first corner and he was exiting the pits I needed not a little bit to stay in front but all in all, you saw him, when he was in front he disappeared and there was nothing I could do. And to make things worse, I think it was probably a tough choice to go on the harder tyres right in the middle. There was very little between the tyres all through the weekend but in the race I think the softer tyres performed better, so to have a long stint on the harder tyre was a tough call. Then I saw Rosberg and Massa coming along, so it was a tough race for me. The car is balanced but we lack grip. We were hoping that the weather could get a little hotter but it never did, so it was a struggle but having said that, I’m happy because all in all I took some points out of Jenson, so for me that’s the target that I have achieved.

Q: You’ve had a bit of a worry about the tyre temperatures at this circuit. Do you think that may be the same situation at the Nürburgring? We don’t know what the weather’s going to be, obviously.
RB: Nürburgring can be snowing or it can be deadly hot, so it’s a very difficult place to see what’s going to happen. It’s three weeks away, we have a chance there that it could be hotter or anything but we need to work on that (tyre temperature). We had that situation before in Shanghai and the Red Bulls were quite strong and I believe that that’s the situation right now. We haven’t all of a sudden lost performance, we just think it’s to do with a little bit of the weather.

Q: You mentioned your back; when did that make itself apparent?
RB: On the trip, on the way to England (from Brazil) I started to feel my back, especially my lower back, hurting. After I ran on Friday morning, when I got out of the car, it was really, really stiff. The massage wasn’t doing anything and obviously nowadays you cannot take any medicine, so I had to check the doctors and check everyone and they helped me big time. So I’m feeling good. Luckily the position that I’m sitting in the car is comfortable for the lower back. From now on it’s going to be a problem but it’s fine as long as it’s not a problem with the car, it’s fine.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) This is question for Rubens and Sebastian: do you think you are putting back interest into the championship after the six wins out of seven races for Jenson Button, and how difficult do you think it will be to catch him?
RB: Jenson has been quite strong in every race this year. Let’s say he birdied the first holes, I hope he bogeys the next ones and I can birdy. It’s pretty much like that. I hope that this is a turnaround here.
SV: As Rubens said, I think Jenson was very strong in all eight races we’ve had so far and he totally deserves to be in this position. Looking at the championship, he obviously has quite a comfortable lead still but we’re trying to do our best and I think the only thing that makes sense is to use every single opportunity we have. As I said before, we’re working very, very hard, the team is very determined and we know where we want to be, we want to win. I think that’s the only way to turn it around. For sure it won’t be easy but we are totally up for the fight. The season is still very long, anything can happen still. You never know what is going to happen.

Q: (Bob Bull – BBC Three Counties Radio) Question for Rubens: Felipe Massa was right on your tail having started from eleventh. Are the Ferraris getting closer to the Brawns as well? You didn’t beat him by a great amount.
RB: Well, I think Ferrari is strong everywhere in any case. The fact is that with their car, and whatever the behaviour is, they are stronger in some races and not in some others. Here, they didn’t seem to be very competitive in qualifying, especially with Felipe, but then he had a good strategy and he made up the gap. But the cars are very similar. If you take Istanbul, in qualifying, for example, there was 1.4s between the whole grid. If you have the car adjusted to one particular track you’re going to have something happening quite quickly. Plus, I think Formula One is now developing so fast and we have new parts for the car at every race and everyone is doing that. You’re going to see teams coming from the back, for sure.

Q: (Mohammed Khan – The National, Abu Dhabi) Sebastian, what will it take to overhaul Jenson? You talk about perfection, is it going to take perfection for the rest of the season for Red Bull to catch them?
SV: I think the only thing it takes is towards the end of the season to collect more points and then at the end you sum it up and whoever has scored more becomes champion. That’s all it takes. Of course there’s hard work behind it, as Rubens says. Every single team is pushing hard. I think the fact that we’re very competitive this weekend is down to a lot of factors. First of all, I think we have made a step forward. The car was brilliant here and this circuit suits us. On top of that I think the conditions were right for us, we had no issues with the tyres, so everything was working and it was very close to being perfect which is very, very difficult to achieve but it should always be the target. In the end, you can’t really foresee what’s going to happen but I can assure you we will try very, very hard to improve, even from where we are now and try to collect more points than all our competitors.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today, New Zealand) This was billed as Jenson Button’s race to lose, if you like. Do you think you’ve not only gained on the track from the result today but also psychologically, and perhaps Rubens that might even apply to you?
RB: Like I said, he was on a roll. It’s almost as if everything was opening right up in front of him and he used that for him very well. There’s nothing to say against that. We are sportsmen and if you can make that into a turnaround and work for yourself with the energy and try to get everything for you, you’re doing very well. But I think Jenson is quite mature already, so he’s going to be strong. It’s not that I think that with one sixth place he can flick it up, I think everything that we’re going to conquer towards the end of the season we’re going to conquer, he’s not going to give us any opportunity but that’s why it’s nice and I think it’s a good challenge.
SV: In the end I can only confirm what Rubens says, you know. When it comes to me, I’m not really a fan of all these psychological tricks and mindset and so on. All I try to do is to squeeze the car out every single time, every single lap and to do the best I can. Of course, sometimes you might have to attack more than is probably good for you and you might risk a lot and sometimes lose it. Yes, it happens, I think that happens in sports, that happens in motor racing and I think that’s human. As I said, in the end you have to use every single day you have and the one who is most consistent and has done the best job fully deserves to win in the end. It might be a one point advantage or a fifty points’ advantage to the guy behind.

Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Magazine) There have been a lot of politics this weekend. In your opinion, what does F1 need to do to secure its future?
SV: Ha, that’s a good one. I knew that something would come up. I think we have to see everything clearly. We’re all in the same boat, all the drivers. Everything we want, and in the end the only thing we want, is to race against each other. We want to compete with the best cars in the world against the best drivers. I think that has been the attraction of Formula One and that’s why Formula One is the peak of motor sport. We are all here to race. When it comes to all these politics, I know there’s a lot going on. Maybe you can say I should be more concerned but all I’m worried about now is what happens to me in the sport. I think that as a professional sportsman you should always have your focus on what really matters, and if you ask me what matters, the only thing that matters right now is what we do with the car at the track, so I think that is the most important thing. On top of that, I think it’s quite complex and to really have an opinion you have to have enough knowledge and to have enough knowledge you have to be one of the people who are able to know what is really going on and I have to admit that I don’t really care that much what’s happening. All I care about is what happens to my car and what is happening to me at the track. I think we are all of the same opinion in a way. The last thing we want is to have too much holiday. We all like and we all love racing, I think that’s the reason why we are here, and we want to continue fighting against each other and find out every single weekend and every single year who is the best one.

