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.
Monday, 29 June 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
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.
- - - - - - - - -
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.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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…
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.
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.
Monday, 22 June 2009
The Stig Is Revealed
BBC Top Gear has revealed the identity of the Stig, the mystery driverwho 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.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
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
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.
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.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
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)
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.
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
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
Friday, 19 June 2009
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.
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...
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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.
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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.
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British Grand Prix Free Practice Session Two
1. VETTEL Red Bull 1m19.456s
2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m19.597s
3. SUTIL Force
4. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m20.209s
5. ALONSO Renault 1m20.237s
6. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m20.244s
7.
8. TRULLI
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.468s
10. PIQUET Renault 1m20.608s
11. KUBICA BMW 1m20.622s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m20.733s
13. GLOCK
14. BUTTON Brawn 1m20.767s
15. HEIDFELD BMW 1m20.932s
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m20.945s
17.
18. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.132s
19. FISICHELLA Force
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
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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.
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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.
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Thursday, 18 June 2009
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.
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.
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