Q: (Adam Scriven – Racing Post) Mark, the earlier questions about the championship situation weren’t addressed to you but you’re still very much in the title race. How do you rate your chances at the moment?
MW: Well, I’m getting some pretty good results. I’ve had very consistent Sunday afternoons. Saturday is crucial, we know that, in terms of how tight it is between the four of us, and especially in the last few events. I’m still very confident that I can haul some good points in the future. Whether it’s enough to be consistently ahead of these guys remains to be seen but thanks for flagging that up. I’m out there and yeah, I’m very happy with my performances so far this year. It doesn’t take much to turn things round, so I’m looking forward to Nürburgring. It could be mixed conditions and then we’ve got Budapest. Yeah, there are some good races coming up which will test us again and yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

British Grand Prix Fuel Adjusted Grid

1 Vettel (lap 21)
2 Webber +0.597secs (lap 18)
3 Barrichello +0.653 (lap 17)
4 Trulli +0.871 (lap 17)
5 Rosberg +1.022 (lap 19)
6 Button +1.086 (lap 16)
7 Nakajima +1.183 (lap 15)
8 Glock +1.202 (lap 18)
9 Raikkonen +1.391 (lap 16)
10 Alonso +1.657 (lap 16)

British Grand Prix Post Qualifying Press Conference

Drivers: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 19.509s; 2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP), 1m 19.856s; 3. Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1m 19.868s

Q: Sebastian, fastest car all weekend here, a great final run, you look to be in very good shape…
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, fantastic weekend. From the beginning to the end we didn’t have a single problem. All the new parts we brought here seemed to have worked very well, so I think we have made a step forward but you know, when it comes to qualifying there is tension there. You try to do your best. It was quite difficult today. At the beginning of qualifying I was struggling a little bit sometimes here and there with traffic. The wind was not such a big issue today but it was always a bit tricky when you have cars ahead of you, you can feel it even though you are three or four seconds behind. So in the first two qualifying sessions I was struggling a little bit. Then in Q2 we put on the soft tyres and then from there onwards I was quite happy with the car. And in Q3 we had two very good runs I would say, especially the last one. I think that was the lap of the weekend. From the beginning to the end it was very close to being perfect. Of course, as a driver you always think there is a little bit here, a little bit there, but this lap was very good. I was able to use the tyres perfectly well and yeah, I brought the lap to the chequered flag and I was surprised by how quick I was at that stage and finally it was enough to get pole position, so that’s the most important thing. I can only say – and I don’t do it because everyone usually does it at this stage – but I can only say very, very big compliments to all the guys back in the factory. It’s only half an hour from Silverstone and they have been working so hard to get this car to where it is now, so it’s all down to them. I think both of us have proved that the car is working very well and yeah, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race.

Q: Rubens, it’s been a tough weekend for Brawn Grand Prix. You’re second, your team-mate, Jenson Button, is down in sixth place. It looks like it’s been hard work; you must be pleased with the outcome today.
Rubens Barrichello: Very, very pleased. I think those guys have been doing a fantastic job the whole weekend. For me, too, it was the best lap of the weekend in Q3 where I took the extreme of the car. I need to check if I breathed during the lap because it was such a nice one. Silverstone has always been quite good and I want to thank all my engineers for their hard work because we found a good balance and I’m pleased to be in the middle of them (the Red Bulls) at least. It’s going to be hard to beat them tomorrow but that’s what I’m here for.

Q: Mark, you’ve been trading fastest laps with your team-mate all weekend. This Red Bull car looks absolutely fantastic but right at the end there it just didn’t work out for you; what happened?
Mark Webber: Yeah, as you say, it’s been a good weekend for us so far. I would have liked a slightly cleaner run on my last Q3 lap. Kimi (Räikkönen) was, I don’t know, drinking some vodka or dreaming or something… I don’t know what the hell he was doing. He should have been on the right and he’s on the racing line, dreaming, so that wrecked my rhythm into Stowe, I was very tight into there and so... Anyway, no-one’s here to listen to a shopping list of excuses. I would have liked to get more out of the car on the last lap, it wasn’t the case but we’re still third. Congratulations to Seb, he did a good job. I think both of us are getting some good results out of the car now, so all the guys at Red Bull, all their hard work is now being realised. We’re definitely in for a good result tomorrow if we can have a clean race.

Q: Sebastian, this car is obviously good here. It’s good in the slow sections and in the fast sections and Jenson Button, the championship leader is down in sixth place. Do you see this as a potential turning point weekend in your season?
SV: I can tell you after tomorrow’s race. It’s sixty laps around here, this circuit is very, very tough for both the car and us, the drivers, so we will see. It’s a long way. Obviously if you ask for the championship ranking he has the advantage, so he has quite a comfortable gap but we are here to fight, we want to win races and today I think we did the best possible job, it put us in the best position for tomorrow’s race but still it’s a long race. I can tell you now that we have a fantastic car. We have a chance to win tomorrow but you never know what will happen, so we will definitely fight. Of course, I would be lying to you if I said that I hoped that Jenson (Button) was straight behind me, so it’s good to hear that he’s not sitting with us in this room now but on the other hand it’s a long race. I think they have very strong pace, they have always proven so far on Sundays that they are extremely competitive, so even if he starts sixth I think he can still come back and score a lot of points – which I hope he doesn’t but they have proven in the past that they are able to do it, so let’s see tomorrow. We focus on ourselves, I focus on myself and we try to have a clean race and try to do the best we can.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Your second consecutive pole, of course Sebastian, but the car seems to have been good all weekend, your name has kept popping up to the top of the timing screens throughout the weekend.
SV: Yeah, it’s a good thing for me, obviously. I’m very pleased with today and also I think big, big compliments – I know usually everyone says this at this stage – but big compliments to the team. On Wednesday, prior to the Grand Prix, I have been in Milton Keynes and it was incredible how much work was behind all that. We brought a couple of some quite new parts to the car and it was a huge effort by the team, a hell of a lot of work and they have been working flat out to make this happen and it’s good that both of us are in the top three and we have proven that the new parts are working, so I think we’ve made a step forward. But this is Saturday, you get points on Sunday, so the main task is tomorrow’s race. Two weeks ago we were also in a very strong position on Saturday but then on Sunday, unfortunately, we were proved that there is still a little bit that we have to improve. But I think this weekend the circuit suits us very well, it’s a pleasure to drive here. It’s only my second time, so it’s a shame that we won’t come back. But yeah, I really enjoy this circuit and today has been a fantastic day. I was struggling a little bit in Q1 and Q2. I didn’t really feel the car but then in the last run in Q2 with the soft tyres I was able to get a proper feeling and improved a little bit here and there, so was able to make a step which was, I think, very important, and then for Q3 the first run I was quite happy and then on the second run with new tyres I was very pleased, the lap was very, very good, very close to perfect. There’s obviously always a little bit to come but I would say it was a very strong lap and I think we should be in a strong position for tomorrow, so let’s see.

Q: Looking at the modifications, particularly the new nose and new front wing as well, you seemed to use them all day yesterday, yet you reverted to the old wing this morning for a little while.
SV: I think the wing you put in qualifying is the preferred one. I don’t think we have to go into that.

Q: What about the tyre temperatures here; it’s quite cool, yet you have quite a hard tyre as well. How difficult is that to get up to temperature?
SV: It’s not easy. You can play around with pressures and the way you bring the tyres in, the pace you have on the out lap and so on and some of the guys are weaving more, some are weaving less, so it’s quite tricky. The first lap is extremely important, you start a lap here and then you go down through turns one, two, three, four and five, very high speed corners. Apart from having the pressures ready and the tyre ready, the temperatures, you need to have the confidence to do it, otherwise you lift your foot too much and you lose time. I think that’s the big secret. It was quite tricky. With the hard tyres you’re struggling a little bit more to get the temperatures in whereas with the softs it seems to be a little bit better but I think both tyres are pretty similar, there’s not much between them, so we will see tomorrow. It will be a challenge which tyre to use at which stage of the race but we have a night to think about that.

Q: Rubens, similar question to you: has it been a bit more difficult for Brawn to get the tyres up to temperature?
RB: Overall, it has been a little bit more difficult to get the lap done. Basically we seem to be where we wanted to be but we think Red Bull just made a step and they are better, so I’m delighted to be here, right now, splitting them because it was a really good effort from me with the car on the track and from my engineers to put everything together. It was a good thought this morning but the car was still not the way I like. Silverstone, for me, is very special, I love it and I took everything I could out of the car in qualifying, apart from Q1, when I could only manage one lap because of Sutil’s accident. I was really, really happy with the lap and I thought today P3 was the best I could manage and P2 is one better and I hope I can do one better tomorrow.

Q: How much did you change the car overnight, how much did you change the car between this morning and this afternoon?
RB: Well, Formula One nowadays is funny, it’s really good to work on it because you change so much from day to day. It’s not like it used to be: a touch on the front wing or a touch of this or that. You change things, especially with myself and the enthusiasm I have to change things overnight, you just do so and see what happens. If you don’t you have a baseline on which you can faith. We did change the car a little bit from yesterday, it wasn’t that good this morning but then we fine-tuned for qualifying which was to my liking again.

Q: Tell us a little about your love affair with Silverstone.
RB: I’ve had two pole positions here. For me, there is a positive and a negative about it. The negative is why the hell are they taking this race away from here? You can see the fans, you can see they made such a big effort on the outside to make the traffic better. I know they cannot make an effort to improve the weather but that’s England. If you change to anywhere in England it’s going to be the same. The track is safe. You saw Sutil today walk from what looked like a very hard impact, so it is safe. The positives are that I love this place that since Formula Three I’ve run here so much and I get on with the circuit, so it’s really nice.

Q: Mark, I guess there’s real disappointment not to be on pole or at least on the front row?
MW: Well, second is not the greatest starting position but I would like to be on pole, of course. I was happy with every lap I did in qualifying to be honest, except the last one. It was a pretty good lap, I had a big distraction from Kimi because he was totally asleep on the back straight. He couldn’t have done a better job to distract me into Stowe. He sat on the racing line and just basically didn’t care what was happening, so that was very frustrating for me because it broke the rhythm. These laps need to be absolutely perfect, so it wasn’t the tidiest and cleanest of laps to finish the important lap and the most important part of qualifying, so that’s some frustration inside, but hey, I’m not tenth, I’m third. Seb did a good lap, the team’s done an incredible job this week, so there’s still a huge amount of positives but obviously these days, when we’re aiming a lot higher, it’s easier to get more disappointed. That’s the way it was today.

Q: What about the progress over the weekend, particularly with the modifications that have come on the car?
MW: Yeah, we’ve made a few changes and they’ve definitely helped us. This is the quickest the car’s ever been this year. Slightly little modifications to the nose and engine cooling and a few things like that have put us in the right way, yeah.

Q: And they’ve obviously been very positive.
MW: They’ll be staying on, I’m sure.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Bob Bull - BBC Three Counties Radio) I know the guys back at Milton Keynes have had some very frustrating seasons, so how pleased are they when you actually get back to see them? Do you get a positive reaction from them?
SV: Yes. They are very happy, every single one. Just yesterday, before I went back to sleep, I was in the garage, spending some time with the boys and independently, whether it’s the guys at the circuit or the factory, they are very, very pleased. You walk by, the music is playing and everyone is kind of dancing but still focused and working very hard to get the car ready. I think we have a fantastic atmosphere. If you have such a good car and if, as a driver, you enjoy every single lap so much, especially on circuits like this, I would almost say it’s your duty to perform well, you have to deliver. The boys deserve that and you have to deliver. It’s a fantastic situation for us, the drivers and obviously for the team which, as you said, hasn’t had a very easy time over the last few years, so now it’s our time, which is very good.
MW: I was also at the team when it was under a different name, so there have been many personnel there who have gone through a lot, as the questioner referred to. They’re now in a new situation, they’re incredibly proud. Obviously the work that’s gone in has been working because there’s nothing worse when you’re breaking your balls and it doesn’t work. At least now we’re definitely on the right path and we’re doing our absolutely utmost to get the best results and trying to race Brawn who have been doing an incredible job which has been a big challenge for us. There’s still a long way ahead in both championships, we’re aware of that and we’re doing our best to close up.

British Grand Prix Qualifying Grid

1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. BARRICHELLO Brawn
3. WEBBER Red Bull
4. TRULLI Toyota
5. NAKAJIMA Williams
6. BUTTON Brawn
7. ROSBERG Williams
8. GLOCK Toyota
9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
10. ALONSO Renault
11. MASSA Ferrari
12. KUBICA BMW
13. KOVALAINEN McLaren
14. PIQUET Renault
15. HEIDFELD BMW
16. FISICHELLA Force India
17. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
18. SUTIL Force India
19. HAMILTON McLaren
20. BUMEI Toro Rosso

Max Mosley Interview

There is an excellent interview available from the BBC with FIA president Max Mosley telling BBC sports editor Mihir Bose that he still expects the majority of Formula 1 teams to line up on the grid at the start of next season.

Click here to view it.


Available to UK users only.

FIA Take Legal Action Against FOTA

The FIA have now released the below press statement making it clear that the FIA are planning to sue the FOTA over a breach of contract. Previously Ferrari have made it clear they think the FIA have already breached their contract so I'm assuming they will claim that in court. However if Ferrari are forced to race in Formula One what would stop them entering an old car and pulling out on lap one every race? It starts getting silly... What if Ferrari just decide to start pulling out of races now in protest of being sued? This is going to get messy...


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The FIA and FOTA

The FIA’s lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay.

Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

British Grand Prix Free Practice Session Two

1. VETTEL Red Bull 1m19.456s

2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m19.597s

3. SUTIL Force India 1m20.141s

4. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m20.209s

5. ALONSO Renault 1m20.237s

6. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m20.244s

7. HAMILTON McLaren 1m20.417s

8. TRULLI Toyota 1m20.458s

9. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.468s

10. PIQUET Renault 1m20.608s

11. KUBICA BMW 1m20.622s

12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m20.733s

13. GLOCK Toyota 1m20.762s

14. BUTTON Brawn 1m20.767s

15. HEIDFELD BMW 1m20.932s

16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m20.945s

17. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.005s

18. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.132s

19. FISICHELLA Force India 1m21.413s

20. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m21.668s

FIA Press Statement in Response to Split

What follows below is the latest press statement from the FIA. Now if this dosen't say "p**s off were running our own championship and you can like it or lump it!" then I dont know what does.

Tomorrow you may find Ferrari and Red Bull's names on the entry list for 2010 as the FIA are sure they have them contractually obliged to be in F1. If this happens they may not race in protest.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


The FIA has noted the latest press statement from FOTA.

The FIA is disappointed but not surprised by FOTA’s inability to reach a compromise in the best interests of the sport. It is clear that elements within FOTA have sought this outcome throughout the prolonged period of negotiation and have not engaged in the discussions in good faith.

The FIA cannot permit a financial arms race in the Championship nor can the FIA allow FOTA to dictate the rules of Formula One.

The deadline for unconditional entries to the 2010 FIA Formula World Championship will expire this evening.

The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship entry list will be announced tomorrow.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

British Grand Prix Free Practice Session One

1. VETTEL Red Bull 1m19.400s
2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m19.682s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m20.227s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m20.242s
5. ALONSO Renault 1m20.458s
6. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.471s
7. TRULLI Toyota 1m20.585s
8. HAMILTON McLaren 1m20.650s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.815s
10. FISICHELLA Force India 1m20.838s
11. SUTIL Force India 1m20.913s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m21.029s
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.103s
14. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.179s
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m21.384s
16. GLOCK Toyota 1m21.386s
17. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m21.489s
18. PIQUET Renault 1m21.525s
19. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m21.590s
20. KUBICA BMW 1m21.801s

FIA FOTA Split

The inevitable has finally happened, the FIA's inability to compromise and the FOM unwilling to pay back pay has finally driven the FOTA to form it's own championship. They have released the press statement below outlining their position. What will now be interesting to see is how commited they are to a split and what sort of championship they set up. Not to mention if they bother carrying on with the current FIA F1 world championship this year.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FOTA UNITED ON THE FUTURE

Silverstone, 18 June 2009 - Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder, to develop and improve the sport.

Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community. FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

In particular the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the FOTA initiatives. The FOTA teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

Following these efforts all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA.

The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.

It has become clear however, that the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.

These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

British Grand Prix FIA Thursday Press Conference

Drivers: Jenson Button (Brawn GP), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren).

Q: Gentleman, first of all. What have you been doing since Turkey?
Lewis Hamilton: I have had a really busy time. As soon as I finished the race in Turkey I flew straight to Germany and I was working with Mercedes Benz and I had a pretty full on day with them. Tuesday I came back. Pretty much every day I have been working. I had the Sunday off, then all week this week I have been working. Obviously I have been in the factory, mostly appearances and I have been working on the launch of the Mercedes Benz drivers’ academy in Brooklands which was a great initiative to be part of. Then yesterday I had a great day. It was a very busy day. I went to the Kids Company with Vodafone and got to see a lot of underprivileged kids who are on the streets and have had lots of different problems with no family, no food and different things and they are rebuilding their lives. It is a great thing to be a part of and to put smiles on their faces. Then what else did I do?

Q: The House of Commons?
LH: I had a speech to make at the House of Commons which was pretty frightening. It has been pretty busy. I haven’t trained a day since Turkey.
Jenson Button: I came from Turkey to the UK and did a PR day on Tuesday here just really to get a few interviews out of the way before the grand prix. I flew home that night to Monaco and I have spent about a week in Monaco which was lovely. Training up in the hills with my trainer, just getting away from it all. Very relaxing. Then I was back here on Tuesday. I had a photo shoot on Tuesday and yesterday at Brackley doing simulator work and a few other things. Then I headed down to Mercedes Benz yesterday afternoon for a few hours to spend a bit of time there and see what was going on. It was the first time I have been there, so it was a nice experience and good to see all the people who have given us a great opportunity this year. Then last night I was camping here. It has been a pretty relaxed couple of weeks considering the situation we are in, so it is perfect really.

Q: What’s been the reception at places like Brixworth and Brackley?
JB: Brackley is great. We have all been part of it all season. We have been together for a very long time, so nothing has really changed there. There are a few more smiles about the place. Brixworth was just a great experience and to get inside the engine and see the technical side of it which is a good experience. They have achieved so much over the last few years with McLaren and with us this season. They are doing a great job and it is good to sort of say a few words there as we haven’t spent any time with Mercedes Benz this season. It was the first time we were at Brixworth, so it was a good experience and hopefully both of us can have a good race this weekend for them.

Q: What are your feelings about racing here at Silverstone? Drivers really feel this is a very special circuit and don’t want it to slip off the calendar. What are your thoughts about what is essentially your home grand prix?
JB: It is a very special race. I think for both of us when we were learning how to drive in single seaters this was a place we enjoyed very much. It is your home grand prix, so it is always going to be very special. But also the British fans are fantastic. There are so many fans in Britain for motorsport and for Formula One. Last year was a sell out crowd and I am guessing it will be the same this year and you don’t get that in many circuits around the world, especially the way the economy is at the moment. Hopefully we can put a good show on for them this weekend. This is a circuit that I love. It is a fantastic, fast flowing circuit like Spa and Suzuka. It is one of the true greats and it has been for the last few decades. It is a pity it won’t be on the calendar next year. I think a lot of drivers will agree with me and a lot of fans will agree also. I just hope we have a British Grand Prix next year as it means a lot to us.
LH: Jenson just said it all really. It is a fantastic circuit and for us when we were growing up seeing the history of the circuit and the winners that have been here and the world champions in the past. It is great to come here and try to in some ways emulate them and try to do same thing they did and bring the win back home for the Brits. The fans are incredible here compared to any circuit I feel through the year. This is the one place that has the best vibe and has the most people standing there. It could be thunderstorms, it could be any type of weather but they will still be standing up holding their umbrellas or whatever it is, especially last year. They never seem to give up with their support and it is as important to them as it is to us drivers and all the teams, so I will be pushing as hard as I can with my position to try and keep the British Grand Prix wherever it is. As long as we have a British Grand Prix it is the most important thing.

Q: What are your hopes from this coming weekend?
LH: I think Jenson understands what I am going through and how tough it is when you don’t particularly have the right package beneath you to be able to show what you can do or to get the right results. But when you are in that position you just maximise it. So all these years Jenson has been maximising what he had in the past and now he is maximising what he has now. It is the same for me. I am maximising the car that I have and just trying to finish all the races and trying to push the team forward. Here it is going to be a tough race as it is a high speed circuit but hopefully we have made some steps forward. We don’t have many update things coming for this race but fingers crossed we have maybe changed the set-up a little bit which will help but I guess we won’t really know until tomorrow. I doubt whether I will be able to tag along the tail of him but we will do the best we can.

Q: You have won in the rain last year. Would you prefer rain this weekend?
LH: Last year obviously I wanted it to rain and it did. But I am not too bothered either way. To be honest the more dry testing I get the better information I can get about my car and where we are with it and how to move forward. The more information we get to analyse the better. But if it rains I think this is a great track in the wet and it definitely gives you more of a chance, especially here, compared to some other circuits to make a bit of a difference, so it could be good for me either way.

Q: Jenson, your feelings about racing this weekend?
JB: I come into this race confident with the package that I have. The last few races have been fantastic and it has been a dream start to the season. This is a circuit that I enjoy driving and I know my team-mate enjoys driving here a lot also, so he is going to be good competition this weekend. In Turkey we expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in the high speed turn eight. I don’t think they had an advantage which was surprising. I am happy with what we have. We have got a little update aerodynamically, only small, but it’s about the small parts. You just keep building on what you have and hope it is going in the right direction. We will have competition here but I am happy with what we have and I am confident in the car. We have just got to hope in a way that we have a better Friday than we have done in the last few races because even though the end result has been great, working from where we were is quite stressful and I think in that environment that you can make mistakes, so we have got to hope that we get a reasonable balance tomorrow, so we can get some good testing done and hope we get the balance right for the weekend.

Q: Just looking at both your respective Formula One careers one of you had success immediately and this year it has tailed off a bit. The other one didn’t have success and finally has had success now. Talk about one another’s career in a way and would you have preferred yours to be different?
JB: Well, I mean we have been given what we have been given and that’s the way it is. You wouldn’t change it for the world and even though I’ve been through a lot of tough times in the past, even before this season, I’ve always said that I think the decisions I have made or what I have had to deal with, I wouldn’t change it as it makes it who you are. Now I have got the opportunity to show and to achieve with a very good team and a very good car. In a way it makes it very sweet for me but I am sure it is the same for Lewis, coming into Formula One and in his first couple of years achieving so much so early on. Not many drivers have been able to do that. I think I have been in Formula One for nine years now and eventually I feel ready to be winning races and I have the team that gives me the opportunity to fight for race victories almost every weekend we go to. I wouldn’t change my career in the slightest and I am sure Lewis wouldn’t but I will let him speak for himself.
LH: He is right. I think for Jenson as he said with his nine years, even though he has not had the best equipment to be able to get the results that he wanted, clearly he has learnt a lot through all those years and I think it is really showing in his performances this year. He has done a fantastic job this year and I am sure it is from potential mistakes he may have made in the past and through struggles he has come out stronger than ever. Now he has finally got the car and he is probably driving as good as ever if not better than ever before and I think that is great for him. As for me I wouldn’t change my career. I have enjoyed it. I have had good and bad times. I have had a good couple of strong years, say for the last four years or so, and now I am going through not so good a patch. But it is another learning curve and it is part of life. It is what you learn in the tough times I guess that defines you and builds you as a character and as a human being. I am enjoying the experience, trying to embrace it and come out as strong as possible.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC) Lewis, you talked there about pushing to keep the British Grand Prix. What, practically, can you do in your position? Are you going to buy Silverstone or buy Donington?
LH: Clearly that’s impossible, that’s not in the pipeline but no – Jenson wants to go halves! – we work as hard as we can, alongside the BRDC and as British drivers I think we can both, in our positions, not as role models but with our image, we can call up people we want to, whoever we want really, I think. If we want to call up the Prime Minister I’m sure we could easily! But no, I think we just want to show our support and show the importance of it. Perhaps people look at the British Grand Prix and perhaps don’t realise what it would be like without it. I think we should all step back and realise what motor sport would be like without it and understand that and then take action. I think we all need to pull together and support it. I think we need support from the government, we need support from other backers, wherever we can get it and as long as we have a British Grand Prix in Formula One it will always remain a great sport to be a part of.
JB: We both agree that we would love a British Grand Prix. We obviously want it to be at a good venue but having a British Grand Prix is the point that we’re trying to push and it’s not just us two sat here, I think it’s the whole of Formula One. There are a lot of British people who work in Formula One on the racing side of things, on the journalism side of things, so to not have a British Grand Prix would be a real shocker for all of us involved and surprising, I think, for the fans, especially when we have packed out crowds at the races here. But it’s not our decision but we would obviously be very disappointed if we didn’t have a British Grand Prix on the 2010 calendar.
LH: It’s not just us who are affected, us as the drivers, it’s you guys, the amount of jobs we are able to give people with these Grands Prix. There are thousands of people involved. It would be a shame to lose that.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Jenson, last year at this same press conference, you challenged Lewis to do a triathlon and you said that this would be the only way I can be competitive this year. Looking back at what has happened, how does it feel, coming here as a championship leader, and if you would describe the difference and the feeling between last year and this year? And Lewis, are you going to challenge Jenson this year to do a triathlon?
JB: It’s obviously a big change for me and for the whole team. Coming here last year we didn’t expect to be getting points, let alone fighting for a podium position and definitely not the top step of the podium but I still enjoyed the weekend. It’s always a nice feeling coming here because the fans do support you through the tough times as well as the good times. I still enjoyed my time at the British Grand Prix last year and we obviously had a bit of banter up here on stage but it was just a bit of fun. Yeah, a lot has happened in a season and that’s the way Formula One is, it’s up and down, up and down. It’s about being strong through the difficult times – if they don’t break you, they definitely will make you stronger and we’ve come back very strong this season and I’m leading the championship. For British motor sport, having a British champion sat up here, a British World Champion and a British driver who’s leading the championship the next season I think is fabulous for the sport. It’s great to be a part of that.
LH: No, I’m not going to challenge him. Are you still doing it? JB: Yeah, I’ve got one in London but it was a bit of banter last year, a bit of fun.
LH: No, of course. I think Jenson’s been preparing for the triathlon this year, so I think it would be pretty stupid for me to sit here and ask him for a challenge, considering he’s had two weeks of chilled time in Monaco and I’ve had two weeks flat out and no training at all. That’s pretty much how my whole year is.
JB: Lewis does a bit more PR than I do at the moment.
LH: I wish you luck for that triathlon, it’s pretty cool. I’ll be watching it. No, it will be wicked.
JB: Are you going to come down?
LH: Where is it?
JB: It’s in London but it should be fun. (To everyone) If you want to sponsor me, by the way, just a plug out there, I’m doing it for Make-A-Wish Foundation, which I’m a patron for and if you want to give some cash, it’s justgiving.com/jensonbutton. Woo!

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To both drivers: officially, your teams are out of the championship next season. Do you think it’s possible for that situation to change before tomorrow’s deadline?
JB: Well, I don’t think that’s for us to discuss here, really. We’re not the people who have been in the talks, the serious talks, anyway, and I think all the team principals and team owners have been very, very busy over the last few weeks in meetings and it would be unfair for us to comment on the situation at this time, I think.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) But it will affect you…
JB: Yes, it does but it also doesn’t make any difference. We’re not going to change anything by saying what we think here. The important thing is that we’re involved in the discussions but not in front of cameras and not in front of you guys sat here because that doesn’t help the situation at the moment.

Q: (Thierry Wilmotte – Le Soir) To both of you: isn’t what’s happening this season bad publicity for Formula One because it shows that Formula One is principally a case of having a good car more than having a good driver?
JB: Formula One hasn’t changed over the last decade or so, or two decades. It’s a team performance and when we stop talking about what percentage a driver is and what percentage a car is we can get on with the racing and concentrate on having fun and enjoying it. The car is a big part of it but it’s a team effort, it’s every single individual and when you win the World Championship you win it as a team and it’s the same if you don’t do very well, you lose it as a team, and that’s the way it has been for many, many years. We all want to be in a good car but it’s also for us to try and make that happen. It’s taken me a long time but I eventually got there in the end. It’s a great sport and when people turn the TV on, I think they look for good racing and there has been some good racing this year within the pack and I’m sure it’s going to be as competitive throughout the season. I think it’s also good that there are other teams involved now. For many years it’s been Ferrari and McLaren and also Renault winning the World Championship and now there are other teams that are fighting at the front with those teams and I think that is good for the sport and I’m sure that over the next few years in motor racing, I’m sure those top teams are going to be there but they’re going to include Brawn GP and they’re going to include Red Bull and that’s what the sport needs. We need a lot of teams that are fighting at the front that are competitive. It’s no good just one team winning the World Championships year after year. I think it’s great that there’s so much competition out there, year on year.

Q: (Rob Harris – Associated Press) Lewis, how difficult is it sitting there, next to Jenson, given the position you’re in and given the position you were in when you were sitting here this time last year?
LH: We’re sitting in the same position! Oh yeah, DC was here. It’s not difficult at all. I feel very proud of what Jenson’s achieved this year. I’m glad that he’s been able to represent Britain and keep us fighting at the front. Definitely, if I’m not able to do it, I would definitely rather have a fellow Brit do it. Like I said, we’re very fortunate to have Jenson doing that. And me, you know, I’m sitting here, I’ve got number one on my car, so it’s still kind of a nice feeling, it’s still a great achievement that I’m still very proud of and I’m working as hard as ever. I’m still here, I’m still battling it out and fighting as hard as I can and hopefully we will be here for many more years.

Q: (Will Buxton – Australasian Motor Sport News) Lewis, your whole demeanour at the moment seems very different to how it was at the start of the season, and not just in terms of everything that happened in Australia but the responsibilities of being World Champion, the amount of time you’ve spent doing PR. You’ve said that this season has helped you to grow as a person but how much has this season helped you to chill out and change your demeanour and become more comfortable with life in Formula One?
LH: Yeah, I think it’s just that you’re growing all the time. I’m sure it’s the same for everyone. I remember when I sat in front of Nelson Mandela, he told me that he’s still learning today and he’s ninety years old. I took that on board and realised that every year, every day of my life I’m going to be learning something new. It was a very tough beginning of the season, knowing that we wouldn’t to be able to be challenging for wins and coming to the realisation, to really believe it. And even though you just keep pushing and pushing, to understand it and then to analyse it and try to contain the emotions and look after them and try to channel them in the right direction, all these different things, that’s what I’ve worked on and it’s definitely not been an easier year. It’s been just as hard as any other year but I feel that as a person I’m growing, I’m maturing and learning to deal with it and trying to remain positive, to push my team forward. I think it’s a great responsibility to have and I’m proud to do it, so I hope you see the difference, that’s a good thing.

Q: (James Allen – Financial Times) Jenson, winning Monaco was obviously very special. Lewis was talking last week about winning the British Grand Prix in comparison with winning Monaco, he and Damon (Hill), and they both felt that this was the big one. Would you feel that, that winning the British Grand Prix would be even more special than the Monaco win?
JB: If you look at it unemotionally it’s ten points if you win here, it’s like every other race. It’s a very emotional weekend for a British driver. It would be very special to win my home Grand Prix. But to not put pressure on myself, the great thing is that I will leave this race leading the World Championship still, by 16 points at worst. That’s the best way to look at it but it would be great to have a good race here but so much can happen. I’m just trying to stay relaxed at the moment.

Mosley Says No

Max Mosley (FIA) has said no to the FOTA’s compromise and insisted that Friday is the deadline with no compromise. A brave move I think as the FOTA will either submit – which I doubt. Or go off and do their own thing either in a separate series or join the Le Mans series or something similar.

Is the Formula 1 series bigger than Ferrari? Simply put I think so… In a few years people will of forgotten Ferrari and will be enjoying the racing of Williams and other teams. However if Ferrari and the key top teams; McLaren, BMW, Red Bull and Toyota go too it will be hard to have a serious championship without them all. Especially if car manufacturers join them too and they set their championship up quickly and get races at Monza, Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka, Hokenheim, Montreal etc.

I do worry though that a Formula One break away would go to race tracks and be compromised on safety. That is my one fear. The FIA for all their politics run a safe race.

My gut feeling is there will be protests after Friday involving teams pulling out etc. There will be more wrangling and then a breakaway or a resolution. The only way I can see a resolution is if the FIA compromise, probably by removing Max Mosley. Either way I think we are in for stormy times ahead… Don’t be surprised if a full field isn’t racing at Silverstone this weekend.

British Grand Prix Preview

Round eight of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship takes place at the Silverstone Circuit which is close to the majority of the teams’ headquarters. Half the circuit is located in Northamptonshire and the other half in Buckinghamshire. The circuit is constructed on the site of a former World War II airfield, RAF Silverstone, and its three triangle format runways lie within the outline of the present track. Host to the Silverstone Classic, the British round of the FIA International GT Championship and several premier British Championships including British Touring Cars and British Superbikes the circuit remains popular among motor sport fans in Britain and worldwide.

Silverstone is one of the fastest races on the calendar and the flat circuit is made up of a series of long straights connected by fast open corners making for a physically demanding challenge for the drivers. Copse is the fastest corner around Silverstone with Formula One cars taking the bend at speeds of up to 285 km/h. The circuit can be reasonably tough on engines and drivers spend around 68 per cent of the lap at full throttle.

SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT – INTERESTING FACTS

• Over 600 highly trained volunteer track side marshals will be on duty at the event. This includes 290 fire and course marshals, 75 flag marshals, 50 observers and 30 incident officers.

• Throughout the Grand Prix, a team of 100 medical staff, including 40 doctors, will be on site to deal with any medical problems among the competitors or visitors.

• 24,000 litres of paint were used in preparation for the event.

CIRCUIT DATA

Length of lap: 5.141km

Offset: 0.105km

Total number of race laps: 60

Total race distance: 308.355km

Pit lane speed limits: 60km/h during free practice sessions; 100km/h during qualifying and the race

FOTA Offer FIA Compromise

It's been reported that FOTA have written to the FIA regarding the 2010 cost cutting and regulations. In the letter they are to of asked for 100 million cap in 2010 then 45 million in 2011. The budgets of the teams are to be monitored by independent accountants and submitted to the FIA. They have also asked for a two week extension of the deadline to enter the 2010 season so as to enable them to renegotiate the Concorde agreement.

A full article on this is available from the BBC, click here to read it.

It awaits to be seen if this 11th hour gesture of compromise is welcomed by the FIA or if they reject it. If the latter then I think there is going to be a split between the FIA and FOTA. As FOTA have backed down partly to compromise and I don't think they will anymore.

British Grand Prix BBC Coverage

Friday 19 June
First practice: 1000-1130, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Second practice: 1400-1530, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Inside F1: 1830-1845, BBC News Channel, then repeated on the Red Button

Saturday 20 June
Third practice: 1000-1100, BBC Red Button/online & BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra/online
Qualifying: 1210-1420, BBC One/BBC Red Button/Radio 5 Live/online
Qualifying re-run: Times TBC, BBC Red Button

Sunday 21 June
Race: 1210-1530, BBC One/BBC Red Button/Radio 5 Live/online
Race re-run: Times TBC, BBC Red Button
Interactive Forum: 1530-1630, BBC Red Button/online
Highlights: 1900-2000, BBC Three/BBC Red Button/online

FIA Vs FOTA

The FIA have released a press statement about FOTA (see below link). It would appear that the recent breakdown in talks over the 2010 championship and it's cost cutting has sparked a war between them. Most notably the FIA state "FOTA – made up of participants who come and go as it suits them – has set itself two clear objectives: to take over the regulation of Formula One from the FIA and to expropriate the commercial rights for itself. These are not objectives which the FIA can accept." That's fighting talk if ever I heard it... What happens next I don't know. I suspect the FOTA teams will refuse to race and that all sorts of things will go on in the press.

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/fia_fota.aspx

FIA Press Release On FOTA Meeting

The FIA have released a press release regarding a lot of press coverage about what has been going on in it's meetings. It would appear to me that the FIA are trying to make the FOTA look disorganised and using the age old technique of divide and conquer... Or it may all be true. It reads as follows:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Last Thursday, the President of the FIA met a delegation from FOTA
consisting of Ross Brawn (Brawn GP), Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari),
Christian Horner (Red Bull), John Howett (Toyota) and Simone Perillo
(FOTA).

During the meeting FOTA acknowledged that the FIA wanted to encourage
the introduction of new teams in the championship to maintain its
vitality and economic viability in the long term. Agreement was
reached on technical regulations for 2010 which offered assistance for
new teams from the currently competing teams in several key areas.

It was also agreed that the objectives of FOTA and the FIA on cost
reduction were now very close and that financial experts from both
sides should meet at the earliest opportunity to finalise the details.

It was proposed by the FIA that any perceived governance and stability
issues could best be eliminated by extending the 1998 Concorde
Agreement until 2014 thus avoiding lengthy negotiations for a new
agreement. This was well received by those present who undertook to
report the suggestion to the other FOTA members.

The FIA believed it had participated in a very constructive meeting
with a large measure of agreement. The FIA was therefore astonished to
learn that certain FOTA members not present at the meeting have
falsely claimed that nothing was agreed and that the meeting had been
a waste of time. There is clearly an element in FOTA which is
determined to prevent any agreement being reached regardless of the
damage this may cause to the sport.

The FIA will publish shortly a detailed and documented account of the
facts in its dealings with FOTA.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ferrari Increase Pressure On FIA

Ferrari are continuing to threaten to leave Formula One for good and help set up a split away series. The deadline set by the FIA is next Friday to resolve the cost capping debate. If by then the issues with FOTA have not been settled then the FIA have said that the teams in FOTA will not be in Formula 1 in 2010.

The situation is covered very well in an interview with David Croft on the BBC, click here to view it.

Win A Copy Of New Star GP

Five copies are available to win of this great top-down racing game inspired by classic games such as Super Sprint and Micro Machines, but brought bang up to date to feature all the excitement of professional motor racing.

All you have to do to enter is send us your name and email address to enter into a prize draw. If your one of the five lucky contestants you will be sent a link to download New Star Grand Prix with a license key to unlock the full game.

So what are you waiting for? Enter by emailing: formula1blogger@googlemail.com and tell us your name and email address.

In the meantime if you'd like to download a free demo of the game click here.

Terms and conditions: The decision of www.formula1-blog.co.uk is final and no money alternative is possible. No more than one entry per person. Closing date is June the 28th 2009.

Ferrari Rebuke 2010 Entry

Ferrari have stated that they "shall not take part in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship until the conditions of its entry are satisfied." They went on to say "For the avoidance of any doubt, Ferrari reaffirms that it shall not take part in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship under the regulations adopted by the FIA in violation of Ferrari's rights under a written agreement with the FIA."

Red Bull also released a statement in which it states "Following the FIA's publication of the entry list for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Red Bull Racing would like to make it clear that its entry was submitted as a conditional entry, consistent with those of all other FOTA members, Red Bull Racing remains committed to FOTA and fully endorses all its principles."

It would appear that the FIA are playing games which will further enrage the FOTA. This sort of playing around will not do the FIA any favours. Unfortunately a split seems more and more likely as the two organisations seem to drift apart.

2010 FIA Formula One World Championship Entry List

The official press release from the FIA:

Following the completion of the applications process for teams to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the following teams have been confirmed.

TEAM	CONSTRUCTOR
SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO RED BULL RACING AT&T WILLIAMS FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM CAMPOS GRAND PRIX MANOR GRAND PRIX TEAM US F1 VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES* BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM* RENAULT F1 TEAM* PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING* BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM*	FERRARI STR TBA RBR RENAULT WILLIAMS TOYOTA FORCE INDIA MERCEDES CAMPOS COSWORTH MANOR COSWORTH TEAM US F1 COSWORTH McLAREN MERCEDES BMW SAUBER RENAULT TOYOTA BRAWN TBA

*These five teams have submitted conditional entries.The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19 June.

The maximum number of cars permitted to enter the 2010 Championship has been increased to 26, two being entered by each competitor. Pending completion of the discussions referred to above, further due diligence is currently taking place on other potential entries.

Tom Pryce Memorial

There is a new memorial for the Formula One Driver Tom Pryce at his home town of Ruthin, Denbighshire. He was tragically killed at the South African Grand Prix in 1977 when a marshall running across the track with a fire extinguisher was hit by Tom instantly killing both of them. It was a freak and tragic accident which cut short his promising career.

For the full BBC article click here.

Decisive 24hrs For Formula One

With just 24hrs until the 2010 entry list is published by the FIA the FOTA met again in London to discuss the cost capping / entries situation. It is also believed that the FIA and FOTA will have one final meeting before the deadline. It would appear that tomorrow the FIA will announce the 2010 entries without Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, Toyota, Red Bull and the other FOTA team members. As the FIA are not accepting their conditional entries.

If this is the case then I believe it could be the beginning of the end for Formula 1. If FOTA teams aren't entered into next season they may well boycott the next Grand Prix at Silverstone and the chaos we have seen in Formula 1 in the 70's and 80's may reoccur between FOTA and the FIA now.

Tomorrow is crunch time. Let's hope it isn't an all out civil war.

Jenson Button Racing Scalextric

Jenson Button in an amusing clip racing Scalextric for BBC news… it’s available here.